"I told you," Sebastian smugly transmitted to Kyle. "I told you that there might be a meta progression thing in the Primary World, similar to the Tertiary World, but you went noooooo."
"Yes, yes, you were right. I was wrong," Kyle transmitted back. "I just didn't know that there was actually something like Refined Laws. By the way, how do you even know about them, Manny?"
"Later," Manny answered, glancing at the Unique Sage. "We've been talking for a while. First, we need to get out of this situation."
The Unique Sage's eyes slowly narrowed as he waited for the next opponent to step forward.
Just when he was about to say something else, Swamp Dragon stepped forward and jumped into the arena.
The Unique Sage snapped his fingers, and a grey soldier, carrying a bow, jumped into the arena. Once more, the Barrier Formation Array activated.
"I use poison," Swamp Dragon transmitted to his opponent and the Unique Sage. "If you get hit, nobody can save you."
Naturally, since this was a non-lethal battle, Swamp Dragon decided to warn his opponent. After all, what if the opposing group decided to cause trouble because one of their soldiers died?
The Unique Sage didn't say anything, and the grey soldier gathered Energy to activate his Battle Rite. The grey soldier activated his Momentum as well.
Yet, as soon as Swamp Dragon activated his Momentum, the surroundings changed. The atmosphere in the arena became shaky and oppressive.
Swamp Dragon's Complex Mind Law gave him unshaking dedication and mental fortitude, and when he activated his Momentum, his opponent was affected in the opposite way.
Even though the grey soldier was disciplined, it became harder for him to make decisions and commit to previously made decisions.
Swamp Dragon summoned a toxic arrow on his bow and fired it towards his opponent.
At the same time, the grey soldier activated his Battle Rite, and a terrifying arrow shot right towards Swamp Dragon.
The grey soldier quickly activated another Battle Rite and used it to cancel Swamp Dragon's attack.
At the same time, a swamp appeared around the first arrow fired by the opponent's Battle Rite. Swamp Dragon's External Level Five Complex Law was made of three Level Four Laws from the Elements of Water, Earth, and Yin-Biology, also called Poison.
When the swamp appeared, the Battle Rite started to corrode, but the arrow still managed to get past the swamp, albeit significantly weakened.
Swamp Dragon fired a quick arrow without using a lot of Energy.
BANG!
Swamp Dragon's arrow exploded on the Battle Rite Arrow, severely damaging and slowing it. Finally, the Battle Rite Arrow reached Swamp Dragon.
BANG!
Swamp Dragon just moved his bow to the side and destroyed the Battle Rite Arrow with his physical power.
Swamp Dragon had used three different methods to deal with the Battle Rite, making it seem like it had been difficult for him to block it. Yet, that wasn't the case.
In the power rankings, Swamp Dragon was either second or third place, depending on whether Sebastian used his Elemental or not. After all, Swamp Dragon's Laws were the most impressive out of all of them, except for Kyle.
He had an External Level Five Complex Law, an Infused Level 3.5 Body Law, an Infused Level 3.5 Center Law, and an Infused Level 3.5 Mind Law.
Summoning the swamp hadn't required a lot of Energy since it didn't use up all of its Energy. It just existed to damage the attack. The arrow Swamp Dragon had fired at the Battle Rite also only included some Energy from his Infused Center Law, but most of its power came from Swamp Dragon's Infused Body Law. Naturally, the last parry was also purely his physical power.
In total, Swamp Dragon used 3% of his Energy to deal with the attack, which was basically nothing.
Meanwhile, Swamp Dragon's first arrow was completely obliterated by the opponent's second Battle Rite Arrow, which was a good thing. After all, Swamp Dragon had only fired the first arrow with a bit of Energy and physical power. It was basically just a throw-away attack.
Since the opponent had already used two Battle Rites, his Energy storage had been depleted by half.
Just when the opponent saw his arrows being destroyed, he saw Swamp Dragon rapidly firing arrows. There were over ten arrows, and all of them just barely had enough Energy to corrode an opponent's entire body, assuming they hit.
This was the most terrifying aspect of the Element of Poison. As long as just a bit of it entered one's body, the fight would be over.
During a normal fight, Swamp Dragon would need to use a lot more Energy to launch his attacks. After all, the other Seekers often had powerful defenses and Infused Body Laws. A regular arrow wouldn't get through their defenses.
However, these Seekers didn't have Complex Laws.
The grey soldier had been taught how to fight, and he knew that he should retreat and deal with the arrows one by one. Yet, under the effects of Swamp Dragon's Infused Mind Law, he became uncertain.
He readied another Battle Rite while jumping to the side. The Battle Rite arrow rushed through all of the arrows, tracking them with precision, and after it dealt with those, it rushed towards Swamp Dragon.
Yet, Swamp Dragon only launched another storm of arrows.
It wasn't difficult for Swamp Dragon to deal with the Battle Rite arrow, and after he was done, he saw the Barrier Formation Array blocking his own arrows.
The fight was over.
Swamp Dragon had barely used any Energy.
The Unique Sage snapped his fingers, and the grey soldier retreated.
This time, the Unique Sage looked at Swamp Dragon with a raised brow. "You have a Mental Rite?"
"I can't tell you because I can't be sure what a Mental Rite is," Swamp Dragon answered.
"A Battle Rite is an attack, while a Mental Rite improves your mind and your Momentum. Your Momentum is unusual, which is a sign of a Mental Rite," the Unique Sage said.
"I have infused my mind with a Law," Swamp Dragon said. "I'm not sure if this is a Mental Rite, but it is what I have done."
"I see," the Unique Sage answered. "Your personality has already solidified, and it has earned you divinity. You have proven yourself useful. As long as you hold reciprocity in your heart, Humanity will not treat you unjustly."
The team noticed that the Unique Sage seemed to hold a favorable opinion of Swamp Dragon, and they decided to take this chance to gain more information.
"I have justice in my heart," Swamp Dragon said. "If humanity treats me with sincerity, I will reciprocate in kind. However, humanity is complex. One human is a monster, while another human is a saint. I generally avoid repaying slights with favors."
"Humanity is our existence," the Unique Sage said. "We all fight for Humanity. An individual human does not matter. Fighting for Humanity represents fighting the endless horde of Demons. Defend Humanity, and Humanity will treat you well."
The Unique Sage's eyes narrowed. "And if you refuse to fight for Humanity, Humanity will force you."
'Demons? Humanity?' Kyle thought. 'Seems like there's some kind of big war going on. Is this why these people are acting like soldiers?'
As more time passed, it seemed like the Unique Sage became more talkative. The reason was that the Unique Sage's opinions and expectations of them had changed.
This Ascension Pool rarely delivered powerful Seekers, and usually, the more Seekers ascended at the same time, the weaker they were. When he had seen six Seekers appearing at the same time, he had expected to gain six new soldiers in grey.
When he had seen Fierce Breaker win the battle, he had been positively surprised, but not too much. Most likely, Fierce Breaker was their leader.
But then, the next person had shown a Battle Rite and even greater power. And now, the third person was even stronger and even had a Mental Rite.
This group didn't seem useless anymore.
However, rules had to be upheld.
"Next battle."
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