Still, in his fighting stance, Aidan took his time to breathe as he eyed the lion-man. Kalukaga stood straight and tall as he slowly walked towards him. The brief battle earlier didn't seem to tire him in the slightest. And none of his skills affected this hagur.
So strong!
He couldn't defeat this man with his current power. He had to make a new skill. And recalling all the knowledge he gathered from all the skill books he absorbed, Aidan had an idea of how to do it.
Aidan closed his eyes and breathed deeply, sucking in fate energy from the air. The amethyst-like glow surged within him, like a violent whirlpool in the sea, raging and crashing. Aidan breathed in more than he could, threatening to burst his lung.
Aidan clasped his hand, and the fate energy from his chest rushed all over his body. Like two roots of a tree, the veins reached his neck and moved to his forehead before they made a circle and connected from the left and right.
Aidan opened his eyes, strength filled his body and the fist that was moving toward him seemed very slow in motion.
Suddenly, the hagur man's body turned semi-transparent, like that of a jellyfish. Under his skin, blood vessels throbbed as they pumped blood throughout his body. There were some red dots within the line of these veins. Like a target.
Rising his index finger, Aidan condensed fate energy at the end of it and struck at the red dots. With three quick strikes, the fate energy within him dissipated and his vision returned to normal. This ability had consumed all of his fate energy in less than a second.
To the side, Kalukaga stiffened and fell face first.
[You have unlocked a new ability]
[Super human characteristic]
Aidan fell to the ground, trembling. Weakness overwhelmed his whole body, with his heart turning limp. He desperately inhaled for air, yet only a small amount of oxygen entered his lung. Aidan's body twitched like a dying chicken in a slaughterhouse. Cold blood flowed from his nose, and eyes, yet despite the red of blood, every beat, every breath, and every second made the world turn darker and darker. The mix of color resembled a vicious poison that slowly corroded his will to survive.
But then the darkness stop expanding and lights purified them. He woke up, feeling refreshed and full of energy. Like he just woke up from a good night's sleep and was greeted by the cold morning air. In fact, the grass seemed so comfortable that he wanted to lie down and sleep.
The person who healed him walked away and pointed his staff toward Kalukaga. A stream of purple energy surged into the lion-man's body and all the wounds and bruises on his body disappeared.
"Wow!"
"I can't believe he just defeated Kalukaga."
"Well, he didn't use his fate energy. So that might be the reason."
"Why didn't he use his power? If he just used it, he would win within a single move."
Aidan heard all kinds of remarks from the students. Well, even he couldn't believe that he could defeat this man. From body stature alone, Aidan paled compared to this beast. Even the baddest man on the planet earth would be humble if they fought a hagur in a boxing match.
"Good job," Dregard said. "What's your name?"
"It's Aidan, sir."
"You have good talent, Aidan. Your form is impeccable. Sadly, you lack experience and courage. But you are also decisive. If you give him a chance to use his power, you would have woken up in the emergency room. Come more often and no one would be your opponent."
"Thank you for the praise, sir."
"Alright, who else wanted to fight?!"
Aidan sat down beside Maninsov. He was relieved he could finally sit down and relax. That last move of his was his desperate attempt to end the fight. Thankfully, it worked. He was out of breath and out of energy, and if that last punch hit him, he wouldn't have the strength to fight back.
"That was good, Aidan," Maninsov said.
"I'm just lucky that he didn't use his power." Aidan watched the unconscious hagur being dragged by the students. Besides luck, another reason he could beat Kalukaga was his new ability.
[Super human characteristic]
Using every ounce of power within you and pushing it to the limit enables you to achieve a burst of the perfect synchronization of body, soul, and mind. Brain computing speed increase 200%, Reaction speed increase 200%, physical power increase 200%. Allow the user to see the weak point of any target.
Such a powerful ability! The merging of every knowledge he absorbed could create something like this? If he got more knowledge in the future and merge them, what kind of monstrosity would he create?
But even though this ability was so powerful, Aidan could not tolerate the side effect. If not for the wizards, the external user, who healed him earlier, he could have died.
"Hey, why is everybody silent? Should I drag a few doomhound for you guys to fight?" Dregard said.
Aidan looked at Maninsov, who spun a blade with his hand. "You're not going?"
His dagger moved around his palm and his finger in quick successions. He gripped the dagger. "Maybe later. I want to see his fight first."
A short man with ragged and dirty clothes walked to the center while dragging a wooden cart. It was Gomon, the one who Mr. Strart invited to drink tea. Weird. Wasn't this training session only for internal pathway users? Why was he here?
On the cart was a huge metallic box. Skimming over the fact that this small guy could drag a huge steel object, Aidan felt more curious about the object itself.
It gleamed under the sunlight—or should he say eels light as how the native of this continent called it. He looked above. Yep, those are definitely giant silver eels blocking the sky. Stretching across the horizon, as long as Aidan looked up, he would see these silver creatures. There was no moon, there were no stars, there was nothing but silver eels squirming and entangling with each other. Not a single gap passed between their bodies.
What was beyond those eels? Was it the same as his world?
"I want to test my new invention. Who wanted to spar with me?" Gomon said, sniffing.
"Is no one going to volunteer? Then I will pick randomly," Gomon looked around lazily before pointing toward a woman. "Please, let me test my maginery."
