Incomplete Skill

Chapter 29: Incomplete skill

Athena multicast [Thunder Armor] and her special move.

[Planetary Devestation]

An illusory ball formed above her wand, growing in size and intensity as it absorbed the surrounding trees, gaining destructive power with each passing second. She aimed it at Arun, who stood poised for battle.

Arun's spear glowed with dark light and with a mighty swing he brought it down on the ball, cleaving it into two. The separated halves exploded violently, sending shockwaves through the forest.

Arun arrived before Athena and swung his spear in a horizontal arc hitting her armor with his spear's body. 

swing

Athena placed her wand in front of her blocking the spear but she flung and crashed on the nearby wall from the shockwave. 

"Urghh..." she groaned, struggling to stand, her body aching from the collision.

Arun not letting her escape gripped his spear tightly and swung it hard in a vertical arc. A pitch-black crescent moon slash rushed towards Athena, slamming into her armor with devastating force.

Blood sprayed from her lips as the impact nearly split her in half. 

Severe injuries appeared on her body and blood started flowing freely from those injuries. Her vision was getting blurry and she was buried inside the pile of stone debris caused by that slash.

"Uhh.." Loki slowly opened his eyes and observed his surroundings.

"Shit!" He quickly noticed Athena's dire condition. Arun was charging towards her, intending to finish her off.

Loki downed a healing potion and slowly stood up. 

He took a deep breath and gazed at Arun.

He had a skill that could turn this situation around but there was a problem. The skill was incomplete and had a severe backlash. 

Loki was hesitant at first but upon witnessing Athena's condition he resolutely muttered some words and activated his skill.

[Yin-Yang Immersion]

Boom

An explosion occurred around him as his body glowed intensely. Half of his body glowed with white light while the other half glowed with black light. The black and white light merged and formed a robe. The robe was emitting an ancient aura. The robe had intricate black and white designs and it wrapped around Loki's body empowering him.

Loki felt intoxicated from all the powers flowing through his body. He focused his mind and tightly gripped his sword.

Arun halted and turned, drawn by the explosion. He discarded Athena and rushed forward to Loki's location. 

[Yin Touch]

Loki vanished from his place and appeared before Arun with immense speed. His sword's tip touched Arun's armor, and frost began to spread. Arun swung his spear at Loki but he jumped up and floated above him. 

[Yang Burst]

He swung his sword lightly and a powerful slash struck Arun's body. Arun body was flung a few meters away and collapsed on the ground in a half-kneeling position.

"This is the end," Loki muttered and activated the instant kill skill.

[Yin-Yang Fang]

A beam escaped Loki's sword and rushed at Arun. The beam transformed into a huge snake that had its fangs open. The fangs phased through Arun's body and struck at the walls causing them to completely crumble. 

Crack... crack...

Cracks spread across Arun's form, spiderwebbing until his body could no longer hold.

"You've passed the Trial of Strength, Challenger! You may pass through the trial gate." Arun announced and his body turned into dust. It scattered throughout the chamber.

[Ding! Condition completed...]

Loki appeared beside Athena, lifting her gently from the debris. He laid her on the ground and activated his healing skill.

[Divine Heal]

Athena's injuries started healing at a rapid rate. Her physique already allowed powerful natural recovery and after stacking Loki's skill on it, It brought her back from the brink of death. 

"Arghh..." Loki suddenly felt excruciating pain as his transformation undid itself. The severe backlash of using an incomplete skill overwhelmed him, and he collapsed, unconscious.

A few minutes later, Athena's eye fluttered open as she glanced around the chamber. She noticed Loki on the ground unconscious and couldn't sense the presence of the bronze statue. 

She examined her body and became shocked. Her body was almost healed completely. She knew her physique accelerated recovery but this speed was impossible to even for her. She was smart and easily figured out that Loki had healed her.

With a mixture of gratitude and worry, Athena approached Loki, gently lifting his head onto her lap. She brushed his hair away from his face, her fingers trembling. "Why did you do that?" she whispered, her voice soft and full of concern.

As she carefully examined his body, horror gripped her heart. His body was beyond broken and in all honesty he should have probably died by now. 

 She quickly attempted to use her healing skills, but they seemed to have no effect. 

Panic welled up inside Athena as she realized her abilities weren't working on him. 

Her mind raced through possible solutions and she found a solution to heal his body. It was a very risky idea as doing this would cause her a period of weakness all over her body and her soul. 

She softly ruffled his hair and with a resolute face followed through with her crazy idea. 

Athena concentrated the eden on her body and carefully circulated it near her heart to produce a single drop of SoulBlood. 

SoulBlood is a part of the body which is very difficult to regenerate upon its extraction. It contains some soul particles so the said individual will fall in a state of weakness for some time both in body and in soul. 

She leaned closer to Loki, her heart pounding. With a gentle, almost tender motion, she kissed him on the lips, transferring the SoulBlood into his body. The effect was immediate. The SoulBlood began to work its magic, rapidly healing Loki's injuries from within.

A wave of profound weakness surged through Athena. She carefully laid Loki down beside her, feeling the strength drain from her limbs. As exhaustion overtook her, she curled up next to him, closing her eyes and surrendering to sleep.