Soverick ran in circles for a while as he took in the glory of the challenge. He couldn’t stop at all or he would fall into the water. The surface of the water might be behaving like a stretchy elastic material underneath his feet but that’s because of the way he is stepping on it. A pause to admire the scenery will make the water surface remember what it truly is.
Then he grinned in anticipation showing all his teeth, and suddenly picked up speed. He accelerated and began moving like a knife parting the waves. His feet created massive shock waves that erupted with water and mist in his wake. The shockwaves started as ripples as his feet touched the water surface before they expanded into the blast of force that they become.
The mist formed a trail behind as if they were dust on the ground. He was fast, so fast that the tentacles from the depth of the sea couldn’t catch him, and the ones that managed to anticipate his movement couldn’t stop him. The turbulent water felt like solid ground to him and behaved like so to onlookers because he was dodging, jumping, and swerving as if he was on the ground.
The will clone sniffed. “It is simply perfection. He didn’t even stumble at all. I could cry if I had tear glands.” It was a clone without a body so it couldn’t cry.
“I know right.” Shaston couldn’t cry too because she had the body of law. Her body had stopped being able to create tears when she became transcendent. She continued, “He has finished the second requirement for world harmonization. At this rate of progress, he will have no problem with the third requirement. I can already tell that he will be an exceptional transcendent.”
The Will clone sniffed louder. “The beauty of harmonization. This is what is called true genius.”
The first basic harmonization is the harmonization with the earth, it is achieved through the silent running technique. The second one is the harmonization with the water, it is achieved with the fleet foot technique used for walking on water. The third and final requirement is the harmonization with the air. It can only be achieved by those at the mana stage.
The three basic harmonizations are needed to achieve one with the world or world harmonization. It is a must-have for transcendents if they wish to learn laws. With harmonization, there will be no difference between the ground, the air, or water when it comes to mobility. Advanced forms of harmonization require laws.
The performance Soverick just showed was the perfect form of harmonization with water. It is not a simple thing to have the body and mind behave in sync, and interact with the environment as one. The earth is easier because it is sturdy and reliable, while the water is fickle and indecisive. It was a great achievement, even more than the fact that he finished the fourth choke point in a single run. With harmonization, anything is possible, it didn’t surprise them when Soverick broke another unprecedented record.
Shaston clapped her little hands. “This moment will go down in history. It will be immortalized in our hall of fame. It is so wonderful to have witnessed something like this.”
The rainbow fog within the small world increased a little due to her emotional outburst.
“You know you’re killing yourself by being so happy.” The will clone said.
Shaston sighed. “I know but there’s nothing I can do about it. That’s the point about not having control. I’m happy for the boy. I’m also envious of his talents.”
“And you’re also insecure about your so-called talent. What were you capable of doing at his age? I forget because you didn’t give me memories of when you were younger.”
“I thought I was talented but Soverick really puts me in my place. It isn’t the first time I am being put in my place in regards to my talent.”
“Yes, I know. You are failing as a titan of law and will soon die.” The Will clone sounded exasperated.
“Yes, I will soon die. Now I’ve learned my lesson. I used my life to understand the fact that the realm lord is without a peer. Now I’ve come into contact with someone that could possibly fulfill my dreams and yet I find my dreams inadequate. A genius like soverick can forge his own path, why will he take mine?”
“Wow, that was very honest of you. I understand that you’re being honest with me because I’m basically you and you’re also avoiding the question I asked. But you still deserve a reward. This is usually the point where the world rewards you for your epiphany and you become a sovereign.”
Shaston chuckled. “Too bad the world isn’t like that. I’ll die for my foolhardiness and I have made my peace with it. I just wish my legacy will be fulfilled.”
“I honestly doubt that, but if anyone can hope to fulfill it, then that person is Soverick. I want to pat your back right now but you didn’t give me a body.”
“It so that you won’t bludgeon me in my sleep. I’m dying anyway but I don’t want to be that titan that got killed by her clone when she lost control of it.”
“I agree with you, at least for now. That’s probably going to change when you’re on your last leg.”
“That’s why I didn’t give you some of my memories. It’s so that I’ll have a fighting chance of victory.”
The two of them chuckled before turning back to watch how Soverick will finish the fifth choke point. It is also the last choke point, it is called pass the hydra challenge. The choke point starts at the beach where the land meets the water. There the hydra will be waiting to stop the challenger from crossing to dry land. The challenger must select a weapon or they can use their bare hands to slip through the numerous heads of the hydra.
The Hydra is a water beast with incredible water manipulation. It can create storms and tsunamis. It can also rule water bodies due to its domain creation ability. It does so by converting a territory of water into Its personal domain where enemies are weakened and it is strengthened.
It is a full-fledged mana entity but Its powers have been reduced for the sake of this challenge. It has been allowed to retain its variant physique, but not the strength of it, and a little water manipulation.
It has nine heads at first but will regrow two for each head that is cut off. Each head is a meter thick and the neck is more than 20 meters long. Soverick will have to dodge the heads he can dodge, parry, or block the ones he can’t dodge or cut off the ones he can’t parry or block. And he has to do it with the aim to cross the finish line quickly.
Even if the heads aren’t cut off, the hydra will use water magic to create more heads. So the longer the fight draws on, the more difficult the challenge becomes. It transforms from a trial against nine heads to a trial against ninety heads. The challenge is designed to help the challenger select a weapon of choice and to develop a rudimentary fighting style that can help them achieve the singular goal of crossing the finish line in as little time as possible.
Soverick was resting in the fifth safe zone, which happens to be on top of the water. The safe zone is in an area far away from the eye of the sea, so the area is very calm. The weird thing is that a transparent barrier has been placed on top of the water, it stopped him from interacting with the water.
So there he was, sitting on something he cannot perceive and looking as the water flowed beneath his butt without touching it. He got bored of that after a while and decided to move on.
He had been informed about what to expect from the last choke point. A hydra is blocking his way and he must pass through the obstacle.
“Show me the weapon options.” He requested.
The illusion array answered and the safe zone became filled with all sorts of weapons. There were rigid weapons like clubs, morning stars, swords, etc. There were non-rigid weapons like whips, curved blades, flexible spears, etc. There were also blunt weapons, piercing weapons, slashing weapons, and range weapons.
He considered his options for a while. He wanted to choose either the spear, a bladed weapon like a sword, or a ranged weapon like a bow because they would go well with his divine ability.
The divine ability of battle sage monkeys is based on perception and they have created special techniques with certain weapons to take full advantage of their divine ability. He may not be able to use a refinement technique but he wants to have a look at these special techniques.