Waves rolled around in a violent tempest. It almost felt like the dark, storming waters were trying to form the blades of a blender, rotating around Sylas with a ferocity that made his hair stand on end.

A familiar Fusion Crystal hovered in front of Sylas as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Since he was caught up in having to finish this mission in 24 hours, he thought it would be a good opportunity to actually train.

Having been caught up going place to place without rest, Sylas realized that the Fusion Crystal had just been sitting in his Madness Key for too long.

After realizing how much improvement the Rune trials had given him, it was only logical to conclude that if he left too much of his chances to improve on the table, he would stagnate as well.

However, he had kept trying to find the perfect time, when in reality… there was no such thing. He would probably never have a moment of peace until this Summoning had at least concluded. In that case, he had to make his own time.

What he didn't expect was to lift up a rock and drop it on his own foot, shattering his poor, sensitive toes.

The problem wasn't actually the training. In fact, Sylas' progress was shockingly fast, in one part due to his high Wisdom and another part due to <Madness Control> having reached Legendary Mastery thanks to Madness.

The real issue was that it was taking up a large segment of his mind, and most importantly, to benefit the most, he couldn't rely on his telekinesis to begin with. It wasn't just his telekinesis that had to be placed on the sidelines either, but also his newly minted Skills.

How could he train his martial arts if he was using flying dagger wizardry and Ice-Poison magic?

All of this left Sylas battling it out with creatures tens of times larger than himself with nothing more than his fists and the support of Basic Aetherflow. It was tough going and it took him an entire hour before he finally killed the first one at the expense of a great deal of focus.

Still…

---

[Comprehension Detected: Madness (FFF)]

---

[Dormant Comprehensions]

[>Boxing (F+)]

[>Taekwondo (F)]

[>Muay Thai (F)]

[>…]

[>Mixed Martial Arts (-)]

[>…]

---

With just one enemy defeated and in a single hour, his Dormant Comprehensions had gotten a great boost and a new Comprehension had appeared on the list: Mixed Martial Arts.

It was just like his Blade Aura Gene Talent in that it didn't have an official Grade but was instead only a dashed line. But the moment Sylas saw it, he knew that it was likely the one that he wanted the most.

'Mixed Martial Arts should include grappling and things of the like. I haven't even tried something like that yet…'

Sylas was a fan of staying as far from his enemies as possible because everyone else was armed to the teeth and he couldn't even wear the simplest armors. At the very least, staying a distance away would give him time to react to anything unexpected. But he would likely not grow Mixed Martial Arts to a very high level without this aspect.

'Maybe I should wait for a special striker Comprehension instead. But it's odd that Mixed Martial Arts would appear before one like that.'

All of the Comprehensions followed the naming scheme of Earth's martial arts, and Sylas found that to be a bit odd. There were certainly martial arts from other worlds out there. But Sylas wasn't very sure of how to tap into them.

'Let's go to the next target. At this pace, I can't afford to slack at all.'

…

Sylas felt a resonant hum run through his body as he punched out.

An infant sperm whale was sent flying away, digging a large trench in the waters that was quickly enveloped.

Its mother wasn't very happy, its tail lashing out.

Under this kind of strike, Sylas would almost certainly dodge out of the way. This sperm whale had Strength likely approaching 500. It was already Level 5, and it even had the support of two Level 2 babies by its side. With his 170 Constitution, Sylas had no right to confront it.

But that was when his body flashed with black scales.

His gaze sharpened as a tail grew from the small of his back. He stomped down a foot, causing ripples of water to flutter out in a manner that was almost too gentle considering the situation.

His torso tensed, his hips torquing as his leg whipped out to meet the oncoming tail.

There was a flash of green flames and his leg seemed to be enveloped by several shadows of the same attack all at once.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

It was a single blow, but there was a rapid-fire effect as though several had landed.

The feeling of smoothness and comfort ran through Sylas' body. He didn't even need to look to know that his Muay Thai had reached the FF- Grade.

However, that didn't change the pain that shook his leg and jolted up his thighs. He could feel that his groin was about to collapse beneath the pressure and he was forced to retreat, coughing beneath the effort.

Still, the sperm whale mother's efforts were stopped.

The black scales receded from Sylas' body and he sent out a series of rapid-fire punches before the sperm whale could regain its bearings. Having been forced to turn its body to whip its tail out, and given its large size and the water around it, it simply didn't have the Dexterity necessary to stop this.

Sylas unloaded on wounds he had already opened up, blazing green fists rocking the air. Every time he punched, his mind overlaid the warmth of the Fusion Crystal and the images of the best boxers he had ever seen in his life.

More and more of the smallest muscles in his body were pulled into action until a resonant hum spread out.

BANG!

A fist shot out faster than the others, overwhelming the slower strikes from before, swallowing them up, and then blasting a hole through the side of the sperm whale.