Part one:
After Mio and Wabler secured Zafer from Skank, he could breathe again.
However, the adrenaline still rushed through his body, making him tremble slightly.
It felt so good.
At this point, Wiza also appeared.
In the end, their mission was successful, and they could now sell Tori's sword for a good amount of money.
Zafer decided to split the cash 50-50 with Wiza. It would strengthen the friendship between the two of them and therefore maybe with a whole Temper.
He also wanted Wiza to be the one to sell the axe.
Zafer didn't know yet to whom he could sell it for the best price, so he let Wiza do that,
As a symbol of gratitude, Wiza let Zafer keep the Mending iron sword.
It only had two anomalies but was certainly better than having no weapon at all.
As they separated, Zafer rushed to catch up to Mio.
According to Laura, Mio lived in the city of Koth and always trained in the Arena.
Zafer could not remember ever seeing him in the past, but since Mio was dressed so humbly he might have overlooked him.
"Hey! Wait", Zafer called him over.
Mio turned around.
"You are Mio, right? Laura told me about you!"
"Really?", he was sincerely curious, "What did she say?".
Zafer stopped before him, "she said that you should be the one to train me".
Mio frowned, "what are you to her?"
"Nothing. I just met her recently".
Mio shrugged his shoulders, "well you are not the first one to ask me that. Many got surprised by my performance and wanted me to mentor them".
Zafer frowned. He could not lose this chance.
Even if Mio thinks Zafer is too weak to personally train him, Zafer could still extract as many useful tips from him by asking specific questions.
"How did you punch him so hard?".
He was referring to Skank.
"It's just my anomaly. Iron Fist".
Zafer was shocked, "That can't be! I also have the same anomaly and my punches aren't as nearly as strong even when I drink a purple potion".
"That's because you are weak", Mio answered.
That was obvious.
"But how can a stronger grip make me punch harder?"
"It won't. You see…", this topic was starting to get Mio engaged, "the Iron fist anomaly isn't only about a strong grip. It's a mutation of muscles that are located in the forearm, fingers, shoulder, and chest, which is most in charge of punching".
"But I never felt the strength in there!", he argued.
"That's because you never trained them. Society made you believe that the grip is the only thing that you should focus on, making you neglect the other parts of your body".
"But look at me", Zafer took off his shirt, "I am muscular from all the fighting and labor! Shouldn't I have hit those muscles as well, even by a pure chance?"
Zafer's body was indeed muscular and lean, but still nowhere near the level of the Priest.
"You probably did, and it perhaps made your chest and shoulders stronger than that of an average male by a little, but do you think that you noticed it? Maybe you just accepted that as the way you always were. For example, have you ever noticed that not everyone else are tall, but that you are just short?", he didn't give the best example.
Zafer restrained from commenting, "so… how do I train the punch".
Forearms were usually trained by crushing stones or even iron and Miyalin if one could find them. The most difficult part of the A-6 was that training and improving the anomaly got intensely harder as one got stronger.
Other muscle groups of the anomaly were also difficult to train past a certain point, but Zafer was a long way until then.
Mio then showed him a couple of exercises that Zafer could do with his own bodyweight, but what concerned him more was Zafer's speed and technique.
Those two were the primary keys to becoming a skilled warrior, and anomalous strength and stamina would come along that same path by themselves.
Hence, in order to get stronger, Zafer was given a task to complete.
These types of quests were given by Mio to anyone who asked him for mentorship because he had no desire or time to practice actively with each one of them.
The tasks were difficult, but not impossible, and the time one needed to complete them was highly dependent on their skill and past experience.
After all, it wasn't like Zafer was doing it for Mio, but for himself, and a direct guideline was everything he needed for the beginning.
"What do you know about the blue potion?", Mio asked him.
"It makes you faster and your reflexes sharper".
Mio crossed his arms, "well that's not the entire truth".
"What blue potion does is that it increases a human limit for how fast we can process information from the environment. But you are far from even reaching the normal human bottleneck, so there is no reason for you to worry about that".
Zafer frowned, "but I still get faster when I drink a potion. Especially the 15% one".
"Running faster doesn't have anything to do with sharper reflexes. Although both 10% and 15% solution blue potions slightly push both limiters back and they make you generally faster, that doesn't mean that you will be on the same speed as someone else", Mio continued.
