Reality seemed to twist and bend around Aaron as space warped, and suddenly his breath grew tight, and an incredible weight pressed down upon him.

  He was no longer in space but standing on white tiles. However, perhaps this was worse. Much, much worse.

  Stubbornly, he gritted his teeth and tried to bear the insufferable force crushing down on him, but no amount of willpower would suffice, and he dropped to his knees.

  What is this force?

  Sweat poured, soaking his clothing, and muscles rippled across his superhuman body as he grunted and tried to fight back against the incredible power overwhelming him.

  “Bah!” He gasped, body trembling.

  It was as if the entire world were trying to hold him down. It was an indomitable sensation, but despite the mounting fatigue and his violently shaking body, he commanded himself to overcome the titanic force. For this was Aaron Dober, not some man who simply surrendered when faced against impossible odds.

  “Standing?”

  “Huh?’ He turned, the world around him shaky and shimmering, and snorted as he thinned his gaze in search of the voice.

  It was Yendal standing several meters away across the grand, marble foyer.

  “Gah!”

  “Quite impressive to stand in my divine realm at only E grade.”

  Aaron looked like a complete mess. Covered in sweat, energy draining stupidly fast, and shaking all over. His vision was blurred, and his body ached. But he was standing, albeit with every ounce of his determination being thrown into keeping himself upright.

  “Yeah, what of it?” he growled as if fighting back death itself, eyes watery, red, and aflame.

  “Not bad,” Yendal remarked, her gaze washing over him, and she snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the immense pressure lightened, although it didn’t completely recede.

  Aaron wasn’t sure if it was intentional to keep him on his toes, or if she simply couldn’t completely nullify the effect of her divine realm. Nonetheless, he was glad that she had weakened the force bearing down on him. At least he might be able to walk now.

  Okay, focus! Don’t let her get to you!

  “So, this is your realm?” Aaron said, forcing himself to straighten and doing his best to muster a blank expression. However, he couldn’t do much to hide the sweat pouring down his forehead.

  “Yes, do you like it?”

  Despite the luxurious marble floors, it wasn’t as grandiose as he had imagined a divine realm would be. The walls appeared to be stretched leather, as if to give the impression that they were within an absolutely ginormous tent, and the furniture he spotted in the distance of the grand chamber was simple, looking like plain cedar and humble cushions.

  “It’s… umm…”

  “What’s that?” Yendal arched a brow.

  “Nothing,” Aaron smiled. “I love it. You did wonders with the place.”

  “I see. No matter. I didn’t bring you here to talk about my decorations. Do you need a towel?”

  A puddle had formed beneath Aaron, and no amount of playing it cool could hide it.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Really… So, how are the trials treating you?”

  “Good. But… I haven’t beaten Mo’han yet. However, I—”

  “I know,” Yendal cut him off. “That god of his decided to stick his nose into it. But no matter. I believe it is an obstacle you can overcome. In fact, your unwillingness to die has caught the attention of several nosy gods. Quite the achievement for an E-grade. It does add a degree of urgency, though. All the more reason I train you up.

  “Some of what I say might not make a whole lot of sense to you, but there are limitations to what we gods can do. I won’t be able to save you from every situation. In fact, even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. If you rely on me, you will never achieve true strength. You’ll need to look after yourself, and while you may be somewhat skilled for your level, you are not invulnerable. Even against those of your planet, you will be at risk, let alone when those outside your universe are allowed inside. What will you do when a multiversal prodigy raised with resources worth more than a galaxy decides they want your planet?”

  Aaron’s attention was caught. He wasn’t looking for a guardian angel, but it sounded a lot like external threats might come to hound Superearth sooner than he had expected.

  “Are you referring to someone in particular?”

  “At this moment, no, but it happens every Integration, so there’s bound to be one at some point. However, there is one particular threat I am keeping my eyes on. He’s a cursed god who has taken interest in another close to you.”

  “Wait, Oozagh mentioned something like that. Who are they?”

  “Did he? Not surprising. The Death God isn’t to be taken lightly. Most deities like to let new universes develop more naturally, but some, like the Death God, prefer a more… hands-on approach. He and a few others.”

  “Like Lenriel the Sovereign?”

  “Yes. The two of them will likely come to blows in your universe at some point, unless one of them is stopped before then. They are always at each other’s throats.”

