As the group outside watched how Raia was fighting at the tenth floor, they were all wondering what was going on his mind. Each one of them has a theory that they came up with.
"Maybe he was testing his strength."
"Or he's trying to see what his limit is."
"Is he a pervert that likes to be beaten up?"
"Does he look like he was getting beaten up? He's fighting on equal grounds with that man."
"Hmm…"
Suddenly, Old Tiger opened his mouth. "Observe his movements, his attacks."
The teachers went silent and did what he said.
After a moment, Hesco was surprised. Not just him, but also the other instructors.
"Is he trying to copy the movements of his opponent?"
"What? Really?" the ones that were clueless sticked their eyes to the screens.
Old Tiger lightly shook his head. "Not all the movements, just a particular one."
Hesco observed the fight more.
"Is he…trying to comprehend that skill?" he said with curiosity.
"That skill? You mean…"
"Yeah, the Double Fist Strike." Old Tiger nodded.
The instructors went silent before Ethan spoke, "If he successfully does so, this boy will surely be a big shot in the future."
…
Inside the trial, Raia was fighting the masked man with one goal in mind.
To comprehend and learn the skill that was used against him.
Although he just experienced the skill once, he knew that it was like an attack that stack after another.
'One strike with twice the damage,' he thought.
'It's simple yet effective.'
For Raia who doesn't have any skills or techniques yet, the skill performed by the masked man was very important. If he could learn it, it would surely be of huge help for him.
Of course, it also came to him that he could just learn it outside or it could be taught to him in the university. However, he also thought about if that was not the case.
To make sure he doesn't just pass on the opportunity in front of him, he decided to comprehend the skill himself. It was also a good trial for him to test the limits of his comprehension capabilities.
After a series of exchanges, the masked man attacked Raia with the same skill.
'Here it comes!'
Seeing it a few times now, Raia already gained a few clues to how the skill works.
Swoosh!
He readied himself to receive the attack. It was his only choice since the stack damage was not activated if it doesn't hit the target.
Bam! Bam!
His arms were almost broken at this rate after receiving much damage.
But then, his smile was wider than before.
"So that's how it is."
He changed his stance into an offensive one and engaged the masked man.
His posture and movements were the same as the masked man when he was going to activate the skill. His muscles contracted in a very specific sequence and the amount of spirit energy used was calculated. His fist clenched in a certain way and force.
As he threw away the attack, there was a particular angle it traveled.
Swoosh!
Raia attacked while the masked man put his arms up to defend.
Bam!
His fist reached the man's defense.
And then..
Bam!
A second attack came!
The masked man was pushed a few steps and even though his expression was hidden, it was obvious that he was shocked.
"I did it! I really did it!" Raia celebrated and waved his fists in the air. He struggled to understand it at first but at last, he learned it.
After a small celebration, he turned to the masked man.
"I'll practice with you a few more times."
…
Outside the Tower of Trial, the instructors were surprised to see Raia's success.
"He really did it.." Ethan muttered.
"Oh my! He really did learn Double Fist Strike by himself! And in under a day! Heck he even broke the previous record of twelve hours!"
"Amazing. This boy is amazing!"
"Hahaha! Our race is getting another genius!"
The instructors celebrated among themselves, forgetting the other examinees at that time.
That was expected as it was very rare for them to witness someone as young as Raia learn a skill solely by himself in that short amount of time.
Learning the skill alone was not that rare. But what impressed the instructors was that his age was too young to achieve that feat. In order to learn a skill or technique at his age, he would either be taught by someone or even if he wanted to learn by himself, a skill book with all the information he needed would be provided to him. But that was not the case with Raia.
There was also the short amount of time that he needed to learn the skill. For the Double Fist Strike skill, a rank 1 Martial Skill, at least five days would be needed to understand the skill.
If these two cases were combined, it only meant one thing to the instructors.
Their initial assessment of Raia's state of aspects was wrong!
"You said that his aspects are in high states, right? But is that really the case?" Ethan asked Hesco.
Hesco just nodded. "It's what his profile said. But, now I'm not sure anymore. We can be sure when we test his aspects together with the others later."
"Having three aspects at high states is already amazing. Beyond that is just spectacular and a huge blessing to our race." Ethan said.
While the others were talking, Old Tiger looked up into the sky and nodded.
…
Up in the clouds, there was someone observing the situation on the exams from the very beginning.
Victor was checking on his granddaughter, Sharia at first but was surprised to witness this year's examinees. A handful of individuals with talents emerged this time.
But what piqued his interest the most was Raia. He already met the boy once and he witnessed him killing a higher rank beast. This time however, he watched how Raia learned a skill by himself.
"This bloodline is really interesting." Victor smiled and continued to watch the exam while his spirit sense was spread in a thousand kilometer radius.
…
Bam!
The lifeless body of the masked man dropped to the ground with a thud.
Raia, after satisfying himself with so much fight, finished the masked man with a Double Fist Strike to the neck.
"Hooh" He let out a deep breath before sitting on the ground.
[ Congratulations on clearing the tenth floor. Would you like to take an hour of rest or move directly to the next floor? ]
A familiar gentle voice sounded.
"Not yet."
[ Understood. You have one hour of rest before you are moved to the next floor. ]
"That was tiring but I'm satisfied." He took some healing pills from his spatial ring and swallowed them.
