Path of the Slayer B1 C15. Admirable and Pitiful

By round fifty, I was grasping what made Path Energy trickier to manage than Vitality or Aether, even if Path Energy was stronger overall.

Because Path Energy could do a lot of things, it wasn’t inherently good at anything other than what my Path called for. And even with that, I was certain Path Energy was far more inefficient than Vitality and Aether because it was so damn flexible.

Still, through using Path Energy like Vitality, boosting my physical prowess to keep up with the unstoppable Primordial, I could study it further. In between exchanges of sword strikes, parries, and maneuvers, I felt how Path Energy traveled into my muscles, soaked into my bones, and enhanced my lungs.

I felt how Path Energy would sometimes reach out beyond my body and adhere to the setting, like becoming an adhesive beneath my feet, so I didn’t slide around on the mat or foul my steps. Sometimes, my Path Energy would even release bursts of force to steady me when I got knocked back by a strong hit.

Those overt uses were problematic.

When Path Energy stayed bound in my body, it cost less. When Path Energy extended beyond my body to affect the outside like its own magic, it cost more, much more.

I had to stop using Path Energy outside of my body to raise the efficiency. That led to a dozen rounds where I was knocked around like a child, forced to rely on my relatively new body with no safety guidelines.

Once I became used to Path Energy staying within my body, I focused on the volume of Path Energy that I burned through during collisions and maneuvers.

That was when I made a startling realization by round one hundred.

“I’m not using all of my Path Energy correctly. Some of it is getting burned up as waste, isn’t it?”

Senior Codex slowed down without stopping, connecting with my sword out of ritual. “Indeed, you aren’t. I was wondering if you’ll figure that out on your own or need me to spell it out for you.”

“How bad is the efficiency?” I asked.

“First, you must understand that Path Energy is always slightly or largely different between Pathwalkers. That is because unlike Vitality and Aether, which come from the System, Path Energy comes from us. It comes from our souls. Becoming a Pathwalker is practically a step toward true godhood, less of the System granting us boons, and more of the System guiding us as we follow our Paths and cultivate the true power within.”

Huh.

Apparently, I was a newborn godling.

I supposed I wouldn’t need a religious reeducation ever again.

“So, does that mean there is no way to track our individual expenditures?” I asked.

“It’s because of the System’s guidance that we have any structure to base our knowledge on. Or the nature of Paths and Pathwalkers would be more of a chaotic affair than it is already. I can assure you that before we started, your efficiency was at twenty-to-one. As in, for every 20% you’ve spent to do a large action, it probably only needed 1% if you were truly efficient. As of now, you’re at eighteen-to-one. Thus, you’re lasting longer than five minutes now, since you’ve learned to pace yourself and keep your Path Energy inside of your body.”

“How come you didn’t tell me all of that earlier?”

“En garde!”

We continued where we left off, which was pretty much me getting my ass beat this way and that way across the dojo.

Once I ran out of Path Energy, I suffered Senior Codex’s wrath while I struggled to stay conscious. Then, after the torment, I meditated, though it always took me a while to find my soul in the monster-infested and misty woods.

Senior Codex had ensured me that was normal. Once I recovered 100% Path Energy, we went back to it again.

By round one hundred and fifty, I learned to use Path Energy more on the point of impact and to focus more on technique, especially blade alignment. I knew how to handle a greatsword. I’d learned every weapon I could back in the adventurer guild. But the work I’d done as a Rank 0 bronze required sword and shield, which I’d learned to master.

I was far beyond my prior limits as a Rank 0.

And a greatsword was something I enjoyed relearning and was growing to appreciate as I discovered further nuances against Senior Codex. Then he would show me up like I was dunce of the sword, make me waste all my Path Energy, and torment me for it.

Once I recovered, I tried again.

I made little progress.

Once I recovered, I tried again.

I made little progress.

Once I recovered, I tried again.

I made little progress.

I made gains by the inches through small and miniscule moments that felt like hairy dreams I couldn’t recall in full detail.

I could only recall the bland or bored expressions of the bookish Primordial as he smacked me left and right, up and down. Whenever my swordplay failed, he exploited my weakness to the fullest.