  “Yeah, makes sense…” said Aaron.

  He couldn’t imagine Darius and Pentival getting along, and he could only assume that whatever psycho decided to bless Darius wouldn’t get along with Lenriel either.

  “Yeah, that reminds me: Lenriel said to ask you about him.”

  “Did he? What did he say to ask?”

  “Whether he was really benevolent.”

  “He is as benevolent as a conqueror can be,” said Yendal dismissively. “Especially toward the strong. Lenriel is not in the habit of making unnecessary enemies. If you ally with him, his nation will be the safest place for your friends and family to live, so long as you continue to grow and advance. My own family lived out their years in his domain, and I had no complaints.”

  “So you’re allied with him?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “No. We simply have goals that do not interfere. He does not bother me. I don’t bother him. It is not always peaceful, especially when I take on apprentices, but we have never truly been enemies.”

  “I see,” said Aaron, nodding.

  Her words definitely went a long way to make him feel a bit better about Lenriel. Not that he was ready to cede Earth over to an outsider, but if Yendal confirmed that the guy was reasonable enough, that was enough for Aaron not to think of Pentival and his group as an immediate threat. However, that made Darius all the more worrying: Pentival had a group of subordinates and would look to expand his kingdom, while Darius was a lone man. Yet Yendal seemed to place Darius and the Death God on the same level as Pentival and Lenriel. And unlike Pentival, Darius would be starting on Aaron’s planet.

  “Regardless of your world’s politics, though, we have more important things to worry about. Let us begin your training, shall we?”

  Aaron nodded, although in truth, confrontation between monstrous gods sounded pretty important. However, he believed Yendal had his best interests in mind, and if she thought training was the most important way to spend his time, it probably was.

  Unfortunately, he had no idea how he was meant to duel Yendal under the current conditions. It wasn’t as bad as before, but still, even just standing put a great strain on him.

  “Follow. I have much to show you.”

  Yendal led him through a corridor, dressed in numerous hunting trophies of all kinds of magnificent beasts and monsters. There were even a few humanoid heads mounted on it that made Aaron a little squeamish. Killing people in the heat of combat was one thing, but he wasn’t so sure of taxidermizing their heads and mounting them in a trophy hall.

  Beyond the corridor, they stepped out into a massive arena, and Yendal led him to the center, then swung around to face him.

  “Okay. Show me what you’ve learned.”

  Aaron blinked. That was it? Was she really expecting him to fight like this? He still felt exhausted just walking around, but the blank expression on her face told him he was probably going to be punished if he questioned her instructions.

  He had little choice but to cycle massive amounts of energy just to relieve the strain of the divine realm, and he could feel his reserves shrinking at a fast rate just so that he could move his body somewhat normally.

  Unfortunately, it seemed that he wouldn’t be able to test out his new Skill, [ Soul Vortex ], either. It was passively active, but it returned no information as it came into contact with the world around him. That wasn’t hugely surprising, though. He couldn’t inspect gods either, and the divine realm was so heavy on him that it came as little surprise that his Skills wouldn’t be able to dissect and delve into the secrets of such a place.

  It wasn’t just that, though. Even fate reading was useless. He couldn’t see the fate of a true god, even if he had been able to see that of her avatar. However, he did wonder if it was a simple limitation of the trait itself or limitations of his strength. Would he be able to read the fates of gods when he was stronger?

  Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to just roll over and give up, either. If Yendal wanted him to show her what he was capable of, he would do just that.

  And so, with a burst of power, he sailed toward her… embarrassingly slowly. The fight appeared in slow motion as Yendal yawned and avoided Aaron’s strikes.

  He looked like he was underwater, and his punches and kicks came impossibly slow. Still, he wanted to show her what he could do, and he used a burst of energy, calling on aether, mana, and stamina to give himself a short boost of power, increasing his speed in the hopes of landing a [ Soul Shattering Strike ].

  And to Aaron’s complete surprise, Yendal didn’t just let the punch strike her, but also the follow-up haymaker.

  A blast of divine energy rippled out as his soul punch attempted and failed miserably to damage her energy sources. Neither attack appeared to do any damage whatsoever, including to her energy reserves, not that Aaron could detect the energy of a divine being.

  “Impressive. That attack is quite something. I suspect it will even harm the asura substantially if used correctly. Still, you've got a long way to go. But at least I have an idea of how to train you. Now, let’s make this a little more fair.”

