Nova stood in the middle of the room, while Jack, Erevan, and Slade stood off to the side.
Erevan asked calmly, “Are you ready?”
Nova took a deep breath and nodded.
“Alright, we’ll start with a Level 50, Grade 0.” Erevan took out the array disc that controlled the building’s array and fiddled with it for a moment.
When he finished, a figure slowly condensed out of nowhere in front of Nova.
Compared to the middle aged man Slade fought earlier, the one standing in the room now looked leaner.
It used neither a sword nor a spear, instead, it clenched its fists as soon as it took shape and settled into a fighting stance.
“It’ll start the moment you attack.”
Seeing Nova standing still and staring at the figure, Erevan couldn’t help but remind him.
‘Fighting barehanded? This is the first time I’ve seen someone not use a weapon since all the mess started,’ Nova thought with a smile. ‘Let’s see whose body is stronger.’
He clenched his fists tightly, took a step forward and appeared in front of the construct.
Then, he threw a punch.
Off to the side, Erevan was taken aback by Nova’s choice to fight barehanded, while Jack could only smile wryly. Slade was the only one whose expression remained unchanged as he stared ahead.
Sensing the looming threat, the lean man moved and met Nova’s fist halfway with its own.
When Nova saw this, he couldn’t help but smirk. ‘Seems like we’re both confident in our bodies.’
As the two fists were about to collide, Erevan commented, “Is he not pulling back?”
“He won’t,” Jack said.
Bang!
The two fists met and, to everyone’s surprise, Nova calmly stood his ground, his arm still extended, yet nothing stood before him.
The construct’s arm had vanished.
No.
It wasn’t just the arm.
Half of the construct’s body had been obliterated into specks of energy that soon dissipated.
Only the left side remained intact for a few seconds before it, too, dispersed.
Slowly, Nova straightened up.
Meanwhile, off to the side, Jack’s mouth hung open, though no words came out.
Erevan’s lips twitched, and even Slade couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, if only by the smallest fraction.
It was safe to say they were all surprised, to certain degrees.
Jack turned his head toward Erevan and asked, “Did you give him something?”
Meeting his gaze, Erevan replied ruefully, “I wish. At least that would explain why his body is so strong.”
“Then how? Even if he strengthened his body, that still wouldn’t let him take out half a construct with a single punch. It doesn’t make sense,” Jack said aloud, voicing his thoughts.
Slade’s ears twitched, as if he too was waiting for an explanation.
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But they were bound to be disappointed.
Erevan merely shrugged. “I have no idea. The only one who knows is him, and we can ask later. Right now, what I’m most curious about is how far he’ll go.”
Hearing that, both Jack and Slade pushed their thoughts aside and refocused on Nova, who stood silently in the middle of the room.
Erevan spoke aloud, “Next is a Level 75, Grade 0.”
Another figure materialized several meters away from Nova. As soon as it fully formed, earth mana swirled around it, gradually covering its entire body in a protective film.
Nova studied the figure attentively. ‘No weapon, but it uses mana and it’s the element with the highest defensive capabilities of all the base elements. Though it has a weakness: its offense is too weak. I doubt it will do any damage to me.’
Those thoughts might have sounded arrogant, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. After hearing Erevan’s shout, and coupled with the previous fight that gave him a rough idea of the kinds of opponents he faced, Nova concluded that a Level 75 construct coupled with the earth element simply couldn’t harm him.
Satisfied with that assessment, he wasted no time and charged forward, ready to swing his fist.
The construct reacted, covering its own fist in several layers of earth mana before meeting his punch with one of its own. It was a simple yet brutally effective close-combat style, classic for someone, or something, focused entirely on the earth element. Trading blows.
“This construct’s comprehension is sorely lacking,” Erevan sighed, “but I guess that’s what we get from the average person.”
The earth-covered fist met Nova’s bare one, and the layers protecting it shattered instantly, like thin glass meeting a rock. In less time than it took to blink, his fist smashed into the construct, popping it like a soap bubble and taking half its body with it.
The scene gave the three watching from the side a collective sense of déjà vu.
Despite the 25 level difference, the result was the same in the face of Nova’s fist, and the process looked as effortless as could be. He hadn’t even fully unleashed his Aura, nor had he used any element to enhance his strength.
What he used was just his pure body strength.
Jack took a sharp, deep breath and muttered, “I know Level 100 is a major threshold for average people in terms of comprehension, and that Level 75 is far from reaching that kind of strength, but this is surreal. He lost several years inside the Purple portal, yet he’s punching through these Level 75 constructs as if they were made of paper. Is his body made of some rare material or what?”
“What a pleasant surprise,” Erevan muttered, a smile playing on his face.
The stronger Nova was, the better.
Judging by the strength he had just displayed, Erevan was certain that as long as Nova kept training inside the Lesser Orange portal, it would only be a matter of time before he caught up to the best of the other civilizations.
While both Jack and Erevan were stunned by Nova’s display of strength, Slade curtly said, “It was only Level 75. Keep watching.”
His opinion of a Level 75 wasn’t high. After all, just minutes ago, he had defeated a construct at least twice that level. There was still a massive difference present before he would start taking things seriously.
Erevan nodded at Slade’s words, then turned toward Nova and said, “Level 100 next. Be careful or you might suffer a bit.”
“I’m ready,” Nova replied shortly, waiting for the figure in front of him to fully reveal itself.
This time, it was a lithe woman holding a sword. She seemed so unassuming that, if not for the already drawn weapon, most would think she was too weak to even wield one.
The sight made Nova’s eyes narrow. Despite the sword being clearly drawn, he sensed a hidden sharpness, as if it were still sheathed. It was a feeling vastly different from the previous two opponents and it put him on high alert.
‘For Erevan to say I’m going to suffer means this feeling I’m getting is real. Do I continue using just my body, or do I bring out Dreadscape?’ Nova pondered.
While he mulled over this, Jack sighed from the side. “Level 100. Every opponent I’ve faced at that level knew how to use some kind of Force. Those who haven’t learned it will never realize just how vast the gap is between them and those who have touched on that threshold.”
“Indeed,” Erevan replied. “What I want to see now is how strong Nova is without Force, and how far he can push the construct. Depending on the result, the moment he comprehends one type of Force, his strength will leap forward dramatically.”
Jack turned to Erevan. “Do you think the natives from other worlds inside the Lesser Orange portal have already comprehended Force?”
Erevan didn’t answer immediately. He hadn’t given the question much thought. His focus had always been on those from higher civilizations, for whom comprehending Force was a prerequisite to entering the portal.
He could, however, guess why Jack asked.
Just as Erevan felt a sense of competition toward the advanced civilizations, Jack, being a native of a civilization on the verge of advancement, felt the same toward others in a similar position.
After a few seconds, Erevan replied calmly, “Most of them have probably already comprehended it. Among billions in a civilization, there are bound to be thousands who, after several decades, manage to comprehend Force.”
“I see,” Jack muttered.
Knowing that others from similar backgrounds were stronger than him didn’t dishearten him. If anything, it excited him. He couldn’t wait to meet them and exchange experiences with Force to further his own path, much like he already did during the group’s meetings.
While the two of them discussed this, Nova, standing in the middle of the room and staring at the construct before him, came to a decision.
‘I want to see my body’s limits.’
He thought, a smile tugging at his lips.
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