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Seraphina sighed, a thoughtful look on her face. "Indeed, our training speed, when placed in the context of the entire city of New Veridia, is considered to be at the absolute top of the list. Probably only that Iris Thorne can be compared with us. Speaking of which, there has been no news of her during this period of time; I don't know what rank she has managed to train to by now."
Ethan shrugged. "This is something to be expected. She has an Earth-rank talent, and with the full backing and resources of the Thorne family, she is probably around Level Nine or even the peak of Level Ten now. But breaking through from Rank One to Rank Two is a huge watershed; it's not that easy to cross, even for her. I'd bet she definitely hasn't reached Rank Two yet."
Seraphina nodded. "You're right, but we can't afford to be complacent. After all, our real competition isn't just here in our home city; our ultimate goal is Pinnacle University, the top academy in the nation. Even if we have to compare ourselves to others, we should be comparing ourselves with those true geniuses from the major metropolitan cities and powerful Factions outside. Compared to them, we are still far, far too behind. As far as I know, there are people out there who possess legendary or even the mythical celestial-rank talents. For them, Rank One is nothing at all; they can easily cross that barrier in a matter of weeks. For people with those two kinds of talents, their training speed can only be described as flying. Even without external resources, they can reach Rank Two in a remarkably short period of time. Compared to them, we are still lacking by a huge margin. Moreover," she added, her voice dropping, "I've heard that the great families in those major cities even have access to rare treasures, psionic artifacts that can actually enhance a person's innate talent. Even if we coveted those things, with our current status, we are not even qualified to see them."
Marcus patted her gently on the shoulder. "Seraphina, don't put yourself down like that either. Our achievements are already very, very good. Don't always put so much pressure on yourself. Talent is innate; we can't do anything about the hand we were dealt. What we can do is to work harder than them, to train smarter than them, and eventually catch up to them. Besides, who says we are not qualified to see those things? As long as we train diligently and become undeniably strong, when that time comes, it will be like we're eating one rare treasure for breakfast and throwing another one away for being too bland, then switching to another one for lunch. As long as we are willing to work hard, there's nothing we can't achieve!"
Infected by his confident, booming demeanor, Seraphina also showed a confident smile. "You're right, Marcus. Compared to many others, we have more than enough talent and access to sufficient resources. If we don't work hard ourselves, then even the heavens can't help us."
Ethan grinned. "So let's stop standing around talking about it. Let's continue to find more opportunities to get stronger!"
"Let's go!" they chorused.
At this moment, youth, ambition, and vitality were perfectly embodied in them.
...
The three of them… oh, no, it should be said, two people and a strange "dog," carefully walked forward through the dense undergrowth. That "dog" was Ethan, who had transformed into a new alien. It was brown all over, its fur as sharp and stiff as steel needles. Its four limbs ended in sharp claws, and its mouth also had formidable fangs. However, it had no eyes on its face; it only had three fish-gill-like sensory pits on both sides of its nose, which flared as it tasted the air. Because the forest was fraught with hidden dangers, Ethan had transformed into the Vulpimancer, so that he could use its incredible senses of hearing and smell to discover any hidden dangers in the surroundings.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
A faint sound from the right made him freeze. "Gugugugu!" (Careful!) he barked, a series of guttural clicks and growls.
But Marcus and the others couldn't understand. "Ethan? What are you saying, man?" Marcus whispered.
"Gugugugu!!!" (Careful on the right side!!!) the Vulpimancer barked again, more urgently this time, pointing with his head.
Seraphina looked puzzled. "Huh? What does that mean? Is something there?"
"Gugu!" (Dodge!)
Ethan was getting anxious. The complex language system of the Vulpimancer, based on scent and sound, could not be translated by the Omnitrix into human speech, so he couldn't actually speak. This led to Marcus and Seraphina not understanding what he was trying to warn them about. The key was that there was a hidden enemy right now, and he didn't dare to switch forms, afraid that the opponent would launch a sudden attack during the transformation flash. Left with no choice, he had to go up and deal with it himself.
