Awakening beyond three paths wasn’t possible for any natural being. This was common sense across the stellar civilizations.
But humans were far behind them and thus ignorant of this basic fact.
So, while they had a lot of theories proposing the limits of divine paths, they had no ‘proofs’.
It resulted in a situation where the average human thought what he saw was a limit while the higher-ups and the scientists knew they knew nothing.
The princes and princesses belonged to the latter group.
If such unsure humans came across something ridiculous, what would they think?
They’d think it was their ignorance.
So, when Varian, in the form of a merman used four divine paths, the prince initially freaked out.
“What the fuck!”
Boom! Zap!
But with a hard punch, lightning spear, mental interference, and space blast, he obediently followed the course.
“This fuckin merman! Are you a new breed of this lake?” Blood dripped down the prince’s forehead and splashed on the lake’s solid surface.
The very next moment, the wound healed up and the prince was uninjured.
‘Heal Fighter.’ Varian’s lips curled up uncontrollably.
Heal Fighters essentially fought recklessly, abusing their hyper regenerative capabilities and broke their limits.
Varian would’ve loved that path. But he had something better. Clenching his fists, Varian raised his arms.
“Haa!”
Boom!
The wind stilled for a moment before it was blasted out of the place. It was like a hurricane struck the place, except worse.
The prince, staying true to his training, punched back.
Kacha!
The moment their fists connected, both of them stayed still for a moment before they were both thrown back.
The prince’s arm was bleeding heavily as the terrifying attack tore his muscles and cracked his bones.
Ka! Ka! Ka!
As if someone started a reverse switch, his bleeding began to slow down, his muscles started to repair themselves and in a few seconds, he’d be back to normal.
On the other hand, Varian’s arm was completely twisted and it merely hung on his arm like a cane attached.
His bones broke and his muscles were horribly torn apart. Blood literally spilled out of his arm like it was a broken dam.
Even though supernatural awakeners had more strength than heal fighters, a mid-level 7 was always a better bet than a newbie who just reached level 7.
Varian’s strength was lower and his injuries were worse.
However.
Shuaa!
Varian’s arms transformed into sturdy branches and his fingers turned into smaller branches.
His injuries started to heal at an insane rate.
The prince looked at the merman which was using its fifth divine path and muttered. “Devas can do this too?”
What answered him was another punch.
“Hmph!” The prince was reckless like any other heal fighter and punched back.
He already gauged the merman’s strength. Even though its healing was a bit faster than him, it didn’t matter.
He’d overwhelm the damn thing with a torrent of punches and break it down before it can heal up.
Or that’s what he thought.
And neglected the other paths of the merman.
Zaap! Kaa!
When their fists clashed for the second time, it was no longer superhuman path vs heal fighter path but the combination of superhuman, space, lightning vs heal fighter.
Heck, even his mind was attacked during the punch.
And thus,
“Arghh Fuck!” The prince was flung into the air and crashed to the ground.
The space and lightning acted as additional defenses on Varian’s arm. But even with them, the prince managed to inflict a significant injury.
Shuaa!
But the bleeding stopped in a second and by then, Varian was punching the prince for the third time.
Boom! Boom!
The two warriors clashed.
If they fought on plains, the aftermath of their attack would be felt for miles. But the lake of illusions seemed to have a special mechanism. It suppressed the fluctuations. Only a bare minimum seemed to have spread outside.
Considering the lake’s structure, it made sense. You could only see a hundred meters. If battle fluctuations spread out, others would know their location and even strength.
‘This secrecy is good for me anyway.’ Varian thought as his psychic power broke apart his opponent’s mental defenses and threw him in a disarray.
“Huek!” The prince’s eyes started to bleed from the pressure on his brain. But they healed just as quickly.
He glared at Varian and opened his mouth.
Boom!
The space around him broke like glass and the broken space cut through his skin like sharp blades. In fact, they were sharper than most metal blades since those couldn’t even pierce his skin.
But space blades, ripped his body apart in multiple places and left him lacerated.
Huaa!
His healing started to work again, but the successive attack didn’t give him much room.
Bang!
A lightning dragon broke into his body and tried to electrocute him. His chi worked on emergency to expel it.
He was successful when—
Whoosh!
The wind whistled and a punch struck his face. It was an uppercut.
The prince’s jaw broke and he rose into the air in a parabola. Even in midair, the force of the punch was yet to transfer to his brain.
When it finally did, he fainted.
Thud!
Varian glanced at the unconscious prince and looked at his own body.
There were multiple wounds. Not too major, but not too shallow.
‘I guess I am in the leagues of mid-level 7.’ He assessed his strength.
And—
[+200 Xp]
[+400 XP]
[Superhuman path Level 7: 200 out of 10,000
Plantae Fighter Level 7: 400 out of 10,000]
The battle, unlike the fights with low-level 7s, proved useful.
But
“Only two…” Varian clicked his tongue.
He couldn’t complain either. These two were the main forces against the prince.
“But at least, I know I can improve with mid-level 7s.” Varian’s lips curled up.
He needed to get the key, but if he picked proper opponents along the way, he could also improve before the decisive moment.