"KEEP ATTACKING! DON'T LET HIM REST!" Shouted the blond warrior before forming more than a thousand knives with his perfect comprehension of metal essence, and sent them against Jerigh, who was still defending himself while in the middle of his ascension.
What had worried the blond warrior immensely, was that while Jerigh's power had already grown beyond that of an immortal cultivator, he appeared to be still at the beginning of the second stage of ascension. As of now, he was closer to a high immortal than a common immortal, and the most terrifying thing was that his power was still growing.
One attack after the other made its way against his body, shooting past the air in between them like lightning bolts, and reaching their target in a matter of instants.. But no matter how many attacks were sent at him, each and every one of them had failed.
With his two swords still sheathed and the enemy's spear in his hand, Jerigh had deflected each of the physical attacks that were sent in his direction by deviating them just enough to make them miss his body. The spiritual attacks, on the other hand, were examined, copied, replicated, and countered as soon as they approached his body.
To Jerigh, all of this was happening subconsciously. He was not truly paying attention to his surroundings, but thanks to the increase in battle prowess granted by Daniel's group system, the survival instinct that he had had to rely on ever since he was a kid, had developed to a point where it could protect his body even when he was focused on something else.
"What.. How is he doing that?" Asked one of the professors from their observing position in space. "He can't possibly focus on his ascension, and fight a hundred people at the same time, can he?"
Another professor, who was standing right next to the one who had just spoken, looked at Jerigh with confusion, and responded by saying, "I am more interested in knowing where is he getting all of that power. He was always the most capable fighter.. But how can his power be beyond that of an immortal cultivator before ascending? His immortal essence just keeps replenishing itself as well.."
"You two pay attention!.. The others are reorganizing." Said a female professor, while pointing their attention to the battlefield, where more than two hundred attacks had been sent in Jerigh's direction in waves.
These attacks were too many even for Jerigh, who let go of the spear he had previously grabbed in mid air, and waited for the attacks to arrive. The professor knew that Jerigh would eventually be hit by at least one of those attacks, and that would be enough for his consciousness to be shaken awake, and his ascension to fail.. For a moment, even the dean of the academy had thought about intervening, and stopping these attacks in order to let his ascension go uninterrupted, but he was stopped by Krit, who said, "Let them. If you help him now, he won't find a fault in his arrogance. He should not have ascended there, in front of everybody else."
The Dean wanted to say something in defense of Jerigh, but it was already too late. The attacks came with an impressive speed that almost granted their success.
The observers witnessed what happened next with mixed emotions. Some looked away in disappointed, some felt worry, and a few were happy to see such a monstrous talent be stomped to the ground by weaker people.
However, amongst this vast group of people, one of them was staring at the large cloud of mist with eyes as open as they could be. Krit's gift of high immortality was one that boosted his senses, and since his entire fighting style was based on the use of his sight, that was where the focus of his gift had been directed.
Within the universal government, nobody could boast a sight sharper than Krit's, and it was said that he could see a person from the surface of another planet.
This impressive sight granted him the ability to see in multiple ways. His eyes had morphed in a way that could allow him to see the movement of mana, of light, and even perceive more colors that a normal human could.
Thanks to this ability, he had been able to look past the particles of dust and remnants of immortal essence, and see what had just happened.
"What are you seeing?" Asked the army general who, while standing next to Krit and hoping to obtain a few good seeds to bring back to the army, had noticed the sudden change in Krit's expression.
Back on the planet's surface, only moments earlier, Jerigh had found himself in front of hundreds of attacks. A faint shine could be seen come through his eyelids, and it was clear that his ascension was already close to come to a conclusion. This speed was caused by his prodigious talent, and the shared system of Daniel's group, which combined, had made his talent in cultivation unmatched in the whole known universe.
When the first attack arrived, Jerigh's eyes slowly opened, and time seemed to stop. Immediately after, his hand flashed with the speed of light. With this quick motion, Jerigh was able to deflect this spear of stone that approached him first, and prevent it from reaching his body.
However, that was far from the end of it.
The moment the stone spear was deflected, the attacker lost control, and the spear was left moving in the trajectory of another attack. This spear clashed against one of the many constructed weapons of the blond cultivator, which in turn was also deflected, and forced to intercept another of the attacks.
A series of clashing and explosion sounds were heard coming from all around Jerigh, and while all of the competitors believed to have succeeded in their attacks, Krit was enjoying a rare spectacle.
A sort of invisible barrier had formed around Jerigh's body. Each attack directed at him seemed to have changed purpose from striking him, to defending him. A chain of events caused by the simple flip of a hand, which had nullified all of the attacks that approached him like a barrage of shiny lights, and impressive display of power.
