Every move Cardinal Weiss made during their fight bore an eerie resemblance to Kieran's Class Skills.
It began with understanding the first strike. While it looked like an open fist, Kieran watched from a spectator's view and scrutinized the changes in the gauntlet with a critical eye.
It had only occurred for a split second, but he was sure he witnessed it — the gauntlet's palm cover had detached from the dreadful blood weapon, turned into a perilous sphere the size of a marble, and exploded against Kieran's chest before returning to its former position as if nothing had happened.
That kind of manipulation speed was frightening! Not to mention the precision and control Cardinal Weiss executed. It was a step… no, several steps above what Kieran could accomplish.
As for what skill it replicated, that was quite simple.
'That's a Peril Implosion!'
The force of the discharge, the sudden burst of wrathful peril, and the condensed orb made to implode — all bore the signs of Peril Implosion, and Kieran couldn't be told otherwise.
It was, after all, a skill he used often.
Peril Implosion was frequently in his top five when deciding how to respond to an enemy. It was exceptional at creating space, but more than that, it inflicted tons of damage while providing that distance.
If Kieran had to note a few differences between their usage, however, it was the contrast in how it was employed.
Like how he carried himself in simple priest robes emblazoned with the Order's emblem, Cardinal Weiss aimed for simplicity in battle — brutal simplicity. Every strike was made with stark intent — injury or death.
The proof remained inside the new scars on Kieran's body.
He touched them in thought while constantly replaying the simplistic Peril Implosion in his mind. The massive consumption of the skill had effectively been neutralized by the Cardinal's ingenious and admittedly miserly usage of blood.
After a while, the principle became somewhat clear to him.
'It sorta follows the principle of a damned nuclear bomb, no?'
In the moment before impact, the marble had split in two, collided against each other, and generated an absurd force. However, the pressure was contained and funneled all through Kieran's body, which is why Cardinal Weiss remained still as a statue while doing all that.
'…Holy hell!'
Sudden awe erupted in Kieran's mind as he immediately focused on the wrong thing.
'Did I survive being hit by a bomb? I'm literally a tank.'
Then, Kieran furrowed his brows and realized something.
'If I'm a tank… Daedric is a whole damn bunker. But I'm just rambling here. That's not important.'
Kieran returned his focus to digesting the teachings hidden inside Cardinal Weiss' ferocious and merciless beatings.
'So, if the first strike was a modified Peril Implosion, then this one…'
Kieran skipped scenes like fast-forwarding through unimportant scenes in a movie until he finally arrived at the blood sabaton-enhanced kick. When frozen, the scene looked particularly hilarious to Kieran.
'Look at my face. It was like at that moment, I knew… I had fucked up.'
His eyes widened in disbelief and dismay. And his face had contorted into a regretful frown. Inside those widened eyes were also silent laments.
'Wait, hold on.'
Kieran rolled the scene back inside his Realm and then circled the frozen facsimile of the foot roughly ten centimeters away from his body. Something had changed in this fraction of a second that caught his eye. At first, Kieran thought it was blurred because of his inability, but that wasn't why.
The sole of the sabaton had vibrated intensely in preparation for a sudden emission — an eruption.
'Wrath Eruption! It's another gross oversimplification that somehow resulted in a more terrifying version. This man is like… a battle genius. To him, less is always more!'
Kieran exhausted his mind until he approached his limits. In slight pain, he watched as the sole erupted and punched a gaping hole in his midsection.
'…Damn. What an attack.'
He marveled for some time before dismissing the image.
Peril Implosion, Wrath Eruption, and one more bread and butter skill — Seethe Burst. A punch that embodied its principles was why he found himself entombed in the ravaged pit.
What Kieran took away from the digestion was simple: he needed to learn how to make less more. But that could only happen by enhancing his control over his blood. Which also had a few restrictions barring his path and a particularly titanic obstacle keeping him from moving forward.
'Dammit! How ironic is this situation? I can't deal…'
Kieran glanced at Cardinal Weiss, who sat in a meditative state and practiced some boxed breathing. His even breathing soon gained an unbroken, calming rhythm.
To obtain a comprehensive upgrade in the Blood Manipulation aspect of Blood Mania, the skill required enhancement. That would catapult Kieran's usage of the ability to a level becoming of an Adept.
It was the source and prerequisite to all the skills that Kieran acquired. It wasn't wrong to say that each skill in his possession was a derivative of Blood Mania.
Kieran's expression darkened at that thought, though.
As it stood, he had no access to the skill itself. Its rune was locked up within the Anchor's seal.
The ironic situation almost made Kieran laugh hysterically. Breaking the Anchor is what the Flame wanted. But breaking the Anchor was only the only way to begin Advancing himself.
This choice left Kieran at an impasse while suffering from an infuriating conundrum.
If he did decide to break the Anchor, however, there was always the matter of consequence.
Every choice had an appropriate consequence.
'I don't like that thought. Choice is the supposed power of the Gods. Which I still don't understand. Would that mean everyone is a god?! Everyone can choose in the end… can't they?'
Kieran stroked his hairless chin in some strangely habitual way while thinking.
'What other way can choice be looked at? I can't wrap my mind around the concept, but then… I don't know much about Ascension either. I do know that shattering the Anchor is a big no-no.'
Doing so would turn the Anchor from a titanic obstacle to a colossal ordeal.
'What if I assimilate the knowledge but leave the refinement for later? That could work. It seems like the safer alternative.'
Met with a eureka moment, Kieran snapped his finger with a few energetic head movements.
'I'll do exactly that. I mean, it was sealed for a reason. And I don't think that reason was to make my days a living hell... unless it was. Then, bravo, Portalmaster, or whatever the hell you are. You have succeeded. But I'll continue to play your game and see where this takes me.'
As if awoken by Kieran's quirky behavior, Cardinal Weiss slowly opened his eyes.
"Valdu, are you ready to explore?"
Intrigued by the word, Kieran expressed his curiousness with his head acock.
"I have seen you glance at those mountains from time to time. And given your odd delight, I assume you have realized a few things?"
Kieran nodded. And Cardinal Weiss pointed at the jagged mountains in the distance.
"Then, you're ready to travel these lands with me. Come, Valdu. Let me take you through the Lifeless Pass… so that you may gaze upon the Wailing Sierra. For in the coming days… you must walk it."
'Wailing Sierra?'
Kieran stared at the proud mountain chain, wondering how it had come to gain its name.
