With this new appearance, Cynrik knew Jörmungandr had easily called his bluff. The World Devouring Serpent was standing feet away, and from the furious glare he was aiming at Cynrik, the creature wanted nothing more than to rip the boy limb from limb.
Standing a mere 20 feet away from a supreme being known from history and lore, Cynrik was surprisingly calm. Unknown to him, his bloodline increase was good for something other than driving him insane.
His innate battle sense had been multiplied several-fold, making it so that instead of fear or nervousness, all he could feel at that moment was pure excitement and a thirst for battle.
One being was a multiple thousand-year-old former Legacy Charge, with an impressive backstory clad in numerous scales and a strange hazy miasma; the other was enveloped in a mixed aura formed from Dark, Fire, and Wind Affinities. Both stood utterly motionless, waiting for the other to make the first strike.
However, they both had very different thoughts as they locked in a stalemate. For Jörmungandr, this was a battle to be reborn in a new body; for Cynrik, he was simply buying time, waiting for his body not to feel as if it was going haywire. The simple use of Mana earlier took so much more effort than he realized, forcing him to acknowledge things weren’t going to end in his favor if he kept this up.
‘Tobs, what’s going on with my body right now? Why can’t I control my Affinities properly?’
-It’s the Evolution; currently, outside your SOC, your Codex is being completely rebuilt from the ground up, and your Circuits are in the process of merging with every fiber of your being. As a result, you are running at only 5% peak efficiency when utilizing your Affinities.-
‘I need a timeframe here, Tobs; I can only rely on physical strength for so long. Even using a skill as simple as [Mana Sight] gives me weird feedback; how am I supposed to handle this snake who has thousands of years of combat experience?’ Unconsciously tensing the muscles in his left arm, Cynrik tried to focus on the presence he was detecting radiating off Jörmungandr.
“Fufu, what’s wrong, Asgardian? Has fear gripped your heart now that we are on an even playing field?” Jörmungandr said through a smile that wasn’t a smile.
“Hm? Nah, nothing like that, Jormie; you just caught me off guard for a second; I didn’t realize something as ugly as your true form could somehow get even more ugly when condensed.” Casting a sidelong glance at Jörmungandr, Cynrik quipped in response.
Unfortunately, his opponent had been pushed too far by Cynrik’s verbal abuse and chose that moment to strike. Flashing away instantly, Jörmungandr appeared face to face with Cynrik and smashed his elbow into the side of his head, rocketing Cynrik through the air like a rag doll.
Luckily, Cynrik could barely bring up his left arm and mitigate the bulk of the damage to his head at the last second. Still, the force of the blow was enough to send him sailing over 30 meters away.
Righting himself in the air, Cynrik touched down with his right leg first, and using his left to brace, he kicked off the ground and changed direction instantly just as Jörmungandr appeared beside him, with his leg raised and a vicious glint in his eye.
The two proceeded to trade strikes back and forth for ten rounds, feeling out each other before stopping and standing equidistant apart. Cynrik was already panting heavily, while Jörmungandr seemed to haven’t even done so much as a brisk jog.
‘Fuck, he hits hard, way harder than Ragnar did. If I had to estimate, that snakey bastard should be somewhere around Tier-4 or 5; his presence alone feels similar to the six Headmasters, yet at the same time, the force behind his punches seems oddly weaker than expected. WAIT, FUCKING SHIT!’
Tsssssss
Hearing the sizzling sound, Cynrik peeked at his fists and forearms only to see the purple mist rising off his skin originating from each point of impact landed by Jörmungandr’s fists.
“Fufu, took you long enough Asgardian; it seems you really aren’t well informed with my lineage. Omnipoison, my ultimate Affinity and the fully Evolved form of the Poison Affinity. I am sure you’ve noticed both your arms and legs going numb.” Jörmungandr said while sneering in disdain.
“Oh, this? Nah, it ain’t a big deal; I’ve had worse. But, to be honest, I was more concerned about how something at your level hits about as weakly as a 5-year-old girl. Seriously, what kind of all-mighty snake can’t even throw a punch, che.” Cynrik waved his arms around, ignoring the numbness and trailing purple mist as if it didn’t bother him in the least.
“WILL YOU SHUT UP! THESE TAUNTS ARE BEGINNING TO ANNOY ME TO NO END.” Jörmungandr screamed, outraged at the level of disrespect being shown by Cynrik, a weak mortal.
“MEH MEH, WILL YOU MEH, THESE TAUNTS MEH MEH! FUCK YOU! This is my body and MY SOC, you snakey bastard.”
BOOOOOM
Before Cynrik could continue his insults, his head rocked backward as Jörmungandr sucker-punched him with enough force behind the hit to stop a speeding truck, yet Cynrik’s feet stayed rooted in place as he let his head sway back with the punch.
Under Jörmungandr’s fist, which was large enough to cover Cynrik’s face completely, he smirked sadistically, as he had been waiting for the moment his opponent would move in close enough.
