Chapter 17: 17
The snow made a soft crunching noise as Ray stepped tread through it.
He had been walking in circles around the dome for a few minutes now, which was a long time considering his speed. He couldn't figure out what it was, which gave him an indescribable feeling.
It wasn't nervousness, more like a threatening feeling.
For most of his stay on this planet, he always knew what he was going to do. Even if he wasn't a hundred percent sure, he never felt threatened by anything. Being in the dome's presence reminded him he wasn't invincible— there were many things in this world beyond his world of control. It was like a reality check, lest he get too cocky in his abilities.
Even though his personality wasn't one to consciously be overconfident, his unconscious thoughts could lead him toward dangerous situations, whether he realized it or not. Simple things like the dome put his unconscious mind back in its place.
After he felt like he looked at every nook and cranny of the dome, Ray gave in to his temptations and started using force.
First, a simple touch to test the water.
He tapped his finger on the dome, ready to retreat at a moment's notice, but nothing ended up happening.
After nothing happened with a touch, most of the anxiety disappeared from Ray's mind.
His logic followed: if it was something advanced, it should have sensed him by now, so there was no point in acting carefully. If he was overcomplicating things and it was nothing to worry about, there was no point in being cautious in the first place.
So his second move: brute force.
He punched with a reasonable amount of force onto the dome. Sure enough, the black stone-like material broke down with little resistance, his fist penetrating smoothly.
Cracks formed around the area of impact, and the wall started to crumble down.
After a few seconds of self-destruction, a reasonable hole appeared in the wall.
The second the hole in the wall was made, a blast of ki energy assaulted his perception, effectively blinding him from sensing using ki methods.
He reflexively jumped a hundred feet back, every single muscle tensing at once.
His ki perception was momentarily blinded, but his eyes worked perfectly fine, so he heightened his vision to the max to not miss a single detail.
To Ray's surprise, an old man sat peacefully in the center of the room.
His eyes lay closed, and he didn't even acknowledge Ray's presence. His demeanor was as if he didn't have a care in the world but cultivation—Ray could recognize that aura from the old man because it was like his own.
With only a second of judgment, Ray could instinctively tell the old man was a top human expert— he wasn't someone to be messed with.
After a few seconds, the old man opened his eyes, locking onto Ray instantly.
Despite Ray's intimidating physique, the old man didn't blink an eye. If Ray didn't know otherwise, he would have thought the old man was expecting him.
"You're a strong Tiefling. I haven't seen one of those before."
"You're a strong human. I too haven't seen one of those before," Ray replied, his eyes narrowing further.
"Hmm, you even speak?" A hint of surprise was visible on the old man's face, but it disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
"Well, never mind that. I can only assume one reason you climbed up here." The old man muttered while dusting off his clothes.
Before he could stand up, Ray rushed toward him; once he realized nothing special was going to happen, there was no longer any point in patiently waiting for the old man to ready himself.
Just before Ray's fist could reach the old man's face, the old man served his neck to the side, barely missing the attack. Although it looked like a close encounter, their speeds weren't too far apart, Ray only having a slight advantage in that aspect.
'Just as I thought, he long since passed the skin refining stage.' Ray thought to himself. He would have been in trouble had he fought the old man a few days ago, but he had a fair degree of confidence in his current strength.
Conflict was inedible. Both parties understood this truth the second they saw each other. While it might have seemed like they were talking casually earlier, they were secretly sizing each other's strength.
The calm demeanor was wiped off the old man's face, replaced with a burning look for combat.
"Don't disappoint me, creature of the demon race."
Ray didn't waste any more time with chit-chat, his palm striking the old man's temple.
The old man didn't fall back in speed or power, his palm greeting Ray's halfway between them.
Before Ray could react, the old man simultaneously struck from the side with his leg. He both predicted Ray's move and counterattacked at the same time; his level of skill needed no explanation.
Ray wasn't expecting the second attack, so he barely dodged the kick. He could even feel the gust of air on his body—it was truly a narrow miss.
Ray was at his limit, but the old man wasn't done. His fist, which he hadn't used so far, came rushing toward the exact spot where Ray dodged.
Ray's eyes darted to the fist, but he couldn't do anything about it. He could only watch it zoom toward his chest.
The fist connected with his scales, and his feet had to drag through the ground a few yards backward, leaving two deep gashes on the mountaintop.
With the small gap between them, the old man couldn't immediately start attacking Ray again, so Ray caught his breath and replayed the attack sequence in his mind.
"Your power is good, but your skills are… lacking. You are a Tiefling in the end."
Ray didn't refute his statements; he knew his current skills weren't on par with other peoples' at his level.
Even though he knew his place, his confidence didn't go down in the slightest, rather he felt even more sure of his victory against the old man.
While the old man was a blank slate a few seconds ago, he was now like a half-opened book.
He rushed toward the old man again with the same attack pattern as before.
The old man also readied his stance, his fist burning with energy. The first encounter was a test, both parties knew that.
Now Ray was aware the old man wasn't going to hold back. He was going to use his full power to bring Ray to his knees, with every intent to murder him.
Ray punched in a slightly different position, a minor difference from before. Normal people wouldn't have noticed it, but the old man was a master of martial arts: he immediately discerned the change and responded accordingly.
The old man followed his palm with a similar kick from before, expecting it to land on the Tiefling.
To his surprise, it did land. The surprise came from the fact that Ray noticed his attack style, and even came close to predicting the new spot that he kicked at.
Ray still missed the prediction and a similar situation played out as before, but the old man's expression grew serious since he understood the implications of the small difference in Ray's combat.
Ray's rate of growth wasn't the only monstrous thing about him, but his talent for physical combat as well: it would only take a few interactions for him to understand his opponent's fighting style, then use it against them in real combat.
The consequence of a direct hit was much larger than before since the old man imbued a technique making his fists burn like fire.
A few of the scales on Ray's chest smashed apart, leaving him bloody. The exposed flesh was also burnt, which sent waves of pain through his nervous system.
But from the old man's perspective, his attack did much less damage than he thought. Most people hit with this martial technique would be screaming in pain from the embers burning ki in their flesh. Ray didn't react like that. He seemed perfectly fine. His expression didn't even recognize the wound on his chest.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone