Chapter 191: Academy Training III

Soon, it was Alex’s turn.

After several more students finished their battles, Abigail called his name. Alex stepped forward and selected a training puppet before entering the training area.

"Remember, the puppet will become stronger with every passing minute. Don’t focus only on attacking. Pay attention to how your Rule interacts with your opponent’s abilities," Abigail reminded him.

Alex nodded and faced the puppet.

The battle began as soon as the training puppet moved.

Alex raised his hand, and several jade vines emerged from the ground, rushing toward his opponent. The puppet dodged the first few vines before striking the rest with its fists, tearing them apart.

However, Alex didn’t seem concerned. He continued controlling his vines while observing the puppet’s movements.

A few minutes later, the puppet suddenly changed its fighting style and launched a series of rapid attacks.

Alex barely managed to defend himself. One punch struck his shoulder, forcing him to retreat several steps.

He grimaced but quickly regained his balance.

"Your opponent is getting stronger. Don’t let it control the pace of the battle!" Abigail called out.

Alex nodded and took a deep breath.

A faint reddish-green energy began spreading around his body. It was the power of his Lesser Supreme Rule of Blood Sap.

Unlike Rules that directly enhanced physical attacks, Blood Sap allowed Alex to manipulate the vitality of living things. Against an opponent with a physical body, its power could gradually weaken the target by draining its vitality. However, using that ability against a training puppet was difficult because the puppet wasn’t a living creature.

Fortunately, Alex’s class provided him with another way to use his Rule.

His Jade Vine Weaver class allowed him to connect with plants and control their growth. By combining Blood Sap with this ability, he could strengthen his jade vines and improve their vitality.

The reddish-green energy spread through the vines, causing them to grow thicker and more vigorous. Their emerald surfaces shone with a faint reddish glow as Alex sent them toward the puppet again.

This time, the vines were much harder to destroy.

The puppet tore through several of them, but the remaining vines wrapped around its arms and legs, restricting its movements.

Alex immediately took advantage of the opening and attacked.

He fought with surprising efficiency, switching between offense and defense without wasting many movements. Whenever the puppet broke free, Alex adjusted his strategy and used his vines to restrict its movements again.

As the battle continued, the puppet’s strength increased. Alex was forced to use more of his energy to keep up, but he continued fighting.

Twenty minutes passed.

Then thirty.

Even after thirty minutes, Alex was still standing. His breathing had become heavier, and sweat covered his forehead, but he showed no signs of giving up.

Finally, Abigail intervened and stopped the battle before Alex pushed himself too far.

"That’s enough. You can come out now."

Alex released his control over the vines and walked out of the training area. Although he looked exhausted, he was still conscious and able to move without assistance.

Abigail looked at him with approval.

"Not bad. You adapted quickly and made good use of your class abilities. However, your control over Blood Sap is still too limited. You need to learn how to apply its power more efficiently."

Alex nodded before taking a few deep breaths.

"I understand, Teacher."

Kaiser watched him return to the group.

’He fought like a veteran,’ Kaiser thought.

It wasn’t surprising. Alex had inherited knowledge and experience from an ancient powerhouse, giving him a much better understanding of combat than most people his age. Even though his current strength was limited by his rank and his low comprehension of Blood Sap, he could still make sound decisions under pressure.

Kaiser didn’t comment on it, though. Alex had his own secrets, and there was no reason to expose them in front of the other students.

Instead, Kaiser focused on the training puppet.

’Blood Sap is a Supreme Rule, but its initial comprehension is only one percent. Even so, Alex managed to use it alongside his class. I wonder how much I can accomplish with Shattered Soul.’

He had no intention of copying Alex’s fighting style. Their classes and Rules were completely different, so he needed to find an approach that suited his own abilities.

Soon, Abigail called his name.

"Kaiser Storm, you’re next."

Kaiser stepped forward and entered the training area. After selecting a puppet, he stood several meters away from it and waited for the battle to begin.

The puppet immediately charged toward him.

Kaiser didn’t summon any undead or draw a weapon. Instead, he raised one hand and focused on the dark energy of his Lesser Supreme Rule of Shattered Soul.

A faint black aura gathered around his fingers.

Unlike ordinary mana, this energy carried a strange sensation that seemed to reach directly toward the soul. Even at its current level, Kaiser could sense its destructive nature.

