121 - rest day 4

Pointing my index finger forward, my body had reached it's limit with this handling of [Demonic energy]. It matched my predictions, that prolonged dungeon trip didn't just sent a miniscule berserker effect to my conscious, it had also extended my parameters a little, mainly my stamina was overused to an absurd extend.

With this, it would be rather difficult to move my limbs. However Cress was here to cover that, I only need to take out the enemy. I had pulled the barrier apart with [Shadow step]'s anti-gravity, the cost was that this opening only lasted a few seconds. In this few seconds, I must finish him off.

" [Demonic energy]. "

Collapsing large volumes of energy into a tiny space, a compressed explosion forms inside of the scattered barrier. As the effects of [Shadow step] wear off, the barrier shuts back tight, containing the large concentration of destruction in that tiny space, disintegrating what remains of the enemy left along with the powered down barrier.

"Fuh~ That was... So tiring... "

"Do you need help? Here, I'll support your weight while we walk." (Cress)

"... Thanks, but using my radar, this place is pretty much a labyrinth. It'd be better to just wait for my strength to recover before we venture out of this dark room. Do you have any communication devices? "

"Yeah... I do. Too bad there's no connection though, there's a barrier of sorts." (Cress)

" A space enlarging barrier... My detection range isn't so meagre as to not reach the barrier from distance alone... We could be in a different dimension or a hidden part of the city... "

That was right. If my guess was accurate, the communication device that Cress held was for exclusively used for the Queen's units. Why was that though? What did orphanages do to become so valued to the Queen? Why were there whole units of a secretive military department casually guarding orphanages? Cress has an extremely suspicious involvement with the Queen, for her to not be surprised at the soldier's presence. Whatever was hidden under this pile of lies, I don't have the time to investigate right now.

I have to first prioritise recovery. Everything else can come after. Initially it was quite troublesome to have the orphanage held hostage, however I was willing to sever this opponent's head even if he were to activate the explosives after surviving my attack. In this way, it was convenient to not have any emotional attachments to the other orphans. My survival... Came first... I see... So this was what Cress spoke about. Being different from everyone, I was basically born only a month ago, my view of other individuals naturally differed. They are different. They have different values.

... I most probably have to sort myself out after this. How should I value others? How should I value myself? What is the right answer? I continue to ponder in my slow unmoving life, for the next 4 years.

******

"Hah! Kugh! Hiyah!"

Beads of secreted moisture drip down my cheeks as my muscles scream in exhaustion. The fatigue slowly accumulated to the point my right hand has become numb, I could only last a few more seconds at most. My legs convulse in pain as I overwork my body. The sweat covering my cheeks gave a sense of discomfort as the opponent inches ever closer, wielding a sharpened lump of deadly metal.

It had only been a year since I picked up the sword at the age of 9. Learning under the guidance of the lieutenant that made a promise, the basics were quickly hammered into my flesh as my conscious withstood for many months. Limiting my Agility to 10 000,I trained every weekday afternoon with our bodyguard. My muscles tempered to the point it matched steel, my blood flowing faster than a tsunami, and my heart beating harder than a waterfall,... Was what it all felt like.

All for the sake of entering the elite early education institution. It was only 6 years ago when the age requirement of entering was raised from 9 years old to 10, and a difficult entry examination was pushed forward. It was due to the Queen demanding that the institution not only serve nobles, but everyone else as well. With the customer range extending absurdly, naturally a large amount of money has to be invested in order to provide the services.

That was solved when an entry examination was introduced, weeding out the bottom 90% of applicants. Nobles will also have to reach that top 10%, the new generation training vigorously to enter, that was the kind of reputation that this institution had on the older nobles. Of course there was more to the entry examination than just written information that could be cramped in a night, other than that, there was the combat test that required an 80% performance to enter the school.

With that, no student from that school can be underestimated in a fight. Even when overpowered, they could have countermeasures for escape.

With the availability of catalysts, the base combat ability of humans in the capital increased to an abnormal level. Each citizen armed with proper catalysts to defend themselves, naturally the demons also grew stronger with time. After a certain point in training their willpower, demons are able to store mana in their body beyond their natural limit. They can choose to keep the unnaturally stored mana in their body and stockpile it, their offsprings gaining abnormal inborn stats. This was why demons were born with higher stats than humans, their weakness being that they can't acquire classes, so after a certain level threshold, they're objectively weaker.

Though it has been a few centuries or more, the demons may have found a new source of power. Otherwise the new Queen would have eradicated their country.

In the present, I'm currently fighting the tester with a sword. There is a barrier that prevents any lethal attacks from being lethal by boosting our Vitality stat, the goal was to scratch the tester or impress them with superior swordsmanship. I started the fight with a dash. Wanting to end it quick, I lowered my posture as far as possible and launched forward.

With my knee in front of the other in mid air, I grip the handle of my sword with both hands. As the handle was short, my lower palm pushed my higher palm against the hilt, the stickiness of my sweat reducing the friction and my lower palms grip. My strength was not able to be pushed into the blade properly. Regardless, I couldn't hold up myself midway to adjust my grip, so I positioned my arms to hold my sword upside down to the right, with a normal grip, pushing the flexibility of my elbows, shoulders and the stability of my back and legs.

Covering the appropriate amount of distance, I gave an overhead swing.