1479 The Strongest participants
Of those they had brought along, two had failed Genbu's test, and Sunny, who had suggested this plan, was a little worried. They had brought along these individuals believing the fourth king to be a picky type of individual, but their assumption was wrong. Now he was testing them based on strength, but they hadn't selected these participants based on their raw power, just based on their Qi.
"Can I ask, if you can't sense energy, then why is it so important that the participant needs to be strong? You care about energy for your land, and I can promise you that any of them can assure a huge amount of energy." Sunny said, putting on her usual voice.
The turtle and other familiars smiled whenever they would hear her speak, and Quinn assumed this had something to do with her ability. Even though the family could communicate with familiars, she still spoke the same way as they all did so everyone could still understand her.
"I have no way to confirm what you say is true, and if I end up listening to one of the other kings, I will become a laughing stock," Genbu replied. "All of those in my territory rely on me. If my area lacks energy, I will have no choice but to stay with the host.
"I understand that the energy the one can provide and his or her strength doesn't mean they will match. However, even if I was to find someone with good energy like the first girl, and she cannot break my Shell, it means she is more likely to die. If she dies for being weak, then the contract would break, and I will have to look for a new person.
"I need someone strong and one that can provide energy to my land for a long time."
Sunny hated to admit it, but what the turtle said made sense.
"That's why I could never pick someone as weak as that young man over there."
Sunny tilted her head to look at Quinn, who still had a smile on his face. She wondered if the taunts were adding up and were beginning to get to him somehow because it was hard to tell with his facial expression. For a second, though, she believed she could see Quinn's eyebrow twitch.
The next one in question was Layla, and although the others didn't say it, they actually had a lot of hope for Layla. Out of all those participating, she had the highest amount of Qi.
"I can go all out, right?" Layla asked as she looked around.
The others nodded, and hearing these words, Genbu thought that perhaps he might have made a mistake in her evaluation and was about to see quite a spectacle.
"Please, I would love to see someone destroy one of my shells," Genbu smirked.
She then started to focus as she consumed the negative energy from her surroundings. The dark smog that only she could see, but it wasn't enough. She needed to skip to the fourth transformation to use her full strength, but there wasn't enough negative emotion around her.
'Cia, Erin, mother...Quinn.' Layla thought.
As she brought up her negative feelings, the energy from within started to fill her body, growing slowly. The strength in her body was rising. Her fangs began to grow but not as significant as they would do in her other forms, and her horns extended slightly but not too big just enough, so they were sticking out of her hair.
Her transformation into her fourth form was complete.
"Oh, well, I guess my evaluation really was wrong. I never knew that you could transform! It looks like you were hiding things from me all along." Genbu happily said.
The others were pleased that Genbu was getting excited because they needed him to complete a contract.
Abdul, who had already had his turn, was looking at Layla, wondering what was going on; even here, he could feel the energy coming off her body.
"She wasn't invited to the event, the event where the strongest were called. She..she can't possibly destroy that Shell, can she?"
"That event was based on who the Board thought was the strongest," Quinn replied. "There are plenty of people in the Cursed faction who have strong power but have never appeared in front of a camera or made a name for themselves, and Layla is one of them."
The first part for Layla was complete, but looking at the Shell, she felt like she needed to do more than just hit it.
"Am I able to move the shell with my ability?" Layla asked.
"Whatever you wish, as long as it is a single hit using your hand," Genbu replied.
Hearing this, Layla stepped back away from the Shell, moving more towards the centre of the room. The others had to step back, making space for her. When she was ready, she held one hand out, her palm opened while the other turned into a fist.
The Shell started to lift off the ground and was now floating slightly above the ground in the air. The Qi was building up in her body with the first stage, powering the muscles in her arm and strengthening her hand.
She then went on to use the second stage, coating the exterior of her fist as well. In this situation, the third stage of Qi wasn't really much help, so she just focused on the second stage.
"AHHH!" Layla cried, and the Shell started to rush forward in her direction. It moved faster than the others thought it would. Layla had also been focusing on improving her ability powers while practising Qi.
Before, she had reached her limit as a human and her subclass, but she noticed something else. After going to the next form, she could surpass her limit. Not only did her normal strength increase, but her ability also improved.
The Shell was coming right at her and throwing her fist out at the right time. It landed right on the Shell.
The Shell stayed still in the air for a few seconds, and the purple sparks that had appeared the first time when Samantha had hit the Shell appeared this time as well.
The sparks were far more fierce and were even running up and down the entirety of Layla's arm. They seemed to be somewhat repelled, as the second Qi coating she had produced on her arm allowed the sparks to be knocked away.
The power from the punch even shook the mountain a little, the surface trembled, and after a few seconds, the Shell finally fell on the floor. Layla, herself, felt like collapsing, but instead, she quickly changed out of her form and fell to her knees. She had been holding her breath the whole time.
For the first time, rather than have the participants inspect the Shell, Genbu himself moved towards it to examine. He looked and observed for a long time before concluding.
"You did far better than I thought. I think I can see a few scuff marks on the surface, but that's it. The Shell is perfectly intact, and even if you were to hit it ten times with the same punch, there would be no difference. I'm afraid you too are not good enough." Genbu declared.
This was not what the others expected; even Abdul was left with his mouth wide open. If she couldn't please the turtle, then who among them could? He only imagined that someone like Sera or Sil was strong enough to destroy the Shell and impress Genbu.
Now it was time for the last person, and they all turned towards Owen.
"Well, don't you all stare at me like that," Owen said. "I have no trick up my sleeve, and I couldn't even break the glass in the arena back then. I guess we can only trust in luck right now. It would have been better if you had brought that other leader with you." Owen chuckled.
As usual, the tension felt by the others didn't seem to phase him. The others were racking their heads because it didn't give them confidence about what to do, and just then, someone stepped forward with a solution.
"Could you please give us a little time before the next test? I won't need too long." It was Leo who spoke.
"Oh...I could give you some time, but I will be watching your moves so that you don't try to trick me in some way." The turtle said as he watched Leo walk over towards Owen.
"If you will allow me," Leo slightly bowed to Owen. "I wish to teach you Qi, in order to increase your strength."
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