".. the immortal survivor.." muttered Krit quietly.. sending a shiver down the back of the army general, and of the dean, who immediately turned to look at him as if they had heard the most absurd thing in their lives.
To most cultivators, the words "immortal survivor" would mean nothing. However, for an explorer of the universal government, these two words would provoke admiration and awe.
Amongst all of the gifts that an immortal cultivator could obtain, there was one that was considered the strongest of all.. And that was, the "The Survivor." The gift of the survivor did exactly what its name suggested, and made a true survivor of the person who obtained it.
Most explorers had gone through a rough childhood, but Jerigh's situation was quite unique. While many others had gone through similar experiences, no other had been as talented as him. His past with the asum tribe had forced his survival instinct to sharpen, and thanks to his talent, he had become an uncomparable individual amongst his peers.
The gift of the survivor was a mental gift which allowed one to always have a way to survive a difficult situation. When in danger, a survivor would instinctively gravitate towards the choice that would help him survive.
However, while the survivor was considered one of the greatest gifts known to humanity, one time in history, a variant of that gift had appeared.. This variant was known as "the immortal survivor".
The immortal survivor was, contrary to what many would believe, not a single gift. It was a mixture of multiple types of high tier gifts, that would revolve around the survival of its owner. To make a comparison, if both of these two gifts were swords, the immortal survivor would be sharper, its handle would be easier to grip, and its scabbard would be sturdier.
"That's impossible!" exclaimed the army general while turning to look at the quickly dissipating cloud of dust.
"It's true.. Look." responded Krit while forming a gentle wind which slowly moved the dust away from around Jerigh, and uncovered his unscathed body.
"So what? The kid is alive.. To say he gained the gift of the immortal survivor.. That is preposterous." Said the general with an irritated tone. The army and the explorers had been in an eternal competition since hundreds of thousands of years, and the idea of an immortal survivor to appearing right in front of him, was the worst possible scenario.
The reason for that, was that according to their agreement, anyone who obtained the soldier's and general's gift, would be given up to the army, while all of the fighters with different kinds of gifts, would become explorers.
"At best he has the survivor's gift." Added the army general in an attempt to negotiate for his own sanity.
"You are mistaken." Said Krit before turning to look back at him, and adding, "A survivor would only be able to avoid death by avoiding damages on his vitals.. But an immortal survivor.. Sight, Premonition, Instincts.. He has at least a dozen gifts.. And all of them work together for a single purpose.. To keep him away from danger."
"Explorer Krit.. are you sure about this?" Asked the dean, who was the only one who was allowed to participate in the conversation between the explorer and the army general.
Before Krit could respond, the general interjected by saying, "It's just a myth."
Krit however did not respond, and instead pointed at the area where Jerigh and the others were currently at, and said, "Pay attention. It will happen again."
The moment Krit finished speaking, another wave of attacks approached Jerigh, who instead of avoiding them, opened his eyes widely. As if reacting to the attacks, Jerigh's pupils began to move on every single incoming attack.
"The sight.. He is looking at the trajectory of each attack.." Muttered Krit while hiding a wide smile behind the bandages that covered his face.
When Jerigh's eyes finally stopped, they were pointed at a specific and seemingly harmless attack. This attack seemed to be the weakest amongst the hundreds that were coming at him, and yet, that is where one hundred percent of Jerigh's concentration was.
As this attack was about to strike his body, Jerigh turned his body ninety degrees to his right, causing the attack to hit the handle of one of his swords, ripping it off of his waist.
The deflected attack, as well as Jerigh's flying sword, happened to be in the trajectory of the second and third attacks just moments before they could hit, and their interference was strong enough to deflect the rest too.
"He studied the trajectory of each attack and predicted their movements.. The premonition gift.." Said Krith with enthusiasm, almost as if checking a mental box regarding all of the gifts Jerigh had received
Like before, each attack was deflected until none was left. Jerigh once again stood unharmed in the middle of the now destroyed mountaintop.
"Did you see how fast and accurately he deflected the first attacks? To imagine it is easy.. But to do it.. An increase in senses and instinct.." Said Krit while tightening the grip on his musket with excitement, almost breaking it to pieces.
The army general was all but happy about Jerigh's shocking ascension. After all, there had only been one immortal survivor in history, and that person had been undefeated for so long, that the legend that he was unbeatable had started to roam the known universe.
At that time, the universal government was younger and significantly smaller, and the three major branches of it had yet to form. While the Judge's order was formed by the judges, and the army was formed by the powerful forces of the time, the explorer corps had been founded by a single individual. A man who had been known in the whole known universe for being the strongest being to ever roam its vastness.. The very personification of what an explorer should be.. Nobody knew his real name, but thanks to his fame, he was known as the Immortal Explorer.
