994 Battle in the Dark 2

"The Water Mirror level is already nearing the peak of everything that normal people can reach, and that's still not enough?" retorted the invigilator.

"It depends on his talent. The Inherited Level is a major obstacle, if he can't cross it, then everything will be for naught."

"That's true, too." The invigilator nodded in agreement. "But it's rare to see a young kid with such a high level of battle skills, especially in a place like this. Even I haven't reached the battle realm he's at, if this kid is lucky enough to pass the second stage, I guess I'll give him a little bonus."

"That's up to you. But I'm guessing he can't pass, based on his current abilities," replied that voice calmly.

"Well, I think there's a possibility." The invigilator smiled.

"It's impossible, he definitely can't pass. You would need to be at least a Level Five Energy Machinist to just barely pass, your judgment is wrong."

The fact that his judgment was rejected just like that made the invigilator feel as though he was losing face.

"I really hate that decisive tone of yours! Anything could happen out in the world, how are you so sure that your judgment won't be wrong?" he said angrily.

"I might be wrong, but the chances of that are a hundred thousand to one. And when it comes to martial arts realms, it's ten million to one."

"If you're wrong, then you have to call me 'Grandpa' for a day, and if I'm wrong, I'll call you 'Grandpa' for a day. Do you dare take the bet!?" said the invigilator loudly, pointing to the sky.

"...Could you be more childish?"

"I'm asking you, do you dare to bet on it or not!?" The invigilator was known for being shameless, just a look at his mischievous smile would tell anyone that he was on to something.

"I won't play your games. If I lose, I can consider giving this kid some access to the special privileges section of the resource vault," that voice said calmly.

"Coward!" The invigilator chuckled.

"My grandson is as old as you, if I lose and have to call you 'Grandpa', I'll really have lost face!" said that voice, exasperatedly. "On the other hand, based on age alone, you should call me Grandpa."

"You're just five hundred years older than me, so what?" said the invigilator contemptuously.

"Just five hundred years, you say? A lot of the lower-level Energy Machinists can only live for five hundred years, that tone of yours..."

**************************

"These trails..."

Garen stared at the faint ripples left behind by the Black Mudskipper King's constantly wagging tail, concentrating with all his might.

The statistics from the Energy Machine Imprint's large-scale calculations quickly recreated the many details of the force exertion technique in his mind.

He had once reached the realm past that of the King of the Century back in the Totem World, and now he was finally utilizing that power again after having it lay dormant for so long. To normal Energy Machinists, these force exertion techniques were something they could only dream about, and there were many principles they just would not be able to wrap their heads around, since this technique manipulated blood qi to an astounding degree. But to a grandmaster of blood qi usage like Garen, each of these obstacles could be quickly overcome, and solutions found.

The rhythmic whirlpools formed by those many ripples were recreated in Garen's mind, separated all the way down to the tiniest detail, before they were reconstructed again and again, in order to try out new combinations.

Hah!

A scratch appeared on Garen's shoulder, and by then he had already destroyed all the black mudskippers, with only the Black Mudskipper King left. But by then, the Black Mudskipper King's speed had also reached a ridiculous extent, such that even Garen could barely see its shadow.

He could just only see the many explosive ripples it left in its wake.

And at the same time, Garen slowly attempted to adjust the vibrations in all of his muscles and internal tissues that were used to exert force, such his bones, ligaments, and tendons.

This was a show of absolute control over his own body, the depth and level of this control showing the true essence of his martial arts realm.

The biggest difference between a person and a martial arts grandmaster was the extent to which they could control themselves.

Even if a normal person had the same body, they could only control their limbs and their mind. A powerful grandmaster was different, they could even surpass the external form and control their internal organs, and the even stronger ones could even control their endocrine secretions, the speed of their blood flow, their heart rate, turning their circulations on and off at will, et cetera. These tiny micro-controls allowed a martial arts master to create an unbelievable effect using the same resources.

And Garen was one such master.

Now that he was in this pinch, if he could not find the way to overcome the Black Mudskipper King, he might not be able to get off with just injuries.

The high-speed battle between him and the Black Mudskipper King took up a lot of Garen's stamina with every passing second, his chest breathing in large amounts of oxygen as though it was a set of bellows, the sound clearly audible in the dark space.

Garen had already calculated it carefully, he would be able to last ten minutes more at the most. If the time passed and he still could not figure out a way, then he would have no choice but to be eliminated.

The resources on the Spirit Mothership were all peak-level resources that even the sects could not get, Garen would not be able to accept being eliminated just like that.

He was aware of his own condition, with the physical state of this body, it would take him at least ten years or more to get to Level Five. If he could not find a good way to increase his potential, the prodigies at the same level would leave him so far behind in the dust. As for the test in the City of Nagadako, the talent he showed was that of a twenty-year-old becoming a Level Three Energy Machinist. Others thought that he relied on his talent to get there, but he himself knew very well that he had used his Intelligence points, and even then, he could only be called a prodigy in the early stages. Towards the end, the growth in his Intelligence would never be able to keep up with the real peak-level talents. After all, he had forcibly raised his Intelligence using those potential points.

And this Spirit Mothership would be a very good opportunity for him.

