Blasting into the inner chamber, Aaron wiped his bloodied hands as he finished off the two guards. They had been strong, but the relentless nature of his style had been too much.

  Looking down at his hands with the spirit veil over them, he had to admire this new technique. He was practicing it for the sake of finding something to use against Mo’han, but realized it was really quite perfect for his style.

  After all, what better technique was there for someone with insane endurance than one that broke down their opponent’s ability to endure?

  Benigoreng Ichthyoid Sea King [ Level 99 ]

  Titles: [ Lord of the Depths ] [ Subjugator ]

  The sea king was at least twice the size of the regular fishmen, and his scales looked like straight-up plate metal armor; they were so thick. A long beard cascaded down his chest, and the water tremored as he slammed the butt of his trident against the ground.

  “You dare enter my chamber, land dweller?”

  “He talks.”

  “Of course I talk! I am the great ruler of the seas. Lord of all ichthyoids!”

  “Cool. So, are we gonna do this or what?” Aaron cracked his knuckles.

  “You land dwellers are all so warlike. Fine. Let me teach you a lesson for delving where you do not belong.”

  The sea king pointed his trident, and whirlpools shot toward Aaron. But of course, he had seen this all coming a mile away.

  But it wasn’t just picking his movements and dodging that he was seeing through fate. There was something else far more interesting to him, and Aaron shot forward to test it out.

  At level 99 and an apex warrior of his kind, the sea king was no easy person to approach or attack. It took Aaron a dizzying number of feints and misdirections to work up to it. He was reading dozens of steps into the future and placing everything he did perfectly.

  There was a massive boon on Aaron’s side, though. Being in his own separate chamber had given him time to recover and eat before entering, and that allowed him to draw on stupendous amounts of energy as he worked his way toward the sea king and through his array of destructive water powers.

  He wondered if this fight would be similar to taking on Joseph, but he had a feeling everyone within the trials had more to offer than someone like the sea king.

  Even if they didn’t have what it took to beat the eighth stage of the trial, that didn’t necessarily mean they couldn’t beat the king, one-on-one. After all, most didn’t possess Aaron’s ability to recover, and the deadly battles that they had to fight just to reach here could have easily taken it out of them.

  But furthermore, there was a level discrepancy. There were going to be people that had higher ceilings than this sea king, and therefore, were worth taking seriously, but couldn’t actually beat a boss ten or so levels above their own.

  He didn’t know from which part of the multiverse the sea king had been plucked from, but he knew he was no infant like they were. It had taken him time to reach this level of power, and that in and of itself was pathetic in the grand scheme of things.

  These were important reminders, he knew as he engaged the sea king, canceling out a tremendously powerful attack of ice spears with [ Equal and Opposite ], and then returning with a near-endless barrage of [ Spectral Fist ].

  He couldn’t allow himself to believe that just because he could stand toe-to-toe with the sea king, that meant he could do the same with a legitimate generational talent at level 99. Even Mo’han wasn’t at such a high level yet.

  Drawing another powerful attack from the sea king, he shot into range with a flurry of [ Gust Steps ] in near instantaneous succession. And when he was within range, he fired off his ultimate [ Turbocharged Haymaker ] with a spirit fist empowering it.

  The attack slammed hard against the impressive scales of the fishman and actually managed to send it flying several meters back.

  Its energy had been disrupted, but damage had been minimal. He had thrown a ridiculous amount of energy into it, but this was a level 99, and a tanky one at that. He would need to weaken it a bit before his strikes could do real damage.

  Enraged, the sea king created a bubble that expanded outward at speed. As it hit the contents of the room around them, it sizzled and melted them away.

  Aaron was smart enough to avoid that thing, but as it continued to grow, he ran out of space to run.

  Drawing on mana from his adipose, he shrank himself down to a skinny twig and threw that energy into [ Equal and Opposite ] again, canceling out the attack.

  Yendal’s Skill was incredible, but so were its mana requirements, and he couldn’t use it too often lest he risked draining his own reserves. But it was perfect for attacks like the bubble that he couldn’t escape.

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  Kiting the sea king through a hole it had created in its own chamber, Aaron created distance and ate, but Benigoreng, the king of the Ichthyoids, was far, far too quick to escape underwater.

  Within seconds, the sea king had caught up to him and was swinging his trident around. Every strike of the trident came with a wave of razor-sharp water, and Aaron was cut in half a second later.

  It was actually pretty impressive. He had seen fate and knew where to dodge, but the sea king had simply been too fast.

  However, Benigoreng’s face twisted with anger as his two halves reconnected, and life was breathed back into his body.

  And Aaron wasn’t just going to wait around to be hit. He already had a plan, and when the sea king attacked, he countered with spiritual blows and careful maneuvering as he avoided the counters being thrown back at him.

  If he could drag this out a little longer—

  Another seemingly impossibly fast trident swipe cut him in half, the water blades swirling around it.

  Again, Aaron was back, but the sea king was already unleashing another devastating flurry of attacks.

  It was too much, and the gap between them was too great for even Aaron to overcome, and in a moment of desperation, he used something he hadn’t in a while.

