The End of the Test of Strength

Marcius could remember the time he thought that, from stage one to stage nine of the Trial of Strength was literal hell.

Now he was reconsidering his opinions.

Because if those stages were hell, this last stage was a purgatory filled with nothing but agony and torture.

Seriously, how was he supposed to fight the version of himself, which possessed all his techniques, experiences and strength, plus cultivation?

The clone had been throwing him around like a rag doll for the last half an hour or so.

Not once had he been able to go on the offensive. The clone was keeping Marcius on his back foot all the time.

In addition, the clone was much more intelligent than the training dummies he had to face during the previous stages.

The clone always adapted, adjusted and countered Marcius various schemes and strategies.

The heir of Aemilia Clan was running out of options.

'Right now, the only advantage I have over the clone is my Bounty Hunter System. No way he also has it. The system was created by Creto, the supreme god, himself.'

Marcius parried a downwards slash from the clone, but the clone used spirit energy and Marcius was forced back considerably.

"I told you not to underestimate me, didn't I? Tik tok, Marcius. The time is running out. You are running out of stamina and I'm not giving you a chance to recover."

That was the other thing, the clone seemed to have unlimited spirit energy and stamina, where Marcius was slowly running out of his strength.

"Time to think a way out of this, dear Marcius. Despite what it might seem like, I do want you to win. I'm you, after all." The clone stated.

'Huh, guess I'm really doing it.'

Marcius took a sword draw stance again. And the clone rushed to attack him, trying to disrupt the possibly incoming One Sword to Cut Hundreds.

But Marcius surprised the clone by not dodging. The black sword of the clone sunk into Marcius's shoulder.

Marcius left hand quickly moved to catch the blade of the clone's sword tightly.

"Since you are coming closer, do not think of running away."

Marcius right hand blurred and he slashed cross the clone's torso, deeply wounding him.

The clone tired to pull out the sword but Marcius didn't budge, despite his wounds getting worse because of the resulting struggle.

"You mad man, you are really going all out." The clone grinned.

And he had to let the sword go and stepped backwards, to avoid another incoming slash from Marcius, aimed at his head.

The clone was now weaponless.

"You are me. And the both of us have a glaring weakness, despite all our hard works and trainings."

Marcius replied as he pulled out the clone's sword and holding it with his left hand.

"We have only ever learned sword techniques when it comes to attacking. Without a sword? We can be unpredictable and fast because of Movement of Gaea, but our attacks will be essentially ineffective. Of course, unless we can find another weapon. But there is no other weapon in this room, is there?"

Marcius said he rushed towards his clone, holding the two swords in a dual wielding style.

"But you are also gravely injured. All of this to take the sword from me?"

The clone replied while evading the attacks, his cultivation coming into play as the clone performed better than Marcius would have without a weapon.

But it was true. Both of them would have been effectively useless without a sword or a weapon.

"Let me worry about my own injuries. Now, please die quietly."

It took a while, but Marcius managed to gravely injure the clone eventually.

Sure, the clone was still stronger and faster than the heir of Aemilia, because of his cultivation. But Marcius was also not a push over either.

The clone was stronger than him, but not that stronger. And Marcius had all the weapons in the room.

And the purpose of the test was that the two of them had to fight. The clone was not designed or commanded to evade and run around all the time.

All of that combined, and Marcius managed to win eventually.

"Well done."

The clone said as he kneeled over, because of all the injuries on his body.

"Thank you. For giving me a chance to realize my greatest weakness."

Marcius replied as his hand moved, cutting off the clone's head.

Marcius learned a lot during the Test of Strength. But this was the greatest discovery of all. He was ineffective without a proper weapon.

Sure, he could beat up the small flies with nothing but his fists and kicks.

But the guys that mattered? They were a different story entirely.

Sure, he would turn his weapon into a spirit weapon when he obtained cultivation. And he could summon it anytime he wanted. But it didn't change the fact that he was quite helpless in hand-to-hand combat.

"Calculation completed. Host had been awarded with 1,200 bounty points and a two stars skill book, for hunting down Spirit Clone of strength comparable to Peak Spirit Master Realm."

As Kio voiced rang out into his mind, Marcius felt a great pain coming from his shoulder.

The adrenaline had finally run out and the agony started to set in.

'Kio, buy the Divine Rejuvenation Seed from shop.' Marcius commanded.

The system proceeded, and a thousand bounty points were taken from Marcius.

In exchange, a seed the size of a finger nail appeared in Marcius's hand.

Marcius quickly swallowed the seed and he felt that all of his injuries, mild or grave, were healed instantly.

The seed reminded him of certain beans, from a certain universe with a monkey-human hybrid and seven orange orbs. (*Cough* Copyrights *Cough*)

'A thousand points for instant heal, I guess it is worth it.'

Although, the seed didn't refill his stamina and he had to go back to his old routine of chugging down Green Blood potions.

"Congratulation! For passing the Trial of Strength with greatest results! Truly splendid, truly!" the voice sounded cheerful.

"Now all the rewards, including the special reward will be given at the end of the last test. So, I implore you to be patient."

'All these hardships and challenges, all will be for nothing if I fail the last test. Sh*tty rules.' Marcius thought.

"Now! For the second test, the Test of Will! Do you want to proceed now or do you want to rest for a while?"

"I'm ready." Marcius replied as he felt his stamina getting refilled by the continuous intakes of Green Blood potions.

"Then! Let the Test of Will begins!"

As soon as the voice finished speaking, the surrounding changed again.

*** *** ***

Author Notes

Hello! MidnightMK here!

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