*Boom!*
Inside the Illusionary Beast Valley.
Ace was just slapped away by a dinosaur’s tail.
*Boom!*
“Ugh?!”
He slammed into a cliff and cracked it.
“Roar!”
The dinosaur that looked like an iron plated cayman, rushed towards him with the intention of using its head to crush him.
Seeing that, Ace quickly covered himself in Qi and jumped to the left.
He flashed his arm to the side and it was quickly covered with scales that looked like that of the dinosaur’s.
He had obtained this trait after defeating a similar dinosaur earlier.
“Die!”
The Dinosaur and Ace rushed at each other.
*Boom!*
Ace’s fist hit the dinosaur’s head and crushed its armored skin.
“Ohhhh!”
*Boom!*
He uppercut the monster up into the air.
He then concentrated his Qi around his legs and jumped.
He shot passed the dinosaur and then started to flip while they were both falling.
“Ohhhh!”
Ace swung down his leg with all of his might.
*Boom!*
The dinosaur’s head flatten as its skull was crushed and its fangs flew out.
It immediately died.
“Damn lizard. You almost killed me.”
Ace stooped down and place his hand on the dinosaur.
A green light immediately washed over it before returning to Ace.
The light travelled up his arm and towards his heart.
*Roar!*
A terrifying roar then came from inside Ace’s body. It was like there was a monster growing inside him.
“Not bad.”
It was at this moment that Aeon appeared out of nowhere.
“Your Beast Core is growing at a nice rate.”
A Beast Core was an orb that was at the center of every Beastly Qi user. This core is what stores the traits of all the beasts the user tamed or defeated.
The more traits the user collects the larger the core.
It was also possible for Beastly Qi users to steal each other's cores and gain all the traits they collected.
To do this one must kill a Beastly Qi user, and eat his heart. This was because the Beast Core was inside a closed space in the heart.
Currently, Ace’s Beast Core was only the size of a rice grain. But it still possessed multiple beast traits.
“Why must I be the one to be thrown in here? This place is a hellhole!”
“Two months and you're still complaining?”
“Of course I'm complaining! I died in here several times!”
“So? Don't you have multiple lives? Besides I won't let you die for real. I would rewind your time before that happens.”
“I told you, I don't like to use [Respawn]!”
[Respawn] was an ability that allowed Ace to “resurrect” from the dead as long as his soul wasn't destroyed.
[Boost Player] was really an innovative technique. When it was said that it turned its users into a game character, it wasn't lying.
There were two forms of [Respawn].
The first stage where a self defense mechanism will send a static shock towards the heart when it stops beating and stimulate it back to life.
The second stage where the user is able to create multiple copies of himself in a location of his choice. These copies will act as backups for when his body is destroyed. When that happens his soul will be immediately transferred to a backup, which would then become the main body.
Ace currently could only use the first stage. The second stage was for when he mastered [Boost Player].
“It's a creepy feeling when your hearts stops and starts up back again.”
“Well, that creepy feeling is what's keeping you alive. So get use to it.”
“Roar!”
A giant two-headed tiger appeared not too far away from Ace.
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“Good timing.”
Aeon smiled when he saw the beast.
“Listen, Boy. Your situation is similar too Miko's four years ago. Because of [Boost Player] you can't use any of your abilities that easily. If you're caught off guard, it's over for you. That's why you need to master Qigong. If you have Qigong you'll be able to fend off a sneak attack with physical strength, even if you're not prepared.”
“Roar!”
The two headed tiger spotted Ace and ran towards him.
Ace quickly covered his arms with iron scales, but this one had spikes.
He rushed forward and met the tiger head on.
*Boom!*
Ace’s fist slammed into one of the tigers head and sent it upward.
“Roar!”
The other head got angry and bit his shoulder.
“Ahhhhh?!”
As the fangs tore into his flesh, Ace screamed out in agony.
As if it had nothing to do with him, Aeon continued.
“If the physical strength of your base form increases, so will the strength of the characters. For example [Magician] have zero physical strength and low durability. But that isn't the case now that you've learn Qigong. That weakness no longer exist.”
*Boom!*
Ace pound the other tiger head until it was forced to let go.
“Ohhh!”
He then punches the tiger in eye and crushed it.
“Roar?!”
It cried out in pain, but Ace didn't let up.
He crushed the other eye with a punch.
“Roar!”
The other head tried to devour him.
Ace suddenly dove into its mouth and down the throat. He didn't allow the tiger to chew him.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
Loud explosions could be heard coming from the tigers throat.
Holes were quickly formed in the neck and blood sprayed out.
Ace's hands appeared in the holes.
“Ohhhhh!”
He used all of his strength and ripped a human size hole in the neck.
The tiger release one last cry before tumbling over.
Ace crawled out of the gouge in the neck and laid on the ground while breathing heavily.
“See? Your strength has already reached this point.”
Aeon appeared beside him.
“This is the second level of the Illusionary Beast Valley. Miko was on the first level for six months. If you stay on this level which is ten times harder, for twice as long the benefits you receive will be far greater than what Miko got.”
“………”
Ace didn't say anything.
He just laid on the ground and stared at the smiling Aeon.
As he looked at him, he thought-
‘One day I’m gonna smack that smirk off your face. For this reason, I'll do everything in my power to grow!’
