CHAPTER 116. Three Assessments {(Part-3) out of 3}

Everyone was taken aback by MJ's statement because no one recognised the crimson-haired man standing opposite to Henry on the platform.

However, Olivia and Sergei were an exception since they knew that it was the same person who guarded Kay when they were received at the airport.

Moro's virtual avatar isn't just a simulation MJ created using Moro's fighting style but actually controlled by Moro himself, from Earth.

Similar to how my siblings were given a ring tattoo that allows them to enter MJ's Virtual Space whenever they want, Moro and the other core security members were also given the same.

While others use Virtual Space to fight against the simulations of the Trial World monsters that MJ created to let them gain experience, Moro was an exception.

He doesn't use Virtual Space to train but instead relives the simulation of his childhood memories when his little sister and parents were alive, and they were all happy.

Jay had MJ create such simulations in the Virtual Space, especially for Moro because what he needed the most was a stable mind that didn't need Jay's help to control his hatred.

As for training himself, Moro doesn't need it at all. Thanks to his War Asura bloodline, Moro has unparalleled combat expertise, and he could also bring out the full potential of his that Jay maxed out for him.

When the first assessment was about to end, MJ communicated with Moro using the second wristband prototype and asked him to enter the Virtual Space.

Even though there was a difference between how time flows on the Earth and the Trial World, MJ solved the issue by making the second assessment's condition as restricting people's overall stats to match that of the peak of Tier-2.

MJ did that to make use of a portion of Moro's time perception to match the time difference between Earth and Trial World, leaving his time perception to be six times that of an average human, which matches a peak Tier-2 and hence the second assessment's condition.

MJ can't yet manipulate time within his A.I Space, but as long as the grade of increases further, it's possible.

While others were still wondering who that was, MJ declared the start of the duel.

Moro opened his eyes, and his crimson irises gave off a bloodthirsty vibe, sending chills down Henry's spine.

In the split second that Henry was frozen, Moro rushed towards him and attacked him, directly going for the head.

But Henry managed to dodge the incoming strike by a narrow margin.

Henry pulled himself together and tried to counterattack. To his disbelief, he didn't even once have the chance to strike back, since he was busy defending against Moro's punches and kicks.

Everyone watching the close combat duel did not expect it to be one-sided, with Henry on the losing end.

After all, Henry is a three-time Boxing World Champion and is said to be one of the rarest boxing prodigies that Earth has ever produced.

Like a punching machine, Moro attacked without a pause, giving Henry no chance to retaliate, and that continued for some time.

Soon, Henry sensed that his body couldn't take any more hits, and launched an all-out attack with his right arm, aiming for Moro's head by sacrificing his left shoulder defence.

What happened next stunned everyone except MJ, who already knew Moro's capabilities.

Moro didn't try to defend Henry's punch, nor did he evade it. He directed his left-hand punch at Henry's incoming right-hand punch.

At first, it looked like he was trying to nullify Henry's strike, but that wasn't the case as Moro's punch instead landed on the inner side of his forearm, and he then used Henry's momentum to redirect his left fist towards Henry's face.

Since everyone seated beside the platform has overall stats of a Tier-3 life form, their time perception was slightly higher, making it possible for them to watch the duel in detail.

The ones that were stunned the most were those who were more proficient in close combat among the Earth's Alpha Chosen, like Sergei, Brandon and Kensei.

Because the precision one needed to have to pull off the move that Moro just did was unimaginably high, especially within the little amount of time that Moro had to launch his last punch.

They didn't know that Moro was able to do that because he didn't waste any time thinking about the counterpunch but acted under his War Asura Instinct.

Once Henry's defence was broken, Moro took that chance to land a series of punches and chops at the back of Henry's neck, knocking him out.

Once it was clear that Henry was defeated, MJ brought his virtual avatar back to consciousness, and Henry couldn't help but look up at Moro as if he was some kind of 'God of hand-to-hand Combat'.

Because Moro's every attack was shot in such a way that he could only defend.

In terms of pure hand to hand combat, Henry can be said to be even superior to Sergei and Brandon as he specialises in that field.

So, he was the one who was dumbfounded the most since Henry knew how difficult it was to do that because one has to be able to predict an opponent's moves with the slightest changes in their postures and body movements.

While Henry was still analysing the fight and being amazed by Moro, MJ announced the result of Henry's second assessment.

"I should say, your result is borderline impressive. You managed to stand on your feet for 58 seconds, achieving Stage-5 in this assessment. If any of you wish to reach Stage-10, all you have to do is to stay undefeated for 100 seconds since every stage represents 10 seconds."

Without caring about the results, Henry stared at Moro before asking him, "Just….who are you?"

For which Henry was only met with Moro's indifference as he once again closed his eyes, waiting for his next opponent. Soon after, Henry returned to the seats beside the platform.

Unlike the first assessment, no one volunteered to go next after watching Moro's expertise.

So, MJ selected them one by one, and the time passed before everyone completed their second assessment.

Following that, MJ projected the results of the second assessment onto a screen.

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Second Assessment Results:

1. Henry: 58 seconds (Stage-5)

2. Brandon: 52 seconds (Stage-5)

3. Sergei: 51 seconds (Stage-5)

4. Kensei: 45 seconds (Stage-4)

5. Kasim: 33 seconds (Stage-3)

6. Olivia: 25 seconds (Stage-2)

7. Gabriel: 19 seconds (Stage-2)

8. Min-soo: 17 seconds (Stage-1)

9. Andrea: 14 seconds (Stage-1)

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In the beginning, everyone saw how terrifying Moro's close combat prowess was, but only after experiencing themselves fighting against Moro did they realise what Henry managed to achieve was no small feat.

Even though none of them was able to land a single hit on Moro, they weren't able to defend themselves against Moro's attacks for as long as Henry did.

Brandon and Sergei managed to reach Stage-5 of the second assessment but couldn't last as long as Henry before Moro defeated them.

As for Kensei, he didn't have hand-to-hand combat expertise of a professional standard since he mainly focussed on the way of the sword. Still, he managed to reach Stage-4.

Olivia was able to last 25 seconds thanks to the combat training she received from Sergei and the occasional use of the Virtual Space Chamber facility at the Earth's Foothold.

In the second assessment, Gabriel, Min-soo and Andrea were the lowest since it had been just a few days since they began close combat training, and they had not ever fought before.

From the standard of a human's learning speed, their improvement could be said to be off the charts, since they were able to last more than 10 seconds against Moro with just a few days of training.

However, that's pretty common, given their high amount of stats in Spirit Attribute, as that increases one's learning speed exponentially.

After announcing the results, MJ explained about the third assessment, "The next assessment is the final one, and it will be even harder than the second one since you all will be facing the virtual avatar of my Master himself. Unlike the first two assessments, this will be a pure power display, where each of you could use everything at your disposal, with no restrictions on your abilities."

Everyone was taken aback by the new revelation, and Min-soo meekly voiced out his opinion and interrupted MJ, "This….Great Venerable, isn't the third assessment too hard? We couldn't last even for 10 seconds before we would be defeated by Mr Jay, making it not possible even to reach Stage-1."

When Jay single-handedly suppressed the Tier-3 High-Phase monster, Storm Eagle, using mode, it left a deep impression on Min-soo. Even greater than when Jay killed a Tier-3 Ogre in front of the Earth's Alpha Chosen as a show of power.

Others were also having similar thoughts because just a few days back, Jay had the strength to trounce Tier-3 High-Phase monsters, and now that a few more days have passed, they couldn't imagine how strong he has grown since then.

MJ seemed annoyed and threw his Santa cap at Min-soo's face before yelling in his baby voice, "Just let me finish. Why do you fellas keep interrupting me? Ahh!...this is frustrating."

No matter how hard they tried to take his words seriously, it looked like a little kid throwing a tantrum.

As the only one who was pretty close to MJ, Olivia calmed him before MJ continued, "Of course, I already considered that factor.

So, this assessment wouldn't be based on the amount of time you could last against my Master, but at each stage, you will be facing a Master's virtual avatar that has a portion of his power; the higher the stage, the stronger my Master's virtual avatar will be.

Meaning that to reach Stage-1, one has to defeat my Master's virtual avatar that has 10% of his power and to reach Stage-2, it is 20% and so on."

After MJ's explanation, the conditions of the third assessment became clear to them.

While the weaker Earth's Alpha Chosen were worried if they could even reach Stage-1, the stronger ones couldn't wait for the assessment to begin so that they could compare themselves to Jay to see the difference in their strengths.

Unknown to themselves, the Earth's Alpha Chosen set Jay as their goal because from what they had seen, they didn't yet find anything that's stronger than Jay in the Trial World.

Just as MJ began to commence the third assessment, he paused in silence before saying, "My Master is preoccupied with something at the moment. Since Master will be personally controlling his virtual avatar instead of a simulation, the third assessment will be postponed for a few hours. Why don't you all leave the virtual space for now and take some rest or maybe resume your respective training? I will commence the third assessment upon further notice from my Master."

Soon after, they all exited the virtual space. They didn't question MJ about what Jay was preoccupied with.

They knew that Jay took Dante along and entered other trial zones in search of something and that he must have been dealing with an important matter at the moment.

It was indeed right because Jay had found something disturbing in the eighteenth trial zone.