[You have activated Half-Life! Please select how much of your potential life span you wish to sacrifice for the corresponding effects.]

Kace gritted his teeth as he read the notification. This was the reason he had never used this ability since he had unlocked it. However, this was not the time to be stingy. No matter how many years he had to sacrifice, it would definitely be better than his life ending right now.

[Remaining Lifespan: 50 years]

[Sacrifice 10 years for a 50% increase to all Stats for 10 minutes. Half of the growth will be permanent.]

[Sacrifice 20 years for a 100% increase to all Stats for 10 minutes. Half of the growth will be permanent.]

[Sacrifice 30 years for a 150% increase to all Stats for 10 minutes. Half of the growth will be permanent.]

[Sacrifice all remaining lifespan for a 500% increase to all Stats. Warning! Death will occur immediately after 10 minutes.]

Kace looked at his options. He felt quite lucky that time had seemed to come to a standstill when he evoked this ability. 'Damn, it gave me the worst possible case of increase to how many years I have to sacrifice.' This was why Kace was reluctant to ever use this ability. It was a double-edged sword as well as a gamble on top of that. He thought back to the description he had been given when the power had been unlocked.

[Class Unique Skill: Half-Life.]

[Description: At the cost of sacrificing your potential future lifespan, you will gain both temporary and permanent stat increases. The cost of lifespan will provide three options that will either rise by 2,4,6,8 or 10 years. While the cost may change the benefits will always be the same at 50%, 100% or 150% temporary increases. In contrast, half of the growth will remain permanently. A final option will always be presented to sacrifice all of your remaining potential lifespan for a 500% increase that will last 10 minutes.]

Kace could not help but curse his luck. If it had only been an increase of two years at a time, he would have been okay with that. He knew that he could not afford to hold back right now. Even though he had held Sonja back successfully a few times, he had never felt as though he had put her under any substantial pressure. 'Fuck it! No half measures!' he gritted his teeth in frustration as he made his choice.

[Notification: You have chosen to sacrifice 30 years of your lifespan. Do you accept? Y/N?]

'Yes!' Kace only hesitated for a second once the confirmation was before him.

[30 years have been subtracted. Adding 150% temporary increase to all stats. Permanent effects will appear after ten minutes. You have 20 years remaining. Have a nice life!]

Kace mentally cursed at the last bit, he felt as though this ability was a cruel joke by someone. The next second he screamed in agony as the flow of time returned to normal.

Sonja instantly knew that something was wrong. Her instincts were tingling as though they were being zapped with electricity. She was too close to Kace at this point. He suddenly let out a soul-piercing scream as a thick black aura erupted from his body. The heat in the area suddenly kicked up to unbearable levels as a wall of hot air struck Sonja sending her flying across the arena.

She slammed hard into the stone wall that made up the perimeter. Fortunately, her immortal body protected her from taking any severe damage. 'What the fuck was that?!' She wondered as she watched Kace become wrapped up in a black cocoon.

She was not the only one to have this reaction. Every spectator looked on in wonder as well. Naturally, this included Sophia. She glanced at Raven and his crew who were looking on in bewilderment. 'If they don't know then...' she thought as she turned her questioning eyes on Grugda. To her dismay though the Eljein seemed to have been taken by surprise just like everyone else.

This was because Kace had never shared this ability with anyone. This was to prevent anyone from worrying about the cost of him using it as well as keeping a final trump card hidden up his sleeve. As he was wrapped up in the cocoon, he remembered a famous saying from his previous life. 'If you want to deceive your enemies, you must first deceive your friends.'

The black cocoon that enveloped him slowly peeled away layer by layer. Starting from the inside. Each layer that peeled away shot into his body, he could feel it slowly making its way into every cell in his body. The pain was unimaginable as his cells were twisted to accept the sudden and massive increase to what they were now capable of performing.

His bright golden eyes turned pitch black, including the whites of them. A rush of euphoria ran throughout his body as the final layer was assimilated into his being, exposing him to the crowd and Sonja once again. The whole process had taken around two minutes. During that time, Sonja had recovered and was staring at him with wariness in her eyes.

The soldiers in the crowd threw questioning looks towards their Queen. They were obviously seeking her approval to interfere in the match. She waved her hand in a gesture that refused them the right to intervene. This was the perfect chance to see what Kace was capable of doing. 'This kind of power increase will definitely have drawbacks and limitations. I'm intrigued as to what price he had to pay.' Sonja thought with a slight hint of admiration for her opponent.

When Grugda saw Kace emerge from the cocoon, unhurt and brimming with power, he stared deeply into his now black eyes before groaning deeply. As an Eljein, he was deeply in tune with the life force of all living creatures, it only took him a few moments to realise what Kace had done.

On the other hand, there was one amongst the crowd who looked on with reverence bordering on obsession. This single moment had sparked an insatiable lust for power amongst one of them. 'One day...' Mr Thomas thought as he began to make all sorts of plans for his future.