A golden radiance encompassed every team member as the Sand Severing Sand Worm's body fell and shook the ground beneath their feet. Even Kieran and Ezra, who possessed considerably higher level requirements, leveled up.
With the number of Sand Larva and Sand Worms killed, Ezra leveled up moments before but couldn't spare any attention to understand her Lv.35 skills.
That all changed after defeating the Sand Severing Sand Worm. Everyone had earned a break until the Mother Worm appeared.
"Flowing Sword Steps," Ezra muttered while her finger admittedly scrolled through the air. However, she scrolled through her private status screen, which was only perceptible to others if she shared it.
"Flowing Sword Steps?" Kieran turned toward Ezra.
Ezra beamed and nodded before showing him the skill information. Unknowingly, Ezra had become more open with Kieran after he fixed the blatant flaws in her Eclipsing Sword Style.
In short, Flowing Sword Steps was a movement-type active-passive skill. The passive increased her attack speed and movement speed by 20% with every 4th unobstructed sword attack. The active effect made it so her movements would produce a damaging wind equal to 50% of her Attack Power.
Reading through this skill, Kieran praised it. "This skill is excellent. In addition to increasing your movement and attack speed over time, it gives you sustained damage. Not to mention, it seems it can regenerate a portion of your exhausted Condensed Sword Force."
"Yeah!" Ezra exclaimed. Her delight was evident because of her cheerful mood, but Kieran took the opportunity to ask a sensitive question.
"Do you mind if I see your entire skill arsenal?"
"All of it?" Ezra muttered before falling into deep thought. 'It'll… be okay, right?'
Although she wanted to do so, she couldn't convince herself until Kieran swore. "Do you promise it won't harm me in the end? Exposing my skill menu is akin to stripping myself naked."
"I understand. To show my genuineness…."
Kieran swiped his hand and let Ezra peruse his skill arsenal.
However, it was only limited to his active skills and Blood Mania. Abilities like Deranged Spirit, Abhorrent Paroxysm, and Ancient Crimson Aegis were kept hidden. Their effects were too absurd to reveal to anyone.
Not even his teammate knew of their actual effects. No, they didn't even know a skill like Ancient Crimson Aegis existed. It was the only SSS Rank Skill in any player's possession.
Nevertheless, Ezra was stunned by his skill ranks. 'C Rank Skills are the weakest skills in his possession?! And he possesses more than one A Rank Skill already? No wonder he is so powerful in combat!'
Once she overcame her astonishment, Ezra reciprocated Kieran's actions, revealing her skill menu. Kieran browsed through the menu carefully while noting some key things Ezra didn't utilize properly.
Eventually, Kieran closed the skill menu. "Flowing Sword Step and Sword Wheel are your two Lv.35 skills, correct?"
"Yeah," Ezra admitted.
"Then you'll want to find ways to incorporate them into your general skill rotation. Also, I've noticed you don't use this Sonic Thrust skill properly. Lunge with one sword rather than two, and use momentum to begin your sword dance. Beginning on an instantaneous note can quickly take your enemy by surprise."
"Ah—! I understand what you mean," Ezra exclaimed.
She stood up and executed the movement as Kieran instructed, and the driving force propelled her over 3 meters when using a single sword. Afterward, she spun while flaring his rear arm upward, performing a fluid motion.
"It feels incredibly smooth," Ezra remarked in awe.
"Didn't I tell you? He understands combat like no other. I believe Aatrox's ability to dissect, analyze and improve movements are second to none," Altair commented.
Ezra had to agree with Altair's opinion. "It was difficult to believe that you accomplished your progress in one day at first But, now—I'm no longer skeptical."
"Remember the information compiled in the guide I gave you?"
"I do. How can I forget? I spent hours dissecting every piece of information inside."
"Right. I know some excellent auxiliary techniques to enhance your Eclipsing Sword Dance. However, creating them right now will be impossible since they require countless repetitions."
Ezra's alluring lips pursed into a displeased frown. Not because she disliked what Kieran said, but because she felt like she was being teased. Why would he raise the idea now of all times?
"It's impolite to keep a lady waiting. You can't pique my interest like that and then deflate my delight by delaying the information," Ezra whined with a faint pout.
