The sun was slowly rising over the horizon, dyeing the sky in shades of gold and orange. In the middle of a vast valley surrounded by towering mountains, Andrew was taking a deep breath, preparing for what was to come.
In front of him, with a serene yet defiant expression, was Biacko, his mentor and the most powerful warrior he had ever fought. Biacko, aware of his overwhelming advantage in strength and skill, decided to level the battlefield.
It wouldn’t be fair training if his natural power easily surpassed Andrew’s. Therefore, he reduced his strength to his student’s level, forcing himself to match him in every strike, dodge, and counterattack.
Even though his physical capabilities were limited, his experience was still his greatest advantage. "There will be no concessions today, Andrew," Biacko said with a slight smile and added, "If you want to surpass yourself, you will have to prove it with every movement."
Andrew nodded, feeling the weight of responsibility on his chest. It wasn’t the first time he had trained with Biacko, but he had never before felt so determined to beat him, or at least, to match him.
Without further ado, Andrew charged at Biacko with a straight punch to the torso. His speed was impressive, but Biacko, with his vast combat experience, anticipated the attack and deflected the fist with a slight flick of his wrist.
Andrew’s momentary off-balance was enough for Biacko to push him back with a light kick to the stomach. Andrew stumbled a bit but didn’t fall.
He quickly recovered and attacked again, this time throwing a series of quick punches aimed at different points on his opponent. Biacko blocked them all with disconcerting ease as if he was reading every move before it happened.
"Too predictable," Biacko said calmly and continued to instruct, "You need to be more unpredictable if you want to touch me." Andrew gritted his teeth. He knew he had to do something different.
Instead of attacking head-on, he spun on his own axis, throwing a low kick to destabilize Biacko. This time, his mentor barely had time to react. He blocked the blow, but the force of the impact caused him to retreat a few inches.
"That’s better," Biacko admitted, but then shouted, "But it’s still not enough!" In the blink of an eye, Biacko disappeared from Andrew’s sight. Before he could react, he felt a strong impact on his side and was launched into the air.
He crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust. "Don’t let your guard down!" Biacko shouted from above, descending with lightning speed. Andrew barely had time to roll to the side before Biacko hit the ground with a brutal impact, leaving a small indentation in the earth.
Andrew stood up, his body in pain but his spirit intact. He knew he couldn’t beat Biacko with brute force alone. He needed strategy, cunning, and above all, confidence in his own abilities.
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This time, instead of attacking impulsively, he closed his eyes for a second, focusing on every sound, every vibration of the ground, every breath of his adversary. When Biacko moved, Andrew felt it.
He turned at the last instant, blocking the attack with his forearm and countering with a well-aimed blow to Biacko’s abdomen. The impact was solid, enough to make the older warrior startle.
"Interesting…" Biacko whispered, taking a step back. Andrew didn’t miss the opportunity. He launched into a flurry of swift movements, dodging and attacking with surgical precision.
Biacko, for the first time in training, was forced to dodge instead of block. "That’s it… that’s how you should fight," Biacko said with a smile, but he didn’t stop, nor did he make things easy for Andrew.
The difference in experience was still evident. In a moment of carelessness, Biacko caught Andrew’s arm and, with a quick twist, threw him to the ground with a flawless lock. Andrew gasped, feeling the pressure on his arm.
"Give up now and we’re done here," Biacko suggested, but Andrew shook his head. With a titanic effort, he twisted his body in an unexpected maneuver, freeing himself from the grip and delivering an upward kick that grazed his mentor’s chin.
Biacko leaned back, touching his face with a mixture of amazement and pride. "Not bad," he said and added, before launching into the attack again, "Let’s continue." The fight intensified. The blows echoed throughout the valley, the shock waves raised dust and the speed of both combatants reached an almost imperceptible level.
