NONA-Element: ARCANE

Xulkin clenched his hands, feeling the immense power coursing through his body, the weight of his newfound strength almost overwhelming. The upgrade to his Innate Talent, now raised to Grade-9, had pushed him beyond what he ever thought possible. 

His collective recoil had increased from 36% to 54%—a seemingly small jump, but one that would become exponentially more powerful with each mastery stage he unlocked. As Xulkin reflected on his progress, he knew that reaching Stage-4 Mastery would push his recoil to a staggering 90%. 

But the true power lay in Stage-5, where his recoil would skyrocket to 135%, meaning any physical damage, negative debuffs, or mental attacks he suffered would be sent back to his attacker with even greater force. It was a terrifying ability, one that turned his enemies' strength against them, amplifying their own attacks.

Yet, despite the surge in power, Xulkin found himself in awe of Jay. He looked at the man with a complex mix of emotions. Jay had the power not just to strengthen himself but to elevate others, making them far more formidable than they could have become on their own. 

'Just how powerful must Jay be to empower others to such an extent?' The answer wasn't hidden—it was clear for all to see on the Powerboard.

Jay reigned supreme over the Alpha Rankers, with an unmatched Power Index of 178. That placed his attack power on par with an average Tier-5 Mid Phase lifeform, ranging from Level 151 to Level 200. 

For anyone else, such power would be expected at a much higher Tier. But Jay had done something extraordinary—he had attained that power while still residing in Tier-2, a feat no one else had managed to achieve. His raw strength had left his competitors in the dust.

Meanwhile, the second-strongest Alpha Ranker, Regaz, had been stuck at Level 100 for nine days, unable to break past the peak of Tier-4. It was a stark contrast to Jay's meteoric rise. Regaz, once considered a potential rival, was now leagues behind, struggling to make progress while Jay surged ahead.

Jay had not only transcended his own limits, but he had also become the embodiment of what it meant to surpass the boundaries of Tier. His power was so far beyond the norm that he had effectively rewritten the rules of advancement. 

Xulkin could sense that Jay's journey was far from over. If his strength at Tier-2 was any indication, then whatever lay ahead for Jay would be nothing short of extraordinary. And yet, Xulkin found a strange comfort in knowing that he had been granted the chance to walk alongside such a force. But catching up to him? That seemed almost impossible.

As these thoughts settled in, Xulkin, still aboard the Storm Eagle as it circled back toward the distant horizon, cast his gaze down toward Jay, who stood alone at the heart of the desert. Below, Jay extended his arms, and the sands began to ripple and distort. A swirling vortex erupted from the ground, spiraling outward in a massive radius. 

The air itself twisted, bending reality as it expanded, tearing through the landscape with raw, untamed force. Sand dunes flattened under the pressure, and the sky above warped, as though being pulled toward the epicenter of Jay's ability, where the heavens themselves had been violently torn apart.

Within the tear, an enormous cloud churned and pulsed, its deep purples, fiery reds, and electric blues swirling in constant motion. Tendrils of glowing mist cascaded from the cloud, casting an eerie glow across the desert as lightning cracked through the sky, sending booming echoes across the land. The sheer scale of Jay's ability left Xulkin in awe—a force vast enough to reshape the very terrain, capable of unmaking anything in its path.

The sand monsters, once ferociously charging toward Jay, began to falter as they neared him. It was as if an invisible force thickened the air, turning the battlefield against them. Gravity itself seemed to intensify, slowing their movements the closer they got. 

By the time they reached a hundred meters from Jay, they were trapped, unable to move forward, struggling under an overwhelming gravitational pressure that pinned them to the ground.

Those that dared to fight against that force found themselves in an even more dire situation. As they strained to break free, small tears in space opened around them, minuscule rifts in the fabric of reality itself. 

From within those cracks emerged streaks of deep purples, fiery reds, and electric blues, swirling together in lethal harmony. Those streams of Arcane energy snaked through the air with terrifying precision, penetrating the monsters' bodies. 

Once inside, they dismantled the creatures from within, disintegrating them with a brutal efficiency that left no room for resistance. In mere seconds, the once mighty beasts were reduced to lifeless husks, torn apart by forces they could not defend against.

Even the attacks aimed at Jay were rendered useless. As the monsters hurled their projectiles or unleashed their powers, space itself seemed to react. Cracks opened up between Jay and the oncoming assault, absorbing the attacks into the void, where they disappeared as though they had never existed. The battlefield around Jay was a vortex of controlled destruction, a space where the rules of reality seemed to be bent to his will.

The numbers of fallen monsters grew rapidly. First, dozens collapsed under the crushing force of his power, then hundreds followed, their relentless aggression driving them headlong into death. 

The more they charged, the faster Jay cleared them, their mindless attacks only hastening their demise. To the outside observer, it was as though the monsters were running willingly into the jaws of oblivion.

