Chapter 16: Mastering the Paths - Law Comprehension Breakthrough
Alex stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, noting the dark circles under his eyes. Two years of intensive training had left their mark. At fifteen, he looked like he'd aged three years, though his body was in the best shape of either life.
"Morning, Aria. Time to see what two years of madness has accomplished," he muttered, grabbing his VR headset.
"Good morning, Alex. Today marks exactly two years since you began Six Paths training. I've prepared a comprehensive assessment of your progress." Aria's voice carried that mix of artificial cheerfulness and genuine curiosity that made her surprisingly good company during those marathon training sessions.
His parents thought he was just an obsessed student who spent way too much time in educational simulations. If they only knew their son had spent the last two years pushing human potential beyond every known limit.
The familiar sensation of diving into Veritas washed over him as the real world dissolved. His personal laboratory materialized - a massive space that could simulate any environment or condition with 99.999% accuracy. Perfect for testing abilities that would be impossible to practice safely in reality.
"Alright, let's see the damage," Alex said, walking toward the central testing area. "Full combat assessment. I want to know exactly where I stand."
"Acknowledged. Initiating Six Paths integration test." The space shifted, becoming a pristine combat arena surrounded by crystalline walls that could withstand continental-level attacks. "Shall I begin with individual path analysis or combined assessment?"
"Combined. I didn't spend two years learning party tricks."
Alex took a deep breath and activated all Six Paths simultaneously. His body enhanced, granting superhuman strength and reflexes. Psychic energy flowed through him like liquid lightning, ready to manipulate matter at the molecular level. His consciousness expanded, creating multiple projections of himself throughout the arena. The elements responded to his will - fire, water, earth, air dancing around him like obedient servants. Space twisted slightly as he prepared micro-teleportation sequences. His cellular structure shifted, preparing adaptive defenses.
Six massive Elemental Halos materialized behind his back in a perfect hexagonal formation - blazing crimson for fire, deep azure for water, earthen brown for earth, pale silver for air, crackling gold for lightning, and pristine white for ice. Each ring spun slowly, casting shifting patterns of colored light across the arena. He looked like a god descended to test his power.
"Integration efficiency at 97.8%," Aria observed with something approaching awe. "Beginning combat simulation. Tier 4 opponents incoming."
The Tier 5 Massacre
Five holographic warriors materialized, each radiating the distinctive aura of Tier 5 cultivators. Their forms were based on actual combat data from human military archives - veterans who had survived dozens of battles against Void Creatures.
The first opponent, a broad-shouldered man wielding a crackling energy spear, lunged forward with inhuman speed. To most people, he would have been a blur. To Alex, he moved like he was underwater.
Alex didn't even shift his stance. A casual gesture sent a wall of compressed air slamming into the warrior's chest, launching him backward. Before the man could recover, Alex's fire halo pulsed, and a stream of superheated plasma followed the air blast. The holographic warrior disintegrated on impact.
The remaining four attacked simultaneously, clearly programmed with tactical awareness. A sword-wielding woman came from the left while an archer fired energy arrows from long range. A massive brute with stone-covered fists charged straight ahead as a robed mage began weaving defensive barriers.
Alex smiled and activated his metamorphosis path. His skin hardened to diamond density while his muscles expanded slightly, optimizing for explosive power. The sword strike that should have severed his head simply sparked off his transformed flesh.
"My turn," Alex said conversationally.
His psychic projection split into three copies, each one perfectly solid and wielding different elemental powers. The first projection intercepted the archer, ice coating its hands as it froze the energy arrows mid-flight before shattering them with telekinetic force. The second projection grappled with the stone-covered brute, its earth-enhanced strength allowing it to match the warrior blow for blow.
Meanwhile, Alex himself faced the sword-wielding woman and the defensive mage. He teleported behind the mage in a flicker of spatial distortion, his lightning halo crackling as electricity coursed through his fists. The mage's barriers shattered like glass under the assault, and Alex's follow-up strike sent the hologram flying into the arena wall.
The swordswoman tried to take advantage of his apparent distraction, but Alex had been tracking her with peripheral psychic awareness. He spun, catching her blade between his diamond-hard palms, then headbutted her with enough force to crater concrete.
