CHAPTER 118: Final Assessment. (Part-1)
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Meanwhile, in the Earth's Foothold, the Alpha Chosen rested before contemplating their losses in the first two assessments and what they should focus on improving their weaknesses.
Those who didn't do well in the first assessment focussed on improving their control over their respective Mastery. In contrast, the others concentrated on training their close combat prowess.
Once MJ announced them to enter the virtual space for the third assessment, the Alpha Chosen didn't delay and did as he asked.
Soon, everyone gathered at the same square platform, and a few Alpha Chosen chatted with each other about Moro's identity.
Olivia and Sergei knew about Moro, but they didn't reveal it since MJ didn't show any intention of telling them about him.
Failing to find anything about Moro, the topic soon shifted as most of them tried to decode the fighting technique that Moro used and shared their own understanding to each other before asking Henry for his insights as he was the best among them in the hand-to-hand combat.
Seeing the usually talkative and energetic Henry stay silent, Kasim and a few others were worried that his loss against Moro had set him back and commended Henry for ranking first in the second assessment.
Henry couldn't help but dryly laugh at himself because he never expected that one day he would be praised for defending himself against an opponent, especially in hand-to-hand combat that he specialised in. That too against an opponent who has the same attribute stats as him.
Unlike what others were thinking, Henry didn't face a setback; instead was more motivated than ever.
For Henry to reach his close combat standard, he had faced several hitches in his journey to becoming a three-time heavyweight boxing champion in a row.
He managed to overcome them not just because of his talent but also due to his perseverance and hard work.
It was not like he never lost in a boxing match since his debut, but he never gave up training himself to defeat someone whom he lost against.
To Henry, it was the same with Moro. So, Henry set his goal to one day defeat Moro despite the vast difference in their close combat capabilities.
Henry believed that his self-training wouldn't be anywhere enough to deal with someone like Moro, who has monstrous combat talent.
With that in mind, Henry asked MJ, "Great Venerable, is it possible for me to train under that Crimson-haired person if I use my Reward Points?"
Everyone didn't expect Henry to be willing to exchange the RP he earned for close combat training instead of using them for levelling up or to exchange for Rare Grade Spirit Equipment.
MJ replied with a smile while looking behind Henry, "If it's about Moro, then why don't you ask my Master yourself?"
Henry followed MJ's gaze to look behind him, and he then took a few steps back in a flurry after finding the virtual avatar of Jay standing there, with an emotionless expression.
Henry almost stumbled upon Jay's sudden arrival. Back on Day-6, when all the Earth's Alpha Chosen gathered for the first time, Jay's display of dominance left a deep impression on Henry.
Soon, he tried his best to compose himself and respectfully greeted Jay, "Good day, Mr Jay. We all were waiting for you."
Jay didn't respond with a full greeting and instead said 'Likewise' before continuing, "I overheard your conversation with MJ. Are you sure about using RP to exchange for training sessions with Moro rather than using them to level up?"
Henry nodded firmly, showing his determination.
After a second of silence, Jay thought of something before suggesting, "For now, use RP to improve your level since there is less than a day before the Trial Region Tournament begins. I want you all to be even stronger for our Earth's trial zone to come out on top, and score higher than any trial zone in the Trial World."
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Henry was reluctant, but he didn't dare to be forthright about it. But, Jay's following words caused Henry to jump in joy.
"Since you are so adamant, I will see to it that you take three training spar sessions with Moro in this virtual space after the 1st tournament. However, beyond that, it will all depend on whether Moro decides to train you. As long as you convince Moro in those three sessions that you are worth his time to train, you don't even have to use RP."
Henry reassured before thanking Jay, "Thanks a lot, Mr Jay. I will not waste this opportunity you presented to me."
Jay didn't say anymore and signalled MJ, causing him to spawn a meter wide circular hologram board floating vertically in the air with an arrow hand at its centre, just like the minute hand in a clock.
The circular hologram was divided into nine sectors, with each having an Earth's Alpha Chosen's name written on it.
