"The hell was that? Why was the log picking up speed by the second?" The old man frowned as he asked the question. Hagin feigned outrage at once, turning to yell at the guard. "What were you doing? Why'd you adjust the speed of the log all of a sudden?" "My apologies, sir. I don't know what happened. It was like the log just went out of control." "Fine, fine. Hurry up and deal with it, we don't want any accidents." "Yes, sir." Hagin looked at the old man heading towards him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't expect something like that to happen with the log at all. Thankfully enough, everyone's fine. Congratulations on passing the second checkpoint! Now, come with me. We'll head to the third checkpoint." Hagin led the way, and the old man turned to Wilbur. "Be careful from here on out, Wilbur. This guy could just increase the difficulty levels in the middle of a challenge. The merfolk are not to be trusted." "Got it, sir." The truth was that Wilbur had still been able to see wher
The old man picked up one of the crystal clusters on the table, passing it around in his hands. "This crystal is even harder than steel. Golden crystal is the hardest mineral there is, Sir Hagin. Are you sure you've given us the right crystal?" "What could I have gotten wrong?" "Do you not know the rules yet? Shall I repeat them for you?" The old man shook his head. "This isn't a matter of rules. Senior Fremont said the challenges wouldn't be hard, but this right here is a golden crystal cluster. Aren't you trying to give us a hard time?" Hagin said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, but I received orders to have the third checkpoint be the challenge of crushing golden crystals. These orders were given to me by Emperor Ramos, and you two are free to give up if you think you can't handle it." "You!" The old man let out a sigh, hesitation flickering in his gaze. At last, he said, "Fine. Let's get on with the challenge, then." Hagin took out a watch, glancing at it.
Wilbur, on the other hand, was not as lucky. The merfolk wrestler attacked using the mud suddenly, and it hit Wilbur square in the face. Wilbur could not open his eyes and instinctively reached up to rub at the merfolk. Just then, however, the merfolk wrestler came charging at Wilbur and grabbed him by the hand. The old man shouted, "Be careful!" The next second, Wilbur had borrowed the pressure from their interlocked hands to yank the wrestler up from the mud before thrashing him into the ground. Wilbur and the old man won this round. Wilbur wiped the mud off his face. "Thanks for the wrestling techniques you taught me, sir. I might have lost otherwise." "I really underestimated you, huh?" The old man chuckled at Wilbur. Following that, Hagin had the two men go through archery, tug-of-war, and fishing challenges. Despite increasing the difficulty of the challenges, both men passed all of them with ease as they were all tests of physical skill. Wilbur had lived in Gelsa,
"Very well. Your opponent will be Commander Miller. We're heading to his quarters now." The old man was confused. "His quarters? Is this battle going to happen in Commander Miller's own quarters?" "That's right. Is there a problem with that?" "Shouldn't a battle happen in a wide and open space so that there are no innocent casualties?" Hagin chuckled. "It seems that you do not understand merfolk quite enough yet. The six main energies are the roots of our cultivation, and the commanders' quarters are all supported with energy formations. The commanders' powers will get a boost there, and having the battle in Commander Miller's quarters will definitely be a benefit to him. As for your other concern, I'll have the quarters evacuated completely." Wilbur and the old man had not expected there to be a formation in the commanders' quarters. They just had to defeat Commander Miller and pass the eighth checkpoint, then pass the ninth checkpoint to retrieve the eighth dragon cauldr
Miller's expression turned grim, and he knelt on the ground with a bow. "Don't worry, Sir Hagin. I'll do my best to protect our pride." "Alright. You may get up now." Hagin gestured at Wilbur and the old man. "These two are your opponents. They're cultivators from the human realm." Miller got off the ground, glancing at Wilbur and the old man before asking, "Can I know if you two will be battling me at the same time?" "No," Hagin piped up. "According to the rules, only one of them can challenge you." Hagin then turned to the two and asked, "Have you chosen which one of you is going to battle Commander Miller?" "I shall do it," Wilbur met the challenge and took a step forward. "I want the eighth dragon cauldron, so I'll be the one to battle Commander Miller." The old man said nothing. He had accompanied Wilbur to the merfolk realm, and it was Wilbur's task to retrieve the cauldron. Commander Miller's gaze fell on Wilbur, looking him up and down. "You radiate a powerful a
Just then, the old man said, "I'm so sorry, Commander Miller. It's Wilbur's mission to get the eighth dragon cauldron, not mine. I can't battle you this time. But if you defeat Wilbur, that should be enough to prove your power too." The old man's gaze glinted with admiration for Miller. His fearless drive for self-betterment was unlike anything the old man had seen in a while. Miller said, "Alright, then. Mister Penn, we're going to be opponents now." Wilbur stared at Miller for a while before saying, "When do we start?" "If you want, we can start right away," Miller replied. Hagin glanced at his watch. "Let me go through the rules. This challenge will last ten minutes. If Wilbur cannot defeat Miller within that time and Miller is still able to get up, Wilbur will be considered to have lost. Of course, if Miller surrenders, the win will go to Wilbur. Alright. I'm going to count to three, and the challenge will begin. One, two, three—begin!" The old man and Hagin quickly ret
The next second, Miller leaped off the ground and soared in Wilbur's direction. He whipped the spear around as he flew, stabbing it in Wilbur's direction. Wilbur turned to dodge the attack, kicking Miller in the back before he could react. Miller came crashing on the ground heavily, but soared into the air once more, only for the same thing to happen again. Wilbur kicked Miller to the ground once more, his spear clattering out of his grasp as he glowered at Wilbur. "You bastard, are you only capable of dodging?" "Come out, Aricie, come out!" Miller muttered a chant and the huge formation laid throughout his quarters appeared. A gigantic hand forged out of earth and soil reached out from within, grabbing at Wilbur. Wilbur dodged the attack, but the hand came whipping over once more. This happened another time, and the hand missed Wilbur again. Just then, Miller soared into the air swinging his spear. The next second, earth spikes appeared in mid-air before hurtling down at W
Miller was standing rooted to the spot like he was frozen still, his head bowed as he gripped his spear and muttered, "How could this be? How could my energy disappear just like that? This is impossible! Impossible!" The next second, Wilbur appeared in front of Miller, pointing the thunder cleaver at him. "The power of light is a middle-dimensional law. You're still considered weak in the face of absolute light." "I can't believe I lost." "Do you admit defeat?" "No, I'll never admit defeat. You may kill me now." Miller never wanted to admit defeat, but he knew that he was no match for Wilbur. Now that Wilbur had defeated him, death was the only way to protect his pride. Hagin fumed, "You idiot, Miller! How could you do that? I'm so disappointed in you! You've been stripped of all your duties as commander of the merfolk starting from this very second!" Miller barked out a laugh, keeping his head bowed. "What a laughable life I lead. No matter how hard I work, even with all