Chapter 55: Chapter55-A Talent Comparable to the Legendary Grand Magus
John had intended to enlarge the water sphere even further, but despite Aquakinesis having a short cooldown period, it wasn't devoid of one.
At this juncture, the two skeleton warriors had already been slain by the Sand Scorpion King, dissolving into specks of white light that vanished into the air.
Without the skeleton warriors to buy him time to cast spells, John had no choice but to cease his efforts.
Casting a glance at the colossal water sphere above, he figured it should suffice and ceased his concern.
With a mere thought, the immense sphere of water, accompanied by a howling gale, surged towards the Sand Scorpion King and the five Spirits of the Sands.
The sight of the vast water sphere, nearly obscuring all view, hurtling towards it caused the Sand Scorpion King's body to stiffen momentarily, fear evident in its eyes.
Despite the sphere's slow approach, the sheer scale of John's attack, spanning a hundred meters, made evasion impossible for the king.
With a screech, the Sand Scorpion King let out a roar, immediately commanding the Spirits of the Sands to intercept the attack while it sought refuge behind them, its body instantly radiating intense red luminescence.
Facing the inevitable, the king chose to withstand John's onslaught head-on.
After deploying its skill, the Sand Scorpion King's red carapace gleamed even more vividly, resembling a blazing flame, clearly having used a skill to bolster its own defenses.
At this moment, the five Spirits of the Sands boldly positioned themselves in front of the Sand Scorpion King, their bodies morphing into five walls of sand, attempting to use the same tactic as before to block John's attack.
However, they were unaware that John's assault was not aimed at inflicting damage this time.
"Boom!!!"
John's water sphere collided with the five Spirits of the Sands, bursting open violently.
The water within, like a tsunami, engulfed the Spirits and the Sand Scorpion King, instantly drenching them.
"-52156!"
"-55511!"
"-56890!"...
A series of damage points rose up, and the five Spirits of the Sands were instantly annihilated by John's water sphere, with the Sand Scorpion King losing half of its HP in the process.
The immense force pinned it firmly to the sandy ground, nearly extinguishing the flames at its tail.
The once vivid and lustrous carapace of the Sand Scorpion King was now dull and lackluster.
"You have slain a Lv15 'Spirit of the Sands (elite)', gaining 25,500 Exp!"
"You have slain a Lv15 'Spirit of the Sands (elite)', gaining 26,200 Exp!"
...
A series of kill notifications appeared before John, just as he had anticipated.
After being slain, the Spirits of the Sands did not resurrect again.
Although the Spirits could evade damage by turning into sand, once soaked, they could no longer use this ability.
John's intention in conjuring the water sphere was precisely to eliminate these troublesome foes first.
Once all the water had vanished, John's gaze fell upon the land, which was once relatively flat but now bore a massive crater.
The Sand Scorpion King lay listlessly in the center of the vast crater, devoid of its initial defiance, looking utterly defeated.
Its scorpion tail, broken at some unknown moment, oozed red blood from the wound, painting a picture of sheer misery.
John had no intention of holding back.
His staff glowed with a purple light, summoning five thunder arrows behind him.
One of these arrows transformed into a bolt of lightning, striking the prone Sand Scorpion King.
"Zap!"
Struck by John's thunder arrow, the Sand Scorpion King's body convulsed, foam spewing from its fanged maw, unable to even let out a cry of agony.
"-10148!"
Though the Sand Scorpion King possessed high resistance to fire-based and earth attributes, it was utterly vulnerable to lightning.
Each thunder arrow inflicted a brief paralysis.
During this, John activated his spell turret mode, unleashing a barrage of spells on the Sand Scorpion King!
"Vine Thorn!" "Firebath Spell!" "Ground Spike!"...
As John's spells hit their mark, damage numbers soared above the Sand Scorpion King.
"-40179!" "-31188!" "-7899!"...
Vines burst from the earth, piercing its body; fire serpents roared, shattering its carapace; relentless Ground Spikes plunged into its wounds, racking up massive damage.
The poor Sand Scorpion King stood no chance; it lay motionless even before John could exhaust his arsenal of skills.
"You have slain a Lv15 'Sand Scorpion King (trial)', gaining 51,900 Exp!"
