My Charity System made me too OP-Chapter 305: Improving II

Shell Reverb: Tier II.5 — "Resonant Core."

[You can now anchor kinetic memory into your heartline.Stored forces persist even after unconsciousness or injury.All non-lethal strikes absorbed through Shell Pulse gain an additional 10% force multiplier upon redirection.]

Leon gasped, blinking away the haze.

Jhuran was watching him with something close to pride. "That fragment belonged to a champion who shattered the Gatekeeper of Rank 50 with one redirected punch. You now carry his echo."

Leon stood slowly. His breathing was calm. His center felt different—settled.

Grounded.

Not just in motion—but in memory.

"Thank you," he said.

Jhuran nodded once. "Keep climbing. If you master Shell Reverb completely… you may rewrite what it means to be a martial body."

Outside, Roselia was waiting, arms crossed, a towel slung over her shoulder. "You went and got another cheat code, didn't you?"

Leon gave a small smile. "Not a cheat. Just… deeper breath."

Milim popped up beside her. "We're rested! Are we moving on to Rank 57 already?"

Leon looked up toward the glowing archway beyond the resting chambers. His heart pulsed with stored memory. His arms felt light. His spine, like an iron spring.

He nodded once.

"Yeah. Let's keep climbing."

Obsidian Arena — Rank 57 Challenge

The walls shifted once more as Leon stepped into the next combat zone, fresh from his enlightenment. The obsidian floor here wasn't flat—it rose into cragged peaks and fractured pillars, giving it a jagged, mountainous terrain. The arena was more vertical than wide, making movement and positioning critical.

Roselia tilted her head as she observed the setup from the observation ring. "Looks like they want to test his adaptability. This isn't just about strength anymore."

From the shadows across the highest ledge, his next opponent emerged:

Rank 57 Champion: Xa'Vael the Sky-Spike.

Unlike the grounded might of Xa'Roj or the enduring defense of Korath, Xa'Vael was lithe—his obsidian armor shaped like winged shards of crystal. His limbs were thinner, tuned for speed and angle. But his back bore the most striking feature:

Bladed gliders—not true wings, but crystalline appendages that allowed him short aerial bursts and angular maneuvers. The Obsidian Ants called such warriors Skybound, elite duelists who mastered the battlefield through vertical dominance.

A tremor pulsed beneath Leon's feet.

Begin.

Xa'Vael vanished from sight.

Leon's eyes snapped upward, Shell Reverb pulsing faintly through his skin.

A blade screeched against stone. Leon spun—and ducked just in time as Xa'Vael streaked past him, carving an arc into the air. Leon countered with a low sweep kick, trying to trap the landing—

But Xa'Vael bounced off a shard-like pillar, flipping backward mid-air and launching a barrage of high-speed jabs. Each punch didn't just strike—it pierced, narrow and sharp like a lance.

Leon deflected, barely. His Shell Reverb began absorbing bits of the force, letting him redirect a glancing jab into a palm strike.

Xa'Vael skidded back, wings flaring, but not before Leon closed in.

A fierce mid-range exchange followed—Xa'Vael with sharp, angular hits meant to penetrate joints and blind spots; Leon responding with wide counters, twisting into Shell Reverb's signature kinetic redirections.

One clean blow from Xa'Vael scraped Leon's left cheek, leaving a thin slice of obsidian dust. Another jab caught him square in the ribs.

Shell Reverb: Echo Point Accumulation — 38%.

Leon ducked, absorbed the next impact—and unleashed a reverb blast, sending Xa'Vael spiraling through three pillars in a storm of obsidian splinters.

But Xa'Vael didn't go down.

Instead, he ascended.

The warrior zipped skyward, activating his full glider wings, hovering above Leon like a spectral insect. A moment later—

Spikes.

Dozens of crystal blades rained down in a precise pattern, designed not just to wound—but to herd. Leon moved through them, shifting his path using Shell Reverb's energy echo to skip-step between safe points.

Then—

"Time to fly," Leon muttered.

He used a broken pillar as a launch pad, gathering the stored force of the last dozen impacts, and fired himself upward like a missile.

Xa'Vael tried to pivot, spinning for another barrage mid-air.

But Leon caught his gliders mid-spin, his palms glowing with Shell Reverb's stored data, and twisted.

Boom.

A shockwave split the air, turning the skirmish into a stormburst.

Both combatants crashed into the ground—Leon on one knee, breath steady. Xa'Vael sprawled across the arena, his wings shattered, his chest rising and falling.

He tried to stand. Failed.

The arena pulsed.

"Victory: Challenger Leon. Rank 57 Defeated."

Leon exhaled slowly, flexing his hands. The feedback from Shell Reverb hummed through his nerves like a second pulse.

He turned toward the others.

