Chapter 162: Trial of 400 Orbs / Part 2

The metallic rolling stopped before his feet, clicking and not disappearing away since its momentum stopped. Allan placed his left palm over its surface, feeling its structure and mass. This was the third barrier he got his hands on and was probably the one who made the most trouble to him. It was the toughest one, so far.

“So far… There could be tougher things in the sky. I know it.” he mumbled, aware that the size, feeling, and stretching toughness of this barrier was unlike the one before. Slapping it a bit, and pinching it with a couple of flicks of his fingers, he could only imagine its toughens by his imagination and visualization.

“But I was lucky too… I know I was.” he thought and got up to see what he can do.

The barrier wanted to fly away from the knife impact, but Allan stopped it with the flick of the lucky motion of that cloth strip. It went right into the best way possible, preventing it from not only escaping but also pushing it down to the ground and stopping its momentum.

Allan was surprised by its size but more so about the toughness. It was as large as his torso, which wasn't the smallest by this point.

“Let's see what is inside, and I doubt it will be easy.” Allan kicked and kneed the knife that remained stuck in the barrier. Small and unnoticeable cracks began to appear, but as with the last barrier, they were regenerating. Allan's barrage left not many results, but he kept going.

In 5 minutes, it was yet to crumble down, but small cracks were yet to become thick, or deep enough. Allan can tell that the thickness was larger since the mass of this barrier was thrice, or 5 times larger than the 1st, or 2nd one.

By this point, he was no longer using everything under his belt and used his hands, and elbows, but not his Body Whip Technique.

He waited because he wanted to see the limits of his regular attack, outside of Martial Techniques that 36 considered redundant, and unfit to be called Immortal Technique.

Little by little, the knife was going further, while Allan paid most attention to the barrier's movement, so it wouldn't get lost, or stumble away. That meant holding the knife with at least his left hand or striking the barrier so it wouldn't flick away. Verticallity worked greatest, as he figured later after 2 minutes of his striking.

The flying knife pointed to the air, and he jumped up, striking it with his knee. The cracks spread wider from this impact and had most of his body weight behind them. Kicks were more powerful than strikes. That was common knowledge. At least in Allan's case, he took good care of his hands for the sake of his forging and crafting. He had no intention to damage his hands, let alone his fingers.

Down and up, in the 8th jump, the knife went through the barrier, obliterating the energy, and the physicality of this barrier.

“Heheheh. Finally.” Allan sighed, stumbling on his feet as he regained his footing. “This is fun. I will use the Body Whip Technique next time. I refuse to believe those things are much harder than some measly rocks within that valley. I got a hang of them well, albeit the weapons should be countless times better at this than my hands, but…. perhaps I don't need to? 50 or so minutes could be fine for some experiments, since where else could I get such unique targets? Rocks are rocks… Alright. I've decided, but first things first. What was inside?” he mumbled in a self-assured manner and crouched roughly where the barrier used to be.

He found a scroll, laying on the ground, while underneath it, was a large book.

“Reward gained. Rank A. Peak Mortal Rank. A starting teaching method for a Raging Dragon Fists and method of special forging within the School of a Calm Dragon.”

“What?!” Allan shouted, figuring that this voice was very convenient for books. He got used to the voice within his mind and this book piqued his interest.

“Raging Dragon Fists? Forget it… a fist is a fist. What would be special about Raging Dragon Fist?” Allan said, dismissing the scroll by flicking it away. Instead, he touched the book with a red and scaly cover. “What about the forging methods that Immortal schools consider as important enough to form a manual? That is more intriguing than some fist, which is a beginning material for some unknown path. Could it even be beneficial to someone without a Spark?” he questioned himself and the things he just found.

He was mostly correct but in his own way.

Anyone with some sense of Immortal realms, or at least the history of the Central Region would curse Allan's choice of words. No, perhaps they would even spit at his face after hearing his displeasure.

This reward – albeit not useful as much at his stage, and origin – could lead to phenomenal teaching methods further down the line. It's all according to the prominent, yet mysterious sect in the secular planets in one sector of the Central Region. Dragonian race – figures of the mysterious paths, resided there, and were making the might of Dragons their own. Their lineage dates back countless years, and their might still prevailed, even though humankind was stronger.

