Michael was so focused on his chat with his brother that he missed Selena’s words. He only noticed that something was amiss when everyone stared intently at him.
“Sorry, I was talking to my brother. Apparently, he feels stronger than before. The High Ascension affected him as well,” Michael murmured.
Selena nodded slowly but looked at Eren instead, “I recall you promised to help him create an ideal vessel for Daniel Fang.”
Eren confirmed what Selena said. She turned back to Michael, smiling devilishly from one ear to another.
“If you exceed my expectations in a spar with one of our younger Curse Users, I will give Eren a helping hand with the vessel.”
The Neast Leader made an enticing offer, one Michael couldn’t reject. He would be a fool to reject the Nest Leader’s help. She was the strongest being he’d encountered. Her help would impact greatly.
“Really?” Michael asked, his eyes glimmering, “Let’s go to the arena!”
Since he had to test his powers in the first place, Michael wouldn’t reject to spar with other Curse Users. The benefits he could obtain by exceeding Selena’s expectations were merely the cherries on the top – very expensive cherries.
Selena gestured for Michael to follow her. Eren and Evee got up as well. They didn’t have any other appointments today and were also curious about the course of events.
The trip to the arena didn’t take long. Nonetheless, Michael spent the whole time focusing on the changes he’d undergone. At some point, his attention landed on the golden droplets inside his Energy Pillar. They were overflowing with energy and created a vortex that pulled the surrounding energy closer to him. Combined with Extraction Aura, Michael ended up creating a perfect cycle to absorb and annex the thick energy in the surroundings without trying. He didn’t do anything to activate the Extraction Aura or the vortex of the Origin Sap Essence.
Inside the arena, Michael was forced to open his eyes again. The tension in the arena was suffocating. There weren’t many people in the massive halls that resembled a highly modern colosseum with various holographic screens displaying various recordings and statistics.
Michael eyed two particular screens. One showed the Nest Leader executing some technique using an unknown crimson power, while the other holographic screen showed statistics determining someone’s combat prowess.
“Average Rating: Higher Lifeform – Elite,” He mumbled while taking a more in-depth look at the other statistics, “Physique – Elite. Energy Control – Elite plus. Soultrait Mastery – Superior…”
Michael didn’t manage to see more before Eren appeared before him. Eren stared intently at him and shook his head vividly.
“You shouldn’t pry at other’s information. They’re not hidden well because we don’t think it’s necessary to hide our strength from each other, but that doesn’t mean we like it when others stare intensely at our Prowess Logs like you did just now,” Eren explained.
“These statistics are called prowess logs? I understand what they’re supposed to do, but why isn’t the Prowess Log more detailed? Shouldn’t it say something like “Tier-4 Higher Lifeform Common, Elite, Superior, Mythical, or the like? Isn’t it way too vague to say ‘Higher Lifeform – Elite’?” Michael asked in response to Eren’s explanation.
“The Prowess Log is more detailed than you think. The data you can download are far more detailed than the ‘Elite’ or ‘Superior’ you’ve seen just now,” Selena said lightly as she appeared next to them, “You must have noticed that not all Higher Lifeforms are the same. The War Rune’s rank is a great way to determine how strong someone is supposed to be, but the Tier ranking is not perfect. Too many other factors determine someone’s actual combat prowess. That includes Soultraits, Techniques, spatial awareness, experience, knowledge, reaction speed, the refinement of the body, mind, and soul, and tens of other factors.”
Michael recalled how weak some Higher Lifeforms had been when he dealt with the 106 Lords in the Savannah Region. Comparing them to the High Lionhearts he’d fought, Michael could only agree. Not every Higher Lifeform was the same. Hiraku, for example, was several times stronger than the Higher Lifeforms of the Savannah Region. Yet, he wasn’t strong enough to deal with the Commanders of the Heart of the Blazing Lion army.
Selena noticed the gaze in his eyes and nodded, “Of course, someone’s Tier and rank cannot be underestimated, but that will be included in the more detailed rating as well. A Higher Lifeform at the 6th Tier will have a much higher rating in most subjects since a Tier-6 Awakened has a far stronger physique, among other significant factors the War Rune strengthens by being refined.”
The Prowess Log was slightly more precise to determine someone’s actual combat prowess. That could come in handy.
‘I can go all out and test my rating to understand which enemies I can fight fearlessly in the Origin Expanse and who to fight with great vigilance.’
Either way, it was time to get started.
Selena grinned when she saw the flicker of determination in his eyes and called someone over.
“I would have loved to bring Hesta over to fight you, but Hesta is a little busy dealing with a batch of Minor Curses. I will spare the details. It’s not that interesting in the first place,” Selena waved dismissively before pointing at the young red-skinned woman. Her eyes were as dark as a moonless night, and her expression fiercer than some monsters. Michael had to suppress his urge to back away as the woman stormed toward them.
Horns, curved inwardly, jut from the sides of her forehead, and point ears highlighted her appearance. She looked similar to the Valyrs, but her skin color was more prominent, and her eyes were…different.
“This is Ligno’vsh. She will spar with you,” Selena introduced her lightly, “You might as well call her Lig. She doesn’t care.”
Lig – Ligno’vsh – gruntend quietly, clearly not liking Selena’s words, but she didn’t dare to reject the Nest Leader. Selena patted Lig lightly on the back while her vibrant, fairly annoying smile never ceased.
