Chương 69

Pete the Titan"Why has the feed cut off?" asked Rel.

"The spectator mode is only operational during the assessment," said Auroria.

"Now that Peter has defeated all five waves, he will return to his physical body and this room as soon as he's received his rewards." * The fact I'd not been returned to my real body made me think that I'd be stuck in the Arcane Projection Chamber until I'd made my decision. And what a decision it was. If I was being honest with myself, I knew Ability Stone – Flight was the sensible choice. The utility and mobility it offered would be incredible.

I had no doubt that as we progressed through the Trial – and eventually onto Galaxy Showdown itself – we'd encounter more and more opponents capable of flight. There was a very good chance I'd be putting myself at a massive disadvantage by not choosing it. On the other hand… Laser vision was fucking cool. I also currently lacked any real form of ranged damage, with the exception of the ability on Avatar's Judgment.

That was pretty limited though as it required me to have the weapon to hand and was not particularly versatile. With Golden Gaze, all I'd need to do was look at someone and I could punch a hole through them – or, if I was feeling really vindictive, turn my head slightly and cut them in half.

I wasn't entirely sure what the ability's effective range was, but considering Justice Man had managed to carve a massive trench into the chamber ceiling from several hundred metres away, I felt it was safe to assume range wouldn't be an issue. Then again, did I really need ranged damage when I could just blitz people with flight? Shit. It was the hardest decision I'd had to make since choosing between Squirtle and Charmander.

Deciding I needed a little more time to think things over, I turned my attention to the other reward I'd received. Bracers of the Titan A reward for defeating all five waves in the Expedition Centre assessment.

+ Self-cleaning (superior) + Self-repair (superior) + Damage mitigation – physical (effective against attacks up to 65 strength) + Damage mitigation – arcane (effective against spells up to 65 intelligence) Equipping the item grants the following bonuses: + 6 strength + 4 durability + 2 agility + Grants the ability: Titan Titan Temporarily assume the form of a Titan. While active, the caster's size increases dramatically, along with their strength and durability.

Effects: +50% Strength +50% Durability Duration: 5 minutes Cooldown: 7 days The item was incredible… As I read the description, I had one burning question on my mind: what exactly did it mean by a dramatic increase in size? There was only one way to find out. I pushed myself to my feet, wincing as what felt like every bone in my body protested at the sheer audacity of me trying to move. I withdrew the item from my inventory and was pleasantly surprised to find that they looked entirely… unremarkable.

I'd had visions of polished metal, intricate patterns, and gemstones – which would, of course, have clashed most unacceptably with my whole peasant aesthetic. Thankfully, the bracers were made from high-quality brown leather and entirely lacked any sort of adornment. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I strapped them on and found they fit perfectly, starting just past the point where my wrist bent and stopping just short of the crook of my elbow.

I tightened the straps slightly, then performed a few experimental movements. The movements were admittedly a little subdued thanks to how fucked up my body was, but even so, it was obvious the bracers wouldn't interfere with my range of motion. The damage mitigation was no joke, either. It was actually a little higher than that provided by the enhancement on my peasant garb, which opened up some possibilities for incorporating them into my defence. Hopefully Osian would be able to offer a few pointers. Right…

it was time. Time to say goodbye to plain old Peter Brookes and say hello to Pete the Titan. I activated the ability. The first thing I noticed was that everything I was wearing, including my swords, grew with me. Magic truly was a wonderful thing. The next thing I noticed was that the sensation of growing wasn't at all unpleasant. Don't get me wrong – it didn't exactly feel good either, but I'd expected years' worth of growing pains condensed into a few horrific seconds.

Instead, it felt more like taking an enormous stretch after getting out of bed in the morning. It was a bizarre feeling looking down and seeing the ground gradually move further and further away. Thankfully, the growth was proportionate, and I grew wider as well as taller. After several seconds, the sensation passed and I stopped growing. I had no real point of reference for exactly how large I'd become, but I was fairly certain that if I stood back-to-back with King Azzarath, there wouldn't have been much in it.

And that big demonic bastard had been around ten feet tall. I lifted a hand, turning it over as I studied it. It was huge, the palm like a dinner plate and the fingers as thick as normal-sized Pete's wrists. Awesome. I flashed up my stats to see how they'd been affected by the transformation bonus. Current strength: 81 (96) Current durability: 69 (81) Current agility: 34 (45) Current intelligence: 22 (33) It looked like the 50% bonus to strength and durability only scaled from my base stats, but even so… Holy shit.

