Chapter 174

Once he finished thoroughly checking the logs, Arthur passed the rest of the day meditating and absorbing as much Nether Energy as he could .

From time to time, he could feel slight tremors despite being so deep underground . The only plausible explanation is that the Gods residing in the Pigolo Tribe headquarters finally decided to show themselves and started their full-on retaliation to drive out the invaders .

Arthur paid them no heed as he concentrated on cultivating . His body was like a gigantic black whirlpool as Nether Energy was devoured and entered his body as if it was a bottomless hole .

As they passed by his Meridians, the Nether Energy transformed into a big formless blob of energy which entered into his DanTian and was refined at an insane pace . The black talisman floating around his DanTian would emit a strange black light, accelerating the refining process and facilitating the process .

In only a mere night, Arthur's Mental Power increased by three hundred and if he were to cultivate for a few more days, he would easily breakthrough to the next Grade . Others would take months to breakthrough and some geniuses would take weeks at least, but Arthur was a monster and the accumulated talent he absorbed from all those corpses finally showed its usefulness .

Actually, it would be a strange thing if his cultivating speed is not fast, his stats were already so high, so naturally, his Realm should suit the stats and that is only achievable if that was done as fast as possible . Furthermore, Arthur was more or less sure that once he broke through to the God Realm and became a fully-fledged God, the restricting chains will finally be gone as he had absolute confidence to break them .

. . . . .

As the curtain of night has fallen and the sun rose, Arthur opened his eyes at last and breathed some white steam . He could feel that things calmed down and there were no more tremors so he decided to go outside after a few more hours .

'But before that, I should check the new functions of the ARK'

'Dra'lim'

By the next second, Arthur found himself in the familiar white space . At first, it was a bit mind-numbing to stare at endless white space with no limits, but after a few more times, he got used to it .

A few meters away from him, a cubic object slowly rotated a few feet above the white ground, it had a mysterious feeling to it and there were new ancient runes engraved on its sides .

*Welcome to the ARK*

As usual, the robotic voice rang in his ears, it made him feel as if he was in a sci-fi movie or some sort of a game .

However, before Arthur could ask about the new functions, a bright golden light flashed in front of him before his 'copy' appeared in front of him with a bright smile plastered on his face .

Contrary to the actual Arthur, his copy had black eyes and dark hair, somewhat shorter than his actual grey hair .

"We meet again, my friend!"

The "copy" then stretched his hand wanting to shake hands with Arthur but the latter was still disgusted by his copy and despite all what happened, he was still a bit unwilling to communicate with him . Furthermore, he knew it was just a spirit, some sort of a message left behind by the creator or the previous owner of the ARK, however, what confused him is why does the spirit resemble him so much, heck! It's not even resemblance anymore, it's a flat-out doppelganger if you exclude the minor color change in hair and eyes .

Arthur folded his hands and calmly stared at the awkward behavior of the spirit, waiting for the "copy" to deliver the messages that needed to be heard .

"Ahhh! No need to be so distant! We're bros, aren't we? Anyways . . . . I see that it hasn't been long since you saw me . . . . hmmm let me check . "

As he said that, the "copy" waved his hands and started tapping on a transparent screen in front of his face . After a couple of seconds, he nodded with a wide grin on his face and resumed speaking

"I see I see . . . . that's formidable indeed! Did you know, from the six things I expected you to become, you became the choice which had the lowest probability! Even less than 1%! If that is not being lucky, then it only means you favored by the heavens but that will be contradicting since you're defying them . . . . . hahahaha"

The "copy" stopped for a bit to catch a breath as he contemplated the screen in front of him, after scrolling down a few more times, he looked back at Arthur and added:

"Actually, I expected you to become either a special Elemental Spirit or a frost titan but my expectations were exceeded! That can only be good news! A parasite . . . that's way better!"

As he heard his "copy", Arthur wasn't the least bit shocked, he already expected that his Race will be found out, this spirit or "copy" knew a lot of things and to hide his Race from him would be extremely hard, after all, he managed to find out his Race in a few seconds .

