Although the effects of Garen’s martial arts environment were much stronger than those of other people’s, the desire to achieve a great advantage with martial arts within the foundation of the perfect fight simulations and practices in this world was merely a pipe dream.
Once the martial arts environment surpassed the King of the Century level, Garen would then obtain great advantages that came from being on the same playing field. He would be able to grasp opportunities in a more precise manner than other people. He could also do things without hesitating or wasting any of his combat energy. Furthermore, his combat strategies and instincts would undergo shocking improvements.
However, this meant that only his martial arts would become strong. When he encountered situations with enemies that possessed exceptional Willpower techniques and belonged to high levels, it would be completely impossible for him to anticipate all of his opponent’s various abilities. Therefore, he could only take the most conservative approach to achieve the highest probability of winning reliably.
He was only able to progressively display the true strength of his martial arts environment once he had gradually learned more about Willpower techniques through numerous reports, information, and experience.
The only thing that Garen could use now was his combat strategies. However, these strategies could not help him at all if he did not practice and perfect his martial arts and combat skills, as these things relied on an individual’s own selections and style.
Once he had arranged the information in his mind, Garen decided to upgrade his Living Secret Technique immediately. After all, this ability could improve his physical Attributes and even his Willpower level.
As for the methods of using upgrades that required Potential Points, Garen chatted with Anda leisurely while secretly thinking of ways to add his Potential Points to the Hellfrost Peacock Technique. As expected, there was no way to upgrade the Hellfrost Peacock Technique in one go. It seemed as though its progress had been paused because something was lacking. However, a few of his Potential Points had disappeared, making it clear that some of them had been consumed.
Garen furrowed his eyebrows slightly and used his Willpower to activate the Living Secret Technique core inside his body. A series of information flowed out.
“I need both the Red Peacock Stone and the White Peacock Stone to enter the next stage?” Garen recalled the ores that he had seen previously. The White Peacock Stone was a variation of the Rainbow Stone while the Red Peacock Stone that was described by the Living Secret Technique was actually the Red Rainbow Stone. However, the production rate of these stones was much lower as compared to the White Rainbow Stone and they were sourced from different places as well.
His Hellfrost Peacock Technique had almost reached the Level Six stage. However, its progress rate had been stuck at 5% all this while without moving at all.
“…We’ve almost arrived at the battlegrounds, do you want to go in and take a look? This is an impressive place,” he had not noticed when Anda had started talking about the battlegrounds beside him.
Garen’s mind snapped back to reality and realized that they were very far from the training grounds now. They were now walking in front of a huge circular ashen building in the Inner Courtyard. This place was completely tranquil as there were only a few people who were leaving and entering. Most of them were rushing inside with furious looks on their faces.
“This is a place to settle grudges, whether fatal or not. Of course, there are only a handful of people who actually come here to duel while most of them are here to watch the mutated beasts fight. This place hosts major gambling tournaments and is also the biggest place to select and purchase mutated beasts. Most of these mutated beasts can help with quests when they are brought outside to the radiation belts,” Anda smiled while explaining.
“Mutated beasts?” this was the first time that Garen had heard of people keeping these playthings as pets.
“Wanna go in and take a look? You can occasionally find good things inside the battlegrounds,” Anda smiled.
“Alright, just be frank,” said Garen while glancing at the edge of the battlegrounds. “What were you planning to do when you reached out to me personally? Don’t just say that you wanted to chat because you were bored.”
Anda pushed his glasses.
“Naturally, I wanted to get some people to join my quest unit. I’ve already gotten three people to join but I need two more suitable candidates. You’ve caught my eye.”
“You’re certain that I’ll be useful even though I’m merely a new student who just entered?” said Garen calmly.
“You managed to escape Fila’s grasp and survive despite just entering this place. Moreover, it seems like all your wounds have healed in less than half a day. You may be a newbie but you’re not a regular person…” Anda smiled again.
Garen was shocked. This fellow’s information sources were extremely active. He had just healed and come out to understand his circumstances, yet the other person had been able to obtain detailed information about him instantly.
“You are certainly well-informed.”
“Those who are able to prosper eternally in the Inner Courtyard definitely have their own strong suits,” Anda stood still and patted nonexistent dirt off his clothes. “Don’t worry about Fila and the others. That girl is arrogant, but she will not look for you again if she didn’t kill you the first time unless you provoke her on your own. She’s currently facing a critical moment in her life and is about to face a great enemy. Once she releases the strength that she has accumulated, there is a high probability that she will be able to enter the perfect stage of the Full-Moon Level. When she stands side-by-side with Red-Eyed Medero, she will have the chance to fight him for a place in Black Star.”
