GRIN.
Mikael’s wild grin grew larger as he stopped for half a second, enduring the pressure on his soul and mind that was already beginning to grow painful, and then—
BOOM!
Mikael didn’t give a fuck about the pain; for him, this small bit of suffering was nothing more than a mosquito bite, he gathered power in his legs and leaped once more.
20th step.
BOOM!
30th step.
BOOM!
‘Explosions’ after explosions resounded as Mikael continued to do leaps of ten steps each time; it wasn’t that he didn’t want to do more, but simply that it wasn’t possible because of the way this Trial worked, in a way that space itself was wrapped and twisted!
This was done so that everybody’s stride length was ‘more or less the same,’ which was logical—otherwise, without that, if two people of different heights did this trial, one could need, for example, 700 steps to reach the pedestal while another would need 1,200, which would make it unfair!
The way space worked in this inheritance was that Trial Takers were able to cross more than a step at a time, but the strength needed to do so increased exponentially, in a way that even with Mikael doing nearly full-power jumps, he was only able to cross ten steps each time!
…
60th
80th
Rumble!
100th
Mikael's actions obviously weren’t sneaky and created quite a commotion, a commotion which finally attracted a certain Varnari’s attention.
Earlier Tharvonis had ‘obviously’ sensed Mikael the instant the latter was teleported inside the Inheritance site, his presence not passing unnoticed, but at that time Tharvonis simply hadn’t cared.
And the reason behind that was the Varnari culture, the Varnari at their base was a race of proud and honorable warriors—at least more than human, that was for sure!
And because of that, the majority of the Varnari were relatively arrogant, so how much more would it be true for a once-in-a-millennium genius?
The answer was rather obvious, which was why this Varnari genius simply hadn’t deigned to look behind him, because this warrior was supremely confident in himself!
To a point that he truthfully believed that this new Trial Taker didn’t matter!
Hell, even if there were another dozen or even a hundred more Trial Takers, he still wouldn’t care; even then, he would still be 100% confident that he would be the one to obtain Lord Qe’thuun’s inheritance—and this was true even if those Trial Takers had begun before him, so a single one who began after him…
Yeah… for him, what would happen was rather obvious; consequently, his innate arrogance didn’t put him/her—as at that moment, he neither knew nor cared about their sex—in his eyes.
This proud Varnari was fully focused on enduring the mental pressure that was tormenting him as he forced himself to put one foot in front of the other, again and again.
But now—
BOOM, BOOM.
The continuous explosions and bursts of strength that he could both hear and feel attracted his attention, causing him to throw a glance backward.
Rumble!
What entered his line of sight was a ‘small’ human male who had a wild, overbearing, and arrogant grin.
This ‘small’ human then bent his knees and seemed to concentrate all of his strength into his legs, and then—
BOOM!
The small human male crossed ten steps in a single instant before repeating it again and again, in a way that this human male was quickly nearing his position!
‘!!!’
‘It’s him!’ Tharvonis recognized this small human whose gaze he had previously met, and from whom he had detected something different, something that spoke of strength—in a way that, even at that time, he instinctively knew that this ‘small’ human male wasn’t a nobody.
Ba-Dum.
‘Interessant and… impressive!’ As these thoughts passed through Tharvonis’s mind, his lips curled upward in a grin while his eyes dilated.
Within these exotic pupils, a glint of interest flashed as his heart began to beat faster and his blood began to boil.
The warrior within Tharvonis, which had been ‘slumbering’ until now for lack of ‘challenge,’ was abruptly awakened by this display of pure tenacity and willpower, the kind of display that would earn the respect of any true warrior.
Twitch.
The handsome Varnari’s fingers twitched imperceptibly as every inch of his being itched and longed for nothing more than to ‘cross blades’ with this warrior—ideally in a fight to the death, but some sparring would be… okay too…
If it had been another Varnari, chances were they wouldn’t have been able to contain their battle craving and would have instantly wanted to fight this human—but Tharvonis’s self-control wasn’t at their level!
Tharvonis wasn’t only a once-in-a-millennium genius because of his lucky birth, which granted him high talent and an extremely pure Varnari bloodline.
NO!
While it was undeniable that both played a great part, and that to deny it would be to lie to oneself while being a hypocrite, at the same time…
At the same time, it wasn’t only because of that, after all, while Tharvonis was immensely talented, he didn’t content himself with that and worked hard—extremely hard—harder than anyone he knew!
It was to a point where his sweat and blood flowed abundantly as he subjected himself to extreme training that anyone with ‘common sense’ would have rightfully called torture!
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And that ‘torture’ forged a Varnari with a will of tempered steel and a level of self-control unimaginable to any ‘random’ cultivator, and because of that, except for a small twitch of his fingers, Tharvonis didn’t outwardly react any further to his ‘warrior calling’ before finally diverting his gaze.
BA-DUM!
The beating of his heart resounded like a war drum, the blood pumping through his veins like a raging river, while the excitement radiating from Tharvonis was like the sun itself!
‘If this warrior is giving his all, I can’t be left behind!’ the excited thought passed through his mind before he bent his knees, focused his power through his legs, and then—
BOOM!
He erupted forward, crossing more than 5 steps in a single instant. It might have looked like nothing in comparison to Mikael’s 10 steps, but in truth, it was relatively similar considering that Tharvonis was farther ahead and consequently enduring much heavier pressure…
Stagger.
Tharvonis stumbled slightly, nearly losing his footing as the mental and soul pressure of five combined steps crashed into him, forcing him to endure unimaginable torment!
“BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”
BA-DUM!
