Chapter 486: Ninety-Ninth Floor, Overcoming (4)
Chapter 486: Ninety-Ninth Floor, Overcoming (4)
[Defeat your future self from fifty years later. Time remaining: 9 years 359 days.]Less than ten years remained, and in fact, today marked my first day in this trial’s last decade.
Despite what I considered to be a noteworthy date, nothing miraculous occurred. The dramatic scene of defeating another version of myself didn’t occur. I had certainly prepared extensively, but preparation alone couldn't bridge the fundamental disparity between us. Besides, my preparations hadn’t aimed for overpowering him in the first place.
My foremost goal was survival.
Our last confrontation had shifted entirely into close-quarters combat, a development that carried its own significance. The longer a battle like that stretched on, the more I could observe and dissect his techniques.
I will inevitably come to learn more.
Therefore, I had launched attacks only sparingly, mainly striking to maintain rhythm rather than to inflict damage. Every engagement had revolved around defense, and nothing more. Since Thunderbird enhanced my cognition to an even greater extent than Flash Strike, I had analyzed his movements closely, even down to the individual twitches of his muscles.
Then, just before Thunderbird dissipated, I had shifted to an all-out offensive, hurling myself at him like a violent storm. Most of my strikes had been feints and lacked real intent, but some had landed, inflicting wounds, however minor. Of course, that had prompted him to activate Thunderbird as well.
Even that wasn’t enough to overwhelm me in an instant, however. I managed to withstand two more exchanges. During that brief window, a faint impression of something came to me, much like a thread leading to an impending realization.
Unfortunately, it left me with a new problem.
I still haven’t fully understood what it is.
Even after reflecting on it for a while post-battle, I still couldn’t define what had brushed against my mind. Something had drawn close, but never quite reached me. If I were to guess, it was a revelation several steps ahead of my current state. If the journey of mastery were a staircase, then this sensation lay approximately four steps higher than my current level.