"That's Abu! He's a B-Rank monster! I saw him split an armored earth-bear in half last week with that axe!"
"And you just picked a fight with the Windrake family! If we lose this, or if we cross them too hard, we won't even make it out of the lower districts alive!"
Alex didn't even flinch at the panic in Leo's voice. Instead, he simply reached up with a calm, deliberate movement and unbuttoned the top gold button of his blazer.
The fabric parted slightly, giving his breasts some much-needed breathing room. At nearly sixty five percent through his second Ecdysis phase, his body was changing rapidly.
His breasts already filled out significantly, pushing against the inner lining of his clothes with a heavy, tender warmth that made tight garments uncomfortable.
As the jacket loosened, a subtle, intoxicating whiff of sweet pheromones drifted into the air, a natural, hypnotic scent that made two passing coliseum guards stumble and stare at him with glazed, hungry eyes.
Alex ignored them, turning his eyes onto Leo. The unnatural silver rim around his irises carried a sharp, grounding pressure that cut right through Leo's panic.
"Relax, Leo," Alex said smoothly, his voice carrying that natural, sultry purr that sent a shiver down the young man's spine.
"Big dogs bark loud, but taking ten of his masters' prized slaves directly from their private dungeons? That forces the people pulling his strings to pay attention."
"But how are you going to beat him?!" Leo stammered, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. "He's a full rank above you! A B-Rank juggernaut's defense is practically made of iron!"
"Then I'll just have to hit harder," Alex replied simply.
He already had the solution mapped out in his head.
To cut through a B-Rank juggernaut's heavy alloy shield and thick hide without exposing his Naagin bloodline abilities, is to step into the Expert Level Swordsman realm himself, which meant breaking through to B-Rank.
He didn't know how to liquefy his mana or breakthrough to Expert realm before, but from the secret intelligence files he gathered from the Night Whisperers, he finally understood the strict requirements for his breakthrough.
In the basic realm, a swordsman's mana circuit was like simple piping, gaseous, volatile, and moving in straight lines.
But to reach the Expert Realm, a swordsman had to trigger the Liquefaction Event.
The gaseous mana in his body had to be compressed until it rained down internally, turning into a heavy, potent liquid state that flowed like mercury.
Once that happens, his mana circuits would glow under his skin during combat, his stamina would multiply, and his sword strikes could cut through stone and strong alloys as if they were butter.
To trigger that evolution in the body, two conditions had to be met: both his primary sword skill and his core breathing method had to reach perfection, OR he had to practice a matching set of Rank 2 skills to the proficient level.
His martial skill, Flowing Spirit Sword Forms, was already sitting at Level 5, Perfection.
But his core cultivation foundation, the Iron Body Foundation Art, was stuck at Level 4, with only 1322 out of 5000 mastery points.
Under normal circumstances, closing that gap would take years of rigorous training and meditation.
But Alex didn't need to wait that long. He has the help of the All Things Simulator, and right now, the excited arena crowd was feeding him massive amounts of Source Power every single minute.
With nine minutes left on the overhead countdown, Alex glanced down the dim, quiet hallway leading away from the VIP lounge.
He spotted an empty, soundproofed private resting room reserved for high-rolling guests.
"Walk with me," Alex ordered, stepping away from the crowd.
Leo followed obediently, his heart still hammering in his chest as they hurried down the corridor.
Alex pushed open the heavy mahogany door to the resting room, revealing a dimly lit, luxurious space furnished with plush velvet sofas and thick carpets that absorbed every sound.
Alex stepped inside and turned back to Leo, his expression turning serious.
"Stand outside and guard this door," Alex commanded, his tone leaving zero room for argument.
"I don't care who comes walking down this hallway—whether it's the stadium manager, or a direct messenger from the Windrake family. No one comes into this room until I open this door. Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes, Boss! I won't even let a fly enter the room!" Leo nodded vigorously, pressing his back against the hallway wall like a dedicated watchdog, terrified but willing to follow orders.
Alex closed the heavy door, throwing the mechanical deadbolt into place with a sharp click.
The room instantly plunged into a deep, peaceful silence, completely cutting off the deafening roar of the stadium outside.
Alex took a deep breath, enjoying the quiet as he walked over to the center of the room.
He removed his blazer, tossing it over the armrest of a nearby chair, leaving himself in a breathable, form-fitting white silk shirt that highlighted the gentle curves of his waist and the noticeable swell of his breasts.
He folded his legs and sat comfortably on the sofa, resting his hands on his knees. He closed his eyes, steadying his breathing as he felt the heavy, misty mana swirling inside his chest.
With less than nine minutes left before he had to step into the blood-soaked sand of the arena, Alex opened his mind directly into the system interface and called upon the simulator interface.
"System," Alex whispered into the quiet room, watching his Source Power pool break past the six-hundred-point mark.
"Start the simulation… Target: Iron Body Foundation Art Lv 4 and Flowing Spirit Sword Forms Lv 5."
[ Confirm Input: 365 points of Source Power? ]
[ Yes / No ]
"Yes," Alex chose mentally.
As soon as the command was given, his consciousness detached from his physical body on the sofa and plunged into the endless, silent gray void of the mental simulation space, and new lines of glowing text began to cascade across the simulator log page.
This time, he didn't hesitate to simulate for ten full years. To jump across the massive gap between Basic and Expert realm, he needed more time and powerful skills that evolved from his basic skills.
[ You invest Three hundred and sixty-five points of Source Power into concurrent cultivation and evolution of the Iron Body Foundation Art and the Flowing Spirit Sword Forms. ]
[ You cultivate for 1 day. Standing in the silent mental void, you draw your training sword. Your mind is completely clear, free from the noise of the arena and the pressure of the upcoming match. You begin to cycle the breathing technique while swinging your blade from sunrise to sunset. ]
[ You cultivate for 10 days. The 70% proficiency boost from your Level 7 Sword Mastery fully kicks in. Your Flowing Spirit Sword Forms is already at Level 5 perfection, meaning you have nothing left to learn from its basic movements. Instead of practicing the standard strikes, you begin breaking the forms down, stripping away wasted energy and dead angles. Your mind works at incredible speed, deducing and evolving the skill toward a Rank 2 martial art. ]
[ You cultivate for 150 days. You repeat the same basic slashes, thrusts, and parries over and over thousands of times a day and begin to perceive the natural rhythm of the wind and the subtle vibrations of space. You realize that a true sword strike shouldn't cut through the air; it should slide between the natural gaps in the atmosphere like flowing water. Your gaseous mana starts to swirl faster inside your chest, heating up your limbs and reinforcing your muscles. ]
[ You cultivate for 500 days. You sit under a roaring mental waterfall, letting crushing torrents of water smash against your back while you cycle your breathing technique. Your muscles tear and rebuild themselves endlessly. The sheer physical stress pushes your bodily endurance to its absolute mortal limit. ]
[ Your skill 'Iron Body Foundation Art' successfully enters Level 5 (Perfection). ]