Still, I strived to get better. I tried to gleam new knowledge somehow even when I would lose to the same technique multiple times in a row.

In those moments when I discovered something, it felt like I found tiny epiphanies that only arrived in the heat of the moment. These were epiphanies so small I wouldn’t bother capitalizing them like a proper Epiphany.

I felt myself gaining more mastery as we kept going and going and going.

Eventually, I lost track of how many times we’d done this after round two hundred and fifty. Or did I lose track after round three hundred?

Nonetheless, Path Energy ensured I wouldn’t get sore, drained, tired, or anything. But Path Energy couldn’t stop from feeling the wear and tear to one’s ego as I became less a man and more of an extension of the greatsword.

“You’re finally using your greatsword like a greatsword for your Level,” Senior Codex said coolly, flicking his training sword one-handed at me.

His other hand was positioned behind the small of his back. His every moment was quick, efficient, and to the point. It was almost predictable.

I spun the greatsword, raising the handle upward while the blade moved down in an arc close to my body. My feet pivoted automatically with the parry before sidling to maintain proper distance as I rode out the momentum of our clash. With that space, I flicked the end of my greatsword sharply at Senior Codex’s face.

I predicted he would respond with superhuman strength and speed to bring his sword around and clash with my greatsword. I already knew what I would do next if he did, and I already knew how I would respond after that depended on his following moves.

Without my ego, all that mattered was swinging the greatsword effectively and wasting as little Path Energy as possible to achieve the desired effect.

It was horrifying.

It was gratifying.

I was nothing but an extension of the sword. I didn’t need an ego for that.

Then Senior Codex shattered my predictions and all of my imaginations by raising a SECOND sword that appeared out of nowhere.

My greatsword slammed against it and bounced off like I struck an immovable wall. My feet moved out of sync with all I’d done, breaking my rhythm after so many rounds, forcing me to improvise again.

Before I could recover, his first sword flicked up from low to high.

With little choice, I lunged into a retreat. The rate of my Path Energy decline quickened. My emotional state and concentration influenced that stuff, and before I could temper my mental state, Senior Codex was back in my face.

Both swords swung at me from odd angles while somehow independent of each other, as if his arms had minds of their own.

I blocked the one to the right and took a strike to the left side of my ribs. The impact crackled against my Path Energy while still knocking the air out of me.

Again, he swung his dual swords at weird angles that didn’t flow as they should. I blocked the left while trying to shift quickly to parry the right.

But the left blade landed hard against my greatsword, forcing me into a stumble. The right blade slipped through my guard and slammed the other side of my torso, making it even harder to draw breath again while ripping chunks out of my Path Energy.

A part of me wanted to complain.

Nothing had changed for hundreds of rounds.

We’d gone like this at a cyclic rate for too long for new tricks.

Then I reminded myself that my life had never been fair, and I just had to figure it the hell out.

The dual blades came at me again from different angles while independent of each other. This time, I didn’t stay defensive. I crashed forward.

I let the left blade glance off my shoulder while smashing my greatsword against the right blade, pushing it aside before punching my sword guard into Senior Codex’s face.

The attack worked, striking him on the cheek, making him step back for once.

I didn’t let up. I moved my greatsword like a windmill blade and came down from over the top with a powerful stroke, all the muscles in my back and core engaging, Path Energy crackling eagerly. Senior Codex raised his right sword to meet it, and the strident CLANG was so loud it hurt my ears, sparks shooting out from the impact.

A heavy vibration traveled down the greatsword and into my hands, and I ignored that in favor of spinning the blade around again for another over-and-down cut at Senior Codex. He blocked it again, but this one came out stronger, with an even louder CLANG that made my hands suffer even more vibrations.

Once again, I ignored the clashing shakes, swung my greatsword again, and came down from overhead with another power cleave that made my back and abdominals scream with tension, Path Energy firing off like fireworks with the motion. Our blades clashed a third time with a metallic explosion, and finally, Senior Codex was the one who needed to retreat.