One could only get this sort of book, and method of forging through great luck, or massive wealth. Trying to reach the willingness of the Draconian race would perhaps be much tougher than finding either of these things. Although, both were easier said than found or even considered.

None of the stuff about this origin was known to Allan, who hesitated to throw this reward away completely. To his surprise, the most intriguing part was the forging method in the book. The scroll was unnecessary, so with the book in his hands, he opened it, while uncaring about the barrage of dozens of barriers traveling around him at high speed. Some hit him, but not like he cared.

The paper inside felt normal to the touch, but the content there wasn't up to Allan to see. Though, there was something peculiar. This book was unnaturally heavy for its mass, weighing at least 30 kilograms.

“Interesting. Do I have to keep these with myself If I want to keep them after 1 hour or not?” Allan asked himself, forgetting where he was, or what he should return to.

“46 minutes remain.” a voice said out loud, proclaiming the time for the Challenger.

“Crap. It got to my head again. Let's keep it up! I have the promise to keep, don't you, ALLAN!” he slapped his face to calm down a little. Retrieving his knife from the ground to his pocket, his hands remained free of anything. The book remained with the scroll on the ground, forgotten, as Allan had no need for them.

His hands were weapons too, much to his lack of acknowledgment, but he had some fun destroying those rocks with the use of the Body Whip technique. He didn't forget about the cloth as well, securing it around his stomach, close to his staff.

“Body Whip Technique.” he took a deep breath and stood like an unmoving mountain. It was a sort of stance he imagined an Unmoving Technique to have. “It is like flowing water, yet the firm interior of the unmoving mountain is hiding within.” Allan recited a piece of a quote he made in his passing times of rock smashing. It was just for his mind, to get toward the state of motion, power, and momentum. It always helped him. Like a spell, he heard legends about in his hometown.

Cracking his knuckles around his hands, Allan began to jump on the spot while shaking his hands in the same timely manner as his jumps.

Up and down, his breathing also followed some rhythm.

A few barriers bumped into him while he was preparing himself, jolting him a little, but none were as thick as the one before or were fast enough. A minute already passed until he took a step forth.

His visualization, and focus became like the finest and calmest lake. He heard droplets everywhere, indicating the barriers hitting each other, and trying to wrestle one another. Some were close, and others were far.

“Fast… Small? Big. Large? Extremely swift.” Allan whispered as he imagined the surrounding barriers. After being here for these 10 or so minutes, his ears began to get accustomed to this place. Some hits were tougher, high, or deeper than others. It was because of the unique barriers, but making sense of these sounds was quite tough when almost 400 of them were moving around at high speed.

Alas, the closer he heard them, the easier it was to figure them out. Allan soon found the familiar swift motion of the wind, as well as 2 sharp and light hitting noises to his right.

In all this time, he kept jumping and preparing his Body Whip Technique. At last, he moved. His body bent, as his right hand and body slashed to his right, with the ridiculous motion of unknown limitations. The head-wide barrier was on the way of his wrist and cracked… No! It was directly obliterated in both ways when Allan's right hand slashed through the barrier as a whole.

This swift motion and success didn't stop him, and for some reason, the voice also didn't inform him in his mind. Not like he cared enough for that. Allan already had another target, continuing with a horizontal slashing motion as he stepped to his left.

This was the continuous use of the Body Whip Technique. Something that 36 briefly stated, while Allan only figured it out after gruesome training with many rocks. Without stopping to check the rewards, his ears piqued his next target.

Stepping to his right, about 3 meters away, clicking sounds echoed closely. He swayed his right hand behind his bent back, and in a moment, a vertical line sliced apart two barriers that were about to hit one other again. He hit the ground at the end of the motion, cracking it apart. It was an unexpected combo, and a coincidence, that Allan didn't plan for.

Two in one.

Tremendous results, albeit those barriers, were of smaller size.

In a couple of seconds, 3 barriers crumbled apart and rewards fell to the ground. Allan stopped his motion, and it was at this moment, that he heard the voice again. It was somewhat more emotional as if surprised or shocked. Allan noticed it because he was kind of focused and straining with all of his sharp – available -senses.

