Chapter 82 - The Unreachable Height

Bryn's hand touched the latter option, and as he did, the system notified him about acquiring the skill. Bryn felt pressure coming from the atmosphere; it passed through his entire body, focusing on his chest and waist.

His fist closed as his vision alternated between the notification and his hand. Blurring the skill's detail, he squeezed both hands and turned toward Jonas, walking away from the tree trunk at his feet.

I'll have opportunities to verify the skill and usage of taming. For now, improving my ability is the priority.

"Mr. Jonas, could we spar without magic?" Bryn asked.

"Whenever you are ready…" he replied.

Bryn smiled as his legs bent slightly, his closed fists loosen a lite as he gazed at the opponent. Without waiting for Jonas to call him to the fight, he let go of any constraints within his mind, activating the skill magical body, going all out from the start. The moment he dashed, hoove marks remained where he stood as his body disappeared.

Jonas looked to his right, finding the faun coming from a low angle. He turned his hips to face the threat, and as his hips rotated, the left leg gained momentum like a whip.

From Bryn's perspective, Jonas initially had openings all around. He strolled around the forest without resembling a battle stance, so after pondering the case, Bryn used his new increased acceleration and mobility to gain an advantage.

The moment the right foot changed stance, opening toward him, and the left leg came rushing from the back, Jonas didn't feel the same anymore. Bryn's entire body vibrated as if his intuition offered him a perspective about the incoming kick.

It felt like he was about to clash with a giant.

He quickly kicked to the side, evading the almost extended leg outside its reach. Taking advantage of the swing's momentum, he attacked Jonas from his left side this time.

As his body swiftly changed directions, he saw the opened ribcage on Jonas's side. The man's left arm was raised to help balance the swing from the low left leg.

As Bryn advanced, his eyes almost fell from their sockets. Jonas's abdomen contracted, and his arms switched positions, his right arm rising and his left arm dropping down. The change allowed him to use the twisting momentum to accumulate power on the now bent left leg around his waist as it accelerated toward Bryn's face.

The sidekick felt even more terrifying than the previous one, but Bryn knew one of its weaknesses. He lowered his body, going for the leg, offering Jonas his balance. The kick passing just above his horns caused his clothes and hair to sway with its wind force.

A thunderous roar sounded behind Bryn's head as the kick extended fully. The noise was similar to Bryn's attack on the tree trunk, but he hadn't hit anything.

Bryn's body shivered as he realized the noise was previously aiming at his head, but he didn't waver. He held Jonas's knee with his left leg, swinging his entire body across his stance. Bryn's left hoove stopped his movement, and as it did, his right hand came aiming at the back portion of Jonas's knee.

Jonas's leg bent, dropping his weight back. Bryn's left hand glided along the man's back, and his right hoove used the bent leg to propel him just enough so his right hand pulled Jonas's neckline from the shirt to ad momentum. As he did, the quick pull allowed his right forearm to accompany the jaw line and lock both arms around the man's neck.

I can do it! Thought Bryn as his hands formed a rear choke elbow below Jonas's chin, allowing him to lock the neck from both sides; the left arm enveloped the right hand, allowing him to tighten the choke with all his strength.

His muscles trembled from the strength as he squeezed and squeezed.

One after the other, Jonas's hands touched his arms, grabbing onto them and trying to relieve the pressure, but Bryn held on.

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One second, two…

As time went on, each second started to feel longer. Jonas rolled on the ground; whenever he did, Bryn would either jump back to lodge his hooves on the ground to keep control over the situation or, using his legs, wrap them around the opponent's belly to hold on to the moving body.

His new resistance allowed him to hold on even when Jonas rubbed his back over rocks or trees. The impact hurt, but Bryn's skin resisted the scratches.

Near the six-second mark, Jonas said, "Very good, Bryn."

As he did, Bryn knew something was coming. He tried pulling his arms back even further, but the shock didn't allow him to focus hard enough.

Jonas got up since nothing blocked his legs; he squatted and jumped up in the air, full strength. Soaring through the air, the two hit a few branches on the way up, breaking everything in their path. In the blink of an eye, leaves, branches, and trunks had crossed the canopy line, and Bryn's eyes caught a glimpse of the horizon above the forest. For the first time, Bryn understood how big the forest was.

The trees extended through a sequence of hills over everything he could see. Holding tight on Jonas's neck, his vision was limited. To his right, a dense forest he couldn't find an end. To his left, he recognized the mountains; that was the mountain range he nearly entered with Luca and Michelle. The fantastic view started to twist upside down out of Bryn's control.

Jonas had protected his body on the way up, using Bryn as a shield for anything on their path up, and now he turned so Bryn's back parried all objects on the way down as well.

