Triopals
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Chapter 4
🕑 Added 2024-10-14 16:35:55 +0000 UTCNathan awoke with his head spinning, unable to clearly remember what had happened after his return. An entire barrel of fruit wine was truly too much. Not to mention two consecutive days of getting utterly wasted left him exhausted.
Looking out the window to greet the sunlight, he suddenly felt the urge to laze in bed all day. But that notion only persisted for a moment before being replaced.
I've got work to do.
Triggered [Self Emotional Support]. One credit given.
Now he had time to examine what the system had given him yesterday.
Two skills, [Bad Mouth] and [Self Emotional Support], had already shown their effects. One made him curse, while the other helped stabilize his emotions—one dangerous, the other highly beneficial.
He requested information about the third skill.
[Flowing Strikes]
Description: has a 17% chance to increase the damage of next two attacks by 20%.
The description differed from [Amplifying Strikes]. There was no 'same type'. He surmised there would be no loophole for him to exploit.
As for the Ultra Rare skill, he had already experienced it. Even now, he still felt the change in his martial arts thought process that the skill brought.
One thing that nagged at him was the system’s gacha-like mechanics. Skills were distributed almost entirely at random, with the odds of receiving rarer skills decreasing as they became more powerful.
As if understanding what he was thinking, the system displayed a notification panel.
The escalating odds for rare skills, very rare skills, and ultra rare skills.
Odds for rare skills
1st Roll: 1:1000
2nd Roll: 1:583
3rd Roll: 1:187
4th Roll: 1:88
…
50th Roll: 1:1
Odds for very rare skills
1st Roll: 1:20000
2nd Roll: 1:3653
3rd Roll: 1:1059
4th Roll: 1:485
…
50th Roll: 1:2.2
Odds for ultra rare skills
1st Roll: 1:100000
2nd Roll: 1:27380
3rd Roll: 1:8614
4th Roll: 1:4021
…
50th Roll: 1:17
The escalating odds rang a bell in Nathan’s mind due to how familiar they felt. But his groggy state kept him from remembering exactly why, so he focused on the immediate task at hand.
“Gambling,” he muttered under his breath.
Even at the 50th roll, the chance was still only 50% for a rare skill.
To better assess, he glanced at the [Shop] tab and his current credit balance: 137.
Shop
Skill Roll: 200 credits.
Skill Point: 100 credits.
Skill Breaker: 5000 credits.
*Further items require unlocking.
*Prices are subject to change.
Skill breaker? Nathan inquired.
[Skill Breaker]
Description: Erase an unwanted skill from the skill pool.
Before he could rejoice at the possibility of removing [Bad Mouth], the price made his mouth twitch repeatedly. He didn't even have enough points for a single roll.
Reviewing his techniques, his eyes lit up. All techniques in the pool required only one skill point to level up.
He was tempted to upgrade [Martial Art Mastery], but remembering the pain and the vast amount of knowledge it brought made him hesitate. At the current level, he still couldn't fully utilize it. At the next level, which emphasized extruding mana outside the body—something he couldn't do—would only bring him ineffective understanding. Even if he knew what move his opponent was making, his physical limitations would still lead to his clear demise.
[Amplifying Strike] was stuck; he only saw a path leading to the next level at one node without seeing the destination. This meant skills were also limited by his cultivator tier. Tier 1 could max out skills at level 2, Tier 2 at level 3, and so on.
That left only [Flowing Strikes]. As for [Bad Mouth] and [Self Emotional Support], they could be forgotten.
Growth Path 1: Flowing Chance.
Next Level: increase the chance to 25%.
Growth Path 2: Methodical Flow.
Next Level: change the way the skill operates. Now the effect will be triggered after the fourth attack.
Choosing one path will disable the other.
He couldn't help but smile. Once again, there was a skill that fit his 'The fourth attack pattern' plan.
Feeling excited, he stood up and walked towards the room's door, reaching out to touch the tablet embedded in the wall. It displayed his current information.
Name: Nathan Reed (Male).
Sect Points: 753 points.
Free room rental period: 30 days.
He was glad the bonus points from yesterday's test had been added. At the same time, his heart sank when the once “Unknown” room rental period had been replaced by a concrete number.