The pain moved long away, while his neck or shoulder wounds no longer matter. The hotness still itched in his chest, but it was also providing him with comfort – as if he was before a forge.

“Rewards gained. Rank B – Low Mortal Rank. Stone of Meditation. / Rank B – Low Mortal Rank manual of unformal combat. A way of a Palm. / Rank C – a valuable barrier. Chest with 150 Tremor gems”

“46 minutes remain.” out loud voice also said, albeit it repeat the same minutes. It was like an announcer who was already fed up with his life. Dull, empty, and useless.

Pausing for a little moment to hear the rewards he got out of those 3 barriers, Allan wasn't satisfied with them. He would if he would have more choices, but 2 was already not enough. One was his, and the other was for Sarey because he promised it. So, he returned to the barrier smashing along with his Body Whip technique which worked more than he was willing to admit.

“Rank B seems like the easy choice, but it wasn't before. Who knew that the Body Whip usage could be that effective? What took me a few minutes of tries with my knife and knees was accomplished with a whip of my whole body, or even arm if I am being too specific. How ironic.” Allan remarked without knowing why it was this way. He was confident in his knife, but it seemed he was underestimating the Body Whip Technique far too much.

He was, frankly speaking.

In truth, this could be within the scope of 36's understanding. He took care of his body and his progress more than Allan himself after all. The way Allan trained was at his fingertips, and the first moment he started to work with him, everything was subjected to 36's desirable methods of improving this damned mortal.

Forgetting Allan's own training, and couple a few things here and there, his progression wasn't something he was aware of, but it didn't mean it wasn't there. 36 had some desirable results, and his questionable intentions later stemmed from a simple gamble on his part. It was more like a half gamble, half knowledge of what he learned within his room, and all the materials that The Ones had.

The body, what currently Allan possessed wasn't weak. It could be achieved through hard work, but shoving the body into combat without experience or knowledge was the same as forcing a kitchen cleaner to cook a meal for a passing Immortal. It wouldn't end well.

Time was necessary, but Allan lacked the challenge and tough things. Thus, 36 figured out how to make his life as miserable as possible, hoping it would at least copy some training methods and harsh environments he knew from immortal lands. With that said, after many days of trying and harsh work, Allan accomplished his first great success.

That was the ability to perform the Body Whip technique with great results. It would not go unnoticed by 36 who let some praises slip within his, otherwise, shocked interiors.

It was clear to him, that Allan had the heart to walk the path of cultivation and even become a proper immortal. It was just a matter of whether he would be able to continue or even get far enough. Most would fail. Mortals would, more so than anyone else.

36 had seen plenty of people with similar, or slightly higher talent as Allan, fall to oblivion as they had not a Spark what they assumed would come to their doorsteps. Fate was a strange one, and 36 knew it more than he would be willing to admit it.

One day, he could enjoy the meal in the presence of beauties to behold, while in the next moment, he was imprisoned for his desirable life. The result was not something unexpected… nor something he wanted to ever see, or imagine, but here he was, creating a student out of his misery, filled with the perplexed ways of his teachings. Even his new desire – a hope that a mortal would save his own life – was laughable.

Swoosh!

Allan cleaved the air by jumping and vertically slicing almost two meters before him into the air. The somersaults he performed struck a tough barrier with his feet. It did not crack completely and instead flew far away. It was already the 4th failure from the way he performed the Body Whip technique with his legs. He wanted to get the hang of it enough, but it seems he lacked flexibility.

“Failure. No time to waste trying something that I am not proficient with. Legs are harder, for sure. Arms are easier but weaker… Both are more or less in the same threshold of strength since that barrier was kind of thought. Is it Rank A? It should be.” Allan muttered as there was no time for training or figuring out something when the time was ticking by.

The 30th minute was announced soon enough by the stoic voice.

In those 16 minutes, he did destroy about 2 dozen barriers, but the rewards were unexpectedly undesirable. It left nothing in his mind, apart from the Rank A, which had the Raging Dragon Fist manual and the book about forging. As far as he had seen, nothing auxiliary that Sarey requested from him, appeared from the barriers.

