Bab 212: Star Pluck
Mike and Shadow Ten had gone through countless hardships, but they finally found Professor Gregory.
The plan to rescue Professor Gregory was halfway successful.
Amari asked, "What now?"
Hiding in Professor Gregory's shadow, Mike said, "Professor Gregory, Shadow Eleven, I'll teach you a move to resist illusion attacks and enhance mental defenses."
"Alright!"
Hearing Thor's instructions, the two had no reason to refuse.
The mist's illusions were getting stronger, and they indeed needed more resistance.
"Professor Gregory, step back three steps. The movement will be a bit large."
Listening to Thor's instructions, Professor Gregory pondered for a moment and then complied.
"Raise your hands, place your thumbs on your temples, close your eyes, and use your index fingers to gently massage around your eye sockets."
The move seemed strange, somewhat familiar. But how could Thor possibly harm them?
PS: If you're tired of reading novels, you can try this method to relieve visual fatigue. :)
Shadow Eleven and Professor Gregory followed suit.
"Do it!"
Without needing Mike's reminder, as soon as Shadow Eleven raised his hands and closed his eyes, Amari struck, punching Shadow Eleven in the abdomen.
Boom—
Shadow Eleven spat out a mouthful of black blood, mixed with white mist!
Professor Gregory stood still, sighing.
Shadow Eleven was about to resist but, seeing the color of the blood and the mist, immediately understood.
He had been unknowingly affected!
If Mike and Shadow Ten hadn't arrived in time, he would soon be overwhelmed by the mist, and who knows what he might have done!
"Steady your mind, don't get emotional!"
Amari growled, punching Shadow Eleven in the face, forcing out more white mist and black blood.
Shadow Eleven: ...
This physical therapy was hard to endure without getting emotional!
"The more emotional you get, the harder it is to clear the mist!"
Boom—
Another punch, hitting Shadow Eleven's ribs at a tricky angle, forcing out another mouthful of black blood mixed with white mist.
No explanation was needed; Professor Gregory understood what was happening.
In fact, from the moment they met, Mike and Amari had executed a perfect plan.
Once they closed the distance, both realized that Shadow Eleven was deeply affected by the mist, in a very dangerous state!
Facing a potentially out-of-control Shadow Eleven, Mike first hid in Professor Gregory's shadow, ensuring his safety.
Then, Mike had them create distance, giving Shadow Ten the opportunity to act.
Finally, Shadow Ten struck, directly controlling Shadow Eleven.
All this happened in a very short time.
By the time Shadow Eleven realized what was happening, Thor and the others had complete control of the situation, leaving no room for change.
Professor Gregory nodded slightly, saying softly, "Thor, you're a genius."
"Professor Gregory, if you want to praise me, say it louder."
In front of them, Shadow Eleven was being mercilessly beaten.
His strength was already inferior to Shadow Ten's, and the latter had the advantage of a surprise attack.
Knowing the situation, Shadow Eleven didn't resist, following Shadow Ten's instructions to control his emotions and silently endure the beating.
After the last mouthful of black blood, Shadow Eleven slumped, the mist in his body completely cleared.
The physical therapy was highly effective.
Amari picked up Shadow Eleven like a chick and placed him on a rock.
"Rest well."
With the mist cleared from Shadow Eleven's body, the crisis was completely averted, and Mike breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, let's rest for a bit before moving on."
Besides Shadow Eleven needing to recover and Professor Gregory needing rest, Mike himself had many things to sort out.
They had been in the Suture Abyss for several hours.
Far away in the Tower of Truth, [Thor's Sea] had stabilized.
The two skills Mike had learned were now usable.
[Thor's Sea] and [Shadow Sea].
Having been busy traveling, Mike finally had time to study the effects of these skills.
[Thor's Sea]: Summon a projection of Thor's Sea, altering the surrounding environment based on existing elements.
Current elements: Water, Shadow
In simple terms, this was a home-field buff.
Mike couldn't help but recall his battle with Kaelum.
"Kaelum clearly has built a Sea of Truth, at least a prototype!"
As someone who ranked in the top fifty on the Slaughter Stele, Kaelum's strength was undeniable.
