20 Time to prove yourself 3 (1/2)

The second task is a fighting test. It will test your potential… The normal task, at the highest difficulty level, consists in facing a Shadow 5 times stronger than yourself, said Kirin. But you will have to fight against someone with Physical Strength 50 times higher than yours. They will have your same amount of Mana and access to the same Skills you possess… What are you doing?

Skill Activated:

Communion with Mana

Lv: 1

You are able to flow the power of Mana through the most suitable Meridians.

You can move while storing and regenerating your Mana.

Exp: 6.2%

Effects:

MP Regeneration: 200 Mana/Sec

Skill Amplification: 3%

Physical Abilities Amplification: 1,3%

As soon as he was told to fight against such a powerful Shadow, Helial started condensing Mana on the fingertips of his left hand. Curse of the Demon was not going to be useful to him now, so he left it on the ground. ”I'm getting ready. Is it against the rules? We're talking about a Shadow 50 times stronger than me, I don't see anything wrong with a little head start. What about life… Will he have my same amount of HP?”

Yes. He will have your same MP and HP, plus he will be able to think independently. Only Physical Strength will be different… Kid, no one can face someone this much stronger. This is a task not even a genius can pass. In this world, some things are really impossible.

Skill Activated:

Perception

Helial could feel the taste of blood in his mouth. He adjusted the range of Perception to 500 yards. He could not afford to lose.

Kid… That scene almost moved Kirin to pity. He did not understand what Helial was hoping to do with Mana Pistol. No matter its power, the Qilin was sure that nothing would have been enough to kill someone with the boy's physical abilities amplified by 50.

But Kirin now noticed something was different about that Skill. The brat hasn't reached the First Phase yet, but has already learned Mana Pistol… And I feel he's condensing the Mana bullet to the maximum degree… How can it be possible? He has a Black Seed, his control can't be… Unless he has experienced a specific problem during Condensation. Maybe he is a genius who was unlucky enough to be disturbed during the Condensation of the Seed.

Kirin's hypothesis could have explained why Helial had passed the first task so smoothly. Although, no matter how good he was at controlling Mana, his Shadow would have killed him as easily as swatting a fly.

There was no hope for Helial. Quantifying the strength of people at different Phases was not easy, but if Helial was still at the beginning, not having reached the First Phase yet, then his Shadow would have been at least in the First Phase Intermediate stage.

Phases started at level 60, when someone could be considered to have stepped on the path to Immortality. Before level 60, one was not worth to even pronounce the word 'Mana'. Once at that level, the body went through a great metamorphosis and the Meridians became extremely powerful. The difference between being below level 60 and having entered the First Phase was as big as the distance between heaven and earth.

Every Phase had 60 levels and could be divided into three further grades: Early, Intermediate and Late stages. The difference among these grades was not as big as that between Phases, but the body still went through some lesser changes. Meridians went through an adjusting process, to ease the passage to the next Phase.

How could Helial face someone in the First Phase Intermediate stage?

Helial's breathing had become short and wheezy.

Kid, are you ready?, asked Kirin, almost moved to pity.

It was going to be all over in less than a minute. The Shadow was going to kill him at the first blow. The real goal of that task was force the contestant to evolve. Being face with someone infinitely more powerful, they had to go beyond their limits, becoming stronger during the task itself. It could be by a sudden level up of a Skill or the creation of a new one, maybe a breakthrough or who knows what else. Whoever could manage that would have greatly benefited from the experience. It was not easy achieving a breakthrough under normal conditions, let alone during a fight to the death.

Helial, however, would have been denied this possibility. His Shadow was just too strong. Kirin had added the difficulty of all the other six tasks, so the difficulty level was going to be through the roof… Not even the most talented of men could have passed such a test.

Kirin sighed, or rather he would have sighed if he had had a real body.

ROOOOOOAR

There was a sudden growl. Less than 30 yards from Helial, a Mana shape suddenly materialized, a Mana vortex that converged in one point. That Mana was truly brutal.

Helial had almost reached the tenth level of Perception and could perceived the Mana density very clearly. It emanated the same energy of a living being. That Qilin has many tricks up his sleeve…

The Mana became denser and denser, taking the shape of a boy. It was Helial! The Shadow looked exactly like Helial, but in place of the features on his face there was only a translucent blur. It was almost an ethereal creature. In his sockets were lodged two white semi-transparent spheres. His stare was cold, like a beast kept in captivity.

The Shadow emanated his Soul. It was identical to Helial's, since it had the same Mana.

A copy of Curse of the Demon appeared in the hand of the Shadow. The latter smiled with satisfaction, staring at the weapon with which he would soon use to kill his real self.

He had all the Skills Helial possessed and his same fighting style. The only thing the Shadow could not access was his personality. It was impossible to recreate a personality in a Shadow.

Let the task begin.

***