“Other than Fila, I offended two other people as well.”
“Don’t worry about those two. If you don’t have enough strength to defeat them, it will make no difference if you die by their hands or if you die during the quest,” Anda smiled while saying these cold words.
“You don’t sound like a twenty year old guy at all,” spat Garen while furrowing his eyebrows.
“I’m so sorry. I’m actually 108 years old this year,” said Anda with an indifferent look on his face. “After spending more than forty years in the Inner Courtyard, I even managed to unearth a few top class prodigies in the beginning.”
More than a hundred years old?!
Garen was astonished because this guy did not look as if he was over a hundred years old.
“You don’t have to act so surprisedly. Forgive me for going through your information, but I discovered that you were born in a normal family. Therefore, it is natural that you would not know many of the higher level Mech Pilot’s hidden secrets,” smiled Anda. “Do you know why so many Pilots in the Inner Courtyard view Resonance Degrees so highly?”
“It’s rumored that only individuals with the highest Resonance Degrees will be able to enter the Inherited Level,” answered Garen calmly.
“That is only one of the reasons. There’s another reason that nobody can evade. It is also the reason why everybody suppresses their own strength and Willpower in every possible way. It is the main reason why they are constantly trying to break through their Resonance Degrees,” Anda raised a finger. “That reason is their lifespan.”
“Lifespan?”
“Yes, lifespan,” a strange look glimmered in Anda’s eyes. “In theory, an individual can use certain measures to improve themselves and enter the Inherited Level once their Resonance Degrees have achieved the Full-Moon Level. This level is called Full-Moon to indicate that it is full and perfect. The main reason why numerous Full-Moon Level individuals have painstakingly suppressed themselves in vain to enter the Two-Moons Level before promoting themselves naturally is for the sake of their lifespans. Once they have entered the Full-Moon Level, their lifespans will increase by ten years every time their Resonance Degrees increase by 1%. This is the general consensus of the secret that those of the higher levels are hiding.”
“Those with Resonance Degrees of less than 90% are already part of the Full-Moon Level, so the 10% gap between the Full-Moon Level and Two-Moons Level would allow them to increase their lifespans by a hundred years?!” Garen was slightly shocked as well.
“Yes. It’s like this, although the current Genetic Adjustment Technology and Biochemical Technology are extremely advanced, things like lifespans depend on things that happen by chance. Those that belong to the Inherited Level and the levels below that only have one chance to increase their lifespans. Therefore, no one would be willing to give up on something like that. Why do you think Red-Eyed Medero refused to enter the Inherited Level for such a long time? One reason was that her tutor did not give her Inherited Level Training Methods. However, the main reason for her refusal to enter the Inherited Level was because she wanted to lay down her foundation and be well-prepared,” Anda explained matter-of-factly.
“An individual’s Resonance Degree is like a magnifying glass that can increase the foundation of one’s strength. If the foundation of your Willpower is too weak, it will naturally remain weak even when it is amplified. However, if the foundation of your strength is strong but you failed to increase it sufficiently, you will not become any stronger. Both of these factors need to increase proportionally for it to work best,” said Anda calmly while rearranging his glasses.
“So what kind of help were you hoping gain after coming all this way to find me?” Garen asked the most important question. He did not believe that the other man would be so kind as to come here specially to help him clear his doubts.
“I need your healing abilities,” the glow from a nearby light source reflected off Anda’s glasses. It was a bright, snowy light.
“Healing abilities?”
“You managed to heal your deadly wounds in one afternoon. Do you know if you can use this ability on others?” asked Anda honestly with a sincere expression on his face.
“My healing abilities can be used to backup and support other people. However, the effects will not be as strong as when they are used on me,” nodded Garen. His nameless Willpower did have healing effects on other people. However, it could only restore their physical wounds and did not seem to have any effects on the restoration of their Willpower. This Willpower was mainly used to heal Mechs instead. However, it would probably not have any healing effects on Mechs than belonged to levels that were lower than the Inherited Level.
“I guessed so too,” Anda nodded and smiled. “Our unit is coincidentally lacking a support member, so we’ll leave this to you.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t have medicine or things like that?”
