Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

"It worked..." Leon frowned. "I see... it is a skill that increases my stats as long as don't let my feelings control me. It is quite complicated to level up since I can't get emotional in any way."

It looked it was a skill that could only be learned during a battle, and it had a lot of requirements such as attacking and defending without thinking about anything... to some extent. If one stops from thinking, one wouldn't be able to react or attack, after all. Regardless, Leon wondered if he could level up that skill while using magic... he had no choice but to test it.

" I guess since it only can be learned in combat... then I can only level up the skill in combat too."

Three other magma creatures appeared, after breathing in deeply, Leon pointed his right hand toward them. He didn't have to use his hand to use spells, but it happened naturally because Leon didn't let his knowledge to meddle at the moment. Leon shot three Earth Lances, and all of them crushed the magma creatures making them fall again on the river of magma.

Congratulations! The skill Steel Nerves has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Steel Nerves has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Steel Nerves has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

...

Leon couldn't help but frown... the skill leveled up quite a lot considering how weak those things were. As expected, something was very strange about that place... but Leon couldn't truly understand what.

"I don't have time to think about this or that... I have to become stronger while I look for the exit of this hellhole."

Since the monsters would come every thirty or so seconds, Leon didn't have to look for them. He just had to move, and they would organically appear. While Leon flew and attacked those things, he also searched for the exit, but obviously, the skill reached level thirty before he could find even his lunch. Steel Nerves were leveling up fast, his body wasn't tired... but his mind was. Keeping that state of absolute focus was too tricky when Leon had to worry about the path and the monsters ahead.

"Time to learn the next skill... I wonder if I can learn something like Bloodthirsty..."

There was a particular game Betty spent years playing as a barbarian, that class had that skill. Although Leon couldn't remember what that skill could do, if he could adapt to the system considering its name, he was pretty sure it was a passive skill that would work for melee fighters who let themselves become excited during the battles. They wouldn't get angry... they just liked to fight and spill the enemies' blood.

"Can I do that? I hate those monsters, but can I force myself to emulate those feelings?"

There was only one way to discover... Leon readied his sword and started to fly. It didn't take long before the next three magma creatures appeared, Leon tried to emulate some excitement, but even after he split the monsters in two, he didn't feel anything aside from that. Enjoy killing the enemies wasn't something Leon could force himself to do... Besides, he was a mage. His spells could decimate his enemies quite easily... if he starts to enjoy that, then he would be one step away from becoming a sociopath.

"No, it is okay... I only want to learn it to obtain status points, and it is not like I intend to become a melee fighter."

Still, Leon's worries and natures would, without a doubt, make things difficult. He would have to do some mental training in order to truly feel that way, at least for a while. In the end, Leon had to imagine himself beating the magma creatures before he could actually feel that way... The human psyche was indeed an incredible and somewhat scary thing... at least Leon knew that he was okay because soon after he learned and practiced the passive skill, he felt quite scared of himself.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Bloodthirst.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Bloodthirst has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Bloodthirst has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Bloodthirst has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

...

The more excited Leon gets while fighting, the more powerful he would get, but in the end, he decided to seal the passive skill for the sake of his mental health.

"Well... what other passive skills I can learn..."

It would have helped if Miebos research center had that kind of information, but it didn't. That was probably why Leon was struggling so much to learn new skills. It was because the people of Miebos and him chose the same path. It was easy for them to learn offensive attacks since that was more or less their nature... the nature of the people like to solve problems with explosions.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Vigilance.

You obtained 01 status points.

After a while, Leon finally learned a new passive skill, but that one was quite hard to level up because Leon had to stop the enemy's attacks at the very last moment. Since the magma creatures damaged his skin even without getting close, that wasn't very pleasant. Regardless, at least that skill was quite helpful because it could help Leon to see and prevent surprise attacks since it increased his speed for a fraction of a second without any extra cost of mana. It was a skill that could be used in perfect sync with Mana Dominion... Leon just had to train his body and reflexes to move at speed necessary.