"The speed of your reflexes when you drink a 15% solution potion might be on the same pair as someone's who did not drink one. Take strength for example. Think of someone who is unbelievably strong naturally".
Zafer thought of the Priest. It was the biggest man he had ever seen after all.
"If you both drank a purple potion, it would make both of you stronger, but do you think you two will be on the same pair? It's the same with speed".
Zafer argued, "but there is no such man who can be stronger than me without drinking the purple potion if I do".
Mio nodded, "yes, you are right. Those who drink a purple potion will always be stronger than those who don't, no matter the size of their muscles, but the blue potion is slightly different. The boost in speed that you get from drinking it is not proportional to that of a purple one".
"If you drank a blue potion right now, I am sure that my reflexes would still be much faster. That is because my speed and reflexes are limited by my human body, hence I need to drink a blue potion to go beyond that. However, yours is not. You are far from that bottleneck.".
"If you hit your human limiter without potions, then upon drinking one, you would truly go beyond what was previously considered humanly impossible".
Zafer understood what Mio was trying to say, but that was all theoretical.
"So, how do I get closer to the human limit?"
Mio explained, "regular sprinting and running for the speed. As for the reflexes, there isn't any better way than to fight while being under the effect of a blue potion. You will also improve your reflexes if you fight without the blue potion, but that will take a while".
In the past, Zafer didn't have enough money to buy enough blue potions to constantly be under its effect, but even if he did, there was another problem
Although the potions had a pleasant smell, they all tasted completely disgusting and dull. Even a drop on the tongue would make someone not try it ever again.
This type of training was also a challenge for mental strength.
The only people who could theoretically constantly live under the effect of a blue potion were those who possessed the Anomaly 7, Repeater.
It was a special mutation of blood, that enhanced one's reflexes and muscles on will, hence making them naturally as strong or as fast as someone who drank a potion.
This was the most common anomaly among paladins and freelancers since its most basic techniques like regeneration, strength, and speed were unbelievably easy to unlock and control while being very useful.
The effect amplifier was of course highly dependent on one's anomalous strength, but due to the nature of the anomaly, unlike Iron Fist, it was maybe one of the easiest anomalies to train and develop.
Nevertheless, the real challenge was to increase anomalous stamina. That was the intensity and time one could use their anomaly for before starting to overheat.
But even then, some people could go even days with their Repeater activated, and not overheat, which was absurd.
Zafer's single Almighty Eye activation would drain his whole anomalous stamina supply, while some Repeater users could go days without even deactivating their anomaly.
One such capable person was Hydra, an adult member of the Nubis province who was also very active in the Arena of the Koth city.
He was also known as the fastest man alive.
The assignment Mio gave Zafer was simple. He should give his best to train and spar with Hydra until he manages to land a single fair and direct punch on him.
Only then will Zafer know that his reflexes and speed have improved.
The Simple Physiology of Anomalies: Table of contents:
…А-6, Iron Fist
…A-7, Repeater
…А-8, Adjustment
…А-9, The Force
…А-11, Almighty Eye
It was 2 days after Zafer talked to Mio.
He was again walking on the stony cliff in between the ruined buildings.
One of those buildings was a small lighthouse.
Now, a lighthouse might not seem weird on a cliff behind the sea, but what lay beneath was only a lake, and even though it was large, there was definitely no need for a lighthouse.
On top of that, its structure and materials out of which it was built were different than that of the other buildings.
To a spontaneous observer, it would seem as if someone extracted a lighthouse from the sea, hundreds of kilometers away, and placed it here, where it didn't belong.
An interesting thing about the Arena was that these types of anomalies were all around the place.
Starting with numerous diverse biomes and ecosystems within such a small area.
Surrounding the rocky cliff was an oak forest, but once someone exited the woods, they would see a totally different type of tree that was scattered all around the rocky plane.
Its trunk was very thick and twisted, but the most bizarre thing about the tree was its white leaves and vines that were densely intricated into a huge messy canopy.
A young boy flew past Zafer, rolling on the ground until hitting one of such trees.
He was thrown by the very one person Zafer came here for. Hydra.
The Nubis savage was frequently visiting these peaceful parts of the Arena, looking for weak freelancers to bully.
He was currently fighting two more teens at the same time, but they stood no chance.
Hydra was too skilled.
Zafer observed the battle trying to figure out the techniques from Hydra, but the latter wasn't doing anything complicated.
His speed was enough to get rid of those weak freelancers.
