New Game+ Chapter 96 - He Who Treads The Ancients Path

"This is truly a marvelous turn of event." ng stared at Seeker.

"Who would have thought that you would be the one to fight ?"

"Well, facing you could be too much. The best ending would be , defeating you. But if I can't at least I can stall you until Richie gets here." Seeker gave a confident smile.

"I see. So Richie and Lennox are busy as of this mont… Are you sure your little friends can handle my assassins?"

"Probably not if they stay the way they are. But like , failing to grow, is tantamount to death."

The thick armor of ng started giving a reddish glow.

"Then before Richie or Lennox arrives, I should eliminate you."

BOOM!

It happened so fast. An electrical yellow charge glowed around ng. This electric glow was pointing towards Seeker's direction. Its appearance was barely a tenth of a second. Suddenly, ng's entire body raced towards Seeker at incredible speed.

Seeker wasted no ti and evaded the charge with a powerful boost.

"How creative. So this is how the primitive Dragon fights." Seeker smiled.

Suddenly, another set of electrical glows appeared pointing to Seeker's direction.

Bits and pieces of ng's armor exploded towards Seeker.

Seeker gripped his sword tight, and with a fast-spinning slash, he struck the approaching tals, knocking it off course.

Strangely, the tal armors did not crash on the ground but another glow appeared on ng's body and the pieces of tal were returning and reattaching itself to ng.

"As expected of the nation which developed magnetic technology. A battle suit which is equipped with rail technology allowing it to move at incredible speeds. Of course, it would be useless for most humans as the heat it generates would short circuit any complex technology that suit is equipped after several uses. So the pilot has to be able to see and fight without technological enhancents at the speed of sound and withstand the scorching heat." Seeker rotated his elbows to relieve it from the stannous strike his arms just did.

"But of course, that fact pales in comparison to the question of what kind of a human are you? I an... How hot is it inside that suit of yours? Being a human rail gun, the heat generated in one attack should've fried anyone piloting it on first use. Yet it doesn't seem to affect you. You seem more resilient than the Dawn Soldiers that my friends fought in Australia. And I know there are no experints done on your body. Now that's just disgusting."

"Disgusting? Coming from soone who just used his bare hands to knock off a canon. If I'm disgusting, then what should I call you?"

"An Inhuman." Seeker smiled.

ng raised his eyebrows at Seeker's strange answer.

"Then tell Inhuman, where is Rosa?"

"Oh relax. We didn't even et her. She isn't that weak anyways. This was all to get your attention. You are a very xenophobic and cautious man after all."

"So you used her na and led an attack just to talk to ?"

"Well... knowing your personality, the sensitive information that I have wouldn't be credible in your eyes. What we need to do, is defeat you first. Perhaps then, you'd listen to us.." Seeker gave an innocent smile.

"Then I want to see how you will defeat ."

Suddenly another electrical charge zood past towards the direction of Seeker.

BOOM!

The full armor of ng charged forth towards Seeker. Despite the high-speed attack, ng was mindful enough to observe Seeker's escape route.

Pieces of his armors started to rattle as the yellow electric glow appeared, cutting off Seeker's escape.

But then, Seeker who was about to evade did the most unexpected thing. He charged towards ng's direction with his two hands gripping the sword tightly.

ng sneered at Seeker's stupid move.

BOOM!

Seeker zood towards ng and used the impact and his booster to throw him backward and after another boosts to the side, Seeker managed to evade the full strike of the charging armor.

ng shook his head in disappointnt.

Despite the successful evasion, Seeker's body was visibly trembling.

"I'll admit that you're strong. But if you want to defeat , then you have to be disgusting as well." Suddenly, a stronger and more chaotic electric glow surrounded ng.

"An Inhuman is not enough. You thought too highly of yourself. You still do not have the qualifications to stand before , Gar. "

In a different ti, in a different place of a different reality…

ng dragged Seeker's beaten and unconscious body and tossed it towards a calm and tranquil old man who sat on top of the rubble remains of an Aragarian Cot.

"I'm done with the spar. Here's your little project." ng tossed Seeker's body towards the old man.

Seeker's body suddenly stopped and floated on midair. Then Seeker's body slowly floated towards a huge tallic pod placed at the side. The mont Seeker splashed into the pool of the pod, and then it's tal doors closed.

"So? How was it?" The old man asked.

"He clearly reached Ranked Hero. His physical body should be similar to those at Ranked Hero Proficient. You can make the announcent. This should greatly increase the morale of everyone."

"Oh? Why would it boost morale?"

ng had a curious look on his face. But knowing that the Realm King wasn't a dotard of an old man, ng gave a decent answer.

"Because its finally proven that Non-Believers can reach Ranked Hero. And even up to the Proficient stage."

"I wonder about that." The Realm King gave a mysterious smile.

"Arthur and Seeker. Two Non-Believers have reached Ranked Hero." ng added.

"Arthur's special. His pseudo Path and Selective Unlocking makes him special. And let's not forget his heritage."

"So you're implying that Seeker's also special? He's clearly worse than Arthur. He has no Path. Even a Pseudo Path would have done well. All he has is the capability to match the Unlocking of Ranked Heroes in terms of Perception, Physical strength and endurance."

"That's exactly why. Do you really think that Lennox, who concluded it would be impossible for the Pathless or the average Non-Believers to ever reach Ranked Hero, would be wrong?" Realm King challenged.

ng dared not say that Lennox was wrong.

