MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1615: Breaking Barriers: The Third Trial (10)

Fwoosh!

Braiding his Lesser Arcana and his Intent Seed of Spell Control into strands that contained both energy and concept, Ataraxia began to recall the final circuit he created for his movement skill.

Whoosh!

Willing the strands of energy and concept to go through the nodes that made up the energy circuit, the young man soon looked at Aeramis and gave him a firm nod, prompting the latter to nod in return as he announced the first criteria to be tested.

”First off, I’ll be checking your speed,” said the man, closing his eyes for a bit as he sent a bit of his energy towards the lake at the center.

Whoosh!

Willing the energy he manifested to gather at the lake’s surface, Aeramis went ahead and solidified the lake with just a single thought, giving Ataraxia all the space he needed to reach his maximum speed.

”Though testing the three other criteria during this trial would involve complex actions, what you have to do for this one is quite simple.” Making sure that the lake’s surface was as flat as it could possibly be, the man continued where he left off.

”Move as fast as your skill allows you to.”

”Got it.”

Reminding himself not to go past the area that the lake covered, the young man soon made his way towards one part of the lake, only to then check and see for himself if the lake would give way if he were to make any erratic movements.

Getting confirmation that the lake was not affected by any of his movements whatsoever, it was only then did Ataraxia begin to prepare his showcase of speed in front of Aeramis, closing his eyes as he moved the strands of energy and concept through the circuit nodes.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Feeling the power contained within the strands grow stronger as they passed through more of the nodes, the young man then went ahead and thought about the movement he’d use for the current situation.

’Considering that I have to showcase my maximum speed, I suppose my best choices here are either the 3rd movement or the 7th movement.’

Closing his eyes for a bit as he sensed the strands reach the end of the circuit, Ataraxia eventually opened his eyes once more as he came to a decision.

’7th movement it is.’

Fwoosh!

Bending his knees down to a perfect 90-degree angle, the young man began to lean his upper torso forward as he had the braided strands pass through the final node of the circuit.

Then, just as his center of gravity began to make him lean forward...

Whoosh!

Tapping into the power accumulated by the strands, Ataraxia swiftly redirected all of it towards the soles of his feet, causing him to dart forward as he disappeared from his previous spot within an instant.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Continuing to move through the lake’s surface as if he were a sports car on a race track, the young man continued to cycle the circuit alongside his movements, gradually increasing the speed as which he zoomed through the lake.

Boom!

”The upper end of transonic already, huh?” Hearing Ataraxia break through the sound barrier with his movements, Aeramis faintly nodded in agreement, making a mental note in his mind as he continued to watch the former zoom through the lake.

”If he’s only able to zoom through the lake at this speed, then the highest score I can give him for this one is a four,” murmured the man to himself, his eyes glued to Ataraxia as the latter slowly inched towards reaching Mach 2.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

By the time the young man had reached a speed that was twice the speed of sound, it went without saying that Ataraxia had begun to constantly create shock waves behind him, making it seem like a series of explosions were going off to anyone fairly distant from the clearing.

However, for someone who could easily move at a speed over a hundred times that figure, Aeramis merely looked on at the young man’s feat with a hint of amusement, a faint smile tugging on his face as he thought back to his earlier conclusion.

”Although his skill still has a ways to go before reaching its limit, I’d say the maximum speed he could achieve with the skill is around Mach 3.4,” said the man to himself, faintly nodding after giving the idea a bit more thought.

”If he were at the peak of Rank 5, achieving that kind of speed would have warranted him a four at most.”

”However, since he’s still at the peak of Rank 4, then the fact that he has the ability to move at thrice the speed of sound already warrants the highest score for speed.”

Boom!

Although Ataraxia’s movements continued to create shock waves behind him, the young man did not stop moving, cycling both circuit and movement over hundreds of times to eventually reach a speed that was close to the figure Aeramis came up with.

”Mach 3.5,” muttered the man, a look of pleasant surprise briefly appearing on his face. ”I wasn’t expecting his skill to have a bit more to give.”

Letting out a faint chuckle in response to the words that left his mouth, he soon announced the end of testing for the first criteria, prompting Ataraxia to start slowing down as he deftly maneuvered himself to head back to the same spot he started.

Whoosh!

”Whew.” Powering down his energy circuit for the meantime, the young man let out a faint sigh of relief as he took the opportunity to catch his breath.

Faintly wondering if he’d be given a break before proceeding onto the second criteria whilst he waited, Ataraxia soon found Aeramis standing in front of him, looking at him with a slightly proud smile.

”Don’t fret,” said the man, taking note of the frown that appeared on the former’s face. ”We can proceed with the other tests once you feel like you’ve rested for long enough.”

”Glad to hear.” Letting out a sigh of relief at those words, the young man flashed a smile at him before asking, ”So, how did I do?”

”Amazing, to say the least,” replied Aeramis with a hint of laughter. ”Though it took you a while to get there, you were able to achieve a max speed of Mach 3.5 with your movement skill.”

”That high?” The young man’s eyes widened in surprise, recalling that Valyr’s top speed with the [Azure Dragon Movement Arts] wasn’t even anywhere near that figure. ”What kind of score is that equivalent to?”

”If you were at the peak of Rank 5, then I probably would’ve given you a four,” answered the man without any sign of falsehood. ”However, since you achieved that kind of speed while still being at the peak of Rank 4...”

”What other score could I give you if not the highest one?”