Chapter 81: Meeting the Epics

"You say you want to pursue whom?"

"Mikaella!" Muria responded to Gerald's astonished expression. "Is there a problem?"

"The problem is huge," Gerald sized up Muria, who appeared unconcerned. "Do you know her status among the celestial descendants?"

"Not clearly, but her status must be quite high," Muria speculated, remembering Mikaella's opulent legendary gear, which even her brother Sylvester's armor couldn't match.

"Quite high? Her status is even higher than you think." Gerald paced in front of Muria, pondering how to explain Mikaella's identity. "She belongs to the highest echelon of the new generation of celestial descendants, possessing ancient divine lineage, even surpassing the legendary celestial descendants."

"And then?" Muria watched Gerald, who was becoming visibly agitated, with calm detachment. Status and identity didn't intimidate him.

"And then?" Gerald yelled. "The celestial race would never agree to Mikaella being with you. Your pursuit is a complete waste of time."

"Why must the celestial race agree? If Mikaella agrees, that's enough. What do others matter to me?"

"The celestial race will not accept their most closely blood-related genius mingling with a Titan without celestial blood. The opposition you'll face will be beyond your imagination!"

"Hmm, I understand." Muria nodded and then promptly asked Gerald's spirit to construct a teleportation array for his return.

"Have you given up?" Gerald asked quietly, watching the teleportation array take shape.

"No," Muria shook his head with a smile, looking at the honest Titan youth. "Thanks for the warning. From today, I'll train even harder. If I'm strong enough and the celestial race disagrees, I'll just take her."

"This guy..." Gerald watched as Muria vanished into the teleportation light, muttering, "Stealing a celestial race genius! Heh, Muria, if you really become that strong, I'll call on our kin to help you."

...

In the following days, Muria embarked on intense training because the first step in pursuing Mikaella was to defeat this celestial genius—otherwise, he wouldn't have the audacity to pursue her.

He started challenging Hera Lois to bouts, each fight exhausting all his energy until he could no longer move, then Cassio would teleport him away and throw him into the Pool of Life for recovery.

The pursuit of a mate has always been a driving force for males.

Muria was nearly frenzied in his efforts to achieve victory in the battle that would come after reaching the fourth golden tier. Words could hardly describe his obsession.

He refused to waste even the moments needed to replenish with elemental crystals. He asked Cassio to teleport him to the demonic training ground, where he fought demons single-handedly while feeding himself crystals with the other hand.

Over a long period, Muria relentlessly pushed himself to the limit, enhancing his strength without progressing in levels but significantly increasing his combat power.

...

"Muria, you don't need to push yourself so hard," Cassio said as Muria returned from the abyssal training ground, covered in grime and blood.

"Cassio, you know that I have a fight with a celestial descendant after entering the fourth golden tier." Muria, tired but smiling, looked at his spirit. "I don't want to lose that fight; I can only win."

"You could just stick to the previous routine."

"Mikaella is a ten-winged celestial descendant. I need to try harder, or I might lose. Being defeated by someone of a higher level is one thing, but at the same level, I refuse to lose."

"Muria, you have the bloodline of an epic Titan and a Dragon King. You needn't worry about Mikaella's blood advantage. Just master the Titan's martial arts, and you won't lose."

Muria waved his hand silently, put down his ax-spear, and walked into his bedroom to meditate within a magical array to relax his weary mind for a moment.

Using the increased mental strength from meditation, Muria seldom built magical models now, as neither buff nor attack spells were effective against beings like Titans and celestial descendants. However, aside from spellcasting, mental strength had many other uses.

For instance, it aided in combat. Within the range of his mental power, Muria could observe minutely. In the demonic training ground, he could slaughter demons more efficiently and fend off their attacks.

...

"Boom!" "Crash!"... The vast arena was still surrounded by void and silence. Muria, in dragon armor, engaged in close combat with Hera Lois. The clash of fists and feet produced intense sounds, shattering the stone slabs of the arena which then quickly healed.

"Crash!" Hera Lois's fists, wrapped in whirlwinds and interwoven with golden lightning, struck out like she was wearing golden arm bracers. Her golden fists attacked Muria from a mysterious angle.

Seeing Hera Lois's punch, Muria felt unavoidably hit, no matter how he tried to dodge.

"Boom!" With the same move, Muria's fist, covered in dragon scale armor and surrounded by dragon flame and wind, struck with an even more impressive force.