Touching the Sect's reward history, he suddenly froze. No matter how many times he scrolled back and forth or restarted, it wasn't there.
The three 'Initial Advancing Pills' hadn't been announced as gifts to him. Without them, he wouldn't be able to receive medicine from the supply room for disciples.
Recalling yesterday's conversation with the outer sect elder, he could understand why. This was probably the best treatment possible. Getting one pill every three months made Nathan think Verdant Spire Sect was generous with Tier 1 pills. But with the increasing number of disciples, it would be a huge expense in both resources and manpower. Wasting it on a disciple like him was truly something only a fool would do. If including the 50% discount on pill purchases for new disciples, he had already taken too much advantage.
Not dwelling too long on issues he couldn't change, he returned to planning how to allocate the remaining seven hundred and fifty points. He sat down, took out paper and pen, and began to draft a schedule for the upcoming month.
After about two hours, a preliminary chart was completed. By cutting expenses on food and daily necessities, he had utilized every point. Additionally, the option to buy 'Initial Advancing Pills' was eliminated. He had no basis to blindly continue absorbing and hoping for miracles.
His next thirty days would revolve around the training area and library. He even decided to book private rooms with advanced options to test himself. Each hour would cost 6 sect points, 1 point for ten minutes, so 5 hours would cost 30 points. Five sessions a week for 4 weeks would use up 600 points. The library was one point per hour, also divided evenly, consuming 80 points. The remaining 73 points were for other expenses and contingencies.
Starting immediately, he headed to the training grounds and walked towards the infrastructure behind. This was an area he hadn't visited before, saving points to exchange for healing medicine and advancement. The area gave him the impression of a mechanical era with cubic blocks stacked neatly into rows. To reach the upper rooms, floating platforms were used, unattached to any axis or component. Each room bore a dull gray color, surrounded by smoke when releasing energy and recharging through pipes connected directly to the ground. Their walls looked quite thick and sturdy from the outside, not entirely built of stone but some special mixture.
He met the manager pointing her pen towards the training rooms ahead.
"Excuse me, miss?" he spoke up.
The girl with black hair and sharp eyes looked at him. Seeing his awkward appearance, she immediately knew this must be his first time.
"Desired duration?" she asked curtly.
"Two and a half hours," he would use the other half in the afternoon.
"Place your finger here!" she held out the tablet in her hand towards him.
He followed her instructions. The screen displayed his sect points and deducted the corresponding value, 15 points.
"Stand on one of the moving platforms, it will take you to an empty room," she said, then added with a heavy tone, "When time's up, you must leave immediately. Don't linger in there, understand?"
He nodded nervously. The manager just waved her pen to dismiss him, returning to her work on the tablet.
The moving platform worked like an elevator, but with a strange, zigzagging motion—sometimes ascending, sometimes moving sideways. During the ride, a forcefield kept Nathan securely in place, preventing any mishaps. Around him, other disciples were also being transported to or from training rooms.
His room was on the third floor near the middle. The door automatically opened on both sides as he stepped onto the hallway in front. The walls were lined with shock-absorbing square tiles. Currently, the room was empty, waiting for Nathan's desired adjustments.
As in the training yard, he first commanded a dummy target. The initial step was to verify his skills.
Step one, as before, he tested to see if it worked, though he already knew the answer.
After using Force Fist three times, improved by [Martial Art Mastery], the skill activated.
Triggered [Flowing Strikes]. One credit given.
Fourth Force Fist.
Triggered [Amplifying Strike]. One credit given.
The damage indicator showed a number that made him rejoice. 6.
So the two skills stacked. [Flowing Strikes] increased the attack from 2.5 to 3 with 20%. [Amplifying Strike] turned it into 6 with 200% on top.
The next attack, as expected, was 3. A final test returned to 2.5.
Having chosen Methodical from the start, he didn't hesitate to upgrade [Flowing Strike].
After resting for a few minutes, he returned and executed four punches.
Triggered [Amplifying Strike]. One credit given.
He was about to strike again when he suddenly stopped.
Wait a minute, he whispered. I think I miscalculated something.
