Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 90
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Skill Devouring to the 666th Floor Episode 090
90. Teaching
Before the duel began.
Jason glanced sideways at his opponent.
‘He’s not backing down, surprisingly?’
Honestly, he wasn’t certain this was Amon.
He had simply requested this duel because he wanted to feel a strong opponent’s skill.
More than anything, the provocative remarks from earlier had wounded his pride.
‘He wants to check my skills? Fine. Let me show you properly.’
If this was really Amon, he wouldn’t be much of an opponent, but he was confident he could at least land one hit.
However.
‘Why isn’t he preparing?’
Unlike himself, who had taken off his suit jacket and picked up a training spear, his opponent hadn’t taken any preparatory stance.
So.
“Aren’t you going to take a weapon?”
He asked.
“I’ll use my fists.”
Came the reply.
To be honest, it was disappointing.
‘Is he not confident about dueling with weapons?’
He would have preferred a weapon versus weapon match…
‘Since he wants to go bare-handed, I guess there’s no choice.’
It might be better this way, since showing his spear arts to a stranger might be overwhelming.
He was about to accept the opponent’s proposal and put his spear back on the weapon rack when.
“Jason, you can keep holding it.”
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
“I said you can use the spear.”
‘Ah… so he wasn’t suggesting we both fight bare-handed?’
He was telling me to hold the spear.
While he would fight bare-handed.
Naturally, the one with a weapon would have an overwhelming advantage.
‘Is he that confident?’
Well, he had lost to Joshua before, so if this opponent was really Amon, this level of handicap would be necessary.
“Then I won’t refuse. There will be a big difference in stats…”
“Yes. Please do.”
“What should the duel rules be?”
“Let’s do it the same way I did with Joshua.”
“Joshua?”
When he turned his head, Joshua was smiling.
“I’ve dueled with Tae Seong a bit too.”
“Really? How was it?”
“Just… you’ll know when you try.”
It was a cryptic answer, but Jason understood.
He could tell what kind of mood Joshua was speaking from.
‘That guy… he has the expression of someone saying “go get beaten up once”?’
Was he saying Amon was that strong?
Amon?
Of course, the difference between a Floor 106 conqueror and a 20th Floor conqueror was obviously like heaven and earth.
But Jason, who was serious about honing his techniques, believed that technical differences could cover physical specs too.
“So, what were the rules you two used?”
“The rules were no weapon use, no items and skills, and you lose if you’re subdued or surrender.”
“Everything’s forbidden?”
“Ah! The restrictions only apply to Tae Seong, not you. You can freely use skills, items, and weapons.”
“What…? Skills too?”
Weapons were one thing.
But he was allowing skills too?
‘Then… it would be too easy.’
No matter how big the spec difference, if skills were allowed too?
‘He might get hurt if I’m not careful.’
Jason was already worrying before they had even started.
Reading that expression, Lee Tae Seong smiled and said.
“Don’t worry about me and feel free to use your skills.”
“But if you get hurt…”
“That will never happen. You’ll have trouble even grazing my clothes.”
“That will absolutely never happen. It would be hard to even brush against the hem of their clothes, wouldn’t it?”
Twitch—
Jason’s eyebrow moved.
What he just said crossed the line.
‘Isn’t he being too arrogant?’
No matter what, bare hands against a weapon.
And even allowing skills on top of that.
“Joshua. Did you use a weapon?”
“No.”
At those words, Jason also put down his training spear.
“Why? Going bare-handed?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t seem right to draw a weapon when meeting for the first time.”
“Well, do whatever you want. Hehe.”
His friend’s laughter was annoying, but he stepped forward without caring.
“Are you really sure about this?”
“Yes. Let’s start quickly.”
Joshua, standing between the two, took on the role of referee.
“Then, get ready… Start!”
As soon as Joshua stepped back, Jason quickly launched the first attack.
Swoosh!
A jab flew in with the sound of cutting through the air, grazing empty space.
Then a straight punch thrown like a charge.
A hook with power from the waist, followed by an uppercut.
