The Regeneration Talent did its best to keep up with William's attacks, healing his fists every time he released a punch. Even so, William felt himself losing a lot of blood, and knew he needed a better plan than this.
He jumped back to gain some space from the Minotaur, inspecting the changes to its body. Its bare back was covered in bruises, and its hands were shaky as it was still recovering from the unexpected attack to its nether regions. It leaned on the handle of its battleaxe, eyeing William warily with its knees closer together so as to avoid another "nether punch".
William had to admit that punching that area was incredibly effective, but he knew he wouldn't get a second chance. He cursed himself for having so many Magic Affinities, yet not carrying a backup weapon on his body in case this happened.
It seemed to be a stalemate. He could dodge all of the Minotaur's attacks, and even if one landed, his Forcefield and Hard Skin Talents should prevent him from taking damage.
The Minotaur might have other Magic Affinities, but Fire and Ice Magic would both have no effect on him, while any other Elements would be once again stopped by the Forcefield and Hard Skin.
He scrolled through his Talents, but he didn't find anything useful that could help in this situation.
POTENTIAL POINTS: 2156
It seems there's only one option. He thought as he dodged another attack from the Minotaur.
System, Purchase a Random Physical Talent.
-Talent Purchased: Acceleration
William felt a slight change in his body, causing him to accidentally jump a bit too far to the right while avoiding a sweeping attack from the Minotaur. The Acceleration Talent seemed to increase the explosive power of his movements, allowing him to go from 0 to 100 percent power a bit faster.
That won't help much. System, buy another one!
-Talent Purchased: Wrestling
Really? William wished he had 2500 Potential Points so he could just upgrade his Strength Talent. The System clearly wasn't being very helpful.
But he had no choice. Another one!
-Talent Purchased: Attack Reflection
Attack Reflection? William looked at the Talent with intrigue.
No changes in his body were detected, but when he checked the System panel, he found out that it was a Rare Talent right next to Acrobatics.
System, give me a free explanation on how the Attack Reflection Talent works. William had become used to asking questions in this way to avoid needing to pay Potential Points.
-The Attack Reflection Talent will reflect a small percentage of any physical attacks done to you on the attacker, even if the Host didn't take actual damage.
How much damage will it do right now?
-Request requires 10 Potential Points. Yes/No? Check latest chapters at NovelHub(.)net
I guess I'll test it out myself...
As the Minotaur swung downward with its battleaxe, William dodged to the left side a short distance, keeping his right arm within reach. He gritted his teeth as the battleaxe collided with the Forcefield above his arm, creating a spiderweb of cracks on the veil that would take some time to heal.
The Forcefield didn't shatter, but a thin cut suddenly appeared on the Minotaur's right arm. The Magical Beast looked at the wound in confusion, not sure if the cut had appeared earlier or just now. The wound wasn't deep, so the Minotaur shook its head and continued attacking.
Wow! How is this a Rare Talent? It should be Legendary at least! William was ecstatic.
He let the Minotaur attack him again, the battleaxe crushing his Forcefield and creating a white mark on his arm as it clashed with his Hard Skin Talent.
This time, there was no reflected wound on the Minotaur's body, which confused William.
System, why didn't that attack reflect?
-Request requires 10 Potential Points. Yes/No?
Ugh, fine. He paid the ten points.
-There is currently a thirty second cooldown between attacks that you can reflect.
It made sense to William now. Of course, a seemingly powerful skill would have some drawbacks. Maybe if he upgraded it, William would be able to reflect attacks sooner?
System, upgrade my Attack Reflection Talent using as many points as I can afford. He was sad about using all of his Potential Points, but he would recover all of the losses upon opening the black boxes.
Attack Reflection: (D --> C)
Attack Reflection: (C --> B)
Attack Reflection: (B --> A)
The upgrade took over twenty minutes, William dodging the attacks from the Minotaur all the while. As time passed, William became accustomed to the attack patterns of the Minotaur, making him realize he would eventually defeat the Magical Beast with his fists even if he didn't upgrade any Talents.
It would just take a lot of time.
William still didn't feel any changes in his body after the upgrade was finished, but the effects were obvious when he allowed the Minotaur to strike him once again. His Forcefield had fully recovered at this point, so the attack once again wasn't able to actually touch William's skin.
He watched with surprise as the Minotaur's arm was suddenly cut all the way down to the bone, causing the Magical Beast to shriek in pain while blood flowed. With its right arm disabled, the Minotaur was forced to drop the battleaxe in its hand while it retreated a safe distance away.
The Beast looked at William warily, unsure of what the human did to injure it so severely. It looked around the room for any hidden Cultivators, but its connection with the trial tower told it that William was the only one on the floor.
William's smile turned vicious as he walked towards the Minotaur, taking his sweet time to get close to it. The Minotaur noticed his expression and knew he was responsible for the attack, the big Beast backing off while William approached.
The Minotaur suddenly stopped. Not because it was no longer scared, but its back hit the wall.
Its eyes turned red as it realized there was nowhere left to go, so it ran forward with all its might, hoping to bash in William's skull before he could do something to it again.
A punch was released, aiming straight for William's face.
William jumped forward, the punch instead landing on his chest, breaking the Forcefield and crashing forward with intense power.
William's Hard Skin Talent didn't help much against blunt weapons and fists, so he took the full force of the attack and was launched dozens of meters backward. Normally he would use the Earth Element to offset the force of attacks, but he couldn't use Magic right now.
His body rolled across the ground with a collapsed lung and multiple cracked ribs that were already healing, while at the same time the Minotaur's chest caved in. It struggled to breathe, falling to one knee while the blood loss from its arm was finally taking its toll.
William and the Minotaur remained that way for a few minutes, until the Minotaur finally passed out. A few minutes later, the Minotaur turned to particles of Mana as it flew into the ceiling of the trial floor.
A stone pedestal rose from the floor, marking the completion of the trial.