After hanging up the phone, Zane browsed the net for a few minutes before switching to the dark web. Sometimes, the best way to understand the global situation is to observe what major events are going on in the underworld. At first, Zane didn't find anything noteworthy until he was scrolling through the exotic animal section.
Many rich people enjoy eating rare, exotic, protected, and sometimes almost extinct animals. Unfortunately, these animals are protected by laws or hard to acquire, so they use the dark web or black market to acquire them. Zane saw a request for the acquisition of magical beasts.
"Someone is about to die," Zane thought. Even transcendents cannot eat magical beasts without properly processing them. Yet, some rich bastard in some unknown part of the world thought magical beasts were a delicacy and wanted to try them. Sometimes, it wasn't necessarily a good thing to have too much money.
After checking his head, Zane moved on. He wanted to look at a coding task he could do; only a fool would not take full advantage of the academy's time dilation. And before hunting season, the dark web could be a crucial source of income for him. As usual, Zane chose tasks he could do alone, tasks that would not easily get him involved with any letter agency, and that also paid decently.
Although the requirements were strict, the dark web was vast—it could be described as an entirely separate world, which meant there were many suitable opportunities for people with skills and who were not afraid of the law. Zane swiftly selected his tasks and immediately began planning how to execute them. However, just as he was about to log off, a massive promotion appeared on his screen.
"A battle between a regular person and a knight? That was fast," Zane thought. He did not hesitate to pay the $300 fee to gain access to the live room. The fight took place in a UFC arena, with two masked men: one in a scorpion mask and the other in a knight-themed mask.
"A bit on the nose," Zane muttered. The battle began, and the next moment, it was over; the scorpion-masked challenger lasted only one punch. The crowd in the chat became agitated, claiming this was a scam and demanding a refund. However, the organizers knew what they were doing. Soon, five other individuals were put in the ring with the knight. The result was the same.
After the knight kicked one of them more than five meters to crash into the fence, the others were immediately scared. Then, he destroyed them one by one. For the third round, the organizers brought ten individuals, and this time, they placed the knight in the middle. This setting raised the stakes of the fight, since the knights couldn't fight on all sides, but the results didn't change much. The knight gritted his teeth and allowed the people in the back to hit him while he annihilated the ones in front. Then he turned around to deal with the people behind.
"The multipurpose ability of mana is truly an advantage," Zane thought. Mana channeling can be used for overall strengthening (defense, offense, speed, etc), healing, pain relief, and more. It all depends on the user's skills, but even without any, if a transcendent has enough mana, the effects of those amplifications will still be drastic, just not as efficient and quite wasteful.
The fight paused for a few minutes before the next round began. And this time around, there were only five challengers, but all of them had weapons, ranging from knives to baseball bats to crowbars. Zane shook his head. The difference between a knight and a regular person is too great. A knight's body has already broken the limits of humanity — and that's without using their mana. So, in terms of strength, speed, reaction, and even perception — which is not their strong suit — normal humans are outclassed. So, when the knight disarmed the challenger with a bat and used it to defeat the others, Zane wasn't the least bit surprised.
The screen turned black as the battle ended, but before Zane could move on, a promotion popped up, and he squinted. For the next fight, the knight would face an armed opponent, but the ticket price was $ 1,200. Moreover, a mage would participate in this round. Zane did not hesitate to buy a ticket. For now, the greatest threat to his security is modern weapons, so it's in his best interest to see how transcendents fare against them.
Five minutes later, the screen changed, and the battle started. The knight stood twenty meters from his opponent, who held a 9 mm. A countdown appeared on the screen, and as soon as it reached zero, the challenger aimed his gun and fired. The knight evaded. Yes, he evaded the bullet. The challenger fired two more shots without any success before the knight reached and disarmed him.
Zane frowned before zooming in on the video, checking for something. "His eyes remained on the challenger's fingers, and he only moved his head when the latter pressed the trigger." It's impossible for the knight to evade a bullet traveling at 1200 feet per second. However, by observing the shooter's movements, the knight's reflexes allow him to evade before the trigger is pulled.