Pushing against the fist with his face, Cynrik snapped his right arm up and caught Jörmungandr by the wrist with his right hand, locking the Serpent in place, and clenched his hand into a fist.
‘The angle is wrong, but fuck it,’ Cynrik thought as he shifted his body weight, carrying along Jörmungandr enough to brake his stance, and, using all the strength he could muster, fired off a devastating uppercut from his hip. Still, he didn’t stop there as his fingers extended, and he attacked the exposed ribcage of the taller being.
TAP TAP
The attack was so sudden and quick that Jörmungandr didn’t have enough time to react, but his face contorted in disgust when he felt nothing for half a second. However, when he believed the attack had failed, that was when an intense pain raced from his ribcage to his opposite shoulder, followed by a loud cracking sound as the air in front of where Cynrik’s hits landed crackled with power.
“Futae No Kiwami,” Cynrik said, spitting out a mouthful of blood right into Jörmungandr’s face and releasing his grip on the being’s wrist.
BBOOOOOOMMMM
The sound of the sound barrier-breaking racked both beings’ eardrums, and a massive opposing force sent Jörmungandr soaring.
-You have successfully executed the newly created skill “Futae No Kiwami” for the first time.-
-Warning: Due to the backlash of the skill, you have received a D Grade upon completion.-
-You have received a failing grade on execution, please obtain a grade of at least B or Higher to add this skill to your skill list.-
-Warning you have fractured all the prominent knuckles on your left hand.-
-You have lost 800 HP.-
-Current HP 5598/8000.-
-Warning you have fractured your left wrist in three places.-
-You have lost 800 points HP.-
-Current HP 4793/8000.-
Cynrik’s eyes flicked through the notifications from Tobs as he massaged his sore left hand with his right.
‘Eh, seriously, I thought it was perfect, Tobs. So why did you give me a D, and what is with this grading scale? It’s like im taking exams in school.’ Cynrik complained while watching Jörmungandr roll around on the ground gasping for air and gripping his left side in pain.
-I am reasonably certain the follow-up notifications were pretty clear…pay attention; he’s getting up.-
Tobs didn’t bother further explaining things and only gave Cynrik a quick heads up in reply to his question, causing him to frown unhappily.
“Ugh, What the fuck was that skill? How is this possible?” Jörmungandr howled through gritted teeth while nursing his ribs.
“Hehe, did you like it? There is plenty more where that came from; bring it on, snakey.” Cynrik flitted towards the wounded Jörmungandr and took to the offensive, dishing out kicks from random angles and mixing in different types of hooked punches, each strike rocking Jörmungandr in the direction the attack came from.
With the initiative in his favor, Cynrik spun and delivered a spinning back kick to his opponent’s solar plexus and unsheathed both Kodachi with a flourish.
He narrowly avoided Jörmungandr’s every attack, whether it was a ducking hook or a strange kick he did not recognize; no matter what he did, he kept him on the defensive, making it very difficult to counterattack.
This only further infuriated the World Devouring Serpent, who could only regret allowing Cynrik to land that strange combination punch. Unsurprisingly, it had damaged his internal organs significantly, on top of cleanly breaking every rib on Jörmungandr’s left side. Even the act of breathing was so painful that he was constantly being forced to divert Mana to the spot just to keep his lungs inflating.
Not being one to miss out on an opportunity, Cynrik, who was fully aware of just how much damage the Futae no Kiwami could cause, pressured Jörmungandr by mixing up sword strikes with kicks, elbows, and fancy strikes.
For nearly 20 minutes straight, Cynrik mercilessly beat Jörmungandr virtually unanswered. However, he had already realized that his lack of physical strength was beginning to work against him. Cynrik’s flurry of violent attacks may have looked like they were causing damage, but in reality, be it due to the power gap or the armor-like scales coating the being’s weak points, the actual damage Cynrik was dealing was quite minor.
Without the added strength from his Affinities, Cynrik knew the best he could do was stall Jörmungandr for the time being and hinder him he did.
Cynrik didn’t let up, keeping a pace that would burn out a lesser being in minutes. He rained blows from every possible angle, targeting every visible joint and weak point on Jörmungandr’s body until the notification he had spent nearly an hour waiting for appeared before his eyes.
-You have completed your Tier-2 Evolution.-
“About time, let’s kick shit into high gear, Tobs, play Heart of Sword! I need something Oldschool to get my blood pumping. FULL POWER TIME RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Feeling as if all the gears in his body after ages had clicked into place and began turning, Cynrik gleefully demanded some background music and unleashed his total 5G of Killing Intent. Next, he manifested BlackFlames that surged around his body hungrily.
-Now playing “Heart of Sword” By T.M.Revolution.-
-This series is exclusively published on WebNovel if you are reading it anywhere else…You Wrong, Fam. PS Check out the discord, https://discord.gg/dcxKNJEMwg