Chapter 132- Light Clones
A few days pa.s.sed after that in peace. Kaya and Eva continued their training with renewed vigor. Their progress was astonishing, to say the least. It even exceeded what Kai predicted they would be able to do.
Then, shockingly, after only one week, they were able to do it. They were able to do a full day inside the lake. Granted, it was extremely hard and took a toll on their bodies but they achieved the first step successfully.
"You both did good," Kai said as he looked at the time. "24 hours and 12 minutes."
Kaya and Eva beamed happily when they heard his words. These past few days were extremely hard but finally, it was all over. Or so they thought.
"Now, we will move to the next step which is way harder than before." He said.
When they heard his words, they felt as if energy was pulled out of their bodies. They were already aware that things would only get harder but to hear these words after the h.e.l.lish training they went through, it was soul-crushing.
Kai already knew that so he decided on what to do before they started.
"Have you seen how much you two improved strength-wise?" He asked.
Both shook their head so Kai stood up and signaled for them to follow him. The trio approached a random tree nearby and then Kai told Eva to stand in front of it.
"How much damage could you deal to a tree with a punch?" He asked.
"Hmm, I would say, I can destroy the tree with one punch if I put in some power," Eva replied.
"Punch this tree without using Origin." He instructed her and Eva nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Eva took a fighting stance before she sent a flying punch toward the tree. What happened next was shocking.
*BOOOOOOOM*
The tree was snapped in half as if it were a biscuit. It didn't even take a second for it to happen. But, that wasn't the end of it. The after-effect of the punch moved past the tree and hit another tree, breaking it in half too. Then, it moved to the tree behind it and the one behind that. The trail of destruction only stopped at the sixth tree.
"What… the… f.u.c.k…" Eva murmured in a daze as she looked at what her hand had just done. She hasn't used anything at all. In fact, this punch only used 60% of her normal strength without Origin. Her eyes then shifted to look at her fist. After what happened, she was seeing it in a new light now.
Eva was reborn.
"Your body had gone through a transformation as it kept absorbing that pure Origin. You're now at least a few times stronger than before."
"This is amazing!! Kai, oh my G.o.d!! Thank you!!" Eva jumped on Kai happily as she hugged him.
She couldn't describe the excitement she was feeling at seeing how much she approved in one week. She could've never imagined that she would reach such a level any time soon. Yet, her beloved had made her dream real, just like he always does.
Kai put her down gently before he turned to Kaya and said. "Your turn, Kaya."
The latter was also shocked but she had recovered and positioned herself in front of another tree and launched a straight fist.
*BOOOOOOM*
Her attack destroyed the first tree with great ease before destroying the rest of the trees behind it, only to stop at the 8th tree.
"Tsk…" Eva clicked her tongue when she saw that Kaya exceeded her. She felt frustrated that she was still behind Kaya in power. However, she wasn't jealous as she knew that Kaya reached her level with hard work and dedication.
"Hmm, not bad. Thank you, my love." She said as she blew him a kiss mischievously.
"You two have reached the next level in strength. However, strength isn't everything. Remember that your goal is to evolve your control over Origin. This first step only tempered your body for the next step."
"What is the next step?"
Kai didn't reply as he slowly crouched down and touched the ground before he channeled his Origin and activated a talent that he hadn't used in years. This was one of his strongest talents and also one of the rarest powers in the world. However, because of one single flaw in it, Kai doesn't really like to use it.
But, in this situation, that flaw won't be a problem and it will also be helpful for him.
"Light clone." He murmured as a bright light emitted from his body, blinding Eva and Kaya. When their vision was restored, a new silhouette appeared beside Kai.
It was surprisingly a carbon copy of Kai albeit that it had dead eyes that didn't seem to belong to a human.
The two girls blinked a few times. Clones aren't that rare as a talent. Many Origin users can create clones of themselves using a lot of elements like fire, ice, rock, etc… However, what all of these talents share in common is that the clone they create is unbelievably weaker than the user. Precisely, they're 15% to 25% the strength of their user. More high-quality clone talents that Origin users can buy in auctions could reach 30% but that's the maximum.
Even though Kai's light clone is far better than those clones as he manipulated light itself to form this clone and that makes it more sustainable and depending on the nature of the environment and how dark or bright it is, the clone's strength will also vary. Kai's light clone talent can make clones that can reach an outstanding 50% of Kai's strength.
However, that came with a price and that's where the flaw of this talent comes from. It consumes an astronomical amount of Origin. So much so that even Kai, who has the purest Origin in the world and has the biggest Origin pool still can't use them freely.
"Each one of you will get a clone like this. They will attack you with simple punches and palm strikes. I want you to neither deflect nor dodge the attack." He explained.
"Huh? What you want to say is… We should take the punches?" Kaya asked confusedly.
"Precisely. But, that doesn't mean you don't defend yourself. However, the only way you are allowed to defend the attacks is with Origin."
"... Is that supposed to be harder than the previous training?" Eva didn't see where this was hard. She naturally uses Origin to defend against incoming attacks so it wasn't that complicated.
However, Kai's next words crushed that idea completely.
"You are only allowed to use Origin at the exact spot where the clone will hit you. You can't coat your whole body with it."
"..."
's.h.i.t…' (x2)
Eva regretted she even asked. Those simple few words increased the difficulty by at least one hundredfold.
*Click*
Snapping his finger, the clone suddenly turned into two in a split second. The two clones stood there silently, waiting for Kai's command.
"You will keep fighting these two until you learn to use Origin to the highest efficiency."
*Gulp*
"Understood?" Kai asked.
"Y-Yes!!" The two girls said in union.
"Good. Now, let's begin."
*Click*
The moment Kai clicked his fingers again, the two clones vanished from where they were standing and appeared in front of Kaya and Eva. The two were a little surprised as they found themselves faced with a punch to the stomach. Instinctively, they tried to block it. But, Kai's voice resonated in their ears.
"Don't use your arms. Take the punch."
*BANG*
"Ugh!" (x2)
The two girls felt the weight of the punch as they grunted lowly. It wasn't a lethal attack but it still hurt.
Jumping back, they tried to readjust themselves. However, the clones didn't give them a breather.
'This is going to be a long ride…' (x2)