The Only Son Amongst The Daughters Of Eros - Chapter 210 - 210: Testing the Anti-Harm Skill

It was the same mystical chamber deep within the Castle, the enchanted space where he’d honed his skills with Alzera and his team during the grueling training arc.

It was a vast, dome-like arena forged from ancient divine constructs, its walls shimmering with ethereal runes that pulsed like living veins.

The floor was a mosaic of hardened starstone, capable of shifting into various terrains—forests, dunes, or rocky crags—for simulated combat.

In the center stood rows of magical dummies and golems, animated constructs of the beasts found in the most unique dungeons.

They had hulking and metallic forms, etched with glowing sigils that activated on command.

The air hummed with latent magic. Aeric could even smell that there was a recent session here. Maybe Alzera and the crew had trained here today.

Aeric entered alone, the heavy doors sealing behind him with a resonant thud.

His mind was laser-focused on the Anti Harm skill, the pinnacle of his upgrades from Edna.

The Anti-Harm Skill was definitely an overpowered one. Entering a battle and not being able to take any damage would turn the favor for any Player.

But the thing with skills such as these, there were always certain limitations and regulations placed to avoid spamming.

To ensure that he didn’t go in blind, Aeric wanted to test out the Skill in training so he could know how to implement it in the Beast Glade battle.

“Time to test this,” he muttered, activating the constructs with a pull of the lever.

The dummies whirred to life, their eyes igniting with crimson light, joints creaking as they assumed combat stances. Some wielded ethereal blades, others channeled mock elemental blasts.

Aeric prepared himself, rolling his shoulders and centering his divinity flow. He threw himself into the fray, but first, he activated [Anti Harm].

A golden light poured over him like molten sunlight, enveloping his body in a shimmering aura that hardened his skin to an impenetrable sheen, as if forged from divine metal rock.

After coalescing within him, his skin appeared as normal, though a magical force was now empowering the dermis and epidermis, his bones and every body organ he possessed.

Aeric could feel it. It was an unexplainable sensation, but he was truly indestructible. Like that doofus captain in the Nickelodeon show.

The constructs lunged. They attacked swiftly and with coordination.

Aeric saw a blade slashing at his torso, and a fist hammering toward his chest.

With a face that feared that this was a bad idea, he met them head-on rather than dodging. He prayed that this Skill lived up to its name.

‘…’

BAM!

It did.

The impacts resounded like thunder on stone.

Aeric skidded backward across the starstone floor, sparks flying from the friction, but there was no pain.

He looked down. Yes, he was wearing a strong armor but still, he should have felt a good amount of backlash.

But there was… nothing.

It was as if the blows glanced off an unyielding fortress, the golden light within him absorbing and dissipating the force.

“Incredible,” he breathed, a grin splitting his face amid the determination. “But to know for sure…”

He began stripping himself of his armor. The constructs stared at each other, tilting their heads in confusion.

“I have to fight bare!”

He stood there, wearing only trousers and bandaged arms, his chiseled body glistening with excited sweat.

“This isn’t a strip club, you idiots,” Aeric called to the constructs. “Come here and hit me as hard as you can!”

The fake monsters glanced at each other then turned to him with a glare, roaring as they attacked.

Aeric took most of their attacks.

“Oofff!”

“Ugh!”

“Ouch!”

“Aaargggh!!”

“Faaaahh!!”

After the assault, he rolled on the ground and stood. Not… a… single… bruise.

Aeric looked at his body and a glorious grin stretched on his handsome face. He outstretched his hands to both sides, gloating at the constructs.

“As you can see! I am not hurt!”

The beasts only got madder and attacked again. Aeric laughed through the onslaught.

The Anti Harm Skill was passive once activated, rendering him immune to harm, but as he tested further—beaten to a not-pulp—he delved into its intricacies.

He continued training, striking back with precise, divinity-infused punches that shattered a dummy’s arm, then dodging a blast only to let another graze him deliberately.

The cooldown revealed itself after a moment as the system sang in his ears:

[Anti Harm Cooldown: 5 minutes after activation. Cooldown lasts 20 minutes.]

‘So the Skill lasts for five minutes and cools for twenty,’ he thought as he bounced and averted from the beasts’ attacks.

‘I’d say five minutes is enough to turn the tides in any battle. I could go all in by activating this Skill, knowing that I wouldn’t take damage from whatever the threat is while I administer my own damage.’

He spun with his sword and severed the head of a construct before landing neatly.

‘I’m sure there’s more to learn.’

Twenty minutes later, he engaged the constructs again.

Side effects emerged too; as he moved, he noted a slight lag in his steps, his maxed agility dipping by 5% while the aura held, making his dodges fractionally slower, his leaps less explosive.

“A trade-off,” he thought analytically, his brow furrowing in focus. “Invulnerability at a very very slight cost of speed. It’s okay. I’ll have to adapt.”

He did just that.

As the afternoon faded into the evening, Aeric found ways around it: channeling more divinity to compensate, using predictive strikes rather than reactive evasion, turning the skill into a tactical tool rather than a crutch.

The session intensified, Aeric battling the constructs in waves.

He trained with his sword, using Divinity to slash through a golem’s core, then enduring a barrage of fists that would have pulverized a lesser man.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, not from pain but from the mental strain of mastering the balance.

He learnt to activate Anti Harm quickly, mid-attack. Sometimes, an unexpected, extremely fatal attack could come unexpectedly. Attacks that shields and simple defenses couldn’t stop.

He needed to swiftly activate the Skill as a last ditch defense.

Then he learnt to deactivate quickly enough to reclaim agility for a swift counter.

His strikes were methodical yet fierce: a spinning kick crumpling a dummy’s torso, a palm thrust exploding another’s head in a shower of magical shards.

All the while, his mind was set on the Beast Glade raid: the battle to save Mursbridge and its neighboring towns, the people of Starlight who looked to him as their prince and protector.

Determination burned in his eyes, a fierce resolve forged from his petty hardships in this fantasy world.

He wouldn’t fail them; this skill was the edge he needed to lead the Daughters, Delva, and his allies to victory, to crush the waves and prove his worth toward claiming the throne.

Unbeknownst to Aeric, Alzera watched from a shadowed corner of the hall, her lithe form perched on a stone bench with legs crossed elegantly.

The fierce warrior, her wild hair tied back and her armor hugging her athletic curves, observed him with a mix of affection and intrigue.

Her eyes traced his every move, a soft smile playing on her lips as she marveled at his growth.

The boy who had once tamed her in a dungeon was growing to an even more commanding force.