“Of course we do. However, the distance of our quest is too great and our expenses for medicine will be too burdensome as well,” answered Anda. “Have you heard of the Mingchuan Snowy Mountain?”
“Mingchuan Snowy Mountain? The large snowy mountains on the border of the radiation belt? You’re not afraid of going there despite the hordes of mutated beasts?” asked Garen. He had seen some information about that place once. His upgraded Intelligence gave him a photographic memory that greatly surpassed the abilities of regular people. Although the information had been vague, he still had some impressions of it.
“The traces of the radiation belts that were left behind on the Mother Planet are everywhere. Although they are dangerous, the risks and rewards are acceptable. Naturally, our main plan was to accept the quest because we would gain Quest Points no matter where we went while obtaining certain things that we were looking for. Unless you decide to join us, we cannot simply leak any more information.”
Garen quietened down for a moment and began to consider his gains and losses.
“Can you give me a hint about what this is about?”
“Of course I can. It has to do with the Mech materials that both you and I desire,” nodded Anda. “Moreover, they are materials for the main parts such as the frame systems.”
“I’ll need to return and consider this for some time,” Naturally, Garen would not agree so easily when he did not know anything about this quest.
“Let’s exchange contact details. If you don’t contact me personally after ten days, I’ll assume that you’ve declined,” Anda tapped his watch against Garen’s to exchange their contact details. “I’ll leave first then.”
“Alright, thank you for providing this information,” Garen thanked him sincerely. The other man had actually given him a lot of information. Although he did not know if it was truly reliable, at least he had a rough idea now.
“Fila is just part of a neutral party. There are three main parties in the Inner Courtyard and you can check the others as long as you don’t interfere with these three. Go back and investigate them properly,” Anda waved without turning around and entered one of the battlegrounds in front immediately.
Garen watched him leave the area and enter the battleground before he turned around and walked in the other direction. He wanted to go to the library now as he could probably find more information there.
************************
“Clint…”
“Clint… Clint…”
“Wake up now… Wake up…”
A voice that was calling out his name echoed beside Clint’s ear continuously. It seemed as if it was drifting over from an extremely far place and was somewhat fuzzy and unclear.
Clint woke up from his deep slumber slowly.
It seemed as if he had fallen asleep on a huge bed. The room was pitch black and the silhouette of a man could be seen sitting beside the bed while smoking.
“Awake?” the man’s voice was very hoarse as if his throat had suffered serious injuries. The sound of leaking air could be heard when he spoke.
“Where am I?” Clint tried to raise his body while he was still dazed but soon realized that his entire body was stiff and completely immobile. “Where’s Lon? Lon…”
“Are you talking about that girl? She’s sleeping next door,” said the man before taking another puff of his cigarette.
“You… Were you the one who saved us?” asked Clint carefully. He realized suddenly that his body was completely naked! He became frightened immediately.
“Yeah. I happened to be carrying out a vendetta against that shop when I saw both of you being taken away. I decided to save you just because I was there,” when the man stood up, the lines of his taut muscles could be seen vaguely.
“I would have ignored you if you hadn’t looked like someone I knew. Hurry up and get out of here once you’ve rested. I’m going to leave now too.”
The man walked out of the door while he was still speaking. Once the room door was opened, blinding golden sunlight cascaded inside and illuminated the entire room at once.
Clint could feel that his eyesight was somewhat blurry. He could only squint his eyes shut while the man walked out and disappeared on the other side. Red Moon’s voice began to echo in his mind again.
“How was it? Did you get any rest?”
“Lord Red Moon!” Clint could not stop the tears that were brimming in his eyes which had almost overflown. It seemed as though he had found his birth mother suddenly.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. I used your Willpower to hypnotize that man for a while before he agreed to save both of you. Isn’t everything all right now?” it was rare for Red Moon to speak gently like this.
“But… But…” this was the first time Clint had cried so pitifully.
“Don’t worry, Lon is fine. That man wasn’t interested in her at all. He didn’t even touch the clothes on her back,” consoled Red Moon.
“But… My backside really hurts…” Clint began to cry loudly.
“…”
Red Moon was unaware of what had happened because he had used too much strength. He was unaware of the frightening things that Clint had undergone after he fainted again. After looking at the expression of inconsolable grief on Clint’s face, he vowed not to ask about his experiences during these dark moments of his life ever again.