However, sensing its power and using it effectively were two different things.

He needed to find out how Shattered Soul would interact with an opponent’s defenses, especially when the opponent’s strength increased with every passing minute.

The puppet reached him and threw a punch.

Kaiser leaned aside, allowing the attack to pass his shoulder, and touched the puppet’s arm with his hand.

He tried to channel Shattered Soul into it.

For a brief moment, the black aura spread across the puppet’s body. Then it faded without producing any noticeable effect.

Kaiser narrowed his eyes.

’As expected. The puppet doesn’t possess a soul, so directly damaging it with Shattered Soul won’t be easy.’

Before he could examine the situation further, the puppet launched another attack.

Kaiser dodged again and retreated several steps, carefully observing its movements.

He had other ways to defeat it, but that wasn’t the purpose of this training. If he relied on his undead or overwhelming strength, he would gain little understanding of his new Rule.

He needed to learn how to use Shattered Soul effectively.

’If I can’t affect the puppet’s soul, I need to understand how this Rule behaves when it comes into contact with other forms of energy.’

Kaiser had chosen the Lesser Supreme Rule of Shattered Soul for a specific reason. The Rule contained two distinct concepts: Shatter and Soul.

The Soul aspect allowed him to attack and damage the souls of his enemies, making it particularly suitable for his Death Genesis class. However, the Shatter aspect was equally important.

Even if he encountered an enemy with an incredibly powerful soul, or a being that possessed no soul at all, he could still make use of the Shatter aspect. Rather than relying entirely on soul damage, he could focus on shattering his opponent’s defenses, energy, or other forms of protection.

Or simply the opponent itself.

Of course, he still needed to understand how far this aspect could be developed. Simply knowing that the Rule contained the concept of Shatter didn’t mean he could immediately apply it to everything.

’Let’s see how much I can accomplish with it.’

Kaiser raised his hand and focused on the black aura surrounding his fingers. Instead of trying to force the Rule’s energy into the puppet, he concentrated on the concept of shattering.

The puppet charged toward him.

Kaiser waited until it was close before releasing a concentrated burst of Shattered Soul toward its chest.

The black energy struck the puppet’s defensive barrier.

Crack!

A faint cracking sound rang out, and the barrier briefly distorted before returning to normal.

Kaiser’s eyes lit up.

’It worked!’

Although he hadn’t managed to break the barrier, the result was enough to confirm his suspicion. The Shatter aspect could interact with the puppet’s defenses even though it couldn’t directly attack its soul.

’So the Rule isn’t limited to damaging souls. If I can improve my understanding of the Shatter aspect, I might be able to use it against different kinds of defenses and energy.’

This was precisely why Kaiser had chosen this Rule. He didn’t want an ability that would become useless whenever he encountered an opponent with an unusual constitution or powerful soul. By mastering both aspects of Shattered Soul, he could develop a much more versatile fighting style.

He continued experimenting, changing the amount of energy he released and adjusting how he directed it toward the barrier. Some attacks produced almost no effect, while others caused brief cracks or distortions.

Each attempt gave him a little more information about how the Rule behaved.

However, the training puppet wasn’t going to give him unlimited time to experiment.

As the battle continued, its strength increased with every passing minute. Its attacks became faster and more powerful, forcing Kaiser to pay greater attention to his movements while maintaining control over Shattered Soul.

For the first time since entering the training area, he began to feel some pressure.

Still, Kaiser wasn’t frustrated. He was more interested in what he could learn from the battle than in defeating the puppet quickly.

’This is exactly what I need. I can’t expect to comprehend a Supreme Rule simply by sitting in my room and meditating. I need to test its limits and understand how its different aspects work.’

He dodged another punch before gathering black energy around his hand. This time, he concentrated on a smaller area of the puppet’s defensive barrier, attempting to focus the Shatter aspect rather than spreading its power across the entire surface.

The attack struck.

Several faint cracks appeared on the barrier before vanishing.

Kaiser narrowed his eyes, carefully analyzing the result.

He still had a long way to go before mastering Shattered Soul, but he had already discovered a way to use its Shatter aspect against something other than a soul.

That alone made the training worthwhile.

With renewed focus, Kaiser continued experimenting, determined to uncover more applications of his Rule before the session ended.