Even as Soren and Sausage Neck faced each other, they still dodged the attacks of the antibodies.

Whoosh

whoosh...

They moved with skill.

Vinegar and the others watched from a distance.

Blackfield was good—great even. But it was an ability that allowed for incredible unnatural perception.

Now, while seeing an attack and evading it was possible, the problem lay in an effective counterattack.

His opponent was made with layers of meat that absorbed attacks.

And when Soren aimed for his head, he just used Blackfield to evade the attack.

By now, Soren had already entered a defensive stance, whipping out his Soul-steel dagger for an opportunity to defend himself against the next attack.

The dagger was the strongest thing on him. Fortunately, he raised it towards his face in time.

Boom.

It worked, but his fingers, not tight enough, shook, and the dagger fell.

Surprisingly, Sausage Neck's hand was not hurt at all.

Aside from some steam from all the pressure of tearing through the air, it was fine.

What kind of A-rank Soul does this monster have?

This was a valid question. Because clearly, Sausage Neck's shade abnormally enhanced his body.

Soren was starting to contemplate whether he would need to use his First Form in this battle.

With the battles he had seen so far, it was either the prisoners did not have it or kept it for extreme situations.

With how fundamentally part of the academy's curriculum it was, Soren bet that most were unaware of it.

That was the difference between formal education as a Soulbound warrior and learning from the streets.

Still, if he used his First Form here and it drew attention, he feared the news would reach Captain Scarvguard.

And an F-rank wielding so many abilities at once would draw investigation on his Shade.

But he had to beat Sausage Neck. That smug look on the brute's face was infuriating.

He had to think of something. Anything.

Yes, there was that.

How could he have forgotten that he had that move? The one from Bulb.

But while Bulb multiplies the effect of an attack, a simple punch would not....

Soren paused a bit.

And then he facepalmed.

"How could I have been so dumb?" He thought out loud. "And it has been before my eyes all this time."

Sausage Neck grinned, "No need to regret your actions. I don't plan on forgiving you." He slammed his knuckles together.

Bam.

~Sizzle.

"Because of you, we lost Mini Ricky to that damn Dragon. All you whities are what's wrong with the empire.

Everything you touch, you DESTROY."

He kicked against the ground, muscles contracting in his right hand—a punch that would no doubt end Soren.

However, instead of a dreadful look on the boy's face, Soren had an expectant look.

It was an invitation.

He moved, left feet kicking into the ground as he passed through an observable gap in Sausage Neck's stance.

He attacked—still dodging an acid spit aimed for his neck.

CLAP.

The technique hit.

"Stupid!" Sausage Neck grinned. "You never learn. My body is—"

Bleughhhh!!!

He coughed up a mouthful of blood—eyes tracing to Soren.

He paused.

Perplexed.

"So that's how it works." Soren mused to himself.

Soren had forgotten something very important. He did not have to use his First Form to be able to use the abilities of the souls Chronovore had consumed.

And not all of them were flashy.

Some of them, like the Bulb's ability to double or even multiply attacks, were effective without being loud or sparkly.

All the while, Soren had only used Bulb's ability when throwing punches.

But was it restricted to punches?

Hell no. The effect of any attack could be doubled or multiplied depending on what he wanted it to be.

Maybe because Bulb had been a shade with a pilot that had no doubt reached higher 'Forms', Soren had not yet reached the output limit of the shade.

There might be a limit—no, there definitely was a limit.

But he was still a distance from it.

What he had done was to double the already chaotic effects of the clap hand-to-hand technique.

With how clean the attack had landed, Sausage Neck should count his lucky stars that his muscles were as strong as he claimed.

After all, this same combat technique had ended Soren's life a lot of times when Polystar was teaching it.

While Sausage Neck crunched, grabbing his chest.

Soren was having an epiphany.

He remembered that Polystar said that the children of noble families were trained long before they bonded with Shades.

Now, it made sense. All that training was so that they could incorporate the abilities of their Shades with their combat prowess, therefore producing a Soulbound warrior that was far beyond average.

But his thought process did not end here.

Soren thought deep—even as he dodged the continuous acid spits of the antibodies.

Just the same way I can add a Shade's ability to increase the effect of a combat technique, can I mix up different Shade abilities to produce even stronger...

His eyes brightened.

Of course, he could.

The realization sent a frenzy down his spine.

A lot had been happening, and he had not gotten the opportunity to pause and think.

Chronovore had consumed so many broken Shades.

Chiron made a rough count in his head—based on the weight of the Shades he could feel deep in his soul.

A pause.

Soren swallowed. "That's one hundred and eight."

Shit. I have been carrying around a freaking goldmine.

His breath became heavy in realization.

All that weight Chronovore was carrying was not just its own.

But that of the consumed wounded Shades.

No wonder it felt so heavy when I first bonded with it, and subsequently...

Soren frowned. It's true Chronovore got heavier as he ate, but he also remembered the weight fluctuating.

Sometimes more, and sometimes less.

Why?

Was it the loops?

Unfortunately, before he could dwell on this thought, Sausage Neck had attacked again.

A punch to the ground that shook Soren's stability.

Sausage Neck used the opportunity to attack again.

But Soren was ready.

He took a huge leap back.

The moment his legs touched the ground, he leaped forward again.

The Clap hand-to-hand combat technique was in full effect.

Soren realized that there was a lot about this curse he called his shade that he did not know about and needed to look into.

Maybe research on Shades.

While he knew he could not find out everything at once, there were a few things he could manage for now.

For example, he was going to go through all one hundred and eight Shades eaten by Chronovore.

He needed to figure out all their abilities and those that were compatible with one another.

But he would also be needing a practice dummy.

Soren's gaze landed on Sausage Neck.

He grinned.

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