Also, it seemed that the threshold of good stuff was Rank A, while Rank B was nothing good. It was a similar case of letters, but whether Rank A was the highest, he didn't know.

Allan already managed to crack a few dozen of barriers with no spare time to train his Body Whip Technique in accordance with his leg movements. They were enough to slash and crack apart Rank Bs, but that was about it.

Right now, Allan moved towards the very end of the room, where he had not been. A new place should have new hopes for his little desires.

There, his ears picked a rather particular sound. It reminded him of the stomping hammer of his father, or the wild thunder he heard in some storm. Which? He wasn't sure to remember, but it was a peculiar sound. His ears wanted to hear it, and his visualization picked the origin of this wild sound.

One barrier was swiftly moving around the room, pushing its way around like a mad dog. Left and right, but most often, forward, it was as if no barrier would stop it. Weaker barriers were flung away from its way, while the majority of the wild movements of these 400 Orbs were caused by this wild barrier.

“This barrier sounds like it is rather eager to crack apart. Let me help it.” Allan jokingly said, moving closer toward the skirmish, and high sounds that were his path. This region – further back – was the territory of this barrier. It occupied it like a final boss.

Walking calmly, Allan pulled his hands around his shoulders and hunched his neck. It was a protection against the rapidly increasing barriers that became stronger. The limits of the sounds were also turning sharper, but that one – a special sharp sound – always remained.

Taking steps closer, he felt like in that raging river, but it was at least 4 times worse than that. Water was stubborn, but it had no barriers like that. Each hit of the barrier hurt, so a forced defense was long overdue.

“One? No! Those sounds. There are two striking sounds like it or more. Them… They should be precious, or tough, wouldn't they?” Allan guessed, focusing on his ears more than anything else. Choosing to remain calm was a good idea since he needed to figure out the fast movements of the two tough, and clearly special barriers.

“This isn't good. In such a place, it's a bad idea to strike with a wide and open stance like Body Whip Technique. The momentum is too great for my body, while I would be too open. Those barriers are also tougher and move away from the ordinary barriers within this space. The clicking is sharp and louder than the rest, but it is clear to me where they are. Up and above. 10 meters to the left…… Then bounced to the wall, and to the ground. I can see that. Is it a reward beyond rank A? Nothing else would make sense, so let's see how tough they are. I will try them regardless if they will turn to be invincible!”

Allan moved left and right, swaying his body as he figured this would make some barriers slip around his arms, negating some damage. The gust of wind left the clear path ahead of him, but the sounds were his best friend. Even with other barriers moving around, banging into each other, a peculiar path felt clearer than before.

For now, he observed and waited for a change that should eventually appear. The sharp sounds appeared above his head, a couple of meters, but it was there. A sharp and azure lighting barrier hit the others before it bounced between the wall and the ground, arriving above Allan's chest.

Allan noticed this change and turned his body in hopes of charged momentum. A quick strike should be possible, but he had no time to hit it with a proper Body Whip Technique.

Turning around, he pulled his right arm up, and crouched down, swiping vertically with an elbow to see what he can do. Changing its direction was his secondary objective, while the knowledge of seeking what he can do to it with his elbow, was his primary one.

He struck it right to its middle part, and immediately, he almost flew away instead. It was incredibly heavy, and the barrier seemed to be as large as the torso, but it was much faster, and heavier for sure. Allan couldn't see, but no crack appeared in this empty barrier.

“Not the elbow? Fine. Plan it is, and slash it is.” Allan decided as he lowered his posture, and endured this momentum, causing the barrier to fly away from him as if he was a wall. With this failure, he waited for the next upcoming charge.

It took some minutes, but his ears picked its path much better than before.

This time, he prepared his hands, while ignoring the other barriers.

It was coming to his face like a cannon, angled from the ceiling 10 meters away from him.

Bending his arms back, he still appeared defensive, but his right hand wasn't. It was swaying closely behind his back, almost touching the ground without being behind his back. It wasn't a posture for a wild vertical swipe. It was a peculiar stance for a special idea. Allan flexed his palm, and Body Whip Technique went like a cannot upwards, in almost no slashing motions, but clear straightness.

