As time passed in the world of void, the two figures collided several times, distorting the air with every exchange; producing sparks of darkness and vibrant color.

Gradually, the shadowy manifestation could only grow weaker, helpless against Simon’s fierce attacks.

After all, he was simply too experienced of a combatant - he had even gone against his fair share of Magefiends in the past! As a result, there was no way that such a weak Magefiend - which only had approximately the fighting strength of a Master Mage - could best him in a fight; even with its strange footwork technique.

Meanwhile, after every exchange, Simon was able to elegantly distance himself from the shadow. After doing so, it would be forced to make its way towards him, and he was then, consistently able to prepare for the following exchange.

In such a way, the fight continued, with Simon toying with the creature until the very end.

And sure enough, the creature began dissolving into nothingness with a soundless screech, returning to the void which it had been created from.

“Whew…” Seeing the dissipating form, Simon heaved a sigh of relief.

However, a stream of darkness reminiscent of the void suddenly entered Simon’s body from the final vestiges of the creature.

‘Eh?’

When this stream of darkness entered Simon’s body, he could actually sense a new form of energy within his mana core. Surprisingly, this energy was not belligerent in nature; rather, it was... empowering and profound.

‘Is that… Void Essence?!’ Simon was stupefied when he discovered this energy within his mana core, and had trouble believing his senses.

Void essence was actually similar to Immortal Energy - it was a long lost energy derived from ancient artifacts, being incredibly profound and powerful.

However, unlike Immortal Energym which was incompatible with the seven elements, void essence could actually be used in place in any of them; it was essentially a universal energy source!

After all, the ‘element’ of void could be considered to have all elements contained - or rather - none at all... Whatever the case, the energy within the void was widely considered to be the purest as it was untainted by the elements.

In fact, it was known as one of the most stable, condensed energy sources in his previous world!

Meanwhile, three more shadowy figures began forming from tendrils of the void opposite to Simon.

Seeing this, he nodded solemnly, quickly getting over his astonishment regarding the void essence.

‘It seems that the Void Essence gained from killing one of these creatures is supposed to be used to kill more.’ He chuckled grimly, sizing up the three new creatures that were being formed with a solemn gaze.

‘Then, so be it.’

In his previous fight, Simon had used up approximately 20% of his mana. Meanwhile, the void essence that he received from killing it was equivalent to 30% of his mana reserves.

Even so, it could be said that he was in dire straits.

After all, the difference between fighting one, and fighting three of these creatures wasn’t additive; instead, it was exponential! If he didn’t manage to kill any of them in time, he would surely run out of mana mid-way through the fight, as there was no other way to replenish mana within this region.

As a result, his odds of losing were very real.

Soon, the three creatures had completely formed and let out soundless screeches as they dashed towards him, quickly becoming blurs. Meanwhile, Simon closed his eyes and moved his staff about in a profound manner, conjuring his void essence as he navigated the everchanging platform.

Suddenly, a violet glow surrounded Simon, and he began emanating the aura of a comet soaring with the starry night sky.

Woosh!

He became a violet blur as he dashed towards the shadows, leaving behind a pristine white trail of light in his wake.

This was the tier 3 spell, Starry Streak Enhancement!

The price of activating such an enchantment was incredibly steep, and with every passing moment, an ungodly amount of mana was being used.

However, as such a draining spell, it was naturally quite potent. As of this moment, Simon was able to move approximately three times faster than earlier, and the overall strength of his body was also heightened considerably...

Boom!

Simon and the shadows immediately collided several times, with him sometimes branding his staff, and other times, his palms.

In the past, Simon had been a user of palm arts, and had delved into staff techniques as well. He was even once known as a true expert when it came to hand to hand combat within a vast region around in his old world!

As a result, his movements were devoid of any easily exploitable weaknesses, and his skill in combat was not shallow.

Now, the battlefield looked like a fierce light show, with blurs of light and darkness showing up all over the platform, only to fade away just moments later.

Simon viciously knocked aside two of the creatures, with the butts of his staff, before rushing towards the other, slapping outwards.

Boom!

It staggered back, but before he could follow up on his attack, the other two manifestations of the void returned.

A layer of sweat covered his forehead, and Simon maintained an expression of solemn concentration as he fought. Thankfully, with the help of this enchantment he was able to contend with the three shadows rather easily. But even so, he was rather distressed.

‘Crap! I’ve only been fighting for a couple seconds and close to a twentieth of my mana is used up?’ he frowned as he slapped the three shadows relentlessly.

In these few short seconds of fighting, even though he seemed to have the advantage, Simon knew that he was definitely on course to lose the battle; he couldn’t gain a definite edge over the three shadows even under the influence of a tier 3 enchantment!

After all, enchantments didn’t last forever, while the creatures of the void had a practically limitless energy source...

And though he tried focusing on attacking one of the creatures so as to replenish on void essence mid-fight, the other two creatures would suddenly surge forwards while the targeted one would fall back, rendering his targeting useless!

In such a way, even with Simon’s temporarily superior fighting power, he was not making progress on wearing down any one of his opponents. Instead, he only managed to damage them equally, which frustrated him to no end.

After all, if this were to continue, he would definitely be the first to fall...

Determinedly, Simon struck back with even more vigor, his mind racing. ‘What can I do? Should I ignite my lifeforce? Or perhaps try a spell of the fourth tier?’

However, of everything that came to mind, not a single one was plausible.

A spell of the fourth tier capable of causing his victory would most likely be one of the strongest spells of the tier, thus requiring him to sacrifice more than some mere energy… From his intuition, he suspected that he would not survive such an ordeal.