Although Kaelum hadn't reached Chief-level, building a Sea of Truth early was normal.
However, Kaelum had held back, not using the full effect of his Sea of Truth, only a basic application.
Mike currently mastered six elements:
Lightning, Wind, Fire, Water, Nature, Shadow.
Among them, Water and Shadow were part of the [Tidewalker Magus] class template.
This meant Mike's current Thor's Sea only had the effects of [Water Element] and [Shadow Element]!
To activate the other four elements in Thor's Sea, he needed to invest precious materials corresponding to each element!
The better the materials, the better the effect of Thor's Sea.
This was a significant investment, all money.
Thinking about the cost of Thor's Sea gave Mike a headache.
How nice it would be if someone else paid for it.
For a moment, he missed Maxen.
Mike quickly understood the abilities of [Water Element] and [Shadow Element].
Activating [Thor's Sea] would randomly generate water balls around Mike, moving at his command.
Enemies touching the water balls would take damage and receive debuffs like slow, bind, and reduced healing.
Mike touching the water balls would receive healing, shields, and purification effects.
The refresh rate of the water balls was constant, 20 per second, with a maximum of 200 at a time.
This meant the smaller the area affected by Thor's Sea, the denser the water balls!
Without any magic resistance, each water ball could deal 200,000 damage/healing, and this would increase with the scale of Thor's Sea!
If Mike's health was full, the water balls would provide 100,000 shield points.
Activating [Shadow Sea], shadows would randomly refresh around Mike.
The shadows had three effects, any one of which could be chosen:
1. Swap places with Mike and take 20% of the next incoming damage.
2. Mimic Mike's actions, casting the same skill with 20% effectiveness, lasting 3 seconds.
3. Mimic the enemy's actions, casting the same skill with 20% effectiveness, lasting 3 seconds.
The refresh rate of shadows was lower than water balls, 2 per second, with a maximum of 10 shadows at a time.
Both [Water Element] and [Shadow Element] would grow stronger and gain new effects as Mike's level increased and Thor's Sea expanded and improved in tier!
Activating both [Thor's Sea/Shadow Sea] simultaneously would create a synergy!
Shadows could swap places within water balls, enhancing mobility.
However, this would double Mike's mana consumption!
According to the Eye of Truth,
Currently, if Mike activated [Thor's Sea (Water)] or [Shadow Sea] alone, maintaining a 100-yard radius, he could sustain it for 120 seconds.
Activating both simultaneously, within a 100-yard radius, he could only sustain it for 30 seconds!
In those 30 seconds, with continuous use of shadows and water balls without hitting the limit,
He could refresh a total of 600 water balls and 60 shadows!
This would greatly aid in combat!
These figures were based on the 100% boost from [Thor's Sea's Blessing].
In terms of strength alone, the effects of [Thor's Sea (Water)] and [Shadow Sea], even limited to Mike's level 200, were very powerful!
Ordinary tier-one Chiefs, even tier-two Chiefs' Seas of Truth, couldn't compare!
Once Mike returned to the Tower of Truth and invested resources to improve the tier, it would become even stronger!
Putting away the skill descriptions, Mike was in a good mood.
Both [Thor's Sea] and [Shadow Sea] were more focused on survival.
In terms of output, Mike didn't pay much attention.
In fact, stacking 10 shadows to cast skills like [Sea Fury] or [Meteor Fire Rain] would deal terrifying damage!
Or gathering 200 water balls could instantly deal 40 million damage!
But even that paled in comparison to his lightning.
Besides these two skills, Mike had another skill waiting to be learned.
He looked down at the Thunderclap Hammer at his waist.
Supreme Being Ares had once sent five skill books through Maxen to Mike.
Mike had learned [Void Tremor], with four books remaining, currently stored in the Thunderclap Hammer.
Among these, the lowest level requirement was 200.
Mike had just reached level 200 before setting out, but the learning conditions hadn't been met, so he had to set it aside for now.
A skill book emerged from the Thunderclap Hammer.
The cover read:
When I was at level 200 and went to battle demons, a cunning demon race Lord transformed into countless stars, hiding among them, thinking my attack range couldn't reach.
In an instant, I comprehended a move and slashed it.
This skill was named [Star Pluck].