There was no need to piss about, and Aaron had no intention of doing so. Immediately, he swam down into the depths towards the underwater city. Perhaps some would have chosen subterfuge against an entire city, but that wasn’t his way. Besides, he had grown bored enough with trials that barely challenged him.

  For how difficult was a trial really if it didn’t end in him dying several times in the pursuit of completing it?

  As he delved deeper, he wondered how long he could hold his breath for these days. It might take a while for a concrete answer, but since he felt no pressure to resurface, he bet he could last a while.

  Light thinned as he got closer to the ocean floor, and it wasn’t long before trident-wielding fishmen caught sight of him. They pointed and made bubbly commands to one another, and then, they began swimming in his direction.

  Shimmering Scale Ichthyoid Guard [ Level 85 ]

  Titles: [ Sea Guardian ]

  There were dozens of them approaching. They held a variety of titles and names, but all seemed rather mundane. He wasn’t too concerned despite being outnumbered, as he had fought stronger foes in the past. However, he soon spotted more shiny scales in the distance.

  Looks like I’m in for a fight.

  Despite not a lot of light making it down this far, it caught perfectly on the scales of the fishmen, and he could see more of them exiting the buildings below. It looked like he truly was faced with a full-blown brawl against an entire city, and to top it off, he had to do so underwater.

  It was absurd, but also exhilarating. Aaron laughed a mouthful of bubbles as he sped toward them. This was the kind of challenge he had been waiting for.

  He reached the first group of fishmen guards, and the engagement was a vicious back-and-forth. The fishmen clearly had the advantage under the sea, and many of their Skills were water-based, and speed to gain bonuses from being used within water. And whilst he had undoubtedly killed stronger foes in the past, with numbers and the environment against him, it wasn’t long before he suffered his first death.

  But the fishmen did not know Aaron Dober. Resurrecting hastily, he slammed straight into the nearest fishmen, catching a couple of them off guard and ending them quickly with undefended haymakers.

  He had dealt them a blow, but was quickly swamped by the remaining fishmen from all around, and dozens of attacks flew at him in blinding succession. The only thing that kept him alive was a combination of fate reading and [ Gorgon’s Time Dilation ].

  Not only that, but they had a variety of archetypes that further complicated the battle. For example, some of the fishmen were particularly tanky, with thicker scales and shields. However, he had just the trick for these ones. Against them, he used his spirit punch.

  It was a great attack when used against sturdy opponents. He could attack their energy directly instead of pummeling against their thick skin and heavy armor. And once they were drained, they were just as squishy as any other.

  But these were just the outer defenders, and before he had even managed to kill the last of them, reinforcements arrived. And with them, the battle grew chaotic once more, and again he was killed by a torrent of razor-sharp water shot from a scepter.

  But this time, they were prepared for his little resurrecting act, and he was unable to get a surprise kill.

  The battle continued, and Aaron threw everything he had as he rampaged through the growing numbers of powerful fishmen.

  He drew on fantastical amounts of energy, pouring it out into attacks both near and far, shooting [ Spectral Fist ] attacks at harpoon gunners in the distances, and bubble and water mages.

  However, he was barely hanging on against superior numbers, and once the elites arrived, there was little that could be done. Soon thereafter, he was finished off, and shortly after his following resurrection, he was sent back to the hallway by a quick decapitating strike.

  But despite his loss, he had noticed something curious during the melee. It wasn’t just that he could bypass defenses with his spirit punch, but that his spirit attacks weren’t subjected to the same difficulties as his normal punches were underwater.

  Aaron focused on this during his next attempt, channeling his spirit with power more than he had in his previous fight.

  The more he relied on his spirit in combat, the more he could funnel mana into other uses. This provided more mana to use on [ Gust Step ], and by doing so, he managed to speed himself up.

  With greater speed and more effective attacks, the second attempt went noticeably better than the first. With mana dedicated to swimming, he could also dodge and avoid significantly better. And with aether and stamina focused on attack, he could break down the enemy defenses, occasionally using [ Equal and Opposite ] when it was most effective.

  This resulted in him not taking a single death until the elites arrived. However, once they were there, it was painfully obvious the difference between them and their sentry guards.