As for igniting his lifeforce?

It would yield the same results! Even if he killed the void creatures, he would die all the same...

Simon suddenly faltered as the violet aura began flickering around him, causing him to receive a shallow hit on his side. His concentration was wavering as he hurriedly focused on finding a way to salvage his situation.

‘A forbidden technique maybe?’ he thought, but then quickly discarded the notion. It did not seem plausible either.

He tripped on a moving segment of the platform, forcing him to use a blast of air to regain his balance.

‘No…’

A claw of darkness pierced his drawing blood, and his expression grew colder.

‘Is this really it?’ Simon thought with an uncontented frown, as he continued exchanging blows with the shadows.

It had not even been one month since his ambitions had been reignited, but it seemed as if he would fall right here in some nameless void, never to be seen again within Island Ascension Online.

In this time of crisis, he managed to think back to his many many years of struggling against fate, the many years in which he sacrificed everything to further his pursuits. Then, he thought back to what he had newly found in this world - Kenny, whom he had yet to fully repay, and Jake, who could very well be waiting for him on the other side of this trial!

How laughable would that be, to transmigrate, only to die in some nameless void?

Simon suddenly felt a surge of stubbornness and anger, which erupted from the depths of his heart, and in this moment of time, he reached a new level of clarity.

“No! I refuse! Does fate think that I, Simon Ji, am a pushover? I overturned the odds and became a farming genius before. Naturally, I shall overturn the odds once again!“ he roared out ferociously, unable to accept such a fate.

Simon’s gaze suddenly sharpened and the depths of his eyes were fully revealed as of this moment, which seemed capable of encompassing anything and everything.

He suddenly stopped attacking and instead, passively observed the movements of the shadows whilst avoiding their attacks. And though he was still currently expending mana, the rate in which it was being used slowed considerably.

Gradually, one could notice a difference in Simon’s movements as he continued on...

Before, he was like a gust of wind; fickle and formless, yet swift and fierce. His previous technique was perfect for sweeping through waves of opponents, inciting fear and disorder to any who met his palms.

However, that was only in normal circumstances!

As he moved about on the platform, one could sense a faint disharmony in his movements if they looked closely, due to the motions of the metal segments disrupting his flow. As a result, his original footwork techniques had limited effects in this place.

But now… a tinge of the mysterious aura that these shadows omitted could be felt from the way he moved, and the fluidity of his actions atop the platform increased ever so slightly as time passed!

Suddenly, feeling the way that he was moving between segments of the platforms while dodging the attacks of the shadowy figures, Simon was inexplicably reminded of a certain type of technique…

‘This… is a genuine footwork technique?!’ he thought, startled.

The way that he was forced to move on these rapidly moving pieces of metal was bizarre and profound. He moved in ways that were unnatural, yet were linked seamlessly, like an unending flow of water. And with every movement, he seemed to merge with the darkness, becoming one with the void to an extent.

Previously, he was not able to get a good look at the shadowy creatures as they were simply too elusive. But now that he had mimicked their actions…

He was sure that what they were using was a footwork technique!

And so, in this stange, precarious state of experimentation, Simon danced about on the moving platform, avoiding the three shadows while refining his skills.

At first, doing so was rather straining and he had to rely somewhat on movement type enchantments, but overtime, he managed to lower his reliance on magic and instead, focused purely on his movements.

5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes…

Time slowly passed and Simon gradually entered a state of enlightenment. While experiencing the awe-inspiring void around him, coupled with the profound movements of the platform, and the perilous attacks of the void creatures, he was improving at a breakneck pace - like a diamond being formed under pressure!

Soon enough, he no longer needed to use much mana to maintain his safety, and his mana reserves hovered at about 40%.

And after thirty minutes of refining his technique, Simon suddenly felt as if something had… changed.

It felt as if he had just burst through a barrier, and he found himself moving through this moving platform as easily as if it were flat ground, his figure occasionally blurring into the void as he dashed about.

Woosh!

Two of the void manifestations surrounded him, simultaneously striking outwards with claws that were barely visible. However, he only needed to sidestep once to avoid their seemingly unavoidable strikes.

Just a moment later, the third creature appeared behind him, however, Simon blurred in turn and appeared twenty meters away.

At this moment, Simon couldn’t help but to chuckle joyously. After all, he had finally made a breakthrough in the technique!

‘I’ve finally managed to gain a basic understanding of this profound art!’ he thought with a grin.

Over the past thirty minutes, Simon had utilized the pressure of his life being on the line, the movements of the shadows, and the profound movements of the moving segments in conjunction to improve his mastery of the technique.

As a man who was once a sixth star core mage, his comprehension regarding the various forces of nature was, of course, rather profound. Thus, he managed to learn such a technique on the spot.

However, Simon could tell that he was unlikely to make further progress into the technique anytime soon. And so he finally decided to end the fight.

He suddenly stopped avoiding the shadows and instead, struck out once again, now unimpeded by the moving platform.

Boom! Boom!

Immediately, the shadows found themselves at a disadvantage, now suppressed by Simon’s movements and skill.

After all, he was much more agile and sharp than the shadows in the first place; such a reason was why he could survive a one on three fight earlier.

Now that he had achieved a basic mastery of the footwork technique, his fighting strength on the platform had increased by nearly two fold. Now, defeating the shadows would be no problem.

…

Soon enough…

With one final flash of light, the last remaining void creatures dissipated into nothingness, and a portion of the energy making it up was sent into Simon’s mana core as Void Essence.

At this moment, the various moving segments of the platform finally slotted together, falling silent once again.