Assimilate All Talents

Chapter 141: [Terra Manipulation]

A large three meter mass of earth rose from the center of the tower just as Sylvia finished blocking the earth spike attack. She turned to the large rock and put up her shield, expecting it to be thrown at her, but it stayed in the air, floating.

[[Terra Spikes] leveled up! (9 -> MAX)]

[[Terra Spikes] reached MAX level, evolve skill?]

Sol ignored the system messages. He was too focused on controlling the mass and couldn’t afford any distractions. He could feel the weight of the massive rock through his magical connection and didn’t have much time left with [Overpower], so he had to make this quick.

’COMPRESS!’

The mass rumbled as it shrunk down half a meter and became significantly harder, but Sol didn’t stop there.

’COMPRESS!’

’COMPRESS!’

’COMPRESS!’

[Natural evolution has begun to occur!]

Each compression was more drastic than the last. The originally three meter large mass shrunk down to half a foot. It was extremely dense and somehow heavier from the mana infused into it. The color changed as it squeezed out all the impurities, making it now pure brown. It also took the shape of something Sol was very much used to making: a spike.

For some reason, the illusion did not attack during this time. At first, it could’ve been explained by her initially believing the mass would be thrown at her, but while it was compressing, she had every chance to interrupt it. She instead continued to hold the shield stance but with a different expression on her face. If before it was full of contempt from his flimsy attacks, now it was a mix of approval and even excitement.

Sol saw her expression and understood what the illusion wanted. "You want to take it head on? Fine! Have it your way!"

He dropped his Lipon, and as if he were throwing the spike with his own hands, he pushed with his entire body, sending most of his remaining mana into the spike.

FWSHOOM!

’What the—?’

...

"What the fuck did I just watch?!"

The illusionist was shocked and awed by the sheer display of power he had just witnessed. The fight was considered impossible by everyone who knew the rules of the illusion. It was meant to show the applicants what they could hope to achieve and to learn from them. The illusionist couldn’t believe someone actually beat them.

Technically, the two A-Rankers also beat the knight on the first floor, but it wasn’t a fair fight to begin with. The illusion formation was unable to simulate anything of A-Rank level because it would consume too much energy to maintain. It was theoretically possible if the illusion formation was used to trap just one A-Ranker and create only one A-Rank enemy to match them, but that was highly impractical for the test, not to mention a waste of resources.

Zaman was also shocked but managed to better conceal his expression.

"To have an epiphany mid-battle... That attack also almost reached the level of an A-Ranker."

He did plan for the recruits to learn from fighting the fake knights, but he didn’t expect someone to show results in the midst of battle.

The Commander turned to the man next to him.

"Did anyone else see that fight?"

The illusionist sent mana into his orb and checked on his other illusionists who were maintaining the formation before shaking his head.

"No, boss. They were either watching other candidates or eliminating rule breakers."

"Good. Speak not of this to anyone."

The illusionist felt chills on his back from the Commander’s tone. "Y-yes, boss!"

Zaman then looked not at his orb but at the young man in the distance who was waking up from the illusion. He didn’t have to keep what had just occurred to himself, but if he didn’t, it would surely attract the attention of a few parties he would rather avoid. The problem wasn’t the power he showcased, it wasn’t impossible to reach that level of strength—it was at most rare, what was truly unique was his ability to learn and adapt at any time. If this wasn’t just a pure stroke of luck and the young man was indeed a genius, then the Commander needed to be careful with this information. He put away the orb and made his way back to the knight headquarters. Nothing he could see from the other applicants would impress him the same way that young man did, so there was no point in staying. On the way back to his office, he pondered strategies and methods to help the young man reach his full potential.