After Momo and Aeon decided to test their protégés against each other, Nero created a stage for them.
It was obvious that he wanted to watch the show.
“So here's how we're going to do this.”
Aeon stood at the center of the stage in a referee uniform. It was clear that he was really looking forward to this.
“Miko will spar with each of you for five minutes. In that time, if he defeats one of you before the time is up, a new opponent will step on the stage. That match will also receive the remainder of the time from the previous match. For example, if he defeats one of you in three minutes, the remaining two minutes will be added on the next match. However, if Miko is defeated the spars will stop.”
He looked at Miko and the others to see if they understood him. After confirming that they understood him, he stepped back.
Miko jumped on the stage.
“Who's first?”
“That would be me.”
The one who jumped up was Ace.
“Oh? I don't think we've ever fought before. This should be fun.”
Miko said with a challenging smile.
“Just so you know, I want a straight fist fight. No weapons or magic other than Body Modification Magic.”
“I don't mean. But Qigong is a must.”
“That was the idea.”
The two then took a fighting stance and stared at each other.
Then-
“[Character Change: Brawler]!”
Ace switched to his Brawler Character.
However that wasnt all.
“[Code Breaker]!”
A burst of green light was released from Ace’s body.
Miko could feel his strength rise at a remarkable pace.
“A Beastly Qigong Apprentice. So his true nature is like that of a beast.”
As he stared into Ace’s sharp orange eyes, he couldn't help but to agree that this was the eyes of a predator locking on his prey.
“Heh. Looks like they weren't messing around these 4 years.”
He smiled fearlessly, and released his Demonic Qi.
Strength rushed through his body as his fighting spirit rose.
*Boom!*
The two of them kicked off the ground at the same time.
They quickly reached other and threw a punch.
*Boom!*
Their fist collided and caused the stage to tremble.
“Hm?”
When his fist clashed against Ace’s, Miko felt that something was off.
*Boom!*
Ace slammed his free hand on Miko's chest and made him fly back a few meters.
However to his surprise, Miko didn't look affected that much. Instead he stood there slowly rubbing his chest.
‘As I thought. That wasn't a punch from a Qi Apprentice. It's far stronger.’
As he thought this, Ace shot towards him.
Ace swung his leg and ripping sounds reached Miko's ears as he leaned back and dodge it.
*Boom!*
Miko's fist slammed against Ace’s stomach.
However he immediately leaped back to dodge a punch from Ace.
He looked at Ace with bit of surprise.
‘His body is abnormally hard?’
Ace kicked off the ground and moved with a speed that was incredible fast. It was twice as fast as his and Miko's previous speed.
*Boom!*
His leg slammed into Miko's chest.
“Hmm….”
However, Miko's body didn't even flinch. Instead he was looking at Ace with curious eyes.
Ace saw this and wanted to move back.
“?!”
However Miko's hand gripped his shoulder before he could.
He tried to shrug him off, but the grip felt like a mountain was on his shoulder.
*Boom!*
“Guh?!”
Miko slammed his fist into his stomach again.
“Oh? I actually need to use my full strength as a Qigong Warrior to seriously hurt you.”
*Boom!*
He then uppercut him off the ground.
*Boom!*
Miko then slammed his fist with almost all of his strength on Ace’s chest.
“Cough?!”
Ace coughed up all the air in his lungs as he was blown back.
His body hit the floor once before he could get his feet.
“This is really interesting. The punch I threw just now should have shattered his chest plate and destroyed your lungs. But you took only a light amount damage.”
‘Light? My heart almost stopped.’
Ace retorted in his mind.
He looked at Miko and saw a dangerous gaze of curiosity locked on him.
“I wonder just how tough and how strong you are now.”
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He kicked off the ground and quickly appeared in front of Ace.
He swung his leg. Ace swung his arm.
*Boom!*
Fist and leg collided.
Miko stepped back and threw a barrage of kicks.
Ace desperately dodged them and countered with some punches.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
As their flesh collided, explosive sounds rang out.
Miko stepped in hard and thrust his palm at Ace’s face.
Ace leaned back and dodged it. But he clearly felt the force behind that palm strike.
He poured all of his strength in his right arm and slammed his fist into Miko's face.
*Boom!*
Miko's head blew back.
“Now that one was really heavy.”
Miko fixed his head back in place with a little bit of blood flowing from his face wound.
This made Ace ashen.
*BOOM!*
“Guah?!”
Ace suddenly felt like he was hit by a flying mountain.
His body flew off the stage and crashed on the dirt.
