Chapter 117: Ancient Ruin Exploration (2)
Ash moved to the side, then shifted again, bent his knees low, jumped high into the air, and followed it with a clean backflip.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, he dashed backward at an astonishing speed, his movements were seamless and wild.
His figure blurred into streaks of motion, weaving through the beams with an intensity that felt almost inhuman.
Every second, his body flowed through the chaos, each motion blending into the next with perfect timing.
Occasionally, small sparks of lightning flickered in his wake, a byproduct of his modified Lightning Step. Unlike the original version that blasted him forward recklessly, Ash had revised it; now, he could adjust the distance precisely, allowing for close-range movement without delay.
Just as he caught a moment to breathe, fifteen glowing beams suddenly surged toward him from multiple directions.
Without a second of hesitation, Ash shot across the chamber. He darted through the assault, weaving left to right, up then down, diagonally, then sideways again. He tilted, spun, jumped, and rolled—each movement executed like a streak of lightning flashing across the air.
Each movement chained into the next like a flowing dance, precise and instinctual.
Despite the rising pressure in the room, Ash found his lips curling into a smile.
Damn... I never imagined this would be so fun.
Every time a beam missed him by inches, a jolt of exhilaration surged through his veins.
A strange sense of satisfaction surged through him, the rush of movement, the dopamine of close calls—it was all starting to feel addictive. His blood was singing, his body alive in a way it hadn’t been in a long time.
As another beam screamed toward him, Ash tilted his head just slightly and rolled forward, the beam slicing through the air where he’d been just a heartbeat ago.
Minutes passed like seconds, and before he realized it, fifteen more minutes had gone by.
Time continued to pass in that blur of movement and light. Before long, another fifteen minutes had slipped away. The number of beams had climbed from fifteen to twenty-two, and with them, their speed had also increased.
SWISH
SWISH
SWISH.
The beams tore through the air in rapid succession, but Ash’s figure blurred to match their speed.
His body was already in hypersensitive state with ’Lightning Reflex’ constantly stimulating his neurons, sharpening every reaction and accelerating every movement like a finely-tuned weapon.
Whenever a beam came dangerously close, golden symbols would suddenly flare around his legs—each one blooming with a faint pulse of light—and his speed would spike again before the runes vanished into silence.
That was ’Lightning Step’ in action, weaving seamlessly into his rhythm.
But now, Ash was no longer holding back.
He began to enhance his legs with raw mana, pouring it directly into his muscles to push past his current limits.
Every fiber of his being responded. The beams were increasing in number and ferocity—but so was he.
This feeling... it’s incredible,
Ash thought, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. He could sense the heat in the air, feel the subtle change before each cannon fired.
The air would tighten for a split second, and he’d already be gone—moving ahead of the attack before it could even begin. Like this, he dodged beam after beam, one after another, with growing ease.
Up to this point, not a single beam had managed to touch him. In fact, Ash had started to feel as if this trial was laughably easy.
That is... until he stepped into the final two minutes.
***
Panting heavily, Ash looked around the area with narrowed eyes, his chest rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath.
All the cannons were completely silent now. Not even a single beam was being fired anymore, and the entire space felt eerily calm.
Is it over already? But there are still two minutes left on the clock...
Ash thought to himself with a slight frown as his gaze landed on the glowing timer embedded into one of the distant walls.
His stamina was dangerously close to its limit. It wasn’t that he had run across a large area or covered great distance, but the way he had been moving—dodging at high speed, using sharp reflexes, twisting and reacting within fractions of seconds—had drained him more than any long-distance run ever could.
The intensity of his movements, executed with constant pressure, was what consumed his stamina so brutally.
Even his nerves were starting to heat up from the prolonged stimulation caused by the continuous activation of the Lightning spells.
His body felt like a charged wire under constant current. But fortunately, the moment a nerve was damaged or strained too far, the Rune of Life would quietly activate and begin repairing it from within, pulsing with a gentle light that soothed the pain.
So, while he was aware of the damage, he wasn’t exactly worried about it becoming critical.
Instead, what brought a flicker of pride to his face was the fact that his ’Lighting Reflex’ was working exactly as he had hoped.
It doesn’t give me a splitting headache. There’s no side effect weighing down on my mind. It might have one, but not one that really affects me. Honestly, it’s kind of perfect when I’m up against a lot of enemies at once—as long as they’re not individually too strong.
I’ll save [Omni Thought] for times when I need to process countless variables all at once or when I’m fighting someone who completely outclasses me. That’s when I’ll need every corner of my mind operating at full power.
His thoughts slowed for a moment as he stood there, chest still rising and falling, the silence stretching unnaturally around him.