The main point of this quest was for Zafer to improve his speed, and landing a punch on Hydra was only the indicator that he succeeded and made progress.
He took out a vial filled with the blue liquid and started drinking it with a frowny facial expression.
That was the blue potion.
Zafer didn't even take the last sip before he noticed his field of view slightly expanding, as if he was on drugs.
His mind got clearer and he started perceiving the world as if everything around him was moving just a little bit slower than it actually was.
This was due to the number of information and detail his brain could now process at the same time.
It was like switching from a 30 to 144 FPS screen.
However just as he finished drinking, a dark figure appeared beside him.
It was Hydra, and although his armor was made out of Miyalin, he, as well as some other members of the Nubis province, colored it in black with a special type of paint.
He kicked Zafer and it felt as if he got hit by a truck.
Hydra's Repeater anomaly as well as the Miyalin leggings made the impact much stronger than it would have been, making Zafer fly away straight into a nearby wall of a ruined building.
One could say that Hydra was currently on a rampage, smashing every young freelancer he saw just to entertain himself.
However, Hydra knew that Zafer wasn't a part of these freelancer's group.
"You again?", he said to him, "are you targeting me or something?"
Zafer slowly stood up.
He didn't need to drink a red potion yet since he broke no bones.
What Hydra said was true. Zafer did attack him the previous day, but it ended almost instantly, just like it would have ended now if Hydra didn't hold back.
"I am just training", Zafer drew his sword out.
It was the one Wiza gave him. The one with a Mending rune.
"Oh yeah? So, you are going straight for the boss fight? You think you can improve by attacking the strongest one there is?", Hydra approached him.
Zafer frowned nervously, "I am not fighting the strongest".
Hydra burst into laughter.
"And who would that be, who is so stronger than I am?"
The first person that came to Zafer's mind was Wabler, but since Hydra was an experienced Nubis paladin it would hurt him more if Zafer mentioned someone from Temper.
"Simra, the Priest…"
Hydra was still smiling, "Really? And how would you know that? Why don't you ask them what happened the last time we met?"
Zafer was left speechless. He didn't know what event Hydra was referring to.
He clenched his sword, but Hydra disappeared, appearing in front of him only for a split second, before sending him straight through the wall of a nearby house.
The collision only decreased Zafer's speed by a tiny bit, and he continued to roll on the ground towards the edge of a cliff.
At this rate, he will fall into the lake!
He dropped his sword and pushed both his hands into the stony ground, using his grip to decrease his speed as much as possible.
However, the moment he touched the ground, his whole body got redirected sideways, crashing into another building's wall.
This happened due to Zafer's inexperience.
He quickly stood up on his feet, pulling himself together, but Hydra was already in front of him again!
He grabbed Zafer by the neck and pushed him against the wall.
Although Hydra wasn't as tall as Mio or the Priest, there wasn't much Zafer could do to free himself in this situation.
His A-6 grip was too weak to crush Hydra's arm which was embraced with the Miyalin armor.
As usual for this part of the Arena, there was no one else around, and someone like Zafer might fear for their life, but he knew Hydra would never kill him.
He was perhaps the biggest sadist among Nubians, and torturing young freelancers like this was what entertained him the most.
Hydra carefully used just enough of his strength to make Zafer feel helpless, but also not to break him apart.
The only thing Zafer might worry about was getting kidnapped because of the Axe 33.
However, that won't be happening either.
He wasn't sure how Skank found out that the axe was with him, but it was obvious that he was perhaps the only one aside from Tori and Akumi who knew this.
Despite Skank and Hydra serving the same faction, this didn't mean they got along well, so there was no need to worry about Skank ever telling Hydra or anyone else about Axe 33's whereabouts.
Whatever rune the Axe 33 possessed that Skank was after had to be something rare.
"So, who is the strongest now? Say it", Hydra choked him even harder.
Unfortunately for Hydra, Zafer still had an ace up his sleeve.
He opened his palm, activating the second rune of Wiza's iron sword.
Devotion.
This was the equivalent of the Void rune but for non-Miyalin weapons.
The sword sensed Zafer's call and started accelerating on its own, dragging itself on the ground until it hit a random stone which made the sword fly upwards.
Nevertheless, the Sword was still accelerating toward Zafer's hand, and if it continued this trajectory, it would pierce both Zafer's and Hydra's heads.
