Chapter 33: Battle

"Are they really that powerful?"

Levi was stunned. He never imagined the monsters to be so powerful. After all, he had never seen those monsters.

"You haven’t seen them. Let’s just do our math. First, they have innate strength, including some scary abilities."

"Then, they can improve their blood energy level just by moving around, hunting, and even fighting."

"And I am only talking about Beast Cub, Beast Soldier, and Beast Adult. Beast Captain can start absorbing cosmic energy to strengthen themself."

"Beast Cub’s blood energy can increase the power of their innate strength exponentially. So if it is a mutated leopard, that thing can move at the speed of sound."

"If it is an eagle, it will grow big while still having the flight capacity faster than before. Thus, making it one of the best hunters in the sky."

"These are just some examples I’m giving you. Without mastering a proper martial art and having a similar blood energy level, don’t even think about fighting them."

"And Beasts above Beast Captains are even worse matches for humans. Otherwise, why do you think humans agree to work with them against the invading forces?"

Hearing that last sentence, Levi gulped, swallowing a large piece of meat.

He realized he had been underestimating the power of the beasts. It was really his fault for thinking of those beasts as beginner monsters in the game.

"So, are you sure you want to go there next month?"

Harvey asked. He was a bit worried about his son going into the Outer Ring. Even if it was safer, it still posed a great risk for a Martial Apprentice.

Especially when this Martial Apprentice hadn’t even reached the peak of the Martial Apprentice Rank.

Levi nodded while chewing. After he finished, he spoke.

"If I train hard enough, my blood energy level will reach 9.9 by next month. I am also practicing a Spear Technique and a Second Grade Movement Art."

"So, I am all set for this. I am a bit worried about Mike and Sonya, but as long as we don’t recklessly wander around, it will be three-on-one."

"That being said, if there is a danger, I will pick them up and leave."

Hearing his words, Harvey paused before sighing. He didn’t want his son to take this risk, but eventually, he would’ve to.

This world would force him to take risks. So, it was better to do it now than later.

"I think I should join your group."

Mary spoke.

Her suggestion brought everyone’s attention towards her. Only Levi frowned.

He didn’t ask for her help because she would be too strong for their group.

Levi shook his head and said.

"Miss Mary, if you want to go to Outer Ring, you can go with us, but it’s better for us to work separately."

"Otherwise, there will be no point in doing this."

Levi genuinely believed doing risky things could speed up his training, but he also understood that he couldn’t take too much risk.

So, it was better to take her but not invite her into the team.

"That’s right! Mary, you can also enter the Outer Ring. If anything goes wrong, you can immediately support them."

Alisa’s eyes lit up as she excitedly spoke.

Harvey turned towards Mary and asked.

"What do you think?"

Mary snorted.

"I agree. And don’t call me Miss."

Levi smiled while Felicia excitedly asked.

"Brother, are you going to fight monsters?"

Mike smiled and answered.

"Yes!"

"Then, will you record a video for me?"

"You want to watch me fight?"

Felicia excitedly nodded her head.

"Alright! I will bring my camera."

Mike agreed to his sister’s request without any hesitation.

Levi rolled his eyes. They were going on a hunting expedition, not some kind of picnic.

But considering 360 cameras that could be found on the market, it was possible to record the battle while fighting the monster

After they had a meal, everyone rested for a while before they went to a training room. It was Mary’s training room.

Everyone was a bit excited to watch their battle.

Levi and Mary stood in front of each other. Mary used her blood energy level to suppress her forged bones while consuming the blood energy.

At this moment, she only had her physical strength, but considering she had gone through Iron Bone, Bronze Bone, and even Silver Bone, it was enough.

Levi activated his Five Beasts Form, taking the Tiger Stance as he prepared himself.

Then, both clashed.

Mary and Levi dashed forward. Levi dodged a punch coming his way while landing a hit directly in her face.

That infuriated Mary, but she didn’t lose control. She quickly followed it with a knee strike, but Levi managed to push her leg to the side.

Currently, his strength was around one hundred and sixty kilograms.

With the help of his perfected Martial Art boosts, it reached a whopping three hundred and twenty.

Of course, every time Mary completed her bone forging, her base strength increased by twenty percent.

Her base strength was around seventy kilograms. So, it increased to eighty-four kilograms.

Then, by the time she completed her Bronze Bones, she had the strength of one hundred and seventeen kilograms.

This was just her base strength. Now, every time she improved her blood energy level, her strength increased.

Considering she practiced Third Grade Technique to Major Mastery, she was gaining twelve kilograms of strength per blood energy level.

So, even without using a Martial Art, her strength was around two hundred and forty kilograms.

This was still lower than Levi’s actual strength. But considering she had consumed a lot of her blood energy, she could only use a portion of it.

That portion was enough to activate her Five Beasts Form.

In an instant, her strength was boosted by one hundred and ninety kilograms. That was enough to put her strength above Levi.

In an instant, they went from Levi easily dodging her attacks and landing a hit on her to Levi barely dodging any of her attacks.

That’s only because he boosted his speed by sixty percent using the Second Grade Movement Art.

The reason why it was sixty percent, not one hundred and sixty considering his rank and the grade of the martial art, is because he was using two martial arts simultaneously.

The human body wasn’t some kind of indestructible organism or game character. If powers were stacked continuously, they would collapse.

That’s why Martial Arts were made to work on a certain stat while cooperating.

His Willow Steps, while at Beginner Realm, gave him a speed boost of forty percent, but with Five Beasts Form at perfection, he got a speed boost of one hundred and forty percent.

Even though the Second Grade Martial Art should give a boost of one hundred and twenty percent at Entry Realm.

Of course, this was only for a Martial Apprentice.

If he reached Martial Artist or even Grand Martial Artist Rank, the boost would only be twenty percent.

Unfortunately, since Five Beasts Form had already increased his speed by one hundred percent, his body couldn’t sustain another one hundred and forty percent boost.

So, he only got a forty percent boost. If he had Minor Mastery Realm Five Beasts Form, he would’ve gotten two hundred percent.

The body of a Martial Apprentice could withstand the pressure of twice the increase in stats.

But if this was a life-or-death battle, he could forcefully choose to boost his speed by two hundred and forty percent.

Although that could permanently cripple his legs, or at least make him unable to move for months without powerful medicine and costly surgery.

Since this was not a life-or-death battle, Levi could adjust himself with a one hundred and forty percent boost.

That extra forty percent boost gave him the speed to dodge her attacks.

With his masterful control over his body, he was able to utilize that speed to its maximum potential, dodging most of her attacks.

Despite getting angry, Mary didn’t lose her mind. Instead, she calmly kept analyzing his situation.

’So, this is the difference between perfection and Major Mastery. Even though his speed is still slower than mine, his control is impressive.’

’He is not predicting my movements but moving in such short bursts that it almost looks like he is predicting my movements.’

’Not only that, even his energy control is insane.’

Mary couldn’t understand how the difference between perfection and major mastery could be so huge.

Levi was weaker than her in every category, but he was perfectly dodging every single one of her attacks.

Even when she got angry and tried to punch him with full force, he would utilize more blood energy to continuously speed up his movement.

Then, once her rapid attacks slowed down, he would slow down his movements, thus preserving his blood energy.

But without even realizing it, Mary began to launch better and better attacks, almost catching him off guard in several situations.

Levi had to push his body to its extreme limits, almost utilizing more than just an extra forty percent boost of the Second Grade Martial Art.

’She is doing it. She is trying to reach Perfection through this battle.’

Levi felt a bit bitter for a moment, but he didn’t stop.