Chapter 178 - Humiliation

"The use of weapons and active Skills is forbidden." The coach Crater had mentioned, Zeno, stood in front of the recruits with his immense bulk. He was a middle-aged man two meters tall and similar to mountain of muscles. “To test your ability in hand-to-hand combat, you only need to use your physical skills and subdue your opponent. The rations for the day will be divided based on who will win. If you use any active Skills, you lose. Passive ones are allowed. "

Helial had only been in that world for a few hours and had already understood one thing: Alexander and his men didn't like wasting time. The training had begun immediately after the battle, giving the four a nearly non-existent time for rest, and this would also test their endurance. Of course, Helial didn't mind this at all.

Surely, such a hard training would not have spared anyone and success, by all four recruits or just one of them, was not at all certain.

The three boys with Helial were Theodete, Tarasio and Soter. All three were several centimetres taller than Helial and their sturdy build came from a life of hard training.

Judging by the Aura released by their bodies, all three had an extraordinary talent. Making a few calculations, Helial determined that their strength was far greater than Medea's.

In addition, they were at the Late stage of the First Phase, while Helial was still at the Intermediate. The King's favourite was even weaker than they were, how could they not hate him?

Ever since he left his village, no one had ever looked at Helial with the same contempt that those three were reserving for him from the exact moment they had seen him for the first time. By now, he had grown accustomed to the hateful looks of the Sect of the Worthy, but being looked down upon ... it was a feeling he had forgotten.

Helial smiled and felt a sensation of freshness and novelty in the looks of Theodete, Tarasio and Soter.

"Helial and Soter, in that corner," said Zeno, pointing to the exact spot by extending a muscular arm in front of him, "Tarasio and Theodete, here. Don't hurt your opponent too much or you'll be whipped. Remember: no weapons, no active Skills. Start. Let's see what you can do. "

"No weapons, huh?" Murmured Helial to herself, taking his position shoulder to shoulder with Soter, farther than the other two. He looked at his opponent and noticed that he had a sturdy and muscular build, like the other two. Soter's determined and cold gaze penetrated Helial's eyes, affecting his soul.

"I don't know why the King favours a gnat like you, but I won't go easy on you", Soter's face turned into a mask of contempt.

So that was the reason for those hateful looks. Luckily Helial was used to thinking of any possible situation, even the most catastrophic and least pleasant. After thinking for years about how to thwart his brother's plots, his minds could now run much faster than the average. Therefore, Helial deduced, Alexander had tested all the new recruits with his Aura, but Tarasio, Soter and Theodete had not been able to resist it. And the fact that a thin, wiry and weak boy had managed to pass the test had led the three to think that Helial had been favoured in some way.

Make the cadets compete with each other ... I will remember this for the future. If he did it on purpose, not even the title of King will be enough to stop me. Whether it's an illusion or not, if Alexander wants be a dick with me, sooner or later I will repay him with the same coin.

Helial was still thinking when Soter suddenly attacked him, pointing at his side. The air whistled and Helial was hit without even having a chance to fight back.

A treacherous attack!

The action had been so fast that Helial hadn't even noticed.

At first glance, Soter looked like a loyal warrior, but his attack had taken advantage of Helial's distraction and struck before they could even look each other in the eye again.

Swearing and jumping sideways to catch his breath, the camp last recruit, catapulted into an unknown world without a moment notice, was immediately at a disadvantage. However, according to Helial's calculations even after receiving a hit from Soter, the damage should not have been so great. Instead he had even found himself out of breath because of the strong hit at his stomach.

Body of the Qilin body was supposed to grant him of an impregnable, otherworldly defense worthy of an ancestral creature. But then why did that blow seem to have been delivered by a warrior at the Late stage of the Second Phase, and not by a simple boy at the First? Were the soldiers in that army really that strong?

Soter did not even give Helial time to stand straight and continued hitting with a volley of punches, one after another. Helial had no way of breaking that assault. All he could do was parry with his arms and shoulders, waiting for an opportunity to fight back.

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But, the more the clash went on, the more it seemed clear that Soter was too experienced to leave the slightest chance of action to his opponent; in fact, he also seemed to have a powerful Passive Ability, like Helial's Body of the Qilin, which allowed him to have such a high Physical Strength.

Over time, Helial was in a terrible disadvantage. Although his physical power was not inferior to that of Soter, he could not find an opening that would allow him to strike a blow.

Soter was methodical. Whenever Helial parried, he chained an attack immediately afterwards, with punches or kicks.

At that point Helial understood that if he really wanted to defeat him, he had to be more active. He couldn't be a punching ball for the whole fight. Otherwise, how could he win?

