[STT] Chapter 61: Not Holding Back (Patreon)

Ben knew exactly what he wanted, and that was to make Cassian treat him like a real threat and stop holding back.

Despite being as weak as he was, he would be satisfied with that much, and that was why he taunted him.

And it worked.

Cassian lunged.

Ben pushed mana into his right palm and fired a [Fire Burst]. The explosion blasted him backward, ripping him completely out of the path of a sweeping punch.

But gravity was still a thing. So, chaining the momentum before his back could hit the dirt, he triggered a heel-burst from his left foot.

The push whipped him up into a sharp diagonal angle in the air.

No no no no! Don't mess this up!

[Focus] helped, but flying through the air like a deranged acrobat was still something he didn't want to do.

So he angled the tip of his staff straight down at the confused giant, and he unleashed a compressed [Mana Cannon] right into Cassian's chest.

The blast pushed the battle junkie back a step, kicking up a massive cloud of dust, while also straightening Ben.

Landing lightly on his feet, Ben palm-burst to the right, dodging a chunk of earth Cassian blindly kicked at him.

For a solid minute, the fight turned into exactly that. Exploding from point to point, Ben was genuinely untouchable.

He chained palm-bursts and heel-bursts to jerk his body in ways he couldn't before. Not to mention, watching Cassian swing at the air was satisfying.

Ben kept complete control of the rhythm. Every single time the tank committed to a strike, Ben just detonated another burst to snap out of the way.

With every successful dodge he punished Cassian with a [Mana Cannon] from the staff, peppering the giant's iron like skin from all sides.

This is actually working.

Ben grinned wildly. He was completely dominating the pace of the spar.

But Cassian's strikes were still entirely too measured, and way too carefully aimed to not accidentally kill him.

Narrowing his eyes, Ben decided to push the issue and force the guy to snap. Dropping directly in front of the giant instead of dodging away, Ben channeled an absurd amount of mana into his staff.

"Come on! Is that really all you've got?"

He fired a [Mana Cannon] square into Cassian's face, completely blinding the guy in a flash of blue light.

Clearing the dust with a wave of his hand, Cassian stared down at Ben, his eyes glowing with a terrifying, unhinged thrill.

The air around him suddenly felt heavy and suffocatingly dense.

Cassian paused and wiped his bleeding mouth. He stared at the red smear on the back of his hand with mild amusement.

"You actually made me bleed. I'm at the very peak of Tier 2, Benjamin."

Dropping his arms completely to his sides, the battle junkie let his guard down. He just stood there looking entirely too relaxed for a guy in the middle of a fight.

But Ben felt it that moment. He felt that if he attacked right now, he would die.

"I was just playing around before. I will respect you as an opponent now."

Oh.

Taking a single step forward, Cassian literally vanished from Ben's field of vision. It looked exactly like the Shadow Monkey's teleportation nonsense, bypassing the physical space between them entirely.

Ben whipped his staff up and triggered a [Mana Cannon] right as the giant materialized directly in his face.

Reaching out with his bare hand, he clamped his massive hand directly over the wooden head of the staff right as the spell detonated.

The compressed mana exploded into his palm. Blood immediately spurted through his thick fingers. Drip, drip, drip. Ignoring the damage completely, Cassian held the staff in place with an unbreakable grip.

And he threw a punch right into Ben's solar plexus so fast Ben didn't even see it coming. 

Losing all the air in his lungs instantly, Ben went completely blank. The world just snapped to black for a split second as his brain shut down.

Gasping for breath, his vision swam back into focus to find himself flat on his back. Every single muscle in his body absolutely ached, and the sky above him spun in slow, lazy circles.

Well, he got exactly what he asked for.

Blocking out the sun, Cassian leaned over him. The giant offered his uninjured hand with a satisfied grin on his face.

Ben grabbed the forearm, and let the guy haul him back up to his feet.

"That was incredibly satisfying, Benjamin! You have a ridiculous amount of potential to be fighting like this as a Tier 1. Let's definitely spar again when you get a bit stronger!"

Darting straight into his peripheral vision, Sera immediately marched right up to the giant. Grabbing her brother's bleeding hand with a fierce scowl, she yanked his arm to inspect the damage.

She flashed a rapid series of angry hand signs with her free hand, and pushed a wave of magic into his torn flesh.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have caught it bare handed," Cassian chuckled, looking entirely unbothered by his ruined palm. "But you have to admit, it was an incredibly spectacular attack! It would be disrespectful— Ow!"

She pinched his hand with a sweet smile on her face, and Cassian chuckled nervously, eyes darting to Ben pleadingly, then flickering back to her.

"Come, come, sweet sister. I was merely joking. Aren't you the world's bestest?"

