Transcendent Gene
Chapter 242: Growth [6]

Chapter 242: Growth [6]

Whoooosh!

It was early in the morning. Four people were gathered on a training field for a duel they’d been anticipating.

It started several minutes ago, attracting eyes from all directions. It would have been a spectacle even if the four of them were fighting each other, but it was even more of a sight when three of them were facing the last.

And when those three could not gain more than a little bit of ground on their single enemy, it was only natural for a crowd to form.

None of the fighters paid attention to their onlookers. They were wholly focused on their own matters.

Gio grinned.

’They’re doing well.’

A wave of golden flames flew into the corner of his vision. He pushed back off the balms of his feet and avoided their trajectory.

Clang!

He raised a sword in the air, moving it expertly to parry a spear that came his way.

"Too slow!"

He ducked down underneath the blades and swept his foot forward. A wave of virtual flames shot out of the ground and forced his attacker back.

All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Bang!

A cloud of purple vapor filled the air around him before he could move out of the way. He protected his nose and mouth with Aether, however, he couldn’t stop the gas from entering his pores.

He felt his body slowing down as his mind was lulled into something like a high. His vision split into three right as two people appeared in front of him.

Shing!

On one side was a sword covered in energy and on the other was one covered in golden flames. Both blades rushed at opposite sides of his neck, but even in his stupor, he was prepared to fight back.

His energy rapidly swirled around his feet. He shot into the air, but he couldn’t clear the blades at such a close distance. Instead, he immediately sent the energy around his feet spiraling out into the world.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The energy slammed into the two blades and halted their path for only a brief second, but it was enough time for Gio to act.

He put his arms forward and shot several blasts of virtual energy at the ground, flinging dirt and dust into the air.

Turning around, he spotted the enemy at his back.

"It’s good that you know how to fight from a distance," he said.

Bang!

His energy shifted into wings, and in the next second, he was already in front of Serene.

"But you need to learn how to move better. Just because your opponent is distracted doesn’t mean you won’t get hit."

Serene gritted her teeth and put a bubble up around her body to protect herself. However, Gio already knew how to deal with her at this point.

Clap!

His hands came together and a tiny beam of superheated flame shot out of his finger. The moment it came in contact with the bubble, the entire barrier popped.

"You’re not impervious. Your enemies will eventually find out how to hit you if you give them enough time–"

[Golden Comet]

Boom!

The world was covered in golden flames. Shiro and Neriah charged into them together...

"Checkmate."

...but they never reached their target.

When the flames cleared, they saw Gio standing with his arm around Serene and a sword at her throat.

Shiro and Neriah both frowned as they dropped their weapons.

"Haa...how are you like this?!" Shiro exclaimed theatrically.

"We’ve improved a whole lot, you know? You shouldn’t be this far ahead of us still! Serene even hit Origin Level 1-3, and you’re still toying with us!"

Gio smiled and shook his head as he let go of Serene and dispersed his energy.

"You know that I train harder than you, right? I don’t know about these two, but I can say that for sure about you. Plus..."

He looked between the three of them.

"You almost got me that time, didn’t you?"

Serene was very good at using her bubbles at the most opportune moments. He’d almost gotten used to her patterns, but she was still able to catch him off-guard.

"If you guys had been able to use that opportunity better, it would’ve been your win. It’s not a matter of power, but one of battle sense and strategy."

"That’s what you always say..."

Serene smiled at Shiro’s complaining and handed out a few towels she grabbed from nearby.

"He’s not wrong, though, is he? We’re only losing because he’s better at reading us. We can definitely win if we have another month."

"I agree," Neriah said, her eyes filled with fire.

"You’re closer than you used to be, Gio."

He nodded.

She didn’t use her new Sequence in that battle. If she’d revealed that card and if Shiro revealed all of his cards, Gio knew he would lose.

’This group is much better than expected.’

Their improvement wasn’t all his doing. He just gave them a little boost. The rest was all their accomplishment.

’They still have a ways to go, but training behind closed doors can only take you so far. They’ve been digesting lessons on battle sense well, but for them to really learn how to conduct themselves, they need to face a blade that wants to kill.’

"So..."

Shiro brought him out of his thoughts by slinging his arm around his shoulder.

"If it’s just battle sense, then we passed your test, right? Right? You’re going to tell us what’s going on now, right?"

His eyes looked crazy. Gio couldn’t blame him. Shiro had been dying to find out where they were going for the past month. He asked after every spar, but Gio kept his lips sealed and didn’t let a hint of information leak.

Now that the promised time had come, he wasn’t willing to wait a second longer.

Serene and Neriah also knew what the purpose of this spar was. When Shiro brought it up, they also looked at Gio with excitement in their eyes.

"Haa..."

He sighed with a smile and escaped from Shiro’s clutches.

"We can talk about it more when there aren’t so many...eyes around us," he said as he glanced at the crowds in the distance.

"But I’ll tell you where we’re going right now."

There was more than enough anticipation hanging in the air. He didn’t need to prolong his words for effect.

"Have the three of you ever heard of Scenario Quests?"

It was like a bomb went off in their heads.

"Scenario Quests?"

"You mean those Scenario Quests?"

"Are you seriously telling me we’re going to do a Scenario Quest?!"

Three reactions came from three sides that all meant the same thing.

They couldn’t believe the words they were hearing.

"That’s right," Gio said, answering their surprise.

Scenario Quests were another of the world’s unsolvable mysteries. Like Riftworlds, they appeared randomly and could only be observed through monitoring equipment directly before they appeared.

The difference between a Riftworld and a Scenario Quest?

A Riftworld was its own world. A Scenario Quest locked a portion of Earth in its barriers and did exactly as the name suggested.

It created a scenario and gave those trapped within its bounds a quest they had to complete to escape.

Scenario Quests had nothing to do with monsters. They simply existed across the Gehenna Complex, which made their existence even stranger.

And using one of such strange existences, Gio planned to catapult himself to Origin Level 1-3 a mere month and some weeks after he reached Origin Level 1-2.