I stayed on him, like a wolf seizing an injured rabbit. My next step was nearly instant, the room blurring around me, as I swung and landed my greatsword on his knee.

He stumbled as I swung around and struck his side, then his hip, then his shoulder, and finally his neck. That last one made the Pathwalker Primordial let out an awkward squawk before he tripped over his own feet and fell on his back.

My greatsword stopped with the tip pointed down at the Primordial’s chest, with me standing tall over him. My Path Energy was at 5%, and if he was to get back up without paying for it, I would get crushed.

Instead, Senior Codex looked up with a warm smile and an acknowledging nod. “Good, you’re at ten-to-one. An immense improvement! And your greatsword techniques have improved by leaps and bounds. I think that might satisfy for–”

He stopped suddenly, making me tense as a notification arrived.

[Congrats! You’ve acquired a new Great Skill: Sword Player Flurry!]

[Sword Player Flurry: Level 11 (Uncommon): Everyone knows a sword is the greatest weapon ever, or it wouldn’t be featured in the motion pictures so much, right? Whenever you’re proving your awesome sword play by striking the same enemy multiple times, the next consecutive sword strikes after the third are stronger and faster.]

“Oh, that’s a good one,” I said, smiling widely. “That’s a really, really good one.”

“Test it on me,” Senior Codex demanded, now back on his feet.

I was going to mention my 5% Path Energy, but the look in his eyes gave me pause. He looked far more passionate than usual.

I did as I was told while he stood with no weapons held, leaving himself open to one, two, three strikes on his body before my newest Great Skill activated.

To my surprise, my Path Energy only dropped from 5% to 3%. The expense was ridiculously cheap, yet the effect was huge.

I struck with far harder and quicker hits with no further waste in energy, landing a dozen blows on Senior Codex in the time it would’ve taken me to swing two without the Great Skill.

Since he remained standing, there seemed to be no end in sight, pushing the Great Skill to an extreme duration until it obviously reached a limit and my Path Energy dipped down from 3% to 2%. Only then did I stop, but that was after striking Senior Codex a hundred times in one flurry. He came out completely fine, while I was on shaky legs, the negatives of low Path Energy affecting me.

The Pathwalker Primordial nodded once. “Incredible. Five Great Skills, one of them already evolved to Rare, all within such a short period. Yes, indeed, this might be your greatest advantage.”

His golden gaze sharpened suddenly.

The library dojo grew darker.

I readied my sword as my monster-killing soul prepared to face something horrid.

Senior Codex remained mostly bland-looking while in brown robes. But something about him extended beyond his appearance and weighed on the atmosphere.

His next words landed with impact. “You cannot let anyone know of this, Slayer. They would dissect you, flesh, magic, soul, and all, to learn of this advantage.”

My grip tensed around my sword handle as I stood my ground. “I can’t be the only one who can learn Great Skills fast? And if you think about it, was that really fast? We went for over three hundred rounds.”

“Pathwalkers could conduct a million rounds of the same training and fail at getting the Great Skill you’ve just plucked up like it was laid at your feet,” Senior Codex said, though it wasn’t out of anger or envy. It was direct and factual. “You are already the one and only Slayer. And now you bring to our doorsteps the ability to gather Great Skills quickly on the eve of the Grand Generational Passing.”

The Primordial sighed heavily, sounding more old, like eons old. “You want to know how big the target is on your back? Well, it’s big enough where even I’m afraid of the ones who would hunt you if they knew the whole truth.”

My mouth opened and closed involuntarily.

Then I choked out one word. “Why?”

“Who wouldn’t want to have such an unregulated advantage of collecting Great Skills rapidly? For themselves or for their pride and joy, their star descendants?”

“But … I worked hard for what I have. I had nothing else but hard work. So what I have should be mine.”

“It doesn’t matter. Your best bet is to give up on making waves, be an average Pathwalker, and avoid their attention. Or at the very least, be a minor Slayer off to the side who doesn’t seem like too much of a threat.”

“No.”

“Then you risk getting snatched up and studied against your will.”

“The System wouldn’t let that happen.”

