The Over-Break System

For the rest of the afternoon, Cynrik proceeded to flit around the ring, attacking his imaginary foe, leaving Brance to spectate in silence. He could tell Cynrik was shadow sparring a speed-based opponent based on his older brother's movements. Mulling over this further, Brance calculated Cynrik's placement in the ring and soon concluded that he was reenacting the fight he had earlier in the day against Mr. Kein.

From time to time, Cynrik would trip over his legs and faceplant before cursing loudly and bouncing back to his feet and continuing his assault.

When Cinyah showed up at dusk to announce it was time for dinner, she came upon a sweaty Cynrik swinging his sword gracefully while jumping from side to side. Watching her son shadow spar, she smiled and waited for him to notice her arrival.

It didn't take long for this to occur, and soon after, she whisked both her children to the dining room to eat, where an idle conversation about the day's events transpired.

Once dinner was finished, the two brothers tidied up the table and washed their dishes before checking if the sun had gone down. Upon seeing that it indeed had, Cynrik and Brance ran to the training room and took their places atop the two cushions.

[Heh, seriously, you got fucking lucky against Kein. I can't win no matter how many times I run through that fight putting myself in your place. Although I am only using my speed and swordsmanship to fight him, I am having difficulty dodging those attacks that you blocked. Even parrying them is a challenge.] As Cynrik tried to get comfortable on the cushion, he complained to Brance.

[I shouldn't have won. The only reason I did is that I am a damage sponge. That and he slipped up and underestimated me. Don't forget, at the end of the day; the man was Mid Tier-3; that's a far cry from our little Peak Tier-1. If I didn't have my [Earth Shield] to buy me some time, I would have been forced to admit defeat. By the way, how are you handling his movement? When we fought, I couldn't even see him and had to respond to the slight fluctuations in the air, which would have been impossible without my Wind Affinity.]

Brance had been curious about this since Cynrik seemed to be able to read the man's movements.

[Oh? That's simple; he leaves a blurred afterimage that can be seen with [Mana Sight], and before you say it's cheating, keep in mind that I treat it as a real fight and not a sparring match, so my use of the ocular skill is fair game.]

[UGH, why did you have to add that stupid restriction?] Brance groaned, remembering how difficult it was to guess where Mr. Kein's attacks would come from accurately.

[Two reasons, the first being I didn't want to expose all our trump cards to those three. Even if they could basically assume we had it because of our lineage, by not using it, we create the shadow of doubt in their minds just in case. The second reason is simple; we are becoming too heavily reliant on [Mana Sight] in battle. We need to get accustomed to only using it when necessary and not abusing it. Never forget, we still have no idea what adverse effects it will have on our eyes. I don't wanna end up in a Mangekyou Sharingan situation where we end up blind.] Subconsciously, as he explained the potential for going blind, Cynrik rubbed his eyes.

[Again, with the overly paranoid thoughts. We haven't ever heard Dad say anything about blindness being a side effect.] Brance said while staring blankly at his older brother.

[Still, better safe than sorry, anyway; enough chit-chat, let's get to cultivating. Since our little miss pissy pants, Tobs, is being stingy, we have no idea if we will get any added benefits by being at Tier-1 and using our skills.]

-I am not stingy, Host Cynrik; I simply cannot answer your question due to a lack of sufficient information.-

[Stingy is as stingy does Tobs.] Snorting his reply, Cynrik closed his eyes and started chanting the opening lines of his Requiem of Dusk.

Not wanting to be left behind, Brance quickly shut his eyes and slowed his breathing before starting to recite the opening paragraphs of his Reaching the Heavenly Skies.

However, upon activating their Mana Integration Skills, the brothers felt their bodies suddenly heat up, followed by intense chest pain. Fighting through the pain, Cynrik was vaguely aware that Tobs seemed to be frequently speaking, which he took as a sign that the notifications were flowing in.

With the pain and heat continuing to grow the longer he circulated the strange ancient technique, all Cynrik could do was grit his teeth and speed up reciting the mystical phrases in his head before starting from the beginning again.

For nearly two hours, Cynrik and Brance sat in place wearing contorted expressions of pain. They forced their bodies and minds as far as possible until, eventually, the pain and heat were replaced by a chilly and calming sensation.

Unwilling to break their chants for fear of disrupting whatever they were experiencing, the brothers didn't dwell on this feeling reminiscent of a person stumbling upon an oasis in the desert, and that's when something seemed to unlock within their chests.

