Chapter 253 - The Endurance Test; Back In The Catacombs!

"You are actually something, daring to survive when I already gave my verdict of a death sentence against you".

"Congratulations! Count yourself lucky because it's not every day that predators get to escape after I declare the death verdict on them".

Though the writings that appeared still projected the ċȯċky nature of the Sea King's will, Sebastian did not complain, rather he was extremely satisfied since he gained much from this round once again.

The more he got in touch with the writings of this Sea King's will, the more he felt a sense of craziness from it that made him keep restraining his urges.

Putting that aside, he focused on the battle that he just concluded.

The defense test that he just passed revealed to him the difficulty of creating killer moves, it was not something that could be created when dėsɨrėd.

He also understood more about the criteria to create killer moves.

When he tried the combination of skills, he quickly noticed the deficiency in the number of complementary skills that he had.

For some reason, he felt that this deficiency could also be seen as part of his physical and magic qi deficiency. He felt that if he took care of this deficiency, he would have taken care of a qi deficiency also.

From the first test of this Sea King Inheritance alone, he already had a lot of gains though there was one round remaining till he officially finished the test.

Apart from the killer move that he gained from the strength test, he felt that realizing his battle style was much more of an achievement.

Overall, Sebastian was extremely satisfied with the gains of the inheritance. 

Indeed, Tonado was right, monster inheritances were treasure troves to predators who were competent enough to take advantage of them.

If these were the gains of the first test, Sebastian could not help but feel anticipation for the subsequent rounds that would follow after this.

Also, the fact that the crazy will didn't declare the start of the next round of the first test immediately meant that it finally acknowledged his power.

Compared to the power that the Doppelganger and Invisibility King wielded at his peak, Sebastian's power was too puny but for a predator of his tier, his current strength was commendable.

As Sebastian thought process strayed towards this direction, he could not help but suddenly recall the fact that his brothers from Old Mak's shark clan were also engaged in this first test.

He didn't know if the inheritance's first test was the same for each of the predators, but if it was the same, he could not help but worry about them.

None of his brothers were freak sharks like him, not even the powerful Old Mak. They may possess different advantages of their own that could give them an edge in fierce battles, but none was as OP as Sebastian's advantage.

Old Mak and the Elders of the clan may be purple tier predators, but if the test setting remained the same and they had to face purple tier predators also, the situation would easily turn upside down.

Thinking of the fact that Verni and Tosh also had to battle 100 Orange tier predators consecutively, Sebastian felt his heart constricting on their behalf.

In the end, he simply discarded all these distractions from his mind.

If it was possible, he would have loved it better if the first test was a cooperative one where he could battle alongside his brothers. That way, the situation would feel more under his control like he loved.

Though Sebastian wanted it this way, he already lived long enough in this world and experienced his fair share of hardships to know that life was not so easygoing and straightforward.

It was like the beautiful game of football. The constant and random passing movement of the ball represents that the game is in play, once the ball stops, it indicates that the football match already ended or was temporarily stopped.

As an anatomist who worked with advanced medical machines in his previous world, Sebastian also remembered that the random lines that were indicated in medical imaging machines of patients were what indicated life.

Life becomes dead once it is no longer random.

To help his brothers, he needed to help himself first.

Also, he was worried about his brothers but he also believed in them. as Great White Sharks, they were formidable in their own rights, it was the reason why they were his brothers in the first place.

His brothers were sharks, not pigs or rats or sloths.

As his spirit suddenly turned extremely motivated, he finally opened his mouth to speak as his eyes now glowed with the light of resolution.

"Sea King's will…"

"Call me the legendary Carcarot Gorgoneon!" The Sea King's will was quick to interject, cutting his speech short.

"…"

Sebastian was left speechless, his impression of the Sea King's will was constantly changing the more he interacted with it.

"Umm, legendary Carcarot Gorgoneon…"

"Good kid!"

Sebastian ignored the kid part. "I'm ready to take the inheritance now".

The Sea King's will went incognito for a few seconds before the familiar line of writing appeared again. 

"In your mind, you think I didn't announce the start of the next round immediately because I finally acknowledged your power, right?"

"…"

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

"…"

"Naïve kid, naïve Megalodon!"

"I still hate your nerves for defying my bad luck wishing, I still hate you for surviving for so long and qualifying to this stage, I still wish you to die like a fish".

"Hehehe!"

"I am not foolish, neither am I crazy, perhaps I am but I did not acknowledge your power. In my prime, your current strength is so puny that I can erase you out of existence with a single sneeze".

"I gave you time to recover because it is a core rule of this round that was set by my body which I, the will cannot disobey".

"Well, I don't need to since your death is only a matter of time".

"The next round is the first real test. The endurance test is the climax, most important, and most dangerous round of the first test".

"The endurance test is the last test to fulfill the motive of weeding out the unqualified from the qualified. The motive of the first test was to evaluate your strength, but mostly your foundation as a predator".

"It is after the endurance test that the survivors can finally be called candidates. This is when you'll finally start benefiting tangibly, so a bit of advice for you, give your absolute best or you won't live to regret it".

"Remember, this phase of the first test is the hardest".

"To win, all that you need to do is to survive".

"Do you know what defines a real predator?"

"A real predator is not defined by how strong he is, not by how hard he can bite, not by how forcefully it can hit others with its body, and definitely not by how many enemy predators that it has killed".

"There are predators who killed over 10,000 beasts in their lifetime, but were only able to live for a month before they died".

"What defines a real predator is its survival skill"

"Against odds that are extremely against you, against tribulations that are ready to strike and end your life, a real predator is defined by how it can survive through these circumstances where the odds of survival are practically zero".

"This is the way to the peak, survival!"

"The race of Oceania is a race of survival for only the fittest!"

"Predators are Survivors!"

"Let the endurance test begin!"

This time, there was a massive change that made Sebastian even more alert as he quickly swallowed whatever was in his mind.

The setting for this round changed!

Crack!

The world around him didn't just change again, the world revealed expansive cracks that rapidly spread everywhere this time as this world shattered the next moment into pieces which were quickly followed by a system notification.

[Host has escaped the effects of the Virtual-Reality Domain!]

When Sebastian's shaky perspective focused, the wide expanse of water where he fought the defensive battle with the warships was gone.

He was now inside a familiar environment.

He was back in the catacombs!