[CH598+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

From the moment I'm struck, my body shuts down to allow my mind to deal with the mental attack rather than focus on the overwhelming sharp pain assaulting every one of my cells.

However, the day's worth of training, turning my ether healing into an automatic intuitive habit, still treats this brutal barrage the same as any other attack.

On top of that, from my past training, every time an ether-imbued strike pushed my being past its limits, the reaction afterward only made me stronger...

As the Cyclops Guardian begins to lift its spiked ball from being lodged deep into the rocky ground, the worst of the mental attack has passed, and I can finally think clearly again after a momentary white-out.

Although its compressed mental pressure is far more vicious, refined, and focused, my experience is so vast from the simulated years of training within the tower that it manages to absorb the brunt of the blow before it fully collides with my pure mind.

In addition, an odd phenomenon occurs that I've never felt before in any of my other battles. The thousands of years of memories from sandworms and demonic guards on this mountain meld together to add to this base.

While it isn't nearly as much as the experience I already had, the countless training sessions, using ether commands, and being exposed to the aura of mental attacks every few decades when the Guardian atop the tower would face a strong opponent, all add up.

They've somehow added to my base of experience in both physical and mental ether aptitudes.

–

Once the spiked ball is lifted off of me, I know exactly what I must do next...

My mind is active, but my body is still at the whims of my intuition.

I feel saint pathways in my nerves and ligaments healing, and muscle fibers twitching, ready to be used the moment the soul weapon stops making contact with my barrier.

No time is wasted, and I activate my Greater Form and Astral Form to pull the maximum power possible in order to counter when this beast least expects it.

Instantly, my rate of healing rapidly increases, and so does my control and perception of my surroundings.

It's like my mind is connected to the fabric of reality, moving along the tightly packed green threads in the clouds surrounding us.

In an instant, I can feel everything.

Over 10,000 kilometers in every direction, the exile zones and all of their inhabitants become crystal clear in my mind.

Power rushes into me, growing my energy form just as fast as the Cyclops's spiked ball is pulled upward.

More pathways in my body flow with energy and life again.

My green divine energy form's outline grows from the crater, jumping upward while wielding a red soul sword growing in size at the same rate.

The tingling in my muscles and sharp pains in my bones wash away, and the fluidity of ether being summoned feels as though I'm using multiple times more ether for the same amount of effort. My efficiency, after bouncing back from this deadly blow, has increased yet again, awakening the forgotten knowledge locked behind my mental training in the tower's simulated abyss.

With ether flooding through my being, my mana and divine energy form begins to adapt, allowing it to flow through its pathways too, lighting up my Astral Form with shimmers of hot white light beneath it.

In fractions of a second, I grow past 10 meters, then 25 meters, and reach 100 meters in height, zipping past the ball and chain that appears to be moving in slow motion now relative to my perception before I was hit.