Wings.

The ability to fly, to move at incredible speeds, to unleash devastating strikes with nothing buta flap of a feathered limbit was a power worth mastering.

But it wasn’t the only thing on his mind.

"I need to refine my own abilities first," he muttered to himself.

After a short walk, he reachedhis homea modest two-story house with a small front yard. The lights inside weredim, signaling that his parents had already gone to bed.

He stepped inside, closing the door behind himsilently.

Everything wasas usual.

The living room was neat, a few books stacked on the wooden table. The air carried the faint scent of his mother’s herbal tea.

Without making a sound, he moved toward his room.

Echo’seyes snapped openas the morning sunlight filtered through the curtains.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes before glancing at the clock.

"7:45 AM."

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed andstretched. His muscles werea little sorefrom sitting in the academy’s seats for too long the previous day, but other than that, he feltfine.

A quick glance around the house told himhis parents weren’t home.

"Seems like they went to work," he muttered to himself.

His mother worked as atherapistin a hospital, spending long hours treating patients. His father, on the other hand, was ateacher at the academya respected instructor, but not a particularly strong combatant.

This routine was nothing new.

Echo made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a simple breakfastbread, eggs, and a glass of milk.

After eating, he placed his dishes in the sink and dusted off his hands.

"Alright..." he exhaled.

"It’s time."

The First Test – The Amateur Blade

Echostepped outside, heading to the small backyard behind the house.

It wasn’tanything specialjust a patch of land with a few trees and some training dummies he had set up for practice.

He stood in the center of the yard,focusing.

Then

His righthandbegan to shift.

The skin hardened. The fingers fused together. His entire forearmmorphed, extending outward into a long, sharpmetallic blade.

The surface gleamed in the sunlight.

Echo smirked.

"Perfect."

He had named this abilityThe Amateur Blade.

The name was ironic because despite its title, this was anythingbut amateur.

It wasrazor-sharp.

Unbreakable.

And most importantly it could besummoned at will.

He took a step forward, his eyes locking onto athick tree trunkstanding a few feet away.

Then

Heswung.

SHIIIIING!

The blade sliced through the treelike butter.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then

CRACK!

The upper half of the treetoppled over, crashing into the ground with a heavy thud.

Echo stared at the fallen tree, then glanced at his blade.

"Yeah. This is strong."

He flexed his fingers, and the bladeretracted, his arm returning to normal.

"But it’s not enough."

The Second Test – Teleportation

Echo exhaled, taking a step back.

His second ability wasjust as valuable as the first—but in a different way.

Teleportation.

If mastered, it could turn him into anuntouchable force.

But right now he hadone major problem.

"My energy is too low."

He could only use teleportationa few timesbefore his mana would drain completely, leaving him defenseless.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t use it.

Hefocused, his mind locking onto a specific pointthe roof of his house.

Then

FLASH!

His vision blurred.

His body felt weightless for half a second then

THUD!

He landedperfectlyon the rooftop.

A grin spread across his face.

"Not bad."

He turned, picking another targeta rock in the distance.

Once again, he focused.

Then

FLASH!

His body blinked out of existence

Andreappearednear the rock.

This time, however

Awave of exhaustionwashed over him.

His legs nearlygave out.

"Damn."

He placed a hand on his forehead, taking deep breaths.

"Two uses, and I’m already feeling drained."

Hehatedthis weakness.

His abilities were powerfulbut only if he could use them freely.

"I need more energy," he muttered. "Way more."

He clenched his fists.

For now, his trainingwas over.

But he wouldn’t stop.

---

Echo sat on the rooftop of his house, his legs crossed, a notebook resting on his lap.

The morning breeze wascool and refreshing, but his mind was focused on something else entirely.

New techniques.

Overpowered techniques.

Not just ordinary skillsgame-breaking,instant-kill,unbeatableabilities.

Something that would make him truly unstoppable.

He tapped his pen against the page, thinking.

Then, with a smirk, he began to write.

Attempt #1 – Instant Kill

Concept:A technique that instantly eliminates the enemywith a single attack, regardless of their defense or power level.

Execution Idea:A strike that bypassesphysical durability,energy shields, and evenhealing factors, causing absolute destruction.

Reality Check:Eiko stared at the words on the page.

"Sounds cool, but how the hell am I supposed to do this?"

The idea wassimple.

But actuallypulling it off?

He had no clue how to make a skill that ignoredall defenses.

He closed his notebook and sighed.

"Alright, next one."

Attempt #2 – Invisibility

Concept:A technique that allows the user to become completelyinvisible, undetectable by sight, sound, or energy tracking.

Execution Idea:Manipulating light refraction, suppressing sound waves, and eliminating presence.

Reality Check:"I can’t even hide my footsteps properly. How am I supposed to erase my existence?"

Even the academy’smost advanced stealth spellsdidn’t offertrue invisibility.

They could mask energy signatures or blur movements butactual invisibility?

That was adifferent level.

Eiko leaned back, staring at the sky.

"Damn. This is harder than I thought."

But he didn’t stop.

He kept writing.

Attempt #3 – Time Stop

Concept:A technique thatfreezes timefor everyone except the user, allowing complete control over the battlefield.

Execution Idea:Manipulating space-time energy to create a localized time stasis effect.

Reality Check:Eiko’s eyes twitched.

"Okay, this one is just straight-up impossible."

Even thestrongest magesat the academy only had techniques that couldslow down opponentsnotcompletely stop time.

Still, the ideafascinated him.

"If I could pull this off... I’d be unstoppable."

But for now

It was just afantasy.

Attempt #4 – Absolute Regeneration

Concept:A technique that allowsinstant healingfrom any injury—even death itself.

Execution Idea:Cellular manipulation, advanced biological energy restoration, and self-repair systems.

Reality Check:Eiko rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because rewriting biology is so easy."

If someone actually had this power, they’d beunkillable.

Even hisTeleportationskill drained him after two uses.

How could he possiblyregenerate an entire body?

He tapped his pen against his chin.

Then, after a few moments of silence

Hegrinned.

The Realization

These skills werecrazy.

Impossible.

But that didn’t mean they wouldalways be impossible.

Echo flipped through the pages of his notebook, reviewing each idea carefully.

Then

A singlethoughtcrossed his mind.

"These skills can be activated when I reach a high energy level."

That was the key.

It wasn’t that these techniquescouldn’t exist

It was just thathe wasn’t strong enough yet.

"Okay, okay, the problem is the energy level," he muttered to himself.

He clenched his fists.

"I have to find a way to raise it quickly."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com