"No. Freaking. Way! That is so cool!"

Mikella watched Zeke geeking out in glee at the news of her new fused skill. He was literally jittering, his hands shaking in pure excitement as his feet jumped up and down like a toddler hearing about going to an amusement park.

Just pure joy and jubilation radiated off of him, his hands on his head as he kept speaking.

"Just what the hell can a Mythic skill bring? I didn't even know there was something beyond Legendary! I knew you would get a good skill, a Legendary at best and an Epic at worst, but this is way bigger than I imagined!"

"How… how is that even possible?" Janet said, her voice trailing off. Rather than excited, she was just mesmerized, shocked out of her mind, so to speak. "Even if you bring in all six skills at Rare Rarity, to get something like a Mythic rarity skill…"

"I knew you were pretty incredible, Mikky," Lyle said, chuckling to himself at everyone's reactions. "But you just keep stumping me at this point. What else is there to say except congratulations?"

"Thanks Lyle," Mikella said, her smile never leaving her face.

The four were at Alissa's home, considering it was bigger than Lyle's store/house and had more room to accompany everyone. Clara was also there with Zoan, hearing the news and while she was glad, it was hard to truly understand the value without really seeing it for herself. Still, her ecstatic face never left when she saw Zeke geeking out like a school kid, with Zoan standing behind her with that usual gaze of hers.

Though, this time, there was a hint of pride in her eyes. It was hard to tell, but after she talked to Hyralc, the other angel, Mikella was starting to see another side to Zoan now. She wasn't quite sure about that, but she at least knew it was good for them.

"A Mythic skill… that is an extraordinary achievement," Alissa said, the host of the house who also looked at Mikella with a hint of awe in her sharp eyes. "And still at a low Journeyman level, and even younger than other Journeymen too. Once Cronus hears about this, I'm honestly concerned at what he might do."

"Oh come on Ali, did you have to ruin it?" Mikella called out, pleading. "Please don't tell this to Cronus. I really don't want to hear what sort of plans he got for me even after getting us to get rid of the tower problems for him."

"You know it's my duty to report to him about everything that happened to you," Alissa said, ignoring all of her pleas completely. "But I was just exaggerating. More than likely, Cronus would want to ask you for details on the skill itself, especially since your Meditation skill was so low at the time."

"Actually…" Mikella pointed out, suddenly reminded. "After I got my skills fused, my Meditation jumped up a lot of levels."

Mikella pointed out, bringing out the notification after reading her new Mythic skill.

Meditation Level Up! It is now Level 7.

You have gained +1 INT (x6) from your skill. You have gained +1 SPI (x6) from your skill.

"Turns out that creating a skill is a pretty damn good way to raise some Meditation levels," Mikella shrugged, totally not insinuating that she was so awesome, she even got levels in this bothersome skill. "Who knew?"

"Careful. That's the sort of attitude that gets nobles to call for hits on you," Alissa said, then as a side note, turned to Janet. "Is it though? I always wanted to know."

"You'd be surprised by how many requests we got from everyone, not just other nobles, who want to take someone out just because they were showing off. Thankfully we only take the serious ones, where the ones showing off were doing some horrific crime."

"Then they go to me asking for some poison to 'make some experiments'," Lyle continued, shaking his head. "At first, it was worrying, but now it's just bollocks. Half the time they poison themselves and go to me for an antidote. I don't even bother asking 'cuz at this rate, it's a stupid tax paid to me."

"Huh, so that's how it works," Alissa said, actually sounding like she enjoyed hearing it.

"Hey, hello, I want more praise here."

Mikella said, not even caring about the eye-rolls she was receiving. She only grinned at them, knowing full well she was just joking.

Well, half-joking.

"But wait, if you lost all six skills then…" Lyle suddenly said, scratching his chin. "Doesn't that mean your Clashing Energies skill take a dive? Don't your weapons also take a hit in their power or something?"

"Yeah, it does," Mikella let out a heavy breath. That took the wind out of her sails. "But I'd rather not hold myself back on getting something greater over some tiny bonuses for filling out a list. Even if it makes things harder for a while, it won't stop me from getting stronger."

Lyle nodded in satisfaction. "Good on you."

"I bet that this is the kind of thing that compounds your damage further," Janet commented, snapping her fingers in realization. "Oh, does that mean you intend on getting more mastery skills later? Maybe fuse it into Tempest Dance again?"

"Not a chance," Mikela shook her head. "I have a feeling trying to mess with the skill again won't do anything good. Also, I don't think I have to bother with more weapon masteries anymore."

To give an example, Mikella pulled out a practice dagger from her storage pack. It was the kind Janet usually used, and she put it in her pack since Janet's own pack was not only smaller, but filled with important items for her missions. Janet looked at her in confusion as Mikella spun the dagger around her fingers deftly.

