Two more Skoc dropped from above onto the sandbank as King managed to kill and shake off the last ones that had grappled him. He flew over the skirmish, his breath attack and Cursefeather Cascade deterring more of the Skoc from joining the fight. Instead, they began hurling rocks and branches at him.

  What might have been laughable under normal circumstances became deadly in this realm, where the rocks and branches were heavily reinforced by the intense ambient magic saturating the environment. The rocks and branches flew like javelins and bullets, one of the sticks punching through King’s wing and leaving a jagged hole in the membrane. King let out an indignant roar, retaliating with a curse that struck the offending Skoc, its gurgling screams of agony filling the air.

  Riseth dodged another furious swing, ducking under a leaping attempt by one of the ugly creatures to grapple and pin her down. They were ridiculously fast but surprisingly easy to manipulate and predictable. She let out a snicker as Alistair catapulted one of the Skoc into a distant rock formation. The familiar Wilhelm scream from his soundboard echoed across the battlefield as he mocked the creatures, drawing their ire toward him and away from her and Fluffy.

  She could sense more of the creatures in the distance and knew she had to help thin their numbers, or they would be forced to retreat into the skies. Her gaze flickered toward Alistair as he used the monsters’ ridiculous physical prowess against them, sending them flying or crippling them to the point where a single stroke of her weapon could free their ugly heads from their bodies.

  She maintained her relentless movements with Serpent’s Waltz, weaving gracefully through the chaotic swarm of beasts. Following in Alistair’s destructive wake, she efficiently picked off those he couldn’t press further. It was then she noticed that half of the energy released from the Skoc’s bodies upon death coalesced within them, while the other half flowed into the formation that bound the island together.

  Fluffy, meanwhile, kept to the air, staying lower than King as she dodged the Skoc that leaped toward her. She coiled gracefully, the spinning metal plates surrounding her form arcing outward to swat away any Skoc that dared to get too close. Despite her efforts, it was clear she struggled the most against the relentless monsters.

  Riseth’s earlier suspicions were confirmed when the jagged crystals at the base of the volcano began to faintly glow. With each Skoc they killed, the crystals emanated a growing surge of magic, intensifying with every life claimed.

  She felt herself level up again as she plunged Jack into another Skoc’s head, marking her third level up already. Fighting monsters a grade higher than themselves was certainly showing dividends, though she was sure the records would eventually fall off, usually announced by the coalescing of the records into a Slayer title.

  Just as she was pondering the potential quality of a Slayer title earned against higher-grade but clearly inferior-tier opponents, her attention snapped back to the fight as she saw the Skoc finally manage to overwhelm Alistair. A claw raced toward his side, and she activated her Manipulate Space skill, twisting the fabric of reality and fighting against the formation’s interference. Jack extended through the tear in space as she poured everything into her attack, the dragon-bone blade severing the offending appendage.

  She caught Alistair’s glance as he turned, the butt of his poleaxe slamming into one Skoc after the axe blade cleaved through another. He expended kinetic energy with reckless abandon, demolishing his foes with overwhelming force. There was trust in his eyes as if he had known she had his back, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

  Her senses screamed in warning as another Skoc closed in, leaping to punish her moment of interference. Alistair shifted with telekinesis, repositioning beside her just in time to body-check the creature, sending it skipping across the sea like a stone.

  She returned the smile. With their connection, they needed no words to communicate as they moved in unison, crushing what was left of the Skoc that had attacked them. Overhead, King soared across the island, his cursed flames spreading agony in his wake as he shouted at the frog-like creatures.

  "Burn, you ugly frogfaces!" King bellowed between breaths, his voice reverberating across the battlefield.

  Riseth let out a snicker. King, who had only a limited selection of skills to improve, had turned a low-tier speech skill into a literal cursing ability. By insulting his enemies, he could transmit moderately potent curses to all who heard him, and he’d fully embraced the approach.

  His cursing has improved," Alistair said with a chuckle. "Though I’m sure they’d be even more effective if his insults were a little more... sharp."

  "At least he’s not calling them doo-doo heads anymore," Riseth quipped before turning to Alistair. "Not everyone comes from a culture where cursing is ingrained in everyday language, you know."

  Alistair shrugged. "I still can’t believe cussing and cursing count as words of power. However, it does explain some of the quirks of Vicious Mockery that I’d always wondered about. Guess I’ll have to watch out that I don’t accidentally kill someone by making fun of them at higher grades."

  Riseth let out a snicker. "I doubt it’ll be a concern by the time we reach those grades."

  "I know," Alistair replied, "but can you imagine? There have to be people with mockery as their core concept, just shit-talking their enemies to death. Physical pain through insults. So far, I’ve only used Vicious Mockery to exaggerate my opponents’ emotions, but I’m seriously considering branching that skill out."

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  They watched as King dodged the debris flying his way with unnatural grace and speed for his size, tucking in his wings before descending upon the Skoc again. The crystals slowly flared to life from bottom to top as more of the creatures died, their magic being drawn in.

  "It’s pretty obvious what the challenge of this island is," Alistair commented, taking the opportunity to quickly check his titles while King enjoyed himself.

  Tier: [Unique]

  Name: Adept Big Game Hunter

  Effect:

  Moderate increase in stats obtained per level

  Origin: A growing title given to everyone for slaying a higher-grade beast by themselves.