Jay stood calmly amid the chaos, his eyes surveying the devastation quietly. The skill he was using was among the strongest in his arsenal, second only to his legendary║HEAVEN BREAKER║. 

It was a large-scale attack powered by the Arcane element, an immensely destructive skill he had mastered after converging Thunder Miasma with Earth, Light, Wood, and Space elements.

He had first converged the Arcane elment in the four days following the Tournament. Yet, despite that immense power, Jay knew there was still a final step left to take. The true potential of the Elemental Convergence remained locked, restrained by the absence of one crucial component: Time.

Without the Innate Talent for Time, he could not converge the Chaos element—the ultimate fusion of all 10 elements. That final step would elevate him to a level of control and destruction unlike anything he had ever known, allowing him to transcend even the boundaries of his current power.

The skill Jay deployed,║Arcane Vortex║, was a culmination of countless trials and errors. Over the past few days, he had been refining his mastery over the Arcane element, but that was the first time he was unleashing it on such a grand scale. The combination of additional elements significantly elevated the power and versatility of the Arcane element.

The inclusion of the Light element greatly amplified its raw destructiveness, causing his strikes to land with overwhelming force. The Earth element granted him control over gravity, allowing him to manipulate the battlefield, crushing foes under immense pressure or restricting their movements entirely. 

The Wood element, often overlooked in its subtlety, played a vital role by weakening the regenerative abilities of lifeforms affected by Arcane energy, preventing them from healing as they normally would. 

However, it was the Space element that added a layer of unpredictability and creativity to his attack patterns. Instead of following a traditional straight path, his strikes could now bend and shift unpredictably, emerging from cracks in space to ambush enemies from unexpected angles. The unpredictability made it hard for his foes to defend themselves.

Compared to when he relied on Thunder Miasma, Jay felt far more powerful and adaptable. The Arcane element allowed him to draw from a much wider range of abilities, making him a force to be reckoned with in both offense and defense. 

But the newfound strength came at a cost—the consumption of Spirit Energy was astronomical. If not for the passive boost from his cousin Lokesh's Innate Talent, Jay knew he wouldn't have been able to sustain the Arcane element for long at its full grandeur.

Lokesh's Innate Talent was a lifesaver. For every hour his cousin remained truthful, Jay's Stamina, Spirit Energy, and Health increased by 1%. 

Including their time in the Trial World and the breaks they took in between, it had been 528 hours since Lokesh had activated his talent. The passive boost had stacked up to an incredible 528%, more than five times Jay's normal Spirit Energy reserves. 

With the enormous buff, Jay could handle the extreme consumption required by║Arcane Vortex║, allowing him to maintain his devastating assault on the battlefield without fear of running dry.

Despite the carnage around him—monsters falling in droves, the landscape itself being torn apart—Jay's attention wasn't entirely focused on the battle at hand. 

Killing monsters and clearing the Obelisk was secondary. His true focus lay elsewhere, on something far more important. He kept a close eye on his steadily increasing Universe Points, which were inching closer to the target he needed to acquire the legendary Origin Glaive.

For the longest time, Jay hadn't been sure exactly how many points he needed, the exact number eluding him. But that changed a few days ago, thanks to Lokesh's third Innate Exclusive Skill. That skill not only helped him identify the near precise number of Universe Points required but also provided invaluable insight into several other key areas. 

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║UNIVERSAL INQUIRY║:

This ability lets the user ask a limited number of "true" or "false" questions about the past or present. The number of questions scales with the user's mastery grade.

At Grade 3: 3 questions per day {↑ With grade advancement}

Cooldown: 18 hours {↓ With grade advancement}

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Using that Skill, Jay had finally uncovered the range of Universe Points needed to acquire the weapon he sought—the Origin Glaive. 

The number was between 33,000 and 33,500 points, and Jay wasn't far from that goal. He calculated that clearing the remaining Tier-4 monsters on this floor would likely provide him with enough points to reach the target.

Despite the exhaustion from continuously wielding such a powerful skill, the excitement on Jay's face was undeniable. The fatigue of battle couldn't overshadow the anticipation building within him—he was on the verge of acquiring the weapon that would elevate his power to new heights. Each step brought him closer to that reality, and the thought of wielding the Origin Glaive drove him forward, pushing his limits even further.

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Author Note: 

Exclusive artwork for every free chapter is now available on my PATRE0N page! You can find the link in my Discord server.

I'm thrilled to share that I'm taking a big leap forward! Alongside Earth's Alpha Prime, I've launched the first sub-book for EAP.

ALTER REALITY: Online

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The first ten to comment for new chapter releases will get '1 ADVANCED CHAPTER' for free on Earth Alpha Prime's Discord server.

In the discord server, I opened a private channel for those Top 10 candidates, where I posted the respective Advanced Chapter.

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Discord Link for 'Earth's Alpha Prime' :

https://discord.gg/maQC7xDBYZ

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