As his mind kept turning, all of Garen's muscles also began to tremor and shake uncontrollably.

Bam!

The Black Mudskipper King waved its tail, and created another explosion in mid-air, its speed increasing explosively as it shot straight for Garen's head.

Just then, in that instant, Garen's eyes caught a glimpse of the ripples from the waving of the Black Mudskipper King's tail. The muscles in his right hand distorted and shook into a strange state.

"Found it!!"

Abruptly, Garen's right hand quickly darted up, like a poisonous snake shooting out of the grass. It instantly jabbed towards the Black Mudskipper King that was shooting towards him.

But the speed of his right hand was evidently much slower than the Black Mudskipper King.

"Burst!!!" Just then, Garen abruptly roared out.

The muscles in his right forearm twisted all of a sudden, like a spring that had coiled up to its extremes, and then it was released abruptly.

With a dull bam, the back of Garen's forearm also created a circle of faint transparent ripples. The speed of his entire right arm instantly rose by three times!!!

His right hand clenched into a fist and chased after the side of the Black Mudskipper King, the two of them clashing in an instant.

Screee!!

There was a piercing screech.

Boom!!

The fist and the Black Mudskipper King crashed into each other, and he turned the creature into a mist of blood that scattered into the dark space.

"I got it..." Garen's heart was violently relieved. "I finally got hold of this explosive technique. I can raise my speed by three times in an instant, and the impact is beyond compare."

However, he felt the surface of his fist begin to hurt somewhat. He could probably only use this move once over a period of time for now, and could not use it consecutively.

"Since I learned this move from these black mudskippers, and the effect is to explosively increase my speed for a short while, I might as well call it the Multiple Speed Fist for now."

Garen named the move directly.

He had learned the move from the movements and explosive power of the Black Mudskipper King, it could move a large amount of force precisely, gathering it up, and then releasing it in an explosive instant, creating an intense and powerful speeding-up effect.

Of course, it had to go with a powerful defense body type. If the fist is not strong enough, even if the speed increases, there would still be no telling who gets hurt first when your fist clashes with something else.

Garen's Vitality was approaching five points, it was way beyond the normal standard. According to his own calculations, this would be considered normal even among Level Five Energy Machinists. As long as he did not overdo it, it should be okay for him to use the Multiple Speed Fist at this level. Plus his regeneration power was extremely formidable, so it did not matter even if he did get slightly injured.

Psst...

Suddenly, a soft sound came slowly from the darkness directly ahead of him.

Garen quickly looked towards it, and vaguely saw a black figure appear there rapidly, standing straight as an arrow in front of him. It was a whole two meters tall.

The figure was like a human wrapped up in black cloth, and he could vaguely see the outline of facial features hidden behind the black cloth.

He opened his hands wide, and opened his mouth, but there were no teeth in there, only an endless darkness. And then an ear-piercing noise began to emerge.

"Yaaaa--!!!"

The sharp soundwaves came straight for Garen, from softer to louder, from weaker to stronger.

Boom!!

All of a sudden, the black person sprayed out a distorted ball of soundwaves from its mouth, and it crashed into Garen's body directly, like lightning.

The transparent ball of sound distorted the air and the light, and he could barely see it for an instant before it landed smack in the middle of Garen's chest.

Bam!!

He was sent flying backward, and he vomited a mouthful of blood while he was still in mid-air. When he landed, he took a few steps back to brace himself, and nearly fell to the ground.

"It's another way of using a killing move?!!" Rather than being shocked, Garen was pleasantly surprised. He could clearly feel that the black person opposite him was using a powerful soundwave attack based on the explosive power of its Vitality.

Other people might just sigh in distant admiration, but he was different, he had a powerful Vitality, and at the same time he had terrifying regenerative powers. Add that to his peak-level martial arts realm, and he was perfectly capable of finding out the secrets behind this technique quickly. He might even be able to use it for himself.

In this dark and sealed-off space, the long-term one-on-one battles had completely given him an environment where he could deepen his understanding without distractions.

His heart moved slightly. After Garen had been attacked by the first wave, when he saw the black person open its mouth the second time, he carefully changed his position, trying to avoid the soundwave attack.

Boom!!

Another Distorted Soundwave Ball shot past, the Soundwave Ball was too terrifyingly fast, and it was extremely well-hidden as well, such that Garen simply could not react in time, and was hit face-on.

But he was prepared the second time, tensing up his muscles so that the damage he took was greatly reduced.

After being hit twice in a row, Garen was even more careful now. He began to circle around the black person, moving slowly.

Boom!!

That was another Soundwave Ball coming at him.

The third time, Garen managed to avoid half of it, but he just had to take the other half with his body.

There was a bam, and he felt as though his forehead had been hit hard with a metal hammer. His head was all dizzy, and even a bit heavy.

"Impressive! This isn't just the destructive power of the impact, there also seems to be some strange transmission of the vibrations. But it's mostly still because it's too fast, and the power is too concentrated, so I can't avoid it, and I just have to take it head-on."

His powerful Vitality was showing its usefulness again, his injuries recovered quickly. He added on some potential points, and Garen was instantly back at his peak form, as he continued to walk around the black person.