The third stage was about to end, but his main battle Spawn had yet to make a move. Besides, seeing that the Murlocs themselves might be enough to get past stage three, Lin Xiao had no choice but to issue a Sacred Decree and order his main battle Spawns to attack. He wanted to see how this new creature, recognized by the laws of existence after he had painstaking merged so many 5-Star cards, did in actual combat.
This was to provide him with a rough idea so that he wouldn’t misestimate his combat power during the second phase of the finals and sustain heavy losses.
Tthe Black-scaled Naga moved like serpents, with the lengthy low parts of their bodies swaying back and forth. Like swimming, the higher the swing frequency, the faster their speed.
At the moment, Lin Xiao had his palms held together as he watched the rapidly converging Naga and Pigmen. In the Sacred Decree that he had just issued, he forbade the Naga from using their abilities. If not, with a wave of Salted Fish Spikes, they would immediately destroy the enemy. Should that happen, what would there be left for him to investigate?
50 meters, 40 meters… 10 meters, 5 meters, From the air, it appeared that the two curved front lines had collided and passed by ever so hastily.
One Pigman took the first strike and smashed a Naga in the waist with a Hammer. Thick black-colored scales shattered and flew away. A chunk of fist-sized flesh was smashed into minced meat and sent flying into the air. That Naga unleashed a peculiar sound that didn’t seem like a cry of pain. With a sharp curve, it twisted its body into a massive arc, impossible for ordinary people, to funnel away the remaining energy of the impact. Like a snake, with its waist almost touching the ground, it slithered in a circle and stood up again. With the rebounding force, it thrust its spear all the way through the Pigman’s chest.
On the other side, one Naga and one Pigman collided with each other at almost the same time. Unexpectedly, the Naga, which seemed a little skinner, only leaned back and bounced back. The Pigman, however, staggered to the side and almost lost its footing.
Having stabilized its foothold, the Naga, who had the upper hand, raised both its hands at the same time and stabbed with both of its Refined Iron short spears.
One of them pierced the Pigman’s chest, and the other one its lower abdomen, all of which went through its body. Blood splattered across it.
The Black-scaled Naga’s Arm of the Ape expertise enabled them to wield dual-handed weapons in both hands at the same time. Naturally, they would be able to dual-wield single-handed weapons.
The effect of this ability was to cancel the penalty for dual-wielding dual-handed weapons. For regular creatures, as long as they were powerful enough, they would be able to swing two two-handed axes in both hands at the same time. But being able to lift them was one thing; using them to fight was another.
Without enough strength and professional practice, the consequences of dual-wielding dual-handed weapons was that attacks would miss, and stamina consumption would be multiplied, which would quickly lead to disarmings and sore joints in both hands. This was fatal in battle.
This Naga made a furious cry as it lifted the Pigman high into the air and hurled it away. Its pupils glowed blood red. This implied that the Bloodthirst ability, inherited from the Jackals, had been activated.
Coincidently, a Pigman wielding a knife slammed into the Naga’s waist. Following a ‘clang’, sparks flew. A row of scales was hacked open, revealing the flesh underneath. A faint cut appeared. This strike had injured its body.
The furious Naga thrust its lengthy tail and bounced straight up to stand at a height of more than four meters. It stabbed both of its spears consecutively, knocking the Pigman to the ground. One of the spears pierced the flesh at the Pigman’s waist, which wasn’t that severe of an injury. However, the other spear went straight down through the Pigman’s skull, killing it instantly.
“Excellent!”
Watching this scene, Lin Xiao couldn’t resist clapping his hands and shouting excitedly.
At present, the actual combat ability displayed by the Black-scaled Naga was beyond his expectations.
Their formidable strength coupled with their not at all insignificant agility, superior defense, and, the most expected trait of all, which was the Naga’s figure inherited from the Serpentmen, they were really good at evasion and funneling away kinetic energy.
But they weren’t without their shortcomings. That is, they were lacking in frontal impact resistance, which in other words meant that they were weak when enemies charged directly at their faces. Should they face races that had greater strength, they would be at a disadvantage.
That couldn’t be helped. After all, the species had just been created and never once evolved. It couldn’t be perfect, neither now nor in the future.
What’s more, at this moment, Lin Xiao gained a tinge of inspiration on the future evolution path of the Naga. This species would be suitable for the Forced Combat Stream.
The Forced Combat Stream meant powerful melee combat, inspired by the Six-armed Serpent Demon.
If this species could evolve into having six arms each, when their physique was on the level of the Six-armed Serpent Demon, they would truly become a legendary race.
The Six-armed Serpent Demon was a top-level Demonkind that dwelled in the abyss. Having six arms to wield six weapons, the species was exceptional in melee combat. Even common dragons were no match for them. If his species of his could evolve into such powerful creatures, along with the Arm of the Ape, that would be amazing.
As he was thinking, the situation on the battlefield was a one-sided stomp. By virtue of their inherent advantages and numbers, the Naga swiftly gained the upper hand.
Their scale’s defensive capabilities weren’t great. They couldn’t stop blunt weapons like maces at all. But against sharp weapons, they would provide quite some good defense, enough to take a full-force strike from the Pigman while sustaining only minor injuries.
According to the strength ratio of Pigman to human, it was equivalent to completely resisting a full-force swing from an adult human male. In terms of strength, the Pigmen were above humans.
At present, Lin Xiao shouldn’t encounter races that were overly powerful. This level of defense was already immensely powerful. In melee combat, it would provide a great advantage.
Lin Xiao didn’t pay too much attention to the rest of the battle. The battle had already been decided in the first round of frontal assault between the two sides.
The Naga’s victory was inevitable.
Holding both hands behind his head and standing above the sky, he watched with joy as his Spawn quickly cleaned up the remaining Pigman, and muttered to himself, “It’s a pity that the projections can’t gain any experience. Otherwise, at the end of the third wave, I would’ve been able to upgrade some of them into Naga Fighters, and that would make the rest of the exam much easier.”
“What are they called? And how many times can they be upgraded?”
“They called the Naga, they can be…”
Lin Xiao paused and turned around abruptly. He didn’t know when his class teacher had appeared behind him and was looking at the battlefield below with unprecedented shock and enthusiasm in his eyes.
To be precise, he was observing Lin Xiao’s Spawn, and he didn’t even look away when he asked the question.
Lin Xiao didn’t answer for a while. Wu Hai lifted his head and turned to look at him. The ferventness in his eyes gave him creeps. The class teacher asked in a soft voice, “Lin Xiao, where did this race you call Nagas come from?”
He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he felt that his class teacher’s voice seemed to be quivering, and within his tone was a sense of anticipation which Lin Xiao had never felt before.
He thought for a moment, and said, “It’s a new species which I created some time ago. I named them Black-scaled Naga for their resemblance to the original Naga.”
Most of this statement was true. He dared not conceal the facts nor make up wild excuses. It was the truth that he told.
There was no point in concealing it. At this stage of the final exam, or to say, after the Tenth Grade, keeping a low profile was a foolish act.
Keeping a low profile would only lead to missed opportunities.
By appropriately showcasing one’s strength, one could gain more attention and be provided with more resources.
Whether in his class or the other classes, the most excellent student would gain their teacher’s clear liking and preference in resource allocation. Many unique resources were difficult to obtain outside. Lin Xiao wanted to be the brightest boy in the limelight in his whole class and even across his entire year. Hence, it was imperative for him to keep an adequately high profile.