Chapter 186: Graduation Ceremony (10)

"Ugh," His left leg gave under, causing him to tumble. His body fell forth; his right hand reached up, concentrating the effect of the Tier 2 Skill in it, and grabbing hold of a protruding edge, one along the side of a rock pillar.

The momentum of his tumble carried him forward, causing his body to slam into the sides of the rock pillar, damaging his armour, coursing a shockwave through his insides, rocking his internals. Vishen Walta heaved ragged breaths, feeling his vision darken a little.

As he jumped from the top of one rock pillar to another, he had exerted the effect of his Tier 2 Skill on his legs. Despite concentrating most of the effect on his right, solely using it for all manoeuvres, he still had to allot a certain amount in his left to balance his foothold the moment he landed. This caused blood to spurt from his left every time he landed.

It was only thanks to his robust foundation, the foundation of a Tier 2 Warrior that he had managed to travel until now without fainting due to the blood loss. Vishen Walta closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, training his senses to his surroundings, ready to react upon a moment's notice.

The current him couldn't afford a sneak attack. He opened his eyes, regaining his sight to a bearable extent, noticing the end of the rock pillars. There were only three rock pillars before him; he spotted a swamp beyond, possessing a base colour of olive green, mixed with yellow and brown.

Vishen Walta took in a couple of deep breaths, turning behind to see the Floating Spiders stop their chase, unwilling to get close by. The cause for their pause wasn't him but something else; he had a faint inkling but didn't want to do anything drastic for the time being.

His initial plan was to head north and then scale west, scouting for the person in mind. But, with a change in plans, he treaded north-west, arriving at the end of the rock pillar terrain. Activating his Tier 2 Skill, he concentrated the effect in his right leg, crouching low to stress it further.

Upon the moment of relaxation, his body shot forth like a spring, one that had been released after being compressed to its limits. He landed on the top of the rock pillar before him, using the remaining momentum to execute another jump, followed by another.

He concentrated the effect of his Tier 2 Skill on both legs, raising their toughness as he landed on the final rock pillar, exerting strength in them, a result of his built-up momentum. Blood squirted out of his left leg, almost causing him to faint.

He hurriedly unleashed his aura, also controlling the muscles in the region, stopping the blood flow to a certain extent. For any normal wound, his body would have formed scabs by now at the very least. But, the bite of the Ring Worm contained toxins, one that prevented the body from healing the injury through its natural recovery mechanisms.

There was also the presence of the Essence of Frenzy, causing an itch in the bit region, producing puss, and also corroding the tissues, weakening the muscles. If this continued, he would soon be unable to exert strength in his left leg.

Despite the trouble, Vishen Walta wasn't flustered, looking at the surrounding with calm. The surface of the swamp was boiling, apparent by the bubbles forming and popping every second. A pungent stench coursed through the region, increasing his difficulty in breathing.

Through his high vantage point, he could easily spot the goals, inverted yellow cones, with their top surface shaped like circles, spanning a metre in radius. Their top surface was situated two metres from the swamp surface, with their bottoms almost touching it.

There existed large mounds scattered across the swamp, with most of them similar-sized to the goals. They were rugged, the rocky texture carrying with them a natural symmetry. The bursting bubbles splashed the swamp water on their rugged surfaces, coating them with the colours of olive green, yellow and brown.

"Lava Turtles!" His eyes widened, looking at the numerous mounds present in the swamp. Their sizes made their Tiers apparent, with the mounds thrice larger than the usual ones belonging to the Tier 2 Lava Turtles.

"1, 2, 7…17 Tier 2 Lava Turtles. I can't seem to spot the Tier 3 Lava Turtle." His brows furrowed, his mind immersed in thoughts. It was easy to glean the Tier of the Frenzy Beasts through the size of their bodies.

Even the Espers among the Frenzy Beasts, though smaller in body size were still identifiable, thanks to their external appearance sporting slight differences from their Warrior counterpart. That was how Vishen Walta was able to identify them easily.

