Chapter 17: Showdown of Champions Part: 1

After Lucas heard the clicking of the yes button he noticed something. A vast amount of unread notifications had seemingly happened while he was asleep and while he was dealing with the people in the hospital.

"One moment Champion," Lucas said with deep sarcasm.

Ember cocked his head before nodding as he held his hand out in front of him as if to stop something.

<The duel has been temporarily paused for 1 minute so the users can prepare for battle. Please use this time wisely Users!>

'This Dueling thing seems pretty functional...' Lucas pondered as he wondered what the real purpose of the system was.

Lucas turned around to explain what was going to happen to Lina but found that she had disappeared and so had his surroundings. Instead, he was in a strange blue cylindric room that looked something akin to a sparring ring.

Lucas frowned as he realized that this was most likely the systems doing. He turned and looked at Ember and noticed he was doing stretches and muttering to himself.

'How the hell is this guy a hero?' Lucas thought to himself.

'He steals other people's stuff and his group of people was going to use me as a guinea pig... It really makes no sense.'

'Perhaps it has to do with the person's mentality?' Lucas thought before deciding it was a topic to be figured out later when he had more information.

Lucas clicked the notification button and waited for the system prompts to start appearing.

---

<The User has successfully evolved into the <Psychic> race. You gain the following benefits:>

<Access to the Psionics stat. Current rating: 1>

<You gain access to one Psychic ability of your choice.>

<User gains +50 to each mental stat other than Psionics.>

---

'wut' was the only thing Lucas could think to himself as he stared at the simple words in front of him.

'I just gained... 150 stat points? What the hell!' Lucas thought to himself as he did a little fist pump into the air that gave the opponent a sense of confusion.

'System, show my stats!'

---

[Stats]

<Strength: 34 + 5<Temp> + 20 = 59>

<Dexterity: 33 + 5<Temp> = 38>

<Endurance: 105 + 5<Temp> + 20 =130>

<Control: 79 + 5<Temp> = 84>

<Intelligence: 71 + 5<Temp> = 76>

<Power: 70 + 5<Temp> = 75>

<Charm: 65 + 5<Temp> = 70>

<Psionics: 1>

<Skill Points: 0>

<Stat Points: 0>

---

'Hot damn!' Lucas exclaimed as he looked at his new-fangled stats.

'Charm counts as a mental stat? That doesn't make too much sense...' Lucas thought before ignoring it.

'Alright. Continue notifications.' Lucas thought to the system as he readied himself for what was to come.

---

<The user has leveled up <Basic Club Proficiency> to level 10! Skill is ready for evolution!>

<The user has leveled up <Dodge> to level 7!>

<The user has leveled up <Sensory Overdrive> to level 6!>

<The user has leveled up <Well Crafted Tools> to level 2!>

---

The notifications stopped abruptly and Lucas quickly noticed the most important notification and reacted quickly to it.

'Evolve <Basic Club Proficiency>!'

---

<Please choose one of the following options to evolve <Basic Club Proficiency> into>:

<Advance Club Proficiency: Rarity: Common>:

The big club hits little man and the little man goes to sleep. Ooga Booga!

<Fighting Style: Crushing Blows: Rarity: Rare>:

Armor is nothing in the face of an unstoppable force.

<Fighting Style: Psychic Club: Rarity: Racial/Unique>

By reinforcing your club with mana you can do things that others can only dream of.

---

Lucas looked at the strange words that the system used to described the first skill and instantly passed it up.

'The last two both seem beneficial but seeing as I'm a Psychic myself I choose you Psychic Club!' Lucas thought with little to no hesitation.

'Oh and I also got a psychic skill that I get to choose right?' Lucas asked, slightly surprised that the system would give him the ability to pick any power he wanted.

'... I wonder how far it will let me push this...' Lucas thought to himself as he pondered over what he should choose.

<...>

The system simply replied with an ellipse that seemed to convey its feelings if it had them.

