Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 120: Comparisons

Liam couldn’t help but remain on his leafless branch. His ears still rang due to the howl, but his brain was too busy replaying and inspecting each scene of the battle in extreme detail for him to move.

Both level two magical beasts and rooting experts were strong. Liam had never doubted that, and the battle didn’t change his mind. It actually reinforced that belief, adding long-awaited details.

Level two magical beasts were as fearsome as Liam had predicted. Their bodies were tough, capable of withstanding attacks that would have killed their weaker counterparts on the spot without affecting their fighting capabilities.

Moreover, those creatures were unnaturally fast, as if their size weren’t a factor at all. They looked insanely strong, too, but that feature was easier to accept on such big animals.

Then, Liam had also experienced that painful howl, which he connected to the abilities magical beasts could develop. That attack was comparable to a cultivator’s martial art, which could have made him deaf if he had been closer to its source.

Still, Liam’s inspection soon moved to the two rooting experts, who claimed a far bigger share of his interest.

Joel was a straight-up better version of Liam. He was stronger, faster, and had access to a superior kind of Qi that made the same techniques unleash greater effects.

’That sudden sprint should have been the Sect’s rank 1 Forward Impulse,’ Liam guessed. ’I don’t know about the last defensive technique, but I’m sure he used the Seismic Palm, too.’

The comparison with Liam’s own martial art gave him a perfect idea of a rooting expert’s Qi’s superiority. His best Seismic Palm wouldn’t have managed to send such a huge beast flying, let alone inflict so much damage.

Yet, despite that clear inferiority, Liam didn’t see Joel as unreachable, and the same went for the level two magical beasts. Liam was weaker all around, but he had pulled off successful hunts and murders in similar conditions already.

Of course, Liam wasn’t considering a direct face-to-face there. Both a rooting expert and a level two magical beast sounded a bit too much to handle in a fair fight.

However, that conclusion drastically changed when Liam included Maxwell in his considerations.

With what Joel had shown, he would have struggled, or at least taken some time, to kill a single level two magical beast, let alone three.

Yet, Maxwell’s involvement changed both the odds and length of the battle, so much so that Liam could only describe him as deadly.

Now that the sword was in Maxwell’s hand, Liam could study it for what it was. That item had two sharp edges and an equally deadly tip, but no guard, seemingly more intended for flight rather than direct wielding.

The sword was also a rank 2 magical weapon, explaining how it had been able to inflict such fatal blows with relative ease. Actually, it seemed level two magical beasts were no match for such an item, but Liam didn’t fall prey to such delusions.

Magical weapons weren’t omnipotent. Just like martial arts, they required practice to use properly. Liam’s wooden knife had confirmed that, and the same went for his short time with the rank 1 bow.

Even if Liam had that flying sword, he would fail to wield it in such a deadly manner, and that went beyond mere control. Maxwell’s attacks had been extremely precise, showcasing complete awareness of the entire battlefield, vouching for his training and experience.

And that wasn’t even the end. Liam wasn’t sure, but he believed the jump Maxwell had performed to land on the magical beast’s head hadn’t been a martial art. It had simply been a seamless, superhuman, Qi-empowered action.

’Did that speed come from mere circulation technique?’ Liam wondered.

Qi was more than an all-empowering energy. There were mastery levels to its use, which was why cultivators always practiced their circulation technique. Still, that was Liam’s first time seeing such a massive difference in that basic skill.

Of course, a rooting expert’s Qi carried more power, so the mastery levels could showcase broader differences, and there was also another point to consider.

’Does he have a medium-grade circulation technique?’ Liam considered. ’Can the difference really be this big from my low-grade?’

Still, even when accounting for every possible detail and excuse, even considering the most favorable conditions, Liam was left with a single question.

’Could I dodge that flying sword?’ Liam thought, only finding grim results in the simulations his mind ran.

The notion of a flying sword would have been impossible to conceive for Liam a mere half a year ago. Instead, he only thought about facing it now, and failing to picture himself as the winner didn’t bring any disappointment. The opposite, actually.

Cultivators did gain a physical boost at the higher stages, but that improvement was incomparable to that of magical beasts. Their superiority lay in their arts and items, but their actual lives were frail.

’And I don’t need to fight in the same way,’ Liam realized. ’I have alchemy. I have poison.’

Other than completing a map in Liam’s head, that battle revealed another detail, albeit a more personal one. That prowess had been quite spectacular, and Liam wanted it.

’I want that strength,’ Liam acknowledged, ’And that bow. I truly have missed bows.’

Liam blinked in confusion when nothing rose through his ringing ears. The Ancestral Snake usually hissed at those times, trying to fill him with murderous thoughts, but only silence unfolded now.

’Nothing?’ Liam asked, seemingly to himself. ’No eat Maxwell and take his bow or something?’

Despite the question, the silence continued, even growing deeper at the ringing’s waning. Liam’s ears recovered just in time to let him hear the conversation among the corpses-filled lake.

"Brother Joel, I apologize," Maxwell announced, jumping off the floating corpse to enter the now redder waters. "I didn’t expect the magical beast to have a sound attack."

"Senior Brother, no need to apologize!" Joel shouted, still affected by the deafening howl, while removing the severed heads clinging to his body.

That removal revealed the many shallow injuries that had littered Joel’s body. Yet, the level one magical beasts’ sharp teeth seemed to have barely dug through his skin. He had hardly bled at all, and he was even already healing.

"This is my first time witnessing the rank 2 Iron Flesh," Maxwell admitted. "It’s quite exceptional."

"It’s a pity it makes me slow!" Joel shouted again, refusing that compliment. "Instead, Senior Brother truly humbled me! With you here, our victory is ensured!"

"Brother flatters me," Maxwell said, calmly lowering his head in respect, before glancing at the tree where Liam was staying. "Brother Liam, I suggest you stop thinking about how to kill us and help us collect these cores. The other teams might have heard that howl, so we must hurry."