Chapter 50: Glyph-Wielder


    A little over three months.


    For ny seven days, Tom did nothing but eat, train and sleep.


    The specific pathways that he had traversed with the help of [The Fools] aura were something that Tom had managed tomit to memory. Even then, the process of utilising the Control Glyph in battle was far more arduous than he had expected. Not only did he have to factor in the fairly negligible timeg between the activation of his [Deck Card] and the Control Glyphs modtion, but he still had to adjust for external factors like his opponents reactions.


    His biggest challenge though. was Alephs training itself.


    The Control Glyph wasnt something others could teach. Either you possessed the talent to utilise it or you were determined enough to power through it. Though perhaps there was a third way. A high enough [Mental] stat would probably do the trick.


    Aleph couldnt help him master the rune itself so instead she boxed him into situations were he would be forced into using it. One moment they could be making small talk over brunch and the next second a block of crystal woulde hurtling at his abdomen. If he wanted to avoid the bruise, he had to quickly manifest a mence and kill the crystal blocks momentum.


    He failed. Again. And again.


    Even in the midst of sleep, the sound of a crystal brick whistling through the air would immediately rouse him. Because Aleph, being the harsh taskmaster that she was, refused to allow him to drop his guardeven in sleep.


    Toms eyes slowly opened, revealing a calm gaze. He was seated on the floor in a meditative posture, his back held straight and his legs crossed.


    He had found that simply dedicating two hours a day to visualising the Control Glyph helped increase his reaction time inbat and meditation in general helped him recenter his thoughts.


    I am ready, Toms voice resounded with a poise that he had beencking earlier as he kicked himself back onto his feet.


    A secondter, his [Revenant w] phased into reality, settling perfectly onto his left hand.


    You know, Ive seen plenty of valuable artifacts but. none of those came with the ability to phase from the void. Its unsettling.


    It amplifies the base effect ofmon cards by 75%, Tom answered the unasked question without any hesitation. He didnt want to lie to Aleph any more than he had to.


    Hum, Aleph mused. That is both impressive and disappointing. What a stupidly unbnced [umon] artefact.


    Toms eyes grew keener at her words, but ultimately he refrained frommenting.


    <em>Shardweave Regalia.</em>


    Despite having seen it before, Toms attention was still captivated by the crystalline armour that Aleph had donned almost instantaneously.


    He was also grateful, for it meant that he could go all out without any worries.


    His attacks werent powerful enough to pierce her armour, after all.


    Aleph flicked a golden coin in the air without any further discussion.


    Tom had to prove that he had mastered the Control Glyph to the point of freely using it inbat if they were to move their n to the next stage.


    Both fighters focused their gazes intently at the rotating coins arc.


    A clink sounded out as the coin bounced off the floor.


    Toms gaze sharpened. A chain-reaction that he had been painstakingly cultivating over thest three months urred.


    Although he still wasnt as quick as the first time hed fired off the mence with [The Fools] help, he had bridged the gap to the point where the difference was negligible.


    Now were talking! Aleph cheekily eximed as she gracefully sidestepped past Toms Control Glyph charged mence.


    What she hadnt been expecting was the second mence that hurtled toward her, already having covered a quarter of the distance separating them.


    Tom had not only anticipated that she would dodge her attack, but after studying Alephs fighting style for three months he had made an informed guess at the direction she would dodge in.


    Drawing her sword, Aleph wildly shed at the mence, causing it to dissipate.


    A grin spread across Toms face.


    He had forced her to draw her sword.


    But this was only the beginning.


    [Revenants w] switched his active card to [Water Propulsion].


    Instead of firing a linear, highlypressed torrent of water, Tom once again used his Control Glyph to reduce its intensity and conversely, cut down upon its casting time.


    A fine-tipped water arrow was sent hurtling forward.


    Aleph dodged.


    The grin on Toms face grew wider as he fired water arrows in rapid sessionpletely unconcerned about the toll it would take on his Soul Power. He had plenty to spare, after all.


    Aleph was gradually pushed back as she was forced to evade and block his flurry of water arrows. Although she wore her Shardweave Regalia armour, she acted as if she didnt as if a single strike would grievously wound, if not kill her. Since it was in the nature of his [Water Propulsion] card tounch a body of water forward at high speed, the lesser volume had only intensified its effect.


    Aleph had only finished parrying thetest round of attacks when the water arrows stopped.


    Her gaze shed over to Tom, who had summoned arge rock from beneath the earth. Therge rocky dormant upon the floor, causing Alephs guard to rise by a few degrees. She hadnt seen this move before.


    Earth Bullet, Tom muttered under his breath, causing a small, misshapen chunk of rock to separate itself from itsrger counterpart and speed off towards Aleph.


    A loud thump rang out as his Earth Bullet embedded itself into the wall behind Aleph.


    No matter how fast you are, Tom muttered, as he sent one Earth Bullet after the next flying towards Aleph.


    After dodging the third one, Aleph was forced to materialise a crystal shield in front of her to shield her from the impact.


    <em>This is it.</em>


    The moment he had been waiting for.


    [The me] - [Water Propulsion] - [Earth Maniption] - These were the only three cards the Control Glyph worked on.


    Aleph had told him that not all Glyphs worked on all cards, but at the same time there were ways of using Glyphs on cards that might not be revealed without extensive research. And considering all the possible varieties ofmon cards. She had no way of knowing which would work on which.


    He just had to figure that out himself.


    But he didnt need the Control Glyph anymore.


    [The Shadow]


    It was moments after Aleph had noticed the absence of Earth Bullets pelting her shield that her reflexes picked up on the glint of a blunted metal sword.


    Tom was inches away from victory.


    At the same time, Alephs shield shattered.


    A heavily panting Tom held his blunted sword against Alephs crystalline helm but at the same time, a second crystalline sword fashioned out of the shield that had been guarding her seconds earlier floated mid-air, its blunt tip pressed against his neck.


    Congrattions! You pass! Aleph cheerfully chimed.


    You werent even.., Tom paused to take a deep breath, ...fighting back and all I could manage was a draw, He muttered under his breath, though the smile on his face stood in contrary to his statement.


    Guess that just means Ive got a long way to go, Tom acknowledged, though at the same time an interesting thought shed through his mind.


    <em>I wonder how Aleph would react if she knew I was only level three.</em>


    Regardless, it was finally time to revisit the Zelez Dungeon.