The Ascension of Contracted Spirits

Chapter 50 - 49: Testing Skills_1

"First, the clamp attack!"

"Aim at the target in front of you and attack with all your might!"

"Huh — hah!"

As a high-levelwise Fond Spirit, Huazhu doesn’t need circuitous language for guidance.

As soon as Ye Hanjun gave the instruction, she took a step forward, her bare foot stomping on the ground, her right arm swung, like a hook punch.

While she has a humanoid torso and well-shaped right-angle shoulders, the end of her slender forearm is equipped with a black scorpion pincer.

This indeed significantly reduces the purity of a young girl in the Desert Witch Clan, aligning more with the image of deformed demi-humans than the widely skilled and graceful witches of traditional imagination.

"Ding ding ding——"

With a fixed target within a step’s distance, it’s impossible to miss with her skill.

The front of the pincer, similar to a pair of scissors, firmly clamped the target, the saw-toothed spikes rubbing back and forth.

The resulting harsh sound echoed between the metal walls, becoming more unpleasant.

"This is a blue steel forged target. Its thickness is only half a centimeter. Attacking with full force, the ’clamp attack’ can only leave a faint mark?"

Ye Hanjun watched carefully, yielding results that were consistent with his expectations.

The targets within the room are generally similar in shape but made of different materials.

The most durable ones are comparable to metal walls and can perfectly block the strong skills of the Rainbow Light Fetus.

The weakest ones are made of wood, which even in his current state, he could move by hand.

As for blue steel, this material is the most common synthetic metal. Mortals generally use it to build the foundation of their houses.

"Sir, isn’t this too bad?"

After retrieving her pincer, Huazhu stood before the target, slightly nervous.

Ye Hanjun casually laughed, walked towards her, spinning the Blood-Sucking Dagger around in his hand and briefly scraped it against the target.

"Zil la——"

It was evident that, without exerting full force, his casual cut was on par with the mark left by the Desert Witch.

This made Huazhu lower her head, her two pincers crossing each other like a young girl playing with her dress corners after making a mistake, standing in the spot for self-reflection.

"The problem is not big," Ye Hanjun consoled.

Among the witches, apart from the peculiar "Close-Combat Witches", the rest of the witches mainly focus on the field of magic.

They are famously "powerful damage dealers but with fragile bodies". Regardless of how grandiose the spells you cast in front of them appear, if you attack them sneakily, the chances of severe damage are higher than with other Fond Spirits who are also skilled in spells but have a balanced offense and defense.

The Desert Witches are no exception.

They just look a little like the Scorpion Women of the subhuman race, equipped with sharp scorpion claws and tails.

However, in reality, these two parts are primarily for show and do not have much attack power.

Except when in dire situations, blood-norm Desert Witches would never take risks easily.

Their core combat style is to control distance and then, based on this, launch attacks, defenses, harassments... and manipulate their prey at will through a series of magic skills.

"Mud-cast fetus, the ’clamp attack’ skill of the Desert Witch Clan, the corresponding Chaos Spirit Pattern, generally ranges from 20 to 25 patterns."

"Because of the weakening problem caused by Grey Flash, you only have 10 patterns. You’re at the bottom of the tier with this low pattern count."

"A slight difference, maybe even a failure to construct the skill... "

Ye Hanjun walked around the witch, seized her pincer, knocked it with his finger joint, and made a steady inference:

"With this strength, even if the skill hits perfectly, you may not necessarily break the armor of a Mud-cast Fetus at Small Achievement level, and don’t even think about achieving Great Completion."

"Only when encountering very fragile bodies or younger species of Fond Spirits can you possibly make it bleed a little and cause minor injuries."

"What the lord said...is exactly right!"

Huazhu has been wandering outside since she was a child. Whether it’s the comprehension and development of skills or life-and-death battles with ferocious beasts, she explores them all by herself.

She doesn’t have the delicate and reserved demeanor typical of normal witches.

The saying that close combat skills are optional does not apply to her.

When it comes to a fighting to the death situation, even though the clamp attack damage is barely noticeable, it could be a chance to turn the tide.

More importantly, Huazhu doesn’t even have any offensive magic skills at her disposal!

Using the clamp attack and tail sting to inflict lethal injuries are the two most frequently used skills in her past.

"Many Fond Spirits, even if they have a considerable number of skills, will not reach the expected combat power if they are not fully utilized."

Ye Hanjun laughed:

"You are different, with inherently weak skills that are difficult to comprehend."

"Every time you gain one, you are likely overjoyed, honing it over and over and practicing relentlessly, trying to extract its full value."

Huazhu nodded subconsciously.

This kind of understanding that can be perceived from just a few words...it wasn’t bad.

"Try the tail sting, the hardwood target on your right."