  Yendal began to shimmer, and a shadow stepped away from her. “This one is a little different from those you’ve fought before. The avatars in the trials are created by the trials themselves, and granted our powers, whereas this is a simple clone created by me. It is not as advanced or powerful, but it should still be more than enough for your training.”

  Yendal stepped aside, walking to the edge of the arena as pillars crashed down around, forming a kind of barrier that weakened the effects of the divine realm. Whilst the divine realm’s forces weren’t completely nullified, with the aid of the pillars, Aaron could once again move relatively normally.

  “So, you want me to fight that thing?”

  “Yes. I want you to practice that strike of yours. It’s lacking. This realm isn’t just my divine realm. It’s the divine realm of the Martial God. Here, you will feel more at one with the concepts that uphold my divine path more than anywhere else in the multiverse. Your time is limited here, so make the most of it.”

  Divine realm of the Martial God?

  Aaron’s brow bent. That sounded like a challenge, and if anybody was up for a challenge, it was him.

  “Ha, I think I can do that.”

  Without further delay, Aaron flung himself into battle, and the fight began. But it was different from the fights he had been in previously. Whenever he got reckless and relied on energy to overpower the clones, Yendal scolded him, and sometimes even jumped into the fight to smack him away herself, sending him barreling into the walls.

  It was a hard learned lesson, and getting hit by an actual god really hurt. But he probably should have expected as much delving into her divine realm. She wasn’t just going to sit idly by as he fought like an ogre.

  However, after several hours and being scolded and batted away countless times, he was starting to understand why she was so dogged in her methods.

  He felt a profound connection between himself and his strikes. His techniques were transcending their mere physical boundaries, and his mind was subconsciously dipping into the deeper concepts of his style as he fought.

  He could feel the power of his Skills wrapping around his fists as he threw them at his opponent, and strikes rolling from one to another. His body felt in perfect harmony as he rolled through battle, using every inch of his person, and never missing a beat.

  This wasn’t new to him, though. This was what he had learned from Yendal throughout their fights. However, this duel wasn’t just a reminder, either. It was a chance to see the truths behind the path that Yendal walked, and they were laid out before him bare through the power of her divine realm, which in and of itself was a great treasure to behold.

  And when he finally, after many hours of difficult combat, managed to land a full combination against the shadow, Yendal snapped her fingers, and a second appeared.

  “Maybe I made that one too easy for you. Let’s see how you do against two of them.”

  “Seriously?”

  “You do feel it, don’t you? The reason I brought you here?”

  Aaron looked across at Yendal and nodded. “I think so.”

  “Then stop complaining and harness it. Feel the power, for it will do you great favors, even if you don’t follow the path of the empty-handed exactly as I do.”

  “Yeah, gotcha.”

  Following the instructions of his master, he once more threw himself against the two shadows, and whilst doing so, he focused on the feeling that filled the air with electrifying power.

  He wanted to do right by her, but he also wanted to do right by himself, and he knew that this was the place to bridge the final gaps and propel himself to greater heights before the trials finally ended.

  But it wouldn’t be easy, and the deadly battle became a back-and-forth, but amazingly, despite their strength, Aaron was actually landing strikes.

  Unfortunately for him, all it took from Yendal was a snap of her fingers, and the power possessed by the clones increased, and once more he was on the ropes. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  It was as if he were fighting all stages of Yendal’s avatars from the beginning, and it was as brutal as he remembered it being.

  But then something unexpected happened, and his face lit up with excitement.

  [ Soul Shattering Strike ]

  Combination mastery improved.

  Mastery increased from none to minor.

  One additional slot has been added to the combo chain.

  Aaron blinked. This was new and very welcome. Unfortunately, he wasn’t entirely sure what Skill he wanted to add to his combo chain.

  Spectral Fist was the only real attacking Skill he had, and whilst it was a decent enough Skill, it didn’t really suit his combo… or did it?

  He looked at the combination slot and expanded the information window. The new combo slot came after [ Turbocharged Haymaker ] as expected, but as he thought about it, he remembered Skill mutations.

  I wonder…

  “Hey, Yendal, turn up the difficulty, I got an idea I wanna try.”

  “Oh?” Her brow curled, and a thin smile tugged at her lips.

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