It jumped around, spun seamlessly, all within a matter of seconds. It was then that Janet's eyes widened, though that still got the men to look at her in confusion.

"You're… you're really good with that dagger," Janet pointed out, surprising the men. "How? You didn't have Dagger Mastery, right?"

"Right," Mikella nodded, leaving the dagger just spinning on top of her finger with the tip rather than the handle. "It looks like the skill helps me out on all kinds of weapons, not just the ones I fused into it."

"Wait, so you're just instantly better at daggers then?" Lyle asked in surprise.

"Not exactly. Mmh, how do I say it…" Mikella stopped the dagger show and placed it back into her pack, gathering more of her thoughts. "Right now, I'm better at using a dagger than Janet who has the skill. But only because the skill is at Mythic rarity. Once Janet gets better, probably getting her skill at Epic rarity, she'll be way better than I am. I think Masteries change profusely at Epic Rarity, where you start to show more and more your own style rather than just how to use that weapon effectively."

Mikella shrugged. She wasn't an expert in skill information, but she had a feeling after all the time spent training her weapons. Granted, her weapon masteries only rose to Rare rarity thanks to her Journeyman advancement, but that usually occurs for everyone, not just hers. If anything, anyone having more than one mastery advancing during their ascension was a god-given talent. Only Mikella was crazy enough to spend so much gold to fuse all those skills into one ultimate skill.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Mikella grimaced as she remembered the now very slim bag of gold in her pack. "Zeke, about the gold…"

"Forget about that," Zeke waved it off. "Let's test it out right away. Come on, the gym should be open by now."

Without even waiting for anyone's response, Zeke already put on his jacket and headed out to the door. Clara also joined in eagerly, wanting to see the fight for herself. Mikella looked back in surprise, giggling at his eagerness.

"Sheesh, Zeke, at least wait for me. Come on."

She urged her otherworlder comrades to come along, leaving Alissa to do her report while Lyle and Janet were just amazed at how excited Zeke was.

…..

Despite it only being a few hours in the morning for her skill fusion, they reached the gym in time for the hall to be ready for them once again. They've been constantly using this hall with all its upgrades Zeke put in, making this the most secure hall in the entire gym.

Which was good considering how intense their sparring had become.

Mikella roared as she swung her training sword right at Zeke's head, causing him to deflect it with a swerve of his hands and pivoted into a hard punch to her abdomen.

Her instincts flaring, she sidestepped and continued the close-combat bout, multitude of attacks landing on each other and either deflecting or dodging each one. Her eyes flared as she sensed dangerous magic at work, so she jumped away with her skills flaring to find the ground under her blowing up with a mix of air and fire blowing upwards in a torrent of flames.

She breathed, her body constantly agitated as usual against Zeke who usually fights with enough force to combat a hundred-man army. Seeing her chance, she intuitively used Tempest Dance.

She felt lightning course through her channels, but it wasn't mana or stamina. It was pure lightning, a concept that was born and driven by her own will. Circulating within her muscles and fibers, her body started to gleam in a way that was unseeable to anyone's eyes but her own.

Power unlike anything else she had felt filled her body and soul, and her eyes sparked into a bright golden sheen as she smiled at her opponent.

In a single second, she was already swinging at Zeke's neck with her sword, surprising both him and the onlookers who watched the fight from afar. Her blade, tinged in lightning, slashed across empty air as Zeke managed to get away with a helpful dose of his runes and Ethereal Constuct, pulling him away like some crane.

Despite the crazed dodging, Zeke recovered easily enough with his movements, but Mikella was already hard at work, swinging her sword down in a straight arc.

But something changed. Even though she was still using her sword, when she swung her sword down–a heavy impact crushed the ground and created a small crater right where Zeke would've been. He managed to sidestep, but since it dealt a heavy bludgeoning blow, Zeke was caught in the aftermath of the slam, causing him to stumble.

Mikella took the chance and swung her sword to the side, though her movements changed again. She swung as though something heavy was at the top of her sword, and when she landed on Zeke's suddenly conjured earth wall with the aid of his runes, the earth split in in half, becoming completely undone by Mikella's might.

The following attacks were no better either. No matter how often Zeke tried to get the upper hand, Mikella responded with her weapons changing precisely what she needed at the time. When Zeke pulled back, her sword still managed to reach him despite there being a considerable distance between them. When Zeke went too far and tried to go for a long-range battle with his runic spells, Mikella responded with the same–her lightning conjured up arrows in the air, all created by her mana, before shooting at him as though she summoned dozens of archers shooting at will.

Even though she had lost her skills, rendering her Clashing Energies to be weaker than average. Even though she wasn't using the fullest extent of her weapons–she was still a force to be reckoned with. All the while, she couldn't keep the splitting smile off of her face as she roared and called out for Zeke to keep trying harder and harder.

