Chapter 408 408: Military Man II
So as not to make it too overkill, Cole kept Black Malakai sheathed behind his waist while he drew out the standard army issued short sword from his inventory. Many of the onlookers had no idea what Cole's gesture meant, but of all the people watching they were all able to come to the same conclusion…..Cole did not consider the Commander a threat, at least not enough for him to use his own sword, if Cole thought any less of him then he would not have used a weapon.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted, but seeing as I am standing opposite an equal, I will leave this up to a contest of skill with a blade. I'm not even qualified to test you as there has never been anyone who joined the militia at the diamond rank. But as I am the highest ranked individual here…..I will take on? this burden."
Cole rolled his eyes, not that he particularly cared about any of what this man had just said, he just wanted to get all of these things done, so that he could see what these Animechs of theirs was all about. That single minded focus of Cole had come out once again, and he was not going to let anyone or anything get in his way.
The commander moved around Cole trying to pick the right time to press his attack, Cole on the other hand just stood there watching him. Then the commander moved, rushing across the distance to slash at Cole, moving so quickly that no one else could follow his movements. In almost bored looking movement, Cole placed his short sword in front of him, deflecting the attack.
This commander was just like him and had recently stepped into the diamond rank, what was even worse was that he only had a single stat in the gold rank, with his other stat lagging far behind, heck he even had stats that was still silver ranked. This guy was linear, not strong or a threat, this was embarrassing to Cole if he had to be honest.
He stood there as the commander jumped from one end of the battling platform to another, but every attack was parried. None were evaded, no matter the angle the commander had attacked from, it was all parried. Lightning sparks were beginning to dance off the form of the commander, Cole could feel the power coming from it as he suspected it was a skill attached to his diamond rank stat. It meant Cole had to be careful as has always been the norm Cole had to be careful and at alert. He had no idea how powerful a diamond rank skill could be, and it seemed he had pushed the commander enough that he was throwing caution to the wind.
[Gravity]
Was quickly used to lock down the battling platform, with Cole creating a gravity storm around them that was growing in power and intensity by the second. Then the commander moved and reality seemed to break, splinters in the fabric of space and time spread as speed beyond the limits of what a mortal body should be capable of was brought to bear.
The commander was fast, faster than Cole, but for the first time ever Cole did not need to be faster than his opponent. He just needed his opponent to be stuck within the same general area as he was. Cole stamped his foot on the ground and used [Shock Wave] just as the commander drew close enough to attack. [Spectral Rover] was activated as Cole started moving just as fast, pushing off the ground in almost slow motion as the first shock wave spread out from his leg.
It spread out, not really affecting the commander traveling outwards until it met the dome of gravity that Cole had raised around them. Like water in? a cup, the ripples reached the edge or in this case the Shockwave reached the gravity wall and was bounced back, the force behind the attack doubling to smash the commander forwards, the wave returning to the epicenter, clashing then traveling back to the wall again.
The commander knew he would not survive what was coming, so he promptly surrendered. But considering the commander decided to escalate a simple martial test, Cole did not particularly feel the need to let the commander go with just a bruise to his ego. But then again what was the point. Cole sighed and dispersed his skills, landing on the platform as the commander rose to his feet.
"Ha! T-thank you for sparing my life. I honestly? am not qualified to judge your worth and assign you any positions. If you would please be a little patient for me, I'll get in touch with my superior and we can figure out what to do with you." Cole nodded in agreement as he stepped off the battling platform, guess there was no way for him to keep a low profile now….honestly Cole just wasn't feeling anything.
He was numb, just going through the motions and following his whims like a petulant child. He knew he needed to talk to someone, even if not his family but a shrink….he could afford the very best in both AI and Human services. But he did not want to talk about his feelings, not now....not ever.
Cole did not have to wait long before the commander sent someone to fetch him. Cole followed and came face to face with a massive glowing head. It was some sort of holographic messaging system, powered by magic. Cole was a pure energy user, but energy could be adapted into different forms to power different types of skills or in other cases spells. Either it was theoretical universe mumbo jumbo that Cole had heard in passing before.
Never the less it meant he could identify magical signatures or other types of energy and this was Mana/magic…..a lot of it. Attached to something or rather someone that was a little bit 'more' than what the Diamond ranks was. For how much more powerful Cole felt he had become, the diamond rank had not been reaching the peak of a mountain. In fact bis advancement had been a lot more dull and anti climatic as opposed to his others.
Instead it just felt normal, he felt small. In face of a higher level of power. It was annoying learning that what he thought was the sky was actually just him being a frog in the well, and now…..now reality was staring him right in the face, and all it was saying to him was...welcome to the big leagues.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)