Chapter 120: Cassian’s power
Cassian walked past Irino, but after a few steps he suddenly stopped and turned his head to look straight at Ethan.
"Ethan Ashford."
Laira immediately looked up.
Cassian sized Ethan up from head to toe, deliberately raising his voice so everyone around could hear: "I thought someone with a Mythical Partner would be eager to prove himself. Didn’t expect you to stand around this long without daring to step up."
He glanced at Laira, then shifted his gaze to Ruo Yan, the corner of his mouth curling even higher.
"Or can you not figure out what to do without a Partner fighting in your place?"
A flash of crimson-violet Thunder Flame immediately sparked at Laira’s fingertips. She had just stepped forward when Ethan reached out and held her wrist.
Laira looked down at him, her anger unconcealed. "He’s mocking you."
"I heard."
"Let me hit him."
"Later."
That single word was enough to stop Laira. The Thunder Flame on her hand still lingered, but it didn’t flare any further.
Cassian watched the scene and laughed. "As expected."
Ethan didn’t look angry at all. He just shrugged, glanced at Laira for a moment, then turned to Cassian.
"He’s not exactly wrong." Ethan smiled faintly. "The Partner Mystery Box was never the popular choice to begin with. Even if you’re lucky enough to pull a Mythical Partner, how could that compare to a genius with S-rank Acceleration and A-rank Body Metallization?"
Cassian narrowed his eyes slightly. He could tell Ethan was being sarcastic, but those two abilities were precisely what he was most proud of, so in the end he just snorted.
"At least you know where you stand."
Cassian’s gaze swept past Laira again, then lingered a bit longer on Ruo Yan.
Two Partners.
One of them Mythical.
A flash of greed appeared in his eyes.
Laira noticed it instantly. Her red-orange eyes turned cold, and the hand Ethan was holding tightened slightly.
Cassian didn’t look any further. He turned and walked into the testing zone.
The sphere immediately swiveled both eyes toward him, its wide mouth curving upward.
"Kekeke... Another one who wants to hit me."
A timer appeared.
[60]
Cassian rolled his neck.
Crack crack!
A layer of silver-gray began spreading from his fingertips up both arms, then over his shoulders and across part of his chest. At the same time, the energy around his legs trembled, causing the air near the ground to slightly distort.
The sphere watched him, its grin growing colder.
"How do you wanna hit me?"
Cassian lowered his center of gravity, the corner of his mouth lifting with full confidence.
"How do you wanna die?"
[57]
[56]
[55]
The countdown had barely started before the metal layer on Cassian’s body rapidly expanded. Silver-gray covered both arms, shoulders, and chest before flooding down to his waist and legs. The areas bearing the most stress, like his knees, elbows, and right shoulder, thickened noticeably, reflecting cold light under the arena’s grayish-white sky.
A-rank Body Metallization.
Cassian clenched both fists. His finger joints produced faint metallic friction sounds. Immediately after, the energy around his legs began to fluctuate.
S-rank Acceleration.
BOOM!
The ground beneath his feet cratered.
Cassian vanished instantly. A silver streak tore across the arena, moving so fast that most of the onlookers could only catch afterimages.
He didn’t charge straight at the Measurement Sphere. Instead, he ran laps around the testing zone. The longer Acceleration was maintained, the higher Cassian’s speed climbed. With Metallization protecting his body from the pressure and reactive forces, he could effectively turn himself into a metal bullet.
One lap.
Two laps.
His speed began increasing noticeably.
Ruo Yan tracked the silver streak continuously circling the testing zone, her dark eyes narrowing slightly. "He’s building up speed before slamming into the sphere?"
Ethan nodded, his gaze still following Cassian. "His two abilities are built to complement each other. The stronger the Acceleration, the greater the stress on his body, and Metallization compensates for that exact weakness. If he reaches a high enough speed, just ramming with his entire body would generate massive attack power."
Laira crossed her arms and looked down at Cassian running below.
"Still slow."
Ethan turned to her. "I’ve told you not to use yourself as the standard."
"I’m not wrong though."
"I know."
By the third lap, Cassian’s speed had climbed another level. The sound of his feet hitting the ground merged into a near-continuous chain of explosions, sending tiny particles of dust leaping off the stone floor.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Cassian lowered his center of gravity, preparing to enter the next acceleration phase. But right at that moment, the ground ahead suddenly produced the sound of mechanisms shifting.
Click!
Precise square lines appeared on the stone floor. Dozens of cubic blocks simultaneously rose from the ground, forming a wall nearly five meters tall directly in Cassian’s path.
His expression changed instantly.
Too fast, too close. He no longer had time to swerve.
"Break!"
Cassian roared and dropped his right shoulder.
CRASH!
His metal body slammed straight into the wall. The three front blocks exploded, stone fragments scattering everywhere. Cassian punched through the dust cloud, but his speed had dropped by nearly half.
