183 Seeking Knowledge
[[Those two…are they…]] unable to finish her sentence, she noticed Cynrik and Brance nod with a mysterious smile.
[[Fully capped and ready to Evo just like us, welcome to the team Selene, you’ve got a LONG way to go, darling.]] Using a British accent, Cynrik chuckled as he watched the older girl’s face pale.
[[Don’t worry, unlike Brancie and me, the two of them only have a single Affinity, so in retrospect, if you add our level of combat experience, those two are leagues behind us.]] As Cynrik spoke, he casually pulled out and unwrapped a sourball before tossing it to the sulking Gabby, who instantly brightened up.
[[It’s best not to try comparing yourself to Gabby and Benny Selene. Big Brother and I have been training them since they were just learning to walk. It won’t take long to get you up to speed, and honestly, you should end up relatively close to the two of us since you share our…particular ailment.]] Trying to cheer up Selene, Brance smiled warmly, turning to look away from Gabby to meet Selene’s gaze.
[[I see, I know I shouldn’t pry, but how do you both have three Affinities, I thought people on Vinestra were only born with one or two, and then there’s that massive amount of Killing Intent, you guys are several years younger than me, but you clearly have slain a shit ton more creatures. This is pretty surprising considering how much bullshit my bitch Mom put me through.]] Selene pat her chest a couple of times to try and calm down.
The deeper she inquired, the more shocked she became. Seeing that the two of them had capped everything was enough to floor just about anyone. But suppose you add in all the extras, such as their high Gravity Resistance, the Elemental Fusions, and even the absurd amount of Affinity skills the brothers have. In that case, she was trying her best not to hyperventilate.
Arrogance and pride came naturally to Selene, and when she obtained an S-Rank applicant status, she was through the moon with excitement thinking that she was the best of the best. Yet here were two other people, the youngest of which was an entire five years her junior, who got the same Rank but outshined her immensely.
Then there’s Cynrik, the sole SS-Rank applicant who boasted astronomical power for someone only 12 years old. A casual glance at his complete profile was enough to deflate Selene’s ego entirely.
[[Our Affinities? That’s easy; we cheated. There’s an item called an Affinity Orb that has a specific rate of unlocking a new Element when used. When we were…er…]] Cynrik had to stop and think before finishing his statement.
[[I think 5 and 4, I got my hands on a shit ton of them, and thus we abused our bodies and, in the process, obtained two different Affinities. The only downside is that it nearly killed us both, well, and we learned later that Tobs locked us out of getting any more until we hit Tier-2.]]
[[Eventually, I ended up selling off a bunch of the excess or useless elements and ended up keeping two Water, one Ice, one Metal, and one Lightning. The Lightning and Metal are for us since they are advanced forms of Fire and Earth, but if you want the Water and Ice, they’re all yours.]] Pulling up his inventory and sending over the items’ descriptions to Selene, Cynrik, to Brance’s surprise, offered to give away his prized Orbs, which had sat in storage collecting dust for years, without pitching a fit.
Upon reading the information, Selene’s eyes twinkled as she imagined herself becoming the Ice Queen for real instead of merely in name; however, she quickly tossed the thought aside after realizing Cynrik had to have held on to the particular elements for some reason.
When she asked, though, she was met with a lackluster response.
[[I mean, Benny already has Water, and Gabby is Psychic, so our options were pretty limited. So I kind of just figured I’d find something I wanted in time and would trade them as part of a bargain. I did, after all, rip off the poor old bastard who sold um to me, so anything beyond pennies is profit.]] Cynrik dismissively stated while putting weight on his elbow to lean and look out the window.
[[Worst case scenario, I can sell them off for these Merit Points, best case, the school store has orbs, and I can do a one for one trade. The only issue is, if I wanna go after an Element that’s above Basic Grade, I’ll have to wait for Tier-3. I have a sneaky suspicion that Affinities are more complicated than we know.]]
