Ava lay on her back, her breathing erratic. Her whole body felt numb; she was unable to get up.

Since she and Michael were in the same realm, they were supposed to be equal in power. Yet that didn't prove to be the case. Even after hours of fighting, Michael was still standing on his feet, albeit with a pale expression.

"You're so mean! You didn't hold back at all. Now I can't feel my legs!" Ava mumbled with great difficulty.

'That's what she said, HAHAHA!' Devil's Tongue laughed.

Michael chuckled before dismissing the soul weapon. "I have to congratulate you; you were the one that kept going despite your state while the others gave up."

His words of praise were also meant to inspire the spirit of the others, wanting to make them push themselves harder the next day.

"I appreciate your praise, but I still can't move."

With a sigh, Michael picked her up in a princess carry.

"Happy now?" He asked.

"I—I guess it's a bit better…" She looked to the side, hiding her blush.

With each day that passed, the members of Michael's faction were pushing themselves further and further.

Originally, Michael was able to match them in power. But as time progressed, he found himself being cornered. At some point, he was forced to use 500 of his reserved skill points to keep up with them. Since he had to keep fighting for a long time, he focused most of them on stamina.

Name: Michael

Soul Realm: Early Expert

Cybernetics: Indomitable System, Berserker, Dash, Perfect Vision, Spirit Surge, Blink, Bypasser, Parallel Sight

• Strength: 880

• Agility: 840

• Stamina: 975

• Spirit: 50,000

• Mind: 10,000

Skill Points: 1,000

"How the fuck did you get more powerful?!" Enzo cried, feeling Michael's strikes becoming more formidable.

"Did your Berserker technique improve again?!"

"It's a secret." Michael said before sending Enzo flying.

"Every time I feel like I've taken a step, you take a dozen!" Ava felt her motivation spike.

The training continued until a message caught them off guard.

"Evelyn wants to meet us?"

Since it was too soon for her to reach the Grandmaster realm, they guessed that it was because of another pressing matter.

Since she wanted only Experts and up, Michael and Ava bid the others farewell for now.

"I can breathe again!" Leo exclaimed, collapsing on the ground.

"The gap between us is continuing to widen! Rest is not allowed!" Enzo proclaimed. He dropped to the ground and proceeded to do push-ups until complete exhaustion.

"Overtraining is pointless." Amelia sighed.

"Push-ups give me more strength!" Enzo proclaimed not paying her any mind.

It didn't take long for Michael to reach the strategy room.

"How is the training of the troops going?" He asked Victoria. With the relentless training, he hadn't had time to meet her for several days.

"They are slowly getting better. Their cultivation has also improved," she said nonchalantly.

In reality, these were still amazing results. Few would be able to train so many people in just a few days. But in her eyes, that was the bare minimum.

The strategy room quickly became crowded.

"I never knew there were so many Masters here…" Ava mumbled. Usually, each base on Triton was meant to house no more than one Master. But now there were close to two dozen, and that wasn't even counting the Experts.

"I'm going to keep it short." With everyone gathered, Evelyn began.

"The higher-ups fear that our troops have suffered a loss of morale due to the recent alien invasion. They have proposed a contest of sorts. Each base would send their most renowned personnel to fight against one another… Of course, the winners would be rewarded with several cybernetics."

The only reason that Evelyn was paying any attention to the suggestion was because of the reward. Many of the cybernetics were one-time use. With hundreds of thousands of personnel, it was impossible to have too many.

Once she mentioned the rewards, most of the people present displayed a desire to join.

"It would be a good idea to enter," Michael suggested to Ava.

"The more cybernetics you comprehend, the more techniques you can wield, giving you more options in combat."

Her eyes began to gleam. Truthfully, she felt behind Michael in that aspect and wasn't going to refute the idea.

As it turned out, the number of challengers a base could send was based on their size. With Base #1 being the largest one, they were allowed to have the most challengers enter the fray.

Since the competition was from the Adept to the Master realm, every member of the Indomitable Alliance faction decided to take part.

'Even if they don't win, fighting against other people would be a positive experience.' Michael figured.

Being a Peak Master, Evelyn was guaranteed to win if she joined. But she decided to refrain from doing so, several Masters entering in her place. Victoria being one of them.

Several more days passed in which the Indomitable Alliance continued to train with Michael. Now, with the competition nearing, they were more motivated than ever.

It didn't take long for the date to arrive. Eagerly anticipating the fights, they went to the gathering spot.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Scarlett was lying on her bed. Even if Michael was providing funds for her and her family, she still felt guilty. After school, she would work part-time in order to raise as much money as she could.

"I'm so tired…" She murmured, looking at her phone. It had become a habit of hers to scan the news reports on Triton, with her brother being stationed there.

"Hm?"

Just when she was about to call it quits, a certain video that had begun to gain traction caught her attention.

The fact that it was posted by a no-name duo of reporters was also surprising.

Intrigued, she clicked it and proceeded to watch it.

After several seconds, she shot up from the bed, all of her exhaustion nowhere to be seen.

"BROTHER?!" Her shout was so loud she woke her mother from across the other room.

"What the hell is he doing? ...And how is he fighting such scary-looking aliens?" She mumbled, completely baffled.

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