New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

'Last time, it only lasted for two minutes. Is there something different this time around?'

He observed carefully, and in the next few seconds, he noticed another oddity.

'He could have dodged that hit. Why did he block it instead? He's taking unnecessary damage.' He thought.

But as he looked closer, he saw something weird.

'Did he just… Absorb some flames? No, that's not it. He absorbed some of the Aether in the flames!' Khalor realized.

Back in the arena, Astaroth was now grinning wide. This threw Phoenix off, so she backed away from him.

"Why are you smiling so much? Is getting beat up your thing?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh, no. Quite the opposite. I'm smiling because the roles are about to switch up," Astaroth replied.

In the next moment, a pulse emanated from Astaroth, transparent, but still visible to most. It was followed by a sound.

*Bathump* *Bathump* *Bathump*

Phoenix frowned. This sound, she recognized it.

It was a heartbeat. But where was it coming from?

Her silent question was rapidly answered, as Astaroth started transforming again.

"This! How?! Your cooldown should be over yet!" she exclaimed.

But then she noticed something odd. The transformation was different.

His hair still went white, but instead of having fur that grew on his arms and face, something else accompanied it.

'Are those… antlers?' Phoenix asked internally.

They were indeed antlers. Astaroth was growing antlers on the sides of his head, and they twisted upward, forming what looked like a crown.

Something appeared over the crown. A small ball of white light.

Astaroth grinned as he looked at his stats.

Status:

Name: Astaroth (Fused to ???)

Race: Ash Elf

Level: 32 (12'875/1'189'950)

Stats:

HP: 30'500/30'500  MP: 14'750/14'750  Stamina: 100

Mana Regen: 1/second in combat, 5/second out of combat

Strength: 130 (+20 armor) (+10 passive)

Agility: 110 (+10 passive)

Constitution: 161 (+20 armor) (+13 passive)

Intelligence: 176 (+16 passive)

Wisdom: 157 (+14)

Attack Power Str: 650

Attack Power Agi: 550

Magic Attack Power: 880

Healing Power: 785

Natural Defense: 16.1 %

Armor Defense: 14 %

Luck: 0 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)

Available stat points: 0

Available skill points: 0

Physical Condition: Normal

Mental Condition: Normal

Skill Gained: Clear Minded (Passive), Aura Of Superiority (Passive), Moon Beam (Active)

He then opened his skill window and skimmed through the new skills.

Clear Minded (Passive): Your mind is as clear as the moonlit sky. No mental ailment can plague your judgment. Immunity to all mental ailments.

Aura Of Superiority (Passive): All monsters two grades and under naturally fear you. It is ingrained in their being.

Moon Beam (Active): You fire a beam of concentrated moonlight. 500% magic damage. Mana cost: 10'000.

Astaroth almost giggled in glee when seeing all the goodies he got from this melding.

That had been White's plan all along. White had told Astaroth that he could feel some response from the spirit seed next to his soul.

It seemed to be slowly awakening, by absorbing the ambient Aether. So he thought they could kick start its awakening by absorbing Aether more actively.

And since Phoenix was currently disgorging it by the bucket, maintaining her form, they had a ready-made source. That was the reason he had been so passive in the last minutes.

He was letting himself get hit, albeit guarding with the shield, so he could siphon some Aether from her attacks. And it had worked wonders.

They both knew this melding would only work once, since the spirit seed didn't hatch, it only cracked. But this temporary boost would be plenty enough to win this bout!

He focused back on Phoenix, just as she decided she had waited enough. She was dashing back towards him blazingly fast.

But it did not impress Astaroth, since his agility was now back up quite a lot. It wasn't as much as when Melded with White, but it sufficed to be as fast as his opponent.

Since he could now match her speed, he went back on the offensive. He pulled out his longsword and lunged at Phoenix.

She had half expected him to be fast enough, so she didn't fully commit to the attack. They clashed as a burst of flame surged with her attack.

But Astaroth let the flames lick his form, as his defence was now quite high, and his health pool was insanely high for his level. So the damage it inflicted on him was negligible.

Phoenix saw the small dent she made in his health pool and frowned as she backed away.

"Where had you been hiding this power? We could have used it in the cave," she asked him.

It was quite weird for Astaroth to hear her talk, since there was no mouth to speak the words. They just emanated from her.

"I didn't have that power yet. I'm happy it gave me a trump card though, seeing as you had one too," He responded.

"Well, let's test it out," Phoenix said, lifting her hands to the sky.

In Astaroth's mana sense, he saw the fire mana gather up over her hands, slowly forming a lance-like shape. He lifted his hand at her in response.

He gathered the mana inside him, pushing it toward his hand. He could feel this was a huge drain, as it also pumped up some of the Aether from the spirit seed.

He could surmise it wouldn't awaken for a good while now, with all the energy he stole from it.

"Sunfire Lance!" Phoenix shouted out, a few seconds later.

She swiftly shot her hands forward, as a large flaming lance appeared over her head, shooting forward at Astaroth.

"Moon Beam," Astaroth whispered in response.

A bright white ball formed in front of his hand before shooting a milky white beam at the lance. They aimed both attacks at their counterpart, and they would collide in the middle.

Not a moment later, the flaming lance and the bright beam collided in a great flash of light. The blast of energy kicked dust up, blinding everyone momentarily.

When the flash faded, only one person remained in the arena.