Ninety-six strength? Eighty-one durability? If I'd had those stats when fighting Justice Man, his laser blast would've amounted to little more than a bit of chest-hair maintenance, and a single punch would likely have turned him into self-righteous paste. I glanced up at the ceiling several hundred metres overhead. It was time to carry out a little experiment. I took a deep breath, bent my knees, and pushed off the ground with every single point of my ninety-six strength.

Now, I would describe how it created an explosion of dirt and left an enormous crater… but I actually had no idea if that was the case. One second I was on the ground, my knees bent like I'd just watched an instructional workout video on YouTube and was doing my best attempt at an ass-to-grass squat. The next, I was dangling from the ceiling, my head having broken entirely through the stone.

It turned out there was a hollow space beyond the stone ceiling, followed by a solid barrier of arcane energy similar to the one preventing access to Floor Nine of the Tower of Potential. This one was far denser, though, the magic so potent that the barrier was completely opaque. Just as I was about to push myself free and begin what would almost certainly be an uncontrolled plummet back to the ground, I realised there was another option available to me. I could fly back down.

Before my brain could start raising objections, I opened the reward panel and selected Ability Stone – Flight. The only issue now was figuring out how to use the item. I guessed it would be similar to Heart of Lightning, which Rel had pushed into his chest to absorb. There was only one way to find out. I raised my arms and braced my palms against the ceiling, then pushed.

There was a brief moment of resistance as my chin and the stone imprisoning it went to war, but my chin quickly emerged victorious, and the stone shattered. I began to fall. I withdrew the ability stone from my inventory. It was a small sphere, the glass the colour of a clear summer sky. As I lifted it to my chest, I glanced down to see the ground rushing rapidly towards me. I let out a deep breath and pushed the orb into my body.

The glass seemed to disintegrate into a swirling mist the moment it touched my shirt, then vanished entirely as it was absorbed. By the time the orb had fully disappeared, I was less than a hundred metres from the ground, the wind whipping around me as I fell. A single thought came to mind… Fly. And my descent stopped instantly. There was no whiplash effect from stopping so suddenly when travelling at great speed. It was smooth and controlled, and I found myself hovering in place, parallel to the ground.

Then I let loose a great whoop and willed myself to rise into the air. The response was immediate and effortless – as natural as if I'd been flying my entire life. The ground shrank away beneath me, and I spun in the air before coming to an abrupt stop less than a metre from the ceiling. I reached out and traced my fingers around the head-sized hole in the stone.

It was a giddy, slightly unreal feeling as my brain tried to process the fact I was floating several hundred metres in the air and in complete control of my own movement. And as for gravity…? You have no power here. I turned once more, about to begin zooming through the air, then hesitated as I realised I had a very important decision to make… Which flying pose did I go for? Superman style, with my arms stretched out in front of me and fists clenched? Or Dragon Ball Z style, with my arms at my sides?

They were both pretty awesome in their own way, but I felt like each had their own distinct purpose. The arms in front when there's a sense of urgency, the need to look heroic, or because you want to fly through something and you'd rather lead with your fists than your head. The arms at the side when it's a more casual sort of flight with no immediate danger involved. If there was a school for superheroes, I bet this was exactly the sort of shit they'd have on the curriculum.

As it was my first time flying, I decided to go with the arms-out-in-front style to properly capture the sheer epic magnitude of the moment. I started a little hesitantly, worried I'd accidentally go full blast and end up elbow-deep in the wall on the opposite side of the chamber. It wasn't an issue. In fact, I was a little shocked by how effortless it all was. It felt like I had an almost instinctual understanding of how to control my movement in the air.

I thought back on the item description for the Ability Stone. It had said that both speed and manoeuvrability scaled with my dominant stat – which was of course strength. The more I thought about it, the more absurdly overpowered I realised it was. If speed had scaled with strength, and manoeuvrability with agility, the disparity between the two stats would have no doubt made my flight a little less fluid.

As it was, I soared through the chamber with perfect control, crossing from one wall to the other in less than ten seconds and changing direction almost seamlessly whenever I approached an obstacle. I'd expected to need my sunglasses to keep the wind and bugs out of my eyes, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the flight ability seemed to come with some sort of magical barrier. Otherwise, my cheeks would probably have been flapping wildly at the absurd speed I was travelling.

Realising the effect of Titan would be expiring very soon, I began a slow descent to the ground. I was not merely Pete the Titan. I was Pete the Flying Titan.