Her body had leaned forward during her thrust so the force of the hit to her stomach lifted her 5 meters above the fighting ring. Soverick had stolen the accumulated momentum of her attack and transferred it to her through her belly. If she couldn't use her momentum well, he might as well use it for her.
Such was the hit that she almost blacked out, but she didn't neither did she see what Soverick did next. Her mind was still trying to process how and why her stomach was damaged so much. She was falling and she was disoriented. She lacked one with the spear that will let her figure out how to right herself.
So she was unaware of what was coming for her. Even if she did, she wouldn't be able to do anything about it but shout in fright. Soverick placed his spear in a vertical position just beneath where he predicted she would fall.
Her momentum ran out and gravity took over. She began to fall to the ground, then she impaled herself on the waiting spear. The spear went through her already-opened stomach and split her spine before coming out through her back.
She was tottering at the edge of consciousness already. Having a gutted stomach is not a pleasant feeling at all. The massive pain of having a large foreign object pass through her body and breaking her spine succeeded in pushing her over the edge into the unconscious.
The arena was in an uproar. His fight had set the spectators off. Soverick stilled as he was considering the fight. He didn't learn how to resolve the twirling trick but he learned why he couldn't overcome it. It was the same reason why someone without any spear mastery cannot defeat someone at the first step. It is also the same reason why someone at the first step cannot defeat someone at the second.
It is because spear mastery allows you to toy with the opponent. Your spear will move better according to your will while your opponents will look like fumbling babies. Spear mastery makes your opponent inept, out of their depth, ignorant, unlearned, naive, foolish, failures, and many other negative assessments.
The matter that stumped him could have been anything other than a twirl. Any simple action performed with spear mastery would have seemed incomprehensible to him. He could have been stumped by anything that SQUARESKULL did. He had never been able to realize this point because he was always the one being toyed with. He just thought SQUARESKULL was overwhelmingly better than him.
And with this understanding came a subtle change. Now that he knows the answer to the question, What purpose is the first step for? He became able to harness momentum himself. He achieved the first step and his gate entered the empowerment phase. Not only that, he sensed he has already achieved the second step too.
If the first step is becoming one with the spear and harnessing momentum, then the second step is fusing mind, technique, and instinct so that you can use that momentum efficiently. The foundation of spear mastery is learning the rules of a game. The first step is becoming able to play the game. The second step is becoming an expert at the game. In spear mastery, the game is momentum.
His mind has always been his strongest aspect of him and to add it into the mix made SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON look like a joke. He has some guesses about the third step which he plans to inquire about. So he began to leave the arena, his steps felt more powerful than usual. Just a little bit stronger, but it was increasing.
His sudden movement roused the crowd into a frenzy. They began to scream and applaud. Someone ran to check up on SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON so that she wouldn't bleed out. The fight had been quick but it was sensational. They had seen SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON blur forward before she was suddenly airborne. Then she was suddenly impaled. It was like Soverick was playing with a lifeless object that someone threw at him and performing tricks with it. When that lifeless object turns out to be someone with over 10 years of training, it makes for a spectacular sight.
Litori was shocked still with her mouth opened wide. Ghaster on the other hand, to his credit, appeared no different. But he was struggling with an internal shock more severe than Litori's. His mentality is currently pushing against the tide of hopelessness that is threatening to overwhelm him. It seems to be a losing battle because there is the advantage of reason on the side of hopelessness while there is only stubbornness on the side of his struggle.
He refused to believe that SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON is truly strong. Maybe she is weak. But she definitely isn't on par with Soverick. The fight had proved that. If she were really strong, then that must mean Soverick is out of his league. He couldn't even beat Viki the lady that just entered the third stage of training. How is he to compare to SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON?
So he promised himself. "I will also defeat her one day just like Soverick did. I might not be able to reach Soverick but I refuse to believe she is better than me. She will be my rival from now on."
With that conviction came victory over hopelessness. He felt good because he had a seemly much closer goal to accomplish. If he can't defeat SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON, only then will hopelessness return, but with a greater might that could destroy his worldview. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON, his rival didn't realize that she had become someone's rival at that point because she was still knocked out. Her wish to become the rival of a talented person had been fulfilled but she was unconscious to appreciate the development.
Within SQUARESKULL's Central Room.
One of the figures shouted excitedly, "Wow, did you see that? Did you see that?"
"You're not a child anymore so calm down." He was swiftly rebuked.
"I saw it. He has already mastered the first and the second step."
They all saw what made him so excited.
"Wow, he basically played with her. I was wrong. This fight was not a disappointment as I thought." The excited figure continued to speak.
He pointed to the quiet SQUARESKULL, "Do you see that SQUARESKULL? You were the one holding him back. Imagine that."
"The second stage isn't supposed to be achieved by the vitality core stage. Mana entities have a much larger processing capability. They use mana as the medium for momentum and as the bind that fuses technique, instinct, and the mind together.
"If he has already mastered the 2nd step, what will he master in the mana stage?"
They began to discuss what they should do about Soverick.
"Even more important is what is left for him to master now. Do we let him fight the 14th milestone fight?"
"That still isn't a challenge for him. He will beat it easily and leave behind an impossible task for future challenges. He is obviously an anomaly, hoping for another one of him to come forth is unlikely to happen."
The central figure sighed and said, "If we take that fight from him then we have to let him participate in the battle of the divine dungeon. We didn't think he will be ready for it so soon. But now that he is, we have to inform him and let him decide."
Some of them thought it was not safe for Soverick to be sent there.
"But that's too dangerous. He could die there."
Others thought it didn't matter.
"If someone of his level of skill dies there, then no one is safe in there."
"That's what a battlefield is supposed to be like. Unpredictable and full of danger. If something of this level kills him then so be it."
The central figure spoke again. "That's it then. SQUARESKULL will inform him. The decision is ultimately his."
The others had no choice but to agree. They were silent for a while before one of them asked.
"What were you about to say about the ancestor of the eternal battle? What happened to him?"
The figure that answered laughed first. "The fate of the ancestor of eternal battle is very similar to what just happened to his descendant. Origin gods with a vendetta against him hunted him down again and again. They tracked him down whenever he resurrected and killed him. They made him suffer until one day someone paid a world god to capture him and imprison him. He did not have a good ending."
The figures all laughed. It seems that the actions of the ancestor of Eternal Battle had offended a lot of influential people in the upper realm. No one could do anything to him in the lower realm but that changed when he ascended. He received plenty of retribution for the suffering he had caused.
The figures dispersed on a happy note leaving SQUARESKULL in his room alone with his peace and spear. He did not like the powerful attention on him but it gave him knowledge. There are a lot of things he didn't know before attending these meetings, but the casual things they mention always broaden his horizon.