With a wave of MJ's palm, the arrow hand began to spin, and everyone realised that it was to randomly select who would be the first one to face Jay in the third assessment.
As it continued to spin, Jay thought to himself if what he intended by having Henry train under Moro would happen or not.
The present Moro is almost void of emotions, and Jay wanted to see if letting Moro interact with others would help him socialise.
Jay felt Henry would be a good choice for that because, just like Moro, he had experienced the loss of parents at a young age.
After all, only those who share a similar pain could genuinely relate with each other.
As Jay was in his thoughts, the spinning arrow hand soon came to a halt, pointing at the hologram section that had Brandon's name on it, indicating that he would be first to face Jay.
Before long, Brandon stepped onto the platform, and MJ created a shield surrounding the square platform and separated it from the outside area.
While looking at Brandon, who readied himself for the fight, Jay stated calmly, "We will start directly from Stage-3, MJ will restrict my virtual avatar to 30% of my full capacity."
Since Brandon was at the peak of Tier-3 Low-Phase with around 550 overall stats, Jay didn't start with Stage-1, where he could only use 10% of his overall strength.
Just as Jay's words ended, MJ complied and restricted Jay's power, and at 30%, Jay has an overall stats of 300, making him as strong as a peak Tier-2 monster.
Even though it seems like there was just one Phase gap between Brandon and Jay, it was quite substantial because there was a total of 250 stats difference between them.
With that, Brandon was stat-wise nearly twice as strong as Jay. However, that wasn't the only thing that determines one's strength as it depends on how well one could use their Innate Talent abilities and any other ways in their arsenal to defeat their opponents.
Even though Jay's overall stats weren't good enough to deal with Brandon, his advantage lies in the new Tri-Element, Lightning Flame.
As soon as MJ announced the start of the fight, Brandon closed in on Jay to finish him off without giving the time needed for Jay to initiate an attack.
Before Brandon could reach next to him, Jay conjured the Lightning Flame and made a wall of purple-red flames, successfully managing to put a distance between himself and Brandon.
Since Jay stats were just at 30% of his full power, he has to make sure not to get in close combat with Brandon as that would spell Jay's defeat due to the apparent difference in their overall stats.
Separated by the wall of lighting flames, Brandon didn't try to pass through it because, as a Lightning element user himself, he could sense how terrifying those flames were.
Despite its attack power being reduced to 30% of its full capacity, the Lightning Flame was still strong enough to defeat a Tier-3 Mid-Phase monster easily.
Once Jay distanced himself from Brandon, he stopped casting the wall of flames to efficiently use the little Spirit Energy reserves he had due to his stats being restricted.
As soon as the wall of flames dispersed, Jay shot multiple arrows made of lightning flames at Brandon, who tried to evade them, but due to their high speed, he only managed to evade a few while the others reached Brandon.
Realising that he couldn't dodge them all in time, Brandon quickly enveloped the spear in his hand with his Lightning element before swinging it at the incoming attacks.
With his rich combat experience, Brandon managed to defend himself by deflecting all the attacks, but the impact caused during that interaction sent him back, sliding tens of metres, and he had to plunge his spear into the platform to stop himself from being pushed back even further.
Not just Brandon but everyone spectating the fight had widened their eyes in shock at the destructive power and the high movement speed of the purple-red element Jay was using.
Not just them but even Jay was taken aback by how strong the Lightning Flame was. Back when he tested out that new element, he didn't consider the impact factor of his attacks into account, and now it seemed to play an essential role in its destructive power.
With the abnormally high attack power of a Flame, together with the tremendous speed of the lightning element, the end result produced the strong impact force, and the previous clash even reduced a fragment of Brandon's health.
Even though it was just as low as 3% of his total health, one had to mind that the damage was caused by the impact when Brandon deflected and not a direct hit.
That means, even if Brandon successfully defends more of Jay's Lightning Flame attacks, he would continue to lose his health.
A few gasps could be heard from where the spectator seats were located as they recollected that what Jay just displayed was just 30% of his full power, and even Brandon, who was one of the strongest among them, was being overwhelmed.
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