The creature launched itself at him a moment later. Maximilian released all three of his dao fields to meet the charge. He had expected the insect to hesitate or at least try to avoid them, but it hadn't. The insect queen charged like a bull. He pushed spiritual energy into his lower body and jumped into the air. The queen's chamber was large, about the size of a school gymnasium. He wasn't sure if it would be enough. A thought that proved almost prophetic when the queen's stinger elongated like a serpent. His danger sense warned him a fraction of a second before the needle-like point shot toward him. He released a burst of wind that pushed him out of the attack's path. Despite how fast he reacted, he was still stabbed in the shoulder. He landed on the ground a second later. His face twisted into a grimace as he summoned a pill from his bag. He could feel the poison spreading into his body. He channeled his dao to fight corruption, but he was losing. He swallowed the pill and pushed its healing energy toward the wound in his shoulder.

  Next, he triggered Prismatic Barrier. Based on how fast the stinger was, he realized he had made a mistake. The queen was slow, but it made up for it with the stinger. Maximilian rapidly produced a minefield of electricity as the queen began another charge. He abandoned his defense to activate Severing Disc. He imbued the skill with the dao of Static to further amplify its cutting properties. Twin blades shot toward the queen. Only, unlike its lesser brethren, the queen didn't hesitate. Its stinger shot forward to meet the first, while its mouth undulated right before it unleashed a gout of green poison. His attacks tore through the attempt at defense, but they weren't enough. What should've been enough to sever the creature's body was instead barely able to tear deep gashes. Fortunately for him, the queen was stupid. It hadn't slowed down when it reached the minefield. Half a dozen darts of electricity exploded near simultaneously. Individually, they weren't much, but together? Together, they were able to stun the queen for a second. Time that allowed him to prepare his next move. He brought both hands together as a sphere of all his daos came into being.

  First came the water. A sphere that reminded him a bit of Earth. Though it lacked the telltale browns and greens that denoted the flora. He expanded the orb to the size of a beach ball. It was at this point that the queen regained the ability to move. It slammed into his shield with the force of a runaway train. Cracks spread across its front, but he ignored them. He focused on his next attack. Next, he added the dao of Squall. Razor-like winds condensed into the ring that felt like it could split a mountain. Yet it wasn't enough. He forced more wind into it until it felt like he trapped a tornado in an area the size of a Frisbee. He had wanted to add more, but he could tell he would lose control. Finally, he added the dao of static. An electrical ring that ran parallel to the wind one. As soon as he finished his creation, he lost his connection to his skill. The barrier crumbled seconds before he released his attack. The world slowed to a crawl as his danger sense went haywire. His attack moved, and for the first time, he saw fear in the queen's face. Not that there was anything it could do about it.

  His pseudo-skill exploded, and they were both consumed by a brilliant light. Maximilian was launched backwards until he slammed into the hard stone. He bit back a scream as he processed what had happened. Several bones were broken, and he was now embedded in the stone wall. He felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his head, but he was otherwise fine. He released a burst of wind and electricity to free himself from the wall. The act sent a flash of pain through him. He groaned. The feeling of his body repairing itself was almost enough to make him regret it. A moment later, his eyes widened as he prepared himself for battle. He hadn't received a kill confirmation. A horrid sound came from the opposite side of the room. The cloud of chaotic energy dispersed enough for him to see what had survived. The insect queen was in poor shape. It had lost one of its legs, an eye, and a large chunk of flesh from its tail. Despite its horrible appearance, he could tell the creature wasn't done. That it wasn't ready to give up.

  Maximilian activated Static Bolt and then formed more electrical darts. He had formed half a dozen darts when the queen had enough. Once again, it made the horrid sound and began to rush toward him. Its speed was slower than before, but still quite fast. His head throbbed as he pulled on more of his dao. He pulled out a soul stone and drained it as fast as he could. The relief was short-lived. He had already started moving when his danger sense screamed. The queen's stinger shot toward him like a spear. He activated the array in his robes. His last-ditch defense shattered almost as fast as he made it. Between the shield and his speed, he managed to shift himself just enough. He turned what would've been a piercing wound into a glancing blow. He blasted off the ground to put a bit of distance between the two of them. He slammed his fingers into the solid rock to keep himself off the ground. He took a moment to analyze the situation. The queen was both slower and weaker than at the beginning of their battle. He was somewhat sure it wouldn't be able to dodge another big hit. That being the case, he wouldn't be able to launch the sphere again. At least not before this battle ended. He turned his attention to Severing Disc. The skill was off cooldown, which made his plan rather clear. He just needed to make sure it hit.

