Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 520: Appointment

Chapter 520: Appointment

Jack the Ripper...

Jack the Ripper, the owner of this mask and the cause of the tragedy of Gate 10. A former Templar who slaughtered the new generation of Templars for his own bloodlust. He sold his masks in order earn coin.

Dasha considered his options and in the end opted not to approach the Ripper.

So many plans. So many things to do. Jack just didn’t fit in his schedule.

At the basement of the Sea Scribe restaurant, he meditated.

Daily meditation. Daily meditation. Never forget. Do not be overwhelmed by Yin and Yang. Yin was too cold and passive. Yang was too hot and aggressive.

Dasha Pang was ultimately on the side of Yin. The elements he wielded, however, were more Yang. Fire and wind, the latter he recently achieved, were Yang elements. Lightning was in between, a clash of both sides coming as one.

With lightning, he would always be in balance. He would. He would.

A discomfort crept in the back of his head. He was supposed to go to Xander’s mansion to finalize an event with a collection of richfolk of the Underground. Likely taking place at the Underground. With so much to do, his brain constantly whirling, he stopped. He sat in the underground basement of Sea’s Scribe and delayed for fifteen minutes.

"My plans," he muttered to himself. "My plans. Remember them. Don’t lose sight. Keep at it. Don’t lose sight."

His fingers balled into fists.

"The Golden Device, the Golden Device. That will be among the last for the battle. That’s to compress decades of Qi collecting into a year. Maybe less. Maybe more. I don’t know. Calculations need to be calibrated. Can’t mess up. If I mess up here, everything will be for naught. Don’t overextend. Don’t underestimate the goddesses. Fight them and kill them. I have a month and a half left. A month and a half left. 44 days. 44 days to become Class 7 and to kill them."

44 days.

44 days.

"Six and a half weeks," he muttered. "Six and a half weeks."

The Golden Device would help him advance into the Late Stage of Core Formation and indict him into Class 6. The class of the gods, of the strongest.

"What about Jack? Should I pursue him? Fighting him right now could be a good test but also a terrible mistake. He is a former Champion, he may have already broken through the Class 6 barrier. Jack...Jack..."

That tiny piece almost touching his lips twitched. Memories that were not his own swarmed him. Why? Why wouldn’t this tiny piece leave him yet?

It agitated him. Something was wrong with him. From the very start, he was aware Jack’s personality was seeping into his. It was a fair exchange for receiving the Dark Sorcerer Class. Using that as a base, he was able to learn to control the shadows at will.

He no longer needed the Dark Sorcerer Class. Even the Class Skills gave no benefit because of the mask and his gradual absorption of it. As Daughter told him, the whole point of the mask was to experiment with the soul and give him the powers of Jack the Ripper in his prime.

Ultra Magic Barrier, Ultra Elemental Manipulation, The Shadows, Darkened Pulse. All those Class Skills were merging into his soul, becoming one with him.

"Not Jack, me. Me, Dasha Pang. Me. Just me. Not Myth, not the Professor, me."

Exhale.

It was done.

His pupils dimmed. The fifteen minute rule was complete. His thoughts became a quiet room, the windows shut and the raging winds blocked. The books were no longer scattered. The papers were no longer tempting to re-read everything.

"Open status."

[ Status: Dasha Pang

Class: Master Martial Artist

Level: 74

HP: 1600

HP/Minute: 210

MP: 8934

MP/Minute: 606

Attack: 857

Defence: 913

Attributes

Strength: 324

Resilience: 320

Agility: 1131

Deftness: 727

Vitality: 420

Magical Might: 1408

Magical Mending: 298

Distributive Points: 101 ]

He had 101 distributive points to spend. The choice was between the skills in his newly achieved Master Martial Artist Class or his attribute points.

"Burst is not a new skill. It was common in the Intermediate Martial Artist Class."

There was Electro-step, which increased his agility by 50 points for up to two steps. Qinggong (Middle Stage) lightened up one’s body and therefore increased agility and deftness by 150 points. The cost of Electro-step was a one-time 300 MP whereas Qinggong used up 150 MP/minute.

So what about Burst? He had not yet unlocked it and hovered over the details.

[ Burst Lv. 1

Subtype: Support

Cost: 300 MP

Rank: C

The activation of this skill increases Agility and Deftness by 30 points for 1 second. ]

"No condition has to occur like with Electro-step and it isn’t a constant-active skill like Qinggong. Burst is based on a one second interval." He recalled the Intermediate Martial Artist branch and the fire elemental branch most specifically. "Three Burst level-ups. And in the lightning element...Burst Lv. 1, Burst Lv. 2, Burst Lv. 1, Burst Lv. 1. The last four skills of the lightning element are purely burst. Combining all my speed-related skills and excluding the Core Formation and equipment, that would be an increase of 300 in agility."

Should he do it? By doing so, he would complete the lightning branch and gain valuable speed. In exchange, he would have to spend sixteen points. Four distributive points per skill.

"For only one second..."

At this point, however, he had to take whatever gains necessary. So he did it. He went back to the Intermediate Martial Artist Class and completed the lightning branch.

[ New skill learned : Burst Lv. 1 ]

[ Burst Lv. 1 upgraded into Burst Lv. 2! ]

[ Burst Lv. 2 upgraded into Burst Lv. 4! ]

[ Burst Lv. 4 upgraded into Burst Lv. 5! ]

[ Burst Lv. 5 upgraded into Burst Lv. 6! ]

[ Congratulations! You have completed the Lightning Element of the Intermediate Martial Artist Class! ]

Sixteen points spent. 85 distributive points left. His strength stat wasn’t very high as his focus was on spirituality. He didn’t think his attacks needed improvement, those were already as good as they could be. Perhaps.

[ Status: Dasha Pang

Class: Master Martial Artist

Level: 74

HP: 1800

HP/Minute: 232.2

MP: 8934

MP/Minute: 617.25

Attack: 857

Defence: 913

Attributes

Strength: 324

Resilience: 360

Agility: 1131

Deftness: 727

Vitality: 445

Magical Might: 1408

Magical Mending: 298

Distributive Points: 0 ]

Forty points in Resilience and forty-five points in Vitality. More often than not, fighters possessed superior fire power than defence and Dasha was no different. Mathematically, if he was hit by one of his own attacks, he would die instantly.

Of course, one’s own mana was structured and built resistance to itself, so that wouldn’t actually happen. The point was—if Dasha was confronted with an attack with equal firepower to Final Draw: Black Cards, how would he cope?

By releasing a surge of Qi that would dispel and mitigate what it could. This didn’t just apply to Dasha, everyone did this. Every fighter who realized they were about to die by a big attack instinctively unleashed a defensive aura around them. Sometimes, it worked, other times it did not.

’I believe on Earth, this manifests as Hysterical Strength. Here, it affected both the muscles and the spirit, thereby leading to Hysterical Defence.’

Which was why Dasha often fought in a way that drained them until that last-minute possibility was not achievable and then struck them not with blunt-force but with a sharp, killing blow.

Instant rupture of organs stopped that "hysterical" mechanism.

It was time to rise up.

’I have an appointment to attend to.’