The text before Mike's eyes faded, bringing an almost suffocating sense of oppression. The entire testing room began to distort. Mike noticed that the walls around him had vanished, and unbeknownst to him, he had been transported to a new space!
The space was filled with mist, obscuring his vision. Directly ahead, a white figure appeared, slowly walking towards Mike. The two were not far apart, yet a hazy mist separated them, obscuring their faces from each other.
A congenial voice sounded, "You're early."
Through the mist, the figure spoke slowly, "Level 60, your second class change, that's when you should have come. You are still too naive now. This projection of mine was left when I was at level 199, and even at one-tenth of that strength, the gap between us is too vast."
Mike nodded thoughtfully and asked in return, "So, should I leave?"
"Pfft." The figure chuckled lightly, as if chatting about everyday matters, "Since you're already here, why not stay and talk for a while? After all, this projection will dissipate after a while. The next time you challenge, you'll face one of the other two."
Since the supreme being's projection had spoken, Mike continued the conversation, "I haven't asked for your name yet..."
"Ares." The figure revealed its name.
Mike raised an eyebrow, supreme being [Ares]? According to legend, Ares was a warrior who wielded a sword, renowned for his exceptional swordsmanship and countless vanquished foes! There were many accounts of Ares in the textbooks.
At level 200, he had gone alone with his sword to the front lines, slaying thirteen demon Battle Chiefs, countless Battle Generals, and Battle Soldiers! With just one man and one sword, he held a thousand-mile defense line and repelled a million-strong demon army! All demon armies feared Ares, even the demon gods!
From then on, Ares became famous worldwide, unstoppable on his path, eventually achieving the position of the strongest! To sum it up: he was a master swordsman!
Thinking this, Mike's eyes lit up. With such a melee expert before him, how could he not take advantage of learning from him? With Mike's personality, since the projection of a supreme being was here, he must gain some benefits!
"Ares, my classmate is a big fan of yours!" Mike started, and the figure across the mist obviously paused. Your classmate is my fan, what does that have to do with you, and what use is that approach? You're not playing by the rules, kid!
"Why don't you give me some skill books, and I'll teach them to my classmate after I learn them!" Ares: ...Why wouldn't I just give them directly to your classmate, and why are you trying to make a profit as a middleman? Also, you're a mage, why learn melee skills?
Ares seemed to guess Mike's thoughts. This guy, planning to dual-class as mage and warrior? Regardless, Mike thought, since he hadn't started fighting with Ares, he should seize the opportunity to gain the maximum benefit from him. After all, the identity of a supreme being is very prestigious, and he would surely agree.
"Interesting kid." Ares raised his arm, and an orb flew out from Mike's chest, an Inhibition Orb! "This item bears the mark of a demon god, which could deceive even a Battle Lord level master smith. Carrying this item on Earth and in the Tower of Truth is fine, but if you take it to the Abyssal Plane, it's not a life-saving item but a death warrant!"
As he spoke, Ares pressed his hand downward. Countless black lines were drawn from the Inhibition Orb, unraveling like threads from a cocoon. The black lines gathered into a mass, continuously changing shape, seemingly nurturing some terrifying monster! "The demon god mark has been stripped away and condensed into this monster, roughly... a quasi-Battle Chief level in strength," Ares pointed at the black mass before Mike and continued, "You've come too early, and your level is too low. Fighting me would be harmful rather than beneficial to you. Why not battle this monster instead?"
"If you can defeat it within 5 minutes, I'll give you a skill book." "Deal!" Mike, pleased with Ares' promise, readied his staff to strike. "Hold on a moment, the monster hasn't fully formed yet." Using this pause, Ares spoke again, "This monster is at quasi-Battle Chief level, with over ten million health and high magic resistance. Its resistance to Lightning damage should be about 65%..."
Ares continued to describe the soon-to-be-born monster, indirectly lowering Mike's difficulty. Since Thor's class change to [Stormweaver·Lightning], all demon gods in the Abyssal Plane had beenfrantically boosting their resistance to Lightning! They knew well that on Thor's path to rise, there would inevitably be a few unfortunate souls decapitated, becoming stepping stones for his fame. As long as they stacked up their resistance to Lightning, when the time came, the unlucky ones would be others, not them.
Mike, possessing the Eye of Truth, could see all the information Ares was sharing. On the other hand, Mike was quite confident in his current output capabilities. Over ten million health sounds impressive? With his current setup, a single Thunderclap Strike from Mike could deal close to 5000 damage, and with a 30-layer Charge Up, it could reach tens of millions in magical damage!
If his level were to rise to the heights of a supreme being like Ares, a single attack of his Lightning magic could inflict damage in the trillions! Even with a 65% damage reduction, the output would still be in the hundreds of billions!
"Almost ready." Ares suddenly stopped; the black mass had now formed into a six-armed monster, roaring as it prepared to charge at Mike. "You needn't hold back, strike with all your might; this place is shielded from any prying eyes." "Remember, solve this within five minutes." "Timer... starts now!"
Bang— The six-armed monster charged towards Mike, its four eyes emitting a terrifying red glow. "Thunderclap Strike!" Mike pointed forward with his staff, and a massive red bolt of lightning descended from the sky once again, carrying destructive power, sweeping everything before it.
He had already stacked 30 layers of Charge Up, launching Thunderclap Strike as his opening move. Boom— After being baptized by the lightning, the monster didn't even last 0.1 seconds before it turned to ash! It was over, one move, what more was there to say?
Retracting his staff, Mike looked towards Ares through the mist, casually saying, "Where were we in our conversation? Let's continue." Ares: ... Damn, this kid's putting on airs! Even Ares hadn't anticipated that a level 26 Thor could one-shot a quasi-Battle Chief level monster! Five minutes? There was no need; one move was enough!
Of course, Ares's perspective was far beyond that of ordinary people. He could tell at a glance that Thor's ability to unleash such high damage was due to some sort of buff! In other words, while Thor's burst damage was extremely high, his sustainability was comparatively average. It was unclear how long it took for Thor to stack up those buffs.
The mist gently parted to the sides, making Ares's figure clearer. Mike tensed up, waiting for what was next. Ares's voice rang out again, but this time, there was a rare seriousness in his tone, he spoke formally, "Thor, I retract my previous assessment of you, and I apologize for my earlier underestimation." "Now, you are worthy to face me in combat!"