Capítulo 8: Chapter 8: Battle
Soon, Lord Thel had announced the second round of the Crucible.
Hearing the announcement, Luck prepared for his match.
With half of the children being eliminated, his fight would likely happen soon.
Currently, Luck has completed a total of five cycles of his body training methods. Three of them being the spider and the other two being the owl.
As he waited to recover from his body training methods, he also vigorously trained using regular means, mainly focusing on building up his stamina through weighted exercises.
He had also thoroughly trained his hands. The owl body training method was tough to understand, however, Luck had comprehended the core principles behind it.
To strengthen his hands, he had to complete all the strenuous movements shown in the book. The breathing rotations of the owl had made the movements of his hand feel very stiff.
Luck remembered how his hands felt as if they were about to fall off once he had completed a cycle of the owl body training method.
The talon of an owl is extremely powerful. To reach such a level with the human body would be very tough.
Knowing that he wouldn't see much improvement, Luck had thought of something to speed up the process. He decided to implement his own training method.
Such a method would be impossible for anyone else.
As a scientist, he knew that bones could also adapt and grow stronger when constantly damaged.
When the bones experience an impact, these lead to microfractures created in the bone.
Once microfractures in the bone are created, the body will rebuild over these microfractures. The resulting process allows the newly formed bone structure to be stronger than the previous one.
This was a common practice for martial artists in his original world. Such a training method is called "conditioning." The only difference was that he was going to do this method in a much more extreme way.
Knowing this fact and the nature of his Alpha Cells, Luck had ruthlessly beaten and destroyed his hands within these three days.
If anyone had watched how he was training, everyone would think that he was crazy!
But this wasn't without rewards.
Having sped up the process of the owl body training method, his hands had become much, much stronger.
It wasn't long before it was Luck's turn to fight.
After a few matches that ended quickly, it was finally Luck's second battle.
This time, he highly doubted that his opponent would graciously surrender like his previous one.
Jumping onto the arena, Luck saw his opponent.
The boy had an extremely large build that towered over him. His dark eyes were slightly droopy with messy brown hair that slightly covered them. With his physique, the boy looked like an impenetrable fortress.
Luck's first impression was that he was facing off against a wild beast — a bear.
As they both waited for the signal to start the match, the bear boy spoke.
"You should consider surrendering. I'm currently at the silver stage, this won't be a fair fight."
Hearing the boy's advice, Luck had a thoughtful expression before he said, "Thanks for the warning, but I like my odds."
"Suit yourself. But I won't be holding back."
Luck just gave a sly smile in response.
Seeing that the two fighters had no intention of forfeiting, the children thought Luck was a complete moron. Isn't he just asking to get himself killed?
"Is that kid an idiot? He's actually going to fight Devir!"
"Hehe, I don't want to miss this. This kid is going to get crushed!"
"He's really pushing his luck. Just because his previous opponent surrendered, he has some confidence!"
Many children were gossiping, but Luck simply ignored them.
When Lord Thel was finally about to give the signal, both Luck and Devir immediately took their stances.
'His large build should slow him down. I'll just try and do a battle of attrition using evasive tactics.' Luck thought.
But he quickly scrapped this idea.
'No, this thought process is probably what many others had thought of as well. He probably has countermeasures against this obvious tactic.' Luck pondered.
After thinking up of many plans and strategies, which was only an instance in real time, Luck had finally come up with something.
'It's a gamble. But overall, this plan aligns perfectly with what I need.'
With a plan in mind, Luck waited for the signal.
He didn't have to wait long, as just a few seconds later, the cloaked man had finally announced the start of the battle.
Without wasting any time, Luck suddenly made a move no one expected.
He dashed towards Devir!
He immediately closed the distance between him and his opponent.
His swift decision to immediately rush towards him had made Devir show an expression of surprise.
The audience watching was even more shocked.
"He's insane!"
"This guy must be a retard. He's fighting someone at the silver stage! Not only that, Devir is way stronger!
"He should be trying to tire him out and remain at a good distance. That's the only possible way of beating that guy." A boy at the bronze stage spoke.
"I agree. Taking Devir head-on is simply asking for death. Only one of the Dragons can do something like that."
Devir was known for his formidable strength. He studied the bear body training method, allowing his strikes to carry terrifying momentum and power.
The last opponent that had directly fought him had his neck snapped from one swing of his fists!
Due to this fact, anyone who fought him never confronted him directly, always relying on their evasive techniques. But even with this tactic, it was still extremely difficult to beat him.
Devir had a signature move that could close the gap immediately between him and his opponent. This had led to him effectively landing a critical blow many times, securing countless victories.
Still, this evasive strategy was way better than confronting him head-on. At the very least, you had a chance of winning.
As the crowd was immersed in their discussions on Luck's foolish decision, Luck was already in range to attack Devir.
"Hmph!"
Seeing the boy blindly rushing at him, Devir didn't care any more. He had warned Luck.
He wasn't a bloodthirsty individual nor did he want needless deaths. However, if Luck really wanted to die, he'd grant him his wish!
"Bear Stance!"
Stomping the ground with great force, Devir swung his fist at Luck.
The momentum behind the attack was truly terrifying.
Luck had just stepped into Devir's range of attack, however, before he could even make a move, a boulder-like fist had already appeared in front of him.