The moment his feet touched the ground and he moved to accelerate again, a series of mechanism sounds came from his left.
Click! Click! Click!
The ground split apart. This time, what appeared was no longer a single wall. Dozens of square stone columns continuously rose at various positions, forming a chaotic labyrinth right in the middle of the arena.
Cassian gritted his teeth and immediately changed direction.
A stone column jutted up in front of him.
He threw a punch.
BOOM!
The block shattered.
Cassian had barely slipped through the gap when two more blocks closed in from both sides.
CRASH!
He raised both metal arms to block them. His moving body was forced to a complete stop, causing the glowing lines on his metal layer to flicker violently.
In the distance, the Measurement Sphere swayed in midair. Its two eyes curved into crescents, and its enormous mouth continuously let out piercing laughter.
"Kekeke... Too fast. I’m so scared. Come hit me."
Cassian’s face went cold, both arms exerting force simultaneously.
BOOM!
The two stone blocks were sent flying to either side.
[41]
Nearly twenty seconds had passed, yet he still hadn’t been able to touch the sphere.
The people standing around were also starting to see the problem. A man watched the stone columns continuously shifting positions and said in a low voice: "The terrain is deliberately stopping him from building speed."
The person beside him immediately nodded. "Every time Cassian breaks through an obstacle, he has to decelerate and build up again from scratch. His Acceleration is practically being neutralized."
"Not completely neutralized. Metallization is still strong, but without enough speed, the two abilities can’t perform as effectively as normal."
Ethan saw it too.
The most terrifying aspect of S-rank Acceleration wasn’t just helping Cassian move fast. The true power of this skill lay in the attack force generated after continuously accumulating speed. Metallization let his body withstand pressure that an ordinary person couldn’t endure.
The two abilities combined near perfectly.
But the Measurement Sphere had erected terrain that denied Cassian the space to accelerate, effectively locking away half his skill set.
Cassian clearly understood this as well. His metallic face grew increasingly grim.
[33]
"Get the hell out of my way!"
The metal layer on his right arm suddenly thickened. Cassian stopped trying to circle around and charged straight forward.
BOOM!
A cubic block was shattered by his fist.
He advanced two more steps, and another wall immediately rose up.
CRASH!
Cassian used his shoulder to punch through the wall. The speed he’d just built up dropped again, but this time he didn’t stop.
One block.
Three blocks.
Five blocks.
The entire testing zone had practically become a structure in constant flux. Stone blocks rose, fell, closed, and split apart. Every time Cassian found a straight stretch long enough to accelerate, an obstacle immediately appeared ahead.
By the time the clock showed twenty seconds remaining, the metal on his shoulders and arms was covered in scrapes. His breathing had grown heavier too.
Cassian looked up ahead.
The sphere was still more than thirty meters away. It cheerfully swayed, its wide mouth stretching across nearly its entire surface.
"Too slow. Kekeke... You’re too slow."
Veins bulged at Cassian’s temples.
[18]
He stomped his right foot down hard.
BOOM!
All remaining Acceleration energy erupted. Cassian shot forward instantly.
A wall rose up blocking his path.
He didn’t slow down.
CRASH!
The wall exploded, but the metal on his right shoulder also cracked.
Cassian burst through the shower of debris. A row of square columns continued sprouting ahead.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
He used his body to smash through three stone columns in succession. His speed dropped sharply, his breathing became ragged, but his legs kept driving downward. S-rank energy was forcibly channeled, pushing Acceleration up once more.
[11]
Twenty meters left.
A cubic block suddenly appeared right beneath his feet. Cassian immediately leaped up. Two more stone blocks pressed in from both sides, trying to crush his body in midair.
Cassian twisted, both metal legs kicking out hard.
CRASH!
Both blocks shattered. He punched through the dust and dropped back to the ground.
[7]
Ten meters.
The sphere was still grinning.
"Kekeke..."
Cassian raised his head and roared: "Shut up!"
He poured every last bit of energy into his legs.
BOOM!
His body launched straight ahead. The distance was too short for Cassian to reach maximum velocity, but he still pulled his right shoulder back and rammed the full weight of his metallized body into the Measurement Sphere.
CRASH!
A massive explosion echoed across the arena.
Air pressure burst outward, sending stone debris flying in all directions. The sphere was knocked back over twenty meters, while Cassian was also thrown backward by the recoil. He tumbled twice on the stone floor before digging his metal hand into the ground to stop.
[3]
Cassian raised his head, his chest heaving violently.
A scoreboard appeared in midair.
[Calculating...]
[1,834,608]
The number climbed rapidly.
[2,176,433]
[2,417,906]
Cassian held his breath, staring fixedly at the notification panel.
[2,684,731]
[Requirement met.]
[First round cleared.]