The Vulpimancer bent its four powerful limbs and, like a cheetah, pounced towards the location where the sound had just been made. In that patch of tall grass, an ice-blue serpent was hiding within, coiled and ready to strike. It had been planning a sneak attack, but it didn't expect to be discovered by this strange, eyeless creature.
Seeing that the Vulpimancer was about to land on it, that serpent immediately lunged towards it, its fangs bared. The Vulpimancer pounced on empty air, but the serpent, in its attack, was also exposed to the eyes of the three of them.
Seraphina shouted, her voice sharp with alarm, "It's an Ice Serpent! Prepare for battle!"
Marcus immediately activated his muscle strengthening, and Seraphina also quickly applied armor to both him and herself. Ethan, meanwhile, reverted to human form and immediately transformed again, this time into Upgrade, and possessed Seraphina's long spear, just as they had agreed before, to let her experience the feeling of direct battle. The moment he possessed it, Seraphina's long spear suddenly underwent a dramatic change. The original simple spearhead morphed into a spiral, cone shape and then began to rotate at an incredibly high speed. The long spear had turned into a powerful drill!
Seeing the new weapon in her hand, Seraphina felt a surge of confidence and satisfaction. She brandished the spear with a practiced flourish and then pointed it directly at the hissing Ice Serpent.
"Ice Serpents are very fast and can also use ice-elemental attacks," Seraphina called out, providing tactical information. "Be especially careful of their fangs; they are laced with a potent neurotoxin. If you get bitten, you must immediately inject an antidote potion, otherwise, your life will be in serious danger! Looking at the length of this Ice Serpent, it's about one and a half meters long. This is an F-rank mid-grade serpent; its rank is technically lower than ours, but don't underestimate it!"
"Understood!" Marcus roared, taking the lead and charging towards the Ice Serpent. She didn't expect the opponent to be incredibly fast, dodging her attack in an instant, and then bypassing her to charge directly towards Seraphina. It was obvious that the opponent was also smart; it instinctively knew the principle of picking on the "soft persimmon" in the group, the one who seemed least like a physical threat.
Seeing that the Ice Serpent was about to charge over, Seraphina activated the drill head on her spear, which began to rotate violently, and stabbed it towards the incoming Ice Serpent. It's common knowledge that one shouldn't try to hit a snake with a long stick, because it will often just climb up the pole. The Ice Serpent was the same. The moment Seraphina was about to stab it with the spear, it had already wrapped its long, sinuous body around the spear's shaft, slithering up it with terrifying speed. It opened its mouth wide, its venomous fangs glinting, intending to bite her arm.
At this critical, terrifying moment, a section of the straight, green circuit-like lines on the spear's shaft suddenly morphed, forming a glowing green circle. Just as the Ice Serpent's body was passing through this circular area, a powerful green laser suddenly shot out from the spear itself, blasting the serpent and sending it flying.
Don't forget, Ethan thought from within the spear, Upgrade can fire lasers!
Seraphina heaved a sigh of immense relief. "Nice job, Ethan!"
A series of modulated whimpers came from the spear. "Gugugu!" (T_T)
"What's wrong?" she asked, confused.
"Boohoohoo, I'm not clean anymore!" Upgrade wailed telepathically through their psionic connection. "I was hugged by a snake! A slimy, scaly snake! Boohoohoo!" (T_T)
Seraphina blinked. "..." For some reason, despite the danger they were just in, she felt a little like laughing. What was going on with him?
On the other side of the clearing, while the Ice Serpent was hit by the laser and hadn't yet fully reacted, Marcus had already rushed over. He pinned the serpent's thrashing body with one heavy foot and began using "Sun-character punches" (a rapid, non-stop flurry of blows) on its head. Although his fists were huge and wrapped in two layers of psionic armor, his punching speed was surprisingly fast. His sandbag-sized fists rained down on the Ice Serpent's head like a relentless storm, ending the threat for good.