"That's not an easy skill to master. Maybe I should add this to my training regimen," Zane contemplated. The issue is that his schedule is already full, and there isn't room for another training session. However, he was on the verge of mastering [Mana Projection], so there would soon be more room. But he planned to focus on achieving the [Flow State].
"This skill may not be worth my time. The easiest way to deal with guns is an automatic enchanted item, but those are expensive," Zane pondered. There are enchanted items that activate on their own when the user is in danger, but those are even more expensive than regular items. Zane did not know how long it would take before he could afford one.
"Let's wait and see before making a decision," he thought. The logistics of this training are another issue. Can he bring a gun into the academy? The rules didn't allow for it. So, the next option would be to program the shooting dummy in the training hall, but without a gun, how could he observe the shooter's hand placement and move accordingly?
The underground fight continued. The knight moved 15 meters from the shooter, and their battle continued. The knight was once again victorious, so he moved closer to 10 meters. In this round, he still succeeded, but one bullet grazed his shoulder, forcing the staff to stop the demonstration. For the next battle, a masked mage appeared and cast a magic shield. The shooter emptied the clip and was about to switch to another gun when the pale mage shook its head.
"Running out of mana?" Zane thought. "It's not a bad idea to test out how long my magic shield can hold on against modern weapons." By now, Zane understood the difference between active and passive spells. Defensive spells are passive because shields remain in effect after casting as long as it's not broken and as long as its caster has mana, which also means they are a constant mana drain. On top of that, the more pressure or force is applied to a mage's shield, the faster their mana depletes.
The underground fight ended after the mage's shield had tested a few weapons, and for the next few hours, Zane couldn't get his mind off it. The dark web may be an unregulated space, but that does not mean governments worldwide are unaware of it. On the contrary, many of the jobs posted there are from government entities, including roles like selling weapons. In other words, they should be aware of that fight and see the potential of extraordinary individuals. No, they have probably done even more thorough tests.
"In a few days, the US government will probably announce what they plan to do with the transcendents," Zane thought. He had no intention of serving the US government, so he didn't know how his decision would affect him and his family, but he was prepared for anything.
Night soon descended on the East Coast, and Zane began his second meditation. Unfortunately, Earth's mana concentration was indeed much worse than the academy, and even with the magic crystal, it still wasn't even as good as the normal training hall, let alone the Elite Class.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Zane wasted no time heading to the cemetery where he used to practice his spell, carrying a bag loaded with guns. He was extra careful this time, and not just because he was carrying illegal firearms. His primary concern was discovering a necromancer meditating in the cemetery. Areas with concentrated negative energy are like a natural meditation warding for them, and the last thing Zane wanted was to meet someone else.
Luckily for him, fate was on his side today. Without anyone present, he conducted a test to determine how many bullets it would take to empty his mana reserve. Once he had the data, he ended the night with [Mana Projection Training].
Early the next morning, Zane's biological clock woke him up, and he began his morning routine. "Why is the sun so bright?" Zane thought as he walked out of his room. He suddenly missed the perfect atmosphere of the academy. "I should start wearing sunglasses." He always had a slight light sensitivity, but he refused to wear glasses because he thought it made him look like a douche. However, now, he didn't care what others thought of him.
During his run, he began planning what to do for the rest of the day. The first thought that came to mind was to get his car from Juan's shop. He had the 2 grand needed, and he no longer cared as much about hiding his identity since he realized the sergeant would reveal his information. However, 2 grand was enough to buy 2 magic crystals, and he didn't really need a car yet.
And honestly speaking, the gold 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was old, meaning it wasn't the best car to drive around. Zane had always wanted a collection of old cars, which is one of the reasons he had bought it. However, if he wanted to drive them around, he would need to build new engines for them, along with a bunch of other modifications.
So, after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to keep it for next week, once hunting season starts. By then, he will have a steadier source of income. As for the plan for today? He decided to relax. In less than 12 hours, he had to return to the strict schedule of the academy, so he wanted to enjoy a small vacation.