Chapter 291: The Monkey Path! |
After 30 minutes or so...
Felix dropped to the ground with his body messed up in different places. However, he swiftly healed himself back to peak form again.
This was already the 20th time he healed himself since the moment he started practicing the *Impregnable Defense*.
That's also the number of times he repeated the technique. No matter how painful the experience, Felix never stopped trying to reach the 9th level.
At that level, he needed to defend against 100 abilities successfully in 30 seconds!
He knew that it wasn't impossible since the advanced students were able to do it.
Meanwhile, Silver Hammer had demonstrated yesterday that he could handle even the 13th level!
Since the abilities thrown were adjusted based on the integration stage of the bloodliner, It meant that Silver Hammer was a f*cking humanoid tank.
Felix wanted to reach at least the 9th so he could officially be marked as having mastered the technique.
So far, he was taught only those two techniques and he had yet to master the easiest one, which was *Charging Devil*.
In today's course, he was going to be taught the 3rd technique!
"That's enough. Gather around me."
Abruptly, Silver Hammer teleported within the intermediate area and clapped his hands twice.
The machines all stopped firing at once and the already fired abilities paused mid-air then broke off into particles.
"Finally!"
"Offf! The longest 30 minutes in my life."
One by one, the bloodliners dropped into the ground while sighing in relief. Alas, Silver Hammer didn't give them even a second break as he ordered them strictly, "Get your asses up! I only have one hour to teach you something new."
Upon hearing so, the bloodliners grumbled under their breath but they still stood up and gathered around him.
"Let's go." Silver Hammer snapped his finger and all of them teleported at once.
After Felix's body reconstructed, he opened his eyes to the sight of a long complex track that was built completely from metal poles!
Those poles were connected to each other in some places, and some not. This left wide gaps in the track, which weren't bridgeable by just simple jumps!
Heck, that's if they were able to jump in this track as it was suspended 30 meters in mid-air!
"Some of you are already familiar with this track and the rules applicable in it." Silver Hammer looked at Felix and another girl, then said, "However, since we have two newcomers, I will provide a short clarification."
Silver Hammer went on and started explaining that this track was called The Monkey Path and it was created by him years ago to practice his flexibility and tail control.
Silver Hammer went beneath a metal pole that was tens of meters above him and said, "Watch closely. I will be demonstrating how to pass the Monkey Path successfully in less than 6 seconds."
Everyone focused on him with clear anticipation written on their faces. They knew that Silver Hammer demonstrations were always f*cking epic.
Even Felix was watching up close.
Whoosh!
Without warning, Silver Hammer bent his knees and hurled himself in the air, appearing like he was flying!
Just as he was about to reach the metal pole, he did the unexpected as he turned upside down like he was going for a backflip!
However, his maneuver was actually to grasp the metal pole by his tail!
Felix and the rest were left in awe at the sight of him dangling upside down while the end of his tail placed gently on the metal pole.
'F*ck, if it was me, I would have smacked my head by the pole.' Felix wasn't ashamed to admit it as he knew that it was impossible for him to pull off Silver Hammer's feat with his mediocre tail control.
He could somewhat grasp any metal pole with his tail as long as it was within his sight.
However, to do it blindly like Silver Hammer? He was still far off!
"Someone start a timer and keep your eyes on my movements." Silver Hammer requested while dangling back and forth like he was building momentum.
The moment he saw thumps up, he truly swung himself into another metal pole!
However, instead of using his hands, he flipped in the air and relied on his tail again to grip the metal pole!
This time he didn't dangle on it but used the previously built momentum to roll two times on the pole before launching himself even further in the track!
Felix just kept watching with eye wide open at him using nothing but his tail to carry on flinging himself from a metal pole to another.
Since the path was quite complex, sometimes Felix was left wondering how would Silver Hammer reach the next metal pole without sacrificing his staggering momentum that was built since the start.
However, those thoughts kept getting wiped out from his mind at the flexible maneuvers Silver Hammer kept pulling mid-air by his tail only!
Heck, not even a finger had touched the metal poles throughout Silver Hammer's entire course!
By the time he reached the finish line, Silver Hammer teleported while still in backflip animation.
His body reconstructed a couple of meters above the group and he carried on with his landing next to them.
Thud!
The instant his feet touched the ground, the hologram that was showing the timer stopped automatically.
Upon seeing 5.7 seconds, Felix couldn't help but drew a deep breath in awe and fascination. 'Now that's a perfect tail control!'
Silver Hammer waved the hologram from his face and asked strictly, "What did you learn?"
The new girl showed a hand respectfully and spoke after getting permission, "Your tail allowed you to build up an explosive momentum in such a short time it's impossible for any other body parts to do the same."
"Good." Silver Hammer nodded his head in approval and asked Felix, "What did you see?"
