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Chapter 131

It wasn’t like I hadn’t spent my few months as a human without practicing at all. I could naturally walk and even touch people as long as I didn’t apply force. However, there was a distinct difference when it came to a fight. After all, I intended to harm my opponent, but not too much that I’d kill them. I didn’t experiment with Huntington because it sounded like his status was a bit high and if an accident occurred, it’d only create problems for me.

However, based on the talk I overheard, this opponent didn’t appear to be part of any major house. They were known as lone evolutionists. He had already lost a match, so if he lost his second match, it wouldn’t garner nearly as much attention, even if it was from a mortal. After all, he was only in the second evolution. He also provided me an opportunity by agreeing to stay still.  I’d be foolish not to give it a try.

Even so, I couldn’t underestimate my strength. I had practiced a bit on rocks, and all but the lightest touches broke the rock, if not turned it directly into powder. Then again, paragons were supposed to be far stronger than mortals. I had overheard a saying that evolved were as strong as rocks, flawless were steel, and champions were like diamonds. I wasn’t clear if this was a comment on their value as paragons or their physical prowess.

Either way, I just needed to give my opponent the lightest tap. If it was too weak, this guy had given me two other chances to hit him stronger. Like that, I could gauge how strong an evolved paragon truly was. I would never have a better opportunity to test my strength practically. It wasn’t like I didn’t have experience. In my former life, I had punched people countless times. One could say I had quite a bit of experience coming into this world fighting. This was just one more fight. I let my fist out.

Thud.

It struck my opponent’s chest with a solid noise. I didn’t push my fist forward, instead choosing to stop just as my knuckle hit the surface There was a sound of flesh on flesh that sounded a bit denser than it would be on a mortal person, but it was otherwise a solid hit. However, he continued to stand there as I took a step back. Our fight had garnered some attention if for no other reason than certain smug spectators wanted to see me fall after my previous victory. My opponent was still glaring at me the same as before the fight. Was that hit too weak? As a few breaths passed, a few of the spectators started chuckling.

“This is only the natural difference between a paragon and a mortal.” One spectator mumbled.

“Just three hits? He’d need a thousand hits to knock down a paragon.”

“The first match was just a fluke.”

I let out a breath. Things could have gone worse. It seemed like I had been a bit too conservative, but I’d rather hit him too weak than hit him too hard and kill him. How much harder did I need to hit him? I could double the strength, but if this level didn’t hurt him at all, then it might need to be stronger than that. I decided to probe him quickly to see his reaction.

“Did you feel nothing at all?” I asked nervously.

My question naturally led to laughter and some open mocking. After all, for a mortal to think he could hurt a paragon was an amusing thing to these masses. However, their jeers quickly silence as a low groan sounded out. Everyone glanced around confused until they realized the groan was coming from my opponent’s throat. It was then that I began to notice he was sweating profusely like he was under intense strain. A moment later, his knees gave out and he collapsed into a kneeling position. Then, he fell sprawled out onto the floor. Foam began to come out of his mouth as he convulsed on the floor.

There was a long moment of silence. Even the other matches seemed to have temporarily stopped as everyone looked over in shock. The question in all of their minds was obvious. How could someone at the paragon level be defeated so easily?

“This guy is trash.” Someone muttered.

“Newbie paragons? Why even come up if you don’t even want to fight.”

“My father is a trained knight. Even though he’s a level nine mortal, he says that he could defeat most of these silk pants paragons who never have been in a real fight their entire lives.” Someone whispered to their friend, making sure they couldn’t be heard by any paragons.

“How pathetic…”

More and more insults came against my opponent as a guard came up to the stage, picked him up, and tossed him to the side like a heap of trash, unconcerned about whether he would recover or die. It showed how brutal this world was, even during tame and organized tournaments like this. If you didn’t have the power to look after you, you were asking to be discarded as trash.

I couldn’t help but cough in embarrassment as I listened to the shameless boasting and insults. It was true that this guy was taken out in a single hit, but he wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone made it. He had never had a chance. I had used too much force, even while holding back.

Thankfully, my greatest fear didn’t come to fruition. I had thought people would grow suspicious of a mortal taking out a paragon, but it seemed like I overestimated my spectators. They immediately spoke negatively about the guy I defeated. How powerful could he be if he was defeated by a mortal? No one even considered that I was stronger than I appeared. It left me flummoxed.

I had noticed that there was no formal education system in this world. The major families all seemed to hire private instructors, and most mortals still depended on a system of mentorship. Perhaps, this was why the populace seemed to be so easily fooled. I wished that I had fooled everyone, but there were certainly those who were watching me more carefully, mostly from those from the balcony seating. I could hear a few casually inquiring about me.

“Who is he?” The woman sitting with Abigail asked. “Your servant seems to know him.”

Abigail nodded. “The pair arrived together. She calls him her brother, although their relationship is hardly so simple.”

She spoke this blatantly, causing Mara to blush slightly.

The other woman glanced at Mara and then sneered. “A boyfriend? How quaint? He’s a strong farmboy, I’ll give him that. However, he’ll be knocked out soon enough.”

Mara didn’t glance her way, causing her lips to tighten. Mara’s eyes were locked on me while biting her lip. She didn’t look afraid. She looked expectant. The second round went off without any issues. Sammy defeated his opponent as did the other top contestants. The third round began, and soon a few started to get eliminated as they reached their third defeat. Of course, there were plenty who had still only lost two of their three matches. My name inevitably came up on the list again. This time, I was paired against something I recognized.

“Finally.” Shui grinned jumping onto the stage before pointing down at me. “You, get up here!”

It seemed like Shui still harbored some anger from our previous meeting. I hadn’t thought much about it. Although he had wished me harm, it wasn’t like it mattered to me. I noticed Destiny leaning forward, a worried expression on her face.

“Has he done anything to offend Shui?” Her father asked after noticing Shui’s agitated appearance.

“No, nothing!” She declared before she suddenly called out. “Shui, please be lenient.”

Shui jerked slightly at hearing her voice, but then his expression darkened as he glared at me. Destiny’s father glanced between the three of us and then nodded to himself as if he had come to understand something.

“You may have lucked out with your previous two opponents, but I won’t act foolishly like them.” Shui declared.

His words weren’t loud, but most paragons could hear them, including Huntington who frowned unhappily as he glanced up at the other man. Shui didn’t seem to notice though, as all of his focus was on me.

“You’re in your third evolution, right?” I asked. “But you’re a lower tier.”

“I’ve just reached the 2^nd tier.” He chuckled. “It’s about time you see the distance between the lithosphere and the exosphere.”

“Show me.” I lifted my hands and gestured.

If he was a third evolution, then he was one evolution above my other opponent. In that case, he should be ten times stronger. As long as I used a force close to what I used with my previous opponent, it should be no problem. I was ready for my first true battle.