Star Citizen Online: Isekai Edition

Chapter 84: Brutal Training (3)

Grandmaster Byrmellir was rather certain that the Slayer Force was too volatile and too dangerous even for its user, for a large part, and it was certainly true. Because the Slayer Force was created based on the weaponization of the Killing Intent and Slaughter Aura, if the user of the Slayer Force lacked sufficient mental fortitude...

Then, he would be most probably overwhelmed by the madness and became crazy, obsessed with slaying everything in his very own path at any cost. That was probably the price for the power, and the power of the Slayer Force was indeed something extraordinary.

That one was for sure, as Grandmaster Byrmellir created the Slayer Force with this in mind, as it was supposed to fuel the Godslayer Sword Style and its strongest and most powerful attacks.

This was also another big part of the reason why nobody was eligible to learn and practice the Godslayer Sword Style, as the Godslayer Sword Style required for its full might the Slayer Force, but according to his calculations, only a very tiny fraction of people had strong enough mental fortitude not withstand the side effects of the Slayer Force.

And without the Slayer Force fuelling the Godslayer Sword Style, its entire Sword Style would be tremendously reduced in power, so the existence of the Slayer Force was paramount in this aspect.

Grandmaster Byrmellir tried to teach a few people the Godslayer Sword Style, but not many could get past the basics of the Godslayer Sword Style and even those who could, would then hit another almost invincible wall that was impossible to cross.

The Slayer Force.

Even his other fabled student, Ardyn Tiberrius, only managed to master the Godslayer Sword Style and the Slayer Force after he became Beyonder, but that was too late because it seemed that his progress within the Godslayer Sword Style was definitive.

It was also the reason why Arsit Byrmellir was prompted to teach someone the Godslayer Sword Style and the Slayer Force during when the person wasn't even at the peak of the mortal level, much less being said about the Beyonder.

Mostly because he observed that once someone was Beyonder, it was very hard to accommodate the Slayer Force within his body. Something that he could tell from his own experience, but then again, he used certain Cosmic Treasure in that one.

Which helped him to accommodate the Slayer Force within his body seamlessly and create the Godslayer Sword Style in its true form.

Now that he had obtained a disciple who showcased all the criteria of someone capable of mastering the Godslayer Sword Style and the Slayer Force, he was delighted when he observed his progress when it came to mastering the Godslayer Sword Style and the Slayer Force.

***

Arcturus had to admit that training in the Godslayer Sword Style was a very hard thing, and having the Slayer Force was making the hard thing an impossible thing. The Slayer Force was very troublesome for Arcturus because of how dangerous it was.

The Slayer Force was something that was extremely powerful. That was the first thing that Arcturus learned from the first moment he came into contact with the bits of the Slayer Force.

Yet...

At the same time, every moment he was using the Slayer Force, it felt like the Slayer Force itself was alive, whispering to his ears to let loose of all rationality and succumb to the desire to kill and slaughter everything in sight.

It was one linear constant.

Something that was constantly whispering into him in an attempt to corrupt him entirely and made him fall into his own darkest desire. The Slayer Force was dangerous, and Arcturus knew that it would be hard to resist its temptations for the average person.

However, for him, it wasn't that hard.

He had enough mental fortitude to resist the temptations of the sweet voice that was trying to constantly tempt him to the dark side, but he was good at ignoring those whispers. In the end, before the transmigration, he spent decades suppressing his feelings and emotions, so applying it the same to the voice that he was constantly hearing when he was using the Slayer Force was rather an easy task.

Training with the Slayer Force became easier after another three days of training, because it was like a muscle. The more he trained using the Slayer Force, the easier it became to use; another thing that was, even despite the overwhelming quantity of the Slayer Force that he had, he was rather apt in using it.

Normally, this would create some discrepancy in the usage, but not with the Slayer Force, as the Slayer Force was too eager to please him. Not like the temptations of the Slayer Force were gone; they were as strong as before when he used the Slayer Force before.

Yet, at the same time, the Slayer Force acted too eagerly to please him and to be used, like something that wanted to be unleashed on his opponents to cause carnage and destruction.

He was still able to resist it, and during the past few days, he obtained even the Skill Slayer Force that had already reached Proficiency of Apprentice Level 9. For some reason, the Proficiency with the Slayer Force was increasing with almost a lightning speed.

Arcturus didn't really know the reason for it, but he suspected that it was something related to his species, most probably because it was created by his master, Arsit Byrmellir, who was Highborne Asuryani; he created the Godslayer Sword Style and Slayer Force as skills and technique with the specific attributes and characteristics of the Highborne Asuryani in mind.

[Proficiency with the Skill Slayer Force has been increased by 5%.]

[Proficiency with the Skill Slayer Force has been increased by 11%.]

[Proficiency with the Skill Slayer Force has been increased by 6%.]

[Proficiency with the Skill Slayer Force has reached Level 10 Apprentice - 0%]

[Proficiency with the Skill Godslayer Sword Style has been increased by 17%.]

[Proficiency with the Skill Godslayer Sword Style has been increased by 11%.]

[Proficiency with the Skill Godslayer Sword Style has been increased by 9%.]

[Proficiency with the Skill Godslayer Sword Style has reached Level 5 Novice - 0%]

As he finished the current season of the practice with the Slayer Force and Godslayer Sword Style, he looked at a batch of notifications from the system, as he then subsequently directed several translucent windows altogether.