And she knew, deep inside, that Zeke felt the same. After all, his own smile never wavered.

*****

Janet watched the two Journeyman otherworlders fight with rapt attention. Clara was cheering for the two to fight while Lyle watched with incomprehension. Zoan was the only one who remained stoically watching, yet Janet could somehow sense that she was enjoying this. Not at the spectacle of the fight, but at what they can do.

On the other hand, Janet felt a mixture of emotions. Envy, bitterness, yet also adoration and awe at the two otherworlders who, despite being cut from the same cloth, had reached so high up in terms of power and survivability. She thought she always had it tough, with Lyle being there to be her rock. If that was the case, then she should've gotten as strong, if not stronger than the two monsters in front of her.

Clearly, they had it pretty bad, hence why they had gone all out in getting stronger.

Throughout the training these past weeks, she always saw Mikella as this amazing woman who can do pretty much anything she put her mind into. Even when faced with walls in her progress, she gradually picks them apart one by one without giving up at all. Even Janet sometimes had to take a break just to keep up with them, and when faced with a wall, she would just stop right there and get back at it later.

But she also knew that this wasn't something normal people like her could casually do. This was only something Mikella would do, and would do so gladly if it meant getting stronger.

On the other hand, Zeke proved over and over just how hard-working he was even as a Runist. Even now, she just couldn't believe that a crafter could go head-to-head against Mikella who was not only a combat nut, but also has a Mythic Mastery skill that could trounce any old veteran in the assassin's guild.

But there was something else too. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she felt that Zeke was waiting for something. Even though Mikella had been battering him left and right, forcing him to take the blows with his favorite Mythril Skin when he couldn't keep dodging her fast strikes, he still held something back.

Eventually, Mikella jumped away, her sword spinning around her before pointing it at Zeke.

"Zeke, what's going on?" She asked, almost demanding the answer. "What's got your butt so wound up? Is there something you're not telling me?"

Zeke looked surprised for a moment, still in his combat stance after Mikella suddenly jumped away. While Lyle looked confused along with Clara, Janet noticed how Zeke's posture gradually changed. His arms turned loose as he smiled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to mess you up. I was just thinking about whether to show off something too."

"Oh?" Mikella actually looked surprised. Pleasantly so. "What is it?"

"I didn't want to take away your day to shine, so I didn't want to show it just yet. But when you keep showing off that skill of yours, I just keep thinking maybe I should bring out the big guns."

"Mate, what the hell you on about?" Lyle demanded an answer as well, raising a brow. "What big guns are you talking about?"

Zeke smiled, raising both his fists in front of himself.

All of a sudden, gauntlets covered his hands and wrists, all the way down to the middle of his forearms. They had a beautiful silver sheen that were more elaborately detailed compared to any gauntlets some knights wore. There were also small glowing etchings across the front and back of the hand, the fingers coalescing these etchings together to make an artistry Janet hadn't seen before. Metal clanked as he showed off his new armaments, surprising everyone including Mikella.

"No way, are those?" Mikella pointed, recognition in her eyes.

"Yep. Cru finally finished these today. When you were out getting your skill, I went to her store after she gave a message that she was done with our little project. I was surprised too, considering that I thought she only wanted to just make some simple gauntlets for me."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Mikella asked. It was clear that excitement took over her expression, her face lighting up at the sight of the wondrous gauntlets.

Zeke didn't say a word as he lifted his gauntlets up, the four pens floating up around them.

Then two pens each placed themselves on the sides of each gauntleted forearm, mana converging and covering them entirely in bright blue and green energy. She felt intense mana stirring from her Mana Manipulation skill, her eyes widening as Zeke made another stance with his arms, and this time something changed.

Two glowing sharp blades appeared around his arms, reminding Janet of sharp claws some fighters have in MMORPGs. They glowed with an intensity that as an assassin, would be very appropriate for quick and precise kills. They had a sharpness that physical edges of blades couldn't reach somehow.

Everyone turned silent when Zeke showed off his laser blades, and the only one who actually said anything was Clara jumping up and down in clear wonder.

"Holy shit! Claw lightsabers! That's so cool!"

"Well, they're not exactly lightsabers, but…" Zeke tried to correct, but he was just too ecstatic and just shrugged. "Cru put in a lot of hard work to put all my magic possibilities into the gauntlets, while also trying to be decent weapons. And now that you got yourself a shiny new skill, then maybe–"

Before Zeke could continue, Mikella already launched herself straight at Zeke's claws, her sword grinding against the blistering claws with a manic grin on her face.

"Hurry up and fight me!" She roared, her voice becoming somewhat distorted, shocking Janet. Was that her sub-race taking over? Now that she saw her, her scales were getting awfully sharp, and her wings kept flapping as though in agitation.

Zeke responded back with a feral grin of his own. "Gladly!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.