The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

As for the test of speed, it's pretty simple. Souta just needed to run as fast as possible towards the finish line back to the starting line ten times without using any sort of energy or skills.

'Too bad you can't use your energy. You have a lot of skills that could boost your speed yet you can't use any of it.' Saya laughed in his mind.

'Don't be like that, Saya. It's just a test and I'm quite curious how fast I am without using any skills.' Souta replied to her as he looked Manduk.

Manduk noticed his glance and he nodded in return. "You can start anytime."

Souta took a deep breath and his expression turned serious. The distance between him and the finish line was fifty meters. He had to run back and forth ten times to complete the test. As for how fast he covered it will determine if he could fast the test.

In short, he had to cover one thousand meters as fast as he could.

'Don't let your expectations high again. You can travel faster than light in outer space if you used all of your skills yet in this world it's impossible. Plus, you can't even use your gravity power to boost you so don't expect anything.' Saya said as a matter of fact.

Souta nodded inwardly when he heard her words. He had a question in his heart. How does that work? Is light faster here in Imperium than in other worlds or not?

The light speed in Imperium wasn't constant unlike in sub-world. There were some places in Imperium where light couldn't travel and even places with super high-density mana would slow down the speed of light. Sometimes the light would synchronize with mana increasing its speed several times.

Imperium was a Divine World. The basic knowledge in another world sometimes wasn't applicable in Imperium. That's why for folks of sub-world the Imperium was the most mysterious knowledge. Their knowledge would be turned upside down.

A place without light. Souta could still use his eyes as his eyes didn't light to perceive the things around him. His eyes could directly look at the energy in the surrounding. That's the same for high-level beings but Souta gained this ability even before he could reach that level.

If he improved his spell damage more then his gravity ability would be enough to isolate light.

"Go."

Souta opened his eyes widely and his figure flashed. In the eyes of other people, they only saw that Souta's figure had vanished but in the eyes of S-rank and above they could see him too fast.

Swoosh!

In the next moment, Souta was back in his position. He stood straight and fixed his clothes. He was fast but it still took him less than 1.919 seconds. It was definitely slower than his speed in the sub-world.

If he used my energy then my speed would increase. Then, he still had several movement skills that could greatly boost his speed so it wasn't that bad.

'Plus, this is Champion's Den. The mana density in this city is higher.' Souta said inwardly.

He recalled the Clan Leader's sound attack. The attack of the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan was definitely faster than normal sounds as it was imbued with a huge amount of Rowan's mana.

"Not bad. It's good." Manduk nodded and he recorded Souta's score.

"Next is the energy level, right?" Souta looked at Manduk.

Marduk shook his head and said, "I don't think we need that for you. You're a third evolution stage monster so you're energy is best feram not mana like us humans and demis. The quality of your energy isn't something that I can question. So we'll immediately proceed to the combat prowess."

"Oh, so how are we going to test my combat prowess?" Souta asked even though he already knew the answer.

"It's simple. I'm a One Shackle Realm so you're going to fight me and show me all your might. After that, I will decide if you are qualified to join our legion or not." Manduk said as a grin formed on his face.

"Oh? It's pretty troublesome." Souta raised his eyebrows. He didn't need to show all of his aces on this test. It's not a life and death battle.

Manduk turned on the five sensory types and said, "Call five more and erect a barrier to isolate us. Don't forget that this man is a monster so don't let his best feram affect your mana. Use quantity to fight quality."

"Yes, sir." The five sensory types nodded.

Souta and Marduk waited for a whole minute. After the battlefield was set up, the two began to prepare themselves.

"Since this is a test for combat prowess, you can use your release form to show me your true power," Manduk said as he raised his hand and signaled Souta to come and attack him.

Souta wasn't the only one on the stage right now. There were dozens of people taking the same examination but Manduk's words gathered the attention of the audience.

"Oh?!"

"Wait! Did Instructor Manduk say that that guy is a monster?!"

"A monster joining the Athen's Warriors!!"

"That monster didn't want to join the Goddess' pets so possibly that is the reason why he wanted to become a warrior!"

"But why is a monster here?!"

"I don't know. I don't even know that he is a monster until Instructor Manduk said it!"

"He didn't look like a monster! He looked like an ordinary demi for me but who knows what he will turn in his release form!"

"Oho! This will be better worth watching!"

"We have a lot of audiences here so you better not get distracted. Just focus your attention on fighting me." Manduk smiled.

Souta nodded before he took a deep breath. In the next moment, a huge amount of best feram burst out as he charged towards Manduk like a beam.

Swoosh!

The moment he arrived in front of Manduk, Souta's body inflated as black mist spread out in the surrounding.

"Going all out at first but it still took you 0.0003 seconds before you enter your fighting posture," Manduk commented as Souta swept a huge sword covered in black flesh.

Manduk shifted his body and easily avoided Souta's sword. The sword landed on the ground and it caused a huge fissure.

Boom!

Souta didn't hold back at all. He was fighting an opponent at shackled realm so if he hold back then it would be his demise.

He used [Cat's Speed], [Strength Boost], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Agility Boost], and [Shadow Steps].

He slashed his sword repeatedly but Manduk managed to dodge all of his attacks easily.

"What about this?!!"

Souta raised his hand as he activated the [Dark Cloud Hunting]. When he brought his hand down, a powerful gravity bore down on Manduk's body.

"This...! You..." Manduk opened his eyes widely.

[Shadow Bind]! [Shadow Ball]!

Black tentacles rose from the ground as ten black energy spheres spread out.

Souta then charged his best feram on the blade of his sword. He swung it horizontally.

Swoosh!

A burst of energy flew out and it obliterated everything in front of him.

Boom!!

Alice, Eztein, and Eilish were watching the battle intently.

"This... That guy is stronger than the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan." Eilish muttered as she narrowed her eyes.

Both of them were One Shackle Realm yet the difference in strength was huge. It was surprising to see someone stronger than the Clan Leader. She thought that the Clan Leader was already strong among the One Shackle Realm yet she didn't expect that she would see one in this place. Even the One Shackle Realm experts of the Council of High-World that she fought before weren't as strong as this one.

This greatly widened her view.

"Our boss's opponent is strong but boss is amazing too. He is growing too fast. At the time when boss fought the Clan Leader he isn't that strong but now..." Eztein said while watching the battle. His attention wasn't on Manduk but on Souta.

Although he knew that Souta had that space with a different time, the strength that he was showing today far surpassed what he knew.

"But why our boss isn't using his killer skills." Eztein wondered. From his point of view, if Souta used those skills even if he couldn't defeat Manduk the evaluation would be higher.

"Souta is cautious. He wouldn't easily reveal all of his cards." Alice said.

"Mm..." Eztein glanced at her before he continued watching the battle.

...

"You're amazing! I didn't expect that you would be stronger than any of the third evolution stage monsters that I've seen before." Manduk said with a faint smile.

"Tsk, it's nothing but it's still not enough to defeat you," Souta said in response.

"You're the best but there's still a limitation to third evolution stage so if you wanted to defeat a person that broke a shackle then you need to reach your next evolution first," Manduk said.

"I will reach that point soon so let's continue this!!" Souta launched himself with overwhelming force.