Within thirty seconds, all five Tier 4 opponents lay defeated.
"Impressive," Aria noted. "Energy expenditure: minimal. Shall I increase the difficulty?"
The Tier 6 Challenge
"Bring it on," Alex said, rolling his shoulders as his elemental halos spun faster.
This time, eight Tier 6 warriors materialized. These were different - their movements sharper, their energy signatures more intense. Based on elite human cultivators and captured Void Creature combat data, they represented serious threats that could level city blocks.
The lead warrior was a tall woman with silver hair and eyes like molten gold. Energy coursed around her in visible patterns, and when she moved, reality itself seemed to bend slightly around her form. The others spread out in a perfect tactical formation, their coordination flawless.
"Now we're talking," Alex muttered, his six paths harmonizing as power flowed through him like a controlled hurricane.
The silver-haired leader struck first, her speed so extreme that she covered fifty meters in a blink. Her fist, wreathed in destructive energy, would have obliterated a building. Alex teleported at the last instant, reappearing directly above her as his fire halo erupted.
A pillar of flame descended like divine judgment, but the woman rolled aside with inhuman grace. Before Alex could adjust, three other warriors converged on his position. One wielded twin energy blades that hummed with cutting force, another manipulated gravity to create crushing fields, and the third launched volleys of crystallized psychic energy.
Alex's consciousness split four ways while his body enhanced to its maximum potential. His primary self engaged the blade-wielder in a deadly dance, teleporting around her strikes while counter-attacking with precisely controlled elemental bursts. His water halo provided fluid defense, creating barriers that redirected rather than blocked her attacks, while his earth halo gave weight and power to his counterstrikes.
His first projection battled the gravity manipulator, using spatial distortion to counter the crushing fields. Every time his opponent tried to pin him down, Alex folded space around himself, turning the increased gravity into a slingshot effect that launched his attacks with devastating force.
The second projection fought the psychic warrior, matching crystallized mental energy with his own telekinetic strikes. The arena rang with the sound of invisible forces colliding, sending shockwaves through the air that would have flattened normal humans.
His third projection engaged the remaining four warriors simultaneously, using his ice and lightning halos to create a devastating combination attack. Lightning-charged ice spears materialized by the dozen, each one guided by telekinetic precision. The warriors found themselves dodging an increasingly complex pattern of attacks while bolts of electricity arced between the ice projectiles.
The battle raged for over a minute, the arena filled with explosions, energy discharges, and the ring of clashing forces. Alex found himself actually working hard, his enhanced reflexes pushed to their limits as he coordinated four separate combat streams while maintaining his elemental manipulations.
The turning point came when he managed to isolate the silver-haired leader. Alex teleported his main body directly into her personal space while his projections created a wall of elemental attacks to prevent interference from her allies.
"Lightning-Fire Fusion Strike!" Alex called out, more for his own focus than any dramatic effect.
His lightning and fire halos synchronized, creating a devastating combination attack. Superheated plasma formed around his fist while electricity jumped between his fingers. When the strike connected, it didn't just hit the leader - it created a controlled explosion that sent shockwaves through the entire arena.
The leader staggered, her energy patterns disrupted, and Alex pressed his advantage. His metamorphosis path shifted his cellular structure for maximum kinetic transfer while his body enhancement provided the raw power. The follow-up strike sent her crashing through three of the arena's reinforced walls.
With their leader down, the remaining warriors' coordination faltered. Alex's projections capitalized ruthlessly, overwhelming their opponents with synchronized elemental assaults. Within seconds, the last of the Tier 6 holograms dissolved.
Alex stood in the center of the devastated arena, breathing hard but victorious. His elemental halos flickered, and he could feel the psychic strain hitting him like a physical weight.
"Tier 6 opponents eliminated in 2.1 minutes," Aria announced. "However, I'm detecting severe energy depletion. That appears to be your current limit for peak performance."
"Yeah, I can feel it." Alex dismissed his elemental rings, returning to normal appearance. The divine aura faded, leaving him looking like a tired teenager again. "What about law integration? Show me what happens when I add the cosmic principles to the mix."