However, Kieran shook his head and whispered. "Well, we will have a far more fearsome opponent in a few minutes. There really is no time to teach it to you."
"What do you mean one more?" Ezra blinked while looking around for answers. Everyone's expression revealed bitter smiles while recounting their experience with the mother worm.
"That big? How… how do we fight something that large?"
"By finding its vulnerabilities. It may be large, but it can only take so much damage before falling, just like any other monster."
"That's true. Aatrox isn't wrong. Haven't you heard the saying—the bigger they are, the harder the fall! We'll make this motherfucker shake by bringing that beast to the ground!" Nemean raised his clenched fist to the sky in an invigorated display.
His blood still roiled from his adrenaline rush earlier when he took command of the party's actions.
"Are you in any state to fight, though?" Sera asked while holding out her hand.
Compared to Kieran's large hand, hers seemed more like a baby in his grasp. However, a soft and pleasant radiance soon appeared from her tiny hand.
"This should help with your exhaustion. It's not a skill to recover health; it's meant to increase recovery rates for 10 minutes," Sera explained.
"I can tell by the feeling. But, my physical exhaustion is essentially gone. My condition stems from mental exhaustion. But, I've made preparations."
Unlike a few minutes ago when Kieran couldn't even move and relied on Crimson Ashrune for support, his body felt considerably better. The X-hancer he consumed before returning to Zenith Online helped correct the damage his body suffered from his actions.
But, because of this, Kieran's body in the real world grew pale. Aside from creating an Aspect, Kieran's earlier actions also revealed more in-depth knowledge regarding the sickness he possessed.
'Hyper-Cognitive Overload Sickness…. This game was the stimulus that flared up my sickness in the past. It never became an issue until I played this game. If that's the case, then this game shouldn't be played without a sufficient number of X-hancers, at least not at the highest level,' Kieran inwardly noted.
However, understanding this information made Kieran question the reason behind this design.
'Why create a game designed to enhance human brain power and effectively create superhumans? The world isn't in disarray. Sure there are wars, that's natural—but there's not that requires such a drastic reaction…. What is it?'
Kieran truly desired an answer. He needed to know why Zenith Online existed in the first place. More than that, he wanted to learn the source of X-hancers and what sparked their creation.
Out of curiosity, Kieran turned to Ezra. "Have you ever heard of Hyper Cognitive Overload Sickness?"
"I have it."
Ezra's response almost made Kieran's heart stop.
However, Ezra modified her answer. "Well, to be precise, I have it in the second-degree form. It's why my reaction and other matters related to cognition are heightened.
"I have it as well, but I've never heard of these degrees," Altair added.
Kieran snapped his head toward Altair with a complex gaze. 'That's right. Although we were rivals in the past, we didn't speak often. Aside from this combat style and demeanor, I wasn't familiar with anything else. So that's why he was always a worthy adversary.'
"I also have it," Lux chimed in.
Now, Kieran felt something was truly amiss. How could four people with the same affliction be gathered in the same proximity when it's something that should be rare in the past?
Ezra noticed Kieran's taken aback expression and clarified. "The sickness comes in varying forms. The higher the degree, the more inhuman the affected individual's responses. However, the sickness is produced after consuming X-hancers."
"Wait a minute, what? I thought X-hancers were the cure to sickness."
"They're both the cure and the plague. The sickness appears with violent signs if you go too long without consuming another. I should know; I suffered from it once—it was a crippling pain that kept me in bed for four days." Ezra grimaced and shuddered after recalling the experience
An expression of pain and fear crept upon Kieran's face.
"So once you start—"
"You can't stop," Ezra finished Kieran's words while noting Kieran's aghast look.
"That's strange… I was born with the sickness," Kieran suddenly said.
"Born with it?! I've never heard of such a case. You may be the first, but if other cases exist, they're well hidden. You should bring this up during the Gamer Republic's Global Examination.
'Global Examination… The first event required to refresh the Exemplar Records,' Kieran thought.
As much as Kieran wanted to continue with this conversation, he couldn't. The desert floor split open in many areas as a deafening screech sounded from below. The Mother Worm had arrived, and it was furious after learning of its nest's eradication!
