Chapter 41 - Chapter 41: The Trial of the gods

My speed attribute was extremely fast. I had increased my body and computing speed such that what normally took five seconds took almost a full minute. I could see the guard's movement from when he swung the club in a slowed down version. What do I do now? Any big movements and I could draw attention to me. I continued contemplating on what to do until the club was a few centimeters from me. I decided to slightly alter the trajectory of the club and break his shoulder. "Argh! What the hell?" the guard shouted. The club had missed me narrowly and seemed almost believable. The guard was writhing in pain while his colleagues laughed at him. I had cleanly broken his shoulder from his free arm during the whole ordeal. My group was terrified having seen me receive a punch to the face and almost a club to my head. "Get back in line!" another soldier shouted at me. What do I do now? I am not interested in dealing with these people. "Leave him alone. If you get near him you will die." A soldier who was not among the group said. He was leaning against the wall observing what was happening. "Hey Orton, what do you mean?" the soldier who had just shouted at me asked. "I could not track his movements. I am at least one and half times faster than normal people but I could not track him. I am sure he moved at some point but I cannot tell when or how." Orton said. As if to prove a point, he took a small stone from the ground and aimed it at a dragonfly that was buzzing round the area. It was a direct hit. "I can easily follow that. But not him." Orton said pointing at the insect then at me. He managed to lengthen the normal five seconds to 7.5 seconds. That was impressive because it took a lot of energy reserves to do that. "What is your name?" Orton asked me. Do I lie or? To hell with it. "My name is Chrono." I answered. "Well Chrono, it seems that you are a fighter of tremendous strength. How about you follow me." Orton said. "What about…" I asked. "Don't worry this people will be treated well. I am their superior don't worry about it." Orton said. "Where are we going?" I asked. "To my master. I need to show him to you. Don't worry we are just martial arts practitioners." Orton said. I had no objections because I also needed some place to stay. The money that I had gathered from the robbers had been spent buying food for the whole group as we passed different towns so I was flat broke. I followed Orton to a large open area well fenced with large buildings at the center. "Master! Come quickly I have a surprise for you." Orton began shouting as soon as he arrived. Why is this guy shouting? Am I the surprise he is talking about? "Orton you fool. Quit shouting it is too early." An old man said as he stepped out of one of the buildings. His body was very muscular and youthful, the only thing that betrayed his age was the white beard on his face. "This is Chrono. A very talented martial artist master." Orton declared proudly. The master was unmoved. "What of it?" he asked coldly. "You don't understand master. I could not follow his movements at all." Orton said. Those words managed to illicit a reaction albeit a small one. "Your name is Chrono, is it boy?" he asked me. Boy? I am not answering to that. Once you allow disrespect once you allow it for all eternity. I looked at the old man without saying anything. Suddenly he lounged at me at full speed kicking up a lot of dust. But alas he was too slow. He was faster than the earlier guard but too slow relative to me. The strike was expected to make contact with me in two seconds but with my speed that period was extended to twelve seconds. I moved behind him and held his walking stick that he had left falling behind him. Did this guy even need a walking stick? In an instant it was over. I was behind the old man keenly looking at the intricate design of his cane. "Where did he…" the old man froe as soon as he saw me. I was standing there examining the cane ignoring him. "Impossible, I am at least twice as fast as a normal martial arts practitioner." The old man said. The old man lounged at me again but this time he was a little farther away. I estimated that it would take five normal seconds to reach me however, this time I was in no mood to wait for him. As soon as he got into position, I went up to him and held his clothes from the back in less than one second by my timeline. "Old man. That is enough don't you think?" I asked him. He was now terrified of me. It had taken no less than a few milliseconds for me to get behind him. He could not know this at that time but it took less than 170 milliseconds for me to accomplish this task. The old man nodded and I let his clothes go and handed over his cane to him. "Follow me." The master said as he took his cane. Orton moved first and I followed them to another room that was private with nobody else around. "What are you?" the master asked. What is he talking about? Do I say a visitor? The son of a king? I was bewildered by the question. "Long ago, my great grandfather passed down a local tale that he was told when younger. A handsome fellow came to ask him for training long ago. The fellow was strong and very quick and nimble with his movements. It was stated that he was at least twice as fast and many times stronger than the master at the time. The handsome fellow had a habit of leaving every night to take walks and every time he did, a villager would go missing the next day. The master grew suspicious and began to observe the fellow. In a few months' time he was able to catch him controlling blood droplets. The master decided to pretend to be ill I hopes that the fellow would leave him alone. He was not confident in his ability to subdue the fellow without suffering casualties. The fellow visited the master's bedside and said to him 'I know you saw me the other day. I will leave you alive as a form of gratitude. Should you speak of what you saw I will come back and end you.' The fellow left and was never seen again. The master disclosed to his son what he had witnessed as he was close to his death. The legends passed down have forbade us from teaching our martial arts to anyone of that kind. So I ask again what are you?" the master asked.That fellow of course hearing it now has to be a vampire. A higher ranking one at that if he was able to train outdoors during the day. Now what do I answer to this question? Do I say a dragon or? "Come on old man. Don't tell me you believe that tale. There is no way such people would exist." Orton shouted. The master was unmoved and looked directly at me. "I know that kind from the story. We call it the Vampire where I am from. A very ferocious and deadly enemy to have indeed. However I am not from that kind." I said. "They exist? Are you kidding me?" Orton shouted. "Yes they do and are very powerful compared to human standards." I said trying to buy time. "What about to your standards?" the master asked. What a troublesome old man indeed. "They would not be much of a threat." I answered. "So what are you?" Orton now asked the question. Well, how bad could it really be to tell the truth? "I am from a noble and majestic race that rules over the skies. I am a dragon." I said. "Pfft hahaha." Orton laughed at this. "A dragon? Like the secret world breaking, earth shattering and wall conquering weapon the army has?" The master asked. Well that was a wyvern not a dragon. The difference in physical sizes, mental acuity and power was as clear as day. In terms of physical characteristics, the wyvern was much smaller and had two legs while the dragons was over ten times their size with four legs. The dragons were also far more intelligent than the wyverns and many other species. In terms of power it was incomparable. Adult wyverns had a maximum mana reserves of around 100,000 while the dragons had a maximum of twenty five million like me. If the wyverns were their pride and joy I shuddered what an encounter with a dragon would do to them. What about The Hydra that was at least five times my size in dragon form? What if they saw that? "Yes we are distant cousins with their kind. Although I look a little different." I answered. The master looked at me keenly without moderation. "What is it you have come here to do then?" the master asked. I could not tell whether he was convinced or not but I decided to answer his question anyway. "I have come here to visit the temple of the god of war. I was sent here." I answered. "So you came to take part in the trial of the gods? If I were you I would just give up." Orton said. This piqued my curiosity. "What do you mean?" I asked. The master intervened and began explaining. "The Trial of the gods is a long standing tradition where one proves themselves worthy and after they pass they can gain immense power, riches and valuable information. For the trial offered by the god of war, it takes place in a different dimension. The objective is to defeat through combat a complete replica of yourself in the first stage and three replicas in the second and final stage. The replicas are not a complete copy of yourself but are the best version of yourself after reaching the optimum strength." The master said. What is so difficult about defeating another three dragons? So the replicas are enhanced to match my maximum potential. It will be challenging but doable I guess. "That is not the worst part. It has been four hundred years since the god of war declared anyone worthy to participate in the challenge." Orton said.