D.I.O

Chapter 183

Ascalon made a loud metallic clanging sound as it fell. Arthur reached out to retrieve Ascalon, but before he could do so, a large foot in leather shoes stomped on his hand.

Ugh.

Hmm. Young boy, you still dont understand. Cant you tell that its too early?

The well-built black man stomped on Arthurs hand. He was 210 centimeters tall and weighed 180 kilograms. The mans body was covered with rippling muscles that looked like armor, and he had an extraordinary sense of balance and perfection, making him seem more like a biological weapon than a living being.

Ugh ha ha ha.

Arthur lay on the ground in front of the man, breathing raggedly while he absorbed the nearby natural mana to replenish his lost energy.

Still, youve improved from before. What was it that you practiced premarital chastity?

Soul swordsmanship. How did that become premarital chastity?

Arthur grunted as he got up. Next to him was Toothless, a black drake that was covered in dust as if it had rolled on the ground.

Ugh. Shit. Both of my wings are broken.

Can you recover?

Its hard for me to heal right now. One hit from that guy shattered my bones and scales in the worst way. Moreover, his strikes are imbued with other strange powers, making it more challenging.

Hey, you know I went easy on you, right? It seems you believe in your own powers too much, but if you continue overly relying on your senses while fighting, youll always be limited.

The massive man smiled broadly as he rubbed Toothlesss hair, with the drake having a slightly flattened body. Toothless, a top-class summoned being, roared ferociously like a lion, but the man didnt seem to care. Before the mans overwhelming power, Toothless couldnt do anything.

I dont know, Lionel. How how the hell do I create a strong qi?

Tsk. Again, youre trying to fly without being able to run. Did I use strong qi while fighting you?

No, but.

Dont be impatient, little boy. Arent you the strongest user? Theres no point in training any further, so use what youve learned and solidify those lessons through direct combat experience.

Lionel, the ruler of Valiant Heavenly City, smiled kindly and patted Arthurs shoulder. This city was the holy land for internal energy users, but Arthurs frustrated expression remained.

Its tricky. To be honest, I cant figure it out. No matter how hard I try-

Lionel cut Arthur off from grumbling further.

Everyone has to make an effort.

Im sorry, but all I can say is dont be in such a hurry. Next time, have more confidence when you challenge me.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lionel disappeared. At the same time, text messages popped up in the air.

/You have failed the Level 20 test! You cannot retake the test for a period of one week in real time./

/End of test./

In an instant, Arthur found himself back in the clean, well-organized housing space hed purchased previously. He was living in an area of Valiant Heavenly City that was available to users.

Are you alright?

Dont be in such a rush, master. Hes a complete monster, so you probably cant defeat him anytime soon.

Arthurs draconic sword, Dustin, and Arthurs summoned pet drake, Toothless, tried to sympathize with and cheer up Arthur, but the user didnt reply. Instead, he walked into a room and lay down on a bed. Toothless gently pounced near Arthur and started rubbing his head against Arthur. Alas, the latter still didnt show any response.

Its difficult. Its too difficult.

Arthur was facing a barrier. Of course, everyone who trained faced this hurdle. If an individual learned something new, they were bound to face a learning curve. This happened every time someone reached a certain point in progressing their abilities, including martial arts. Some could overcome the barrier with time and effort, but others would never do so even after a lifetime of trying.

Therein lay the problem for Arthur; he had never faced a barrier, not even once, until now.

What should I do.

He had always developed rather easily. Despite not having a teacher, when fighting, Arthur would examine the [Reason] behind his opponents every move, learning how the enemy attacked and teaching himself their abilities and improving them. Arthur never needed an instructor. The secrets of the perfected principles and cultivation methods provided by DIO were just inspiration material rather than something to follow for Arthur. Yet, even for him, the barrier of transcendence, to go beyond mortality, was simply too high.

Why cant I achieve it?

Arthur had remained at Level 19 for four months. However, those were four months in real-time. Since time in DIO flowed 12 times faster, and the training room was further sped up by 100 times the in-game speed, Arthur had not been able to take a single step forward from Level 19 for over 20 years.

It wasnt so simple as merely failing to materialize his sword qi. No matter how much he wielded his sword and trained, his abilities and skills werent improving. This stagnant state, where he felt that his skills were not improving but rather regressing, was a barrier that thoroughly confounded him, as he had always understood concepts immediately.

I dont know.

Arthur had lost his way. As if trapped in a thick fog, his sense of direction was blurred. He felt thoroughly exhausted.

I want to quit.

Arthur was lying on his stomach and didnt lift his head. As they saw him like this, Toothless and Dustin were saddened. If Arthur, the master who summoned them, closed his heart like this, there was nothing they could do as summoned beings. They endured and were able to stay by his side because they were high-ranking pets, but if they were normal summoned beings, they would have already been forcefully sent back.

I want to quit.

Everything had its limits. Mental power and fortitude also have their limits. Any action that requires the will to do something results in the consumption of mental power. The fact that Arthur pressed forward with his training and pursuits for 20 years was in and of itself proof of his transcendent-like will.

However, even someone with the will of a transcendent would face limits.

Perhaps Ill never be able to cross this barrier.

Arthur lay limp in bed as he sighed. It looked as if his will and existence were visibly leaving his body.

Beep!