Roselia smirked. "That was aerial murder."

Milim clapped. "One more step up! This is getting fun!"

Roman raised a brow. "That technique where you launched yourself—was that new?"

Leon nodded. "A trick from Shell Reverb's core principle. Stored motion can launch just as hard as it can strike."

From the side, an elder Ant approached, bearing a token etched with spiral wings.

"You fly without wings," he said. "You may now challenge Rank 56 and onward."

Leon took the token silently, eyes already scanning the next arena corridor.

"Let's keep climbing."

Obsidian Arena – Rank 56 Challenge: The Mirror of Flesh

This time, the arena was quiet.

No jagged terrain. No shattered stone or looming walls. Just a wide, flat obsidian floor—polished to a mirror finish. It reflected the ceiling like black glass, eerily silent, almost ceremonial.

Roselia narrowed her eyes. "This doesn't feel like a warrior's arena."

Roman nodded. "It's a trap... of the mind."

Milim floated up slightly. "Or a trial of the self."

As Leon stepped in, he noticed something strange—his own reflection didn't mimic him exactly. It moved with a half-second delay, staring back with blank, glowing eyes.

Then, the obsidian floor rippled like ink. freewebnσvel.cѳm

And the reflection stepped out.

Rank 56 Champion: Fleshglass Echo.

A perfect, distorted replica of Leon—same body, same stance, but its skin shimmered with a semi-liquid sheen, its eyes devoid of life. But worse than its appearance was what it held:

Every ability Leon had used so far.

Shell Reverb activated. The mirror clone's muscles tensed in sync with Leon's. It even reflected his accumulated kinetic data. It moved as he did—but with one difference:

It didn't feel pain.

It didn't hesitate.

"Wonderful," Leon muttered. "A me that doesn't hold back."

The gong sounded.

Begin.

The clone surged forward—impossibly fast. Their fists collided, a shockwave ringing out across the polished floor. The Mirror bled no emotion, no breath, no wasted motion. Leon twisted to the left, redirecting the first jab—but the clone matched the move with a mirrored feint and clipped his side with a rising knee.

Leon reeled, but grinned. "So you did learn my tempo."

He gathered the kinetic flow and released it in a low spinning sweep—but the clone matched it exactly, resulting in a brutal cross-collision that sent both flying backwards.

Shell Reverb: Echo Clash Triggered.

Stored Data Exchange: Neutralized.

Current Mastery: 51%

Roselia shouted from the stands, "Leon! You can't beat it with your rhythm—it's just copying!"

Leon grunted as he stood. "I know."

He clenched his fists, feeling Shell Reverb hum along his spine. This enemy wasn't just a fight—it was a test of innovation. Of evolution.

"I have to do what it can't anticipate."

He slowed his breathing and changed his stance—not into one he had learned, but one still developing. A looser guard, experimental pivots—incorporating feints, misdirection, even false echoes in Shell Pulse form.

He rushed in.

The Mirror struck—predictably.

Leon ducked early, not to dodge, but to bait a follow-up. The clone mirrored the strike...and missed.

Leon twisted his waist and fired a palm strike loaded with partial kinetic transfer—just enough to knock the clone off rhythm, but not reset its stance.

He followed up immediately—Shell Reverb: Shatter Echo Technique.

A triplet combo using high-speed redirect punches fueled by mismatched force rhythms. The Mirror stumbled, unable to track the new tempo.

Leon's fist glowed with a compressed pulse.

"Sorry, I'm not a mirror anymore."

He drove his fist into the clone's chest—right at the solar plexus. The reverb ignited.

Boom.

Cracks spread across the clone's obsidian body like spiderwebs of glass.

It staggered, falling to one knee—and melted into black mist.

Victory: Challenger Leon. Rank 56 Defeated.

The silence broke with applause—slow, almost reverent. This victory hadn't been strength—it had been growth.

As Leon stood catching his breath, another figure emerged. An elder Obsidian Ant with a spiral etched into his chitin, carrying a scroll bound in ancient threads.

"You've passed the trial of the Self. The Mirror tests those who cannot evolve. You did. For that, you are granted the next form of Shell Reverb."

He handed Leon the scroll, and the system chimed.

Shell Reverb – Tier II: Subform Unlocked — Shatter Echo

You may now create disruptive rhythm clones of your own motion to destabilize enemy flow. Success depends on adaptive intent and kinetic variance.

Leon bowed slightly. "Thank you."

Milim cheered. "That was so weird! But so cool!"

Roman crossed his arms. "Fighting yourself is one thing. Beating yourself? That's something else."

Roselia came up beside Leon, smirking. "Just don't start arguing with your reflection at breakfast."

Leon laughed. "No promises."

They turned toward the stairs leading down to the next challenge.

Rank 55 awaited.