Seed Of Speed

"You've got to be kidding me..." Ngufi said as he watched Diego rip through the all ogres in a matter of minutes, never taking a single hit.

Yengu sighed but did not bother to remark. True, they both would probably survive if confronted by these numbers, but they would not show this level of ease. It was clear now that he was truly above their level despite the similar level of strength.

Celita had an impressed smile on her face as she watched Diego fight. She could already tell that he would win. That vortex of violet and white was too powerful for these creatures to have a chance. The Commander might hold on for a few minutes, but his power had grown much more that she expected.

"Come on, you ugly bastard!" Diego taunted, motioning with his hand.

The Troll Commander snarled at him then charged forward, swinging his sword horizontal. Diego waited as he watched in slow motion the Commander approach. His feet pounded the earth and the muscles of his arm bursting with power. Before the Commander could bisect Diego, he jumped up in the air with his [Six Silver Wings] still activated and flipped over the troll's head. He stabbed out, combining [One Strike, Ten Thrusts] and [Exploding Lunge], which caused the Troll Commander's head to explode with a shower of violet lightning.

Diego landed with his back to the trio and his spear vanished from his hand to be replaced by his bow. At the same time drew back his bow, he casted {Blue Ice Arrow} at his fingertips. By the time it had fully formed, he had reached a full bow, and he released the arrow.

The true power of his [Six Silver Wings] to multiple his speed shined as he combined it with his [Speed Sight] and archery. He unleashed a flurry of arrows without ever taking another step forward and killed all of the remaining trolls.

::Earth Ogre(x42) killed! 25(x42) Experience points awarded, 5(x42) Mastery points awarded! 1(x42) Skill point awarded to [Tri-Bladed Drill], 1(x42) Skill point awarded to [Ten Strikes, One Thrust], 1(x42) Skill point awarded to [White Lightning Shooting Star],1(x42) Skill point awarded to [White Lightning Array], 1(x42) Skill point awarded to [Speed Sight], 1(x42) Skill point awarded to [Tornado of Blades]::

::Earth Troll(x59) killed! 30(x59) Experience points awarded, 5(x59) Mastery points awarded!::

(Thanks for compressing all of it this time,) Diego replied silently.

Before Katalina could reply, Diego suddenly felt killing intent lock on him. His [Speed Sight] was still activated, so his reaction time was incredible. He threw himself forward to roll across the ground as he drew his bow and formed the arrow.

Celita smashed down a moment after he had escaped the range of the attack. Her killing intent vanished immediately as she pushed herself up and smirked.

"Get your spear. I want to see just how sharp that attack is," Celita said, taking a fighting pose.

Her body flashed with a dark green light and, when it faded, her appearance had changed. She was covered in thick black scales all over her body, and green spines topped her knuckles, elbows, and knees.

Diego eased the string of the bow back down then stored it away and pulled out his spear. She motioned at him just as he had taunted the Troll Commander which made him chuckle. In all honesty, he was just as curious as she was to see what his limit was now.

He shot forward, only using [White Lightning Shooting Star]. He did not add his Spear-Intent or the [Tri-Bladed Drill] to his attack because he wanted to see just how tough Celita's scales were before using his full strength. Though he was holding back, he never expected her to stop his attack with her open palm.

"I am far tougher than you can imagine. Show me your real strength," Celita said.

"I see, then try this," Diego said as he activated [Sonic-Oscillating Drill].

Celita clenched her wounded hand as she looked down at it, but Diego could feel the energy around her changing. She turned her eyes up and looked on him as she said, "Use your clones or whatever... just try to last for a few minutes."

Diego could not even ask what she meant before she launched herself forward with a spiky fist aimed at his face. He only managed to see it with his [Speed Sight], but he did not have enough time to move his body out of the way, so he took a gamble and casted {Spatial Swap} on both of them.

The spell was dangerous for him to use on another mage because they would be able to easily disrupt the spell with their own mana. Diego was gambling on the fact that Celita was a beastman, and therefore had no mana to interrupt the spell.

His gambled paid off and they switched places, with their backs to each other. Celita's attack hit empty air while Diego dashed off with [White Lightning Array]. She immediately followed up her punch with a sweeping kick behind her, but he was already gone.

With his moment of freedom, he used his [Speed Clone] to divide into six bodies, each equipped with a spear. They scattered into different directions and surrounded Celita, but she chuckled and clapped her hands together. A vile green mist was released from her body and engulfed all of the Diegos.

::Warning: You have just been infected Sinfu Paralytic Posion! Numbing effects for the next thirty seconds::

Diego's body felt heavy, but he still had control when Celita raced towards one of his clones. Three of his bodies casted {Thunder Clone} while another used {Spatial Swap} to save the [Speed Clone]. Celita's attack landed on the {Thunder Clone}, but due to his specialty with his spell clones, the clone popped like a balloon and showered her in violet lightning.

Celita narrowed her eyes as the sparks danced across her scales then kicked off the ground. Instead of switching out, Diego activated his black and red Manifested Armor. He had used his sixth body to form the prana energy that he needed, and combined with the new armor, he would be able to last ten minutes in this form.

Even with the numbing effects of the poison, Diego's speed was able to match Celita's due to his concentrated effort to maximize this quality through his armor. She swung her fist again for his face, but he met her attack with [One Strike, Ten Thrusts] and [Serpent's Strike] to curve his attack so that it would knock her fist off course. His attack managed to move her attack enough that he would be able to dodge it, but her body was still moving towards him at speed.

Celita's eyes went wide as she felt truly threatened for the first time in a while, but that did not she had no way to handle the attack. She took in a deep breath as her body became calm and tranquil. She stood in the shadow of one of the hutia trees which seemed to grow darker slowly, but by the time Diego's attack neared, it was pitch black in a void of five meters around her. The spearhead pierced the bubble around her, the [Tri-Bladed Drill], infused with Light chi from the enchanted spear, ripping the darkness away, but Celita was gone.

One of her racial ability, <Shadow Meld>, allowed her to escape nearly all forms of entrapment through the shadows. With this power and the environment of the Obor Jungle, she was even slipperier than Diego and his incredible speed. Instead of attacking one of the armored clones, her target was the remaining {Thunder Clone}, made easy to tell by its lack of armor or spear. From up in the tree, she waved a hand as used another racial ability, <Spine Shot>.

A large green spine shot through the air and destroyed the {Thunder Clone} with a shower of sparks. While the Diegos looked around for her, she jumped off the tree branch and dove straight for one of them like a meteor, her body transforming into its true form.

Diego felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he knew the attack was coming. The six Diegos pulled in tightly with their spears raised and they all activated [Tri-Bladed Drill] so that the chi blades were overlapping.

Celita was forced to twist in midair to avoid landing on the attack, but her back left leg was grazed by it, leaving a gash down the whole side. Her long tail twitched with aggression, but seeing that Diego did not push his advantage, she did not retaliate. The wound was minor, and with the natural regeneration of a draconic beast, it would heal in the matter of an hour. The problem she was having came from the hard scales she was so proud of being easily torn asunder by his attack. Part of her wanted to crush him for hurting her, but as those were the beast's side more than her human side, she ignored the dėsɨrė and returned to her humanoid form.

"That's good for now," Celita said. "Your strength is still lacking a little, but your speed and that one attack make up for it."

"Thanks," he replied with a chuckle, "so does that mean we are going to be spending even more time together, now?"

"You joke now, but there are a few secrets about the other worlds Rozama will explain, and you'll understand the irony of those words," Celita said with a knowing smile.