BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 61 – Training Arc (Ali)

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Are you kidding me??

Only the tenth round and you’re giving me a Catastrophe Beast?

What are you going to give me in round twenty... a mid-level Catastrophe Beast?

Then in round thirty, a major Catastrophe?

Then what did you even leave for round fifty?

And round one hundred—am I supposed to face a dragon that tears apart space and time with its claws?

Damn you...

"Hey, you beast!" I shouted. "Have you suddenly become irrational? Did that wretched system infect you or something?!"

My voice rang loudly, struck the wall—

and received no answer.

"Yeah... now you’re silent, huh?" I snorted irritably. Once again, the damned thing didn’t reply.

Fine.

No need to panic.

I need to calm down... assess the situation. Yes.

A minor Catastrophe Beast. So what?

I’ve become a monster too.

Using... the Flame Art, I don’t think a minor Catastrophe Beast can stand before me.

Even five leader monkey beasts couldn’t endure the Flame strikes.

Are you telling me a minor Catastrophe Beast can?

Of course not.

Come on, Ali... pull yourself together.

No need to worry.

One step... then another.

Then—

I was inside. A hundred meters away from my opponent.

"Haaah?!" I shouted in shock.

The beast before me... was a monkey as well. But—

It wasn’t massive. It didn’t have multiple arms. No.

Its face was a monkey’s face.

Its body—

A human body. A thin, frail human body.

White as snow.

Its chest, head, and feet were bare.

Only its genitals were protected, covered in layers of ice.

Its legs were somewhat long, and overall it didn’t even reach two meters in height.

Its hands had four long white fingers.

Everything about it... looked normal.

But—

Quickly—

I summoned the Flame and wrapped it around my body.

My suspicion wasn’t late—what I feared became reality.

"That speed—?" I barely whispered.

It was already near me...

I barely raised my hand.

BOOOOOOM.

I was pushed back several meters.

Even though my body was wrapped in Flame—

The impact echoed through me from its sheer force.

I raised my eyes—

It was there again.

BOOM—

Thrown back again.

BOOM—

Sent flying once more.

I hadn’t even done anything—

Before it arrived again.

BOOOOM.

The blows were incredibly heavy.

Its frail body meant nothing at all.

BOOM—

BOOOOOOM—

For several minutes, the Flame protected my body perfectly.

But—

For how long?

That overwhelming speed and those crushing fists—

Were more than enough to restrain me completely.

After dozens of attacks—

The monkey didn’t stop.

But—

The Flame Art’s time... did.

Suddenly—

The beast was in front of me.

BOOOOOOOOM.

Dozens of meters—beneath the dirt and over it.

I rolled violently.

My left hand—broken.

I barely lifted my head—

When—

Another strike—

Another painful roll—

Another broken vertebra with a scream of agony.

I barely stood.

The beast was near.

I saw it—

The white fist surrounded by a violent current of air from sheer speed—

Flashed beside my head.

{ Time Ended }

{ Mission Failed }

The strike stopped.

I closed my eyes.

Opened them—

I was in the outer hall.

Panting. In pain.

"I expected it to be strong," I whispered. "But what is this..."

Before a minor Catastrophe Beast—

I was a harmless lamb.

I wasn’t fast enough to evade its strikes.

Nor was my defense strong enough to stop them.

I...

Was defeated.

A crushing defeat.

"What kind of monster is this?" I snarled angrily. "More than a hundred strikes—and it didn’t stop even once."

The intense frustration struck me deep.

After all those months—

To fall like this?

What a farce... as if all my training meant nothing. Damn it.

I lay on the white bed.

"Ahhh..." I groaned in pain.

My shoulder was dislocated.

Several ribs were broken.

If I hadn’t used Wind Blades in the final moments for protection—

My body would have been pierced by those fists.

Since entering training—

I hadn’t used the blades or the sword.

As for the giant eagle—

It cannot exist inside another beast’s dimension.

All I have for battle—

Are my blades, the sword, and the Flame Art.

No matter how I think about it—

None of them can stop this monster.

Damn it...

Two days later, I opened my eyes.

Went to drink water. Eat.

My body had recovered.

Now I need to build a plan.

Should I use all my weapons to guarantee victory? I don’t think it would help.

I didn’t use the sword or blades in previous rounds—

Because I was developing the Flame Art.

