Mystical Journey

“For actual battles… The most important thing to focus on would be the weak points. The weak points I’m speaking off aren’t just the simple flaws of a person, but rather, it’s the difference in ability between you and your opponents in different aspects. You may have a high speed, but if your opponent has a faster speed than you, then your speed would still be a weak point in that particular battle. Similarly, if you have enough strength, but your current opponent is still stronger than you, then even if your strength was your best attribute, it would still be a weak point, and vice versa. Thus, in a duel, the most important key is to test out the waters first, trying to measure your opponent’s average stats and how it compares to yours. Then, using this information, you can maximize your advantages over them to target their weak points. In theory, this is common sense, but it’s not as easy as one might think in actuality.”

“True, the theory behind it seems simple enough, but to be able to do that, we must first know how to do it as well as disallowing your opponent to see through you first. In addition to that, there are also issues about hidden abilities and other issues to worry about. How troublesome.” The bespectacled boy meticulously pointed out his concerns as he nodded in agreement.

Garen nodded.

“You’re a sharp one, well this will all be down to the methods and strategies you use against your opponent in an actual battle.” Looking at the earnest attitudes of the two, they definitely were not your average energy machinists. Being able to reach Level 3 at their age, they were undoubtedly geniuses in their own right. Even for Garen, if it was not for his unusually high level of intelligence, he would not have been able to reach the level of a Level 3 energy machinist so fast. Making some friends in this place would not be a bad idea.

He started to teach them some basic and easy-to-understand actual combat tips and techniques based on his experience.

During this trip that barely lasted 2 hours, Garen had answered countless queries from the two. Though the bespectacled boy seemed to be clueless about actual battles, his theoretical knowledge was unbelievably vast. Even for areas where Garen did not have a solid grasp on, he could easily break it down into simple explanations, displaying a strong analyzing capability. The girl was comparably more average, but she would still be considered a genius under normal circumstances.

The three decided to participate in the test together and became friends.

As the taxi continuously moved forward, the crowd density in the street also started increasing; the same could be said about the number of cars on the streets, leading up to a traffic congestion. Looking at the front, the roads were filled with cars closely packed due to the backed-up traffic. However, the driver seemed to be unconcerned by the situation.

“Only slightly more than 10 minutes more till we reach the plaza, that place is full of selection test arenas, with fifty-one big arenas and ninety-nine small ones, to get a grand total of one hundred and fifty arenas each hosted by their respective sects. These sects are spread through the major continents of Planet Naga, where they have an extremely low population and high amounts of resources. The bigger arenas are built by the bigger sects, whilst the smaller ones are built by the smaller sects. Every year, this place would have a huge inflow of foreigners, all coming for the selection tests, creating a strong and prospering consumer chain. There are hotels and inns all around the place, finding a place to stay shouldn’t be an issue. The fees are also quite affordable, considering the ease of accessibility to food and other services which can be found everywhere around the area. There are some shops that even sell selection test preparation booklets.” The driver introduced.

“One hundred and fifty sects. Why are there so many sects on Planet Naga?” Garen just realized the City of Nagadako referred to an entire planet. According to the explanation by Accord, it was located in a two-dimensional space separate from where the Mother Planet was.

“There is more than just that, Planet Naga has thousands of sects. As long as you reach Inherited Level, you will have the right to apply to form a sect. The etymology of the naming for ‘Inherited Level’ comes from this system, the word ‘Inherited’ refers to the permission to let your skills be inherited by the next generation.” Accord muttered. “The ones that were able to build arenas over here are all at least Overlord level sects in at least one aspect.”

Garen nodded. In a blink of an eye, ten minutes have passed, they had finally escaped the traffic gridlock and disembarked from their ride.

They alighted at a crowded street and moved towards the sidewalk on the left. Looking at the direction the taxi drove off in, they saw rows of tall pale yellow buildings on both sides of the road.

In front of them was what seemed like a park surrounded by a black, human-height fence. There was a flashing red light installed on the fence, on top of it was a sign. The sign had the phrase “temporarily unavailable” written on it in five different languages.

Peering in from outside the fence, one could see a few cylindrical structures being erected from the ground, with different patterns and images drawn on top of them. Some were complex and pretty, whilst others were minimalistic and abstract. It gave off a grand, yet at the same time elegant feeling.

There were a lot of people taking photos with their friends in front of the fence.

Garen noticed that in this city, not everyone was an energy machinist, most of the people were just your average joe, with no willpower control at all. Only one third out of all the people had some form of willpower wave emitting from themselves, Garen was secretly keeping count of the ratio as he walked past the crowds. Out of this group, there were approximately half of them who only have the willpower of a Level 1 or 2 energy machinist. The remaining people were mostly Level 3 or 4, with the youths being Level 3s and most of the Level 4s being at least in their 30s. He also observed a few extremely rare cases of Level 5s, with most of them being seniors, with even the youngest one being in his 40s.

“Are there really no younger Level 4s?” Garen muttered in disappointment.

“Of course there are, but most of them would have already been recruited as elites by the major forces. A lot of them would also already have met the requirements to aim for the Inherited Level. These people wouldn’t usually come around these areas filled with commoners. Even if they did, they would at the very least come disguised, we probably wouldn’t even manage to recognize them.” Liz shook her head.