Sera just shook her head in defeat.

Watching his little sister give up so easily, the battle junkie just let out another booming laugh and let her finish closing the wound.

And then the tiny healer whirled around, reached out to Ben, and grabbed his scorched, blistering arms and hands with an even deeper scowl.

Pushing a wave of soothing magic into Ben's hands and arms, the healer got straight to work.

And he was definitely in absolutely terrible shape right now.

Bleeding from half a dozen different places, his left arm was completely fractured, and both of his hands were entirely roasted from firing off explosions out of his bare skin.

Especially given that his arms and hands weren't used to fire mana like his feet and legs were.

Finishing up the worst of the burns, Sera glared at him with her eyes blazing. Poking a finger hard into his shoulder, she started aggressively signing right in his face.

Staring blankly at her gestures, Ben didn't actually understand a single thing she was saying. But he could take a pretty solid guess.

"I completely agree. We should definitely poison his food tomorrow." Ben nodded sagely.

Freezing in the middle of a sharp chopping gesture that definitely wasn't a threat, Sera just stared at him stunned.

Clapping both hands tightly over her mouth, she bent over and started shaking with completely silent, breathless laughter.

Then she gave him a thumbs up, nodding furiously as she gave Cassian a side eye.

"Hey!" Cassian complained. "Don't poison my food!"

The brute, as expected, took Ben's words literally.

Dropping back down into the dirt, Ben let out a hum as he pulled up his notifications. He had taken an absolute beating today, but the payoff was entirely worth the pain.

[Fire Burst Lvl 17 > Lvl 19]

[Warforged Lvl 10 > Lvl 11]

[Focus Lvl 6 > Lvl 7]

[Mana Manipulation Lvl 9 > Lvl 10]

His skills were definitely progressing nicely. [Fire Burst] was already knocking on the door of an evolution. But he had another plan for that.

He needed to see if evolving the skill was even on the table after he pulled off his plan. And he wasn't about to jinx it by overthinking the details right now.

Sera kept up her magic, and Ben didn't just sit there like a lazy patient.

Triggering his own skill, he fired up [Regeneration] to speed up the tedious healing process.

Frowning instantly, Sera paused. Her eyes flickered up to meet him with a sharp, calculating gleam.

Dropping her magic completely, she chopped her hands before pointing at his chest and miming cranking a massive dial in the air. She raised a single eyebrow, tilting her head like she was asking for permission.

Ben just stared blankly. He obviously didn't know what she was trying to say.

"As long as whatever you want to do doesn't actually hurt me, go right ahead."

Nodding, she reached out and pressed her hands flat against his ribs.

And then she literally hijacked his [Regeneration].

Gasping, Ben felt an entirely foreign pull on his internal mana. Instantly, [Focus] ramped up to a thousand. Boring his eyes into her focused face, he immediately turned his attention inward.

He tracked exactly how she grabbed his life mana and twisted it into a hyper efficient loop. Memorizing every single micro adjustment she made, he burned the feeling into his brain.

Finishing the job in literally under three seconds, Sera pulled her hands back. She had just healed his body using his own damn skill.

Taking the reins of his mana back, Ben immediately replicated the exact same twisted loop she just used.

Sera widened her eyes, staring at his chest in shock. She watched him perfectly mirror the healing technique she had just forced his body to perform.

And the system definitely agreed with his thievery.

Ethical acquisition!

[Regeneration Lvl 12 > Lvl 14]

She pointed at his ribs, then slapped both hands to the sides of her head in a mock mind-blown explosion.

What the hell does that even mean?

"I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say right now."

Cassian let out a booming laugh.

"She is asking how you managed to do that, Benjamin."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ben looked at the tiny healer helplessly.

"I don't know. I literally just copied what you did."

Crossing her arms into an X, Sera shook her head violently. She tapped her own chest, pointed accusingly at Ben, and then aggressively waved her hands in a wide sweeping motion.

Looking up at the giant battle junkie, Ben waited for the translation.

"She says that you shouldn't have been able to do that."

And Ben just gave her another blank stare. He really didn't know what she wanted him to say to that.

Throwing her hands up in the air, Sera let out a sigh and just gave up.

Ethan and Alice finally decided it was time for them to come close again. Ethan whistled low.

"You actually survived. Color me impressed."

Kicking a rock with her boot, Alice shook her head in sheer disbelief.

"Barely. That was genuinely insane to watch."

Cassian offered the two a grin.

"Your friend is an absolute monster in the making! We just had a wonderful warm-up. Would you two be up for a spar?"

""No.""

Both of them said at the same time.

"Right." Ben interjected. "Glad you enjoyed the show. But now that we're all warmed up..."

He locked eyes with Ethan.

"Let's go do the crazy thing."

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