And when I needed them—

They had no effect.

The blades need time before they can deal damage to it... time I don’t have. I’d barely draw one, and with that speed it would already be above my head.

As for the sword—am I supposed to swing it at an opponent who can simply dodge the strike and sneeze it back at me?

Both seem useless.

That speed of its—that’s the real problem.

How am I supposed to face a monster like that?

I have to face it again. In the first encounter, I understood nothing. I need to understand at least one thing. I have to.

The next day—

I entered... uneasy.

I was brave, yes.

But not foolish enough not to worry after what happened the first time.

One step... then another.

Then the wind of movement blew.

I filled my body with the Flame Art again.

BOOOOM—

A powerful right punch.

I didn’t see it—

But I felt it completely.

Thrown away—

Several meters.

Then it was behind me.

Another strike. And another.

It repeated.

A massive headache struck my skull.

The beast’s chaotic movements and lightning-fast strikes caused terrible strain on my eyes.

Followed by severe pain.

After a while—

The Flame Art’s time ended.

Without waiting—

I pulled out two blades.

Merged them—

BOOOOOOM.

I didn’t finish merging.

I was sent flying.

"Aaaah!" I screamed.

Something broke again.

The pain and the sound—

I felt both.

I didn’t have the luxury of knowing where.

The yellow eyes. The drooling, smiling jaw—

Were near.

BOOOOM—

Break. Pain.

I forced myself—

Jumped aside.

I knew another attack was coming—and I might not be lucky like last time.

The beast followed.

Before it reached—

Blue light appeared.

I was transported outside.

Again—

It was hell.

Constant defense. No breathing space.

I gasped violently. Blood spilled from my mouth.

I lay down. Closed my eyes.

Hours later—I felt thirsty.

Despite the pain, I moved.

Two days later—

I was fine again.

I sat cross-legged. My head between my knees.

Then—

Something pleasant finally settled in my mind.

After rest and long contemplation—

I replayed the battle scenes in my head.

That beast—

All its strikes were high.

Every time, it aimed its fists at the chest and head.

It’s terrifying to realize—

Every target zone was a direct kill zone.

But—

It also opened a door of thought.

I stood up.

A smile formed on my lips—with some anxiety, of course.

Step after step—

I entered the space again.

The monkey gave me no time.

Attack after attack.

Nothing changed.

Its speed hadn’t decreased.

My eyes hadn’t adapted.

Its strikes were still heavy.

Each one pushed me several meters.

No rest. No space.

It depended entirely on how long I could keep the Flame protecting my body.

After dozens of strikes—

Finally—

The blue ray appeared.

Mission failed.

But the mission in my mind—

Succeeded.

In the outer hall—

I sat cross-legged.

Eating and drinking water—

Without a single broken rib or dislocated shoulder.

Finally, in the third encounter—

Time ended while I was unharmed.

Why did that happen?

Because simply—

I directed the Flame to protect only the part the monkey targeted.

Only the upper half of my body.

That’s why—

The time I could use the art became longer.

Because less energy was consumed.

It sounds simple.

But it was a gamble.

If that beast had directed even one attack toward my legs—

I truly don’t want to think what would have happened to them.

Damn it.

Now—

I have to try something else.

A day passed.

My accumulation filled again.

I entered—

Time ended.

Rested. Recovered. Tried again.

And again.

Then—

Days passed.

Finally—

In the seventeenth encounter—

The beast stepped back.

And stood in pain for the first time.

Since our fourth encounter—

I followed one plan.

The amount I saved from not protecting my lower body with Flame—

Again and again—

I redirected it, little by little, to strengthen the upper half.

Specifically—

My hands.

Where most of the monkey’s strikes landed.

Where I placed them in front of me for protection.

By the twelfth round—

The signs began to appear with each increase.

Strikes that used to throw me meters away—

Now only pushed me two or three.

Then—

By the fifteenth and sixteenth rounds—

I stood firm.

No matter how strong the blows were.

In this round—

I finally surpassed it.

The amount of Flame surrounding my hands—

Was stronger than the minor Catastrophe monkey’s punches.

That’s why—

I managed to injure it.

Even so—

I stood there, clear worry in my eyes.

One question—

Roared inside me like a raging storm—

"What if the beast decides to attack other parts of my body?" I whispered—

Closer to fear than concern.