The three walked up to take a closer look, besides the “temporarily unavailable” text, the sign also displayed that the opening day was tomorrow.

“Looks like it’s not open today, why not we come back tomorrow then. I’m going to talk a walk at Figures Plaza, you two want to tag along?” Accord asked softly.

“Figures Plaza? Why not!” Liz nodded. “I’ve long wanted to see the stone plaque left behind by the Regent Level Greats of the past!”

Naturally, Garen did not object to this plan. He had nothing planned for the day anyway, and there was no harm in going over to take a look.

Figures Plaza was located at the right of Star Core Plaza, following the flow of pedestrians along the street through a dark alleyway, they soon arrived at a wide area filled with white plaques.

There was an oval signboard floating in the sky above them, displaying the names of each of the figures and their respective plaque location.

There seemed to be a lot of tourists walking around here, most of them were carrying their backpacks and pulling their luggage, whilst others were like Garen and company, carefreely walking around the area.

Some distance away, there were a few minotaurs in black uniforms around the area as security guards. These minotaurs all had the head of a bull and a body of a man, wielding Mountain-splitting Axes. Their body was completely pale yellow, in a similar shade as their weapons. They stood still without even budging slightly, almost as if they were statues. If not for them slightly puffing up their chest and exhaling a white gas occasionally, no one would even think that they were living creatures.

These minotaurs were all clad in sets of yellow armors, the huge axes they were wielding was at least 3 meters in length, erected on the ground like a pillar. What stood out the most in this scenery was the rows of clear advertisements etched on the side of the axes.

‘Silver Hawk Battleaxes, Ever Triumphant.’

‘This product is fully sponsored by El Processing Division’

‘Additional Sharpness Level 2 – Sharp-Edged Gazette’

‘Alice-brand Chocolate, satisfaction with every bite…’

Lines and lines of advertising slogans completely ruined the intimidating image of the huge minotaurs standing at a height of more than 2 meters tall.

There were even some people getting close to the minotaurs and talking photos beside them.

There was even a beautiful young girl who went forward and placed her arm around one of the minotaur’s shoulder for a chance to take a photo.

“Look over here, big boy!” She loudly shouted.

The minotaur slightly tilted his body towards the camera, his gaze was sharp. In an instant, his bulky muscles started to tense up, as he let out a small smile.

Snap!

With a flash of the camera, the girl happily gave the minotaur a crystal as payment before running back to her friends.

“This is painful to watch…” Liz said while her eye started to twitch.

“At this day and age, even guards have to make a living somehow…” Accord said as he readjusted his glasses.

The trio followed the crowd as they walked through the entrance guarded by the minotaurs, entering a sea of stone plaques. They were all erected at around five to six meters in height, with little to no blemishes on the surfaces.

Garen was originally quite interested in this, he planned to carefully look through the plaques left behind by the great Regent Level figures. Unfortunately, just as he walked in, he was completely stupefied, he couldn’t recognize any of the plaques, and he had could not read anything engraved on them as well. On the other hand, Liz, who displayed a great linguistic foundation, was even able to read a few of the plaques out for the other two.

A lot of other tourists were facing the same problems as the trio. To them, these Regent Level plaques were no different from any random stone plaque, there were no visibly different parts, leaving them disappointed,

A lot of the tourist just swiftly took a few photos before leaving the place.

Garen originally thought that there would be some remnants of the Regent Level figures that he would be able to sense, but after noticing that the stone plaques had remnants of being artificially restored before, he was completely disappointed.

The three also stumbled upon a record stone plaque. According to the records, this place has been destroyed and rebuilt a total of 4 times. It is now used merely as a symbolic landmark for Nagadako, representing the union and alliance between the Regent Levels here back then and the beginning of the Nagadako’s golden age in history.

After a tour of the area, the three found their efforts to be fruitless. They just took a group photo and went to the nearby photo-printing shop. After receiving a photo each, they left the area as well.

While they were pondering where to go next, they stumbled upon a tour group that seemed to be checking their headcount. The trio decided to just follow the group to find a place of accommodation.

They soon arrived at a row of small inns a short distance away.

Outside the inn, there were countless colorful flyers posted all around the area. There was also a small group of hover-motorcyclists waiting outside, chatting with each other whilst taking a smoke.

The three of them walked into the inn, Garen decided to take a single room. This showed him how expensive the cost of living here was. Even for a simple and unsightly inn like this one, it cost him 50 crystals a night. He only had 100 crystals left on him at the moment, so after this transaction, he would only be left with 50, and that had yet to take into account his expenses for his meals.

Fortunately for him, the boss gave him a complementary meal consisting of what resembled a braised meat. It was sweet and sour, and did not taste that bad.

The people in the opposite room from Garen’s room seemed to be having an argument. The walls lacked a good soundproofing, and so the noise made its way into his room. He could hear various noises, and even occasionally the sounds of babies crying loudly.

Under these conditions, he might as well start on his calculations for his Level 4 model while waiting for the opening of the selection tests tomorrow. He originally did not plan on staying the night in this inn, but he did not expect Star Core Plaza, which boasted to be open every day of the year, to be temporarily closed.