  Aaron activated [ Oozagh’s Breath ], and whilst it didn’t do any damage, the pungent odor that was blown toward the fishman was enough for even the aquatic creature to take a momentary step backward.

  Wasting no time, he shot away, creating a little distance and eating as much as he could in the second or two that he bought himself.

  Throughout this entire time, his [ Reverse Cycle Faux Core ] was churning overtime, and all energy organs were cycling at their peak.

  It was two, maybe three seconds at most, but that was enough to restore a little energy and give him a fighting chance.

  Reading fate carefully as the irate sea king launched another attack, calling forth destructive underwater waves which he surfed, and launched himself from, bringing with him the debris of the ocean floor.

  It required all of Aaron’s attention to dodge a myriad of attacks, including dislodged spiked, poisonous coral, water blades, shooting whirlpools, and snapping crabs.

  But the cataclysmic attack sent his way just creased the gradually forming smile across his face even deeper, for he could sense the enormous energy cost that the sea king was throwing at him.

  Cackling as he fought his way through the attack, Aaron was killed twice and drained of much of his aether, but he survived it and threw every last ounce of aether into a spirit-guided [ Turbocharged Haymaker ], blasting through the last of the fishman’s defenses and landing clean against his chest.

  A bang like a cannon reverberated out, and the sea king was sent flying.

  But not one to take chances, Aaron was already eating like a madman. A few seconds of chaotic face-stuffing could mean the difference between having to work his way through all of the minions again and finishing it once and for all.

  Energy fluctuated as the sea king slammed against the ocean floor, and he could even see streams of blood dispersing out into the water. But he was confident that Benigoreng was not dead.

  But it didn’t really matter. He could feel the sea king’s energy. It had drastically reduced from when they first fought, and he was only recovering as he stuffed his face.

  Benigoreng realized this too, and the sea king’s face twisted, and burst into a superpowered swim. It was obvious what needed to happen, and if it didn’t put an end to Aaron soon, it might as well give up.

  Unfortunately for it, he had saved up enough mana for another [ Equal and Opposite ], and the devastating attack it had planned was snuffed out before its eyes. Within a blink, Aaron was before it, haymaker in fist.

  The attack landed clean on the surprised sea king, and it was thrown straight back down to the ocean floor, where it belonged.

  Still, the king’s level was 99, and it would take more than that to kill it.

  Again, it swam up to him, and again, it was a titanic punch that sent it hurtling back down.

  He almost felt bad for it, but he felt a lot more respect than anything else. The sea king was a persistent bastard, and it must have known that even engagement lessened any chance that it could win. For Aaron’s energy reserves were recovering, whilst Benigoreng’s were dipping lower and lower.

  “You’ve earned my respect,” Aaron said with a line of bubbles after blasting it back down to the sea floor again. “Heck, you kind of remind me of me.”

  Benigoreng growled, and his nostrils flared as he looked up with bent brows. “You’re strong… land dweller.”

  “Eh, you’re stronger. I’m way, way too stubborn to die. You put up a good fight, though.”

  Chuckling, the sea king shook its head. “So this is how my tribe fails its quest, is it?”

  “So, you’re in control of your shadow, too?”

  Benigoreng nodded. “We hail from a dead, ocean-covered world. The tiny remnants of the decaying world core deep within our world no longer have the power to feed us in our ascension. This was our chance to revive it and gain the opportunity to rise above E grade once more. But alas, we were too weak.”

  “Ah, shit. I’m sorry, mate. It’s just the way it is, isn’t it?”

  Benigoreng nodded. “Indeed, human. If this is how it must end, though, I would at least like to go out as a warrior.”

  He lowered his trident, ready for his final stand, when suddenly, both of them froze as a new System window appeared.

  Quest Received: Aid Benigoreng, the Sea King, and attempt to stabilize the Ichthyoid World Core, defeating what plagues it.

  Caution: You will be transported to another world where the life-saving mechanisms of the Shadow Trials will not be active. Participate at your own discretion. Note: normal titles, experience, and achievements will be unavailable for this quest. The only additional reward to expect is the quest reward provided by this quest.

  “Huh? Another one?”

  “That… that quest,” Benigoreng said, his words trembling as they fell from his lips. “Please, human, I beg of you. Accept the quest, and I shall be in eternal gratitude!”

  Okay, that’s quite the spin.

  He read over the quest once more and couldn’t see a reason not to accept it. He would be exposing himself to danger, and he didn’t exactly know what for, but danger wasn’t really a concern to him. And unlike the situation with the crow, he actually felt some respect for the fishman king. The crow was a coward, while the king was a warrior. Aaron actually was strongly considering letting the fishman kill him and looking for other ways to level up.

  He needed to get to his next Skill selection, but killing this king to do it felt wrong. If the System wanted to give him a way to progress and complete the trial without ending a potentially innocent life, he would gladly take it, even if it put him in danger. After all, when did danger ever stop him?

  “You’re on, mate,” his face twisted with a mad grin as he accepted the prompt.

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