章節 32: Chapter 32: World Stage (II)

Since he had decided to put on a display, Kane charged straight into the crowd. With each step, his physique transformed subtly, his weight and durability increasing dramatically. Since the Bhrigu Tribe called their martial art 'Path of Mountain', he had decided to do something similar.

He was going to bulldoze to the front while going through the crowd, tanking any attack that came at him and throwing any person who stood in his path.

As he drew near, two contestants noticed him and charged in his direction, coming in for a full body shove. Kane saw and decided to face them head on. Before they could even touch him, Kane stopped them in their tracks with his palms and clanked their heads together. Barely registering them collapsing, he jumped onto two other people who were wrestling each other. His fists connected with their skulls and those two were out as well.

'This is taking too much time.'

He felt that his pace was not enough, but nothing creative came into his mind. Maybe he should just try ramming straight into people like bowling pins?

Kane smiled and decided to do that. Jumping a distance away to create some space, he leaned forward and readied himself for the charge. Doing a mental countdown, he rushed forward with his shoulder angled to knock into people.

He did not know what to expect, but the scene turned out to be quite comical in the end.

The first four-five guys were knocked aside easily, but when he reached into the packed area where everyone was basically up against each other shoulder to shoulder, things became nasty. He pushed onto the first guy, but instead of getting knocked aside, he was pushed onto the person right behind him. And like that, everyone in front of him, as if in a chain, was caught up in this spectacle. Kane, with all his brain, decided to continue to push on. He applied all his strength onto the people stacked in front of him. But after a few moments, he found that he could not push any longer.

Thinking that maybe he had done enough, he jumped back and observed the result of his messing around.

And sure enough, everyone was now staring at him. He had managed to divide the crowd in two, causing a rift in between. The people that he had tried to knockout had stacked like cards. Their limbs twisted around each other. They looked like a mass of humans crushed together. It was not pretty.

Kane felt like that was enough attention. Taking a stance, he gestured at the whole crowd to come at him. And as if they were raging bulls, all of them came running straight at him. Maybe he had struck a chord with them or his display had just been humiliating for all of them, but everyone was focused on him at that moment.

Kane also reciprocated all the attention he was getting with interest. While he did not have any technique or finesse, he was fast and strong. He could punch three guys in the time it took for one of them to land a punch on him. And most of their attacks only managed to tickle him. Okay, maybe more than that, but at most he would have bruises all over his body. But right now, he was enjoying himself.

He would punch people straight in chests and watch them fly back. Sometime he took hold of them and threw them above the crowd while one time he took hold of an especially beefy man and started swinging around, using the big guy as a weapon to parry many of the surrounding people.

The situation had devolved into complete chaos, and people were staggering, injured and hurting from directly or indirectly attacking him. He had seen and heard too many bones crack and limbs snap. But since this world and everything else were just a simulation, Kane didn't feel much about his actions. It was like any other VR game, in his opinion.

Around twenty minutes later, Kane finally started feeling bored. He decided that he had put on a good show and that he could end it here. It was easy for him to disengage, as all he had to do was make his way to the gate, not like anyone could stop him. But once he finally arrived at the gates, something unexpected greeted him.

The large gates had been opened wide when the instructor from before had announced the start of the first stage. When the stout man had appeared before the entrance and stood there, appearing to challenge everyone, Kane had assumed that he would be the final obstacle everyone had to face. But apparently he had thought wrong.

Before him, beyond the gates of the Bhrigu, he counted many people already assembled. The stout man was still standing before the gates, but as he observed, men and women were just walking over and passing by him. He wasn't stopping any of them, but no one from the fighting crowd seemed to be aware as they continued to fight like chickens. People were just walking past, and no one was questioning them? Not sure what was up, he decided to walk forward and find it out by himself.

"You seem to be new around here." The stout man asked him the moment he was near. He wasn't exactly asking, but stating.

Kane nodded in response, not sure where this was leading.

"I will let your little stunt slide this time because of that. You were not aware of the rules, so its alright. Just for the clarification, anyone who has achieved the strength of ten bulls can directly apply to enter the tribe. There is no need to mess around in the open challenge that takes place every month. This test is for finding hidden talents. You injured countless individuals there, but thankfully, none of them seemed to be promising or talented. Otherwise you would have a bigger headache than me."

While Kane understood what the instructor was saying, he had even more questions popping up in his mind. What about those people who had entered the gates, had they also achieved that criteria? He voiced his doubt to the instructor.

"Oh, the rules of the open challenge are actually very simple. You have to complete ten takedowns in a row without getting interrupted. But no one in the crowd is going to let you do that, people start ganging up on you. As long as it seems someone is going to achieve it, they will all stop together. To do it in a row requires not only strength but also planning and technique. Which is why the mess you created was a problem. You provoked everyone there and even made everyone focus on you, which directly interfered with the test's objective.

Thankfully, you came to your senses quick enough and left them. I was considering entering the crowd to drag you out myself if you hadn't disengaged."

Kane felt himself turning red in embarrassment as he realized the impact of his actions. It wasn't that the crowd was fighting mindlessly, but that he was just unaware of the rules. He was like a clown in the middle, distracting everyone else from the test while also stomping on everyone. It was too embarrassing, so he decided to change the topic and save himself some face.

"So, does it mean I don't have to take any other tests now?" Obviously, his strength was very high, and this person had noticed that too. So he wondered if he could skip this testing stage and get started right away.

"Yes, it would be pointless to make you take any tests. Your physical body is already close to passing the strengthening phase. After I send this group to the next test, you can follow me to the administrative office. I'll get you registered there. Nice to meet you. I am Hiran, a rank five Pillar of the Bhrigu Tribe."

Hiran was not overbearing, like Kane was expecting him to be. But his pride when he mentioned his rank was evident. It was a small detail, but something to keep in mind as Kane made his way through the gates to sit under a tree.

He was not clear about a lot of details, like the strengthening phase Hiran had mentioned, or the pillar ranks and their importance. But it had given him the direction he had to look into and what he had to learn about next. And possibly a clue about what the scenario would be related to or how the objective for this scenario would take shape.