Speed Is King

"You have a forbidden spell that can kill Emperor level entities?" Hillary Sands, affectionately called "Aunt Hills" by Jessica, couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.

"Well… If I go all out, and if they don't use their secret life saving trump cards at the Hegemon power level… Sure. I can." Jessica Sands replied half absent mindedly.

She was still feeling pretty frustrated at being nagged on by her grandfather endlessly. He had been checking up on her at least twice a day for the past few days!

"Confidence is good. But don't let it turn into overconfidence. It will be the death of you in a real battle." Aunt Hills chided her lightly.

Jessica Sands merely sighed and nodded. She didn't want to and didn't have the energy to explain anything to her Aunt Hills.

It had been a really boring week for her! Elliot had been holed up in his camp and training nonstop. Having lost her main source of entertainment at around the same time her grandpa became exceedingly naggy made her mood extremely foul.

"Well at least Elliot had mastered the first stage of his sword technique." She sighed. "He'll be able to take on most of the fugitives and Inserts now. Hopefully he'll meet someone strong soon."

"He will. Based on the beast data, somehow all of the beasts in California are powering up rapidly, especially in the area where he is. There are already fifteen new Kings born within the past seven days, and three of them are already close to peak level." Jul'Taras commented without looking up from her information pad.

"There's a Sludge Viper nest near him with a powerful level 350 - 375 Matirarch that would probably keep him busy for… I dunno. Two minutes? And a Gaboon Swingtail Tribe with a level 375 - 399 Patriarch that would also be a relatively strong threat."

"Boring!" Jessica dismissed them with a wave of her hands. "Where are the strong ones? Fugitive Kings, Overgeared Inserts and the sort?"

"For some reason, there are not many fugitives and Inserts in the vicinity. There are only two. Strange. I wonder why. Let me check the deta- Oh. It's Khalendros and Khellendra." Jul'Taras frowned lightly.

"Kha- who?" Jessica asked.

"Khalendros and Khellendra Tempest. Blue Dragons from the Tempest Clan." Monkey King replied grimly. "Your wish for strong enemies has been granted in full. In fact, more than just full. I don't think even I can defeat Khalendros, much less Khalendros AND Khellendra together. They must be part of the second wave of Inserts sent specifically to participate in the Battle of Kings."

"Really? Can you beat Elliot though?" Jessica looked at Monkey King thoughtfully.

"Haha!" Monkey King couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "With one hand, one leg and my eyes closed, I'll probably take a minute to beat him senseless."

"A minute? You're being modest, Wu Kong." Jul'Taras smiled at him.

"Well, maybe half a minute." Wu Kong grinned back at her.

Jessica was frowning deeply at their words, and failed to notice the slight sparks that were gradually forming between the two.

"If he's that much weaker than you, and you can't defeat even one Khalendros, isn't he screwed big time?" Jessica Sands said worriedly.

"Not necessarily. The two dragons don't seem to be looking for him. They're just randomly picking fights with strong beasts and fugitives. If Elliot stays away from them for the next few weeks and continue in his speed of improvement… He should be strong enough to at least survive an attack from them and escape. Coupled with your blink skill, his survival should be all but certain." Jul'Taras analyzed.

"Which reminds me. When will he get access to blink? What are the conditions of unlocking your boon?"

"The secondary boon could only be unlocked at King level and if he activates void energy, of course. Once he gains void energy, the skill would immediately unlock and the rune will instantly be imprinted in his mind." Jessica said.

"So not in the near future then. I doubt there are many sources of void energy which he could get his hands on." Wu Kong remarked.

"Huh? You think I gave him blink without giving him a source of void energy? Of course I gave him a seed of void energy!" Jessica said indignantly. "I don't do things half-heartedly like that. The seed is in his heart. He can either manually activate it by triggering it with his Fire Dragon Energy, or it will trigger by itself when Elliot is on the brink of death."

"Wow. I had heard of your immeasurable talent, but to be able to grant a complex skill such as Blink with a conditional trigger within a Diamond Boon is certainly impressive." Aunt Hills commented.

"Thanks Aunt Hills." Jessica Sands smiled sweetly at her. She didn't bother to explain that blink was merely a secondary boon.

"Oh look. Elliot seemed to have found something. Hohoho, he got himself a Giant Six-Limbed Feral Mole! That's exactly what he was looking for. Now, let's see what he's really up to!" Monkey King exclaimed eagerly.

"Oh! That's the contract. Okay, contracted. Huh? Feral Mole Warrior Beast Transformation? He's going underground?? Why?" Jessica asked in a stunned voice.

"He's going towards the Giant Six-Limbed Feral Mole's tribe!" Jul'Taras exclaimed. "He wants more moles? What exactly is he looking for that's underground? Could it be the secret that makes the beasts level up faster than the other regions?"

"A secret to powering up? That's really precious." Monkey King frowned. "Jules, can you find out who else is accessing Elliot's data as intensely as we are?"

"Of course. Give me a moment." Jul'Taras began to tinker with her information pad furiously.

"Wait a minute. Didn't Elliot kill some sort of parasite a few days ago? The one that exploded?" Wu Kong frowned.

"Yeah. The parasite that was infesting Jagor Tawlon, right? I was quite surprised that he actually got himself infested." Jul'Taras commented offhandedly as she continued to focus on tracing all the users of the data on Elliot.

"Could it be a Shadow Parasite?" Monkey King asked.

At that, Jul'Taras instantly froze in shock.