“This is your opponent. His name is Michael Fang. He is a little cute and finished his ascension to a Higher Lifeform a few hours ago,” Selena said. “Don’t hold back.”
Ligno’vsh looked at Michael for a second before ignoring him.
“You want me to spar with a Rookie, Leader?” She frowned deeply, “That’s a waste of my time. Taking him down won’t ta–…”
Selena raised her hand to stop Ligno’vsh right there, “If it won’t take long to defeat him, how about you stop talking and spar with him? You can get back to your training, and I will assign more resources to your monthly allocation if you manage to take him down within sixty seconds.”
Lig’s attitude changed drastically upon hearing the offer. She rotated back to Michael and gestured politely to him.
“Sorry about that. I need the resources.”
[I don’t like this one.] Danny announced, only for the World Serpent to resurface as well.
[She smells familiar. I don’t like her and the Curse she’s inhibiting.]
Michael was about to ask the World Serpent if it felt better or if it was still on an attitude trip, but he held back. It was already good enough that the World Serpent said something.
‘I don’t like her either. Let’s beat her up.’ Michael announced, receiving several positive responses from his brother and the World Serpent.
He used Spirit Eyes to procure a bunch of valuable pieces of information about Lig before their spar began. Michael repeated the same somewhat polite gesture to Ligno’vsh and entered the arena. The arena wasn’t anything grand. It was a large circle with a few arrays to ensure nobody would get killed. At least, that was what Michael thought before the runic arrays lit up.
The arena disappeared as the scenery changed. Michael and Ligno’vsh appeared on a massive plain. Michael was still using Spirit Eyes, but that confused him even more. He was fairly sure he was still in the same place but couldn’t perceive Evee, Eren, or Selena. They’d disappeared.
“Is that a pocket dimension?” Michael asked himself. The World Serpent was about to answer when Ligno’vsh laughed.
“You don’t even know what the Gladiator Arena is? The Leader was right. You are a naive little cutey~” Ligno’vsh said.
Michael could accept that Selena spoke like that. The Nest Leader was old, probably a lot older than Michael could fathom. She was given the right to act like that because of her age, but not Ligno’vsh. Michael didn’t have the faintest clue about Ligno’vsh age, but the woman was still a Higher Lifeform. Spirit Eyes determined that the energy coursing through her wasn’t that great. She was either close to reaching the Peak of Tier-4 or already a Tier-5 powerhouse.
That was great and undoubtedly something Michael couldn’t deal with before the High Ascension. However, Michael wasn’t scared to fight a powerhouse like her at this point anymore. If anything, it excited him.
Michael stared intently at Ligno’vsh, who changed into a combat stance. A pair of gauntlets conjured around her hands. They didn’t look special, but Spirit Eyes told Michael they were far from ordinary.
Michael also switched to a combat stance. He manifested Aethyr in its liquid state around his arms, ready to transform it into various weapons on command.
Three large bulbs of light energy conjured before them. The first splattered after a second, only for the remaining bulbs to follow shortly after. The battle began the instant the last bulb burst apart.
Curse power surged through Lig when the battle began. Her physical strength skyrocket and she appeared before at once. Michael stared at Lig and used Spiritual Domination on her. However, instead of attacking her with an ordinary spiritual attack, Michael assaulted a single point of her spirit. Spiritual Domination impacted heavily and crushed Lig’s spirit. She faltered and was about to collapse when a surge of curse power flooded her mind.
The curse power weakened Spiritual Domination’s potency and repaired Lig’s shattered defense. She groaned but altered her tactic right away. Lig punched Michael in the pit of his stomach, only for Michael’s body to disperse. She hit an afterimage.
Michael was behind her, conjuring an azure flame in his palm. The azure flame expanded explosively and swallowed Lig, who charged out of the blazing tidal wave of fire instantaneously.
Lig’s reaction speed was fast. She was physically strong as well, and her control of curse power was impressive as well.
However, Michael didn’t think Lig was special. He couldn’t tell why she was so arrogant.
Lig’s body bulged, and her physical prowess increased drastically. She charged Michael again and materialized before him swiftly. Lig punched him, forcing Michael to teleport away once again. However, it was a faint. Lig spun around her body and kicked Michael in the face as he appeared above her.
Michael converted the liquid Aethyr around his arms into small shields to block her kick, but the force was impressive nonetheless.
‘She altered already?’ Michael tilted his head. He was still trying to get used to the changes of his body and didn’t want to use his Soultraits too much. Instead, Michael felt like using his physique, mind, and soul to the limits before going all out with his Curses and Soultraits.
However, her kick was strong enough to hurl him through the air. He smashed into the ground and was threatened by a barrage of mighty kicks and punches as Lig followed up with a series of attacks.
Michael teleported away using Cosmic Stride and landed on the ground not far from her. The corner of his lips curled upward.
This wasn’t going to be easy. He didn’t expect less from the Nest.
The Aethyr Shields converted into a one-handed scimitar and a short sword. At the same time, the Soul Grimoire manifested next to him. He used a few Soul Tears to augment Enhancement, Sacred Constitution, and his Souls.
He felt like his skin was set on fire as he used several Enhancement layers on Sacred Constitution before using both Foundation Break and Heavenly Beast Physique.
The ground underneath him cracked and burst open as his raw strength skyrocketed.
Lig frowned deeply, but the faintest hint of a smile plastered her expression.
The fight was far from over.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is frew(e)bn(o)vel