Jason’s fists moved without rest.
‘You’d be in big trouble if you thought I only knew spear arts.’
After all, he was a former special forces soldier who competed for 1st and 2nd place with Joshua in the unit.
However.
‘He’s dodging all of this?’
His opponent evaded all the close-range punches with wind-like agile movements.
Narrowly, by exactly one span’s difference.
‘Could it be on purpose?’
A technique that couldn’t be shown without an overwhelming stat difference.
‘Then how about this?’
Jason flinched his shoulder as if to strike, giving a fake, then.
Whoosh!
With a sharp sound cutting through the air, he stepped and threw a serious punch.
If the attacks so far had been thrown as a test, this time it was a strike with full power.
But.
‘He dodged this too? Then…’
This time he probed a few times with jabs, then suddenly twisted his body and tried a surprise back kick.
A technique that any special forces soldier would find hard to dodge.
‘He dodged again?’
He tried mobilizing every technique he could think of, but.
Hook! Hook! Hook!
Not a single hit landed.
It felt like fighting a ghost.
It was hard to even graze his clothes.
‘He’s completely toying with me, isn’t he?’
Rather than humiliation, awe came first.
He didn’t take the sight of dodging by a hair’s breadth badly.
It just.
Are you still not going to use a spear?
Even with such a gap between us?
It only felt like that kind of message.
‘No matter what I do, there’s no answer.’
The bare-handed duel that started out of stubbornness now only left regret.
Then.
Smack!
“Urgh!”
With flashing vision, he was knocked down in one hit.
It was the price for letting his guard down.
“Are you okay?”
“Ugh… I lost.”
Jason, who grabbed the outstretched hand and stood up, couldn’t lift his face in embarrassment.
The one who had been arrogant wasn’t his opponent, but himself.
“I thought I had a chance even barehanded… I was wrong. This is shameless of me, but could I try again with a spear?”
“Yes, please do. This time, try using skills as well.”
He had given permission for both weapons and skills.
Though he had lost pathetically earlier, this time he was confident he wouldn’t go down easily.
Clack!
As he gripped the spear, a sense of stability returned.
The familiar grip of the training spear he had handled hundreds of times.
‘If I use Thrust, the spear exclusive skill…’
At least he should be able to surprise Amon.
But no matter how he looked at it, this didn’t seem right.
“This won’t do. Please take up a weapon.”
“A weapon?”
“It seems too unfair for me to be the only one with a spear.”
Fists against fists, weapons against weapons.
This duel would only have meaning if they fought on equal terms.
Even if he lost, there should be something to learn, shouldn’t there?
“If that’s what you want, very well.”
Amon approached the weapon rack and took out a training spear.
“Oh? You know how to use a spear?”
“Yes. I handle it quite well, if I do say so myself.”
A spear?
‘He’s probably just saying that out of pride.’
No matter how much his opponent was the world’s Supreme Apostle, he wouldn’t have had many occasions to wield a spear.
He couldn’t compare to someone like himself who had practiced day and night with blood and sweat since having the Master of Spearmanship as his sponsoring spirit.
‘When it comes to spear arts, I won’t lose easily.’
Though he hadn’t been practicing for long, he was confident in the technical aspects.
Beyond training, he had rapidly mastered it through real combat against monsters.
‘Of course, there’s a difference in specs, so I might be pushed back.’
But in technique, he was superior.
It was worth a good fight, he thought.
Until they crossed spears.
Thwack! Clack!
The wooden spears made for training clashed several times in the air.
‘Wh-what is this?’
What had started as a simple skill check had Jason’s expression more serious than ever.
‘Why is he so good with a spear?’
The confidence he had at the start of the duel crumbled in an instant.
It wasn’t just strength – there was too much difference technically as well.
‘I was… a frog in a well.’
Amon’s technique of using the force of the clashing spear to smoothly deflect it was nothing short of admirable.
‘To turn this situation around, I have no choice but to use a skill.’
Jason, who was timing when to use his skill, soon thought.
‘Now! Thrust!’