As the speed increased, the first few impacts were nothing, but with gravity working against him, the impacts started getting more serious.

Damn it; our speed will be the same even if I separate myself from him, but the potential forces rushing through my body would be immense if I took both our loads to the ground.

At the last moment, Bryn kicked himself using Jonas's back as a propulsion system, separating them both as their bodies formed craters to each side.

Jonas laughed as he got up and patted himself to get the dirt off him. On the other hand, Bryn tried getting up, but as he did, the ground felt like he was at sea. Tumbling down, he used one of his knees to find balance, but his head was still fuzzy from the impact.

Looking at Jonas from his perspective, the man gave one step where he was, and the second was already in front of him. Bryn didn't feel anything hitting him, but when his eyes opened again, he looked at the tent's ceiling.

What happened? I Thought Bryn was trying to get up as a headache spread like wildfire inside him. His body lowered once again, relieving some of the pain.

"Don't get up yet; drink this," said Jonas, offering Bryn a potion.

"Mr Jonas, I don't feel injuries on my body, so what happened?"

"Bryn, even if a blow doesn't slash our skin or armor, we still absorb it. You need training to flow the impact away from your body and status to resist them…"

Bryn's mind suddenly remembered a video explaining concussions; the skin, head, and bones had no visible injuries, but the brain shook with tremendous force. He looked down and laughed before grabbing the potion and chugging it down his throat.

Damn, I completely forgot about something so basic!

"That was a good move, but you should be careful when to use it. We limited our fight to no magic, but a real battle wouldn't be so simple."

Bryn couldn't help but wonder, "Mr. Jonas, were you feeling dizzy at all during my attack?"

"I could tell what your move meant to do, and I had never seen it before. But our strengths are still too far apart, Bryn…"

Are there no limits to the difference in strength?

Jonas could see the doubt in Bryn's eyes.

He got up and invited the faun outside. The two walked away from camp as Jonas lightly touched a few trees on their path, ignoring them immediately. After a few plants and many steps away, they found a similar trunk to the one Bryn had tried out his moves before.

"Are you fine already, or do you need more time?" Jonas asked.

Bryn opened and closed his fists a few times, jumping up and down, giving Jonas a thumbs up in response.

"Test your strongest punch here; use all your passive and active skills to empower it. You can also use speed to increase its potency."

After their fight, Bryn knew his skin and bones could take the hit, and after the potion he just drank allowed him to improve from a concussion so fast, he didn't even waver. Walking back a few steps, just enough so a dash would reach maximum speed, he punched the tree head-on.

This time, the crater was smaller than the previous try, as if the trunk was denser. Still, a mark double in radius than Bryn's fist appeared as his hand had crushed enough of the tree, so his hand penetrated through the trunk.

"Your new body can resist so much impact with low status. But Bryn, sheer strength has the upper hand if the difference is big enough."

Jonas didn't create space between himself and the tree; he simply prepared a fighting stance and punched it, rotating his entire body to increase its speed.

Bryn focused his eyes on the movement, but there was nothing different about that much; he wasn't even using the mana to reinforce it.

The moment his hand touched the trunk, two thuds followed. The first was from the impact of the hand as if it had landed perfectly on the tree. The second one was followed by a shock wave that pushed everything back for an entire second.

Bryn's eyes got pulled toward the shockwave, and as they turned back, an entire session of the tree was gone. The trunk fell six feet and disappeared from its base, breaking its tip on the impact. Jonas guided the tree with his hand, sending it tumbling to their opposite side.

Bryn had no words for what had just happened. His mind calculated the difference in their power from the damage caused, but since nothing was left from the impacted area, it was hard to estimate.

He must have a minimum of seven to eight times my status with the magical body bonus in strength and vitality. That would be if he had no bonuses to those statuses and only leveled them up using half his point on every level… Wow, level 70!!

Bryn stayed silent as his mind kept rushing through his thoughts.

That is impossible! His speed is monstrous, his control of the charts is excellent, and he uses magic swiftly. Ignoring the luk, if his statuses are balanced, it is impossible for him to be lower than level 180!

Bryn's math was on point, though he forgot about an important detail. His punch had used mana to potencialize both his dash and the muscles around his body. On the other hand, Jonas used no mana; the man had used brute force to knock away the tree.

At my leveling speed and focusing on that alone, assuming a minimal percentage of experience needed per level, it would take years for me to achieve that!

Once again, the mountain that he felt whenever looking at Jonas and Gabriel had gained heights he would have to climb to reach the peak of this world.

"Bryn, the remaining trolls are going back. We have a single day left before we start the next phase of your training."

Bryn remained silent, looking at the man as he walked toward him.

He patted Bryn on the shoulder, "Battle training starts in five. No limitations."

Bryn nodded, "Yes, sir!"