Without showing the slightest sign of caring about the agony coursing through him, Tharvonis erupted in a loud, free-spirited laughter that resounded like thunder throughout the rectangular room.
“Interesting… this is too interesting!!” joyfully murmured Tharvonis before bursting forward once more and crossing another five steps, all the while a bright, almost childlike smile spread across his face.
Previously Tharvonis wasn’t too enthusiastic at the idea of coming to this Realm of Broken Skies as there wouldn’t be much challenge, which bored him and didn’t appeal to the warrior part in him.
Of course, this didn’t mean that he wasn’t happy with having found Lord Qe’thuun’s inheritance, which allowed him to potentially obtain a Soul Cultivation Method, as he found this nice, but it was undeniable that it didn’t make his blood boil, but now—
Now that a worthy warrior was there and ‘competing’ with him for this Soul Cultivation Method it was entirely different, this brought him euphoric joy, and if previously it was ‘only nice’, now it was different, this… was the life!
BOOM
Step
BOOM
‘Explosions’ continued to resound as both men rapidly crossed steps by doing ‘large’ and unbelievably painful leaps, the shockwaves echoing through the immense rectangular room as the air trembled beneath their shared determination.
At that moment Mikael had just crossed the 300th step and was a little more than 100 steps behind Tharvonis, on whom his gaze was firmly locked, ‘Interesting…’
Mikael had the same thought that Tharvonis had not long ago, as he too found the Varnari interesting. Of course, it wasn’t to the latter’s level, as he didn’t have a ‘true warrior heart, soul’, or whatever you wanted to call it, like the Varnari whose entire lives generally revolved around battle and strenght, but—
It was undeniable that seeing the Varnari’s passion and the honest challenge he had ‘thrown’ at him made Mikael want to answer it back.
After all, it might not always show, but at his core Mikael was a rather arrogant and confident person—or else how would he even dare to entertain the kind of insane projects and ideas that were constantly swirling through his mind, like his plan for his Core Formation!?
‘Sure, let’s compete,’ Mikael thought with interest before increasing his cadence.
BOOM
The next jump crossed 11 steps, which was especially monstrous considering he was now at the 300+ mark and not at the beginning like earlier, and consequently the pressure was simply incomparable!
Mikael’s increased speed didn’t pass unnoticed, and Tharvonis’s answer wasn’t with words but with actions, as he wordlessly increased his cadence and began to cross the steps faster and faster.
Swish, flash.
The two warriors, one human and one Varnari, were giving their all as they moved through the inheritance Trial with excessive speed; they were like blurs—not really, as because of the pressure their speed was far too limited, but compared to how the trial SHOULD have been done they sure were…
If Lord Qe’thuun were still alive and watched over this inheritance Trial he would have been shocked by their talents and more so by their steel-like, unshakeable determination.
It was sure that this powerhouse would have wanted for both of them to succeed in this Trial but unfortunately there could only be one… or was there?
Swish.
Mikael: 400th
Tharvonis: 458th
The distance separating them neared once more, with Mikael being only 58 steps behind Tharvonis, who still had an advance, but one that was rapidly shortening as Mikael continued to do larger leaps in comparison to the Varnari.
BOOM!
Step.
Both men gave their all and endured the pain of their souls and minds being under immense pressure as they continued to give their all while rapidly moving toward the two stone pedestals.
30 steps.
20 steps.
10 steps.
By the time both men were at the 600 steps, Mikael was only 10 steps behind the Varnari, and at that instant, the pressure on both of them was so immense that they just weren’t able to make large leaps like before.
Even with both of them pushing themselves ‘to win this game,’ Mikael was only able to do 3-step leaps while Tharvonis, whose will was slightly weaker, could ‘only’ do 2-step leaps, in a way that Mikael continued to shorten the distance…
8 steps.
5 steps.
3 steps.
2 steps.
1 step.
And then, with a final burst of strength, both men pushed off at once, but the smaller human’s stride carried him just a little farther as he pushed with just a little more strength.
0 step!
At that instant, they were at the same height, side by side, only separated by a couple of meters, and instinctively their gazes met—fire clashing against fire—as the emerald-purple, galaxy-like eyes of Mikael met the exotic-shaped, golden-colored ones of Tharvonis.
For a brief moment, time seemed to freeze as their gazes stayed locked, not in a silent clash but in silent acknowledgement, and in the opposite man’s eyes, they both saw respect before—
Mikael moved!
The pressure weighed down on his mind and soul in a way that sapped his determination to move and made even the simplest task a chore, which was especially true considering the unimaginable pain he was enduring even now, but…
Step.
Mikael forced himself forward without giving himself the slightest time to acclimate or rest as he pushed through and took a single step, which wasn’t much compared to the 3-step leaps from earlier, yet—
It was enough!
With that step, he overtook Tharvonis!
For the first time since the beginning of this Trial, the Varnari’s shadow fell behind Mikael instead of ahead, as the human warrior beat the Varnari in this unvoiced competition.
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A/N:
I think I made it clear(at least I hope so) but in this chapter Tharvonis isn’t the ‘mechant, pas beau, villain’, you know the cliche bad guy who let out an evil laugh with a couple of arrogant comments toward the MC just before getting face slapped followed of a swift death.
No, this one is more in line of a ‘respectful competition’ so to say without any good guy nor bad guy, because I dislike writing(or seeing) these type of white and black seettings—where one side if the good guy while the other are the bad guys…
These kind of things I don’t find them particularly interessing and I far prefer a more grey setting which is why I try to not write an antagonist without making their motivation at least logical and is also a large reason why Tharvonis is the way he is and this scene is turning out in an ‘healthy competition’...
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— End of Chapter —