'Fast!'
Sensing the danger, Luck had immediately stopped his momentum before swiftly turning his body — the punch barely missing its target.
Luck felt the immense force behind the attack as the wind generated just from the swing of his fist had caused his hair to blow over.
'Powerful! If I were directly hit by that, my head would probably pop!'
A bead of sweat rolled down Luck's forehead. Fortunately, Luck had managed to dodge in time.
Such a dodge would be nearly impossible for most individuals. The sudden stop of his momentum and twist of his body could only be attributed to the stability learnt from his spider body training method.
Devir was slightly shocked that his punch had missed. He had put all of his strength behind that attack. But the results had been his punch not making any contact.
Noticing that Devir was slightly distracted, Luck immediately counter-attacked.
'An opening!'
Seeing that his chest was defenceless, Luck made a blade with his right hand.
Instead of a punch, he used his fingertips to stab into the left side of his sternum — the location of his heart.
Noticing that he had made a mistake and let his guard down, Devir immediately reacted to the attack.
Using his other arm, he crossed it over his chest, guarding against where Luck's attack would land.
Devir wasn't worried about Luck's attack. Since he was at the silver stage, his defences were much higher than the ordinary person.
The reason why the stages are named after metals is partly due to the characteristics of them.
Life essence is created by your body and is stored throughout it. This means you have a permanent defence at all times when you become a practitioner.
At the bronze stage, your skin's defence has the strength of bronze, at the silver stage, your skin would be as strong as silver. This goes all the way to mithril.
Life essence gets more potent the higher the rank you are, making your body much more powerful. This allows one to exert much more force behind attacks without receiving injuries. The herbs that is rewarded by Lord Thel stimulates life essence and also strengthens the body. In the mortal world, the prices of such treasures would be extremely high.
This was why it was very difficult to fight against someone at a higher stage.
With his arm raised to block the stab, once Luck's attack hits him, Devir was immediately going to counter-attack and pummel him to the ground.
He thought that his opponent was foolish.
With Luck's hands extended, he was sure Luck's fingers would immediately break once they made contact with his body.
However, despite noticing that Devir had managed to react in time, Luck didn't stop the attack. Instead, he applied even more force behind it.
Within an instant, Luck's attack had swiftly made contact with his opponent.
Contrary to Devir's expectation, the defence he was so confident in had immediately been breached!
Luck's fingertips had pierced into his arm as blood quickly spilled.
A sudden sensation enveloped Devir's forearm. It was hot.
A sharp pain had quickly travelled throughout Devir's entire body, causing him to grit his teeth in agony.
Seeing this scene, the audience was surprised.
"No way! He actually injured him! Who is this kid?" A boy shouted out. He had once fought with Devir before and lost miserably due to his defence.
Learning the lion body training method, he had specialised in the force and power of his attacks, however, every attack he launched against Devir felt as if he was hitting against a mountain!
Seeing how easily Luck had injured Devir had made everyone shocked.
But Luck wasn't surprised in the slightest about this outcome.
Luck's hands had reached a terrifying level in only three days.
This was partly due to his owl body training method and his Alpha Cells. However, the main contributor was definitely himself!
In 3 days, Luck had to endure a hellish experience of destroying his hands over and over, just for them to regenerate before doing the entire process again.
Although he could have just been patient and trained his body with time, Luck wouldn't take any chances. He knew how dangerous this place was, and he still hadn't even experienced the outside world yet.
With dangers on every side, Luck wanted to get strong as fast as possible until he assured his complete safety.
With a powerful gift being his Alpha Cells, if he doesn't utilise its full potential, how could he call himself a scientist — a seeker of truth and pursuer of knowledge?
Until then, he couldn't rest.
With an attack effectively injuring him, Devir immediately felt a sense of crisis. He couldn't underestimate his opponent any more.
With Luck's blade-like hands sinking deeper and deeper into his flesh, Devir felt an overwhelming amount of pain.
Trying to prevent a deeper wound, Devir quickly launched an attack to remove Luck from him.
His fist came smashing down, threatening to squash Luck.
Boom!
Predicting his counter-attack, Luck had immediately jumped backwards as a fist smashed down at where he was previously, creating web-like cracks on the floor.
But before Devir could even catch a breath, Luck had immediately closed the distance between them once again.
Luck rapidly threw a punch at his opponent. Due to the quick attack, Devir couldn't react in time as a punch landed directly on his jaw.
Bang!
He immediately felt a wave of dizziness hit him.
He hadn't felt such a powerful attack before. He had always forfeited the moment he suspected that his opponent was stronger, so he wasn't used to an even fight.
Due to his large build, he hadn't found many problems within the Sanctuary and had been growing stronger smoothly.
With such a tactic, all of his fights had ended quickly.
Devir gritted his teeth, fighting to remain conscious as he swung his arms.
As long as he can land a hit, he will definitely win!
The bear body training method had given him almost superhuman strength paired with his physique. With his life essence enhancing his attacks, it was even more deadly.
But reality was cruel. Once again, his attack had missed.
Feeling agitated, Devir wildly swung his arms once more. He used his fists to rain down a barrage of punches.
However, slowly, Devir began feeling helpless.
No matter how many attacks he threw at him, Luck was like a ghost, weaving through all of them.
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