[[Huh, what are you on about this time, Cyn.]] Even though Cynrik mumbled the end of his statement, Brance still caught what he said.
[[How do I put it. So right now, thanks to those stupid government mandates, the amount of knowledge we have when it comes to Affinities is so minute that even posing a question will just conjure more. For starters, the whole grading scale is kind of sketch. Basic Grade, Basic Special, Advance, Advance Special, Special, Special Advance. At its core, there are three Grades, with each one having a sub-category.]]
[[From my research, I’ve come to realize that certain elements are linked to one another, for example, Earth and Metal. Earth is a BG, while Metal is considered a BSG.]]
[[Yet if you look at Water and its corresponding Ice, which is AG, there is a disconnect somewhere. Then if you look at the relationship between Fire,]] Cynrik snaped his index and middle finger on his left hand, conjuring a tiny flame above his hand.
Next, he held up his right hand and snapped, generating a tiny flicker of Lightning which zipped around his fingers, [[and Lightning, you realize the same principle doesn’t apply since Lightning is considered a SAG. It just doesn’t really make sense to me. That’s the primary reason I ended up choosing VSFA as our Academy. Of all the schools, it is the foremost institution in researching Affinities.]] With a wave of his hands, the flame and spark vanished.
[[I want to know more, no scratch that, I NEED to learn more. There are just too many holes in our knowledge regarding Affinities or even the world view. Between being sheltered our whole lives, and the stupid fucking government restrictions, if we didn’t get into a good school, who knows when I would get these damn answers.]]
[[That isn’t all either, but I won’t bore you guys with my madman ranting.]] With that said, Cynrik fell back into silence. However, he wasn’t idle. Instead, he began working on developing another technique, one that would rival his Forms.
The brief scuffles during the Selections made Cynrik realize the number of hand-to-hand techniques he had in his arsenal was dwindling when Affinities were added to the mix. In addition, the ear cap and even his fire kicks were becoming increasingly bland in his eyes as his opponent’s strength increased. As such, he was in the early stages of planning out a devastating new attack, eventually involving using a combination of his Dark and Fire Mana.
Under the watchful gaze of Brance and Selene, who were expecting to hear more of these so-called ramblings, the silent Cynrik held up his right hand in front of his torso and clenched his left hand as if he was going to execute a palm strike, with all the fingers curled in at the minor knuckle.
Then, Cynrik leveled his left-hand parallel to the ground and placed the minor knuckles against his open right palm before staring at it for a solid minute, long enough for Selene to lose interest and choose to nap.
Brance, on the other hand, stared wide-eyed at the actions his older brother was contemplating. Then, scanning through the memories he had accumulated over dozens of years of martial arts training, he concluded it wasn’t something they had practiced. Instead, it was something the two of them had used to try doing when they were kids.
Brance’s mind froze when he saw Cynrik exhale sharply and fold his hand, switching over to his primary knuckles and instantly punching his right palm.
“No way…” Brance whispered to himself. He would have to be blind and dumb not to realize what Cynrik was attempting. But he didn’t chastise his brother for trying to complete the technique. Of all the martial arts moves or techniques rattling around in his older brother’s head, THIS was the single one he wouldn’t harass him for trying to bring into reality.
Watching with bated breath, Brance inched forward in his chair as Cynrik began speeding up his punches, drawing his left hand a couple of centimeters back before punching out. Minor knuckles into primary knuckles. A two-step strike. Unlike the famous Kamehameha, Rasengan, or other anime moves, this one wasn’t as well known.
It originated in an anime about a wandering swordsman. In the series, one of the side characters, Sagara Sanosuke, spent a record-breaking time learning this skill and eventually became the best at using it. The two-step technique known as the Futae no Kiwami.
-This series is exclusively published on WebNovel if you are reading it anywhere else…You Wrong Fam. PS Check out the Discord, https://discord.gg/dcxKNJEMwg
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