[ You have successfully defeated your seventeenth training opponent. ]
[ You gained 17,889,000 points. ]
[ Total points: 25,221,000 ]
[ Defeat the Rank B training opponent in front of you. ]
"He finally reached Rank B," Daniel wiped his sweat and muttered.
Even though his last seven opponents were only half a step away from Rank B, they still had insane combat strength. Daniel had no doubt that even Azrak and Velmord wouldn't stand a chance against them.
Worse, his last two opponents could even use multiple skills.
The training opponent in front of him attacked without hesitation. Their fists clashed, and the opponent was pushed back a few steps.
"So this is Rank B… shouldn't be too hard to beat," from that single clash, Daniel got a small grasp of what Rank B was like.
Before, because of the huge gap between their strengths, he had no way of properly understanding what Rank B meant—but now, it was different.
[ Hundred Fists ]
The training opponent used mana to activate a skill, and suddenly, Daniel felt like hundreds of fists were rushing toward him instead of two.
Without even frowning, he deflected all the punches and landed a deadly blow. This time, though, the opponent didn't retreat—they started exchanging blows with him.
Seconds passed slowly, and clearly, neither of them was getting tired.
"Tougher than I thought," Daniel muttered to himself as he was forced to step back a few times.
He thought he'd handle it easily, but apparently, he had overestimated himself.
[ Eyes of Destruction ]
Without hesitation, he activated one of his skills, and beams of destruction shot from his eyes, rushing toward his target.
This time, the training opponent couldn't defend themselves. They exploded into thousands of pieces, their body disappearing, and a new opponent appeared.
Daniel frowned at the aura of this one, but his thoughts were still on the last opponent.
Even though the fight looked simple, he had realized something—this challenge system was designed so that your opponents fought exactly how you wanted.
If you wanted a berserker, they'd fight like a berserker. If you wanted a swordsman or even a mage—they'd become that.
The real strength of the last opponent, who was supposedly Rank B, was probably at least ten times weaker than a real awakened at Rank B. But luckily, it gave Daniel a sense of his own power.
"I should have no problem beating early Rank Bs. But if they're prodigies… that could get tricky."
After that, Daniel immediately engaged the next opponent. Unfortunately, this time he had to get serious. He couldn't keep up with their speed, took several punches, and ended up with deep wounds.
He used Mana Healing to treat his wounds and pulled out his weapon—The Heavens Honor.
The sword trembled slightly upon sensing an enemy and emitted a deadly aura, as if announcing its presence.
Daniel then charged at his opponent, but they seemed to notice the presence of a dangerous weapon and immediately boosted their punches with pure mana essence.
Daniel's sword and the opponent's fists clashed, shaking the entire room. After several exchanges, Daniel finally defeated this one too, using [Slash of Destruction].
"If I assume a mid-tier Rank B awakened is at least ten times stronger than these simulators, then my current limit is probably fighting mid-tier Rank Bs," Daniel thought to himself.
In fact, saying they were ten times weaker was probably an understatement. Real awakened fighters could think mid-battle, strategize, and adapt.
Plus, they had many defensive skills and ways to stay alive. Worst case, they could even self-destruct to take their enemy down with them.
That's why Daniel was sure—at best, he could compete with real mid-tier Rank Bs, but killing them? That might require using Final Breath.
As for high-tier Rank Bs, he might be able to beat them by using that new skill he created by combining Final Breath, Crimson Judgment, and Light of Destruction.
After that, he glanced at the notifications:
[ You have successfully defeated your nineteenth training opponent. ]
[ You gained 67,900,000 points. ]
[ Total points: 99,223,009 ]
[ Defeat the high-tier Rank B training opponent in front of you. ]
"With this score, I should be in the top five. I'm probably ranked fourth right now," Daniel muttered, remembering the scores of the top five.
If he wasn't wrong, he had just taken that bastard James' place—and that made a smile appear on his face.
If he beat this one too, he might reach second… maybe even first place.
Meanwhile, outside the room, Selenia and August were staring at the ranking monitor in shock.
"Fourth place? He already reached fourth place? Are you kidding me?" said the Black Sword of Dawn, stunned.
She glanced at August, who also looked surprised, then looked at the first-place name… Diana.
"At this rate, he might actually take Diana's spot," she felt like she had just been slapped in the face.
Just a moment ago, she thought August's words were ridiculous, but this kid really managed to reach the top five in just two hours.
"Looks like I still underestimated him," the Chairman sighed. He had expected Daniel to reach the top five or even top three, but not this fast.
"Heh, what's that greed in your eyes? Don't tell me you're planning to seduce him into joining the Fallen Sun Guild?" August glanced at Selenia and teased with a mocking grin.
"Shut up, old man," Selenia just growled and focused back on the monitor.
Suddenly, the monitor flashed, and Daniel's name jumped from fourth to second.
"What?" both of them shouted at the same time.
"That fast? Even his last opponent couldn't be beaten that quickly!"
"What's going on?" Selenia said in shock and disbelief.
What they didn't know was that because of his opponent's overwhelming power, Daniel had been forced to use his strongest skills right from the start—including Eternal Judgment.
Even so, his condition was terrible. His body was covered in blood and wounds—and for some strange reason, his injuries weren't healing at all.
Sensing the presence of his next opponent—who was definitely going to be the last—Daniel muttered bitterly:
"I'm fucked."