Meanwhile,while Norlan was being quietly bled dry by his system in a sterile hospital ward,the atmosphere beneath the Hexwill estate could not have been more different.
Deep underground, far beyond the reach of daylight, Hexwill's mansion housed a vast reinforced chamber. Concrete walls bore shallow cracks and embedded impact marks.
Hexwill stood at the center of the improvised training ground.
Eight men encircled him.
They were impeccably dressed, had tailored suits, polished shoes, and most ridiculous of all, calm expressions. Each of them wielded a weapon suited to their temperament: a longsword, a dagger, a hunting knife, a magnum revolver, steel batons.
These were professionals. Superhumans trained and groomed by Hexwill's family.Men whose physical prowess alone would have placed them well beyond ordinary limits.
If they possessed a system, their stats would likely exceed twenty across the board, maybe even more.
And yet, they were breathing hard,sweat trikling down their faces as their personally tailored suits bore marks of impact.
Hexwill's was not.The reason was simple. Hexwill was still not serious yet. It had just been a warm up.
He tiptoed as he jumped, his jumping speed of one that was leisurely using a jump rope. The eight men raised their guard the moment he made such movement. Was finally done toying with them?
A faint glow pulsed beneath his feet, his smile ever so devilish.
[Skill Activated: Rapid]
[ Skill rank : B ]
[Description : Raises ones speed stat by 100%. The user can only go on a straight line. Price: Ones constitution must reach 30. This is to allow ones body to handle the sudden burst of speed.]
In the instant the skill took hold, the world around him slowed. His initial 37 speed stat directly raised to 74. One has to know that 10 speed stat represent ( 7.7m/s), the average speed of a non elite human. Meaning that Hexwill's speed became (57m/s) the moment he accelerated. That means if the training dummy guy was not 57 metres away from Hexwill, it would take less than a second for Hexwill to land a blow.
Hexwill's muscle fibers tightened with brutal efficiency,his acceleration peeking instantly.
One moment, Hexwill stood still, his eyes locked with the man wielding a reinforced shield like a hungry hyena.
The next moment..
The distance between them seem to vanish.
The shield-bearer's pupils shrank as instinct screamed danger. He raised his guard, his muscles screaming as he braced himself. But even before impact, dread crawled up his spine!
He knew it to his very bones, he knew that it didn't matter if he blocked. The only outcome would be getting knocked out at the very least.
Hexwill appeared right before his eyes, his momentum dead and buried. Like he was never in motion in the first place.
[ Skill activated : Dead momentum.]
[ Skill Rank : S ]
[ Description: Reduces momentum to zero. Price: can only be activated when one's constitution has reached 30. This is to allow the users body to endure the impact.]
His fist drove forward as he ignited the skill Rapid once again. His fist carrying the speed of his earlier movement. But...
At the exact moment, a blade whistled through the air.
Another man had reacted faster than the rest. This man was vicious and efficient. Launching his strike the moment Hexwill had activated Dead momentum.
His sword arced toward Hexwill's exposed flank, his timing nothing but flawless,his intent merciless. Just like how they were trained.
For a fraction of a second, his victory seemed possible.
However,
Hexwill disappeared.
[Skill Activated: Rapid Shift]
[ Skill rank A ]
[ Skill description: Allows the user to refocuss his Rapid skill into a right angled direction]
Meaning that his momentum didn't bleed away.
It only turned as he moved in another direction, dodging the slash.
The swordsman's strike cleaved nothing but air. His balance already wavering, his eyes wide with disbelief as Hexwill used dead momentum before facing him with another rapid.
The moment this happened,the swordman knew it was over. They could not win.
The rest was well, history.
Hexwill crossed the remaining distance in a heartbeat, driving a punch straight into the man's center mass. The impact detonating through the chamber, hurling the swordsman backward like a discarded doll.
He slammed into the wall and slid down, unconscious before he hit the ground.
Hexwill turned to the others, spamming his three skills over and over again. Pummelling them heartlessly.
It did not take even a minute.
That was the difference between system users and non system users. System skills were just too overpowered. And to make it worse, those were just basic system skills that he could buy with system points. There was also, class skills and sub class skills which were also overpowered.
