⟐ Chapter 16

The man went away, and so I tracked his made obvious trail. By the looks of it, the man is very well skilled in his skills, as even I barely noticed that there was already an attack. And not only that, he even has a hidden skill that piqued my curiosity. For him to be a [Champion] that I saw he has, he must’ve been lucky with his body too, and that’s another reason for me to end him, as I know for sure that he could probably beat low tiered [Kings] this early in the game if he really wants to. And after dusting myself off, I passed by what seemed to be the captain of the guards.

“W-what happened?! T-the Mayor! What did you do?”

He confusedly asked me with both fear and anger in his tone of voice. So what? What would he do if I did something? With such a feeble strength of his who haven’t even managed to achieve the one hundred thresholds on a single attribute could do to me? My stats, at the very beginning, were already three hundred in all attributes and added to my newly acquired skills. What could a weak human like him do to me? Unlike the man I’m chasing right now, most of the adult human natives in this world that I saw in this town after inspecting them all, have an average of twenty to twenty-five average attribute points, with their highest stat barely able to break past thirty-five. I wanted to relieve my anger onto him, but he hasn’t done anything to me as of yet. So instead, I just ignored his insolent remarks and ordered him.

“If you don’t want needless casualties, move everyone away from the direction I’m going to, as whatever happens to them is my fault no longer now that I warned you.”

“What!”

“You heard me or are you deaf? I won’t repeat myself anymore, and move them.”

The captain was blubbering in confusion and kept on asking what was happening. But upon noticing he was being ignored by me, he paused for a moment before he commanded the guards that ran instantly towards the location of the watchman station after hearing the explosion, and now they began to evacuate the civilians within the perimeter and those living in the direction I was going to. 

And after a few moments, chaos ensued in the town, as I had now reached the man seemingly now with another person.

[Name: Daigurr Pozly (Henry L. Woods) Race: Human Class: Adept Musclemancer Faction: Champions (Rank 20,853,786) Lv. 19 (23/1,800)

Status: Muscle Boost, Flexibility Boost, Pain Reduction, Muscle Hardened.

Stats: Strength: 100, Constitution: 123, Agility: 104, Dexterity: 77, Intelligence: 53, Wisdom: 56, Willpower: 65

Skills: Adept Muscle Manipulation Talent (C), Overload Form Physical Body (C), Life Essence Burn (D)...]

“So you brought another [Champion], how nice of you.”

“Is that him? He looks strong.”

“Yep, that’s the guy, and by the looks of it, he’s unscathed from my direct attack.”

“Fuck, I just got here, and my first fight is going to be against a [King]!?”

“You didn’t test against beasts back then?”

“It’s because of you!”

“F***, you have your new memories, don’t you? You already have some experience with fighting.”

“Yeah, my body has, but not me!”

“It’s the same, isn’t it?”

…

I was growing incredibly annoyed as they ignored me and proceeded to engage in a private conversation of theirs. Are they not taking me seriously? Them? These people? Well, let’s not get consumed by anger in a fight. It’s not only advisable but also deadly; one must have a clear mind when fighting beings that could think. But still, I couldn’t help but be riled up by their insolence that only blood could satisfy. And so I casted one of my new skills that I learned.

[Beginner’s Spatial Talent (D): This skill would allow the user to gain natural talent at manipulating the space around the user. No spatial law is unbendable for this talent! The universe itself shall obey the user! This skill is at its lowest level. Spells: Space Slice, Gravity Expanse, Gravity Condense.]

Casting the skill [Gravity Condense] at them, they instantly felt the disturbance in not only the mana but also the physical pull from a point near them. So they quickly responded by dodging away like quick-footed felines, making it so that before the space collapse, they were already gone. The man that was glowing—who was also the one that I first met, lit up fire beneath his feet, and after he ducked to the side to avoid my first attack, he changed his direction in a blink of an eye and was now fast rushing at me. And on the other hand, the new guy, the Musclemancer [Champion]—or Musclemancer for short, brought to the table, had quickly begun to change shape after dodging, and not even three seconds after his transformation, his legs had become long and skinny. Though it looks thin, I can see it—the details inside the skin, fully compressed muscles working in full capacity as yellow glowing tattoos began to cover it. This Musclemancer had also begun to rush me at a wide trajectory, seemingly trying to outflank me with his boosted speed that honestly almost made me surprised as for a few seconds was nearing my running speed.