  By now, Aaron was well aware that levels offered only so much guidance in determining someone’s strength. The elites might have only been a few levels higher, but they no doubt had better training and rarer Skills, as their abilities were on a different level.

  With their arrival, the intensity of the battle increased dramatically. Again, after his first death, he took them by surprise as he resurrected and took out an elite before they even realized what had happened.

  He took a couple more deaths shortly after, taking out only a couple more elites in the process. They were his superiors down here, and he only managed to get any kills because of the lattice of Skills and techniques he had layered upon one another to deadly effect.

  But Aaron wasn’t deterred as he reappeared in the hallway and rushed straight back into the trail.

  On the third attempt, he got even further. Nothing was to be wasted, and he even made sure to position his first death so that he died close to a couple of elites, and when he resurrected, he beat them down almost immediately, and continued on to the others.

  This time, he almost managed to beat the entire first wave of elites. The longer he could survive, the more energy he could drain from them with his spirit attacks, leading to very favorable outcomes for him, even against stronger opponents.

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  Unfortunately, there was a second wave, and the second wave came riding sea serpents.

  Cursing like a drunken sailor, Aaron was killed shortly thereafter. Not only were the elites powerful and pushing him to the edge as it was, but the sea serpents brought their own attacks to the battle.

  This trial was truly a test against impossible odds. But impossible odds were what he craved, and it pushed him harder than ever to strive for success.

  But this was the most difficult challenge he had faced yet, and he died within seconds of the serpent riders' arrival.

  This fight was beyond perfect precision. It didn’t matter how well he positioned himself or how well he thought out every move. Such techniques couldn’t bridge the incredible gulf between him and his enemies.

  He needed more. He needed to be better. He needed to be stronger. Otherwise, he could bash his head against this wall for who knows how long.

  But what better way to test himself on his path to level 35 and such an important Skill unlock? This trial might have been a long one, but it was also one where he was almost entirely reliant on his spirit punch. There was no better way to get a good Spirit Punch Skill than this. As long as he gained the skills necessary to beat Mo’han, a little time sink was of no concern, and his mind raced as he theorized maddening methods to overcome the impossible odds before him.

  He charged back into the trial, planning every second of the fight, bashing his head against the serpent riders' time, and time again. Before he knew it, seven attempts had passed in quick succession. And yet, he had never survived for more than a couple of minutes against the serpent riders.

  It was infuriating, but also exciting. If he could find a way to overcome this impossible hurdle, then what challenge couldn’t he obliterate?

  It was obvious that the eighth stage was no laughing matter and that the ranks of those who would make it this far were few, and that made the allure of victory all the sweeter.

  Five more deaths followed as he inched his way closer. Strangely, the lines were gone, and people were standing to the side when he reappeared in the hallway.

  But Aaron was a madman on a mission, and he barely took notice of them, or the fact that his way was cleared and he could throw himself against the trial again and again without having to wait for others.

  And then, two attempts later, something he hadn’t expected to happen happened. Then again, perhaps it shouldn’t have been too surprising. His haymaker had become the cornerstone of his damage dealing, and he couldn’t count how many times he had thrown it since unlocking the Skill.

  Skill Mutated: [ Overclocked Haymaker ] = [ Turbocharged Haymaker ]

  This newly empowered attack was something else. While he didn’t really ever think about it because his regeneration nullified the effects, now that he had [ Turbocharged Haymaker ], he saw that [ Overclocked Haymaker ] had always been a flawed Skill. It drastically increased his attack power, but compared to his normal flow of energy, it wasn’t smooth. He was pushing more energy than his body could handle, and it was inefficient.

  His new Skill, on the other hand, felt incredible. It drained his energy just as much, but now, it felt as though his body had been designed to handle it. The energy flowed within him much more easily with much less waste, resulting in his strikes having much more power. And when coupled with his spirit punch, it was simply incredible and truly transcendent.

  Overwhelming power was coupled with energy destruction that could not just bring down defenses, but could drain his opponents of the very energy they used to heal their bodies, and keep them from taking too much damage. It was like he was sapping the energy that held his enemies' cells together, then punching them with an extraordinary blow.

  Not only that, but this led him toward another breakthrough that he had been working on for some time now. It was the catalyst that brought on realization, and it was a scary realization for his opponents.

