Chapter 191: Stat Discrepancy

Moon gritted his teeth and yanked her arm again. In his desperation, he placed a foot on her shoulder blade to bring more of the pulling force generated by his yanking in the right direction.

One time after another.

His eyes kept following her free arm while she tried to support herself with it in an attempt to resist.

Moon knew very well that this advantage he’d gained was thanks to how he exploited an opening; he also knew that there wasn’t any guarantee he could replicate it again.

The discrepancy in stats was too wide, and he felt very displeased with how things were unfolding.

Watching the scene, Boa found a tear slipping against her will. "Sister..." she whispered almost inaudibly.

Nola was standing wordless with a worried face, while Lexie was holding her breath and her eyes in anticipation.

Colten was starting to chew on his lip; his gaze was more fearful than anything. Not fearful of simply losing his money, but a deeper and more fundamental fear.

Bloodied, his lips parted. "Is there really no one who can defeat this guy?" he started to question the possibility.

Next to him, Dorbish was also watching, standing just like everyone else. "Without Echo, I think it really is impossible," he agreed with the claim; Colten was in desperate need for it to be refuted.

On the other side from Colten, Roran was on the verge of tears. "Lady Talia," he called in a shivering, pained voice.

In the top row, Ed rubbed his chin. "Hey, Lucen, what did they feed her for her shoulder to not break like this?"

Lucen didn’t avert his gaze from the ring. "I don’t think it’s something she ate," he answered nonetheless.

"What is it then? It’s not a Gift, an attribute maybe?" Ed pressed.

"How can you tell it’s not a Gift?" Lucen raised his eyebrows and moved his gaze to Ed.

Ed shrugged. "If you can’t tell what’s a Gift after living for so long, life was wasted on you," he said with a hint of mockery.

Lucen didn’t banter with him; his gaze returned to the ring. "Thanks to a certain group of three going crazy around the Tower, the training structure of anyone who was or might be targeted by you or your students was changed."

"Damn, we’re honoured," Ed said jokingly, poking Samuel next to him. "Did you hear that?"

Samuel ignored him as usual; he didn’t seem interested in talking to either of them.

Cough~

Ed couldn’t help it; he coughed lightly. "What’s it about anyway?" he asked.

Lucen crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. "Pain tolerance, heat, cold, shock, resilience, toughness." He counted six aspects. "These kids grow up under strain for the Tower to grant them these attributes as soon as they pass the first trial."

"Hoooo~" Ed exclaimed. "The old wound is still bleeding, I see," he said with a proud smile.

"About that, Edmond, shouldn’t your kid have toughness and resilience attributes considering his background?" Lucen suddenly asked.

Ed poked his nose. "Like hell if I know." He dismissed the question. "The Tower’s methods are hard to grasp even after studying them for many years."

Lucen shook his head. "Are you saying he doesn’t have them?"

"Nope, not that I’m aware of." Ed gave his answer a second time.

"Are you afraid I’d know more than I should about him?" Lucen asked again, pressing further.

Ed chuckled. "The kid has high pain tolerance; it makes the pain tolerance of these kids laughable at best, but that’s about everything."

Lucen waved his hand dismissively. "So he’s that tough and resilient even without the attribute." He laughed while speaking. "I guess I shouldn’t expect less from someone you picked."

"Of course you can’t compare," Ed said sarcastically. "This will be a bitter fight for both of them at this rate," he added.

In the ring, Moon stopped trying to yank Talia’s arm; instead, he pulled with everything he had.

All it took was one moment. Talia gave up supporting herself; her hand shot for Moon’s leg on her shoulder, expressing a wide and flexible range of motion that took Moon off guard.

Without a moment to slip away, her grip tightened on his foot. "DAMMIT!" he cursed as he found his entire body being lifted off the ground. He tried to hold onto her arm, only to realize his hand and her forearm were both sweaty and slippery.

Cheers erupted once again at the sudden turn of events.

Unable to hold onto anything, Moon found himself flying a couple of meters away after Talia threw him.

Sliding on the sand a little less than a meter more, Moon groaned and stood up.

Talia also got back on her feet, her usual calm face replaced by a deep frown and evident anger burning in her eyes.

Both of them were panting, but Moon more heavily.

"What kind of body is this?" Moon couldn’t help expressing his frustration. "What’s with that leg and arm range of motion? Dammit!" he cursed.

"Over my long years of fighting, this is the first time I have experienced something like this," Talia spoke in a low, threatening tone.

Moon pointed at her. "I can say the same. If you had a normal human body, I would have won a hundred times over," he spat angrily.

Both stood still for a moment, unable to decide how to proceed with this fight anymore.

"Brat, stop getting frustrated over every disadvantage you get into," Ed’s voice came to his ears. "This is the last fight that could ever be considered fair you’ll ever have."

Ed paused before adding, "Keep that in mind," he reminded.

Being told not to get frustrated and actually not being frustrated were two completely different things.

More than anyone, Moon knew what Ed was saying was an absolute fact. Soon, the Tower would strip him of the illusion of fairness; he’d start facing people with horns and transparent hair.

Might as well face people who breathe fire, or so Moon thought.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply, eyes locked with Talia’s.

"Fine," he said. "That works too," Moon added, loud and clear.

Talia’s frown deepened. "What are you talking about?"

Moon clenched his fists and extended his fingers repeatedly. "You’ll find out soon enough," he spat.

Without lingering for another second, Moon marched at Talia, but this time his speed was controlled and lacked momentum.

Talia took her stance again, not leaving anything to chance.

Moon had already taken advantage of her openings twice, and both times she only managed to get through thanks to her stat advantage rather than anything else.

Watching him fight and facing him were two different things; without her Echo, it was a huge disadvantage for her. Still, she didn’t have a choice if she wanted to keep anything hidden for when the second trial officially began.

Moon was someone with real life-and-death experience; he had the weight of a warrior and the skill to back it up.

A bead of sweat formed on her forehead, wetting her flowing red hair and glueing it to her skin. Talia ran her sleeve over her forehead. "I guess no matter what the result is, I’m getting punished as soon as I get back home."