“Cough! Cough!”
He coughed up a mouthful of blood and stood up.
“I give up. Even if I used [Code Breaker] to make my hard as diamonds, my organs are in dire state.”
He said.
Ace’s [Code Breaker] was a skill that allowed him to rewrite a character's stats as he wishes. He used it increase his durability and strength, but in the end it still couldn't compete against Miko's physical abilities.
“So that's what it was.That's a pretty interesting ability.”
Said Miko.
When Ace heard that he smile in self-ridicule.
He's definitely grown over the four years, but Miko's current strength was something else.
“Ace lasted 4 minutes and 30 seconds. The next match will be 5 minutes and 30 seconds long.”
Referee Aeon announced.
Immediately after that, Sora got on stage.
After seeing how Ace did, he wasnt that much confident in a contest of physical strength. However he wanted to test his Qigong skills against Miko.
“Let's fight like before.”
As he said that, a golden glow appear around his body.
“Heavenly Qi, huh.”
Heavenly Qi was the opposite and mortal enemy to Demonic Qi. Clashing them against each other would be interesting to Miko.
Sora rushed forward. Miko took a defensive stance as he awaited Sora.
“?!”
However, Sora disappeared from his eyes.
*Boom!*
He suddenly felt a blow to the back of his head.
He stumbled forward.
*Boom!*
He was then attacked from the front.
*Boom!*
Now from his left.
“Tch!”
Miko spun around and thrust his palm out.
*Boom!*
His palm clashed with an invisible force.
He then pull Sora’s invisible arm, and threw another palm strike.
*Boom!*
A burst of water appeared in the air.
“Cough?!”
It was then Sora appeared with blood leaking from his mouth corners.
As a Qigong Warrior, Miko can conjure elements into his Qi and used them to attack the organs directly. If he was a Qigong King like Momo, he could even attack the Soul directly with these elements.
Sora felt weak in his knees and fell to the floor.
“Crap! I've been killing everyday for the last 4 years that I forgot to hold back.”
He quickly stooped down and help Sora up.
“But I'm surprised that you learnt [Stealth-Camouflage] in two years. When matched with your speed, you become a deadly assassin. If this was a life and death battle I would've be assassinated.”
“That's right. You were carelessly Miko.”
Kimiko commented from the side.
As the creators of the technique, Kimiko and Nero naturally thought Miko how to detect someone who was use [Stealth-Camouflage] by stretching out his Qi to detect them when they step in his personal space. However, Miko could only do so after receiving the third attack from Sora.
If this was assassination instead of a spar, Miko would've been killed already.
“I-I give up.”
Even so, this was a spar. Sora obviously couldn't go on after having his organs damaged.
“I'm sorry, man.”
Miko apologized with a wry smile and helped Sora off the stage.
Then next to go on the stage was Hina.
She also wanted to test her Qigong against Miko.
But unlike Ace and Sora she had an ulterior motive.
Her skin immediately darken and her hair whiten. Her ears turned pointed and her teeth turned in fangs.
This was Miko's first time seeing Hina in this form.
She showed it to Ace and Sora already, and saw that they didn't feel disgusted by it.
Miko was the only one.
He stared at her with wide eyes. He was obviously surprised.
Hina didn't give him time to get over his shock.
Her body was immediately covered with a purple glow.
“Oh? That girl is a Chaotic Qi type like me.”
Said Nova.
*Boom!*
Hina kicked off the ground and suddenly appeared in front of Miko.
*Boom!*
“Guh?!”
He was lifted off the ground with a punch in the stomach.
Hina then spun around and sent him flying with a kick.
*Boom!*
He bounce off the ground a few times and quickly got to his feet.
“?!”
However Hina was already in front of him.
He ducked under a kick aiming at his neck and punch at her.
“?!”
However his fist hit air.
“She's fast!”
He quickly spun around and thrust his hand out.
*Boom!*
He and Hina's fists collided.
“Hm?”
Miko was surprise to find out that Hina was tougher and stronger than Ace’s modified [Brawler Character].
He leaped back and stared at her current appearance.
‘She looks like a dark elf, only a bit more demonic.’
As he looked in Hina's eyes he knew what she was thinking.
“Heh.”
He grinned and covered himself with Qi and enter is dragon form.
His skin was replaced with scales, two horns spurted from his head, and he grew a tail and a pair of wings.
When Hina saw this she was shocked.
But she smiled when she saw the look in Miko's eyes.
‘You're not the only monster here, huh.’
That was what she conveyed from them.
