Chapter 27: F Grade Mythological Marbles

Messaging Hunter on his PDS Feng Biao asked him how much he knew about the Mythological Marble the exam would take place in.

"No clue, as far as I know, that stuff is random. There's more than one F Grade Mythological Marble and it's chosen pretty randomly. I hear some years they split up the groups, sometimes they send em' all to just one."

Feng Biao decided the best choice then was to look at each F Grade Mythological Marble and get a general sense of them.

First on the list was something called "Humanities' Research and Development Facility". Reading about it Feng Biao found it was a scientific research facility run in joint conjunction with every remaining government located within a Mythological Marble. It was located in orbit directly above Japan, which claimed ownership of the Marble.

Due to the state of humanity squabbling over who exactly owned it had become a priority lost to the wayside. Instead, it was decided that all the governments of the world would use it as a research facility to test new Divine Tools within the unique settings of a Mythological Marble.

While open about its nature entrance to the facility was highly restricted and no exam had ever taken place within it. As an aside, Feng Biao learned this Mythological Marble was the first to ever appear. Due to apparently unique circumstances within it, the chance of a Burst Event was 0% and it was considered completely safe.

"So it's not gonna be that one," Feng Biao thought as he scrolled down.

The next was also located within Japan. Mt. Ooeyama to be exact. Known as "Oni Mountain" it was a regular site for the exam. Feng Biao saw that hostile creatures referred to as "oni" prowled the mountain.

They were known to be so weak to damage that even a sufficiently strong Mortal could kill one. They wore no armor and the weapons they carried reached only stone-age levels of complexity. The main threat they individually posed was their strength.

Divine Mortals had made the mistake of underestimating the danger they posed and been crippled in a single strike. Coupled with the high number of them and their generally cunning nature they had been the death of many Marked.

Additionally, a single Fragment roamed the Marble. Known as Shuten-Douji it was an incredibly dangerous humanoid male oni who was considered impossible for Divine Mortals, no matter their numbers, to fight. The only saving grace was that Shuten-Douji wasn't considered as hostile as the other oni possessing a reasonable degree of intelligence.

The next was located within Toraigh, Ireland. Fish-like creatures known as Fomorians roamed the Marble which was known as "The Giant's Corpse". Fomorians were vicious combatants and able to use a type of long-range attack classified as "magic". Physically weaker than oni Fomarians were dangerous because they acted more as soldiers and possessed magic.

The reason why The Giant's Corpse was graded as F was that no Fragments had been located within it. A giant believed to be the Fragment of the Marble is located at the center of the island. Since there were no active Fragments and only minor creatures roamed about the island it was graded as F, for any competent team of Divine Mortals could survive within it.

And it went on from there. Feng Biao studying, taking notes, learning as much as he could about each potential F Grade Mythological Marble he could be sent to. That was the choice he had made, to go where he was likely to die. Why?

Feng Biao had no answer. He knew that stopping here at Ascended Mortal would be good enough. Good enough to live life more comfortably than he had ever imagined. Good enough to move Wang Hao and himself to a place where they could live in safety.

"Not good enough," Feng Biao thought.

What Feng Biao wanted, he didn't know. He was growing more comfortable with that.

"I want to be the me that is able to survive in that remaining 13%. That I know."

And so Feng Biao decided without doubt to enter the exam. Perhaps it was because an 87% chance of dying wasn't morbid enough to scare him off. Maybe it was because entering was the only possible way for him to get Mythological Shards without signing his future away.

Either way, he had made a choice. One that carried over to how he lived his life for the following weeks. He devoted himself to training. Although he could not increase his Divinity beyond 40 as an Ascended Mortal he could increase the mastery of his current tools.

Sparring daily with Hunter Feng Biao learned more about his own abilities. [Indra's Tricks] was a very odd ability. By hitting someone with it Feng Biao could dull the desire for thoughts. Although, subsequent strikes did not produce the same intensity.

That changed if Feng Biao landed a strike close to someone's heart. Then it would always let loose the odd feeling of lethargy that accompanied it.

Having tested it on himself Feng Biao found as long as someone was willing to put in the effort to get past that feeling it offered no other form of resistance. In essence, it was an ability that would only stop those that didn't want to do something in the first place.

Testing it out on Liu Wei, who had never been struck by it before, Feng Biao found that in conjunction with a heart-strike being hit by [Indra's Tricks] for the first time was able to stop someone from doing something with all their effort.

In his case, Feng Biao had asked him to continuously copy from a dictionary. He complied and with a light tap on his back behind his heart, Feng Biao watched as his grip on the pencil weakened. He was still writing, but noticeably slower as if he was distracted. This went on for a full second before he resumed his normal pace.

The most fascinating part of [Indra's Tricks] was that unless Feng Biao informed someone of it or they saw it they would be completely unaware it took place. This only worked on its first usage, a second use would always be felt normally even if the person being struck wasn't able to see Feng Biao. Overall the Divine Ability seemed useless, but Feng Biao was determined to gain the maximum amount of usefulness out of it.

Beyond mastering his only Divine Active Feng Biao became more proficient in using Divinity in his own body. He could comfortably focus it into any part of his body. This was the true benefit of a Divine Foundation, it allowed his Divinity to circulate through his body unhindered.

When the day for the exam came Feng Biao was given a bit of a morale boost.

"As you requested I have re-calculated the chances of you surviving in an F Grade Mythological Marble. You have an 85% chance of dying, I advise you not to enter."

"I can improve, huh?"