Realizing his mistake, he held his head in his hands. After the fourth hit, not the third! [Flowing Strike] only took effect on the fifth and sixth strikes.
Thus, it didn't follow the fourth attack pattern.
Nathan took a deep breath, trying to calm down. His mind continued to race.
If they don’t align on the fourth hit, then I need to find the least common multiple.
After recalculating, he realized that the two skills would only synchronize every 12th attack.
Nathan tested his theory and, sure enough, the twelfth strike resulted in a combined damage output of 5.8. The outcome made him reconsider whether he’d made the right choice. Relying on chance-based skills meant he wouldn’t have to think as much in battle. He only needed to keep track of a few key abilities, like [Amplifying Strike]. But now, with the activation happening after the fifth and sixth strikes, it felt like playing a rhythm game without cues to press. In his mind, he’d have to manually calculate that the combo would trigger on the 12th, 24th hit, and so on. If another skill relied on the 5th hit, it wouldn’t sync again until the 60th strike across three stacks.
His head throbbed from the endless mental gymnastics. Fighting was hard enough—now he had to do math?
[Self Emotional Support] triggered. One credit given.
Nathan's eyes lit up.
PsiLink! The personal supercomputer no larger than a sticker.
That’s right! Once he had it, he could set up calculations and triggers so that PsiLink would alert him when it was time.
Having found a solution to the complications brought by the Methodical Path, he pondered deeply if he had missed anything. There had to be an approach for him to train in the coming time and increase his chances of entering the inner sect.
[Flowing Strikes] activated based on all attack turns, not categorized differently like [Amplifying Strike]. He wanted to reduce the number of times and simplify the way for both to stack.
He arm-reloaded Force Fist three times, putting [Amplifying Strike] in a pre-activation state.
Then, without using mana, he punched the air three times, two of which benefited from [Flowing Strikes]. Thus, resetting the counter for this skill.
Next, he performed a martial arts technique learned from [Martial Art Mastery] by channeling mana into his fingers. The damage was very small, but falling on normal flesh would be enough to leave a bruise. This was mainly to confirm to the system that he was attacking, not scratching an itch. He pressed his fingers as if playing piano keys from pinky to index, four times, while curling them into a fist.
Finally, he launched a Force Fist.
Triggered [Amplifying Strike]. One credit given.
Triggered [Flowing Strikes]. One credit given.
He jumped up, waving his arms in joy. The [Self Emotional Support] skill was truly useful.
He finalized the overall direction for his one-month program. Familiarize himself with the synchronization method of the two given skills. Only then would he have enough ability to compete. His current maximum output of 6 wasn't entirely hopeless, at least it wasn't a complete 0 like before. Who would’ve thought that after just two days, he’d be seriously considering a shot at entering the Inner Sect?
With two hours left, he practiced getting used to this bizarre fighting style. Charge and hold one skill, then charge the other skill, release simultaneously, then return to the initial step. At least it was a rhythm for him to hum along to.
He ordered the training room to change the practice target. The dummy was sucked down and a cluster of brown straw fibers was sprayed up. They floated in a strange rhythm, then wove into each other like ropes, connecting through knots, forming a human figure. The Straw Man. An invention of the elders in Verdant Spire Sect. They could scale strength according to disciples' wishes. At the same time, they contained a tiny amount of essence for advancement. Of course, the amount was extremely small, much less than the 'Initial Advancing Pill'. The existence of essence in these training dummies was mainly to help disciples get accustomed to real combat with monsters, alongside mastering absorption.
The cost of creating Straw Men was high, but since most disciples couldn’t destroy them, they were reused frequently. Comparatively, it was far cheaper than buying or renting training robots.
Nathan set the parameters so that the Straw Man had the minimum required durability. Thanks to [Martial Art Mastery], his ability to apply theory to practice was smooth and fluid. His main focus was testing his limits and familiarizing himself with the skills.
The Straw Man took a combat stance, ready to face Nathan. Just from this initial posture, Nathan could analyze the likely angles of attack he could exploit. As he moved forward, so did the Straw Man. It threw a right hook. Instead of dodging like he had in his fight with Frank, Nathan seized the arm and threw the Straw Man to the ground, delivering a punch that sent the straw scattering. A faint pulse of energy washed over him as essence seeped into his body. The amount was so small that Nathan had to focus just to sense its existence.