"So if he is correct, then what exactly is Seeker Carlean?"

"People often assu that I picked Seeker to be my disciple out of pity and boredom. But what if I did so because I believed he had a Path?"

ng gave a curious look.

"If he has a Path, then why hasn't he shown it yet?"

"What if he has." The Realm King gave a mysterious smile.

"Please save from your mysteries. What is his Path?"

"The Unlocking." The Realm King gave a short answer.

"The Unlocking?"

"His Path put it simply, is the capability to rise up the stages of the Unlocking. It's a Path, but it's also not a Path. Quite a contradiction, right?" The Realm King laughed.

ng gave a strange look at the Realm King.

"A Pathless Path?"

"Exactly. If Lennox is right, then this is how Seeker reached Ranked Hero. That's how he managed to form a physical body that a Non-Believer would be unable to. That's how, despite the absence of a Path or a Pseudo-Path, he managed to catch up with his peers and even surpassed so. After all, how many Ranked Heroes have reached Proficient? Even Arthur, who was the fastest to race through the Unbecoming and Inhuman stage has yet to reach the Proficient stage of Ranked Hero."

ng was stunned silent at his words.

"If this is the case, is he a Believer?"

"No. He isn't a Believer. Because he could never believe the impossibilities to create a Path like the Believers. But what he has, is sothing interesting. He believes in himself. He believes that even without a Path, he can break through the ranks to reach the higher stages."

"Forgive for doubting this disciple of yours. But your claims are very questionable."

The Realm King rely smiled as he looked towards the pod.

"I first noticed Seeker, during the Retaking of Pangea. He was of course, first amongst the Unlocked due to his close connection with Doctor Charles. But of course, he was quickly forgotten within the ranks of the army as his closest friends, the Empress of the Sun and the Prophet Elijah overshadowed him."

"And so you're saying that because he was overshadowed by these two, that he wasn't noticed?"

"Seeker's career is sothing that should've amazed anyone but since there were so many doubtful things about his progressive growth, he was never seen amongst the heroes. There are several miracles that he did, which we simply ignored. How is it, that he managed to achieve the sa level of physical and cellular enhancent which other Ranked Heroes has? Think carefully. Reaching the Ranked Hero stage was already deed impossible, yet Seeker not only reached that stage of the Unlocking but beyond the state of his brain, everything else caught up as well."

"That's because of the neuro- transcellular phenonon!" ng argued.

"Oh is it? Then why is it, amongst all the Ranked Heroes, excluding Elijah, only Seeker has reached the stage where both his mind and body reached Proficient?"

ng couldn't retort.

"Let's say you're right. Then exactly, what is Seeker's Path?"

"It's similar to Lynd's. You could say it's weaker… but on a different perspective, it's also stronger. If Lynd can mimic and acquire the Path of every Ranked Hero or Champion, Seeker, can acquire everything else but the Path."

"What do you an?"

"Anything that is not Path related, but related to the Unlocking stages, which ans, physical enhancent, ti perception, improved motor capability, Neuro-transcellular enhancent, and everything else, he can acquire. How else can you explain how he managed to reach the physical biology of a Ranked Hero Proficient this fast?" The Realm King gave a wide smile.

"Then you had him fight to grow?"

"Yes. Although your physical body is strong because of your Path, even Lennox would agree that your body will undoubtedly hold the key ingredients that could help Non-Believers acquire the physical body of a Ranked Hero!"

ng recalled his battle with Seeker and thought deeply.

"So it wasn't just a feeling. His physical body did grow stronger mid-fight."

"Oh… Looks like Seeker had so progressed in your fight. Good. If Lynd's path is the Narrow Road, the one who can gather all paths and produce the Way, then Seeker holds within his potential, the capability to break through the Unlocking without a Path. He simply knows the truth about the Unlocking."

ng stood silently and unconsciously gazed at the tal pod which hosted Seeker.

"So that's why you adamantly fought the Tyrant Empress to have Lynd near Seeker. I thought you were just protecting Lynd's innocence." ng contemplated.

"Well, yes. that and if Lynd manages to converge all the Paths, who knows how Seeker will mature. As long as Seeker can witness soone surpass World Champion, he has the potential to do so too." The Realm King smiled.

"So what do we report?" ng asked a serious question.

"Relax. I know how important morale is. We'll tell the world that reaching Ranked Hero is possible even for Non-Believers. And of course, we cannot tell Seeker of his Path. He might doubt himself if we told him. Despite his strength, he is quite insecure." The Realm King heartily laughed.

The sleeping Seeker Carlean, couldn't hear the conversations between the two Overcors. But recently, in the depths of his subconscious, as he was building the foundations of his Unlocking, he recalled this mont and heard what he couldn't hear before.

Before Seeker died, he not only saw but felt what it was like to surpass World Champion.

Seeker stood bravely as ng's yellow charge grew brighter.

"I have no qualifications to stand before you? Perhaps before. But not now." Seeker sneered confidently.

"I am he who has stood at the crossroads and asked; where is the Good Way that I might walk in it? If no new Paths open before , I'll just tread on a Path already trodden upon!"

Seeker dove forward once again to clash with ng. But this ti instead of evading, Seeker was bent on smashing that tallic armor to pieces.

"I am he who treads the Ancient's Paths!"

BOOM!