Chapter 42: Three years.

[Crule]: First up, let’s kill this pig.

He took out the cage with the G ranked Silver Mane boar.

[Crule]: Ming, as a challenge to strengthen our physical self, lets fight the beasts before C rank with physical combat only. No spells.

[Ming]: Yes sir!

They found an area away from their camp suitable for combat. Crule let the boar out and it started rampaging, ramming into trees left and right.

[Crule]: Come at me!

Crule and Ming strengthen their body with their energy and began fighting.

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Five months passed in the blink of an eye. Crule and Ming have fought hundreds of low ranked beasts with only fisticuffs. Even if some of the beasts with iron tough hides, If Crule and Ming were to manipulate their aura to form a blade on their hands and feet, they could still slice through the hide. Crule, having the power of hunger, consume things as it slices, so it can cut almost everything. Ming’s melee offensive power isn’t as good, but she can manipulate the blood from the enemy to form blades on her hands. A strong beast would have strong blood, so her combat potential against beasts doesn’t decline as the beast’s rank increased.

They also used the beasts they have killed as a food source. A majority of the beasts Crule bought were edible beasts, but there were some beasts made of inedible matter. Beasts made of metal or slimes and phantasmal creatures could not be eaten. But having such a large amount of food greatly strengthen Crule’s body. Slowly, his body became less and less of a normal human. Now even without his aura strengthening his body, normal knives can no longer penetrate his skin.

The same could be said about Ming. She bathed in the blood of numerous beasts. It not only improved her body, the blood also left her skin shining with a shimmering gloss.

[Crule]: Now we need to get use to our strengthen bodies. We will take this time to build the seven gates.

Crule’s first gate, Appetizers, require nearly half a year to finish. He started creating it after he left the moon but didn’t focus on it until now. The condense energy into a permanent physical thing within the body require not only strength, but knowledges and insights into how.

His first gate will allow him to create a larger ball of hunger aura. It was the skill he used on the Gaian Garuda.

Ming’s first gate, Skirmish, also took just as long. Her method is to use blood to tattoo seals over all of her blood vessels. With the sheer number of blood vessels within the human body, she took quite a while to make the base.

With the first gate, she could create large walls of blood for defense.

Their food supply will easily last three years with the amount of meat they gotten. The only remaining beasts were the four C rank and two B ranks.

And so the gate creation kept on going.

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The next two gates were slightly easier. But with the three year time limit, Crule and Ming could only establish at most four gates.

Crule’s second, third, and fourth gates were, Hors D’Oeuvres (which is a secondary appetizer), Soup, Fish, and Entrée. The remaining three of Meat, Main dish, and Dessert will take a lot longer to create.

Crule’s second gate allowed him to instill an insatiable hunger within the enemy to the point where they consume themselves. It was the stronger version of the skill he used on the Warden. His Third and Fourth gate allow him to focus his aura into a beam weapon. The third allow solidification of his aura into a beam of light. The fourth allow him to control the length of the beam so it becomes a sword instead of fading out as it travels farther like a beam of light.

With the four gates established, Crule would now use his Famine Blades if his dagger Taming Sari isn’t enough. They were far stronger than the dagger but the energy it required means Crule could only maintain it for a couple minutes.

Ming’s second, third, and fourth gates were, Combat, Fire fight, Guerilla, and Onslaught. Her remaining three gates of Barrage, Tactical, and Nuclear are still far out of reach.

Her second gate allowed her to control her own blood with pin point accuracy. It was even to the point where she can accelerate her blood flow to the maximum that her strengthened blood vessels could take. This allow her to perform extreme acts of physical power without any signs of fatigue or strain on her body.

The third gate allow her to control other’s blood to the point of being able to erupt normal humans at command. The fourth gate improves it to where she can make a person’s blood turn into spears as it penetrate the person from the inside. Her skill she named Crimson Cactus turns the person into a bloody pin cushion.

Two months from the end of the three year training period, they stopped focusing on gate creation.

[Crule]: It’s time to fight the rest of the creatures.

They split the four C rank beasts among themselves. Two each. Crule took down his VERY easily. Testing the new power of his Famine Blades, he quickly diced the beast into a pile of flesh and bones. Ming also took hers easily as well as the two beasts both burst into a spikey crystal of blood. They never even stood a chance.

[Crule]: Ahaha, so I finally got 40% of my power back.

[Ming]: Aww, I only manage to get 30% back.

[Crule]: It’s ok, once we find the red rider of this universe, you can receive the powers of this universe as well. It should bring you up to where I am.

[Crule]: Now, let’s enjoy some delicious Basilisk and Turkey.

That night they had the best food they had in a while. Even if the meat was only grilled with some spices, it was still far more delicious than the lower rank beasts.