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nA few more days passed wherein Eldrian continued to simply practice like a madman. Doing his individual matches every second day, with the day after each bracket being reserved for the loser bracket. The top 4 would be able to join normal matches on the next day again.

nUnlike the big categories, they did not need to choose someone to fight. Instead, reaching the top 4 allowed them to get back in immediately.

nAsh had actually managed to do just that, or so he had bragged to Eldrian the day after his defeat. Only to get kicked out again the next day and this time not make it back in. To which he was completely down, and no amount of teasing had made him feel better.

nUltimately, all that helped was his viewers encouraging him that he would get it next time. Many with honest feedback, even if they were no spear users themselves. Their concern and care had quickly gotten Ash to take on a quest to take his mind off his defeat.

nThis was not all that Eldrian had been doing. When Vivian finally felt up to sparring, the two did just that. Only, instead of taking it as seriously as he normally would, Eldrian made sure to keep their fight light-hearted.

nHe was still slower and weaker than her, however, the difference was no longer that great. At least this was true for speed. Eldrian actually broke their agreed-upon rules and used enhancement skill on himself. A skill he had grown extremely fond of as soon after he had discovered it in the Grigora manual.

nIt was an enhancement skill called Augment. Skills were truly strange, Eldrian had come to learn this fact over the past few days.

nSpells at least were understandable, they would always do something magical. With it clearly being seen as a magical ability. A fireball appearing from thin air, suddenly healing wounds as if they never happened, transforming the very earth.

nSkills instead were much more subversive. Sure, there were a few skills that were flashy, however, Eldrian had yet to learn even one of those types. He had actually come to learn that most of those were actually weapon abilities.

nThe skills he had learned were basically something that could be done without magic. And that was indeed how he learned them.

nThis Augment skill however, there was no way to learn it without magic. It felt more like a spell, yet it still required physical acts. Something that Eldrian was still not used to.

nTensing up the muscles in his arm, Eldrian prepared for the incoming strike while sending Augment to increase his strength. Sending the skill to that part of his body solely. Unfortunately, while he was not much slower than Vivian, he was still far weaker.

nThe hit caused him to stumbled back and nearly lose his footing, to counter this Eldrian changed where he was focusing Augment. Sending it to his legs and improving both his speed and strength. It allowed him to recover by the time Vivian was on him, and to dodge the next strike.

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"No fair! You're cheating!

" Vivian shouted as her strike missed, Eldrian laughing as he shifted Augment to his arms again. Vivian blocking the strike with ease, but not when Eldrian suddenly spun around.

nDodging the backward thrust and blocking the spinning sweep, Vivian smiled as she realized she still had the upper hand.

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"I am just trying to equalize things,

" Eldrian replied as he jumped back and prepared another strike. Again shifting where Augment was helping him bridge the gap.

nIt should be clear that he was not using the skill as most would use it. After memorizing the skill and succeeding in using it, Eldrian had followed along the way his mana reacted and moved.

nWhere he struggled to maintain control in spells due to them being outside of him, he learned it was far easier to maintain total control with skills. His mana never left him, it only clumped, reacted, and then acted in a set manner.

nHe still needed to go through the step of activating it through the normal methods, but after that he would hijack his own skill and take complete control of it. Naturally, this was not ideal. But it worked. It also got him his second Rank 3 skill, this being his first Tier 3 skill at that.

nOh yeah, he also reached Tier 3 in melee. The reward of which was 20 more constitution and strength, 10 agility, and 5 spirit. Along with a massive increase in health, bringing his HP to 361 (From 279, an increase of 82 points). He also got a good boost in stamina, bringing it to 412 points (From 349, an increase of 63 points).

nThe bonus in stamina actually became crucial now that Eldrian was starting to really dive into skills. While they did cost a bit of mana, it did not take much to keep it active. Stamina however was another story, keeping it active drained stamina like no tomorrow.

nBack to how the skill was supposed to work. It was supposed to enhance one area solely at Tier 2. Either improving the limb's speed or strength. At Tier 3 you would have the choice of doing both. At Tier 4 you would be able to do both, or do 1 for two limbs

nYet naturally, none of the options were ideal. Speed and strength were not determined just by limbs. It required the entire body's cooperation. People knew this, and that was why most ignored the skill until Tier 5 where it turned to a full-body skill.

nAnd that was only if someone was learning the Grigora technique. Which in itself was actually unlikely. It was not a popular skill set due to the difficulty of all their skills that made it up.

nSpells focused on perfect technique, require normally days to months of practice just to get the basics. Naturally, as in all things, there were some freak geniuses who just get everything on the first or second try.

nEldrian might not be one of those, but he was close. The increased cognitive speed from his high agility and intelligence certainly didn't hurt his learning speed.

nIn any case, if someone at Tier 5 decided to use it for a full enhancement, then they would lose the ability to use both the speed and strength increase. Needing to choose again. This made many think that the skill was inferior to other enhancement skills, however, one thing it always had on all of them was; it gave so much more of an increase.

nWhat this all meant was that to do what Eldrian had done, people would normally need to use the skill anew for each place needing an upgrade. Casting it repeatedly was naturally draining, which was another reason it was normally ignored.

nWith his hijack method, Eldrian needed to constantly keep some focus on the skill and the mana he was controlling. However, through training, he had gotten the hang of this. It was not much different than keeping control of a spell, in fact, it was easier.

nHowever, it still meant he could easily mess it up. A perfect example of this was as Eldrian jumped back to make space again, he failed to alter the augmentation to his arms in time to block Vivian's strike. Without the increase in strength, he was laid down on his ass. Especially since the augment was also not in his leg at the time of the hit.

nSighing, Eldrian complained in a childish tone,

"Why did you have to end it like that?

"

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"Wha- Why did you fail to block!?

" Vivian countered, baited in by his tone.

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"What do you mean, do you know how hard it is to keep the skill active and perfectly time where I need it, while also keeping up with you in the fight?

" Eldrian countered, to which Vivian turned beet red as she realized she had forgotten to even try and keep herself in check.

nShe had gotten so absorbed in the fight. It had allowed her to focus on a task, to forget the thoughts and memories that were haunting her. Allow her for a moment to not think of all those who had died, and to stop worrying about her dad who she had not heard from in weeks.

nEldrian stopped laughing only after she overcame her embarrassment and glared at him. Jumping to the side he avoided her strike. It wouldn't have hurt, given that they were using training weapons. However, he did not want to give her mental victory.

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"You have to do better than that!

" He shouted as he booked it. Vivian chasing after him yet failing to catch up as Eldrian used all he had in running.

nAfter five minutes he turned around and looked at the heaving Vivian.

"You really need to learn to use Anthos or one of the rejuvenation spells while fighting,

" Eldrian replied, doing just that for her.

nTaking a seat she laughed for a moment and then thanked Eldrian.

"I really needed that.

" She said, meaning both the spell and the distraction.

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"Me too.

" Eldrian took a seat next to her. Forgetting that in their fun they had long left the camp, when he recalled this his blood turned to chills.

"Fuck! Vivian, qui-

"

nJumping up Eldrian blocked the flying dagger with Amos, the floating shield nearly flying out of his control from the hit. Confirming Eldrian's worst worry. As fast as he could he called up the map and tried to figure out where the nearest outpost for help was.

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