Varian smirked and channeled his space power.
'I am itching for an intense fight, anyway.' He locked the space around the Abyssal beside the captain and teleported.
The world blinked out of existence and after an almost negligible vision of darkness, Varian found himself in front of the Abyssal.
Right when he appeared, the Abyssal captain's ears perked up, and he swiftly turned.
Varian threw a punch and as expected, another fist greeted his.
Boom!
Varian was pushed back, and he slid, raising dust.
[+10 Xp
Body Path Level 2: 130/200]
The chi in his body boiled and roared. A few aura stones in his space ring were taken by the system and the chi slowly rose and consolidated.
Varian felt a slight surge in his strength, speed, regeneration and all other physical stats. However, he kept his cool and didn't show any increase in strength.
"You're not even a peak Level 2. Dammit!" The Abyssal captain retracted his fist and exclaimed.
"Why should I be?" Varian grinned.
His space path was still a Level 1, so his space power reserves were limited. He already used it quite a bit in the fight. The remaining wouldn't be enough to splurge against a peak Level 2.
However, at critical times, it could be used.
'Teleportation isn't the only power a Space Awakener has.'
"Die!" The Abyssal captain roared.
Varian chuckled lightly and rushed to his enemies.
The Abyssals reacted and took an aggressive stance, ready to counterattack.
Varian closed the distance and swung his fist.
The Abyssal captain and his aide, counterattacked.
Their eyes were gloating. With the body powers Varian showed, he'd be severely injured once he takes their attacks.
Right when the attacks were about to connect, Varian disappeared.
And...
Boom!
Boom!
He appeared on the side. His momentum pushed him and he directed the punch at the aide.
At the same time, captain reacted and punched at Varian, which Varian forcefully blocked with his elbow.
As a result, the Abyssal was blown away coughing blood. There were crackling sounds of bone breaking and he collapsed on the ground.
Taking the captain's punch, Varian was blasted into the air. Before he could teleport, another punch followed and Varian could only punch back.
Boom!
"Grhh" Varian grimaced as he felt his arm tremble. His shoulder almost dislocated from the impact.
"I'm stronger than you. You can never win." The Abyssal captain yelled and raised his arm.
Varian teleported right then.
The captain didn't look surprised and rushed back to the collapsed Abyssal.
Just then, Varian appeared, and his sword was about to pierce the neck of the injured one.
The captain gave it his all and leapt at Varian. His hand formed a claw aimed at Varian's neck. One swipe and he'd be done.
"Tsk." Varian cursed and blocked his neck with his fist.
'Your hand won't be able to stop me…' The captain grinned and his claw was about to smash through Varian's hand.
Right then, the space around solidified and the Abyssal captain staggered a little.
Shuaa!
The sound of a metal cutting through flesh sounded clearly and fresh green blood splattered on the captain's face.
At the same moment, his claw broke through the solid space and attacked Varian.
Boom!
"Argh"
The claw broke his hand bones and reached his neck.
"Huh?"
But all it caught was empty air.
Varian teleported at the moment.
'Just one more teleportation left.' The corner of his mouth twitched.
The captain saw that his aide was still alive. His attack moved Varian's sword and instead of his neck, it pierced his chest. But he was seriously injured and couldn't help him in the battle.
'I'll at least save you.'
The fight continued, and Varian took less risky moves.
'He's not using space powers anymore!' The captain was quick to realise and gave the right order.
"Haha! You're out of space power." He roared and bombarded his opponent with ruthless attacks.
Varian found it hard to defend himself by just relying on his physical stats.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
He blocked the punches from the front and dodged the kick from the back.
The attacks were relentless and were aimed at him with everything they got.
Punches. Kicks. Even trying to bite.
Varian gradually fell into a passive position where he only defended.
"Aren't you arrogant? Where is it now?" The Abyssal captain yelled as he punched at Varian's face.
Varian slightly shifted his face and dodged the punch. Sweat was rolling down his forehead, and he was panting.
