Volume 2 Episode 28

The Kito Jungle.

One hour earlier.

Lin Hamill was slowly moving into the deeper parts of the forest. What he wished to do was to avoid enemies as much as he can. He wanted his opponents to fight amongst themselves until the number decreased. Most of the participants, save for Luke, were second years or third years, meaning they likely had more experience and power than Lin. The best thing to do when facing opponents more experienced and stronger than you is to not fight them head-on. 

Even if he had dual magic powers, that didn't mean that his opponents were weaker. And he couldn't even use his other power in the match, which made it even harder.

'Lindon might've said that he has control over the broadcasting, but that didn't mean that I can just showcase my powers. The people I'm fighting with will definitely see my powers and could inform others. That's a risk I'm not willing to take.'

So what to do?

GRRR!!

A sudden growl resonated within the whole forest, forcing Lin to stop in his tracks. He looked at the direction from where the growl was heard, and a small smirk crept across his face.

Gotcha!

In front of him, just a few meters away, was the doran, sleeping peacefully. It was letting out its usual growl to scan for interesting opponents. Even though it had already growled, the doran usually takes quite a while to get ready to hunt its targets. It was still in its sleeping phase.

Lin moved stealthy towards the monstrous creature carefully without it waking up. He looked at the giant beast, admiring its powerful body and its abilities. 

'All this power that could be utilised, and yet you choose to sit here and sleep.'

As he thought about the various possibilities if the beast had any sort of intelligence, he couldn't help but sigh. He couldn't even dream of the various things he could do if he could wield such powers.

'In the end, a powerful beast is still a beast.'

He stood in front of its face, looking at it sleeping. Even the face of the monster was larger than a normal sized room. If it actually woke up right now, it could devour Lin very easily. Any normal human being would be extremely scared to even take that chance.

But Lin, who was calm as always, stood in front of the monster's face, waiting. He was waiting for an opportunity.

After a while, the monster opened its mouth to yawn, and Lin quickly jumped into its mouth before it closed, and moved through its large insides. 

As he reached what looked like the monster's stomach, he got up and looked around. The stomach of the giant monster was also, surprisingly enormous, and as a result, he could walk around freely without crouching. 

The stomach was also filled with digestive enzymes which are enough to digest even a normal human being in a matter of hours. Lin looked at his feet and saw the enzymes bubbling up like chemicals. He stared at it for a while, after which he stepped forward.

'If my guess is correct, this will most likely help with my training.'

He thought to himself, and got into the pool of digestive enzymes. Even though the enzymes might be strong enough that a normal human wouldn't risk being in the vicinity of it for too long, to Lin however, who was an evolved human, this was equivalent to a body strengthening training. His body, which was far more resilient and strong than normal humans could endure the enzymes for a longer period of time. So Lin could stay in the enzymes for a long time without the danger of dying.

As a result of the enzymatic reaction, his body started burning up and his skin started peeling off. Even though it was very painful, he endured the process. The digestive enzymes of the doran are very rare to find, considering very few people hunt the giant monsters. The enzymes digest almost all materials when given enough time. Even Lin's evolved body, when immersed in the enzymes for too long, can in fact end up digested. 

But if he is careful enough, he can use its powerful digestive powers to increase his body strength, resistance and speed of healing. Which was exactly what he was trying to do. He knew that even with his current methods, it would be impossible for him to catch up to the highest ranked among the participants. Even though a higher rank doesn't necessarily make you a winner by default, having a higher rank than your opponent is definitely advantageous.

So, Lin had to utilise other methods to increase his rank, in order to lessen that distance. This was one such method he had found out. He had learned that the dorans had powerful digestive enzymes, and wanted to use it to train his body. Also, being inside of the doran actually helps him to hide from his enemies, as the energy emitted by the doran will mask the less powerful energy of his. The doran would only go after the stronger opponents, so it would definitely stay inside the designated circle as well. 

As he sat cross legged with the digestive enzymes covering all around him, Lin closed his eyes slowly, and began concentrating.

The training had started.

****************************************

Lin had been in the stomach of the doran for a while, when he suddenly felt danger. He jumped to the side to dodge whatever was coming his way, as an attack struck through the body of the doran, nearly hitting him if not for his quick reflexes. 

'The doran had been pierced?'

Lin had initially thought that he would get a bit more time in training, but it seemed he had underestimated his opponents.

Looking at the markings on the stomach, he figured out that the user was of fire magic. The strike seemed almost similar to a sword strike, meaning his opponent must have formed the sword purely out of his fire energy.

