บท 21: Super Strength Trait

...….

"Haha! There is no need for you to be jealous! Your son is doing quite well himself! He just needs a little push in the right direction, and I'm sure he'll surpass mine in no time!" Elder Yong responded with a smug grin as he continued stroking his beard.

"..."

The Outer Deacon, who had mentioned his own son, instantly regretted ever saying anything to this shameless bastard. He should've known that it would just end up turning into another one of Elder Yong's bragging sessions…

'Since I know that my son will not win this thing, I just hope that Azmodeus boy will take this Elder Yong down by a peg or two…'

'He doesn't need to win; just put up a good fight,' the Deacon thought to himself while looking at Elder Yong through the corner of his eyes.

This Outer Deacon, Elder Dong, had been the one to make an exception and admit Azmodeus into the sect all those years ago.

Even now, it was a mystery to him how a boy, who was once deemed as useless trash, had become strong enough to take down four disciples at the Viscera Refining Large Success Stage, ultimately killing them all. Despite Elder Dong's 'history' with this boy, the transformation was far beyond anything he had ever expected. But in the end, this was a world where the one with the biggest fist ruled.

There were strict rules set in place, preventing the sect elders from delving too deeply into the secrets of juniors, including trying to take advantage of any fortuitous encounters that any disciples may or may not have had.

So, in this case, there was nothing that any of the Outer Sect Deacons could do but speculate about what could've caused such immense changes in a boy who was once widely known as the weakest of trash in the entire Yang Sect.

_____

Meanwhile, the Outer Sect Admittance Competition went on…

"This is quite interesting…" Azmodeus muttered as he watched a particularly tall, fifteen-year-old boy effortlessly mow down all of his opponents with overwhelming physical prowess.

'A Super Strength Trait…?'

Azmodeus had been searching for a Trait like this ever since the moment he encountered the Shadow Panther. But in the end, such a rare Trait was nearly impossible to find…

BLING!

He was immediately taken out of his reverie by the robotic female voice of the Infinite Evolution System.

BLING!

[Ding! The host can use the Evolution Essence to roll for the Abilities and Traits of other beings!]

[Ding! Each subsequent roll increases the cost of rolling by ten times. (Only applies when you are rolling for the Traits of a single target in repeated succession.)]

[Ding! Simply touch the being you wish to copy the Trait of to roll for it!]

"Oh?"

Azmodeus had no idea that there was such a feature in the Infinite Evolution System, but this one came as quite a pleasant surprise.

'If what this says is correct, then all I need to do is touch someone and pay in order to roll for one of their Traits…'

After understanding this, he didn't hesitate for even a moment and instantly sprang into action.

Fwooop!

He dashes in the direction of the towering young man, making his first movement since the commencement of the competition!

It took no longer than a second for him to reach Elder Yong's son, Yang Cho.

"!!!"

Yang Cho spotted the small framed boy sneaking up on him and immediately swung one of his brick-sized fists in the boy's direction.

It seemed like the punch would land squarely in the boy's stomach and send him flying. However, before it could, Azmodeus slid beneath the incoming fist, effectively dodging it and making his way under the towering boy's legs.

Tap!

Azmodeus lightly tapped the robust young man on his lower back before making a quick retreat toward the edge of the arena.

"???" Yang Cho had no idea what was going on.

One second, he saw a little rat trying to get the upper hand on him by catching him off guard, and the next, that same rat retreated to the very back of the arena, seemingly running away…

'I didn't even use that much strength in my fists… Why did he run away?'

Yang Cho just couldn't make sense of the rat's actions. But after a moment, he shrugged, pulled his fist out of the crack he made in the ground, and rejoined the fight.

Meanwhile, in a certain remote corner of the Yang Arena Ring, Azmodeus stared at the several pop-ups that had appeared in his vision.

BLING!

[Ding! Would you like to roll for one of the abilities of the cultivator known as 'Yang Mo the Iron Fist'?]

[Yes/No]

Without hesitation, he immediately clicked the "Yes" button and watched 10 Evolution Essence get deducted from his Evolution Essence Bank.

The moment he paid the price, a roulette with five or six evenly spaced triangles started to spin in the clockwise direction.

BING! BING! BING!

The wheel spun and a few tittering sounds followed as the roulette's pointer eventually found its destination and settled on…

[Ding! You have acquired the Special Innate Trait of Yang Cho's bloodline: 'Super Explosive Diarrhea'!]

Azmodeus coughed up blood right away and collapsed to the ground with a crimson liquid dripping down his lips.

Elder Yong and the other Outer Sect Deacons watched this with confusion evident on their faces.

"Did my son really do that much damage to him during their fight just a second ago?" Elder Yong muttered, his voice filled with disbelief.

"…I don't know," mumbled Elder Dong, somehow starting to lose hope of seeing him come out on top in this competition…

Let alone winning the competition, he wasn't even sure that Azmodeus would be able to make it into the Top 20's...

As discussions carried on in the VIP stands, in a certain remote corner of the Yang Arena fighting ring, numerous young men between the ages of 14 and 19 were being flung across the ring in every direction.

Their relentless battles had whittled down the once-three hundred or so contestants to no more than just one hundred and twenty. And of those 120, a boy with long black hair and sword-like eyebrows found himself currently going through quite the quagmire as he had already rolled twice for the Super Strength Ability.

And so far, all he had acquired were the traits 'Super Explosive Diarrhea' and 'Deadly Urine Shooter.'

"Is my luck busted up or something??" Azmodeus muttered with a despondent tone after having already wasted 110 Evolution Essence and obtained what felt like the most useless traits in existence!

Still, not everything was bad. After all, he had managed to recycle both of the traits and regained 70 of those 110 Evolution Essence. But still...!

He let out an exasperated sigh before deciding to roll one last time.

If this roll didn't give him what he wanted, then he would just give up and win this stupid competition out of spite and go home to sulk!

[Ding!]

[Yes/No]

Azmodeus clicked 'Yes' the same way he had done a few times before.

BING! BING! BING!

The roulette spun once again. The roulette pointer slowed down and made its way around the last three options. Just as he was about to open his eyes to see what he had got, a few system notifications echoed in his head.

[Ding! You have obtained the I Rank Trait, 'Super Strength!']

[Ding! Your overall combat power has moderately improved!]

...…