Around this time, in a closed off space.
*Boom!*
Sora desperately tried to dodge a spear that was aiming at his chest.
This spear had no wielder, it was moving by itself.
“[Resound!]”
Sora's palm hit the spear.
*Boom!*
However, the spear cut through his sound attack like paper and stabbed at him.
Sora desperately bent his body and dodged the spear. But the spear still sliced his shirt in two.
Sora's face paled when he imagined what would've happened if that spear had made contact with his skin.
“Whew.”
He exhaled with a relieved expression and leaped back.
When he leaped back the spear didn't chase him. Instead it came to a standstill.
Seeing that, Sora sat on the ground and stared at the spear as if he wanted to study it.
“How's it going?”
He looked to his side and saw Nova looking at the spear as well.
“I'm starting to grasp some of its movements, but I doubt I can replicate them yet.”
“Don't need to rush. As long as you can replicate half of the spears movements within the next few months, I grant you a past on the first level.”
Sora nodded.
What he was doing was studying spear arts by facing an actual spear.
When Nova decided to train Sora for a little bit, he immediately thought of teaching him how to use the spear.
A couple thousand years ago, a young Nova fought against a sound magic specialist and almost died at his hands.
This person was a spearman who fused sound with his attacks.
Every spear thrust he took caused waves to burst through the earth and the air.
Just being scrapped by his spear was fatal. This was because he used the power of vibration in every strike.
When the spear cuts you, sound waves would silently enter your body and attack your organs directly.
It was even worse when the spear pierced you.
Sound waves would spread out like tidal waves and cause every organ in your body to instantly burst. There were even cases when the entire body would burst like a balloon.
To Nova, this sound specialist was a terrifying memory.
He could sneak up on you, poke you with his spear, and you would pop like a bubble.
But what was the most terrifying was that that person was a peerless spear user who almost never missed.
He even had ways to kill you without his spear even reaching near you.
Nova wanted to see if he could recreate such a person by using Sora.
“Well, I'm gonna give it another go.”
Sora sat up and walked over to the spear.
He stopped just 2 meters away from the spear and took a deep breath.
And then-
He took a step forward.
*Swoosh!*
The moment his feet touch the ground the spear shot forward aiming for his neck.
Sora quickly leaned to the right and took another step forward.
The spear’s thrusts increased rapidly.
Sora watched the spear’s movement with his eyes and swayed his body to dodge it by a thin margin.
The spear and Sora danced together like a leaf in the summer breeze.
But it was far from being that beautiful.
The spear that was aiming at Sora's vital points cut through his stomach and barely missed his organs.
Blood leaked out, but Sora didn't stopped himself from swaying through the spear thrusts.
He instead braved the pain and continued with focus eyes.
The truth is, Sora also wished to learn the spear. That's because he believed that it will help Miko become king if his strength grew.
At first when Miko said he wished to become king, he never took it seriously. But after meeting him after 4 years, he sensed that something greatly changed in Miko.
Help putting someone on the throne for amusement, instantly changed to wishing to seeing how far he can go.
Sora wished to see Miko's limits, but first he must surpass his.
“Well, he's doing alright.”
Nova said as he watched Sora's determined expression.
He turned around and walked a bit before fading away.
He next appeared in a dark room with a sinister aura floating around.
In the center of this room was a girl in her mid teens surrounded by what looked like specters, with her eyes closed.
This girl was Hinami.
Nova said nothing to her and took a seat in a corner.
Her stared at her with no specific expression on his face.
He was simply waiting.
After nearly a hour, he saw Hina's face paled.
“She reached her limit huh?”
He snapped his fingers and the specters disappeared and the sinister atmosphere also disappeared.
“Hah~!”
Hina's eyes suddenly opened and she took a deep breath as if she was desperate for air.
“You weren't able to break out before your mind suffered damages.”
Hearing his voice, Hina looked over at Nova.
“….I thought I was going to die.”
“You would've if I didn't bring you back just now.”
“Illusions really are dangerous.”
Hina mumbled.
“Your natural born Qi type is Chaotic Qi just like me. Which means that you have a very abnormal personality just like me.”
Hina frowned when she heard that.
“What is being abnormal so bad? You should take it as a compliment.”
He stood up.
“Abnormality is interesting. Normality is boring. I prefer to be seen as exciting than boring and lacking of appeal. Aren't you also the same?”
“…….”
Hina said nothing and only stared at him.
“Well, if you don't want to admit it then fine.”
He walked and stood directly in front of her.
“Believe it or not, you have a strong affinity towards chaos. Because of this, Illusionary Magic suits you perfectly.”
He snapped his fingers.
“This place is called the Nightmare Realm. It's filled with hundreds of illusions that can cause your mind to crumble and even kill you. The reason I brought you here is for you to experience some of these illusions. Only after you experience illusions can you learn how to create them.”
Chaotic Qi has the ability to throw someone's mind into turmoil through the use of illusions originating from the soul.
Nova is planning to have Hina learn how to do this, since it's far too early for here to manipulate the laws of the world through Qi. He believes she has the potential.
“For the next year, half of your time will be spent learning about and experiencing illusions. The other half will focus on further honing your powers.”
Hina nodded.
“Good. Then enter the nightmare again.”