Ye Hanjun gave his second command, "With the strength of 15 patterns, it should be able to pierce through instantly."

"Yes!"

Upon command, the soles of the Desert Witch’s feet suddenly split open, golden sand flowed out, propelling her body to "float and move" towards the right.

A black, segmented scorpion tail whipped through the air like a forcefully swung vine.

The bright red tail sting, as if soaked in fresh blood, effortlessly pierced the hardwood target, going right through it.

"For practice, the movement was very clean."

"I would expect that the tail sting, suddenly released from the back, would have more chances to surprise and penetrate those armors that the pincers could not."

The Desert Witch nodded, pulling back the scorpion tail according to her thoughts, expressing a serious listening attitude.

"I have observed several times."

Ye Hanjun paused, timely giving praise:

"Whenever there are living creatures around you, regardless of your status, you subconsciously hide your scorpion tail."

"The specific manifestation is that your body leans towards the other party, never exposing your side or back, ensuring your safety."

"Furthermore, with your body as a cover, and the shadows formed by the light, the idle scorpion tail is like a lurking snake. If not carefully observed, it might be hard to detect."

"This..." Huazhu was slightly stunned, "I almost forgot when this habit formed..."

"Living in the wilderness year after year, facing life and death situations, compared to training in the human city, the two have great differences."

Ye Hanjun smiled lightly, "I firmly believe in practical experience in the path of cultivating a Fond Spirit."

"Fancy training methods with little effect or training methods that cost a lot of energy with little returns are meaningless to me."

"So... I admire you."

"Persist in this road in the future, comprehend the skills as much as you can within your abilities, strive to be the best you can be."

"Yes!" Huazhu felt an exhilaration that had been missing for a long time.

If all her past experiences had lit the candle to illuminate her path forward,

Now, she vaguely felt the temperature of the light, it must be hot, pure, containing infinite power.

"However—"

Ye Hanjun changed the subject, suppressed his smile, and emphasized:

"You should have an appreciation for how important the scorpion tail is, right?"

"It’s like your heart, brain, central component. In terms of priority, ensuring the integrity of the scorpion tail is even more important than employing it to attack. You must take extreme caution in the related battles!"

The expression of the Desert Witch became serious all at once.

The scorpion tail, extending from her spine, slowly writhed behind her back, finally curling into a ball, sticking tightly to her back.

"I understand."

"For my lineage, the Wheel of the Witch Vein is the energy center, responsible for nurturing and storing energy."

"But the value of the scorpion tail cannot be overlooked, it is the key medium for sensing the environment and casting magic. Any other place can be injured, but once the tail is broken, it means that I will not be able to operate magical skills normally for a short time. Using a ’clamp’ only, there is hardly a way to counterattack."

"As long as you understand."

Ye Hanjun snapped his fingers, signaling Huazhu to slightly relax her tense facial expression.

She had never undergone complete knowledge inheritance, and was purely self-taught.

There were many advantages and disadvantages to this that needed to be adjusted step by step, constantly checking and remedying the gaps.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

For the third time, Ye Hanjun didn’t speak, he just reminded her with his eyes.

Huazhu activated the magic skill ’Raising Sand’.

"Phew—"

An invisible wind suddenly blew, gentle at first, then a little bit forceful after a breath.

The "Flowing Sand Leg" of the Desert Witch started to secrete sand again.

However, this time, the sand was not used to drive her movement. The sand buzzed in response to the wind’s force.

When Huazhu focused her eyes on a target, the sand beneath her feet all took flight at once, and flew out obliquely, covering a small area like scattered flowers.

"In the eyes of a human, isn’t ’Raising Sand’ a pretty useless skill?"

"Judging by the skill’s effect, it really is."

Ye Hanjun responded:

"A healthy Desert Witch has a Chaos Spirit Pattern of 18 to 30 in this skill."

"Yours has been weakened to 12, which is quite pitiful."

"However, this skill doesn’t have any killing power in the first place. Having more spirit patterns merely speeds up its casting, or it covers a larger area."

"Ultimately, the key to this skill is the timing of its use. As long as it can disturb the enemy’s line of sight or give them a little surprise at crucial moments, its actual effect is roughly the same."

"It seems so."

Recalling several experiences, Huazhu nodded in agreement.

There had been a few times where the gaping mouth of a beast was right in front of her.

With ’Raising Sand’, she was unexpectedly able to strike their eyes, the raging beast either became uncontrollable or messed up its own attack, buying her a fleeting chance to escape and miraculously survive.

"Bear in mind," Ye Hanjun hinted meaningfully, "there are no useless skills at the lower ranks, only useless Fond Spirits or useless Patrons."

"Proper use, perfect combination, turning the tables or striking back from adversity, all are possible."