  Still, he was in no rush. He popped another of his anti-poison pills and took a breath. A moment later, the queen figured out where he had gone, and the battle was joined. Maximilian dodged another strike from the tail and began his preparations. Energy surged into the symbols for the skill, along with enough mental energy to imbue it. The queen rushed him. His gaze hardened as he waited for the right moment. As soon as the queen had crossed half the distance, he acted. His killing intent exploded outward a second before he triggered the skill. The queen froze for a fraction of a second. Just enough time for him to launch both blades. The insect regained the ability to move just as the blade found its target. Its hard exoskeleton resisted for a fraction of a second before it was trisected. All three parts of the creature's body crashed to the ground right before he received a torrent of spiritual energy. It wasn't enough to get him a new level, but it was close. With the battle finished, he collapsed. Relief and elation surged through him as the adrenaline faded. He was tired but overjoyed. He had succeeded. Not only that, but he was certain that he could advance the dao of Static. Not only that, but he was pretty close to advancing the dao of Squall. He had been mulling over a change in direction. He would have to focus on the sharpness of the wind. Sharpness and speed.

  There were other ideas, of course, but he wasn't sure how to incorporate them. He had some doubts about the way he had divided his dao. The vague categories worked fine in the context of a game, but it was clear that all three of his daos could be used for offense or defense. Yet he wanted to keep the categories. Offensive, Healing, Support, and Defense were obvious. He just wasn't sure if he would be stronger or weaker if he forced the divide. He could instead separate the categories into the four components. Electricity, Wind, Water, and Ice were the most likely choices. He could always do both. Yet he didn't know enough. Nor was it a problem in the short term. His current goal remained the same. He had to get stronger. He had to level. Everything else would fall into place later. He took another moment to let his mind wander as he recovered. When he felt he was ready, he folded his legs and began to meditate. He reflected on all of his recent battles. Each one provided a glimpse at what he was and who he was. Each one revealed mistakes and opportunities where he could've been better. Been a bit faster. Part of him knew scrutinizing himself like this wasn't the most useful. Yet it was the best he had.

  Before long, he shifted his focus to what he was here for. He recalled every time he released his attacks. The feel of the electricity in between his fingers. He slowly pushed the dao throughout his body. Far too slow to use it for anything, but it did help his understanding. He watched the way his muscles reacted as the energy passed through. He focused on the image he wanted. Of the body seizing. Of the loss of control. The paralytic aspect of the electricity flowed through his mind for several minutes before he succeeded. He wouldn't say the change was something grand. With all the effort it took to reach this point, he had wanted some light bulb moment that would reveal all. Instead, what he got was a rush of insight. An understanding that filled in the spaces he had left behind. As if he had seen a small piece of a picture, and now he could see the whole thing. Despite his success, he didn't immediately pull up his notification screen. He would have time for that in a bit. Instead, he turned his attention to his other dao. He knew he couldn't advance them, but he could make some progress. He sat quietly, thinking about his battles and his thoughts, both deep and wild. He could tell he was closer, but all too soon he opened his eyes and stood up. He had squeezed himself dry like a rag for every bit of improvement. It wasn't enough, but he was pretty sure all his dao got a boost. None were even close to the improvement static had received, but it was good enough. He pulled up his notification and smiled.

  Lesser Dao of Static - Comprehension: High. Intelligence +50, Wisdom +30.

  The attributes provided by his dao increased with no changes. He reviewed his improved status screen and smiled. He was pleased. More than pleased, yet it didn't feel like enough. No, it wasn't enough. He knew there were stronger monsters. If he was being honest, the insect queen was close enough. Right now, his daos were his biggest advantage. An advantage that would fade soon. He was confident that the monsters would gain them soon. Which meant that if he slowed down, they would kill him. He glanced at the queen's corpse but decided to leave it alone. He wasn't interested in more bug bodies, and the chunks that were left weren't in great shape. He doubted he could turn them into something edible, nor did he have the time to try. He was in the middle of a desert. He wasn't sure he could generate a flame, let alone cook something. He could've come up with a dozen more reasons to dislike it, but they didn't matter. He had already made up his mind. He cracked his fingers and made his way back to the surface.