Their fists collided, scattering pale golden blood. Muria's arm, covered in dragon scales, instantly showed numerous fine cracks, spreading to his shoulder as if the armor-like scales would shatter at any moment.

"Not bad," Muria quickly retreated after throwing his punch, dodging her storm-wrapped side kick and giving himself time for his dragon armor to heal. Hera Lois nodded in approval.

"I'm holding my power at the fourth golden tier, and you're managing to fight me evenly. If I advanced to the fifth tier, then I could suppress you. Your progress in three months is commendable. The level of your mastery over Titan martial arts is now at the limit of the third golden tier. To enhance the power of these skills, you'll need to enter the fourth tier."

"I feel I can still improve," Muria said, his long dragon tail whipping towards Hera Lois with the sound of wind and thunder.

Titans, in their dragon form, have a tail. Initially, Muria wasn't used to fighting with his tail, as Titan martial arts didn't include its use. Titans are humanoid and don't have techniques for tail fighting.

However, Hera Lois suggested adapting whip-fighting techniques from Titan heritage for his tail. Logically, Muria began to use his long tail as a whip, learning and experimenting with it in combat with Hera Lois.

Every inch of the body can be a weapon in Titan combat doctrine.

Initially, when Hera Lois saw Muria's tail tipped with a diamond-shaped spear blade, she immediately demanded that he learn to fight with it and integrate it into his combat rhythm, refusing to let him treat his tail as just an ornament.

"Your tail's power indeed can be enhanced," Hera Lois said, catching Muria's tail strike without changing her expression. After it left a blood mark, she grabbed his thorned, bony-scaled tail, swung him around violently, and smashed him into the ground.

"With your current level, after advancing to the fourth golden tier, you will definitely not lose against Mikaella."

"Hera Lois, when I fight Mikaella, I don't want to use the dragon armor. I want to fight in my Titan form," Muria climbed out of the

 crater his body had created and tangled with Mikaella once more.

"Why?"

"It seems unfair. Mikaella has promised not to use any legendary weapons in our fight. If she does that, then I shouldn't fight her with the dragon armor either."

"That armor is derived from your bloodline, not an external artifact. You don't need to give it up like Mikaella."

"But my dragon armor is too durable for someone of the same level; only absolute power can break it."

"As you wish, just don't lose when the time comes."

"I know, I won't lose this fight."

"If you win, do you plan to pursue Mikaella?"

"How did you know?" Muria looked bewildered as he instinctively dodged her hook punch.

"Almost all the Titans know. Why wouldn't I?" Hera Lois converted her fist to a palm and slapped it on Muria's raised arm. The clang of metal echoed through the empty arena, with tiny arcs of lightning and shattered blades of wind scattering around.

"Gerald, that fool," Muria growled the name of the Titan youth, initially thinking he wouldn't need to instruct him to keep it a secret. He hadn't expected Gerald to stay silent, letting his intentions to pursue Mikaella spread throughout the tribe.

"Muria, as long as you win, just go ahead and pursue her. Don't worry too much about the rest; we'll handle it."

"Okay!" Muria was briefly stunned, then nodded. But in his moment of distraction, Hera Lois seized the opportunity to throw him over her shoulder and smash him to the ground.

"Cough!" After pushing Hera Lois away with a kick, Muria sprung up from the ground, adjusted his mindset, and once again engaged in a fierce battle with Hera Lois, who had suppressed her strength to the fifth golden tier. Although Muria was often at a disadvantage and Hera Lois occasionally knocked him down, he found this intense type of combat increasingly enjoyable.

...

Days later, after long bouts of fighting in his Titan form against a power-suppressed Hera Lois, the unchanging Hera Lois suddenly spoke.

"Muria, Lord Ansol is returning from the abyss soon. Prepare yourself; I've spoken to him, and upon his return, he will take you to meet several of the tribe's epic elders."

"Huh?" Caught off guard by the news, Muria was once again caught by Hera Lois and smashed into the arena floor, creating a human-shaped crater.

"That's enough for today. Go prepare; in the next few days, Lord Ansol will contact you."

As she spoke, a teleportation array appeared under Hera Lois's feet, and the dazzling teleportation light began to glow.

"Phew!" Muria spat out the grit in his mouth and looked up at the vanishing Hera Lois. "Wait, why is it always you who tells me news about my father?"

This was something Muria couldn't understand. He was Ansol's biological son, yet he always received news about his father from Hera Lois, a Titan girl with no blood relation to him.

Hera Lois did not answer Muria's question, as she had already disappeared in the teleportation light.