Chapter 228: Mortal-tier Extreme
[Satsui no Hado has leveled up. Current: Lv3 (1/1200)]
[Satsui no Hado (Special, Lv3): Overwhelming killing intent merges with the body's ki, giving birth to an ultimate, devastatingly destructive wave.]
The purple in Kaito Shirogane's eyes was visible to the naked eye. He stood amidst the slowly fading corpses of the ordinary martial arts partners, slowly relaxing his stance. But the Satsui no Hado coiling around his body refused to dissipate.
His hands looked as if they were burning with purple, demonic flames.
After his Satsui no Hado reached Lv3, Kaito could clearly feel the power's aggression. Just the ambient aura it threw off was enough to kill a martial arts partner with an ordinary person's stats.
If condensed, its power already surpassed small-to-medium caliber firearms. Combined with Kaito's martial arts foundation, a human body was just rotten meat before the Satsui no Hado.
Moreover, as his mastery of Satsui no Hado deepened, Kaito began to vaguely grasp the properties it shared with other types of [Ki]—the ability to manifest various effects and special attribute damage.
For example, fire.
Yes, although [Ki] gave the impression of being a "normal attribute" energy, at best possessing positive and negative properties, in reality, its applications were extremely broad and varied, both in the Street Fighter world and the Dragon Ball world.
In Street Fighter, Gouki could use the Satsui no Hado to unleash attacks and damage like a volcanic eruption. In Dragon Ball, the martial arts master, Master Roshi, could even use his ki for [Hypnosis] and developed techniques like the [Thunder Shock Surprise], which gave his [Ki] an [Electric Shock] property.
In the hands of a martial arts master, [Ki] would gradually develop special attributes that suited their combat style as it took shape.
Kaito was now beginning to touch this realm. With the buff from [Mercenary Tao's Pink Robe], his Martial Arts Specialization had reached the Lv7 Master realm, and his [Satsui no Hado] was approaching the profound realm of Lv4, allowing him to sense that change.
Kaito left the [Training Hall]. He had spent about fourteen thousand Dimensional Points. Since he hadn't summoned high-level partners, he hadn't spent any Singularities.
But by the same token, because of the [Satsui no Hado]'s strong exclusivity, his Hamon hadn't improved. After his personal attributes had all broken their limits, their growth rate had also slowed.
Kaito turned and entered the [Rank Management Office]. The petite knight girl at the desk immediately spotted the familiar face.
She looked at Kaito, her expression freezing for a rare moment, before she gave a bitter smile.
"I can't believe you actually did it. Shattering all physical shackles... a perfect individual. In my long two hundred and thirty years, I've never seen a rookie like you."
"You're simply..."
The knight girl reached out, as if wanting to touch Kaito, but she quickly caught herself, pulled her hand back, and flashed her familiar, energetic smile.
"You're simply a monster, tailor-made for this Nexus."
Although she said "monster," her tone held none of the fear or disgust Kaito was used to hearing. Instead, it was filled with curiosity and envy.
Kaito didn't respond. Ever since learning of the existence of things like [Causality], he had become sensitive to words like "coincidence," "destined," and "tailor-made."
"I need to have my rating re-anchored."
After the team battle in the One Piece world, Kaito's rating had changed from [Mortal-tier, Low (Irregular)] to [Mortal-tier, High (?)]. The Nexus had also notified him that he needed to go to the [Rank Management Office] to be re-evaluated.
The knight girl stared at Kaito, tapping her chin as she recognized the peculiarity about him.
"You have power on you that doesn't belong to you."
The Nexus's system for evaluating a Reincarnator's combat power basically had two anchors.
The first was based on the Reincarnator's basic attributes and abilities. For example, if their total attributes reached 40 points, they would be rated as [Mortal-tier]. Below that, they were [Paper-tier].
But this evaluation was very mechanical and couldn't perfectly measure an individual's combat power. Some Reincarnators were naturally gifted fighters, while others had high stats but were inflexible in battle, giving them weak practical skills.
Therefore, the Nexus also had a hidden evaluation standard: Combat!
If you defeated a [Mortal-tier] character—whether a Reincarnator or a story character—the Nexus would deem you to possess [Mortal-tier] combat standards. If your attribute rating was below [Mortal-tier], the Nexus would rate you as [Paper-tier, High (Irregular)].
This indicated you were a Reincarnator capable of fighting above your tier.
These two evaluation systems combined would truly anchor a Reincarnator's strength.
But Kaito's anomaly was that in the One Piece world, he had been invaded by multiple power systems. Both [God Hand - Roland] and the fully-charged [The King's Left Arm] had abnormally inflated his combat power.
He had even overwhelmingly, in a one-versus-many battle, killed Flame Fiend, crippled the Moon Fiend, and killed Black Death.
In the Nexus's combat rating, this had infinitely inflated Kaito's combat evaluation, pushing it to a level close to a true [Cataclysm-tier] Reincarnator.
But as the world ended, the Conqueror's Haki stored in [The King's Left Arm] was massively depleted, and [God Hand - Roland] died completely. Kaito's state plummeted. His attributes, ability levels, and ability ratings couldn't touch the [Cataclysm-tier] threshold at all.
He didn't even possess the energy control required for [Strong-tier]. Therefore, when such a huge discrepancy appeared between the two rating systems, the Nexus required a manual anchoring.
The knight girl reached out, tracing something in the empty air in front of Kaito.
Kaito watched the golden points of light on her fingertip. That energy was incredibly pure, condensed yet stable. Her level of control was several tiers higher than Kaito's when he used the Dodon Ray.
Kaito also knew that this control was exactly what he was lacking.
And the [Satsui no Hado] was like a [Sword of Damocles], forcing Kaito to improve his energy control. If he couldn't control the Satsui no Hado, he would eventually be controlled by its ever-growing power.
As long as Kaito could control the Satsui no Hado, then unlocking the powerful energy hidden within his [Body of Ten Thousand Spirits from the Underworld] would no longer be a distant dream. At that time, Kaito would truly soar.
[Rank Anchoring Complete. Your rank has been updated to: Mortal-tier Extreme (Special Rank, Certified by: Lumi)]
Kaito didn't feel any different, but as long as he hadn't been promoted to [Strong-tier], it was fine. He still remembered that he could forge a total of 3 Traits at the [Mortal-tier], and he still had one use left.
Kaito waved his hand and left. There was still a little time before the next transport. He entered the [Goddess's Sanctum] last.
In the white jade plaza, the giant Goddess descended from the sky. Her eyes were drowsy, and she exuded a lazy beauty.
"Goddess, I'd like to ask if I am one of the rumored [The One (He Who Holds Destiny)], and also, can you scan me to see if I am entangled by any forces like [Causality]?"
Kaito had plenty of Singularities right now. He didn't immediately start enhancing himself, but instead asked questions about his own situation.
[The One (He Who Holds Destiny)] was the true meaning behind the gathering of the chosen, [Destiny]. According to rumor, it referred to special individuals who had once escaped the Nexus, only to be conscripted again.
The Goddess landed, a strange smile blooming on her face.
[Reincarnator's rating is insufficient. Access to this question is denied. Would you like to increase your rating?]
(End of Chapter)
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