"Of course Elder Omega! This servant will do all he can."

Omega was pleased, "Good, you did well sneaking the Indomitable shrimp into the first exam. And you did well by using your own connections so none come back to us. Your loyalty has been noticed.

Didier bowed as he half knelt, "It is this servant's honour to be in service of such powerful beings."

'We have prepared a reward for you once you have properly trained the boy. You may have half of it now.'

The silhouette tapped the old man's forehead and information flooded into the old man. He immediately sat down and started to meditate on the knowledge he was given. He was forced to cut off his connection to the outside world complete;y to digest the insights he had been given.

Omega looked on as Darius was being battered left right and centre. It was truly a sight to see.

"Should be about time." Said Omega. And sure enough, it was. The creature aimed at Darius' face only to get a head-full of electrified hammer.

Boom!

The serpent dislocated one of its shoulders and was forced to slither back.

"I finally have your rhythm. Come now you little prick. I will show you how to spell death in your blood!"

The spirit hissed and raged as it started what looked like a long rally of attacks. At first, Darius could only block most of them.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

But with time, he slowly started to adjust.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

To the movements.

Bang!

This time the spirits punch was stopped dead in its tracks. They were equal in strength! The Serpentis decided to increase its power, and so did Darius. Darius was blocking a right hook from his left. He placed the hammer in his left hand and blocked the blow! But he started losing when the snake increased its power output to 100%.

Darius took his right hand and used it to create a cross with his arms while tensing. That's right, that was a flex!

"Forza Erculea!"

Darius exploded with muscular might, squaring off the short Serpentis.

Indomitable was in full swing like never before plus Darius was also using Spirit Arts. Darius blew away the Serpentis with one swing as his muscles started to bulge, and ran after it. The Snake recovered and the duo was quickly engaged in a volley of blows from every possible angle. Hands, feet, tail, hammer, hands and even heads were fair game.

Time intensified but the Vile King Serpentis showed its true colours and evolved during battle. Darius was once again on the back-foot of the ever-evolving young Serpentis.

But he still had a few more cards to play!

Paragon Stand! The ability he gained from the dantian of the Soul Force Flamingo. The primary ability, Elemental Affinity was simple, it increased one's elemental affinity with their strongest element, and for Darius it was storm. The second ability Omnipresent Plus Elemental affinity made Paragon Stand!

'Still one more trick.'

Darius roared in anger and shouted, "Abbi paura di te, vergogna

Paura due volte, vergogna per me

Ora supererò i miei limiti"

He stood and lifted his hammer to the skies, "Sono Furia!"

Sono Furia! The last spell he had been taught by the elder. This was a berserk skill that allowed one to increase their power depending on their anger. Darius was at the peak of his fury, so this spell tripled his power. Lightning hit him, cloaking parts of his body with electricity.

One could even see electrical movements in his iris.

Elemental Affinity! This ability and Forza Erculea were boosted by both Indomitable and Sono Furia. Darius used this chance to smash the Serpentis into the ground. It was a beautiful hit that caused a minor crater to form. Darius moved quickly. He placed his hammer on the creature's back. Then he activated the last spirit art.

"Cupola di Fulmini!"

A small dome of thunder with the hammer as the core formed. Electrocuting and stunning the Serpentis. Unfortunately, this only lasted for a few moments as the Serpent released its own essence to blow apart the electric dome. The hammer was on its chest and it weighed a lot. The snake started digging to its left. Its arm could bend back, creating a small hole with the snake at the edge. It dug just the right amount to have its body tip into the hole it had dug, while falling it was free of the hammer's weight and quickly sprung back into position. It wondered what Darius was up to. The boy did not disappoint.

Using a hammer he created with Weapon clone. He struck the pearl Dantian once.

Ting!

Then he swung a second time,

Bang!

The enchantment around the pearl had been sounded out and smashed apart by Darius. This was so impressing even the old man had to stop his meditation and see for himself.

Tuning and smithing a metal like corpse is one thing, but using tuning to destroy an enchantment? Was that even possible? The old man started to explore the possibilities of going in that direction. To be honest it wasn't that far away from one of his specialities. But there was an issue with enchantment. Each one was like a fingerprint, unique in its existence, even if cast by the same person in any environment. No one knew why, but this was a question spiritualists to tread on.

"It is possible, in fact being able to do this is the minimum requirement to be one of our smiths!"

The old man was shocked, but he had to change his face once more because Darius was reaching for the Dantian. If he tried to absorb it now he would most likely die. That's why he stacked Indomitable and Sono Furia. Now he had a chance. And it was his only chance to defeat the monster evolving close to him.

The moment Darius touched the dantian, a piercing light, like the creation of a mini sun, came out. Darius had never seen a nuclear explosion except in movies, just like the average person, but he felt as if this was close.

The second skill in Paragon Stand, Omnipresent, allowed one to have a 360 degree field of vision. It was not as simple as described. It actually created a small semicircular domain around Darius. Within that domain everything was visible to Darius, even what was on his opponents back. Outside the domain had had simple vision like he had eyes at the back of his head.

Darius felt that he was not using the two abilities to their fullest but now was not the time for that. He had to survive this potentially lethal fusion. Darius felt a wave of heat sweep through his body. It didn't harm him that much, in fact it felt as if it was searching his body, or more accurately, scan it.

Darius could only push on as a new feeling assailed him. He felt as if all his body cells were being stretched apart then compressed. It was as if he had multiple horses pulling him apart, only to feel as if he was being crushed by a boulder.

On and off, on and off. The process repeated itself as Darius screamed in agony. He was quite tolerant to pain, but even he had his limits. Nevertheless he hung on. Something within him told him that he had to hang on until the entire process was over. If he lost his consciousness for so much as a second, he would lose his life forever. There was nothing Darius valued more than his life. He vowed that even the Grim Reaper would return to the afterlife empty-handed, and return empty-headed he did. Today.

Once the mushroom cloud of energy cleared, the phantom of a giant so big they couldn't even see above its knee appeared above everyone.

The phantom turned into smoke and started to pour itself into Darius' body.

Special Dantians had their own unique methods of being absorbed. This one created a mini avatar and had it absorbed by Darius directly.

The aura exuded by the phantom made it impossible for anyone to go near the Darius. It was now all up to fate. Darius was now moving from Courage to Honour! That was a Spiritknight's first major breakthrough. The point that separated the wheat from the chaff!

All the others saw was a massive phantom enter Darius but the boy himself was experiencing something different entirely! He felt like his soul had been pulled out of his body, headed straight for the starry space above.

Darius' projection arrived in a black space filled with countless stars. He knew what this was as this was the last thing the old man told him.

...

"Oh by the way Darius, I want you to know that breaking through from one step to another is no simple task."

Darius gestured for the old man to talk. "It's different for each breakthrough, but in breakthrough number one, your soul is taken out of your body and taken to the realm of Astral gods."