(Inside the Simulation Room)
After Corey chose to fight the avatar of the third generation Paragon, he made the environment exactly like the environment in the trial.
So with the ancient spear in his hands and his footing placed in a fighting stance, Corey waited with slight anticipation for the manifestation of the Paragon by his talent skill, Record.
A few seconds later, Corey saw the perfect face of the Paragon with his eyes closed a few meters before him, and without hesitation, he entered his focused state.
With his grip tightening on the ancient spear, his heart beating slightly faster and a calm and focused expression on his face, Corey looked at the Paragon who was holding two sabers in his two hands.
A second later, the Paragon opened his eyes and when he did, Corey noticed a golden glow erupt from his eyes.
Just as he noticed that glow, his pupils constricted to the limit when he saw the Paragon disappear before his very eyes.
Corey quickly placed his ancient spear in front of him in a defensive position, thinking the Paragon's speed was just too fast for him to see even in his focused state, but…
Stab
Puchi
Slash
Puchi
'Huh?'
With a confused expression and thought, Corey wondered what was happening as the world spun in front of his eyes for a few seconds.
Thud
A loud thud resounded and with a confused and painful expression, Corey had his eyes wide open when he saw his body a few meters away from him.
'Isn't that my body?'
Corey thought as he saw his headless body which had a saber in his left chest and another saber on top of his neck.
His eyes moved behind the body and he saw the third generation Paragon withdraw his sabers with an indifferent expression.
'I died?... So easily?... Without a fight?... Against another tier 0 being?'
Corey thought, and just as he had this thought, the light in his eyes went off and Corey died.
----
(Some seconds later)
"Haaa."
Corey released a deep breath as soon as he woke up in the real world.
He looked at the Paragon who was just sitting in a cross-legged position with a deep frown.
"How in the world did he get behind me so fast?
Is it just speed?... Or a skill?"
Corey spoke with a deep frown on his face as he thought of how the third generation Paragon instantly appeared at his back.
He didn't even have the chance to defend himself or to react.
"I highly doubt it's speed, it has to be a skill…
But if it's just speed…"
Corey paused then looked at the third generation Paragon.
"Then that would be truly absurd."
A few seconds passed and Corey sighed.
"Time to die again."
----
(In the Simulation Room of The Library Of Records)
With the ancient spear in his hand, Corey stood in a battle stance as he waited for the third generation Paragon to manifest before him.
A few seconds passed and the third generation Paragon was formed.
Seeing the third generation Paragon, Corey quickly entered his focused state and a second later, the third generation Paragon opened his eyes and once again, a golden glow appeared in his eyes for an instant and in that moment that the golden glow appeared, he once again disappeared.
But this time around, Corey turned around and tried to block the attack, but before he could fully turn, the world spun in Corey's eyes and once again, his head landed with a thud and Corey saw his headless body with the Paragon removing his sabers from his body with an indifferent expression.
----
(Back in the Real World)
"Now this is becoming annoying."
Corey spoke with a frustrated expression and without hesitation, he went into The Library Of Records once again, but this time, he didn't go to the simulation room immediately.
"I thought I might be able to see or figure out how the third generation Paragon was appearing behind me in an instant while fighting him, but I can't survive long enough."
Corey spoke then he looked around.
"Show me a video of my first battle with the third generation Paragon."
Corey spoke and in the next instant, a book appeared before Corey and the pages of the book rapidly moved to the next page at a fast speed until it stopped and a holographic image hovered on top of the book.
With his arms folded, Corey watched the first fight between him and the third generation Paragon in a third person view which only lasted for seven seconds.
As he was watching the video, Corey squinted his eyes when he noticed something.
"Start from the beginning again."
Corey said and the video replayed from the beginning once again and the moment the third generation Paragon disappeared from his vision in the video, Corey ordered for the video to be paused.
"Is that a stone."
Corey spoke with a confused expression and tone seeing a stone appear in the spot where the third generation Paragon disappeared from.
"Restart the video."
Corey ordered once again and the video replayed from the beginning once again.
"Stop."
"Restart."
"Stop."
"Restart."
After pausing and replaying the video repeatedly, Corey finally stopped and a slightly shocked expression appeared on his face when he realized how the third generation Paragon was instantly appearing behind his back.
"So whenever his eyes glow golden, he swaps places with an object?
Just like how he was swapping places with the stone behind me."
Corey mumbled underneath his breath and after some seconds, he willed for the book showing the holographic video to disappear and then he walked to the door leading to the simulation room.
---
(A few minutes later)
Once again, Corey stood with the ancient spear in his hand as he waited for the manifestation of the third generation Paragon.
A few seconds passed and the manifestation appeared, and the instant it appeared, Corey entered his focused state and in the next instant, he entered his focused state, he shifted his stance so as to turn at a much faster speed.
A second after he entered his focused state, the eyes of the third generation Paragon glowed golden and without much surprise, he disappeared from his position.
Clang
"Urgh."
A loud clang along with Corey's soft groan resounded as Corey used his ancient spear to block the two sabers with trembling hands.
'Such physical strength for a tier 0.'
Corey thought with a cold glint and just as he had this thought, his feet moved slightly, wanting to commence his next attack, but…
Just as Corey wanted to attack, he saw the mouth of the Paragon open and to Corey's immense shock, a breath full of dark grey fire that had a tint of red in it, blasted unto Corey's face and body, burning him to a crisp.
----
(Back in the Real World)
"..."
With a blank expression, Corey looked at the cross-legged third generation Paragon for some seconds, then he spoke:
"This… is going to take a while."
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