Varian found himself with no options as the Abyssal punched at his neck.
"Die!"
In that brief moment of life and death, Varian channeled his space power.
"Crack!"
The Abyssal fist hit passed through Varian's position as he disappeared and struck the adamantine block behind him.
"Cough! Cough!" Varian felt everything go black for a moment and the next second, he found himself behind the Abyssal.
'That was close!' Varian had lingering fears about his near death.
[Space Path Level 1: 5/100
Low Teleportation]
He used low teleportation at the final moment. Thankfully, he didn't teleport himself to worse places. A Level 1 Space Awakener couldn't control their "destination" in teleportation. They teleported by instinct. Only from Level 2 onwards, they controlled the destination.
The Abyssal was shocked at his disappearance but his superior senses informed him Varian was behind.
He turned around in a flash and …
"Crack!"
Varian's punch connected with his chest and he was only able to block half of it at the last moment.
The Abyssal knight was pushed back and felt blood rush to his throat.
"Blegh" He vomited blood, and it dyed his red armor green.
"You… are going to pay." He glared down at Varian and punched out.
"Click"
Varian didn't flinch and punched back. This time too, he used Space Binding on his gauntlets.
"Boom!"
The air was compressed at their point of contact and blasted, sending shock-waves in the wind.
Varian felt his muscles tear and his skin break. Before he knew it, both his arms were bloodied.
If space binding didn't reduce the strength of the Abyssal, he'd be crippled by now.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Varian and the Abyssal dodged the ceiling blocks as they watched out for the other's move.
[Xp + 5
Body Path Level 1: 65]
The system prompted, and Varian felt the aura in his body pulled away.
'I don't have much aura left and if I lose more, I'll lose even if I advance to level 2.'
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
He recalled the system's prompt during his awakening.
'[No Aura source in host found.]'
'System, I have aura crystals in my space ring. Absorb aura from them, not me.' He urged it.
[Observed.]
He felt the suction of aura from his body stop but the chi in his body continued to increase.
His physical attributes all increased one by one and Varian savored the feeling of growing stronger.
[Body Path Level 1: 65/100]
He could feel the aura crystals in his space ring decrease.
"Creaaak"
The whole facility shook and both of them decided to end the fight as soon as possible.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Dodging the falling adamantine blocks, Varian shot at the Abyssal Knight at full speed. The Abyssal knight kicked at Varian's chest.
Varian was in front of the Abyssal Knight in the blink of an eye.
The moment his fist touched the Abyssal's foot, he used space binding and teleported.
"Guh"
The Abyssal felt the space around his leg solidify and stiffened for a moment. But due to the sheer force he put in the kick, his leg broke the solidified space and lashed ahead.
"Sshh"
But due to the sudden obstruction, his momentum was obstructed and Abyssal lost his balance for a moment.
His instincts screamed at him, and he hurriedly guarded his neck.
"Click"
Varian punched at the Abyssal's neck. The spikes on his gauntlet dug into his neck but due to his guard at the last moment, he wasn't able to pierce it through.
"Damn it!" Varian cursed under his breath. He would run out of aura if this keeps on for 5 minutes.
'System, can u refill my aura with aura crystals?'
[No. This System can only advance you in Divine path taking aura crystals.]
'I have to end this soon.'
He looked into the Abyssal's eyes. They were full of killing intent. He'd be able to teleport only a few more times before he ran out of aura.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The blocks of ceiling continued to fall.
"Son of a bitch!" The Abyssal cursed and charged at him evading the debris.
Varian tightened his nerves.
"Shuaa" The Abyssal lunged at Varian without any defensive posture. He didn't bother blocking Varian's attack as long as he could attack Varian.
Varian didn't have the luxury. One undefended attack and he'd be done.
He channeled the chi in his body and felt it nourish his wounds. Looking at the Abyssal that rushed at him, Varian felt a primitive desire to kill.
"Aarrgh!" He yelled and stormed forward.
Varian used the same method of solidifying space around his gauntlet right before the Abyssal's fist connected with his.
"Creaak"
"Click"
Varian felt his insides shake and coughed blood. Sweat and blood drenched him as he continued to fight.
