701 The First Impostor

It was unexpected.",

No one expected the silent fool, Var to make the first move.",

Even more, they didn't expect him to pick Angus of all people.",

The stadium fell silent in a heartbeat and Varian shot the second punch.",

Angus was already pissed off since he got punched out of the blue, so, he tightened his waist, pulled his right leg a step back, and kicked out.",

Boom!",

The arena of the seventh group shook wildly as Angus' leg reached Varian's head in an instant.",

The air between Angus' leg and Varian's head was compressed and exerted tremendous pressure on him.",

Boom!",

The air exploded and a shockwave swept the arena, blasting away the eight members to the corners.",

Even though they were also prince candidates, none of them were even a high level 7.",

On the other hand, Varian who subtly used his macro kinetic power in addition to superhuman strength was able to just block the kick.",

Seeing Varian's hand blocking his leg from kicking down his head, Angus' eyes first widened in surprise before turning red from war intent.",

"Raa!"",

Thick killing intent exploded and he rained a flurry of punches on Varian.",

Despite being weaker on the body side, Varian took all his punches.",

[+50 XP]",

[+50 XP]",

[+50 XP]",

…",

The Abyssal Var was only a body awakener. So, Varian couldn't openly use other abilities.",

However, he used his space powers and microkinetic powers to create defensive barriers under his skin, preventing the injuries he would've suffered if he took the attacks head-on.",

As a result, it appeared to everyone that Varian was also a peak level 7 and even stronger than Angus since he didn't get even a single injury.",

But for some reason, he was going easy on Angus since he wasn't attacking with full strength.",

The crowd believed the reason to be Angus' father, the duke.",

The audience turned their gazes to the duke, their expressions openly displaying disapproval and contempt.",

The duke's face contorted, not from the audience's stare, but from Varian's actions.",

"Warrior Var, not showing your full strength on your opponent is a crime! Go ahead and beat my son." The Duke roared.",

"I don't need your pity! Come at me with full strength." Angus said with bloodshot eyes.",

'W-What?' Varian was taken aback.",

"Duke's son or Whore's son, strength is the only qualification." Angus continued the attacks as he spat.",

'Abyssals…' Varian blocked a punch to his chest and kicked back.",

Angus sidestepped and dodged before lashing out a kick to the neck. His shirt was completely soaked and he was panting heavily, yet he continued the attacks with the same intensity.",

…He was giving his best.",

Boom! Kacha!",

Varian's punch swiftly shifted at the last moment and struck Angus in the abdomen.",

Spraying out a mouthful of green blood, the abyssal wiped his mouth and glanced at Var with a complicated gaze.",

"Knock me out or I'm not going down!" Kicking the ground, he reached Varian in an instant.",

Boom!",

Unlike Varian who sneakily used his Plantae skills to reduce his fatigue, Angus was already exhausted. So, he was easily kicked by Varian in the chest and flew out in a parabola before crashing to the ground.",

"Ur-Kuh!" Disregarding the broken chest bones, he tried to get up.",

But Varian's follow-up kick knocked him out.",

"Var!"",

"Kuruk! Kuruk! Kuruk!"",

The audience burst into cheers as they chanted his name.",

Ignoring the reactions despite being surprised by them, Varian turned his gaze to the remaining participants.",

Six were knocked out and only two were left.",

With a kick to the ground, he closed the distance and knocked out the first one with a punch, and the second one with a hand knife.",

"Yes! You're the warrior of our city! Become a prince and make us proud!" The duke slapped his chair and laughed.",

Varian looked at the duke with a complicated gaze. Despite him beating down his son, the duke was brightly smiling at Varian.",

'…Abyssals are a bit different from us. A bit too different.' Varian finally realized.",

Because if the same thing happened in human society, then…",

*** *** ***",

"Are the healing potions sufficient?"",

Nod.",

"Weapons? You use a spear, right? I got a good spear, here take it."",

Bow.  ",

A light bow indicating gratitude.",

"I got you the best accommodation that can be bought in the city."",

Another light bow.",

"Here is the information regarding the opponents you'll face in the capital. Even though we have quite a few vacant positions, there are always a lot more competitors. So, do your best, okay?"",

Nod. Nod.",

"Haha. I really want to hear you speak for once. But don't mind me, go Var! For the Emperor!"",

Imitating the man in front of him, Varian also placed his hand on his heart with a lowered head.",

"My son will accompany you to the capital. I'm counting on you." Patting his shoulder twice, the duke finally left the room.",

'Didn't get found~' Varian's tense shoulders drooped and he sat on a couch as if he lost all his energy.",

Even though Abrax's mask could disguise him perfectly, Varian wasn't 100% sure if he did it right.",

Back in the ruins, his first disguise as a merman failed. It only worked the second time.",

It wasn't much of a deal there, but if it happened now, then it'd be over.",

'From what I can tell, abyssals don't even have recognition tools. They aren't worried about humans infiltrating and posing as one of them.'",

Why so much confidence?",

For one, perfectly disguising as an abyssal was close to impossible.",

However, if a proper treasure could be accessed, it could be done.",

But finding a proper treasure was too hard.",

And second…",

'Abyss Will.'",

Varian looked at the red sky out of the window and clicked his tongue.",

Humans, no matter level 1 or level 9 or even Sovereign, would be affected by the abyss will.",

Even if they could bear it, they wouldn't be able to brush it off.",

To the abyssals, it'd become painfully obvious why an abyssal was behaving so strangely.",

Enigma was capable of hiding from the Abyss' will and even shielding herself from its effects altogether.",

However, she didn't have a perfect disguise treasure that allowed her to change into another race altogether.  ",

In the end, he was the first imposter.",