But right now... why have the beams stopped? Why is there this sudden pause? Something doesn’t feel right...
Ash narrowed his eyes as confusion started creeping into his mind like a shadow at the edge of light.
He hated this silence more than anything else, because he knew, the next wave of beams will be deadly. Like a calm before the storm.
He looked around while trying to regulate his breathing, but nothing was happening. The silence remained unbroken, the cannons still unmoving.
However, the moment his eyes caught the timer on the wall ticking down to the final one-minute mark, something in the air shifted.
Ash’s instincts flared violently, sending sharp warning signals racing through every nerve in his body. His senses, already heightened from being in a hypersensitive state for so long, detected the change instantly—danger was coming, and fast.
Without a second of hesitation, driven by a sense of impending threat, Ash activated [Omni Thought]—and this time, he didn’t even bother deactivating [Lightning Reflex].
The world around him slowed, like time itself was being pulled into molasses. His mind surged into overdrive, thought after thought firing with precise clarity. As he blinked and opened his eyes in this slowed world, his heart nearly skipped a beat.
He was already surrounded.
More than thirty glowing beams had already surrounded him from all directions.
What the actual hell?! Where did all of these come from? There are over thirty—don’t tell me every cannon is firing at once now?! And what is this speed?! It’s insane!
His eyes widened as he stared at the swarm of beams near him. He was already moving at a pace that most Novice-rank combatants couldn’t even dream of, and if it had been anyone else at that level, they would have been obliterated several rounds ago.
Even though Ash had the massive advantage of holding two cores—giving him the strength equivalent to an Apprentice rank fighter—this situation was still far beyond overwhelming.
There’s no opening... no gap at all...
Ash scanned the barrage for a way out, but nothing presented itself. Still, he didn’t hesitate. He pushed his body to move—and was shocked to feel himself accelerating faster than even he had expected.
What...? Is it because I’m using [Omni Thought] and [Lightning Reflex] together? Are they amplifying each other?
His thoughts sharpened, a plan forming in the span of a breath.
If this is what I can do now, then let’s take it one step further—let’s go beyond.
"Lightning Step."
Ash muttered softly, but the effect was anything but gentle.
The very air around him trembled from the pressure of his sudden burst of speed.
Omni Thought + Lightning Reflex + Lightning Step.
It was a combo Ash had never dared to try before, but now, using all three at once, it felt like he had stepped into a whole new dimension of speed and awareness.
With Omni Thought active, he didn’t have to worry about controlling his mana or juggling his senses. Everything synced effortlessly, like a perfect rhythm.
He literally vanished from the eye of the storm, and like a flash of lightning, he was already outside the deadly encirclement.
Why the hell did I never try this before? This is insane , he thought, his heart racing with adrenaline.
But then, a sudden sharp heat on his side pulled his attention back.
Glancing down, Ash’s eyes widened in shock—his left arm was gone. Not a trace left behind, not even a drop of blood. The temperature of that beam was so extreme that his flesh and blood had disintegrated instantly.
"When...?" Ash whispered in disbelief.
He was sure he had dodged every beam—how could one have caught him at this speed?
Even with Omni Thought activated, I got hit...?
Before he could dwell on it, his arm began to regenerate right before his eyes, flesh knitting back rapidly, faster than anyone could normally heal.
And just as the next volley of attacks began to surge forward, his arm was completely restored, looking as good as new.
"Looks like I need to get even more serious."
With determination burning bright, Ash stepped forward and vanished again.
Time stretched and warped; that one intense minute felt like an entire hour to him. He moved relentlessly, flowing ahead of every beam, never waiting, always striking just beyond the reach of danger.
It was like watching blue lightning dance across the battlefield.
Despite his speed and skill, the brutal barrage managed to hit him at least two more times before the timer finally hit zero.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Panting heavily, Ash breathed out, "Fuck... that was brutal..."
He pulled out a bottle of water and took a long drink, quenching the fierce thirst burning in his throat.
Looking around, the surroundings appeared peaceful, as if nothing had just unfolded, but only he truly knew the truth—the last one minute was the real test; everything before had been just a warm-up.
"But I got hit three times... does that mean I failed?" His voice was quiet but serious, questioning himself honestly.
He wasn’t upset about being hit three times. He knew he had given it his all, and that was what mattered most.
Just then, a hologram materialized right in front of him.
The hologram stared intently at him, and a sharp light flashed from its eyes, scanning Ash’s body within a second before it finally spoke.
[Congratulations, Challenger, for perfectly clearing Trial One.]
[There are no injuries on your body, a true testament to your ability to dodge every attack.]
[For performing so splendidly, you will be rewarded with...]