After reaching Level 4, Mind Awakeners had two options.
Become a Telekinetic—pursue the path of controlling the world through mind.
Become a Telepath—pursue the path of hypnosis, telepathy and illusion.
Varian fought mental awakeners before. But none of them bothered to use illusion on him.
Perhaps because they underestimated him or the users simply weren’t skilled enough.
But Nalp was different.
Standing in the middle of a lush forest, Varian found his senses almost failed him.
Thankfully, his body path was level 5 compared to Nalp’s level 4 Telepath path.
Varian was was able to sense the reality clouded by the illusion.
In the forest, the leaves on the trees in front of him rustled.
But that was all.
By the time Varian reacted, it was already too late.
Nalp appeared with his fist a second away from striking Varian.
Any normal level 5 body awakener would’ve lost.
Not Varian.
With meticulous care, he only loosened the space around his upper body and raised his arms.
With the loosened space, his movement speed rose significantly and formed a defense against the punch.
Nalp’s punch connected with Varia’s palm whilst at the same time, Varian lashed out with a striking kick.
With loosened space, his speed easily reached that of a high level 5 Enhanced, even approaching the peak level 5.
As he felt the impact from Varian’s palm, and the kick he just blocked, Nalp’s eyes widened in surprise.
In the information collected, Varian’s strength was only low level 5.
Surprisingly, the speed he showed was high level 5.
But…his strength seemed to be only around low level 5!
“Are you looking down on me?” Nalp growled and punched out.
At the same time, his mental attacks turned fierce.
Varian felt a searing pain through every inch of his brain.
Nalp was ready to bank on this opportunity. Even though he was only a mid level 4, it was his full scale mental attack.
A level 5 Enhanced would lose control for a small moment.
That small interval was too fast for any level 4, but slow enough for a level 5!
But…
Boom!
His fist connected with Varian’s and shockwaves rose from their point of contact.
Nalp took back five steps while Varian took back fifteen steps.
“Stop your act!” Nalp roared and continued his offensive.
Again and again, he attacked Varian mentally.
Even though Varian’s attacks belonged to only mid level 5, his defense so far has been good enough.
He needed an opportunity, but—
Boom!
“Argh! Why is your mental defense so strong?” Nalp exclaimed as he exchanged a few blows with Varian.
Varian simply smiled and continued his offense.
As a Level 5 Enhanced Awakener, his mental defense was not bad.
But it was the addition of Level 3 Mind Path that did the wonder.
Even though the pain was still high, it didn’t hinder his thoughts and actions.
“Are you just that? I guess I overestimated you.” Varian sneered with disdain.
The kind of disdain that Nalp first showed towards him.
“Argh! Damn it!” Nalp stopped pulling any punches and rained down a fury of coordinated punches and kicks at Varian.
Boom!
Boom!
Crack!
Bit by bit, Varian was pushed back and in the end, his bones started to creak as blood flowed out of his knuckles and fists.
No way!
A low level 5 vs high level 5 wasn’t a fair fight to begin with.
Varian simply couldn’t win in a pure contest of physical strength.
But he never planned to.
[+10 Xp]
[+10 Xp]
…
The System notifications piled up as his injuries slowly piled up.
He needed to win somehow. If he lost, then his next targets would likely reject him.
Thus, Varian decided to win regardless of the means.
“Hmph!”
A light flashed and a 5-star treasure, black gauntlets covered his hands.
“You think a star treasure can save you? Naive!” Nalp growled and grabbed a spear from his storage ring.
The next moment, like every other time, his attacks connected with Varian’s.
Only this time—
“Huh?!” Nalp’s eyes widened as his inside churned from the impact.
His strength reached mid level 5.
“Garh” Coughing out blood from internal injury, Nalp’s gaze turned serious.
He wouldn’t know that Varian used his space armor to strengthen the gauntlets from the inside.
This increased his strength.
At the same time, when their fists connected, the solidified space absorbed some the damage.
Nalp was surprised but not panicked.
Despite the increase, Varian’s strength was still lower than him.
He used his mental power but failed to create an opportunity to one shot Varian, but…
Given the injuries they both were taking, soon, Varian would lose, right?
Wrong!
He knew he was wrong after two minutes.
His body was covered in injuries, small and big. Bone fractures, tear of muscles, severe injury of internal organs…
The injuries were too many to count. Blood was splattered all over the floor forming small puddles.
Even he, a high level 5 Enhanced was so injured.
So logically, a low level 5 would’ve long fallen.
But…
Boom!
Varian’s punch knocked the air out of his lungs and sent him flying.
Collapsed on the round, Nalp looked up at Varian with a complex expression.
“…how?”
The injuries Varian suffered were heavier than him, but he was still able to fight. His combat powers were also not affected in the slightest.
Just how did he achieve this?
Varian felt the ever growing Morpher Path and sighed inwardly.
Planeta Morphers all had great vitality. This allows them to fight despite heavy injuries.
That was the reason he was able to sustain.
Without any answer, he delivered a finishing blow to the opponent.
Boom!
With Nalp fainting with his final kick, Varian formally finished the duel.
When did the duel end informally?
—The moment he picked his target. Nalp was destined to lose.
The barrier went off and bots reached them for treatment.
The expensive healing medicine glowed like starlight as it bathed him in its brilliance and healed his injuries at an almost miraculous speed.
This medicine was rare—it was made from Healing Fighters!
In a few minutes, Varian’s injuries were healed. He also absorbed the dense aura in the meanwhile.
There’s one thing left to confirm.
His new strength.
‘Status’