Pfft was that the rip-off name from machinery? What a lousy name.
The woman stood up, her golden hair pulled back into a ponytail swayed as she took her crossbow and loaded it with a light purple gem that looked like quartz. Despite her petite build, she wore a strong, frowning face as she stared at Gomon. It looked like she was mad for being picked. Why did everyone get so mad around here.
As she got closer to the center, Aidan could see that she had long pointy ears and crystal green eyes. They brought the peace of a lush forest and the freshness of the wind. That was so until she narrowed her sights and the illusion of a calm forest turned into a coiling snake.
Gomon nodded. "Thank you. And sorry."
He leaped onto the cart, touch the steel box a few times and it transformed into an ape golem. The chest of this steel ape opened, revealing various runes inside its body. Gomon entered its chest before it closed. The steel ape lit up with purple energy and its eyes radiated with light.
The golem leaped, smashing the cart, and landed on the ground. Gomon had distanced himself from the woman with that leap. Aidan guessed either he pitied the woman or didn't want his test to end sooner.
Some students stared at this steel ape. They whispered estimation and assumption of its strength to themself. Aidan was curious, too. Despite how advanced human was, they didn't make battle robots or mech because it was too unpractical and only good to look at.
"Fel Gomon," the voice came from within the steel ape.
"Siraye Yeskalyn," the woman replied.
"If you're ready then fight!" Dregard said.
Siraye jumped and rolled to the side as she fired her crossbow in mid-air. An arrow formed from fate energies before it shot towards the steel ape.
The steel ape charged, slapping the arrows as he approached her.
Siraye kept her distance, running around the steel ape with the speed of a cheetah while firing her crossbow.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The arrows ricocheted. The steel ape slapped the air and a piece of iron imbued with fate energy darted towards her.
She rolled on the ground, dodging the piece of iron easily. Then she dashed towards the steel ape. Something Aidan didn't expect her to do. Anyone who had crossbows in their hands would keep their distance from the target.
The steel ape rushed forward, shaking the ground with its weight.
Siraye arrived within its reach. The steel ape slammed its big metallic fist towards her. She stumbled to the side, slamming her crossbow into its body. Then she fired at point-blank range.
There was a twist in the air as purple energy surged and rippled. And the steel ape was flung into the sky.
Siraye knelt on the ground and squeezed the trigger on her crossbow as she aimed at the steel ape in the sky. Arrows shot one after the other like a machine gun. Creating a flurry of wind and purple energy around her. Her body shook about like she was holding her ground from the recoil.
Twisting in the air, the steel ape shot out a stream of purple flame to the side, dodging the hail of arrows. It landed on the ground with a crash, shaking the ground within the circle.
Its leg surged with fate energy and it charged towards Siraye. It snapped its left hand and formed a small shield that blocked her arrows. Getting into range, the steel ape thrashed about with its fist.
Siraye rolled and tumbled around to dodge. The steel ape wasn't fast enough to hit her, and she was too agile.
Siraye slammed her crossbows to the steel ape again, but her crossbow sunk into the armor and she couldn't pull the trigger. The steel ape swung its fist. She rolled underneath it and kick its chin. Her crossbow fell, and she grabbed it.
The steel ape once again flew into the air. Siraye jumped, and she jumped again in mid-air. As the steel ape started to fall, fate energy condensed into a bright crystalized arrow, exuding an icy mist shot towards the steel ape.
This time, the steel ape couldn't dodge because of the distance. The arrow slammed into its chest and turned into a block of ice.
Siraye landed on the ground, followed by the steel ape, who crashed like shattered glass.
Fate energy leaked like gas from the cracks on the steel ape's body. Its joint snapped and twisted and some layer of its iron crumbled. Siraye stepped on its chest, aiming her crossbow at one of its eyes.
"I surrender. You win."
The chest opened with white mist and Gomon crawled out of the steel ape. He stood up and looked at his maginery, which Aidan was sure a term ripped off from machinery.
"It's unfortunate that I lose. But this test does give me some ideas on how to improve its capability. Thank you again."
Siraye ignored him and returned to her grass, where she sat down.
"Alright, let's bring this junk back to the magic lab."
Gomon snapped his finger and two boxes of metal behind the students morphed into a steel ape before entering the circle. The destroyed steel ape turned into a box, and Gomon commands his golem to lift it. The other steel ape brought Gomon to its shoulder, where he sat down before they left.
"Those steel apes are quite strong. If he made a lot of them, wouldn't he have an army of steel apes?"
Maninsov shook his head. "Those golems are controlled by Manufactured consciousness which is controlled by Ramthall Family. The family can control any golem that has manufactured consciousness as its controller. They are one of the twelve great families and have one dukedom, 4 marquisdom, and a lot more lands under their rule. Only they, and they alone, can control an army of golems. They are the ones who invented golems and manufactured consciousness, so they have this privilege."
"What happens if someone else made an army of golems?"
"No one can do that unless they invented a new technique the same type as the Manufactured Consciousness technique. If that happens, they would surely be invited to the family to improve its research on this field. Other than that, you would need to steal their technique book if you want to learn their technique. Of course, guarded by millions of inexhaustible golems day and nights, this secret technique wouldn't see the lights of eel anytime soon."
"You know a lot of stuff. Are you sure you're not a spy?"