Bro, I'm not an Undead!

As Guissepo had stated, blessings which were given to those who wanted to become combatants before they entered the Foundation Stage never truly became useful unless they advanced very far in their strength – core, class or stage – or cleared quite the amount of high level Clusters.

(A/N: For more clarity or if you've forgotten, refer to Chapter 158).

Gertreld was the only one in the Harem's Guild to have a blessing that had already become relevant to her fighting style.

This was because of her background.

She was from the Godrigold Family, a rather wealthy family that laid claim to a large region in the North of Pelian.

The Family Head had been 'cursed', in his own words, to only have daughters no matter how many women he bedded.

Thus, he decided to at least fashion these women to be both upright, smart and strong as he refused to pass his wealth to a bastard or worse.

The best way he could find to do this was to bring his girls when his private combatants entered high level Clusters, having the girls contribute in small ways so that when the Cluster was cleared, they too would have their blessings enhanced.

His daughters' Directions all seemed to gravitate towards them being future powerhouses which worked well for him too.

From when the girls reached the age of four, he had repeated this practise until they grew to be in in their twenties, Gertreld's blessing finally blooming into something magnificent.

It even had a magnificent name, Grace-laden Beauty.

After a time, Gertreld left the Godrigold Family, claiming to want to explore more about what it meant to be a woman, instead of the rigorous exercises that her father planned for her, trying to make her tough and less, weak, as he called it.

She had been forged to embody a man which she didn't want as her friends were very different, enjoying things she never got to.

She had had enough.

Regardless of this though, she couldn't deny that all those years of training had allowed her to become capable of protecting herself and more - combining her combat technique with her blessing, which created some terrifying effects!

Gertreld once again held up her hands and balled them into fists, her skin which had nearly become shiny and smooth as it glowed from her face gleaming with health!

Tomin burst forward with another noise-ridden advance, his speed making him a warping figure that resisted much of the natural friction!

He was once more a figure that Gertreld couldn't clearly see as he swept his leg at a blinding speed, knocking the short lady off balance which caused her to spin, her stabilised stance demolished from the single move!

Gertreld's eyes turned sharp as she spun, seeing Tomin's claw-like hand which blurred her way to rupture her torso arrive!

Shockingly, her arms darted forward, successfully clutching it but failing to stop its momentum entirely!

BAM!

A staggering force blasted against her body, prompting her to cough blood again, but Gertreld ignored it as she stepped over Tomin's shoulder and bashed her elbow into his face!

This time, Tomin was visibly shaken by the force and before he could make a snarky comment, Gertreld brought down an overhead punch with a perfect form to exert as much power as was needed!

'De-beautifying Fist!'

A brilliant red glow thundered down onto Tomin's head with a few resounding halos!

The young man knelt down as his legs sank up to the knee into the ground!

The sensation from this punch was heavy, focusing solely on his body as it refused to tremor through the ground!

'Strange... I feel my body is being forcefully altered into a less efficient state...' Tomin thought as he looked down, blood flowing from his noise.

He looked up at Gertreld...

"I see..." he muttered in sight surprise.

What had once been a short lady in a long battle dress was now a gorgeous beauty of average height with her battle dress only reaching to her knees!

Furthermore...

Gertreld swiped away her burgundy way and grinned.

"Who's the short stuff now?" she scoffed before launching a quick punch that crackled like thunder towards Tomin who instantly sought to react but...

Shockingly, his height which had been quite a bit higher than Gertreld's had been reduced!

He had become shorter than her by a few inches!

...!

Tomin found his limbs to be shorter, which threw him off his regular form a bit.

Still though, he dodged the punch as he now realised, that this woman's blessing forcefully changed her opponent's physicality while also enhancing aspects of her body.

BAM!

Gertreld's greave bashed against Tomin's chest, pushing him a distance before she leapt up and punched down towards the man who skidded and rolled, dodging before he pushed forward his arm with a raging force and speed that sank right below Gertreld's throat before she could guard herself.

The woman spun before tumbling ten meters away.

Tomin breathed out as he full took in the state of his body which made him shake his head.

He looked younger solely based off of his height, but that wasn't all.

His face felt a little wrinkly and oddly dry.

What manner of a blessing was this?

'Tricky. I didn't think it would be this difficult...' he thought as his mana bubbled with a ferocious storm-like appeal around him.

He tore away the robes he wore, being left with what looked like a plain vest and tight pants.

Tomin was at the Peak of the Advancement Stage and unlike what he portrayed, he didn't have any specific Form Using technique.

Unlike Guissepo who had a clear goal and motivation, Tomin had joined the Evenfall to gain something of the sought.

He wanted to have a purpose and a goal, something that his trash life in the folds of the villages further away from cities and the non-existent care of the Royal Family had denied him.

As of now, he was pretty satisfied with following behind Guissepo who seemed to have a goal.

As long as he had someone with a clear course, he would follow and keep searching for a more solid reason to go on living.

"That's a pretty harsh blessing you have there," he said to Gertreld who coughed vehemently for a full five seconds from the latest attack to her throat before taking up her stance again. "Unfortunately for you, I also happen to have something like that..."

A dark energy started to ooze from Tomin as his muscles bulged.

He took his claw stance once more and angled his knees.

Gertreld immediately got ready to receive whatever was coming but...

WHOOSH!

Tomin's movement was... incredibly terrifying!

He leapt up as he cocked his fist, his body slanted in the air as his brown eyes focused on Gertreld who squinted as she felt the horrifying levels of power that were about to pour from the figure flying five meters away.

'Infinite Instance...' Tomin called inwardly as he let loose a single punch from this distance in Gertreld's direction!

This single punch carried with it a force that travelled even after it stopped, pulled back by the muscles on the shoulder!

BOOOM!

The raw force from the punch travelled and smashed into Gertreld, a massive explosion rocking the ground over a thirty meter distance!

And then...

VRUUUBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!

Tens! No! Dozens! No!

Hundreds of the same explosions as the last repeated themselves, shattering the same spot on the ground with the same amount of power as the first punch, the power generated from these seemingly endless forces ploughing through the hard crust easily!

After what seemed like an eternity, a fifteen meter deep crater, forty meters wide was left with vicious heat and dust rising incessantly from it!

Tomin reached the ground and took a short breath.

'That should have done some irreparable damage at the very least,' he thought without dropping his guard.

Everyone around was engaging in combat as well, this attack of his having pushed other fights a distance away.

Unlike with the three Deities, the members of the Evenfall received blessings from Boron.

However, because of the limited contact they had with the Deity, only a few of them who were in the Middle Circle and above could receive a blessing.

Distinctions such as these didn't have anything to do with initial strength or status, as even Tomin who had nothing at the beginning had climbed up to become a Middle Circle member.

His blessing was called Infinite Instance, a blessing that allowed him to create infinite instances of his actions... theoretically.

The blessing needed to grow to eventually reach this threshold as for now, it was very limited, but the young man had raised its initially sub standard effects to this point.

As he gazed at the billowing dust, a peculiar sensation suddenly held Tomin down with a mountainous force!

...!

He immediately knew what it was when he saw the quibbling waves around him in their transparent glory holding him in place!

Right then, with a powerful gust of moving air...

Tomin saw a glowing gauntlet preceding a bloody figure wrapped in a dangerously palpating glow with pink swirls shooting towards him, the fingers stretched stiff as they reached his throat!

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