None of them had helmets, and this was where Zafer had an advantage due to his secondary anomaly, the Almighty Eye.
The sword stab should definitely kill Hydra, but not Zafer. His anomaly will save him.
This was a very risky stunt that no man could predict.
Even after killing Hydra, Zafer's training would not end, but he could always find someone else to spar with.
Most of the paladins possessed the Repeater anomaly anyway, it was just that Hydra was the fastest one.
He was also a sinister adult member of an enemy faction and getting rid of him would bring fame to Zafer.
Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as that.
Hydra slowly turned around facing the sky, accurately sensing the location of the sword despite being blinded by the sun.
He stepped slightly to the side while still holding Zafer against the wall.
Zafer creeped out.
Only a couple of seconds have passed since he activated the Devotion rune! How could Hydra sense a sword that was mid-air?!
Zafer had never met someone whose sixth sense was sharper than his own.
This was ridiculous for a human!
The sword was falling faster and faster. There was no way to stop it at this speed.
Its blade penetrated Zafer's head, nailing it to the wall behind it.
Or so it seemed.
Everything turned black, and a loud explosion blasted Hydra away from Zafer into the ruined old buildings.
Rocks got scattered in all directions and started falling all around.
Zafer opened his eyes, blood leaking from them, trying to spot Hydra in a mess through the dust.
Despite him piercing his own head, the impact still hit Hydra who was only a bystander.
He got blinded, and his anomalous stamina pool was drained by a certain amount.
This was due to how this A-11 repelling technique worked.
The stronger the threat was, the bigger the repelling effect multiplier was, and since this would have been a certain death for Zafer, its impact was maximal.
The last time this happened was when Arcanie threw a knife at him, but the only reason it didn't instantly kill her was due to Zafer holding back.
However, Zafer did not hold back now, and even though Hydra wasn't the one who activated the anomaly, he still experienced almost the same intensity of repelling Arcanie did then.
Nevertheless, there he was.
Standing up, pushing the rocks and rooftop parts off of him.
Zafer's heart skipped a beat.
Hydra didn't seem to even get a headache!
This guy's anomalous pool is way bigger than Arcanie's! He was a monster!
Zafer wasn't sure if vast anomalous stamina was something usual for Repeater users, but it was still outside of what he expected.
"You know I can see if you have Almighty Eye, right?", Hydra straightened himself, "I just didn't expect it to be this powerful".
Aside from experienced paladins being able to tell what runes were implemented into a weapon just by one glance, they could also suppose what anomalies someone possessed.
For example, if one used no potions, they probably had the A-7 Repeater anomaly, and if they had wounds or callouses on palms, it was most likely the A-6.
Anomalies like Almighty Eye didn't have a specific indicator, but after years of experience, an experienced paladin like Hydra learned how to recognize it.
He just knew when he saw it.
It was a dark everlasting chasm whose opening was a pupil.
However, there was also something else that Hydra spotted in Zafer's eyes.
It was as if something was staring back at him from that very abyss.
Was it some sort of a unique A-11 technique that only Zafer had?
He didn't know, and it wasn't even important.
Vroom.
A Miyalin axe appeared in Hydra's hands. Its blade was stuffed with 10 colorful strings.
This meant 10 runes.
That was a strong weapon, easily worth more than 2 million units.
Since Zafer activated his secondary anomaly without holding back, his anomalous stamina pool was almost fully drained, and as a result, blood was still leaking from his eyes.
On top of that, regardless of how much Hydra got hurt, Zafer was the one who started to experience a minor headache and dizziness.
He was in no state to fight, and his training was clearly over for that day.
Nevertheless, Hydra wasn't done with Zafer yet.
A light flashed for a moment and a roar resounded.
It was a Purge rune, and it fell directly on Zafer, knocking him unconscious.
The Simple Physiology of Anomalies: Paragraph 4:
Each anomaly could be measured in intensity and stamina pool, both of which can be developed, except in the case of an euclid anomaly.
The stamina pool is in a strong coloration with intensity. Every human contained only one stamina pool, and not each for every of 3 anomalies. The stronger the output and the longer the time of an anomaly being activated, the more of the pool will get drained, and once it reaches a certain point, the user will start to overheat experiencing typical symptoms like bleeding from their eyes.
After this state is reached, not restraining from the further use of the anomalies can lead to a burnout, causing permanent and irreversible damage to the user (Head 21).