She suddenly felt her fighting spirit brewing inside her.
*Boom!*
She shot forward like a bullet. Miko stood in place and welcomed her.
*Boom!* *Boom!*
Their fist collided, but blood unexpectedly sprayed from Hina's hand.
“?!”
Miko grinned and concentrated a portion of his Qi around his fist, and thrust forward.
Hina quickly lifted her arms to block it.
*BOOM!*
She was blown back with the sounds of bone breaking reaching her ears.
She quickly stabilized herself and stared at Miko in shock.
Both of her arms were destroyed after blocking one punch.
Even though her body was amazingly durable, it was like glass in front of Miko.
Realizing the difficulty of this spar, she smiled and was about to move again.
“Miko's win!”
"......?!"
Hina looked at Aeon with askance.
“I can tell that the two of you were about to go all out. That wouldn't be good. It would only end in your defeat. So instead of making you going through the experience of having your bones crush by his fists, I decided to call the match.”
Aeon explained to Hina.
She was going to complain, but when she thought about it he was right. Miko already won the moment he transformed.
Hina sighed and left the stage and waited for her arm to fix themselves.
‘Well at least I was able to confirm how he feels about me.’
Hina happily smiled as she thought this.
The last one to go stage was Luka.
“Since everyone wanted to compare Qigong, then I'll do the same.”
As she said that, she activated her Qi.
“?!”
Miko was shocked when he saw it.
Not just him, Nero, Kimiko, Momo, and Nova were also shock.
“Ruler’s Qi?! A natural-born Ruler’s Qi!”
Nero shouted in surprise as he was unable to hide his shock.
He then glared at Aeon.
Aeon acted like he didn't notice, but the cold sweat on his body was a give away.
‘This brat actually hid this from me. He really is like his father.’
Nero thought.
A natural-born Ruler’s Qi was extremely rare. It was said that those born with this Qi type were destined to rule.
An example of this is Augustus, who was titled the Divine Conqueror after slaughtering countless higher beings to build the Dragna kingdom.
Luka remained calm on the stage, and stared at Miko's dragon form.
“Heh.”
She then grinned.
Her body suddenly underwent similar changes.
She grew a pair of wings, her skin turned into black scales with red hue, she grew a tail, but a pair of horns.
She had also turned into a dragon.
“How nostalgic. You copying me.
Miko said with a smile.
“Then allow me to copy you this once!”
As Miko said this, his Qi changed from its sinister dark nature, to a majestic and overbearing white color.
“?!”
It was Luka and others turn to be shocked.
“Surprised? Apparently, I was born with two Qi types.”
He said with a smile.
After the war, Miko's Qi core was analyzed by Nero.
He wanted to discover why was Miko able to use Ruler’s Qi without any training. He also wanted to discover why he was able to use Vastator.
It was then he discovered that Miko had a rare dual Qi body that allowed him to be born with two Qi types.
However, his Ruler’s Qi was suppressed for some reason. It would sometimes leak out, but it only was released from its suppression when Miko wielded Vastator.
After his Qi returned, Miko was able to freely wield two Qi types equally.
This greatly puzzled Nero. He could never figure out what made Miko's body so special. He even wondered if it was because he was reincarnated.
Luka squinted her eyes when saw Miko's Qi. She immediately felt like she lost the advantage she had.
“Sigh.”
She suddenly felt unmotivated.
‘Born with two Qi types? That's just messed up. Plus he's one rank higher than me in Qigong. This fight is pointless.’
“I give up.”
She said.
Even though she knew that she would put up a good fight, Luka didn't feel interested in fight a losing battle.
If it was an all out fight with magic involved, she was confident that the fight could go any way. However, she would lose in a battle of Qigong.
After all, Luka didn't put a lot of effort in learning Qigong.
It wasn't that she and the others were weak. It's just that they choose the wrong thing to compete with Miko in.
Unlike Miko who plans to master both magic and Qigong to perfection, they only saw Qigong as a mere weapon in their arsenal. They were just like Momo, who focused mainly on training her magic, and only mastered Qigong to the rank of King.
One rank above Miko.
When people like that compete in Qigong with someone who aims to reach the rank of Qigong God, while being born with a dual Qi body, that's just asking to get their asses kicked.
“Then it's Miko's victory! Five consecutive victories with 7 minutes remaining!”
Aeon announced.
He already foresaw this outcome.
He had wanted to show the current gap between Miko and the others, and make them think about what they needed to do to close it.
But can they close it in one year?
Aeon was dying to know.