Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 187: KAZI: Try

Chapter 187: KAZI: Try

Try.

Try.

Try.

If he tried, he could do anything. That was what he had been told all his life. For a time, that had been the case. At the age of fifteen, under the guise of his Master, he controlled a quarter of the textile industry in Bangladesh. Thinking that his destiny went beyond Bangladesh, he made plans to leave. When he was sixteen, Kazi forged the necessary documents to go to America and attended dozens of trade schools and earned licenses for nearly every vehicle conceivable in a little over a year. From the ages of seventeen to twenty-one, he explored all of the Americas as a mercenary. He found the lost city of El Dorado at the age of twenty, promptly quitting his job as a mercenary and becoming an assistant archeologist.

There was seemingly nothing he couldn’t do—and that included winning a navy battle without killing.

[ Status: Kazi Hossain

Class: Mage

Level: 75

HP: 1435

HP/Minute: 148.47

MP: 3349

MP/Minute: ∞

Attack: 547

Defence: 287

Attributes

Strength: 340

Resilience: 287

Agility: 290

Deftness: 1339

Vitality: 294

Magical Might: 497

Magical Mending: 288

Distributive Points: 221 ]

’I feel like a kid again. I feel like I can do anything.’

Below him were twenty-five enemy longships and five friendly ships. The ambush had succeeded to an extent. Over thirty or so ships were sunk by the surprise attack by the mages. Even so, it wasn’t enough. Without Kazi and Noor, the ambush’s success had lost its heavy hitters.

He was high in the sky, nearing a hundred metres, kneading the excess energy within him. His potential was infinite. Tied around his waist was Kukulcán’s Champion Belt, braided with quetzal feathers and jade beads and matching the black of the Garbs of Death.

He released the mana underneath his feet and skydived. The wind whipped past him, his descent marked by a rapid plummet toward the ships below. He went from head-first to feet-first, clipping the speed of his landing through bursts of the mana beneath his feet. Kazi slammed onto a longship belonging to the enemy.

"Who are—"

The mages, too busy with their strategies, too busy with getting to land, didn’t notice him until it was too late. Kazi took out his sword and knocked them out with a smack to the back of their heads. He was too fast, a blur for their widened eyes. Flow of Mana suddenly felt twice as powerful. His movements felt thrice as fast, no, more. He could faster and stronger and chose not to. It was like holding back an ocean inside him. If he messed up the timing, he could accidentally split the heads of the players and soldiers.

He didn’t want to do that.

With this power, it just felt wrong to.

Emotions were supposed to be battle. Mercy was for the unprepared and unworthy. That was what he believed as a former traveler. The infinite well of mana inside him stirred at that remark.

He kept going. He skipped on water, going from ship to ship and knocking out enemy after enemy, all the while ignoring the fiery burns throughout his nerves and simply thinking. Thinking that maybe...

’Maybe I was wrong.’

Maybe mercy towards one’s enemies was possible. After the total failures in his own life, he thought that wasn’t the case. He thought it was impossible for former enemies to become allies. All of them should die.

Boom!

Several arrows caused a splash beside him. The attention of the Vikings had turned from the mages on the longship to Kazi. It didn’t matter. He summoned mana in his right hand and with two fingers made a swipe.

"Sacred Bulwark."

He created an imitation of the colossal barrier of gold. A rectangle that protected him as he ran and let him burst onto the twentieth, thirtieth, and fortieth longship.

Bam!

Bam!

His sword was unstoppable. His movements were infallible. Even those that were ready could not see. Kazi Hossain was faster than the eye could see.

Viking or player, it did not matter whatsoever. The golden barrier would not break. The fear of water prevented the players from using their big moves—if they had any.

"There’s someone there!"

Three Fire Darts zipped through the air. Kazi’s eyes saw it coming from a mile away. His limbs twisted and with a curve of his blade, he deflected it back. There was no new skill involved, it was merely manipulating his momentum, the trajectory of the Fire Darts, and quick calculations. It was taking the dance art of Pepe-Pepeka ri Makka in Indonesia to its ultimate extreme.

Fire Dart. Fire Ball.

Deflect. Balance. Breaking ships, carrying people and tossing them to other ships and then knocking them unconscious. Kazi did it because he could. Because he could afford to. Because he was different.

Elements shifted. The Vikings attacked.

Kazi’s left eye pulsed. ’I can see it.’

Deflect, block, knock-out, dash. Deflect, block, knock-out, dash.

Ever since his grandmother died, he always remained vigilant of his surroundings. Only after his death did he relax; but then, as if to remind him, punish him, a slime nearly killed him. Never again, his body said. Never allow yourself to be compromised.

This was that but to an extremity. This was Kazi as he wished he had been on Earth. A near divine being that could slay amything. That could win any battle. That could create happiness without pain.

All of it was coming together: his left eye, his natural talent, the spells he had burned into his memory and this new need to try.

Slowly but surely, the water became quiet. Kazi Hossain stood amongst a sea of drifting ships, staring down at his reflection. The kohl had melted and streaked down his cheeks like tears. He wasn’t crying though. He was....smiling. He was happy.

His left eye pulsed again, the three interlocking triangles shifting like cogs.

[ Advanced Flow of Mana Lv. 10 upgraded into Mastered Flow of Mana Lv. 1 ]

It was as Noor believed: Kazi Hossain had won the battle without killing a single person.