'I know that this skill has a name so I won't name it. I'll just ask them outside..' Then something came to his mind. 'Wait, they're not gonna punish me for taking the skill for myself, right? Oh, no… I hope that's not the case.'
After healing and resting for almost an hour, he stood up and took his sword that was still pierced to the ground.
[ The one hour of rest is up. You will now be moved to the eleventh floor. ]
Swiish
The next moment, Raia was standing on the next floor. In front of him were a group of orange eyed wolves.
He grabbed his sword and charged forward, aiming to reach the next floor quickly by killing all the beasts in the shortest amount possible.
…
Meanwhile, the outside became more busy as the time passed. A few of the examinees were sent outside the Tower of Trial meaning they died inside and also, failed the exam.
They were sent away after some debriefing.
When asked which floor they failed, most of them gave the same answer.
The tenth floor.
The masked man brutally killed them. A few of them fought but were still defeated in the end.
And in half a day, half of the 250 examinees were sent outside the Tower of Trial.
One of them glanced at the tower and the gate before leaving with a sigh and regret.
"I hope that Raia and Faye pass…well, they surely will." Aaron said as he walked away with the others.
Unfortunately, he was defeated by the masked man on the tenth floor. And it was not even a close fight.
'I need to get stronger, being defeated like that doesn't feel good.'
With a tight clenched fist, Aaron carved a goal in his mind.
…
Those who were still inside the Tower of Trial definitely passed the tenth floor. Many of them struggled but still won.
Now, their entry to Wolford Central University has been confirmed.
Still, the exam inside the Tower of Trial continued.
In the eleventh floor, Sharia began fighting the wolves. She struggled a bit but eventually won in the end.
[ Congratulations on clearing the eleventh floor. Would you like to take an hour of rest or move directly to the next floor? ]
"Yes."
She was covered in light and was sent to the next floor. In her mind, she was thinking of someone.
'Which floor is he on now? The thirteenth? The fourteenth? I need to pick up my pace.'
Her hands emitted sparks of black lightning as she charged towards a twenty meter dark green scaled viper.
…
Meanwhile, Faye just finished her fight on the tenth floor. With her set of skills, she barely won against the masked man.
"That was so difficult! Hah!" she slumped to the ground and began healing herself with pills.
"But I'm glad I passed!"
After her wounds healed and recovered her strength, she moved to the next floor.
"I wonder how high Raia can reach?" she thought but then threw it to the back of her head the next moment. "Whatever, at least I can be with him again."
With a sweet smile, she entered the next floor.
…
All of the examinees were trying their best to reach further up the Tower of Trial.
While the others were still fighting their way to the twelfth or thirteenth floor, Raia just began his fight with a Sixth Level Martial Spirit State one horned ape.
It was a fast beast for a height of ten meters and almost weighing more than a ton. He was reminded of the Charge Boar from the world inside. It was a huge beast but its attack was very quick.
With a kick to the ground, Raia rushed to the ape.
He gripped his sword tightly and swung it with all the power he had.
Swish!
However..
Ching!
It was blocked by the arm of the ape.
"What tough skin."
He tried attacking it again but failed time after time. He stared at the ape and in return, it gave an almost smirk.
Raia smiled and put his sword away.
"I'll turn you into minced meat then."
He charged and immediately used Double Fist Strike.
The ape put its arms up to block the attack.
Bam!
Bam!
The ape shook as it felt the pain on its arms.
"Not yet done!"
Raia shouted and resumed attacking.
"I'll use you to fully master this technique!"
He had now found a perfect punching bag that would neither kill him nor surrender. It could kill him inside but not in real life so he was not worried.
It just concerns him that he might not make it in time to reach his goal in reaching the twentieth floor in time.
He released the technique one after the next and bit by bit, his comprehension of it deepens.
And as a result, he can now make adjustments to further increase the damage he can implicate on his target.
Roar!
Finally, after taking the defensive position for some time, the one horned ape attacked Raia.
He was hit and was sent flying.
"That's it!"
He spit some blood and charged back to the ape who was also rushing towards him.
"Come on!"
Swoosh!
The fist of the man and ape collided.
Boom!
Their clash sent gusts of wind around the room.
And after hours of exchanging blows, he finally killed the one horned ape.
"Hah. Hah. That was tougher than what I expected."
[ Congratulations on clearing the fifteenth floor. Would you like to take an hour of rest or move directly to the next floor? ]
"No, let me rest for a bit."
[ Understood. You have one hour of rest before you are moved to the next floor. ]
"This floor is also difficult. I'm sure most will be eliminated here."
And he was right about that because the next day, only one person beside him passed the fifteenth floor.
"I just hope that Aaron and Faye passed. It will be lonely without them."
He looked at the time and the first day of the third exam was almost up.
"This time should be enough to reach the twentieth floor."
Raia moved to the next floor with determination.
…
The first day of the third exam passed and the second day began.
Only fifty examinees remained inside the Tower of Trial.
Most of them were stuck on the fifteenth floor.
But there was one who was the center of attention of all the instructors of not just the Military Department but many other departments.
It was Raia who was already on the twentieth floor.
Clueless to what was happening inside, Raia stood there, staring at the figure in front of him.
A man with his body covered in earth, was like a ten meter giant golem.