Chapter 266: Stack
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 266: Stack
A few minutes later.
After a tragic and unyielding struggle, Muen finally exhausted his last shred of strength, collapsing onto the ground like a pile of limp mud.
His blonde hair had been blasted into a wild, gravity-defying mess.
Teacher Mela sat on him once again, elegantly using a toothpick to eat fruit from a plate.
"Not bad, kid. Three minutes and five seconds. That’s better than I expected."
"..."
Muen turned his head with a numb expression, staring at the slender toothpick in Mela’s hand. A deep sense of lingering fear flickered in his eyes.
He had never imagined that a simple toothpick in Teacher Mela’s hands could unleash such terrifying power.
He could feel how fragile that toothpick was.
He could feel that Teacher Mela hadn't infused it with much Fighting Spirit, nor had she used much physical strength.
He could even sense that the move she used was still just Thunder Roar.
But that simple Thunder Roar had undergone a different kind of transformation in her hands.
Thunder Roar.
Originally, it was just a shockwave that mimicked the rumbling of thunder. But when she used it, it felt as if it had truly become the manifestation of ten thousand lightning bolts.
He could still clearly recall the terrifying sensation from moments ago—the feeling of being struck by a thousand bolts of lightning simultaneously the moment Elizabeth made contact with that toothpick.
But it wasn't actual lightning.
Thunder Roar was an ordinary martial technique; it didn't possess any elemental characteristics.
Its essence was still a shockwave generated by the vibration of the body or Fighting Spirit.
But why was there such a world of difference in the power of a simple shockwave?
Was Teacher Mela’s "slight" improvement really this terrifying?
"Heh..."
Sensing Muen’s confusion, Teacher Mela didn't answer directly. Instead, she asked, "Kid, do you know what your current flaw is?"
"Flaw?"
Muen took a ragged breath and thought it over carefully. "My moves are too one-dimensional? A limited repertoire? A lack of powerful martial techniques?"
Actually, he didn't need to think too hard.
He had already discovered these weaknesses during his duel with the Banshee, whose realm was an entire tier higher than his.
The skills he could currently use were: first, Shadow Step; second, the blade techniques evolved from Dagger Combat Technique; and third, Thunder Roar.
Beyond that, there was nothing.
That was why he called it a "three-trick pony" repertoire.
A limited repertoire wasn't a problem when facing opponents of similar strength, but once an opponent’s raw power surpassed his, this weakness became glaring.
"Ho, it seems you have a clear understanding of your current situation."
Mela glanced at Muen with a hint of surprise and said, "But if you ask me, that’s not where your real problem lies."
"It’s... not?"
Muen frowned, puzzled.
"When it comes to skills, more isn't necessarily better. What matters is how well they suit you. Your footwork and blade techniques are a perfect match for you; they allow the characteristics of your Time Dilation to be fully displayed. Therefore, for you, they are the best."
"Even the move you call Thunder Roar..."
Mela made a grasping motion with her small hand. "Hmm, it has a short wind-up, rapid burst, and high concealment. It can catch people off guard and interrupt many skills or spells. For you, it’s a move with extremely broad utility.
"However—" Mela’s tone shifted. "Among all your moves—your so-called 'three tricks'—none of them include a certain type of capability."
"A certain type?"
"Exactly. A means to break force with force."
"Break force with force?"
Muen couldn't help but frown.
He was confused.
Up until now, he had gone all-in on the path of the agile, sharp-bladed, death-defying, "crazy-dog" assassin.
Suddenly asking him to break force with force felt a bit...
"Like forsaking the root for the branches?"
Mela sneered as if she had read his mind. "Think carefully. In all the predicaments you've encountered so far, what was the common factor?"
"What factor..."
Muen instinctively began to reminisce.
Then, his eyes suddenly lit up.
It wasn't hard to figure out, because he hadn't had many head-on confrontations with enemies.
And every time he suffered a loss, it was because...
"You were 'forced' into a head-on clash with the enemy, but because you were at a disadvantage in terms of raw power, you took a major hit. Is that it?"
"...Yes."
"That’s the point. No matter how fast you are, how eerie your footwork is, or how strong the Eternal Clock is, there will always be moments where you have no choice but to clash with the enemy head-on, or moments where you're trapped in a situation where you can't utilize your advantages. Just like now."
Mela clapped her small hands.
Suddenly.
Muen felt the soft, delicate body pressing down on him become incredibly heavy, as if a mountain were crushing him.
Caught off guard, Muen nearly had the wind knocked out of him.
"See? In a situation like this, which of your three tricks would be effective?" Mela looked down at Muen’s reddened face and asked with a giggle.
"But..."
Muen took a deep breath, finally recovering from the pressure of this thousand-pound loli, and gritted his teeth. "When the power gap is this large, no technique is going to work, right?"
"Mhm, that’s true under normal circumstances. But you are different."
Mela stared into Muen’s eyes. Within those amber-red pupils, a profound and fanatical light erupted.
"Even though the degree to which you can use it is extremely limited right now, as long as you can deploy it, the possibilities that the power of time brings you... are infinite!"
Infinite!
That word was like a chisel, slamming into Muen’s mind and causing his heart to stir uncontrollably.
"You might have subconsciously realized this yourself, which is why you wanted to learn powerful martial techniques. To some extent, powerful techniques can compensate for this weakness. However, I don't recommend you learn high-power martial techniques right now. There are two reasons."
Mela held up two fingers.
"First, high-power martial techniques generally require a certain wind-up. Other martial artists who specialize in that path can create openings using other moves, but you can't.
"Second, most exquisite martial techniques require one to be at the Fourth-Tier—reaching the human limit and being able to use condensed Fighting Spirit—to exert their maximum power. For the current you, it’s a very inefficient trade-off. Therefore..."
"Therefore..."
Muen stared straight at Teacher Mela, his throat suddenly feeling dry.
"Therefore, your genius teacher spent a fraction of a second thinking seriously and created a technique tailored specifically for you.
"—Stack."
"Stack? Like that move just now?" Muen smacked his lips. "But I didn't see anything clearly."
"That’s why you’re a stupid disciple. Your comprehension is so poor."
Mela gave a disdainful pout, then raised the toothpick in her hand once more.
"This time in slow motion. Watch closely."
In an instant.
Everything in time slowed down.
Incredibly slow.
The toothpick in Mela’s hand extended slowly. Because it was so slow, Muen almost doubted if the toothpick was moving at all.
Then.
The toothpick suddenly vibrated.
Thunder Roar.
It vibrated again.
Another Thunder Roar.
It continued to vibrate.
Ten times, twenty times...
A hundred times.
A hundred vibrations of Thunder Roar. But because time had been slowed down so much, the aftershocks of the first vibration hadn't even ended before the hundredth vibration began.
Then, time returned to normal.
A terrifying surge of energy erupted violently before Muen’s wide eyes.
A hundred Thunder Roars.
Blooming simultaneously.
It was as if thunder had descended from the heavens!
"Did you see it clearly this time?"
Mela chuckled. "As I said, this isn't a move; it’s a technique. A stacking technique.
"Stacking power in an instant and then releasing it all at once to erupt with unimaginable force. In short, if once isn't enough, do it ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times.
"If your duration and strength aren't enough, then win through frequency and explosive bursts!"