Jake hastily dodged the arcane beam but was still scratched by it due to its intense destructive power. The remnant energies burned his cloak, and Jake felt his left arm singe a little as some of his own damn affinity invaded his body and did damage.Gritting his teeth, Jake returned fire and switched it up. The arrow split into five in mid-air, and the Hydra only managed to swallow one of them. The four others hit and exploded on its scales. The Hydra roared in anger, then did something Jake had not expected. It stopped and just stared up at Jake, who was flying far above.Deciding to just shoot again, Jake released another barrage of Splitting Arrow, but this time, when the Hydra opened its mouth, something else happened. It was as if space itself distorted when the Hydra breathed in, and all five arrows were swallowed whole. The Hydra didn’t even react besides closing its maw and staring back up at him with both heads.Waiting.Jake hesitated for a moment, unsure how to proceed. Th

Jake watched the battle again, this time already knowing the outcome, allowing him to focus on aspects he hadn’t before. He observed their clashes and primarily the Viper, keeping a close eye on the claws and the poison running through them at all times.He focused on the axe warrior and his indomitable will.On the way that the Viper used all his skills and manipulated magic.He focused on everything he could as time rewound again after the Viper escaped, and Jake once more intimately experienced the escape skill related to Wings of the Malefic Viper. Soon after the escape skill was used, time rewound, and Jake experienced everything again.This happened a dozen times, as the Path of the Heretic-Chosen skill stayed active longer than ever before. Perhaps it was due to it consuming two attempts, or maybe it was due to the way this attempt worked, but either way, it allowed Jake to learn more than before.Fang and Wings were the two skills truly in focus, yet Jake felt like he learned

Rewards were barely in Jake’s mind as he mentally went over the fight and looked forward to the rematch. Snappy had been damn strong back then, if a very simplistic creature. It was also a bad matchup for Jake, but in some ways, that just made him want to fight even more. He did find it a bit frustrating, sure, but in the good way.You know, frustrating in the same way a hard boss in a game could be. You would curse and swear while battling the boss, sure, but the moment you won, all that frustration would turn to triumph and make it all seem worth it.This one was on the extreme end of that, as it was the kind to make you want to punch through a wall and yell expletives and call bullshit on the overpowered mechanics of the boss. In the Hydra’s case, its absolutely broken swallowing ability and the scales that offered utterly insane resistance to physical attacks were those bullshit mechanics."Alright," Jake said as he returned his attention to the projection in front of him, “what h

Meira lay on the ground within the tiny cell as she took pained breaths. Every time she breathed in, the toxic gas would invade her lungs and body, burning her throat and making her wish she could just stop. However, the wardens outside would come for her in moments if the toxic fumes didn’t decrease at a fast enough rate for their liking.Ever since the day the Brimstone Hegemon had been slain, and she had been enslaved by the Order of the Malefic Viper, she had been forced to either endure torture, do certain tasks, or remain in confinement and receive lessons they believed she would need. She had just wanted to give up so many times, but she was just too cowardly to stop trying to survive.She hadn’t heard anything about her father or the rest of her clan in months either, which only added to the torture. Her father had been captured together with her, and the Order no doubt controlled the clan she had once come from. Likely it was just much of the same for those back home, their m

Meira waited in the entrance hall after she had changed her clothes out of the ragged robe and cleaned herself up. She had even set her hair, trying to look as presentable as possible for her new master’s arrival. Not a single part of her doubted the first impression would be important, so she wanted to look and perform her best.She knew it would be a good while before he arrived, so she had gone through the mansion. There were seven buildings adjoined to it, including a large lab, two greenhouses, three more residential buildings, and a large warehouse of some sort to be customized by the new owner.The main mansion was massive, with dozens of rooms, three stories—not counting the underground—and incredibly well-made furnishings. It was like the buildings of the Brimstone Conglomerate, which only hammered home that her new master was a person of influence.Meira had gone through everything in preparation for him to arrive. She had located the meditation chamber, the formation contro