Chapter 120 - Challenge To A Duel.

[You have activated skill: Triple Reverse Swim.]

[You have activated skill: Advanced Electroreceptors.]

With these 2 skills active, it did not take Sebastian long before he arrived in the main segment of the cave where dozens of Great White Sharks were gathered.

Seeing so many Great Whites in a single cave, he felt a little overwhelmed but not for long though as a voice called out to him.

"Hehe, Seba bro, you passed your evaluation".

Sebastian didn't even need to look with his eyes or his electroreceptors, the shameless nickname that was called already revealed the shark's identity.

He turned to direct a glare at the shark. "Tosh!"

"Woah, you just came and Tungsten already infected you? Sigh, my days ahead are going to be much harder".

While they observed him, Sebastian also checked them out.

Of the many sharks currently in the cave, only a few were as tall as 15 meters and all those hovered alone at various corners of the cave. The ones below 15 meters were the most active, clearly, the youths described by Phase.

One thing about the sharks that fascinated him was their varying adaptations. Well, Verni was right, most sharks here were awful at choosing adaptations, he felt a sense of superiority for once.

Ignoring the sharks that grew limb adaptations, there were some that grew an extra pair of eyes, others with tail fins that could expand and shrink with a thought, others with an extra pair of stomachs to eat more.

Overall, though their adaptations were extremely varied, Sebastian felt a sense of reliability and power from the sharks which told of their different level compared to other predator kingdoms. 

Noticing his roaming eyes, Tosh already guessed what he was observing as he hovered closer to him and whispered. 

"Bush is the worst; he grew an extra pair of claspers".

"W-what?" Sebastian shuddered in fright.

"Tosh, what did you just say?" A loud voice suddenly reverberated in the cave before Sebastian could recover his nerves.

"What did you just say?" The bush shark asked again, glaring at Tosh.

Without a word, Tosh laughed awkwardly before hiding behind Sebastian. 

"Wait, you…" Speechless, Sebastian had no choice but to face the full force glare from the 4 sharks. He quickly adjusted.

"We didn't say any word about you, we're just looking for Shanks. We intend to go out hunting, and he's our partner".

From the back of the group, a small excited shark immediately swam out, thrashing excitedly towards Sebastian on hearing what he said.

"Really, senior bro".

"Yeah, get prepared, we'll be leaving soon".

"Got it".

It felt weird talking with sharks, but Sebastian was slowly getting the hang of it which could already be referred to as improvement.

"I see, newcomer, you want to establish power, right?" He suddenly turned to face the other sharks. "This fearsome guy here seems to want to challenge me to a duel, I hope he doesn't mind if we go through with it".

Hearing that, Sebastian hovered motionless without saying a word.

"Spar!" "Bite!" "Eat!"

Bush's declaration seemed to have ruffled the originally calm atmosphere of the cave, the sharks erupted, yelling in a frenzy.

Seeing this, Sebastian felt a little disappointed. With their frightening intelligence, he expected more but his expectations seemed to have been placed too high. In the end, they were still just sharks.

"I accept your challenge". He declared without hesitation.

If displaying his strength before his brothers were the only way for him to be accepted by them properly, he had no problems doing just that.

Before going out, he asked Tosh about Tungsten's whereabouts and according to the shark, Tungsten went out hunting with his team.

…

About 2 minutes later, almost all the sharks in the cave came out already and surrounded 2 sharks who were about to battle. The arena was easily decided, outside the cave but still in the shark clan's territory.

There was no need for a countdown, once the hype grew enough, Bush took the initiative himself and rushed towards the opposing shark.

While accumulating momentum in his charge, he opened his huge mouth wide, causing the fire wildly stirring inside it to erupt outwards.

[You have activated a magic skill: Magic Shield.]

Boom! 

The raging fire collided with Sebastian's shield but dealt no damage to it. He had no intention of staying passive so before Bush closed the distance completely to him, he attacked.

[You have activated magic domain skill: Sonic Drill.]

[You have activated skill: Advanced Dash.]

[You have activated skill: Battering Ram.]

[You have activated skill: Spike Attack.]

He recoiled from the damage, and this was the mistake that led to the end for him. He never recovered from it.

Before he could reorient itself, his opponent appeared before him, colliding and hitting him with such force that left his brain receiving waves of shock from the impact.

He tried to bite instinctively but his teeth hit empty water, the next moment he experienced pain from the side of his body again as a sharp spike adaptation appeared from the new shark's body, digging into his body in the process.

"Roar!" It roared in pain but Sebastian did not let up. 

From the impact of his attacks against Bush's skin, Sebastian easily deduced that his numerous hairs acted as another layer of defense to him, and they could also entangle opponents that came close enough.

To other predators, this may be a problem but with Sebastian, his frightening strength for an orange tier predator meant that he could just brute force through. 

[You have activated magic domain skill: Water Cyclone.]

[You have activated skill: Crushing Bite!]

As Bush was pushed away by the raging cyclone, before he could heave a sigh of relief and prepare for a counterattack, he felt a fearsome row of teeth digging into his body directly from his back.

Sebastian's teeth clamped down with force, dealing astronomical damage in a single blow. For Bush who was at the receiving end, his brain directly shut down from the fearsome pain feedback that his brain sent to him.

"Roar!" After he recovered, he roared but this time in a much softer tone filled with pain and slight fear. He directed a respectful look at the shark who hovered before him.

After biting on its skin, Sebastian stopped himself lest he dealt damage that would have resulted in something bad happening.

The winner was already decided, Sebastian won at a milestone in just seconds after the battle started.

All the spectating stats were stunned and awed as their eyes glittered excitedly, they were stunned speechless but it didn't last long. Tosh started it and the others soon joined.

"Seba bro!" "Seba bro!"

Sebastian felt an urge to smack Tosh's buŧŧ but knowing that this was a chant directed at him alleviated his grievance derived from the nickname a bit. 

Before he left the makeshift arena, he remembered a new use of his system that he unlocked not too long ago and tried it out.

[System Snooping tool has been utilized.]

[Host is stronger than target, snooping successful.]