In fact, his Physical Strength was much higher than Soter’s was. The problem was that his defence wasn't as good. Yet despite the excruciating pain in his muscles, Helial felt that Body of the Qilin continued to slowly grow stronger thanks to all those blows. Qilin's body was a Skill able to evolve depending on the blows he suffered: the more Helial's body was under pressure, the more it would have evolved. Thanks to this ability, the Qilin were among the most feared creatures in the universe.

No one could know if a Qilin was being defeated or if he was using his opponent as training material. Hardening one's body using pain was both terrifying and efficient. Without the flame of Qinguang, Kirin would never have been able to evolve and become the first of his lineage, starting from the lame dragon he was.

Soter grinned, without diminishing the intensity of the blows and their rhythm: "Is that all, King's favourite?"

Faced with such humiliation, Helial began get angry. It was the first time that his cold blood was severely tested.

In his limbs there was incredible strength, more than enough to tear Soter to pieces.

However, the instructor had clearly forbidden them to injure, cripple or kill their opponent.

If Helial could use Curse of the Demon, that fight would have long since ended. But Active Skills and weapons were not allowed. Helial could use nothing but his fists and had to fight containing his own strength, not to obliterate the young man before him from the planet.

Until that day, Helial had always used every fibre of his muscles and all his Mana, during a fight. But that day he was really in a bad situation.

His enemy's blows were heavy, exhausting. Getting punched would increase the experience of Body of the Qilin, but it would also drain Helial's Stamina long before Soter's. The enormous strength Helial had could not stand up to the vigour he was struck with.

By the way, Iblis had categorically forbidden Helial from using his Stat Points and let him increase his Stats only through training.

Who knows what face Soter, who was already surprised by Helial's enormous endurance and physical strength, would make if he discovered that the brat had not yet used any Stats Points?

The only thing that Iblis's young disciple could do, if he really wanted to win, would be to unleash all his physical power and hit Soter, starting to exchange blow for blow. But there was a problem: if his blows landed, they would probably tear the opponent to pieces.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Helial screamed as she succumbed to the rain of blows.

Soter grinned, but his satisfaction was so great that he could not contain a loud laugh. His victory was imminent. Let anger get the best of him during a fight would only lead to defeat.

But what Soter didn't know was that the dark blue-eyed young man in front of him had just made a decision.

Helial lowered his guard in both arms and quickly took four blows to the face, under Soter's scornful gaze. But their strength only made him tremble slightly, while a sardonic smile spread on his lips. Drops of blood came from his mouth and his eyes were a scarlet spider web of burst capillaries.

With a sudden twist of his trunk, Helial brought his right arm behind him, ready to deliver a terrifying blow. Even without using Mana, Soter suddenly felt that his sixth sense was trying to warn him of an imminent danger.

He tried to move, but failed. The pressure emanating from Helial's huge physical strength seemed to have him blocked and he couldn't help but cross his arms, ready to defend himself from the blow that was about to land straight on his face.

Although in that strange dimension men were much more powerful than the warriors in Helial's continent were, he was not an ordinary warrior, too. His body contained an incredible Strength and probably there was no one in his own Phase who could receive a hit directly from him.

As strong as Soter might be, the fact that he had not been able to penetrate Helial's defences after all those blows and that he had left nothing but superficial wounds should have made him change his mind about Helial's strength. By now, it was too late, and Soter had become a sacrificial lamb to Helial's anger who, with gritted teeth and a furious expression, launched a devastating blow aimed at Soter's face.

FWOOOSH!

DONG!

A gong rang out suddenly and Zeno began to scream, furious: "The fight ends here!"

Helial stopped the blow in mid-air, enraged.

If Helial's blow had landed, it would have blown Soter's head into a cloud of blood!

The coach had noticed and blocked the fight on purpose! Zeno had seen the skinny boy take a lot of blows and, just when Helial was about to turn the situation around and tear that arrogant boy in front of him to pieces, he had blocked the fight!

The coach was at the Intermediate grade of the Second Phase and only generals and commanders were more powerful than he was.

Not looking twice at Soter, Helial made broad strides towards the exit, trying not to finally lose control because of that humiliation.

Soter continued laughing, thinking that Helial was just a faking. The arrogance had made him lose sight of the true worth of the warrior who was about to take his life with a simple punch.

As he was about to take the exit leading to the recruits' dormitories, a voice thundered in Helial's ears: “Recruit! Come back here immediately or you will be whipped for your insubordination! "

"Whipped?" Helial turned, foaming with anger, and looked at the coach like a ravenous wolf would watch its prey.

"Exact! Bring your ass right here, your insubordination will cost you ten lashes right away! "

Unbeknownst to Zeno, the coach, the whole landscape around had slowly begun to lose its colours and a huge black broadsword had appeared in Helial's right hand. On the left, a white flame had just materialized; despite its small size, the space around it began to distort due to the tremendous heat.