[Name: Arcturus Al-Yesod Crawford

Race: Highborne Asuryan Human

Attunement: Psionic - Superior (0%)

Classification: Psyker / Warrior

Psyker Ability: Dimension Empyrean (Level 9 Novice - 69%)

Grade: Psionics - Delta-Grade, Physique: Epsilon-Grade

***

Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Level 10 Master - 100%), Sardau Star Sword (Level 9 Novice - 36%), Nuclear Chaos Formula (Level 3 Apprentice - 0%), Godslayer Sword (Level 5 Novice - 0%), Slayer Force (Level 10 Apprentice - 0%)

Abilities: Regeneration (Epsilon), Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Thinking and Learning

Innate Abilities: N/A

Augmentations: Neural Extranet Terminal Gene Implants]

He was progressing rather steadily under the effects of the Divine Water when he opened the status screen of the Star Citizen Online System. The training in the Sardau Star Sword was also progressing rather steadily, almost reaching the peak of the Novice Level, though what had the fastest growth was obviously the Slayer Force.

Arcturus was experimenting with the Slayer Force and Sardau Star Sword together, and part of him was even attempting to fuse the Slayer Force into the Sardau Star Sword, because the Sardau Star Sword was always his personal choice.

He was mainly using the Sardau Star Sword solely because of its brutal efficiency when it came to attacking and killing, as the swordstyle was specifically tailored to kill in the most efficient way possible.

Due to that, Arcturus came to love the Sardau Star Sword.

It was fast, ruthless and efficient.

Everything that he needed.

But at the same time, it also lacked the raw power that the Godslayer Sword Style had, something that he wished to remedy with the addition of the Slayer Force to his own skills arsenal.

Only two days were remaining until the effects of the Divine Water would end and in fact, he was very satisfied with his progress. Grandmaster Byrmellir informed him that for the remaining two times, they would be focusing exclusively on the Dimension Empyrean and Nuclear Chaos Formula, which was his Psionic Energy Control Method.

The Nuclear Chaos Formula repressed the basics and fundamentals of his power because it was the method that he was using to control the Psionic Energy within his body. This was already a rather arduous task due to the sheer quantity and high quality of the Psionic Energy that he possessed.

While the progress with the Nuclear Chaos Formula wasn't really that bad in his eyes because reaching the Level 3 Apprentice was rather good, it was not enough.

Arcturus planned to reach the Adept Level Proficiency before he would be leaving for the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy, and that was also something that the Grandmaster Byrmellir wished to see.

Only with the Adept Level Proficiency would he have a good capital on the control of his very own Psionic Energy, as the Nuclear Chaos Formula was something that he should have mastered as much as possible.

Even Arcturus had to begrudgingly admit it, because he knew that the higher proficiency in the Nuclear Chaos Formula, the easier time he would have using the Psionics and also his Psyker Ability.

But the Nuclear Chaos Formula was extremely hard to practise and even after a few months of practising the Nuclear Chaos Formula, Arcturus barely managed to scratch the surface of the Psionic Energy Control Method.

As he was right now having a slight pause, he looked at his master, who was sitting in front of him, cross-legged and meditating over something as he had closed his eyes.

"Master, how can I reach the Grandmaster Realm in the Basic Swordsmanship?"

Arcturus asked after some time he spent observing his master because it was something that was bugging him a lot. Even under the effects of the Divine Water and all the training that he spent in the Way of the Sword, the Basic Swordsmanship didn't budge even a bit.

It was something that had bothered him for a long time, even though he already reached the degree of proficiency in Basic Swordsmanship that only a small number of people in this galaxy could boast of.

According to the Grandmaster Byrmellir, there were less than one hundred people that reached the Grandmaster Realm in the Basic Weapon Skill. Those who were standing at the peak of the Level 10 Mastery, those should be something between two thousand to two and half thousand.

Even he himself wasn't sure.

Arcturus himself earned for the Grandmaster Realm in the Basic Swordsmanship because of the power it represented, and it would open an entirely new realm for him.

"Nowise."

His master just grinned at him as Arcturus wanted to facepalm hearing the answer as he looked at his master with rather confusion.

"Nowise?"

Arcturus parrotted the answer as he observed the facial features of his master grinning at him with a slight delight. He didn't really understand the meaning and part of him was thinking that his master was just joking with him or something.

"Nowise... Grandmaster Realm in anything is nothing something that could be explained, especially the Grandmaster Realm in the Basic Weapon Skill. Once you reach it, you will experience some sort of enlightenment, and you will become different. When I reached the Grandmaster Realm in the Basic Swordsmanship, many things that I previously couldn't understand became as clear as the beautiful sky.

The Grandmaster Realm is something different, and you can't reach it because you want to or because you just train to no limits... there are people that spent millennia practicing their skills but couldn't touch the gate separating the Master and Grandmaster even during their whole life."

The number of the Grandmasters was scarce; among the trillions of souls that lived within the Andromeda Galaxy, only something below a hundred of them existed, and each one of them was a highly respected figure.

Especially those who had Grandmasters in multiple Styles aside from the one in their weapon of choice. To reach the Grandmaster Realm in any Weapon Style was impossible without reaching the Grandmaster Realm in the Basic Weapon Skill.

The Basic Weapon Skill was the fundamental pillar of everything else and everything different.

That was the reason why the Grandmasters were very respected, because one Grandmaster, especially the ones that were so experienced like Grandmaster Byrmellir, could cultivate entire generations of skilled fighters and warriors.

"That is a rather useless and enlightening answer, master..."

Arcturus didn't really know what to think about the answer that his master gave him, aside from the fact that he would need to leave it to fate itself.

"Yeah... I got the same answer when I asked my own master when I was young and I only understood once that I got to the Grandmaster Realm."

In the end, Arcturus was forced to relent and returned soon enough to the training because it seemed that his master wouldn't tell him anything else.