With a simple command, the scattered straw drifted back together, reassembling into another Straw Man.
This time, Nathan increased the durability to require a damage output of 6.0 to defeat it.
The fight was much tougher even though he had hit the straw man's parts continuously. Changing style to use kicks, the straw man moved more unpredictably, and although the damage output was limited to 2, the pain when blocking attacks could still be felt very clearly. After understanding the movement pattern and the force concentration placed on the shin, he managed to dodge completely. To end it, he made his preparations, pre-loading Force Fist and Force Strike, while pushing [Flowing Strike] into activation state.
His kick met the straw man's shin, the force difference causing it to stagger, creating enough time needed for the force gathering action. His Force Fist punched through the puppet's chest. On the floor again were straws slowly floating down. The result of that punch was 6.1.
He let out a shout, delighted that he was making progress. It was a bit difficult to have two [Amplifying Strikes] consecutively. Not only did he have to adjust the rhythm, but there was also an obstacle in force gathering. He made a mental note to find ways to control the battle flow according to his will.
[Martial Art Mastery] had shown him directions to improve the techniques he had learned. The trio of Force Fist, Force Palm, and Force Kick truly needed refinement. But this process would take time because understanding was one thing, manipulating mana without harming the body was another. He needed to practice enough for his blood vessels and muscles to gradually adapt. Successfully modifying could help him increase technique effectiveness by about ten to fifteen percent. This would help him considerably when facing Phase 6 opponents.
He continued training, occasionally changing parameters and conducting a few experiments.
Panting heavily when the training room announced time was up, he hurriedly tidied up to leave as instructed.
After showering, Nathan went to the library to find methods for his critical weakness. One punch could leave him bedridden for months.
The system-given skills were seriously lacking in defense. [Martial Art Mastery] could help him develop a defensive technique like increasing the endurance of body parts, but it would also be extremely weak, not enough to withstand disciples participating with Phase 5 at the lowest. Therefore, the ultimate choice was to learn how to dodge and increase speed.
The Verdant Spire Sect library was a grand space, meticulously organized into sections. Its architecture carried a timeless air, with everything built from wood—floors, walls, and shelves—but not just any wood. Each piece had been refined and embedded with tiny mana circuits, automatically controlling the temperature and humidity, the natural enemies of books. In this world, where magic and modern technology intertwined, paper still held significant value, with many ancient documents needing preservation. The Sect’s library was particularly generous in granting disciples access to these materials.
Besides that, the library also digitized book titles. Interspersed among the paper bookshelves were shelves arranging thin square boxes containing book data. Disciples could pick up these boxes, and summary information would be projected as a hologram for them to choose whether to read it or not. The Sect didn't put it on PsiLink because they didn't want their faction's information leaked out. These square boxes were all equipped with necessary information jamming functions to prevent anyone from copying. Of course, if violated, the Sect would have appropriate penalties. According to Nathan's knowledge, if touching rare texts, the Sect would even consider elimination as a deterrent.
Nathan enjoyed using the modern data boxes because they brought the text to life with vivid visual aids. Any passage he wanted could be projected into a hologram, displaying details such as herbs, monsters, or techniques. When it came to martial arts, the holographic images were particularly helpful, allowing him to study stances, force flow, and even the detailed pathways of mana through the body’s meridians, reducing the risk of injury during training.
He quickly went up to the second floor, the area dedicated to Tier 1. Walking between two shelves dedicated to movement and dodging techniques, he pondered where to start. But then he just picked randomly from the shelf with square boxes, intending to let [Martial Art Mastery] do its work.
As he flipped through the box’s holograms at lightning speed, other disciples passing by gave him strange looks, but no one dared to speak loudly in the library. Nathan’s speed-reading, or rather, system-assisted browsing, didn’t allow him to absorb the handwritten notes or thoughtful annotations in the texts. It felt as if his skill was mocking the material, blitzing through knowledge faster than he could process it. In truth, his understanding had become so vast that it almost overwhelmed him, making it difficult to apply. He needed to narrow his focus, and the best way to do that was to adapt some of the Sect’s techniques, molding them into his own.