"I'll tear apart your bones one by one. You'll have the worst death." The captain growled and kicked at his groin.
Varian swirled to the side and raised his hand covering his face.
Boom!
Another fist aimed for his face and he forcibly blocked it.
The result was the bloodied arm turning bloodier.
"All my brothers...you dammit!" The captain snarled and rushed at Varian.
As he rushed towards the enemy that killed all his brothers, he seemed to hear his dead brethren cheering him from the side.
"Take him down captain!"
"Avenge our brothers!"
"Break that creature's every bone! Skin him! Roast him!"
They yelled passionately.
The Abyssal captain was slowly turning more and more enraged.
'Finally…' Varian positioned himself with caution.
He killed almost twenty Abyssals in a very short period of time and it fatigued him. In the situation, fighting a peak level 2 was seeking death.
'But…' His eyes shone with confidence and he countered the incoming punches with his own.
Crack!
Crack!
With each block, the differential in their absolute strength allowed the captain to injure Varian.
The only surviving abyssal beside the captain, was looking at the fight as the blood slowly leaked out from his chest.
In his eyes there was no pain, only a fanatic desire to see the human's death.
Varian stumbled back as the Abyssal captain's kicked through his elbow, and broke his ribs.
One more kick at the same place and his lungs would burst.
The same could be said for his left shoulder. One more block and it'll be crippled. In his situation, it meant instant death.
"Is that it?" The captain laughed and gave a casual punch.
Boom!
Varian blocked it with his hands, and with it, he collapsed onto the ground.
He tried to move, but the captain kicked him. Varian slightly adjusted his position so that instead of taking the kick to his spine, he took it to the side.
As the kick connected, he groaned in pain and curled up.
His eyes however were emotionless.
'Closer...closer...closer…' Varian was facing down, but his space sense covered his surroundings.
The captain gave a few more kicks and Varian 'curled' in pain again. But each time, he cleverly avoided the vital positions that'd affect his combat power.
His injuries were still serious, but his combat power didn't drop much.
The captain looked at powerless Varian collapsed on the ground.
With the strength he showed since the beginning of the fight, the captain was surprised Varian managed to hold on till now.
But that was it. With the injuries inflicted upon him, Varian was incapacitated.
'Is Aju still alive?' He turned to the side to check the surviving Abyssal.
Usually, he should've also focused on his enemy, but with his experience, he knew he already won.
There was no way someone at Varian's level would be able to even move now.
He could've been right.
Only if that person wasn't Varian.
Shuaa!
The Abyssal captain felt his hair stand up and his instincts scream. But he was in a relaxed position and his reaction was a bit too late.
A sword pierced his neck, and he looked at the bloodied human in horror.
He still had space power? Then why didn't he use it?
How was he moving after taking so many hits?
"Sucks to be you." Varian grinned through his bloody teeth.
"Captain!" the injured abyssal yelled.
"You son of a —" A sword plunged into his throat and ended his life.
As he died, the dominant emotion in his eyes was neither rage nor fear, but shock.
How was this guy still able to fight? He should be lying down from those injuries, dammit!
The answer was the advantage unique to Varian.
It was the flashing blue screen in front of Varian. Unfortunately, he couldn't see it.
[+10 Xp
+10 Xp
+10 Xp
Body path Level 2: 160/200]
Even though progress in body path didn't instantly heal him, it increased his stats just enough to have a final bout.
Before and after the fight, his Xp changed from 120 to 160.
That increased his overall stats from 34% Greater Human to 37% Greater Human.
Even though it might seem like a mere 3% increase in reference to Greater Human, when compared to the Varian before his fight, the Varian now was almost 9% stronger.
"Haa!"
Varian collapsed on the ground, for real this time.
He took the medicine Sarah gave him before she left and applied it to himself.
His injuries were serious, but not fatal. He'd be fine soon.
'Killing twenty Abyssals single handedly...not bad.' He grinned. 'Now the perfect ending is a good slee—'
His comm buzzed:
{Varian, we found the headquarters}