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MIGHT AS WELL BE OP-Chapter 993: Gains
"There seems to be a lot on your mind," Veronica’s voice echoed as she turned towards Vega, who was seated with a thoughtful expression.
Vega, hearing Veronica’s words, sighed, and everyone turned their attention towards her, after a moment of silence, she spoke, "It’s just that I feel I should maybe have participated in this spar, a gathering and battle of anomalies is far too rare," her tone low and contemplative as she spoke.
No one reacted to the fact that she had called them anomalies, they simply ignored it and asked why she felt that way.
"I mean, look, at the beginning, Aura Nova and Kingsley fought, and she learned a few things about her close quarter combat, even her own weaknesses, which she went back and refined," she began to speak, "even Kingsley went back after his loss and refined his Law Defiance Field, then Aura Nova battled Lucian, from whom she gained True Self Actualisation, and according to Anthony, she is about to become monstrous after a few sessions of training."
She paused briefly as though allowing everyone to connect the dots and follow the thread of her reasoning, "then Anthony fought with Lucian, who learned a few things about the Katana during the battle. Then Anthony fought with Kingsley, who has now awakened the Martial Rhythm," she paused for a moment before she added in finality, "everyone seems to be gaining something during this spar."
Her words caused silence to ripple through the air as indeed everyone seemed to be making progress one way or another. Although what Lucian had learned from his battle with Anthony wasn’t as immense as Aura Nova’s True Self Actualisation or Kingsley’s Martial Rhythm, progress was still progress, and in their world, even the slightest improvement could become the deciding factor between supremacy and defeat.
Three out of the five participants had made progress, leaving out only Anthony and Aaaninja.
Although others now felt like they wanted to join in and participate, they were simply too weak to step into a battle of this level, as the mere aftershocks of such clashes were enough to destabilize those without sufficient strength.
"So, Anthony, did you gain something we didn’t know about? And what about Aaaninja too?" Veronica suddenly asked, it was best not to assume, especially in a gathering where assumptions could easily be misleading.
Anthony’s sky-blue eyes shifted towards Veronica as he spoke, "there is simply nothing to gain on a battlefield of this level," he said flatly without a change in tone or expression, and his voice wasn’t arrogant in any form or way, it was merely a statement delivered with unsettling calmness.
Everyone’s lips twitched, wasn’t Anthony indirectly calling everyone too weak for him to benefit or learn anything, yes, he had won and dominated all his battles, but still, that stung more than they would like to admit.
"You do realize this is why Altheria thinks you are arrogant, right?" Vega couldn’t help but comment from the side, her lips curling faintly as though amused by his bluntness.
"And I don’t care about her opinion and perception of me," Anthony answered with a light smile, he and Altheria weren’t friends, hell, they hadn’t even exchanged words, why should he suddenly care about her opinion of him, while he would respect her on a certain level because she was Aaaninja’s woman, but it remained just and only that, nothing more, nothing less.
"Sigh, I guess we would have to wait for Aaaninja to wake up and ask him if he gained anything," Lucian stated as his black eyes shifted to the side where Aaaninja was floating.
"I guess so, but I feel like he hasn’t gained anything because he ended his battle with Kingsley swiftly and had only battled you for a long period, where you were both on equal footing, before you both pulled those ridiculous abilities," Aura Nova stated, her words logical and precise as Aaaninja had secured swift victories in his battles before the climax.
Anthony, who had been silent for a brief moment, spoke, "there is no need to guess, he gained something, it’s the reason why he is still unconscious," he stated calmly with a faint smile playing on his lips.
Hearing Anthony’s words, even Zachary and Nyxss, who had their full attention on Aaaninja, patiently waiting for the ten hour mark, turned their gaze towards Anthony, after all, which parent wouldn’t be curious about their child’s progress, especially when it concerned evolution on a level that transcended ordinary comprehension.
"Didn’t he faint due to mental exhaustion?" Nyxss asked Anthony, as that was what Anthony had told them earlier, and she held onto that explanation as a source of reassurance.
"Indeed, he fainted from mental exhaustion, and a guy as talented as Aaaninja, with his mental fortitude, should have at least woken up after an hour," Anthony explained with a calm tone as he sat with a composed smile, "but the reason why he hasn’t woken up is because he is currently understanding a few things and evolving."
As Anthony spoke, his eyes were fixed on Aaaninja’s body as he could see the changes Aaaninja’s mind was undergoing, his All Seeing Eyes revealing such details as though they were written clearly in a child’s book, nothing hidden, nothing obscured.
"As for what evolution he is going through, I can’t tell you since everyone’s abilities and all that are their secrets and trump cards, if he tells you himself, fine, but if he doesn’t, well... I’m in no position to say," Anthony added in finality as he wasn’t going to say anything about Aaaninja’s evolution and gains, regardless of how curious they were.
As for how and why Aaaninja was evolving, he had connected himself with the River Of Time to save Lucian, and the River Of Time had filled his mind with knowledge on the Authority Of Time, the Concept Of Time, the Laws Of Time, and many more hidden knowledges, of course, the knowledge he received wasn’t permanent and was merely temporary for the duration of keeping Lucian alive, as Aaaninja’s mind couldn’t possibly comprehend these levels of power at this point in time and with his current level of control over Time.
But still, it didn’t mean he hadn’t gained something, if the knowledge he had received from the River Of Time was akin to an endless desert, Aaaninja had taken something that couldn’t even equate to half of a grain of sand from that desert, which might seem minuscule, but to someone of their current level, even a single grain of sand from such a level of power was enough to grant a tremendous boost and alter the trajectory of their growth.
Lucian Darkheart looked at Aaaninja and sighed with an amused smile on his face, his mind drifting back to the Starborn Tournament, back then, Aaaninja had lost against Anthony and achieved True Enlightenment.
And now, he had lost against Lucian but gained something else as well. Although technically, he didn’t gain this boost directly from losing to Lucian, but rather from saving Lucian, if he hadn’t saved Lucian, he wouldn’t have gained anything at all.
But still, Aaaninja seemed like the type of guy who didn’t like to suffer losses without gaining anything in return, whether that gain was tangible or subtle, visible or hidden.
Lucian was unbothered by this realization, he simply smirked at the thought of Aaaninja waking up more powerful, in fact, he genuinely looked forward to it, as stagnation was far more terrifying than rivalry.
’I really can’t get complacent,’ he mused to himself, a wide grin appearing on his face at the thought of fighting this soon to be reborn Aaaninja.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: Magic Castle? Spacecraft? Golden Gachapon? Dragon? Luxury Car? Massage Chair?
Thanks for reading this greedy author’s book, Muahahaha.







