Primordial Awakening: I Breathe Skill Points!-Chapter 55: The Lightning God (2)

[Temporal Fracture available - Cooldown ready]

His B-rank skill. Three seconds of stopped time where only he could move.

The skill he’d been saving for emergencies, for moments when nothing else would work.

’This qualifies as an emergency.’

Zeus was eight meters away now, still advancing with confident swagger, lightning crackling with each step.

"I respect the fight you’ve given me. Most placement opponents fold after the first hit. You’ve taken four and you’re still standing."

Six meters.

"But this is where it ends. Lightning Form costs 100 MP per second. I can maintain it for thirty seconds before I’m dry. More than enough to finish you."

Four meters.

Zeph made his decision.

He activated Temporal Fracture.

[MP: 2800 → 1800]

[TEMPORAL FRACTURE ACTIVATED]

[Duration: 3 seconds]

[Host can move at 50% normal speed]

Reality froze.

Zeus stopped mid-step, one foot raised, lightning frozen in mid-arc around his body like a photograph of electricity. The crackling energy hung suspended in the air, individual bolts visible as solid threads of light rather than the flowing current they’d been moments before.

The crackling sound cut off completely. The world went silent—not just quiet, but absolutely, utterly silent in a way that felt unnatural.

And Zeph could move.

Slowly—at half his normal speed due to the skill’s limitation—but he could move while everything else was locked in stasis.

’Three seconds. That’s all I have. Need to make it count.’

He moved toward Zeus’s frozen form, his movements feeling like wading through thick syrup. Each step required conscious effort, his body fighting against the temporal distortion that affected him differently than the rest of reality.

’One second elapsed.’

Positioned himself at Zeus’s side, axe raised for a strike at the vulnerable neck area .

’Two seconds elapsed.’

Drew back for maximum power, aiming for the killing blow that would end the match. His muscles tensed for the strike that should be impossible to dodge.

’Three seconds—’ he muttered.

And then suddenly,

Zeus’s eyes moved.

In stopped time.

In FROZEN REALITY, his eyes tracked Zeph’s position with perfect awareness.

Then his mouth moved, sound somehow cutting through the temporal freeze as if the laws governing Temporal Fracture simply didn’t apply to him.

"SOVEREIGN’S WILL."

[S-RANK SKILL ACTIVATED]

[SOVEREIGN’S WILL: Absolute resistance to all forms of control, manipulation, and temporal effects for 10 seconds]

[TEMPORAL FRACTURE: DISRUPTED]

Reality snapped back into motion violently, the temporal freeze shattering like glass struck by a hammer. The sudden return of normal time felt like a physical impact.

Zeph’s consciousness reeled from the backlash—his Temporal Fracture skill had been BROKEN mid-activation, something he hadn’t known was even possible.

The feedback felt like someone had detonated a flashbang directly inside his skull. White light exploded behind his eyes. His sense of balance vanished completely.

[Temporal Fracture - INTERRUPTED]

[Skill temporarily disabled]

[Cooldown reset: 7 days]

[Warning: Mental strain detected]

Zeus’s fist was already moving, capitalizing on Zeph’s disorientation with predatory precision.

A lightning-empowered uppercut that Zeph couldn’t dodge, couldn’t block, couldn’t escape. His body was still recovering from the temporal backlash.

It connected with his jaw.

[CRITICAL HIT]

[LIGHTNING DAMAGE]

[Damage: 540]

[HP: 940 → 400]

Zeph’s vision went white. His body lost all coordination. He was airborne, with no control over his trajectory, spinning through the air like a ragdoll.

But through the pain and disorientation, through the electrical current still coursing through his nervous system, one thought burned clear:

’Temporal Fracture isn’t invincible. It can be COUNTERED. Zeus just did it with an S-rank resistance skill.’

’The skill I thought was an absolute trump card has weaknesses. Limitations.’

’I can’t rely on it as a guaranteed win condition.’

He hit the ground hard and couldn’t get up. His HP was at 18%. His limbs refused to respond to his mental commands.

Zeus stood over him, Lightning Form still active, fist raised for the finishing blow. The electrical aura around him seemed to pulse with satisfaction.

"Temporal manipulation, huh? Impressive skill for a Level 35. But Sovereign’s Will makes me immune to ANY form of control or time effect. Bad matchup for you, old man."

The fist descended like a bolt from heaven itself.

Zeph tried to activate Phantom Step. His body didn’t respond. Too much damage. Too much feedback from the interrupted Temporal Fracture. His mana channels felt scrambled.

The lightning-wreathed punch connected with his chest.

[MATCH CONCLUDED]

[Winner: ZEUS]

[Placement Match 7/10: DEFEAT]

[Performance Rating: EXCELLENT]

[Updated Record: 6-1]

[Tier Estimation: GOLD I]

-----

The arena dissolved around him.

Zeph found himself back in the white hub space, his avatar automatically restored to full health.

But the phantom pain from the lightning strikes remained, fading slowly. And the mental echo of his interrupted Temporal Fracture felt like ringing in his ears that wouldn’t stop.

’Lost. I actually lost.’

’And I used Temporal Fracture.’

’And it FAILED. Zeus countered it with a single S-rank skill.’