"You have to know that a Parasite can not only possess but do other heaven-defying things too, you use your Race in a simple way but you'll eventually learn . . . . now that's not what I came here to talk about, but since I discovered a good news, I'll add another function for you! My generosity has no limits, so you better be grateful!"

Saying that, the "copy" focused on the screen in front of him then, he used his left hand to grab the cubic object floating near him before pressing on it in a very weird manner .

The copy only stopped after ten minutes, his figure became a bit blurry and a golden light started enveloping it . After one final glance at the ARK, it looked at Arthur and said

"Since my time is up, I'll let the ARK explain the new functions! Enjoy and we'll probably meet soon, if you don't die, of course!"

From start to finish, Arthur didn't utter any word, he just stood there, arms folded and spectated . Now that the "copy" is gone, he was a bit eager to see the functions . Since the current functions of the ARK were already so good and miraculous, he had huge expectations for the new ones too .

"Display the useable functions . "

*List:

Phase Training .

Rest .

Materialize(+)

Martial Arts .

Magic .

*

The first two functions are nothing new to Arthur but to the third one is completely new, moreover, it's a bit intriguing .

"Explain the Materialize function . "

*Materialize allows the user 'Arthur' to train and perfect the Martial Arts or Magical skills he possesses . Unlike Phase Training, the time will not stop, instead, it'll be faster, one day spent in the Materialize function is equal to two days outside . *

'Double the time?'

Since it allows the user to perfect his skills, it's certainly useful but if one loses himself and trains for a week, then two weeks will pass outside, It's both good and bad at the same time . Someone like Arthur, who is very tight on time, can't spend months of days perfecting skills, at most, he'll spend a day .

"What if I spend an hour in the Materialize function?"

*Once the user enters the function, he can only go out after a day has passed . *

It's a very alluring function especially for the old hermits who would pass years or decades in seclusion, such a miraculous environment which helps them grow immensely stronger is even rarer than a phoenix's feather .

"What about the new phases?"

*Currently, the user 'Arthur' can access to the Beginner's Phase and the Trainer's Phase . *

"Then let me enter the Trainer's Phase for the time being . "

*Are you sure you want to begin the Trainer's Phase? Once you enter, you cannot stop . *

"Yes . "

*Countdown beginning:10 . . 9 . . 8 . . 7 . . .

*

. . .

*Please pick your weapon . *

*List:

One-handed axe:1000 Attack .

. . . .

*

"No need for a weapon, proceed . "

*Please pick an armor . *

'Oh?'

Once he heard that, Arthur was a bit taken aback, in the Beginner's Phase, it never allowed him to pick an armor, he just wore Zodiak's robe, so seeing the list of armors, he was a bit delighted .

Since his stats are reduced and the opponent is decently strong, even if it's a low-grade armor, it'll benefit him greatly .

As he browsed through the long list of armors, Arthur picked a green leather armor which added a few points of defense but added a bonus of 5% in speed .

With an armor and bare fists, Arthur waited for his companion 'whitey' to show up .

*Are you ready . *

"Yes . "

With that said, a weird clicking noise rang in his ears before 'whitey' appeared at last, however, contrary to last time, he had an armor and a long black bow in his hands .

Without waiting for Arthur, the bow was pulled and a sharp metal arrow was thrown at his face .

Swiftly crouching and avoiding the arrow by a hair's breadth then he applied force on his left foot and pressed on the ground before his figure turned a bit blurry and in just a single step, the distance between him and 'whitey' was crossed .

Since it's the Trainer's Phase, he can now use Movement technique along with his Martial Arts, so he didn't hesitate as he quickly did some strange seals in in the air and by the time he appeared in front of 'whitey', a five-meter-long bronze platform appeared above him .

Arthur followed by a punch towards the enemy's chest which caused 'whitey' to retreat back a few steps, however, unfortunately for it, the punch was merely a feint as Arthur waved his right hand down, throwing the bronze platform at whitey, who wasn't able to get away in time .

What followed was brutal as poor 'whitey' was literally crushed by the platform which came down from above, it crushed it on the ground until it died with no ways of resistance .

Standing a few meters away from the bronze platform, Arthur smiled and waited for the next phase to begin . . . .