Andrew, drenched in sweat, felt every muscle in his body burning, but he could not stop. Biacko, despite having limited strength, still had the advantage in technique and endurance, but Andrew had something his mentor deeply admired: an unbreakable will.
The confrontation reached its climax when both fighters launched their final attacks. Andrew concentrated all his energy into a single blow, while Biacko did the same. The impact of both fists colliding generated a shockwave that shook the ground and the air around them.
For a few seconds, time seemed to stand still. When the dust cleared, Andrew was on his knees, breathing heavily. Biacko was standing but with a look of respect on his face.
"You have improved more than I imagined," he said, extending his hand to Andrew and adding, "You don’t have much left to catch up with me." Andrew took his mentor’s hand and stood up. His body was exhausted, but his spirit had never been stronger.
Obviously, he didn’t believe Biacko’s words. Andrew was very clear that he couldn’t overcome Biacko with such little time. Those were just words of praise to boost his morale.
Andrew wasn’t that deluded. He had recently reached the strength of a demigod and although the mastery of water is powerful, in reality, it was far from being of help to Biacko, Crhono, and the others in their fight against Purgatorio and much less against the fallen god.
It is true that he has become stronger and Biacko’s training has helped him gain combat experience, but he is still far from the level necessary to be an influential factor in this war. Despite this, Andrew was not depressed. In fact, he was happy with the progress he had made and for the first time in this world, he had experienced the joy of combat.
Most characters who are transmigrated according to what is written in the novels of Earth, always receive tricks that make them powerful and although his case is not fictional and he also received a trick, things were different.
Although his strength increased, his combat ability was not very good, and even when fighting against opponents much weaker than him, Andrew was always paranoid about losing or getting hurt.
It was only now that he absorbed the divinity of the deceased god bestowed by Elidyr that he felt confident in his strength and thanks to Biacko’s training, he was now unafraid of combat and even enjoyed it a bit.
Make no mistake, it’s not that Andrew became a battle maniac, but rather he found fun in becoming stronger through combat. This was because Biacko held back, so his life wasn’t at risk, otherwise, the situation might have been different.
While Andrew was training, several months had passed. When he had left, he told everyone that he would return in a few days or maybe a couple of weeks, but now it had been 4 months.
Although a little worried, his wives, concubines, and apostles knew that he was fine. As bearers of Andrew’s seals, they had a connection to him, so they felt that Andrew wasn’t injured or anything of the sort.
It was thanks to this, that they were able to sleep peacefully for this time and focused on developing their plans in Cannes City. The mall for the masses had already been built. They were currently in the phase of finding people to fill it, but everything was moving along smoothly.
The luxury mall for the wealthier ones was also being finished. Just as they had thought, the cloth merchant, the fat and skinny one who had previously spread rumors about Andrew, had sought out the Pixoy family and Andrew to resume the project.
Since Andrew had already left by the time they came, Candice took Andrew’s place as the most experienced in business, but it was Damon who coordinated everything.
The project was the Pixoy family’s and although Candice and the other three would help, it was still the Pixoy family who had control and power over this project and no one could protest.
In reality, this was a strategy thought up by Damon and Candice, to prevent outsiders from taking liberties and taking advantage of them. The fat and skinny ones were happy to help, but the cloth merchant was more reserved.
This man was very intelligent and cunning, so he immediately noticed Damon and Candice’s intentions in taking a strong position like the one they were taking in this cooperation.
Despite that, he did not refuse, nor did he complain. The reason was simple, he knew that they had adopted this attitude, because they knew who they were and he did not dare to offend them, knowing the support they had.
The fact that they knew who they were, made it clear that they also knew that they were the ones spreading rumors about Andrew, so the mere fact that they did not retaliate and allowed them to participate in this project, was already appreciated.
The fat man and the thin man were ignorant of this. They did not have the ability to evaluate the situation like the cloth merchant, but that worked better for everyone and in this way they allied themselves for this project that was about to be inaugurated. Your adventure continues at freewebnovel