He glanced around, using the enhanced senses brought about by his Tier 1 Skill to find traces of his Batch mates, in hopes of finding the girl in mind.

"There are none here," He frowned, taking a moment to think of the situation from their perspective. The teams were arranged in such a way that they were balanced overall. Every team had at least one Esper, with very few having more than one.

The battle prowess of each Cadet varied according to their rank, which was based on the number of Credits they had accumulated. Since one had to be well versed in various areas to accumulate Credits, and since they were graded and awarded on a variety of fields, their rankings were a direct reflection of their abilities.

So, they were assigned in teams in such a way that their overall strength conformed to their Batch's average. Vishen Walta's team was the best example. He was ranked second in their Batch, possessing exemplary skill in numerous fields.

His teammates though, were lacklustre, with all four of them ranked beyond the 600s. They were incredibly weak even in terms of Tier 1, a dead weight if he was being honest. But, thinking that not all members in his team in the future—when he took in missions to scout the Wilds—would be on par with him, he could only think of it as training.

They also didn't have much of a backbone, apprehensive of executing any bold manoeuvres. Within the short duration he interacted with them, there were many times he was irritated at their behaviour. But, not once did he express his irritation, guiding them with patience, instructing them knowledge they ought to know but failed to implement.

'Thankfully, their Sync Rates are only in the 50s. Otherwise, they would have lost control within the next 5-6 years.' He shook his head, concentrating on his task at hand. He memorised the many paths to the goals, tracing the patterns that were bereft of the Floating Spiders in the rock pillar terrain.

"The current situation where the four major races are keeping each other in check is the prime time for us to move around. If they aren't dumb, they should be coming out of hiding one by one, to seek better hiding spots along the border." He murmured, observing the status quo.

He stood atop the rock pillar on the edge, watching the swamp making contact with its bottom. Thankfully, the rock pillar was sturdy enough to not be dissolved by the swamp water and crumble. Though, he couldn't exactly predict its life. It was bound to crumble sooner or later.

'The rock pillars on the edge will collapse the moment an intense battle erupts in the region.' He rested, taking out another energy biscuit from his pouch to swallow. Even though the first one he swallowed was yet to be digested, in order to recover some blood, he consumed the second energy biscuit.

Thanks to the Nurturing of his Wisdom Parasite, he would be able to recover soon. He inspected the condition of his body, watching the changes in his wound, heaving a sigh of relief, "The Trait of Recovery and the Trait of Resistance are finally kicking into action."

Despite the delayed response, he was still happy that they had begun to work. This implied that the Essence of Frenzy injected into him wasn't at an alarming level, only to the extent being able to be ejected by his Traits.

This implied that he would recover enough even without any external healing aid, depending solely on his abilities.

His current position bordered two forces, creating a place of peace. The Floating Spiders didn't dare approach him, in fear of the Lava Turtles retaliating.

As for the Lava Turtles, they only moved occasionally, their sole purpose being for food. Even then, they didn't hunt actively. Vishen Walta gazed at a mound, spotting tiny grey objects, nodding in comprehension.

"As expected, the Hunter Clams are on them." He swerved his head, looking north, finding a team walk out, still vary of their surroundings but looking prepared against any contingencies. The team was led by a familiar face, an individual ranked in the top 10 in their Batch.

She was a Warrior, her strength inferior only to his own. There were various levels of damage inflicted on her armour but she didn't sport any wounds, looking healthy, retaining complete battle strength.

Following behind her was another team, led by a girl whose armour was in tatters. Though, except for the tiredness she displayed, she wasn't injured. Her teammates looked exhausted, occasionally glancing at their team leader with an expression of gratitude.

"She's here!" Vishen Walta smiled, feeling relief. He activated his Tier 2 Skill, jumping from one rock pillar to the next, keeping an eye on them as he approached.