He aimed for Amon’s shoulder with a deadly Thrust skill.
Swoosh!
But Amon’s spear, rotating in a curve, easily deflected the attack.
‘So, so futilely?’
Several exchanges followed.
Spear against spear, each targeting the other’s openings.
But neither could finish it.
‘No, he’s deliberately not ending it.’
With Amon’s specs, it would have been enough to exploit an opening in the blink of an eye and end the duel.
Yet he was dragging it out like this?
Anyone could see he was going easy.
‘Is he trying to teach me?’
When he swung his spear horizontally, Amon defended by holding his spear shaft vertically.
Then he slipped through a momentary gap and connected it into an attack.
Smooth and graceful movements.
It was truly admirable.
I could feel it too.
‘He wasn’t lying when he said he could handle a spear.’
It wasn’t just handling it either.
It was truly the level of a master.
His aura was incomparable to what it was at first.
‘Sharp. So sharp I can barely look him in the eyes.’
Once the duel began, he became a completely different person.
Now I realized that appearing easygoing during the meal was intentional.
‘A little more… I want to learn a little more.’
I wanted to continue this kind of duel longer, but.
“Let’s end it now.”
Clack!
In an instant, he knocked away the spear and placed it against Jason’s throat, bringing the duel to a close.
“Hah…”
Joshua, who had been watching, couldn’t close his mouth the entire time.
‘To think Jason would be overwhelmed even in spear arts…’
Having dueled with him countless times, Joshua already knew Jason’s level of spear arts.
‘He was sharp enough to make even me nervous.’
But Amon went one step further.
He overwhelmed Jason while using dazzling techniques even he had never seen before.
‘That guy is completely out of it.’
The duel was over, but Jason still couldn’t think to move.
He just stood there blankly with a shocked expression.
That’s when a voice was heard from the side.
“Hello.”
When I turned my head, it was a familiar face.
The CEO of Winterstone Energy.
“Isn’t that Oliver Winterstone? What brings you here…”
“I came to discuss some business matters with Isaac… but I didn’t know you’d be having such an interesting match.”
“Ah…”
Unintentionally, the audience had grown.
Well, the embarrassment belonged to Jason.
“So Tae Seong won in the end?”
“That’s right.”
“Impressive. To think he could use spear arts like that too. Truly befitting of Amon.”
Oliver smiled slightly.
Then his expression hardened.
“You knew from the beginning, didn’t you? That Tae Seong was Amon.”
“I knew.”
“If you knew, you could have at least given us a hint…”
Oliver made a disappointed expression.
Joshua had no choice but to apologize.
“I’m sorry. At the time, I had no choice.”
“I understand. I wasn’t trying to hold you responsible either.”
“But what did you come to discuss with father…”
“Ah, actually…”
Oliver spoke honestly.
After all, if he told Isaac, Joshua would find out anyway.
“I came because I want to make a separate contract with Costech.”
“With us? What kind of contract?”
“The purpose is to establish a long-term strategic partnership in preparation for future energy industry transitions. Including technology sharing and joint business ventures.”
“A long-term… partnership?”
England’s leading energy company was extending their hand first.
Even though Costech would be a small company in comparison.
I could roughly guess why they were doing this.
‘It’s because we have a partnership with Amon.’
This was all thanks to Amon.
I managed my expression while trying to suppress the corners of my mouth from rising.
“What exactly does it involve?”
“Let’s go and discuss the details.”
Since the duel was over, Joshua nodded and asked Tae Seong and Jason for their understanding before moving to another location first.
Just as Lee Tae Seong was about to move as well.
“Lord Amon.”
“…?”
Jason suddenly knelt down and bowed his head deeply.
“Please! Grant me your teachings!”
“What?”
“I want to serve you as my master! I want to learn Spear Arts!”
At those words, Joshua stopped walking and turned around.
‘That guy… is he serious?’
He wants to take Amon as his master.
What would Amon’s answer be?
“Very well.”
He readily agreed.
“However.”
There was a condition attached.
“You must come to Korea.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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