Felix thought about it for a couple of seconds before responding, "Normally, the end of your tail should have made it extremely difficult to grasp the metal poles. However, you clearly demonstrated that you turned the tail's flat-surfaced area to your own advantage."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement as it was evident that Silver Hammer wasn't truly gripping the metal pole by rolling his long thick tail on it.
Instead, he just used the unique end of his tail and his massive momentum to hook himself only for a split second. Then, before gravity could do its wonders, he flings himself forward!
This action was extremely difficult to pull off as one single mistake or miscalculation could end up missing the metal pole completely.
God knows how many hours Silver Hammer spent to reach this level of experience and skill, allowing him to pull that action off over and over again like it was a daily occurrence.
"Good eyes!" Silver Hammer nodded at Felix as well before saying, "This is exactly what my technique is all about."
He pointed at Felix's ash-grey tail and said, "In the case of your tail, I believe that it is going to be even harder for you to pull it off."
Felix glanced at the spherical bulgy end of his tail, and couldn't help but nod his head in frustration.
While others near him had somewhat of a bent shape to help them out, he had a f*cking boulder!
The sad part, he couldn't change its shape since it was against the rules in the SG to modify one's own real characteristics that could affect the fairness of the game. Face modification or skin color changes weren't against the rules.
Felix could merely change the color of his tail since it wouldn't really affect anyone in the games.
However, he couldn't even remove a single hair strand from his as that would be considered a modification.
Thus, he knew that it was going to be ten times more difficult to master this technique since he needed to place the metal pole slightly under the tail's end.
Otherwise, his spherical end would collide with the metal pole.
"Alright, don't think too much about this technique in the next couple of days." Silver Hammer pointed at the track and ordered those two, "Today, you can try coursing the track by any means possible, even your other limbs. Just try your best to memorize the track and metal poles positions first."
Felix and the girl nodded their heads in understanding.
"From tomorrow onward, you will be required to use only your tail." Silver Hammer pointed at the track in the air and warned, "Tomorrow, the metal poles would be modified to electrocute you the moment you touch them with any other body parts besides your tail."
"So you better think of yourself as a cripple with only a tail to work with! Only then will you truly bring your mutation's utmost potential!"
'I like him already.' Asna said, chuckling.
'His approach is still soft-handed in my eyes.' The Jörmungandr lifted his head from the table and shook his head. 'If it was up to me, I would have placed a pool of acid below the track so no one would dare fall down at all cost.'
Felix trembled at the Jörmungandr's means. Although he was immune to poison, he still didn't want to imagine the scene of others falling into a pool of acid just to melt and then repeat the same process again!
"Landlord, didn't you hear me?" Silver Hammer snapped his finger before the dazed Felix and ordered, "Go up with the rest and find your own path in the course. Memorize it at all cost since memory is the trick to not messing up or falling down."
"Understood!" Felix gave him a slight nod before dashing towards one of the long pillars, leading to the course above.
Everyone was climbing on them akin to monkeys.
Obviously, no one dared to imitate Silver Hammer's way of reaching the course as they needed to jump 30 meters in the air!
It was impossible for them to achieve such a height with their strength. Heck, The strongest of them was merely a peak 2nd stage bloodliner unlike Silver Hammer, who was a bona fide 4th stage bloodliner!
For a peak-tier platinum ranker, it was only natural to have such strength.
Shortly after...
On top of a metal pole, Felix was resting his chin on a hand while peering at the complex metallic path.
Next to him stood the newcomer girl as well. Both of them weren't moving as they were watching the seniors' own way of crossing the path.
Soon...tststststs! Ahhhhhh!!
Felix flinched at the sight of a bloodliner getting electrocuted by blue charges after he reflexively used his hand to grip the metal pole instead of his tail!
Thud!
Later, he fell to the ground just like a mosquito falling after touching an electric trap. Then? He healed himself and went climbing up the pole again.
Seeing how his fate was going to be like if he didn't put his utmost effort, Felix didn't plan on wasting his time watching. Thus, he bent his knees and jumped towards the nearest metal pole.
While mid-air, Felix twisted his wrist allowing his tail more flexibility to clutch into the metal pole.
That was done pretty easily as Felix only needed to roll his tail twice on the pole and his grip was more than secured.
"So far so good." Felix started to swing back and forth to build up momentum for his next jump.
After feeling that he got enough to propel himself forward, Felix waited for a second until he reached his peak velocity before trying to let go of the metal pole.
Alas, by the time his tail unrolled itself, it was already too late as Felix's body was returning back to its neutral position!
"F*ck me!!"
Felix could only cry out loud in despair while falling 30 meters into the hard concrete ground!
Thud! Crack!!
'Ah, this is going to be fun to watch.' Asna said while laughing in pure delight at the sight of Felix's lying on the ground with his arm broken in a weird shape.
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