Just a moment ago, Nova had been filled with fighting intent, nothing more. There had been no pressure, no dangerous feeling coming from him that someone on the level of Jack, Erevan, or Slade could sense.
Now, though… the very air around him trembled as if afraid of his new appearance.
Bathed in a blood red Aura that calmly flowed all over his body, he stood there like an overlord surveying his army. His eyes hadn’t moved an inch from the construct, and a relaxed smile tugged at his lips.
Jack couldn’t believe his eyes, much less his senses. It was faint but even he felt a sense of danger coming from his friend, and he wasn’t even the main target of that pressure. This situation rendered him speechless and his face formed a frown.
He condensed his Saber Force and, with a single thought, shredded the Aura coming his way. The frown he hadn’t realized he was wearing slowly eased.
Keeping his gaze locked on Nova, he said quietly, a puzzled expression on his face, “Erevan, what’s that energy surrounding Nova?”
Since his eyes were glued to the middle of the room, he didn’t notice that his wasn’t the only lost expression.
Beside him, Erevan, and even Slade, were staring intently at Nova, not wanting to miss a single detail.
After a few seconds of getting no response, Jack finally turned his head and called out, “Erevan?”
Hearing his name, Erevan snapped out of his daze and looked back at him. “Did you say something?”
Jack smiled wryly and repeated his question, to which Erevan could only shake his head.
“I don’t know. I left my birthplace when I was too young, and nobody ever told me about a phenomenon like this. There’s also nothing about it in the notes my father left behind. If we want to know what that is, we’ll have to ask Nova afterward.”
Jack nodded and turned back to look at Nova. Inwardly, he thought, What the hell have you found out this time?
It seemed as if his friend had a knack for returning from a portal each time with a new power, it was utterly ridiculous.
Slade heard their exchange but remained silent. The only noticeable change was the way his fingers had curled into a fist.
As for the construct, which was enduring the full brunt of Nova’s Aura, it hadn’t moved at all.
If one looked closely, they could see that its form occasionally lost tiny fragments of its body and each time that happened, the energy dispersed back into the air.
But the amount was so small that it wouldn’t impact the construct in the short term, at least, not if all it needed to do was stand still.
That was something that couldn’t happen right now, as it was in the middle of a fight.
Nova grinned and threw a punch.
It might have looked like the same simple punch he’d thrown many times before, but if his opponent made that assumption, it would already be too late for regrets.
Luckily, or unluckily, for him, the construct didn’t mirror the emotions of the person it was mimicking. Everything it did was based solely on the most efficient course of action.
In this case…it was to swing the sword again.
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At level 100, Force might very well be the strongest asset anyone had in their arsenal and that rang true especially for the construct.
‘It’s much clearer now,’ Nova thought in the span of a heartbeat.
This time, when the woman swung, he could see the blade’s trajectory. But he didn’t back away. Instead, he pushed forward.
When the sword reached his arm, it tore away a large chunk of Aura, just shy of touching his flesh, but that was all it managed to do. Meanwhile, his punch continued forward, unimpeded.
Then…
Bang!
His fist connected with the construct’s chest and caved it in, sending the woman skidding backward for several meters. The impact rippled through the construct’s body, making its grip on the sword falter for a moment, though it ultimately didn’t let go.
‘Force, huh? If not for that, its whole body would’ve been blown to pieces,’ Nova thought.
The moment he made contact with the construct, he could immediately tell it had nothing other than Force at its disposal, even lacking the increased Stats from titles.
One might ask: how could someone at level 100 have no titles?
The answer was simple. It was more common than it seemed.
This was an average person from an advanced civilization, not a genius who strove for greatness, nor someone who spent their entire life training.
Taking a step back from that, an advanced civilization, depending on how long it had existed for, might not even have any portals open anymore. And if it was even older…
Currently, humanity was able to acquire many titles thanks to two factors.
First, the Universe had decided to place a small bet on the civilization, granting them portals that greatly accelerated their training. They were also the main source of titles.
And second, the civilization was so new that titles were still readily available.
It was safe to say that if humanity managed to survive this trial, then many years from now, those living in this era would be regarded as ancestors.
Even then, the difficulty of acquiring a title was nothing to scoff at. In a long established civilization, the challenge was so great that it was rare to find young people with a title, except those tied to specializations such as weapon mastery, arrays, mana…
That meant that, with just Force, the construct had fully defended against his punch, powered entirely by his external Aura.
It made him sigh in awe at how strong Force was compared to Aura, despite the two being separate concepts.
Just the thought of stripping himself of all his titles and facing Force using only Aura sent a chill down his spine.
Nova was lost in thought when he noticed the construct had recovered and was about to move. Shoving his thoughts aside, he dashed toward it.
What followed was a one-sided pummelling.
In less than a minute, Nova was staring at the rapidly dissipating construct.
‘Although it seemed easy, I’m sure this is as far as I can go using only my body and Aura. For a level 125, I’ll need to draw Dreadscape but I’d rather save my energy and train than exhaust myself in a pointless fight,’ Nova thought.
Having come to a decision he turned on his heels and walked toward the entrance under the silent gazes of Jack, Erevan, and Slade.
Witnessing the second half of Nova’s fight had left them speechless.
Who could have guessed that, even after losing so many years, he would still manage to defeat a level 100 who comprehended Force?
If Nova had told them beforehand that he could win, they would have scoffed at him thinking he didn’t know what he was talking about. But now, reality stood before their very eyes.
They didn’t stop him from leaving, yet the same thought ran through all three of their minds.
If he’s that strong, then what was the point of toying with that construct all this time?
Erevan murmured, “I didn’t expect him to show me an ability I have no idea about.”
It was then that Slade silently stood and walked toward the entrance.
“Where are you going?” Erevan asked.
Slade didn’t pause for a moment. “Rest,” he replied.
After he was gone, Jack voiced his own thoughts. “Will he go looking for trouble with Nova?”
Erevan gave him a bemused look. “It’s been years you’ve known him, and you’re seriously asking me that? You’re worrying over nothing.” A chuckle escaped his lips. He couldn’t believe Jack was so concerned about Nova that he forgot.
As long as they stayed here, nothing would happen to him.
“You’re right. Knowing Slade, if he said he’d go rest, then that’s exactly what he’d do,” Jack nodded.
/////
Nova’s steps echoed through the quiet corridor as he made his way to his room.
‘Oh damn, I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot to use Chasing Shadow. No big deal, I doubt it would’ve made much of a difference against that construct, but next time, I’ll start with that,’ he thought, mentally reviewing his previous fight.
Right then, his ears twitched.
Another pair of footsteps sounded just meters behind him, followed by a sharp voice.
“You, stop there.”
Nova recognized the voice and frowned. Clearly, he wasn’t in the mood to entertain this person. Still, he turned around and said, “What do you want? I’m kind of busy at the moment.”
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