Zafer was climbing a cliff with his bare hands, using only his strong grip.
His eyes were already leaking drops of blood, but he wouldn't burn out before reaching the top.
This was three weeks after Mio gave him the quest, and although he was trying very hard, the finishing line always seemed to move further and further away from him.
Aside from fighting Hydra at least once every day, Zafer was also doing all the other exercises Mio recommended him to do, like running, sprinting, doing push-ups and others.
Thanks to the money Wiza gave him from selling Tori's axe, he had enough cash to buy himself food, rent a room in an inn, and purchase potions.
Nevertheless, since Zafer insisted on splitting the money 50-50, his savings were slowly decreasing.
Due to him being a Temper candidate, he could buy things with paladin currency, which were banknotes of a much bigger value, with no tax at all.
However, even then, his savings won't last forever.
This day was particularly tragic since he lost his sword. One that Wiza gave him.
Although the weapon could regenerate and return to Zafer whenever he wanted, the principle of how it worked wasn't that simple.
There was something called "weapon ownership".
It was either determined by a special rune called Splinter or by who last held the weapon handle.
Wizaruth's sword possessed no Splinter rune, so naturally the ownership was easily given to the Zafer by him simply taking the weapon in his hands.
Nevertheless, this also had a bad side, since anyone else could just take the weapon from him, and the ownership would be transferred to them.
This was exactly how Hydra stole Zafer's weapon.
It wasn't that he needed an iron sword or any of those 2 anomalies it possessed. He did it purely to bully Zafer.
And it succeeded.
The fact that Zafer knew Hydra didn't need the weapon and still took it, hurt him more than losing it.
He was furious and couldn't do anything but lay on top of the cliff completely wet, with dust and weed stuck to his clothes.
At least he was glad that Hydra didn't take his scarf.
Someone approached him from behind.
"Uh… are you alright?".
Zafer had no strength left to turn around or sit, but based on the voice he knew it was some young freelancer.
"Yes".
It was quiet for a few seconds.
"I see you here every day… running, sprinting, and fighting that guy. Do you want me to help you?".
Zafer straightened himself upwards.
He didn't really need help since nobody was forcing him to spar with Hydra.
He did it to get stronger, but without a short-term reward, it became mentally exhausting.
Zafer turned around.
It was indeed a freelancer, no stronger or older than him.
"No thanks. I don't want to defeat him", he pushed the dust off his clothes, "I am just training".
"Well then… can I train with you?"
Zafer contemplated for a moment.
The boy seemed really innocent and nice, which was most important since Zafer didn't want someone to get in his way or to disturb him.
He could of course just decline, but Mio, who was far stronger than Zafer, took a whole hour trying to explain to him how Iron Fist anomaly and potions worked.
Who was Zafer to be so vain to reject someone?
"What are your anomalies?"
"A-11 as the primary and A-6 as a secondary".
Zafer stood up.
Those were the same anomalies he had but reversed, except that Zafer's Almighty Eye was a euclid.
If the two trained together, they could learn from each other!
"Sure. I'm Zafer, a candidate of the Temper province. What about you?", they shook hands.
"Luch".
Luch was a freelancer.
"Why do you want to train?", Zafer asked.
It was important to know someone's motives in order to approximate their determination.
"I need to get stronger for my loved ones".
Zafer was caught unprepared, "what happened to them?"
"Nothing, but I can use my Almighty Eye to prevent them from turning in apparitions".
Zafer frowned, "really? That's possible?"
Luch nodded, "only if you possess the A-11. I was born for that purpose".
Slowing or completely preventing someone else from turning in an apparition with the help of the Almighty Eye was indeed possible.
It was done several times in the past by very strong individuals.
"What about you?", Luch returned the question, "why are you training".
Zafer pondered to himself, "I just want to join Temper".
"Why?"
"Well…", he pondered even harder, "I'm in someone's debt".
He was referring to Semi, and although this was true, Zafer actually started training before even meeting him.
Zafer didn't really consider his motive to be anywhere near as deep as Luch's or Skill's, who weren't training for themselves, but for the greater good. For the altruism
This was the reason Zafer kept his true motive to himself.
Anyways, from that day on, both trained together during the morning.
Luch had to work much harder to catch up to Zafer and he also had a part-time job, which just showed his tenacity and motivation.
And while Luch worked afternoon hours, Zafer sparred in the Arena with young freelancers and, most importantly, with Hydra.