While he remained sprawled out, his Beholder made a familiar mechanical noise, serving as the users smartphone. As explained before, a Beholder allowed a user to send whisper messages, receive and look up announcements, and even surf the internet.

Arthur took out his Beholder and looked at the newly arrived message. The message was from his employer, the Noblesse organization.

Oh, its from work. Its a job assignment, Toothless commented.

Yeah, Arthur replied.

Youre not planning on working?

Arthur begrudgingly sat up. He didnt feel like moving, but unlike other users, he wasnt playing this game for fun. As an employee of the Noblesse organization, Arthur conducted missions and received a hefty salary in return.

Furthermore, the Noblesse had saved his mothers life from her terminal illness, so they were essentially his mothers lifesavers in Arthurs perspective. Hence, as someone who was responsible, Arthur couldnt knowingly ignore his work.

Phew, well, theres nothing I can do. Its not like rushing will do anything either way.

After standing, Arthur started adjusting the bracelet on his right arm. This bracelet allowed him to enter a mission or meet with other players without having to enter the Star Temple. In other words, the bracelet was an operators item, something that one of DIOs GMs would possess.

Transport.

For a moment, the bracelet flashed with a bright light before Arthur completely disappeared. His destination was Noah.

***

Lancelot stepped out of the training room. Then, he turned around and tried to re-enter.

Once more, please.

Uhm Lancelot you dont have enough EXP.

Oh, I dont?

Lancelot had been waiting for the door to open with a neutral expression. He perhaps even looked a little dazed when he turned around again without any hesitation. The NPC who managed the gate, Carlin, furrowed his brows as he met Lancelots gaze, which seemed void of any life.

Its not recommended that we interfere with users but dont overdo it. The principle of the world is not something one realizes simply by training a lot.

If someone could enter the realm of transcendence through extended training, the fairies and draconic existences that had lived for a thousand years would be able to enter transcendence. In addition, the dragon species, which entered transcendence around the thousand-year mark, would be considered great existences.

Hahaha. Quite entertaining words. So, Carlin, whats needed? An innate unique quality that Cruze has? After all, she has reached a higher level than me in only a month.

Lancelot.

At Carlins heavy tone, Lancelot sighed lightly and apologized.

Sorry for my thoughtless comment.

Lancelot and Carlin were now amicable with each other. NPCs like Carlin were essentially humans, so like the users, they would become familiar and friendly with people once they met and interacted with them for a long time.

In addition, Lancelots training which made it seem as if he was trying to destroy himself, had the power to make observers unconsciously root for him. In Carlins case, hed stopped training when he realized that he couldnt improve or develop anymore, and he felt even greater sympathy for Lancelot.

How about taking a break? I heard users have created movie theaters in the main marketplace, so it might be nice to experience a bit of culture and games while rejuvenating yourself.

Is that so.

Lancelot smiled weakly and nodded. Carlin had said an undeniably correct statement based on sound, logical judgment; however, if everyone agreed with that form of logic and lived by it, conflict and crime wouldnt exist.

Beep! Ting!

Lancelot took out his Beholder, and the screen lit up after giving a startup sound. The Beholders screen was as large as the palm of someones hand, so it couldnt display a lot of information, but with their enhanced eyesight, users could read the Beholders text clearly. As such, even a small liquid crystal in-game could contain more information than a fairly sizable monitor in real life. Obviously, some users couldnt see small letters well due to their occupation or status, but in those cases, they could adjust the text size.

The website has changed a lot.

Youve spent quite some time in the training room. You cant access the internet in the training room, right?

Right. Its an isolated space. There are restrictions on what I can bring into the training room, so internet access is definitely not possible.

Users could only bring basic weapons and their bare bodies into the training room. This was because there was a kind of [Memory] in the training room, which made it difficult to inject external information into the space.

Since the training room accelerated a single users experience of time passing, it was impossible for two users to enter together or connect to the outside world. This was an inevitability that came alongside accelerated time, which was up to 1,200 times faster than in reality.

If more items could be carried into the training room, it would have been possible to bring a gaming console or novel for a break or a stack of books to study and memorize.

The popular hunting ground these days are New Continent.

Hey, are you going to take a rest?

Ill rest. However, if I completely stop without doing anything, I know Ill suffer more later on.

Hard work also had its limits. Conceptually, mental power was consumed the more it was used, so even the indomitable would wear out over time and eventually give up. This is why Lancelot changed his training method as soon as he felt his mental limit; these changes were habit and tendencies.

Ill be taking a break. Please let me know if a Unique spiritual core comes up for sale.

Will do.

Then, Lancelot left the Exchange Center. As always, countless users were bustling about in Starting. DIOs user base had increased so much that it was difficult to say DIO was simply a game. DIO had already become a society encompassing the various people who inhabited Earth.

Currently, the number of Masters 182 users. The number has grown quite a bit.

Lancelot was one of the original Masters, often called the pioneers, as they rose to the status of Master within a month of DIO opening. When he realized the meaning of stabbing, Lancelot was able to output powerful attacks without using a lot of force, allowing him to rise to the level of Master.

However, now that DIO had been in service for more than half a year, he was not as special as he was before. Lancelot was currently Level 12, which was only one level higher than it was six months ago, in real-time. Furthermore, in his perspective, the last six months were greater than half a year. Only half a year had passed in real life, but the time he experienced was