  -

  Tier: [Rare]

  Name: Sea Fiend Slayer

  Effect:

  Grants a 10% bonus to [Senses], and greatly diminishes any interference to [Senses] & [Control] while submerged in liquid.

  Origin: Acquired for slaying a pack of Skoc of a higher grade than yourself.

  Alistair was mildly surprised that his Big Game Hunter title had been upgraded. He wasn’t sure the Skoc qualified as "big game," despite being nearly 60 levels higher than him. The stat difference, while significant, was still manageable with skill. It wasn’t as vast as he had expected, but then again, he and Riseth had consumed stat-boosting potions and food until they reached a point where they couldn’t gain any more stats through those means on top of their body cultivation benefits.

  Body cultivation remained the only method where he still registered stat gains besides level ups. He wasn’t sure if it was possible to hit a ceiling with it, though he suspected it would happen when he could no longer improve any more body parts or organs—a milestone that was still a long way off.

  The Skoc being Sea Fiends and pack hunters made sense, and Alistair could see which records had been pulled for the creation of his title. Still, he wondered if it was possible to influence the Akashic system to direct how records coalesced. There was an Akashic concept, after all, and curiously, everyone they had tested showed the exact same great affinity for it. He didn’t believe it was something tied to the Initiation, as individuals like Denodia also shared the same affinity.

  He couldn’t help but ponder: was taking control of the records and the system—or discarding it entirely, like a crutch no longer needed—the true path to godhood? He had only shared these thoughts with Riseth, who suspected it was a strong possibility. However, their grades were still far too low to explore such avenues, as the Akashic concept was by far the most complex and challenging one of all, and they had only managed to use some aspects of it.

  He shook his head, pulling himself back to the present. He was getting ahead of himself, too eager to delve into the depths of magic. There was still a challenge to complete, and he couldn’t let King have all the fun.

  "Go ahead, progress the challenge. Fluffy and I will search the island for treasures, just in case completing the challenge destroys the island or something," Riseth said, a greedy glint in her eyes as she tapped her nose. "I can literally smell the treasures, and I’d hate to miss out on them."

  Alistair chuckled. Riseth’s augmentation of her nose had been one of the biggest contributors to their success in finding treasures during their explorations, easily outshining even his Conceptual Awareness skill, which was currently strained under the island’s disruptive magic.

  "Alright," Alistair replied. "My skills are pretty impaired by this island’s magic anyway. Let me know if there’s anything you need me for."

  "Will do," she said, leaning in for a quick kiss before rushing off into the tropical jungle. Fluffy was slung over her shoulder, her head bobbing with each step as Riseth disappeared from sight.

  Alistair hummed as his gaze lingered on some of the broken bodies, sensing strange magic coalescing and concentrating within them. I’ll probably find out what that is later, he thought with a shrug before rushing toward the thickest concentration of Skoc he could sense.

  Roughly an hour later, he and King had hunted down the last of the Skoc, which hadn’t been overly difficult since the creatures charged at them whenever they saw or sensed either of them.

  Alistair turned his gaze toward the volcano, its crystalline spikes thrumming with power. Above its crown, the strange donut-shaped distortion twisted in ways that defied comprehension, shifting not only through space but also through time, its shape changing in a mesmerizing, alien display that made his head ache just to look at.

  The interference from the formation had also strengthened, growing progressively worse. He couldn’t reach Riseth with his Akashic Link skill anymore, though their resonance remained completely unaffected.

  Narrowing his eyes, he watched as the magic reached a crescendo. He waved for King to follow and used his telekinesis to move toward the phenomenon, sensing Riseth doing the same from the other side of the island.

  Alistair met up with Riseth, flying a fair distance from the volcano and its formation. The strange shape above the volcano slowly descended, an unearthly glow emanating from the crater as it passed the crown. The crystalline spikes flared brighter for a moment before dimming and becoming inert, their magic flowing into the volcano and pressing down on the descending shape. The entire island began to shake violently, fissures spreading outward from the island’s center.

  Then, the bodies of the fallen Skoc began to glow, whatever process the magic in their bodies had undergone evidently complete. Alistair’s eyes narrowed as shards of pure magic shot from the corpses, racing toward them like missiles.

  Alistair pulled out his poleaxe, conjuring the strongest barriers he could. They were quickly reinforced by King’s, Riseth’s, and Fluffy’s own barriers, layered above and behind his.

  The projectiles passed through the barriers as if they didn’t exist, forcing all of them to jerk aside to avoid the incoming shards. Yet the many projectiles came to an immediate stop just before reaching him and Riseth as they began to circle around them.

  Alistair and the others eyed the strange, silver-colored projectiles. Realization dawned as they recognized the distinctive aura of Nivareth emanating from the scales.

  "These are the scales the Hirsin mentioned," Riseth said, extending her hand. The scales floated toward her outstretched palm, hovering briefly before landing and sinking into her body.

  She blinked in mild surprise at the absorption but let out a relieved sigh. "I’m fine," she said, meeting Alistair’s worried gaze and gesturing for him to do the same.

  Stretching out his hand, he felt the scales touch him, their texture like warm water flowing over his skin. One by one, they were absorbed through his pores. He sensed them settling into the outermost layer of his soul, their presence distinct and tangible. Alistair was certain he could pull them out and interact with them, much like he had done with other objects within his soulscape.