Chapter 428: Taunt’s

Venomous glares peeled his way, sharp, scheming glints sparkling in the eyes of the other candidates.

Meanwhile, the target of all this malice stood huffing and puffing, his gait unsteady and his head spinning, unable to pay attention to anyone other than himself.

And remaining oblivious to all the hateful stares coming his way.

Seth might have escaped exhaustion the first time, but it only took a couple more steps and he was right back at his limit.

The weight had doubled over and over again; he had taken repeated gulps from the molten elixir.

But its effects couldn’t keep up with the strain his body was under.

The level of strain he was under should have been impossible even for most evolvers of the peak awakened grade.

This was clearly evident from the litter of candidates filling the steps behind him.

Even the geniuses of their respective races, while not all could claim to be the best, were still peak specimens of their prime.

Each and every one here, aside from Seth, was a cultivator; they took the hardest path to power because there was none.

They had trained since they could remember, tempered their bodies, and harnessed essence by brutal means.

Yet most of them hit their limits before Seth despite his condition.

So if anything, his reaching such heights was a win in any given period.

Alas, that wasn’t enough to win the trial.

As this was never a test of the most relentless or the most determined.

It was a trial of greed...

Seth’s blurry vision shifted to the next step ahead of him...

And for the first time since the first few steps, the path ahead was empty.

It was at this moment that his ears let out a crisp pop, and the loss of hearing he had never realized he was afflicted with was lifted.

And then, under the flood of sensory overload pouring through his ears, he heard it.

A guttural growl came from his side, and his head slowly craned towards it.

And finally he took notice of them, all three figures: a merman, a bloodborn, and a member of a race he couldn’t identify.

’Whoa!’ he exclaimed inwardly, caught off guard; if he could, he would have jerked backwards from surprise.

To think this trial had worn his senses down to such a degree.

Silence followed, as the three just stared at him, their eyes carrying cold, calculating lights.

Seeing no one was doing anything funny, Seth lowered his guard, relaxing but still taking a few difficult steps to the side to create more distance between them.

He had seen what had happened to someone who had tried to play the game dirty.

So he felt confident that they wouldn’t try anything.

And honestly, if they had wanted to, they still could have; during the few moments he was distracted, that was plenty of time for evolvers of their caliber.

So, since that was how things were, he decided he was going to ignore their existence.

"Fuck, what I wouldn’t give to have a seat," he muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, a sharp voice cut through the silent air, speaking English with a clumsy accent.

"Well, why don’t you take a sit then?"

Seth frowned, glancing at the speaker from the corner of his eyes.

It was the merman candidate...

Seth still chose to ignore him, shifting his gaze away; he closed his eyes and tried to regain his focus on his dulling mind.

Trying to ignore the cold chuckle coming from the bunch.

"Hehe, the little human is scared of becoming patty... or isn’t that what you lot call it?" The merman chuckled as he taunted.

The merman’s obsidian eyes held the reflection of the human’s hateful frame.

The other two just watched the exchange in silence.

They had all racked their brains over how to deal with this human but couldn’t come up with anything.

So if this guy was actually willing to take this hot potato off their plate, they would be nothing but grateful.

Anything would be fine as long as it impeded the victory of this human.

So they just watched and stayed out of the exchange.

The merman’s scaled jaw tightened as Seth kept ignoring him, yet he continued to push.

After all, while the system did speak against attacks, it never forbade verbal ones...

"Hmm, human, why wait? Why not take another step?" The merman poked.

And as Seth’s frown grew even deeper, the merman felt he was getting to the human and was encouraged to continue.

Alas, before he could speak another word, Seth snapped.

"Could you please just stop?" Seth said coldly, turning to the merman, a vein ticking at his temple. He continued.

"You’re practically butchering my native tongue; your words themselves are a crime against the language... force out more words and I wouldn’t be surprised if you chewed your tongue off."

The merman’s expression went stiff as muffled laughs rang from behind him.

If he weren’t biologically cold-blooded and literally coated with scales, he would have erupted red from embarrassment.

The worst part was that Seth really wasn’t wrong; the human tongue was a fundamentally different form of communication from the ones the underwater races relied on.

And yes, it was true that trying to speak the human tongue had brought him close to biting his own tongue a few times.

His scales prickled, because Seth’s words were dead on.

"Enough of the banter!" the bloodborn declared, stepping forward as the merman hit a wall, choking on his own reply.

Seth’s gaze turned in surprise to the crimson-eyed brat a few feet away from him.

Pale skin, flowing blonde hair, a well-sculpted face that promised to steal the heart of every woman who stared at it for too long.

This guy, he did speak good English...

"Speak up, human, are you going to take it a step further or not?" the bloodborn asked in a cold tone, his expression deadpan.

Seth’s head tilted to the side. "Why do you want to know?"

The bloodborn just shrugged without giving a reply, something unreadable stirring in the depths of his crimson gaze.

Seth’s gaze then shifted to the third onlooker, the man from the race he couldn’t recognize.

Just like the bloodborn, this guy looked a little too human, if not for the clear alien feel he got from the guy’s presence.

They could surely pass as human, again just like the bloodborn.

Seth stared at the group for a good few uninterrupted seconds, then looked away, blatantly ignoring them.

The three glanced at one another and then continued to spectate.

They were at their wits’ end, and they needed to know if this human had hit the same limitation they all had.

For them, taking another step forward was suicide, and it was important to know whether the same was true for Seth.

And even though the human seemed all worn out and reaching the end of his rope.

They couldn’t be sure of this, because he had been like this since the very first step.

Just as silence returned to the surroundings, the three kept their eyes on Seth while he gathered himself.

A voice suddenly echoed loud and excited from a few steps below.

"I got it! I finally understand what the clear condition is!"