The fight had now officially started, and I wasn’t just merely going to take any punches they’ll give out with an open face. Though as I began to scout their abilities further using the spell [Space Slice], the space that was holding reality got cut as almost invisible blades were ripping through the fabric of space at relatively high speed towards them. Even if a single one of them managed to hit any of the two, it would most likely cut through them like butter. But it seems like they aren’t easy targets, as they are managing to dodge through them with relative ease.

Upon reaching what they deemed as the appropriate distance, the Fire Monk stopped in his tracks and began to cast glowing glyphs on the field. This time it was almost instantly before they erupted into a fire pillar. Though these ones were weaker than the ones with charges, nonetheless this attack made me move from my position. But instead of moving backward to gain some distance so that I could bombard them with some more ranged spells, I instead closed in on them, as my skill set isn’t tailored towards ranged attacks but close-range physical fights, where I could fully use my attribute advantage. The Fire Monk upon seeing my next move, had now changed his [Fire Glyphs] again, and now they were the long-charged ones but dealt more damage, and he planted them in my path trajectory kind of like timed mines. These attacks were the ones that I wanted to avoid getting hit with, as they actually do sting a little, so I changed course and instead went for the one trying to outflank me, as he was now getting a bit too close.

Though it seems like they want to drag this fight for a lengthy battle as upon noticing my change of movements, the Musclemancer backed off before kicking the ground and throwing dust at me after exchanging glances with the Fire Monk. This greatly annoyed me as it felt like I was being toyed with by these two weak beings, so I decided to just go in for a trade and rushed towards the Fire Monk through his field of [Fire Glyph]. I tried to dodge and outrun the traps on the field using my inspect skill to avoid the stronger [Fire Glyphs], but they were just too many and too compacted the more I came closer to the Fire Monk. So I took some fire damage, but even so, it was worth it as I saw the Fire Monk look at me with fear after coming out from his attack, again unscathed. There was still a bit of distance from the both of us, though, so I didn’t waste a moment as I continued to charge at him.

“F***! S***!”

“GO GAIN SOME DISTANCE!”

“I CAN’T HE’S TOO CLOSE!!”

And after that brief long-distance exchange of theirs, I was now face to face with the Fire Monk. And without skipping a beat, I closed in for melee. It seems like he doesn’t like to be this close to me as his face was that of one in a serious dilemma. I know the reason why, though; it’s because he knew he can’t take me on in close-quarters combat because of the difference in our stats. It was just too great. He might be able to hold his ground with me, that is if I didn’t unlock my third skill, which was the [Beginner’s Perfect Combat Talent] even though it was only at (D) rarity. It had the difference of heaven and earth compared to someone without talent at all, and after using it now, I can greatly feel how to use my attacks properly and naturally, unlike back then when I was just winging it out with my surface knowledge of martial arts.

The close-quarter fight, or if you could even call it that, as only after seven or eight hits, even though the monk managed to block it, he was greatly injured and had already broken one of his arms after repeatedly using it to block my attacks as sacrifice instead of getting both of his arms going out of commission. This exchange had only been a blink of the eye though, but in that moment, his ally came in to the rescue and tried to attack me from behind. But if there’s one thing I hate more than weak beings, it’s those that attack people in the back. So instead of beating him to a pulp, I decided to try my other new skill [Simple Touch of Disintegration], which was at (C) rank. My hands glowed a dark violet hue, unlike the bluish ones that the [Neutralite Basics] had, and from within my palms, I can feel my mana flowing within something as I touched the Musclemancer before he could attack me.

“What the? A?-A?-A?!—AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!...”

In an instant, the part of the man which I touched began to disintegrate. And upon noticing this, the man quickly grew his arm outwards to delay the effects of my attack until it wore off which was rapidly turning to ash. But like a hungry locust on a wheat field, the flesh turned to ash as it ate through and seemingly trying to devour the Musclemancer whole. The man screamed as he instantly dropped down on the ground, as I and the Fire Monk watched his companion cry in agony. The screams lasted for ten seconds only though, but it felt like an eternity for both the Musclemancer who was experiencing hell and the monk who was seeing hell before his eyes as the never-ending growing and disintegrating of flesh had finally stopped. But the man on the ground didn’t stand back up anymore, as even though he prevented his whole body from getting reduced to atoms, his muscle growth wasn’t fast enough to combat the effects of my skill as his heart was now a thousand little pieces and was floating in the air.

And with that, there was silence again in the cold night.