novelraw Chapter 134: Upgrade in the Storm
Chapter 134: Upgrade in the Storm
The captain inhaled slowly. "We focus. Artillery first or guard first?"
Before anyone could answer, the lean ogre retreated several steps, positioning itself between them and the throne.
Protecting, but also like it waited for something.
The boss hadn’t moved.
It simply watched.
Arthur felt the difference immediately.
The boss wasn’t raging like the rest of the ogres they fought.
It wasn’t standing up to charge.
It was calm. Observing.
Like a king watching soldiers test invaders.
Arthur whispered, almost to himself, "It doesn’t see us as a threat yet."
The words left his mouth just as the boss lifted one massive hand.
The motion looked casual.
Lazy even.
But Arthur felt the mana shift instantly.
"Buff," he said sharply.
As soon as the boss lowered its hand.
The lean ogre moved.
Faster than before.
It vanished from sight with a sharp crack in the air.
CRASH!
As it appeared inside their formation and struck a tanker so hard the shield bent inward.
The sound rang through the dungeon.
The warrior grunted, barely holding his footing.
"Stronger!" Ryn shouted as he intercepted the next strike. Sparks flew where his blade met the ogre’s hardened arm.
Arthur could feel it clearly.
The mana around the lean ogre had thickened.
It wasn’t just moving faster.
It was empowered.
"That wasn’t just a fluke," Arthur said. "It used a skill."
The captain adjusted immediately. "Rotate defense! Don’t let it isolate anyone!"
But the pressure didn’t stop there.
From behind the lean ogre, the long range ogre pulled its mechanism again.
This time..
Two stones. Launched together.
The ropes snapped forward with a loud TWANG!
The stones screamed through the air.
"Arthur!" someone shouted.
He had already stepped forward.
Slowing one stone was hard.
Two was brutal.
He extended his intent weave outward, feeling the crushing force slam against his control.
His jaw tightened.
The stones resisted.
But they slowed just enough.
Fire spears formed instantly as he released both.
BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions collided midair, one after the other.
The sound was deafening.
The shockwave rolled outward heavier than before, knocking several explorers off balance.
"Hold!" the captain roared.
Dust swallowed them again.
And in that moment of disruption.. he lean ogre struck.
It moved in perfect timing with the blast, as if it had practiced this exact rhythm. It appeared behind a caster and swung.
CLANG!
Ryn intercepted just in time, but the force sent him skidding.
The formation cracked.
Shields shifted out of alignment.
Another stone mechanism pulled back.
Arthur’s chest tightened.
"They’re pushing us apart," he said through gritted teeth.
As he began calculating.
The boss hadn’t stood up or attacked directly.
But It didn’t need to, as it was commanding the field.
The lean ogre retreated again, just beyond their immediate reach.
The long range ogre reset its catapult.
And the boss sat on its throne, heavy eyes fixed on them.
Arthur wiped the blood that had returned to the corner of his mouth.
He looked at the throne.
Then at the ritual markings.
Then back at the formation struggling to stay tight.
He exhaled slowly.
"The fight had gotten real," he muttered as he watched the continued assault of the lean ogre.
The lean ogre’s roar tore through the chamber, deep and ugly, shaking dust from the dungeon walls. Steel rang against bone. Someone screamed.
Arthur felt it in his chest.
This was no longer a controlled skirmish. If he held back now, someone would die.
He exhaled once.
"I guess I’m done holding back," he muttered.
And like he always did.
When pressure rose, he pushed. And when he hit a wall, he broke it.
Not by rage. By upgrade.
Amid chaos, his vision sharpened.
He reached inward for his system.
The world dimmed slightly as the interface opened over his sight.
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
⟦ Skill Upgrade Interface ⟧
✦ Target Skill: Intent Weave
✦ Type: Battlefield Control / Intent Projection
━━━ CURRENT STATUS ━━━
• Current Rank: E
• Next Rank: D
━━━ UPGRADE REQUIREMENT ━━━
✦ Intent Point Cost: 25 IP ✦
⟬ System Query ⟭
→ Proceed with rank advancement?
[ Y / N ]
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
Arthur almost laughed.
Twenty-five intent point.
There was a time that number would’ve made him hesitate. When every single point felt like blood squeezed from bone. When upgrading meant weeks of risk.
But not anymore.
"Do it," he said calmly as he clicked "Yes"
The battlefield noise returned in a rush, but the interface shifted instantly.
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
━━━ SKILL UPGRADE COMPLETE ━━━
✦ Name: Intent Weave
✦ Type: Battlefield Control / Intent Projection
✦ Rank: D
✦ Status: ACTIVE
⟬ Skill Description ⟭
The user structures sovereign intent into reinforced spatial threads, forming a stabilized interference field that dominates local movement, pressure flow, and kinetic distribution within its radius.
━━━ PRIMARY EFFECTS ━━━
• Strongly disrupts and suppresses enemy momentum within the field
• Greatly slows charges, leaps, rapid assault vectors, and projectile velocity
• Interferes with coordinated attacks and formation stability
• Dampens explosive triggers driven by impact force
• Expanded operational radius and improved field stability
━━━ SECONDARY EFFECTS ━━━
• Targets moving within the field accumulate increasing structural strain
• Movement resistance compounds the longer a target remains inside
• Sufficient focus allows near-complete nullification of kinetic force
• Objects halted within the field suffer internal destabilization or collapse
• Follow-up attacks inflict significantly greater impact due to accumulated strain
━━━ OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS ━━━
• Mana Consumption: Reduced
• Control Requirement: Moderate
• Effective Range: Increased
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
Arthur didn’t have time to digest everything.
But he understood enough.
Reduced mana.
Expanded range.
Full momentum nullification.
That was all he needed now.
"Brace for attack!" someone shouted.
A sharp, panicked voice.
"Two stones incoming!"
Arthur’s head snapped upward.
He moved.
Intent Step activated.
His body blurred forward, boots grinding against broken stone as he appeared ahead of the formation. The air screamed.. FWOOOM!
Two massive boulders tore through the dungeon spinning violently. The pressure alone forced some explorers to shield their faces.
But Arthur stepped forward. He raised his hand and the air shifted.
Invisible threads spread outward from him like a net cast into space.
The first stone entered the field.
BOOOOO... It didn’t finish.
It’s roar died as the boulder shuddered mid-air.
The explorers froze as they watched the stone hover three meters in front of Arthur, spinning slower... slower... until it was just... hanging there.