It was also due to these skills, specifically Hexwill's sub class skills, that he already knew that Edwin was in town. These skills were his source of confidence.
His class was called Mutant and it was currently locked due to insufficient spiritual energy to accommodate his transformation. His sub class however, was called Business man and it provided him with skills so peculiar and overpowered that it made him a force to be reckoned.
Why was it that he had the guts to scheme with a Grimblade descendant? Especially since they all had a kill on sight bounty from all families! It was because he and Edwin were powerful enough to make the other families not dare to intervine. It was because they had the power to back up their arrogance.
It was due to this power that Hexwill took Edwin's stay seriously. Why didn't Edwin come to him if he decided to stay longer in this country. Why didn't he at least inform him? It could only be that he had malicious intent.
A predatory smile reigned supreme in his face,taking a business card out of his front locked. He looked at the unconscious training dummies and shook his head as he made his way to wash. His eyes never leaving the business card.
[Class skills: Business card]
[ Skill rank : SS]
[ Skill description: A business paradox to remember: Business is inherently about chasing profit. Yet one must be clear headed among fame and fortune. Keeping an eye at all clients and changes in behavior. This card offers a clear head for the owner during business meeting. It allows one to read the emotions of others during negotiations and always aids in helping the owner know of their clients position.]
Hexwill ascended to his mansion. His eyes fixated on his emergency quest.
Emergency Quest-- [ Create a spirit gathering formation to harness the breath of the world. Countdown 2 hours, 19 minutes.]
Description - [ Breath of the world-- Spiritual Essence of the world released before a planet's merging procces to an elder Realm]
Note- [ Breath of the world can increase system functionality. Current functionality 18%]
****
Inside a normal looking hotel, Paul was knocking at a particular door.
"Come in Paul. Do you have any news?"
Paul let himself in, his hand stretching to hand Edwin a flashdrive.
"This just came in from our man inside Hexwill's mansion."
Edwin inserted the flashdrive inside a monitor. The computer screen suddenly played a recording.
It was an underground chamber, sigils and runes were etched in a specific pattern in a round circle. Two teenagers were busy moving flags to different cornes of the circle, making a Pentagon shape after they were planted. If Norlan were here, he would instantly recognize these two. They were Hayley and Luna. His adopted step sisters.
"So it really is a spirit gathering formation! A high ranked formation at that. Most likely SSS+. I can't be mistaken, Hexwill will most likely harvest the breath of the world! And when he is done, he will deliver himself to me."
He laughed outloud, looking at his emergency Quest.
Ding!
[Signs of spiritual energy eruption detected!]
Ding!
[Error! System rank too low to absorb Breath of the World.]
Description:
[Breath of the World — the primordial essence released prior to a planet's merging process with an Elder Realm.]
Emergency Quest Issued!
[Absorb a system that has successfully absorbed the Breath of the World.]
Time Limit: 5 hours, 21 minutes, 2 seconds
Reward: [Advance one major cultivation realm]
Punishment: [Death]
If one may look closely, Edwin's quest only provided him three hours of buffer time after Hexwill harvest's the breath of the world. Edwin also knew of this. That is why he decided to be more particular. He pressed the next video on the flash drive. He frowned.
In the video, Hexwill was standing in an improvised training ground. Surrounded by eight elites,all looking at him with deadly eyes.
Edwin stared at Hexwill. Then the latter vanished!
After the video ended, Edwin looked at Paul and instructed, " It's time,my good friend is expecting me. Have the spy's family compensated for their daughter's sacrifice."
****
About two hours later, Norlan was awoken by the constant dinging of his system. He opened his eyes lazily, summoned his status interface and a smile plastered itself in his face the moment he layed eyes on his new quest.
Ding!
[ Emergency quest initiated : Signs of spiritual eruption detected! Time before eruption 5 minutes 9 seconds!]
[ Error! Error !]
[ Error! System functionality too low to absorb Breath of the world]
[ Preparing allocation of upgrade resources to system healing feature! ]
[Ding! New quest issued : Absorb a system that has absorbed Breath of the world. Time limit : 3 hours 34 minutes ]
Rewards [ functionality 20%, Random System skill, 10,000 system points]
Remarks: [ Time to grind ,Retard! Let's see what you've got !! ]