He pulled up the match statistics, needing to see the numbers that confirmed what he already knew.

```

MATCH ANALYSIS - DIRTYGRANDPA vs ZEUS

Duration: 4 minutes, 51 seconds

Damage Dealt:

- DirtyGrandpa: 95 (1 clean hit to vulnerable point)

- Zeus: 2060 (5 hits, all devastating)

Damage Taken:

- DirtyGrandpa: 2060

- Zeus: 95

Skills Used:

- DirtyGrandpa: Predator’s Advance, Phantom Step (×3), Wind Blade (×1), Temporal Fracture (interrupted)

- Zeus: Lightning Form, Sovereign’s Will (S-rank), Body Enhancement (passive)

Performance Rating: EXCELLENT

- Superior tactical thinking

- Excellent threat assessment

- Professional technique execution

- WEAKNESS IDENTIFIED: Build lacks durability for extended engagements

- WEAKNESS IDENTIFIED: Temporal Fracture vulnerable to high-rank resistance skills

```

That last line hit hard.

’I thought Temporal Fracture was unbeatable. Three seconds where only I can move? How do you counter that?’

’Answer: You don’t counter the time stop itself. You counter it with immunity.’

’Sovereign’s Will. S-rank skill that grants absolute resistance to control and temporal effects.’

’Zeus had the perfect counter. Probably keeps it ready specifically for people with time manipulation or CC skills.’

Zeph sat down in the white space, his elderly avatar looking genuinely tired.

’But... maybe that’s okay.’

’I learned something critical. Temporal Fracture isn’t invincible. It CAN be countered by sufficiently powerful resistance skills.’

’That means in the ruins, against unknown entities, I can’t assume it’s a guaranteed escape option.’

’Better to learn that limitation here, in a safe VR match, than in deadly combat where finding out the hard way means actual death.’

He analyzed the rest of the fight with the detachment of someone reviewing training footage.

’Zeus had everything. Speed through Lightning Form. Defense through body enhancement runes. Offense through lightning-empowered strikes. S-rank resistance skill for trump cards. Technique mastery to tie it all together.’

’I had speed, technique, and one trump card that got hard-countered.’

’The result was inevitable. I did 95 damage. He did 2,060. That’s a 21-to-1 damage ratio.’

’I wasn’t just outmatched. I was completely dominated.’

But the frustration slowly shifted into something else.

Analysis. Cold, clear analysis.

’What did this match teach me?’

’One: Glass cannon has a ceiling. Works against opponents who can’t match my speed or don’t have enough durability to outlast me. Fails against balanced builds with equivalent or superior stats across the board.’

’Two: Body enhancement is STRONG. Those runes gave Zeus effective HP in the 6,000+ range. Made him nearly immune to my attacks. Let him ignore tactics and just overpower me through raw stats.’

’Three: Elemental integration is a force multiplier. His lightning didn’t just add damage. It added CC through shock effects. Made his already strong attacks into instant match-enders.’

’Four: High-rank resistance skills exist. Temporal Fracture isn’t unbeatable. Need backup plans for when it gets countered.’

’Five: I need to diversify. Can’t just rely on AGI and technique forever. Need HP. Need defense. Need ways to survive hits I can’t dodge.’

Zeph looked at his remaining placement matches.

```

PLACEMENT RECORD: 6-1

REMAINING MATCHES: 3

CURRENT ESTIMATION: GOLD I

```

’Three matches left. If I win all three, I might still place Platinum III or II.’

’But more importantly... I learned what my build is missing. And I learned my trump card has weaknesses.’

’Both lessons I needed before walking into deadly ruins.’

’Zeus beat me. Taught me humility. Showed me the limits of my current approach.’

’But he also gave me a roadmap for improvement.’

He stood up, his avatar’s wild silver hair somehow managing to look determined despite being completely disheveled.

’Tomorrow. Three more matches. See if I can adapt knowing what I know now.’

’Then I rebuild using the Stat Redistribution Token. Fix the weaknesses Zeus exposed.’

’And I’ll remember: Temporal Fracture isn’t invincible. Save it for situations where I’m certain it won’t get countered.’

Zeph logged out of VR, pulling the headset off and setting it aside carefully on his nightstand.

His apartment was dark. Late evening. The city lights filtering through his window cast long shadows across the walls.

But his mind was racing with ideas, planning already underway.

’Stats I need to increase: VIT for survivability. Maybe STR for damage that can actually hurt enhanced opponents. Keep AGI high but not exclusively focused.’

’Skills I need to acquire: Defensive options. Resistance skills if I can find them. Maybe elemental damage to match Zeus’s lightning integration.’

’Equipment I desperately need: Armor. An actual weapon instead of a crude goblin axe. Defensive artifacts.’

’Technique training: Iron Woodsman is good but specialized. Need to branch out.’

’In ten days, I’ll have 324,000 PP plus what I have now. That’s 363,729 PP total.’

’Enough for multiple major upgrades. Enough to buy new skills if I find the books. Enough to prepare properly.’

’Zeus beat me today. Taught me valuable lessons about build optimization AND trump card limitations.’

’But he won’t beat me if we fight again after I’ve fixed my weaknesses.’

’Nobody will.’

Zeph lay back on his bed, mind still churning through calculations and possibilities, running through dozens of potential stat distributions and skill combinations.

The loss stung. The revelation that Temporal Fracture could be countered stung worse.

But both were lessons he needed to learn before real stakes were on the line.

’Tomorrow: three more placement matches. Adapt tactics. See what Gold I opponents throw at me.’

’Then: research, optimize, rebuild.’

’Ten days until the ruins. Ten days to become something better than a glass cannon with a counterable trump card.’

’Ten days to prove that losing one match—and learning my skill’s limits—was the best thing that could have happened.’

His breathing settled into Foundation Breath rhythm automatically, muscle memory taking over as his conscious mind continued planning.

1.5 PP per breath.

32,400 per day.

Building toward something stronger.

One breath at a time.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​