[Xp + 5
Body Path Level 1: 70/100]
Sometimes, he would solidify the Abyssal's fist or leg and disrupt his momentum. Then, he teleported.
Even though the teleportation was random, due to him still being a beginner of level 1, he was only teleported a few meters. With his excellent senses and physical senses, coupled with the broken momentum of Abyssal, he was able to successfully land attacks.
"Click"
"Click"
"Click"
The Abyssal's injuries continued to pile up, but he was still standing. Varian, despite all the attacks, lacked the hard power to bring him down.
If their roles were switched, Varian would be down in a single attack.
Varian knew this and didn't drop his guard. He continued his barrage. When he couldn't dodge, he'd solidify his gauntlets and block the attack of Abyssal.
It had been only a few minutes, but the fight was approaching its climax.
The System prompts also approached the awaited number.
[+5 Xp]
[+5 Xp]
[+5 Xp]
…
...
[+5 Xp]
[Body Path Level 1: 100/100
8% Greater Human]
Varian stood in front of the Abyssal. His mouth was bloodied and his arms dropped like they were logs of wood attached to his shoulders. At least half of his ribs were broken, but luckily, he avoided injuring his lungs.
The Abyssal in front of him was in a more dire strait. His neck had several cuts and some of them were deep. His chest bones were broken along with all his ribs. His arms were completely crippled. Green blood dripped from his head to toe, and it stained the floor beneath him.
The Abyssal Knight looked at Varian with hatred, admiration and regret "You...If only Enigma didn't attack today, I'd never die."
Varian didn't mull over and kept his nerves alert for the final blow.
He felt the chi in his body reached a critical point. It needed one final push for a qualitative improvement.
"Even though I'm unlucky, I'll bring you down!" The Abyssal knight spat blood and charged at him.
Bringing the last ounce of his strength, he lunged at Varian. His fists were pointed at Varian's chest and his knees aimed at his groin.
Varian felt his nearly dry aura reserves and… teleported.
"Click…" The Abyssal hit the adamantine blocks and collapsed on the ground.
"You...you shameful...who escapes the final blow. Coward!" The Abyssal laid on the ground as the impact from adamantine aggravated his injuries.
Varian appeared a few meters away. His face was pale, and he looked like he would collapse any moment.
But he gritted his teeth and slowly walked towards the Abyssal step by step.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
He dodged the ceiling blocks and moved forward.
"Creaaak"
The hill shook and nearly threw him off balance.
But he kept going.
He arrived in front of the dying Abyssal and smiled through his bloody teeth. "Call me anything you want. I just want to enter the Imperial Academy."
"Click" His gauntlet plunged into the Abyssal's neck, ending his life.
Varian felt something click in him and the chi in his body hit the final climax.
[You have advanced.
Body Path Level 2: 0/100]
[Absorbing Aura from the aura crystals.]
The system announced and the next moment, Varian felt aura flood his body and turn into chi.
[Body Path Level 2: 0/200
25% Greater Human]
His strength, agility and regeneration all took a major leap. Compared to peak Level 1, he was three times stronger.
Only now did he realize that perhaps the Abyssal Knight he fought was also a beginner to Level 2 and was weakened by his injuries to a degree that let Varian face him.
'I'm lucky…?' Varian felt grateful for his own luck but was about to curse the system for giving him this "opportunity".
Before he rained it with his favourite titles, his eyes widened as he sensed something.
Perhaps because he advanced, the System refilled his body with aura to the brim!
Despite the injuries, Varian felt the enormous strength within him and clenched his bloodied fists.
"Haha! Now I only need to get out of this goddamn place~ I can kill 10 Abyssal Knights with my current strength and qualify for the Academy!" Varian laughed in excitement.
"Creaak"
"Creaak"
"Creaak"
The facility shook uncontrollably, and Varian looked up at the ceiling.
From the gaps of the ceiling, he could see a deep hollow passage. It extended hundreds of meters and at the other end, showed the black sky of the Demon Abyss.
'I'm at least 100 meters down the hill.' Varian concluded. The next second, his eyes widened.
A blinding white light flashed and descended at an insane speed.
It cut through the adamantine like it was a piece of paper, cleaving the hill in two and headed towards him.
"Fuck!"