The First Store System

Getting no response from Aakesh, the Meshoptan made his move. He disappeared from the spot and appeared right above Aakesh.

Aakesh was already ready for a battle since the Meshoptan gave him a deadline, so he clenched his hands into a fist and collided with the tiger claw coming his way.

The Meshoptan were known for their hand-to-hand combat. They even had one of the famous fighting styles in the Sacred dimension.

Unfortunately for the Meshoptan, Aakesh already knew the fighting style that made them feared and gave them their reputation.

The next moment, the tiger claw clashed with Aakesh’s punch, resulting in both of them getting pushed.

Aakesh didn’t feel anything as he was holding back. Since the Meshoptan was the servant of the central ruler, he must know things more than the rulers Aakesh had come across. Aakesh wanted to enrich his knowledge before entering the final territory.

He took Clamont’s warning seriously. He wouldn’t be in any life-threatening situation even if the ruler turned out to be stronger than him since he could pay an outrageous price and use the system’s help.

The Meshoptan, on the other hand, had a surprised expression, seeing both of them getting pushed back and no one coming out superior in the clash. He hadn’t used his full strength, but he had used the swipe as their fighting style.

His palms moved in such a way that any resistance to it would result in nothing, and only the palm would succeed in hitting, but here, Aakesh moved his punch in the same way, so the result of the clash turned out to be equal for both the parties.

“How do you know ‘Negation Fighting Style’?” The Meshoptan asked.

The Meshoptan’s fighting style was named such because of the opponent’s inability to block or dodge the strikes made by the owner of the technique. It entirely negated any efforts the opponent could muster.

Aakesh didn’t answer by words but by his punch.

Because of the several restrictions on Aakesh, he wasn’t as quick as he was in reality, so the Meshoptan successfully dodged Aakesh’s punch.

“UGH!”

The Meshoptan had only dodged the punch when he felt his thighs being broken.

Aakesh was using the same fighting style the Meshoptan had, so the Meshoptan’s defenses were nothing in front of his kick.

Fortunately for the Meshoptan, he had quick reactions and had no restrictions on him, so before Aakesh’s kick could break his thigh bones, the Meshoptan’s other hand came in and stopped Aakesh’s assault.

The Meshoptan had a pale face as Aakesh was turning out to be even better than him in the fighting style with which he was born.

At the same time, the Meshoptan swiped his tiger claws at Aakesh.

Aakesh stepped back right away as even the space got cut into pieces.

Time flew by.

It has been thirty-six seconds since the battle between Aakesh and the Meshoptan began. It was also the longest duration of any fight Aakesh has had until now.

Clara attempted to help Aakesh once, but in the end, it was she who got injured. Only the force released by the result of their clashes ended up throwing her several meters backward. Aakesh had to warn her to stay away.

Aakesh was fighting using the same hand-to-hand combat as he was enjoying it. He hadn’t used his full strength until now.

The Meshoptan, on the other hand, was getting mentally tired as he wasn’t able to land a successful hit on Aakesh, but Aakesh would land several blows on him every second. Fortunately for him, none of the strikes resulted in severe injuries.

“Let’s end this,” The aura around Aakesh suddenly turned chillier. His eyes turned cold from expressionless, and he commented.

Before the Meshpont could even understand the meaning Aakesh wanted to imply, Aakesh appeared in front of him and tapped the area between his horns. The next moment, the Meshpont felt as if thunder was raging inside his body, and it started shutting down.

Aakesh moved two steps away and didn’t interfere with what was going on with the Meshoptan.

“Thud!”

A few seconds later, the Meshoptan crashed to the ground as he lost his consciousness. He was still alive, but his brain had gone into a coma after Aakesh landed a successful hit on the weakest part of his brain.

Aakesh then took a step forward and appeared in front of the unconscious Meshoptan. Aakesh then bent down and touched the top of his head.

Aakesh wanted to check the memory of the Meshoptan, but suddenly the Meshoptan started squirming.

Aakesh had no choice but to leave his head and move away as the Meshoptan’s body started bloating up.

Aakesh grabbed Clara and created a three-layered shield around him, using the skill Counter Shield.

“BOOM!”

The next moment, a loud explosion erupted in the area as a giant mushroom cloud filled with dust, flora, and fauna appeared in the sky.

The three-layered shield in front of the explosion was like a paper shield attempting to hold up the raging ocean, so in no time, it disintegrated.

Aakesh activated the skill Counter Shield again and recreated the three-layered shield.

In no time, it broke again. Aakesh recreated it again, and the process of destruction and creation continued after that for a few seconds.

Despite Aakesh’s attempts, a slight amount of force and heat released by the explosion succeeded in breaching Aakesh’s shields.

Aakesh felt nothing from it, but the same wasn’t the case for Clara. Numerous burn injuries appeared on her body.

The next moment all the restrictions on Aakesh disappeared as he caused the explosion of the Meshoptan by attempting to search his memory.

At the same time, Aakesh finally saw damage to the ground. A deep pit with a width of a few meters but several miles in depth presented itself after the dust cloud subsided, unlike the previous territories when an explosion or attack would only result in the emergence of a barren patch.

Aakesh could only shake his head in disappointment as he couldn’t get any answers from the Meshoptan.

He then looked toward Clara, whose burn injuries had already started healing.

“Thank you, senior,” Clara thanked Aakesh. If not for him, she would’ve melted into a liquid. The scene of the explosion still sent chills down her spine.

Aakesh only nodded in response to her and moved his eyes away.

***

A/N: My debt is finally complete. It feels good.