Chapter 296 - He Was Shocked Again When He Returned!

Moss perked up when he saw Nat and Lila’s sparring session. He glued his eyes to the fierce battle between the two.

Although the two girls were Moss’s Tomorrow Team members, he had only participated in two club activities when they searched for the lost map of humanity because he went to the EDC halfway through.

Moss thought he knew his team members well, but he was shocked when he saw the strength the two displayed.

‘Nat’s dragon scale armor has increased in levels again. Now, she can even use it to block the sword in Lila’s hand. With the increase in strength and aggressive fighting styles, Lila’s sword has become even more deadly. It looks like everyone has been working hard too!’

With those thoughts in mind, Moss offered his warm and sincere applause. Seeing the battle between the two beauties, the male team members did not hesitate to applaud them warmly and continued cheering.

Ultimately, the additional status effects of Nat’s dragon breath were too mighty for Lila to handle. Lila held on for a while but still lost. As the two beauties exited the ring, Moss saw Noel jump and gracefully land in the ring, looking at him with bright eyes.

It was as if Noel was saying, “Come on, we finally get to battle one-on-one!”

Moss noticed Noel’s eagerness and looked forward to their sparring session. After all, he had never fought Noel before.

Bishop’s arrangement was intentional. On the one hand, he wanted to break the record of zero fights between Moss and Noel. On the other hand, he also wanted Noel to test if Moss had been slacking off over the past month.

Moreover, he chose Noel to spar with Moss because Noel seemed to have gone crazy with training day and night during this month. His strength had also increased at breakneck speed.

He had already reached level 36, and the combination of his skills and spiritual power had also significantly increased the power of his original skills.

Although Moss looked forward to their spar, he was not impulsive. As usual, he calmly walked toward the ring as images of Noel’s previous sparring sessions kept appearing in his mind.

When Moss went up to the ring, Noel’s face was solemn as he made an inviting gesture, “Bring it, Moss!”

Although his words were brief, they were resonant and powerful, giving off a feeling that would shake one’s soul.

‘Noel has fused his spiritual power!’ Moss muttered inwardly.

He knew Noel had joined the Spiritual Power Club intending to increase his spiritual power so that he could further increase his overall strength. From what Noel had shown just now, Moss could sense that his spiritual power had become more potent.

However, he did not know if Noel had reserved his strength before or if there were other reasons. Still, Moss did not feel anything strange. It was as if nothing had happened.

“Please, don’t hold back,” Moss replied and stood sideways, assuming his stance.

Noel did not wait and took the lead to attack Moss. He waved his sword, and hundreds of white bones shot toward Moss.

Moss noticed Noel had used his full strength from the get-go and dared not underestimate him. He summoned several shields, firmly protecting his entire body.

The flying bones hit his shields like bullets making banging sounds. Moss could feel the strength of Noel’s projectile bones.

His shields were already very hard, but cracks started appearing when the bones collided. However, only small parts of Noel’s projectile bones had cracks. Most of the bones looked almost entirely undamaged.

‘This skill’s effects have significantly improved compared to before! Could this be a new effect of a skill infused with spiritual power?! Since his bones are so tough, he could use them for defense too!

‘Noel has both offense and defense. I must take him by surprise if I want to win quickly,’ Moss pondered. He also started thinking of countermeasures and looked for suitable opportunities to attack.

After a while, he realized that Noel would typically move to his right whenever he launched a powerful attack as his opponent retaliated. Thus, Moss displayed Absolute Defense when he saw Noel start to launch a more powerful attack.

Although Moss’s spiritual power level as an intermediate powerhouse was not enough to turn the opponent’s attack energy by 180 degrees, he was still confident he could do it within 45 degrees.

He summoned a few more shields and quickly placed them behind his right side. Then he used his spiritual power to influence the enormous energy generated by Noel’s attack and shot it in his shields’ direction.

After refracting off the two shields, the energy from Noel’s attack struck back at himself. This sudden turn of events caught Noel by surprise.

Feeling the potent and familiar energy attacking him at a remarkable speed, Noel prepared to summon more bones to block it, but he rushed it. Moreover, when Moss’s energy attacked Noel, Moss also went for the attack.

‘Storm Strike!’ Moss shouted inwardly.

Simultaneously, a silver fox struck Noel at lightning speed. Even Bishop could not withstand a double attack like that, let alone Noel, who was only level 36.

Moss’s attack sent Noel flying with a muffled groan, “Ah!”

It was a scary sight to see Noel flying away, but in reality, Moss only used 10% of his strength in Storm Strike. Noel only flew because of his own energy that Moss redirected.

Although he got sent flying, Noel had already summoned most of his bones to block the energy, so even if he flew, he would not take much damage.

“Wow! What kind of skill did Moss use?! He sent Noel flying in an instant!”

“Moss seemed a little more passive, but why did the situation suddenly turn?”

“Moss’s strength is terrifying! Noel’s improvements over the past month were apparent to everyone. Even so, Moss still easily defeated him!”

…

The reserve team members were shocked. They could not help but voice their thoughts. Sofia and the other five professors felt even more shocked when they saw what had happened.

When Professor Xiazo saw this, he could not help but sigh, “I went back and did a lot of research after last time. Combined with Moss’s performance, I can confirm that Moss just used Absolute Defense!”

Cubert, the Combat Strength Academy’s professor, said in disbelief, “Did Moss control the direction of energy?!”

A satisfied smile appeared on Brady’s face when he saw Moss using his spiritual power to coordinate perfectly with his shields.

He could not help but nod excitedly, saying, “That Moss brat is super talented! Although he is still unable to return his opponent’s energy with his current spiritual power, he is already able to change its trajectory slightly.

“He’s also clear about that point. That’s why he cleverly used his shields to refract the energy when he used Absolute Defense. It was even more commendable when he had already accurately judged Noel’s attack pattern.

“He had also set up his shields in a way that would refract Noel’s energy instantly. Meanwhile, he seized the moment when Noel panicked and immediately attacked.”

Brady paused, and his voice became excited as he continued, “It’s hard to believe a first-year student would possess such calmness, accurate judgment, exquisite technique, and bold thinking.”

After listening to his explanation, Sofia and the other four professors were even more shocked. They could not help but wonder what Moss had experienced over the past month and how he suddenly became much stronger.