  It was the art of throwing a physical punch in line with a spiritual one, and when he threw them in perfect unison, they produced something else entirely.

  It was a shimmering punch of metaphysical power entwining itself with pure, raw, and unabated power. It was unforgiving and relentless. And the combination of these two martial arts was cataclysmic when landing cleanly against his enemies.

  The spirit punch, which overlaid his fist, landed in the slightest of a fraction of a second before his new and improved [ Turbocharged Haymaker ], crushing the enemy’s energy and beating a way through for the devastating attack to follow.

  With this attack, guards were hopelessly unprepared to fight him. For it wasn’t just stronger, but faster underwater, as when combined, his physical punch had taken on some of the spiritual nature of his spirit punch, reducing the speed-sapping side effects of fighting underwater.

  Still, though, the sea serpent riders were no pushovers, and stat-wise, they were much, much stronger than he was.

  And so, even after such mind-blowingly incredible gains, another attempt ended in death only minutes after clashing with the riders. But it was not a defeat.

  The growth was exponential, and during his next attempt, Aaron blasted through both the guards and the first round of elites without dying a single death.

  Even the elites, for as powerful as they were, barely had a defense that could stand up against this new and improved punch. Not only that, but he was getting remarkably strong at draining energy, and even when he wasn’t blowing people’s heads and bodies apart with stupidly strong punches, he was weakening them and destroying their reserves.

  Once more, the sea serpent riders appeared, and he fought them like a madman possessed by a demon.

  Rampaging through their impressive line of defenses, he managed to actually kill two of the riders and a serpent before they took him down. And when he resurrected, he took out two more before they could properly organize a counter.

  It was a chaotic battle, and his enemies barely knew which way to look half the time. Not to mention, he was also getting better at swimming in his superpowered body. That was pretty cool in and of itself, Aaron thought.

  When they finally managed to kill him after an incredible barrage of seemingly endless Skills from both riders and serpents alike, he returned to the hallway.

  “Huh?” He looked around in disbelief.

  People were applauding him. Dozens, maybe a hundred or so. Standing around in a crowd, cheering and clapping.

  What the actual fuck?

  This was unexpected. What had he done to deserve this? It wasn’t like they could see within the trials, nor was dying a good thing. He doubted even Mo’han could easily beat the eighth stage of the Trial of Dominance, but he reckoned he’d find a way, and one that required far, far less dying.

  So, what the fuck was all this about?

  Then, he realized this was the most he had died in a very long time, and the most he had died since so many people had joined the trials.

  There was no doubt that word of him had already gotten around. He had heard people talking about the guy who didn’t get sick when dying, and wasn’t scared to die many times. He was somewhat of an enigma, and it wasn’t that surprising that people took an interest in him. As far as he was aware, nobody else shrugged off death so easily.

  But this? This was something else. Something he had not expected.

  That said, he wasn’t complaining. After all, there was no line now. Sure, it had improved already, but it was a hell of a lot better not having one at all. Not only were they not in line, but the people had actually stepped aside and formed a corridor for him to march straight back into the trial.

  It still felt weird, though. He wasn’t the strongest in the trials, not yet, at least. That was Mo’han’s title. But the people of the trials knew just how nauseating and soul-crushing getting killed was, and to see someone get killed dozens of times within such a short time span and effortlessly get back up and charge into the trials time and time again was nothing if not awe-inspiring.

  And this continued as he charged straight back in, and was once more killed several minutes later, and returned to the trial.

  There were more cheers, and Aaron repeated the same thing, getting ever so closer to beating the damn sea serpent riders with each attempt.

  The crowd grew larger as he died time and time again, and he felt a little awkward after Oozagh’s warning, but what was there to be done about it?

  He certainly wasn’t giving up on this trial now, not when he had achieved so much. Also, the sea serpent riders were just straight up giving him the shits now, and he was going to beat his way through them if it was the last thing he did.

  And, after many more deaths, he did just that. Finally, he had reached the fishman king’s inner chamber, and died to his personal bodyguards. But he was close, and he knew it.

  Returning to the hallway, he waved at the crowd and rushed straight back into the trial.

  He had a king to kill.

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