With this strange feeling, they suddenly realized a new paragraph had emerged within their memories, causing them to hungrily absorb this data and add it to their already several sentence-long chants. However, as they progressed through the words, the instant they reached the second paragraph, an even more intense wave of pain surged out from their Codexes, nearly causing them to faint on the spot.

Thanks to his Will Power Stat, Cynrik was in a slightly better position than his brother, but in the end, after barely reaching the finish line and completing the second paragraph, Cynrik and Brance collapsed onto their backs and passed out.

Unknown to them, Cinyah and Maeve had been watching the entire process with wide eyes. Maeve was forced to grab her best friend several times to stop her from rushing forward to her young children in desperation. Cinyah knew the boys were making some kind of breakthrough with one of their hidden skills in her heart. Still, like an overprotective mother, she found it incredibly difficult not to rush forward and hug her two sons, who appeared to be experiencing an earth-shattering amount of pain.

This peaked when she saw both boys' skin turn bright red, and their bodies even started leaking some kind of mystical steam. When that occurred, even Maeve was freaked out. Then, just when they thought it was time to stop the boys, Cynrik and Brance fell onto their backs unconscious; at that point, the women dashed forward and caught them before their heads could hit the ground.

"Reckless, they are both so damn reckless. What the hell are they even doing? Their bodies are so hot it's like they are on fire." Unable to hold herself back, Cinyah spat while cradling Brance to her chest with tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Cinyah, you can't keep sheltering them like this. I understand what you are going through; hell, if I saw Aiden like this, I would probably faint on the spot, but your sons are different; they are special." Maeve moved a lock of hair out of Cynrik's face as she spoke.

"Come on, let's wipe their sweat and put them to bed; it seems they did what they set out to accomplish; you can scold them when they wake up." Still worried about their condition, Maeve decided for the panicked Cinyah and picked up Cynrik before walking off.

The following morning, Cynrik opened his eyes weakly and realized he was lying in bed; a glint of confusion flashed through his eyes before he concluded.

'Ah, Mom found us…that's not good; we will definitely get an earful from her later. Oh well, for now, let's check out the gains. Tobs, can you bring up all the notifications starting with when I first activated Requiem of Dusk.'

-Affirmative.-

-You have activated your Ancient Tier: Mana Integration Skill Requiem of Dusk.-

-As you have not continuously activated this skill for over five years, you will face a blockage when attempting to use it.-

Clicking his tongue, Cynrik scrolled through the notifications, which appeared to be warnings from Tobs about how dangerous his attempt was until he finally reached the meat and potatoes.

-You have completed activation of the Mana Integration Skill: Requiem of Dusk.-

-Since you forcefully broke through the blockage, your Mana Integration Skill has Evolved into Tier-1.-

-You have gained +0.5 Proficiency in the skill.-

-You have gained +0.5 Proficiency in the skill.-

-You have gained +0.5 Proficiency in the skill.-

-You have gained +0.5 Proficiency in the skill.-

-You have…-

Cynrik's eyes shot wide open as he rapidly scrolled through all the repetitive "you have gained…" notifications until he reached a particular notification that nearly made his head explode.

-You have obtained 500 Mana Points.-

-You have obtained 500 Health Points.-

-You have obtained 250 Stamina Points.-

-You have obtained the Tier-1 Passive Skill: [Mana Regeneration]-

-Tier-1 Passive Skill: Mana Regeneration-

-Your body has adapted to rapidly absorbing ambient Mana to the point that it has sped up your passive intake.-

-Rate of MP Regeneration, 25 points per Minute.-

'HOLY FUCK!' Cynrik jumped out of bed and screamed internally at this discovery. This was huge. Until now, Cynrik's MP regen was so abysmal that unless he sat still and meditated for over 24 hours, he wouldn't even come close to replenishing 25% of his mp. Now, however, that all changed. Twenty-five points a minute was the equivalent of 1500 MP an hour. This startling conclusion nearly made him pass out again from shock.

"Hehe, this is fucking brilliant. As if I wasn't OP before, now my ass is a literally broken cheat character with this dumb passive skill." Mumbling in a creepy voice under his breath, Cynrik couldn't contain his excitement.

-Host Cynrik, do not forget about the remaining notifications; also…you are SOOOO in for it when Cinyah realizes your awake.-

'Fucking hell Tobs, WHY CAN'T YOU LET ME CELEBRATE IN PEACE FOR ONCE?'

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