After two hours of eye strain, he had envisioned what he needed to do. Developing hand and foot movements was certainly necessary. But he also had to pay attention to small movements from other parts like the neck or waist to move them as quickly as possible when attacked. His speed was too different from his opponents, so any movement to dodge attacks had to be utilized. Just a millimeter away from the punch was enough to save him from a loss.
One style in particular caught his eye: Snake Style, a technique that emphasized fluidity and flexibility, turning the body into a pliable, dangerous weapon. It was exactly what he needed right now. Another option, Leopard Style, focused more on sheer speed, another viable choice.
Having made his decision, he rested after a tiring morning.
In the afternoon, Nathan returned to the training grounds, repeating his morning routine. He tested the new concepts and methods he had gleaned from the library, only to quickly realize they were problematic. His body had become accustomed to the rigid techniques taught to all disciples at the Verdant Spire Sect. After all, their goal was to train disciples up to Tier 2, at which point Tier 1 techniques would start to lose their relevance, shifting focus to other aspects of cultivation. But Nathan knew that a solid foundation in martial arts would give him an edge, allowing him to diversify his fighting style and increase his adaptability in future tiers.
The evening was time for meditation, summarizing the day that had passed.
On weekends, Nathan would ask Zeryn to train him. As someone possessing Sword Intent, Zeryn was a teacher any outer sect disciple would desire.
Using a wooden sword, Zeryn worked his friend to the bone. But at the same time, he was surprised at the development of someone who seemed permanently stuck at Tier 1. Before, Nathan didn't even bother to study with him because everything would just be useless beatings. But now, every time Nathan fell down and got up again, Zeryn could recognize that his attack trajectory was being dissected and analyzed thoroughly. A few times, Nathan had tried to launch counterattacks against him, but failed by a hair's breadth due to the reaction speed difference between Tier 2 and Tier 1. The most obvious progress was Nathan's movement ability. Zeryn had to say that his friend was truly slipperier than an eel. Indeed, he had to limit his abilities to be appropriate, but Nathan was really tough to chew at Tier 1.
"What the hell happened to you these last few days?" Zeryn squinted and asked.
"The heavens finally remembered me," Nathan just replied cheerfully.
Afterwards, they both lunged at each other again. Zeryn also ignited his passion, understanding that he too would benefit from this training.
"Youth is truly good," Orin rocked on a chair in the garden, sighing. He hadn't hesitated to let the two borrow the yard for practice.
With a push using the flat of his sword, Zeryn looked towards Orin.
"Old man, you still owe me bet money," he looked at Nathan with malice.
"Damn it," Orin shouted, "if it weren't for that brat, I would have had money to pay already."
Seeing the outer sect elder pointing at him, Nathan's face turned red.
"You bet on me losing?"
"What else, did you think I'd bet on you passing? There's never been a bet where the odds were so skewed to one side. Ah, wait. Damn it. If I had really bet on you passing, I'd have a lot of money now, wouldn't I?"
"You decrepit old ba..."
Triggered [Bad Mouth]. One credit given.
Covering his mouth, Nathan tried to calm down. He was an elder after all.
Orin didn’t seem to mind, though. He simply shot a glare at Zeryn, who was grinning from ear to ear, clearly enjoying the situation. “That kid sure knows how to make enemies,” the elder muttered.
Despite being the butt of their jokes, Nathan felt at ease. Time with these two always made him forget the harsh reality he was stuck in. Especially when the system gave him another very peculiar skill. After nearly ten days of scraping together credits, he had finally gathered enough for a single skill roll. Every night, existential questions haunted him—what was the meaning of life? Was weakness a crime? Was being ordinary a curse? Or was it immoral to just keep going, ignoring all the struggles around him? These sleepless nights led him down a spiral of dark thoughts. That was when [Self Emotional Support] kicked in. Exploiting that skill was both amusing and draining.
Yet, when the long-awaited skill roll finally came through, the system rewarded him with a skill that made him question everything.
Skill: [Butthurt]
Description: Reduce 60% of damage caused to the butt area.
* If damage exceeds the tolerance threshold, reduction will be ignored.