  He sucked in a breath of fresh air as soon as he was back on the surface. The sun was now high in the sky, which meant he had only spent a few hours down below. He glanced toward the mountain in the distance. His mountain, and considered going back. Yet, he decided not to. It wasn't a question of what but of need. He needed more power, and he needed to work out a bit. The current calm wasn't going to last much longer. Especially if the recent attack was indicative of future problems. He looked around in search of any clue on which direction he should head, but found nothing. He shrugged and decided to continue doing what he had been. He continued north. He started at a walk, but before he was long, he had formed a bubble of water around himself and sprinted. He used a bit of spirit energy on his feet to improve his stability, though the sand hadn't bothered him too much. He couldn't be sure, but he hoped the energy would make it hard for ambush predators to surprise him. At least from below. He couldn't help but smile as the desert blurred by. No matter how often he did it, he would never get used to moving at this speed. It was amazing, for lack of a better word.

  His journey across the desert was simple to say the least. He saw several monsters in the distance, but they either weren't the type to fight or they could sense how powerful he was. Either way, they avoided him. He was happy to see that there were fewer insect creatures. They were replaced with large dinosaur-like reptiles. The most common of which were raptors. Every once in a while, he caught sight of large skeletal vultures. This raised a series of questions that made him want to learn more. Since nothing had decided to come after him, he decided to do the hunting. He sat underneath a large rock formation until he saw what he had waited for. A skeletal vulture consumed the carcass of a raptor almost a hundred feet away. He had to restrain himself from attacking the creature out of morbid curiosity. He guessed that the creature was the result of the dao, or to be more specific, some death-related dao. Though that was all he could tell. He had never been the biggest fan of necromancy. The power itself was fine in most games but it was always "evil" to him. Now he wondered if real people would get the power. Intellectually, he knew that necromancy likely wasn't any more evil than fire or ice. Though he couldn't guarantee that. It was yet another thing he wanted to look into when and if he got the chance. He allowed his thoughts to wander until the bird took to the air.

  He waited until it had gone another hundred feet before he followed. Stealth wasn't his strong suit, so he decided to rely on distance. He was pretty sure vultures weren't known for their eyesight, and that was before it became undead. Regardless, he didn't have any other options. If it didn't work, he would need to kill the bird and start over. Fortunately, that wasn't necessary. The vulture continued its journey until it reached a tree the size of a skyscraper. Maximilian shook his head as he stared at something that shouldn't exist. That, by all the rules that he knew, should be impossible. Yet here it was. The tree was massive and was either dead or close to it. Its lack of leaves only revealed just how big a problem he was in. There were dozens of nests in the tree's canopy. Each one held several vultures. Several enemies that would be pissed if and when he attacked. He had been worried that he wouldn't be able to reach the top of the tree before, but now that fear was gone. The crooked and twisted tree had areas where he would be able to walk. If he added his spiritual energy manipulation, then he shouldn't have a problem. The closest nest was about a story up, which meant he had some space to play. He just needed to come up with a plan.

  Maximilian watched the birds for around an hour before he set his plan into motion. From what he had seen, the birds weren't the greatest fliers. He surrounded himself in a ball of chaotic wind and water. He had already mapped out several escape routes. Paths he could and would use to escape when the birds fell upon him. He kept his aura and killing intent sealed inside his body. With everything else ready, he inched forward and hid himself within the few shadows spread across the desert. The short walk to the tree felt like an eternity. When he was close enough to see the faces of the birds, he let out a breath. He took a moment to prepare himself and then strode for it. The last dozen or so feet had no shadows. He had no way to hide. Not that stealth was something he wanted to rely on. He had reached the base of the tree when the birds noticed him. A haunting sound filled the air as the vultures cried out in fury, rage, and several other emotions. The next moment, everything was replaced with killing intent. He stumbled a step as it slammed into him like a sheet of metal. He gritted his teeth. He countered with his own killing intent. The two invisible forces slammed into each other, and he lost. He was forced back another step as blades of sharpened feathers shot toward him. He gritted his teeth and released his dao fields. They were enough to deflect several feathers. He grimaced and condensed his killing intent into a sphere around him. He knew he couldn't beat the combined assault of the birds, but it should be enough to let him. To let him fight back.