Upon the Sand Scorpion King's defeat, a radiant white light enveloped John, signaling his level up.
[Your level has increased to Lv16, gaining 15 free attribute points!]
Simultaneously, prompts for proceeding to the next level and the trial assessment appeared before John.
[You have passed "Crimson Demon Heritage Trial - First Layer"!]
[Your performance in this trial was exceptionally outstanding, earning an SSS-level rating!]
[Please choose to either proceed to the next layer or exit the trial!]
[Proceed to the next layer] or [Exit trial]
Under the scorching sun that seared the earth, damage numbers still floated above John's head.
He picked up several pieces of equipment dropped by the Sand Scorpion King and the Spirits of the Sands, not lingering any longer, and swiftly moved on to the next level.
At this moment, all John wished for was to quickly complete the trial.
Whether or not he would receive any heritage was of little concern to him; he was primarily curious about what might be hidden within the Crimson Demon's treasure.
It was like opening a mystery box, uncertain of what might be inside, sparking immense curiosity within him.
Lucas, who was also fighting for his life in the trial, would surely be infuriated if he knew of John's thoughts.
What Lucas considered an invaluable treasure, the Crimson Demon's treasure, was merely a mystery box in John's eyes?
...
Atop Demonbone Peak.
As John defeated the Sand Scorpion King, a prompt appeared before everyone in the outside world.
[Someone in this round of the trial has achieved an SSS-level rating, unlocking a highlight replay!]
Upon seeing this rating, everyone's mind immediately conjured the image of John.
Aside from this new prodigy from Hidden Stars, they couldn't think of anyone else capable of earning such an evaluation.
The screen before the audience began to play.
As expected, John was the one who achieved the SSS-level rating in the trial.
Through the footage, everyone clearly saw the challenges posed by the Sand Scorpion King and the Spirits of the Sands, as well as how John closed his eyes to evade the Sand Scorpion King's first deadly attack.
Baron and his companions exchanged glances, each seeing the surprise in the others' eyes.
Baron exclaimed in astonishment, "Though I've never met him, I can sense that this young man is no older than twenty. Yet, to have learned to use mind power at such a young age? I remember I was already at the diamond-tier when I mastered it. This kid's talent has left me streets behind!"
"Besides Albertus, how many in House Fairfax have talents worth comparing to a genius of this caliber?" Alexander, always disdainful of Baron's mercantile air, retorted sharply.
However, his words bore truth; the talents within House Fairfax were, to put it mildly, underwhelming, with only Albertus being somewhat noteworthy...
After his jab at Baron, Alexander turned to Victor and asked, "Did you teach him this mind power perception? How long did it take him to learn?"
In Alexander's view, John was Victor's protégé, and his mind power perception must have been taught by Victor.
To everyone's astonishment, Victor shook his head and said, "No, he seems to have figured it out on his own."
Victor had thoroughly investigated John's background the day before and knew he lacked any significant connections or resources.
The only formidable person he knew was that old cripple Victor was also acquainted with.
Thus, Victor understood that it was highly unlikely anyone had taught John how to use mind power.
The most plausible explanation was that John had learned the technique of mind power perception by himself.
Victor's revelation made everyone draw a sharp breath.
Mind power perception isn't a skill but rather a sixth sense akin to biological instinct, emerging as an awakener's strength and combat experience grow.
In theory, any class could acquire this ability, but typically, those who possessed it were either seasoned awakers with a wealth of combat experience or top-tier geniuses who had undergone specialized training.
However, the powerhouses knew John fit neither category.
One reason was John's youth, making it improbable for him to have amassed extensive combat experience.
The other was that if John were a genius cultivated by a top-tier force, he wouldn't have joined Hidden Stars, nor would his backers allow him to emerge into the limelight.
Thus, Victor's words held credibility; it was entirely possible that the young man had stumbled upon the method for mind power perception by accident rather than being taught by someone else.
This was somewhat terrifying because, if their memory served them correctly, the pioneer of mind power perception was a legendary grand magus from fifty years ago!
At this moment, a thought arose in everyone's minds.
Could it be that this person's talent was comparable to that legendary grand magus?!