'The enemy is strong, I don't know if I can take him or not.'

From the attack he just witnessed, which could even cut open something as tough as the doran's flesh, his opponent must be really powerful. He didn't want to risk fighting a powerful foe, even if that person might have just fought a doran.

He had to be sure.

There weren't any more movements from the doran, and Lin assumed that it had been killed by the attack.

He cut open the part of the flesh through which the attack had passed through to view what was happening outside. Unlike the outside of the skin of the doran, which was known for its toughness, the inside was soft and spongy, making it a bit easier to cut through. 

After enlarging the wound a little bit, he looked through the opening, and he saw three people staring at each other.

'Christian Ivan Andric, Roger Rodriguez and April Yan. These three defeated the doran?'

His perfect memory helped him remember who his opponents were. He had gotten all the available information regarding his opponents, before the round had started, reading up on all of them and memorizing everything.

He once again viewed his opponents, who seemed to be in a complicated situation. From the looks of it, April and Roger seemed to be in the same team, whereas Christian on the other hand seemed to be against both of them. 

'So he's the one who used the fire magic.'

Lin's eyes were glued to Christian. Among the three, only Christian had the fire magic ability, and hence he must have been the one who used the sword move to take down the doran. Lin was curious about the third year student, who was known as the most powerful student in all of Drakon Academy. He wanted to know how he would fight April and Roger, who although weren't as strong as Christian, were still tough opponents nevertheless, especially due to the fact that they all were injured and drained after fighting the doran.

In theory, April and Roger should have the advantage, as teaming up is more efficient, especially after a tedious and tiring fight. But would Christian prove otherwise? Lin had a hunch that Christian was more capable than his opponents.

And his hunch turned out to be true, as Christian took advantage of the fact that his opponents were severely drained of energy, attacking them consecutively without giving a chance to fight back.

Lin's eyes lit up as he saw Christian summon his flame sword for swiftly finishing off the fight, as he too had been drained of energy.

'He just summoned it out of thin air? Is that all it takes?'

Lin looked at Christian's actions confusedly, and tried forming a sword from his hands. And at first, it seemed to be working, but as soon as the sword began to materialize, he suddenly began to lose his ability to breath and his body started to feel incredibly heavy, like a mountain had been placed on his back. His entire body felt pain, and he felt like he was on the verge of passing out. 

He stopped what he was doing immediately and started catching his breath. 

'Dammit! Is my level too low?'

The information hint started going off in his head, indicating that it was indeed the case. He bit his lips at the conclusion he had reached. He didn't wish to be bound by the rules and levels. He wanted to be more than that. He wanted to be above those rules. And for that, he wanted to find another way.

'If I can't completely materialize the sword from purely energy, then how about partially?'

Lin thought about what it meant. If his level was limiting him to materialize the sword, then he can limit how much sword that he needed to materialize. Technically, his entire body could emit heat and fire if needed, and he could also form fireballs as well. That means that he can in fact materialize small and less sophisticated materials even if his level wasn't enough.

But people have indeed tried using other materials to transfer the fire power onto it. But the result was the same always. The magical power of materialization is usually too much for them to bear, exploding immediately into bits.

'But if I could just use it for a second before it gets destroyed..' 

Lin looked at the tusk of the fallen doran. The tusks of the doran are extremely tough and strong. It could most likely work as a substitute for materialization for a small amount of time. The information hint inside his head agreed with him, and he decided to go through with it.

Lin stealthy moved behind the corpse of the monster and got to its front. He then pulled out one of the tusks carefully, without alerting his opponents who were still in combat.

As he armed himself with the tusk, he waited for his opportunity to attack. If he fought any of them head-on, he would most likely lose. Even if he had two magic powers, he would still find it very difficult to beat any of them. Which is why this was his only way to beat them.

Lin watched the fight in anticipation, as it neared its end. Roger and April were lying on the ground, unable to move. Christian, although standing, appeared to be in a similar situation. He moved towards both of them, and formed his flame sword one last time to completely defeat them.

'Now!'

Having found an opening, Lin dashed towards Christian. He subtly used his lightning abilities to enhance his speed a bit more, moving even faster than before.

This was his chance. The moment Christian was occupied with defeating his enemies. The moment he was distracted. The moment he would least expect an attack.

As he reached behind Christian in a fraction of a second, he used his fire magic to materialize on the tusk, enveloping it in flames and forming a sword, swinging down on its target.

This was the moment of Lin Hamill.