Zach walked into the receptionist's office, checking in for the day. He noticed the receptionist seemed to glance over at him more than usual, occasionally fumbling over her signature, but didn't think much of it, probably because it was so dark.
She asked him a few questions, like where he was and how he survived, and Zach answered all of them with honesty, except for the fact that he was out hunting monsters.
Zach walked out of the administrative office and into the training hall. It was night, so the training halls were empty.
He decided to crank up the dummy level to 8 initially but decided to try 7, because he didn't want to die.
The dummy flashed to life, bolting at him with unimaginable speed. Zach held his signature hook blades, defending against the dummy's ruthless and flashy attacks.
The dummy moved with the speed and accuracy of a speeding hawk. Zach grinned, activating his skill.
This time, he did something different. His pupils turned bright golden, the vison of the hall stretching into uncanny detail—his eyes hadmorphed into that of an eagle.
[Mp 307/312]
And it consumed his soul essence way less than it initially did.
The training hall echoed as Zach's wooden blade clashed with the dummy's. The dummy moved with a fluidity like that of a seasoned fighter, striking Zach relentlessly with force.
Zach moved too, striking with precision. The eagle's eyes allowed him to truly grasp the wooden sword's trajectory with relative ease, easily parrying its rapid strikes.
Zach didn't notice, but each strike actually accelerated with the force of a whip.
The eagle's eyes would make him able to predict, not actually win. Zach had to come up with a new strategy.
The instructor said what you needed was speed, strength, precision, reflex, and endurance. But all that was built over time.
But Zach found out he could use his technique to do that instantly.
Zach practiced precision with the eyes of a hawk; his pupils turned a deep ember, able to perceive attacks three times slower.
He practiced his strength with a partial transformation of a gorilla, specifically around his shoulders and hips, able to launch attacks with extraordinary power.
Zach turned his hearing into that of a bat, using echolocation to navigate his surroundings. He was able to hear a cadet's breathing from a mile away and a butterfly nestling on flowers outside the hall.
He basically had eyes behind his back.
Zach trained his speed by morphing his legs and shoulder joint into those of a cheetah. Speed made him unpredictable in battle.
Zach could also morph his skin into that of a crocodile to increase his defense.
His reflexes were more important, so he decided to train with the reflex of a mantis. This gave him lightning-fast reflexes and bone-shattering strikes.
Then stamina—the most important.
It took a while for Zach to understand it, but ultimately, he went for the lungs of a great white shark.
Great white sharks had exceptional breathing and could swim for days without fatigue, so he ultimately chose it.
The result: a grotesque combination of different monsters.
But looks don't matter when you're out here in the battlefield fighting for your life.
It was still a hypothesis; Zach had trained with each attribute but never combined them.
This time, Zach turned his reflex into that of a mantis, his hearing into that of a bat, and his eyes into those of an eagle.
The combo was deadly. Zach was able to parry all attacks, become a master of foresight, weaving through one of the dummy's attacks and delivering a fatal follow-up to the dummy's side.
Zach huffed and puffed on the training ground. He'd been using the skill for quite some time, but his soul essence didn't go down as fast as it usually does.
Zach found out this skill when he was fighting an electric eel monster—a near-death experience that made him realize he could combine animal traits in one humanoid body.
After Zach's repeated battles with the dummy, he came up with four beast forms.
He realized each transformation could be slotted into one "category," so he doesn't always need to stack everything.
Instead of all traits at once, he could pick 2–3 at a time, depending on the fight.
Hunter Mode: (Precision, Speed, Awareness)—Eagle eyes, cheetah legs, bat hearing.
He becomes a tracker/predator, perfect for fast-moving duels or scouting.
Breaker Mode: (Strength, Reflex, Defense)—Gorilla shoulders, mantis reflex, crocodile skin.
Turns him into a frontline bruiser. Counter-heavy, trades blows without folding.
Endless Mode: (Endurance, Reflex, Awareness)—Shark lungs, mantis reflex, bat hearing.
Designed for long, drawn-out battles. He doesn't tire and reacts to every feint.
Assassin Mode: (Precision, Speed, Reflex)—Hawk eyes, cheetah legs, mantis reflex.
Pure burst damage. He can blitz a target before they realize it.
The sun rose, and all the students gathered in a large field.
Zach had used the hunter mode one, and he was able to move with the precision of a seasoned knight.
"Well I guess that all"
Zach stuffed his hand in his pocket walking to the the cadet gathering.
"Zach!!" Richard hugged Zach from behind, startling him.
"I thought you got eaten by those damned monsters." Richard's eyes welled up.
"Yeah... something like that..." Zach scratched the back of his head.
"You have no idea how lonely I've been without you." He cried.
Zach's mind went to the scene in the dorm. Zach hoped Ragnar had stepped in for Richard, but judging by the bruises and bandages on Richard, that appeared not to be the case.
"Wait, something's wrong?" Richard instinctivly pulled away, inspecting Zach's body.
"You've... changed." He muttered, placing his hand on his chin like some Einstein.
He pondered for a bit. "I think your hair has gotten darker." He stated.
After all Zach's changes, that was what he noticed? Zach couldn't dwell on it much, as the duel was about to commence.
The entire school was gathered, and the instructor climbed atop the stage.
An instructor with a scar in his left eye walked up to the stage.
"This is the rank evaluation," he said. "As usual, if you can defeat one person from the rank you want to attain, then you can go higher in the rankings." He gestured.
"Now, let the rank evaluation... begin!"
'Exactly like last time.' Zach internally noted.
The following sequence of events that followed were predictable; some bronze knights attained the rank of silver.
The trainees were done, and now it was time for Zach.
Zach took a step forward; Richard held him.
"Wait? Where are you going?" Zach smiled.
"Higher, brother." He stated in a dramatic tone as he stepped atop the stage.
Gale looked at the cadet who was a good-looking young man with brown hair, but his rank did not fit his face, as he was just at the bronze rank.
Gale sighed. "Another bronze rank? These gold ranks got no balls." He hissed.
"I challenge..." Zach pointed at the silver ranks, then his finger traced the crowd till it ended at a young man with white hair and ruby-blue eyes.
"Prince Arthur Voldemort." Richard collapsed on the spot; the crowd erupted into outrage; even some of the instructors wore confused looks on their faces.
Gale looked at this bronze-haired kid with an unreadable expression.
"Is he an idiot?" "Tch, that's outrageous; please don't waste our time." One of the academy instructors, Rudolf—a short man with a scruffy beard—snickered.
"But there's no rule stating that a bronze knight couldn't challenge a platinum knight." Zach grinned.