Was it still Body Whip Technique? He wasn't sure, but couldn't whip hit straight forward? He wasn't sure, since such a weapon wasn't up to his tastes.

The whole motion of Allan's body was near flawless. His right arm bent in a tight manner, arriving in a straight line above his head and hitting the barrier at a great angle.

Allan was like a swelling spearhead hitting a huge hammer. His palm hit the barrier, stopping it as visible cracks spread on the surface, but it wasn't enough to crash it completely. It was fortunate, that this strike was a vertical one, as well as a crafty one.

Allan guessed even this try would not work, so he figured out another method to crash it down. Tossing a knife to the ground with almost no moment to spare, he changed his flexed palm to a fist and punched the as straight and strong as possible.

The barrier flew up, hitting the surrounding ones, but it didn't change direction as Allan feared. It hit the ceiling where it bounced down, flying back to the knife Allan put on the ground with even greater momentum than before.

Allan waited, standing before the knife until the shattered barrier exploded in a hard, and sharp impact.

The crystals of deep and firm azure light disappeared, changing to the energy that flew into the air before dissolving.

“Reward gained. Rank S. Information about the place of abundant Soul-Fires.”

“Hm?! This one is Rank S? A is beyond S? Does it make sense?” Allan mumbled when he crouched down, hoping to seek what was inside of it, but he didn't find anything. “Soul-Fire? Information… Sounds like something I would never need. Screw this… oh… wait. There is something.” Allan found a small piece of paper. It was… small. less than 5 by 5 centimeters wide and tall piece of paper. For such a thing to appear from the hardest barrier so far, was laughable.

Tossing the paper away, Allan moved towards the other raging barrier that acted in the same way.

This was a useless waste of time, but Allan appeared unaffected by it. It was a good experience, so it was time to harvest this knowledge.

“Option. Strategy. Knwongle. Hitting anything with brute strength is silly, but could work. Now, it doesn't, so strategy works instead. My knife is tough, and my first and Body Whip Technique too.” Allan thought to himself, hoping it will be enough to discover something great.

Could it be enough? This Rank S was nowhere near enough for what he strived for.

“21 minutes remaining.” a dull and stoic voice said out loud, informing of his wasted time down to the minute, but at least not to the seconds.

“S-shut up…” Allan mumbled, annoyed.

Putting his feet on the path of another assault, Allan planned to use the same strategy as the other fast-moving barrier.

On his first try, he failed to perform his start, as this barrier moved much faster, and was also smaller. Surprisingly, it was around the volume of a human head and was hard to catch and strike at a good angle.

“Catching them is also a part of the Trial, albeit it's not stated anywhere. It's all matter of strategy so I should think of it as a particular problem that may have rather interesting answers. They can be different than the ones before. I wonder if Immortals are doing these kinds of things often if they have time and a lifetime to spare. Trials souls like fun.” Allan wondered out loud, stepping back and forth while mumbling something underneath his nose, in the hope to discover something.

“Decreasing the momentum is a possibility, or… I can try using that? It… strange,e but it acts as reinforced, and bone? It would be another finger… basically. Alright. Let's try that.” Allan decided on something but kept mumbling. “Firm like a mountain, steady within the palm of unmoving. Body whip of weapon.” Allan mumbled under his nose and pulled a flying knife from his pocket. Placing it within the straight palm of his right hand, he secured it with his straight and flexed toe, pinky, and pointing finger.

It almost resembled a spearhead in some strange sense of vision.

Stretching his wrist a bit longer, Allan placed the arm in a resting position beside his hip while protecting his face with his left hand. Barriers kept pestering him, but he can't care about them all.

Tapping his feet in the rhythm of the bouncing barrier, he was waiting for the direct way to counter its momentum, or straight up destroy it!

“There!” he shouted, stepping backward while once again, swaying and bending his back along with his right hand. This time, it was no straight whip, but wild and long behind his head. Whip-like slash traveled fast, arriving in a blink of an eye and leaving a slashed crack around the barrier that stumbled in its momentum.

It wasn't enough, so Allan swelled his arm and face, forcing another slash at its surface.