Chapter 79: Learning Overdrive

Later that day, late in the afternoon, Azrael is on the sixth floor of the dungeon again to continue his training with Dareon. He just achieved the full power of the Combat Form earlier, and he is going to show Dareon that he can do it again to prove his consistency.

Clink! BOOM!

In the vast corridor of the dungeon, Azrael and Dareon clash their blades at their full power, which blasts a loud and powerful shockwave that clears up the dust in every direction.

"Good. Keep it going, Azrael. Let's do it again."

"Alright."

After that, both of them run in the opposite direction from each other before stopping and leaving a gap of seven kilometers between them. Once both of them are ready, they immediately run towards one another at their full speed.

"Hmph!"

Whoosh!

They immediately close the gap between them in less than a second. Before they collide, Azrael and Dareon swing their swords as powerfully as they can.

BOOM!

The collision of two hypersonic objects obviously creates a devastating outcome. The clash generates a blinding light that briefly illuminates the area.

The shockwave of the collision is deafening and deadly. While Dareon is protected by his black armor, Azrael has sustained minor injuries like feeling skins and broken bones from the intense vibrations, which are quickly healed by his passive regeneration.

Both their arms are shaking from the tremendous impact as they are in a bind. After a few seconds of staring contest, the two warriors unanimously agree to step back and brandish their blades back to their scabbards. Once they deactivate their multipliers, they mark this training session to an end.

"What do you think about that, Dareon? Have I proven that I can maintain this level?"

"You are as impressive as always, Azrael. Now that you can maintain your consistency, I am happy to announce that you are ready to handle the power of Overdrive."

"It is all thanks to your guidance, sir."

Azrael expresses his appreciation for all the things that Dareon has taught him. If it were not for him, Azrael might not be able to realize his potential as a warrior.

"So, how should we start?"

"Well then, before we start, I want to remind you that techniques are not like magic spells that you can just cast with a simple incantation or phrases."

"I understand."

"Good." Dareon nods once. "For a person to execute a technique, they have to make their mind and body become one: the unison of physical and mental bodies."

"So how do I make it?"

"You have to clear your mind and find your inner peace. Since you are an awakener, a second awakener at that, I know you won't have any problems."

Unlike the conventional magic, which primarily depends on how clear a person's mind is, techniques are manifested by the synchronization of a person's mind and body.

Even though techniques are still fueled by the person's mana, like magic spells, there is one more factor that ignites them: the person's will. Once a person successfully combines their own mana with their sheer willpower, it will become a new form of energy called a fighting spirit.

"Find your inner peace and then mix it with your mana."

"Okay. That sounds as simple as it is."

After taking a long breath, Azrael closes his eyes for him to concentrate and access his subconscious state. Since he is an awakener, he has no problem filtering out unnecessary thoughts in his mind.

Now what?

Dareon told him that he has to find his inner peace, but he actually does not know what he is looking for. Could it be his mana? His heartbeat? His brain activity? None of them work for him.

Dareon also mentioned a person's will power. Perhaps Azrael could at least sense it if he knew what the purpose of all of this was. With that in mind, he reminds himself why he wants to become stronger.

I want... to go home.

That is the first reason why he wants to survive in this world. To get powerful enough to go back to his previous mundane life on Earth.

But no matter how much he thinks about it, he cannot feel something from it. Maybe he is not thinking enough about it, or perhaps that is not actually in his heart. Is he forgetting something? Then it finally struck him. He realizes that it was his past.

That's right. I have Alina now.

The moment he starts thinking of the present, when he begins visualizing the figure of his lover, Alina, Azrael is feeling the warmth in his heart. He never thought that he had changed the reason why his heart was beating. He has new reasons to stay alive, and this warmth is the proof of it.

Perhaps this is my true will.

After realizing his intentions, Azrael quickly remembers that unique feeling before he manually makes his mana flow throughout his body. When the condition is right, he gradually incorporates this warmth into his flowing mana like slowly pouring the oil while beating the mixture in order to make mayonnaise.

As his mana is slowly absorbing his willpower, it begins to change its essence. In the end, Azrael has successfully incorporated his willpower with his magical energy, and he achieves obtaining a fighting spirit for the first time.

When he opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is absolute darkness since concentration requires him to deactivate everything, including his radar and night vision. He immediately reactivates his passive abilities after that, where he sees the undead knight standing with the arms crossed before him.

"Congratulations for finding your inner peace, Azrael. You have achieved the trance state."

Upon checking on himself, he finds that his body is somewhat enveloped with some kind of aura similar to Dareon's when he uses Overdrive, albeit dramatically weaker and almost unnoticeable. He guesses that this is the visual, or rather, tactile indication of the fighting spirit.

"Trance state?" he asks.

"Whenever a person accesses their fighting spirit, they enter what we call a trance state. It is a state where your body and mind are ready to execute or activate techniques. When you get used to it, you can even enter the trance state and activate a technique at the same time."

"I see." Azrael then looks down to stare at his hands. "So this is the power of the fighting spirit."

For him, this feels different from the Combat Form. In this form, he feels like his body is lighter in a mental sense, and his senses have significantly become keener.

"So how do I activate techniques, Dareon?"

"Activating or executing techniques is a matter of a person having mindsets. If you want to overpower your opponent by strength, you would order your mind to break your limits. Now, since you have experienced it, try replicating the feeling of the full power of the Combat Form."

"Alright, I will try."

Azrael then closes his eyes anew and attempts to recreate the state of the Combat Form without casting it. After several attempts, he finally gets the gist of it and carefully unleashes it to his body using his fighting spirit as the fuel.

Whoosh.

With increased power, his aura thickens in this body before it immediately releases to the air, creating a light breeze. When he peers his eyes open, it is glowing just like with the Combat Form. Azrael has successfully activated Overdrive.

"You did very well, Azrael," Dareon congratulates his new milestone. "You have achieved the base form of Overdrive. How does it feel?"

"Power-wise, there is no difference between this and the full power of Combat Form. However, when I use the Combat Form, I have to forcefully push myself to hit the ceiling, but with Overdrive, I don't have to force myself to maintain this level."

For him, activating Overdrive and Combat Form is like riding a motorcycle and a bike, respectively. He has to manually pedal the bike for it to turn its wheel, while the motorcycle has its own power to move the whole thing.

Even moving at the same speed, the bike requires more effort and energy to match the motorcycle. Like a motorcycle, which can go faster than a bike, the Overdrive can multiply the user's power more than what the Combat Form can provide.

"Unbelievable. Even though you are only activating the minimum multiplier of Overdrive, which is double, you are already more prominent than me in my eightfold strength."

"So how long can I hold it?"

"Around eight shadowturns."

"So long!"

Currently, Azrael has multiplied his physical attributes by two, which means that he is constantly burning his mana. In this multiplier, Azrael can continuously activate Overdrive for up to eight hours. On the other hand, Combat Form with the same multiplier can only last an hour.

"The greater the multiplier, the shorter it lasts," Azrael mutters.

"This is still the starting stage of the Overdrive, Azrael. Increasing the multiplier requires greater hardship and commitment. You have a long way to go to reach my level of proficiency with the technique."

"I understand, Dareon. I want to test this new power. Would you like to have a duel with me?"

"Hoho. I know you would say it. I accept your challenge, Azrael!"

Dareon then reactivates his Overdrive, and the sixth floor of this dungeon is lit up with their glowing eyes and sparkling blades anew.