SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will-Chapter 25: A Throne That Refused to Rise
Arthur felt it too.
His smile faded without him realizing it. He let out a slow breath, eyes narrowing as he watched the broken armor knit itself back together. The creature’s aura rolled outward in heavy waves, pressing against his skin, filling his lungs with something thick and wrong.
"...Yeah," he muttered quietly. "That’s a problem."
The skeletal knight did not stand.
It did not lift its sword.
It did not even shift in its throne.
But the mist around it grew denser.
And the dungeon felt like it was holding its breath.
The boss did not acknowledge them at all. It simply sat there, relaxed, almost bored. Its empty gaze rested on nothing in particular. Around it, steel clashed. Spells burst in flashes of light. Monsters screamed and shattered into bone fragments.
Still, it did not turn its head.
That silence unsettled the awakeners more than any roar could have.
It was like they were ants fighting at the foot of a king who had already decided how this would end.
Even so, they moved.
The plan was simple. It had to be. Anything complicated would fall apart under pressure. Clear the remaining monsters. Tighten their formation. Then face the boss together.
"Left side, push!"
"Keep the archers covered!"
"Don’t break formation!"
Their voices were rough and hoarse, but steady. Fear was still there, but it had settled into something heavier. Something harder.
Resolve.
Desperation sharpened their movements. Blades swung faster. Spells burned hotter. Shields slammed forward with renewed force.
They fought stronger.
They fought harder.
Each monster that fell felt like one step closer to freedom.
The boss did not care.
Then, slowly, it moved.
It did not rise from the throne.
It did not reach for its weapon.
It simply raised one skeletal hand.
The air twisted.
A massive circle carved itself into the battlefield. Dark lines burned into stone, into broken bone, into the very ground beneath their feet. The pattern enclosed everyone, the awakeners and the remaining monsters alike.
Instinct took over.
"Brace!"
"Defense skills, now!"
Shields rose. Barriers flared into existence. Mana surged as everyone prepared for a devastating strike.
Nothing happened.
For a single heartbeat, there was only silence.
Then the ground trembled.
Bones rattled across the battlefield.
From beneath shattered remains... from piles of skeletons they had already destroyed... something stirred.
Cracked skulls pulled themselves back together. Spines snapped into place. Ribs locked and fused. Empty eye sockets flickered with a dull, corrupted glow.
Skeletons stood up.
Dozens of them.
The confidence the group had just rebuilt shattered instantly.
"No way..."
"We killed them!"
"It can just bring them back?!"
The boss leaned back into its throne again, lowering its hand as if the effort had meant nothing at all.
It did not move again.
Despair crept into the cracks of their formation.
Not enough to make them collapse.
But enough to slow their swings.
Enough to make their breathing heavier.
They attacked more aggressively now, trying to crush the revived skeletons before their numbers overwhelmed them. But the cost showed. Movements grew less precise. Mana reserves thinned. Muscles trembled from exhaustion.
Arthur felt the shift immediately.
His expression hardened.
The playful grin disappeared completely. His eyes sharpened, his movements becoming tighter, cleaner, heavier with intent.
He tore into the risen skeletons without hesitation.
Execution intent flowed through every strike. Reinforced bone split as if it had never been resurrected at all.
CRACK.
SHATTER.
THUD.
He did not slow down.
Intent Step flickered again and again, placing him exactly where the pressure was highest. He cut down skeletons before they could regroup. Manifest Intent detonated in controlled bursts, erasing clusters of enemies in flashes of force.
The awakeners noticed.
They always did.
"That guy..."
"He’s not even tired."
"Is he even human?"
Hope stirred again.
Fragile.
But real.
And then someone noticed something important.
"The boss didn’t cast it again!"
"There’s a delay!"
The battlefield shifted in their minds.
This wasn’t endless.
There was a window.
Arthur had already realized it.
His Manifest Intent could keep wiping out waves, but that would only drag things out. As long as the seal behind the throne remained active, this would turn into a war of attrition.
And attrition favored the dungeon.
He was done playing that game.
His gaze moved, calculating angles and openings. The throne. The boss. The seal pulsing behind it like an infected wound leaking tainted mana.
A path formed.
He turned sharply, voice cutting cleanly through the chaos.
"Hold your line!"
Several heads snapped toward him.
"Don’t chase kills. Don’t break formation," he continued, already moving. "You’ve got space. Use it."
"What are you—"
He didn’t answer.
He trusted them to understand what mattered.
And they did.
Strength earned trust. And he had shown enough of it.
Shields locked tighter. Mages stepped back to recover mana. Warriors dug in and focused on defense instead of reckless offense.
Arthur slipped out from the edge of the formation.
He killed only what stood directly in his path. No wasted motion. No unnecessary swings.
Before committing, he paused.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Intent Points lined up in his awareness, counted from every enemy he had cut down.
Enough.
More than enough.
Good.
The system responded the moment he reached for it.
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
⟦ Skill Upgrade Available ⟧
✦ Target Skill: Intent Step
✦ Type: Active — Movement
━━━ CURRENT STATUS ━━━
• Current Rank: E
• Next Rank: C
━━━ UPGRADE REQUIREMENT ━━━
✦ Intent Point Cost: 75 IP ✦
⟬ System Query ⟭
→ Proceed with rank advancement?
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
Arthur didn’t hesitate.
"Proceed."
The change hit instantly.
It wasn’t pain.
It was pressure.
Like the world itself had taken notice.
The interface shifted.
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
━━━ SKILL UPGRADED SUCCESSFULLY ━━━
✦ Name: Intent Step
✦ Type: Active — Movement
✦ Rank: C
✦ Status: ACTIVE
⟬ Skill Description ⟭
Intent is refined into spatial authority, allowing movement that ignores interference and unstable terrain.
━━━ UPDATED EFFECTS ━━━
• Mid-range instant displacement
• Direction locked to intent with extreme precision
• Greatly reduced strain during consecutive use
• Positional correction under hostile interference
• Spatial anchoring in chaotic environments
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
Arthur exhaled slowly.
C rank.
That felt right.
The skill settled into him smoothly. Cleaner. Sharper. The resistance he had felt before was gone.
He didn’t waste time.
The system was still open when he selected the next upgrade.
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
⟦ Skill Upgrade Available ⟧
✦ Target Skill: Execution Intent
✦ Type: Active
━━━ CURRENT STATUS ━━━
• Current Rank: D
• Next Rank: C
━━━ UPGRADE REQUIREMENT ━━━
✦ Intent Point Cost: 50 IP ✦
⟬ System Query ⟭
→ Proceed with rank advancement?
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Proceed."
The response came immediately.
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
❂ SOVEREIGN INTENT SYSTEM ❂
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
━━━ SKILL UPGRADED SUCCESSFULLY ━━━
✦ Name: Execution Intent
✦ Type: Active
✦ Rank: C
✦ Status: ACTIVE
⟬ Core Manifestation ⟭
Execution authority has deepened. Intent no longer searches for weakness—
it imposes it.
━━━ ENHANCED EFFECTS ━━━
• Instant weak point dominance
• Lethality increases briefly with each confirmed kill
• Locked intent resists interruption
• Suppresses fear, pain, and hesitation during execution
• Favors decisive kills over prolonged fights
✦══════════════════════════════════════✦
Arthur read through it once with quiet understanding.
This was enough.
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