'How about probability manipulation?' Lucas asked trying to push the boundaries of what it would allow.

<How about... NO>

'Man why does it feel like it has a personality out of nowhere. It feels like I'm talking to customer service...'

'Fine, fine, how about future sight?' Lucas asked.

<...Really?>

'yeah.' Lucas said with a grin.

<Confirm?>

'Hell yeah!'

---

<Drafting Future Sight-based skills!>

<Skill choices are as follows.>:

<Foresight: Rarity: Rare>:

You will understand what one action you do will cause. The higher the skill level and your Psionics level the stronger this effect is and the more information you receive.

<Danger sense: Rarity: Uncommon>:

You sense incoming danger in advance. 'Taste my Arachnid Sense!'

<Wish: Rarity: Mythical>:

You say something and it may come true. This skill has a 1-month cooldown.

---

'...'

'Didn't you say I could choose the skill? Not that you would force me to choose from random skills?!' Lucas thought towards the system angrily as a look of disgust appeared on his face.

<...>

'Fuch you!' Lucas cursed as he thought of what school to choose.

'Foresight seems pretty cool. It's kind of like probability prediction in a way.'

'Danger sense is obviously a rip-off ability while Wish seems truly mysterious.'

'...The ability to wish for anything is awfully appealing...'

'I suppose I can't resist this powerful temptation!' Lucas thought as he quickly chose the skill.

<User has chosen the <Wish> Skill. Congratulations on earning your second Psychic skill.>

'Now let me view them please!'

---

<Fighting Style: Psychic Club: Rarity: Racial/Unique> Requirement: Evolve <Basic Club Proficiency> and be a psychic.

You are learning how to use the club… with your mind! You gain 100% bonus XP to learning club-based skills when using your mind. You also do +300% damage when you use your mind to manipulate your club to attack.

---

<Wish>: Tier 0 / LV: 1 / Rarity: Mythical> Requirement: Gained through racial change.

You make one wish for free. The more specific and focused the wish the more likely it is to be more powerful/come true. This skill has a one-month cooldown.

---

'These are pretty powerful. But how the hell do I control my precious <Night Bat> With my mind?' Lucas asked the system to which it simply sent nothing in reply.

'Alright, I guess. It's up to me and me alone to figure out how my new abilities work...' Lucas thought to himself as he heard a bell ring and looked around in confusion but before he could turn around he felt <Dodge> Activate and he immediately ducked down, narrowly dodging a knee to the head by Ember the so-called <Hero>.

"Cheap tactics? How can a <Hero> Ever do something like that? I thought they were supposed to be honorable." Lucas scoffed and swung <Night Bat> And missed widely.

'Holy shit this guy is fast!' Lucas said as Ember soared through the air and hit the barrier that encapsulated them and bounced off of it like a rubber bullet coming straight back towards Lucas.

Lucas squared up and struck towards Ember.

'Just like the old days' Lucas thought to himself as he remembered when he used to play baseball.

As he struck down on Ember however a glint appeared in the eyes of the youth as he reached out and touched the bat with his hand and it was at that moment something horrifying happened...

<Night Bat> Crumpled into itself and looked like a piece of useless junk.

Lucas felt in that moment a rage that was more of regret than anything else.

'You little twerp that was my first real creation!' Lucas thought as he decided at that moment that he wasn't gonna go easy on this little kid.

'You asked for it!' Lucas thought as he felt his anger coalesce into physical form as the bat automatically reformed itself as if it had never been damaged.

"Wait what?!" Lucas and the youth said at the same time as Lucas finished his swing midair and hit Ember in his midsection, sending him flying across the room.

'Is this what it means to be a psychic?' Lucas thought as he felt like his mind had become something more tangible than it had ever been before.

It was almost like he was using another sense that he was foreign to. Almost like a child opening its eyes to see its parents staring down at them for the first time. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Something that was completely alien from what he knew in his life.