“The System is imperfect. She is exploitable just like any System. She clearly favors you. But even she cannot save you completely if you acquire the wrong attention. With us old Pathwalkers, we have our ways.”

I wanted to curse at him.

I wanted to shout and rage and unleash all the pent-up fury from years of having to deal with assholes oppressing me. Just when I thought I could finally be free to achieve my dreams of being the best that I could be, I ended up screwing up in the other direction.

I got something going on with me that was too GOOD and would get me killed … or worse.

“Never give up,” I muttered, thinking of Baron. “I’ll keep going.”

My Pathwalker Epiphany resounded, pushing back at the heavy atmosphere set by Senior Codex. The Primordial looked at me hard for a long time before finally relenting with a sigh. The darkened atmosphere returned to its amber and warm tones.

“Our time is mostly up,” he muttered. “There is too  much to go over that you don’t know, but I focused on your most basic foundations, and there’s nothing more foundational than Path Energy efficiency. However, I can make some recommendations that’ll suit you best before you go.”

“Hit me,” I grunted.

“You have some wiggle room to work as an off-brand warrior. While it is better to stack as many body-enhancing powers as you can, especially as a Slayer, but you’re certainly the first I’ve heard of who uses artificing. There’s been Slayers who’ve crafted using alchemy or blacksmithing, but never artificing.

“Thus, I think you should certainly work on that craft of yours in between training your warrior techniques. Stick with fighting close-quarters as much as you can with the greatsword. Your hand-to-hand is solid enough if the sword isn’t always suitable. And your artificing can come up with more creative solutions for more creative problems when needed.

“This all depends on your Great Skills and Path Energy efficiency, of course, which you must keep to yourself. You don’t want others to know how low-quality your Path Energy is. And if you choose to join those who’ll be a part of the Grand Generational Passing, then I recommend picking Path Lightning at Level 31 and another body-enhancing magic at Level 61.”

I nodded along, my anger fading to the background as I absorbed the advice. It was safe to assume that Level 31 and Level 61 were the next times I would get a Path Magic Selection. I would need to strategize if that was the case.

Though that made me wonder what would happen at Path Level 101 that he’d mentioned earlier. Also, why Path Lightning?

I decided to ask about the latter, since having more elemental powers was interesting.

“You’re already diverging more than the usual warrior, so you might as well take advantage of one of the most unique elemental combinations,” he said. “Path Lightning combined with Path Magnetism leads to electromagnetism magic. Paired with your artificing, and, well, I imagine you will certainly enjoy the results when you get there.”

The smirk on his face told me this was advice I should take to heart.

But there was one more point among many that bothered me.

“You haven’t mentioned anything about Battle Rex?”

He frowned. “It’ll get you killed. Even by the time you hit Level 61, you’ll have to sacrifice a majority of your Path Energy to summon such a creature. Since I imagine you’ll do so in the heat of the moment, you won’t have time to meditate, and even if you do, a summoning that’s also a challenge to you has gotten many a Pathwalker killed.”

“Would it be powerful? I imagine anything called a Tyrannosaurus Rex that’s Epic being powerful.”

“Certainly, but you already bear too much of a burden, Young Pathwalker. Let that one go. In fact, you might as well forget about any Path Magic that’s epic or above.”

“Can’t I, maybe, evolve my Path Energy?”

He looked at me sadly. “Your best bet was before you became a Pathwalker and to be born in one of the noble families or be selected by a conglomerate.”

I breathed.

In.

Out.

Even.

“Is there a way?”

Senior Codex refused to say.

“I’m getting that Battle Rex,” I muttered. “I’ll make it work.”

“Then I hope you make the most out of your Path. You are certainly an amazing specimen, but I fear you won’t last long.” Senior Codex smiled at me sadly. “You’re not the type to give up when you should learn to compromise more. Though, that’s normal with Slayers. It’s what makes you all admirable. It’s what makes you all pitiful, too.”

Senior Codex was a great help.

But he was being an asshole to me and the past Slayers.

Unfortunately, things went dark before I could reply. The Primordial disappeared, which was crap.

The bastard got the last say.