Ryan looked at the nearly dead, trembling puppet a few meters away from him, dumbfounded, as if his brain had short-circuited.
But as the trembling of the puppet intensified, as if it were having a violent seizure, Ryan finally came back to his senses.
"This..." He stared at the deep yellow glow, with a hint of red covering the puppet's head, and drew in a sharp breath.
"Am I really that strong?" He couldn't help but mutter to himself, still finding it hard to believe.
But after the sense of disbelief, what followed was a deep sense of ecstasy.
Because Ryan's body had been changing every day since leaving the slums, he was completely clueless about his actual strength.
Moreover, because he was afraid of damaging things at the house, just like how he had accidentally torn the mattress after first undergoing enhancement, Ryan always used a gentle touch when doing anything at home, not wanting to damage doors or other items and end up paying compensation.
"From what I know, the strength of these puppets is similar to ordinary Evolvers." Ryan said to himself, his lips curling upward.
"Since I defeated this puppet with just a single punch, doesn't that mean I'm already stronger than ordinary newly ascended Rank One Evolvers?"
An ordinary evolver referred to someone whose Aspect was similar to, or only slightly stronger than, Ryan's previous Rage Ape Aspect, and who used a basic Primal Cultivation Technique to break through to Rank One.
Knowing that he was already stronger than newly ascended ordinary evolvers thrilled Ryan, because what he had used earlier was not even his full strength.
He still had the Berserk skill, which could further increase his physical power.
What's more, Ryan's use of strength was very crude, and he didn't know how to properly utilize the full power of his body.
He had simply thrown a rough punch, the kind commonly used in street fights. If he were to learn how to properly harness his strength, he would experience another surge in power.
Ryan walked toward the puppet, which was still convulsing, and examined it carefully.
These puppets were specially designed for training purposes, allowing Evolvers to better understand their own strength.
When a puppet was attacked, the color it emitted indicated the level of damage it had received.
If it glowed green, it meant the attack was too weak to cause any harm.
If it glowed blue, it meant the attack was effective and had caused minor damage.
Yellow indicated a serious injury, similar to being stabbed in the stomach with a knife.
Deep yellow signified a critical injury that could potentially threaten one's life.
Red meant death.
The puppet's head was glowing deep yellow, which meant it had sustained a very serious injury, and the hint of red within it signified that if it didn't receive medical attention, it would soon "die."
"Instantly defeating an early-stage Rank One Evolver with a single attack isn't something an ordinary early Rank One Evolver can do..." Ryan muttered with a grin, marveling at the power of his Bloodline Aspect—Infernal Rage Ape.
'Even without cultivation, it has already made me this strong. What level will I reach once I mutate my technique in a few days and start cultivating?'
Ryan felt a surge of excitement just thinking about it and didn't waste any more time.
He pressed the reset button for the puppet and ordered it to return to its place.
After that, he brought out a middle-stage Rank One puppet to spar against him.
This one was far stronger than the early-stage puppet, but even then, after fighting it for about five minutes, Ryan still managed to defeat it.
The puppets didn't possess any of the skills that Evolvers typically had based on their Aspects. As such, they could only throw punches and kicks and perform basic combat maneuvers.
Ryan couldn't accurately judge his true strength based solely on these puppets, but they still gave him a general idea of his capabilities.
After defeating the middle-stage puppet, Ryan chose to avoid the high-stage one. After fighting the middle-stage puppet, he felt that in order to take on the high-stage version, he would have to use everything he had, and might even need to activate his Berserk skill.
Once he used Berserk, he would have to burn the power of his bloodline, and after the effect wore off, he would enter a weakened state until his bloodline power recovered.
Since he hadn't used this skill even once before, Ryan wasn't sure how long it would take for him to recover.
Maybe it would only take a few minutes or hours, or it might even take several days.
Entering a weakened state for days would greatly affect him, so he had no intention of using Berserk unless it was absolutely necessary.
For the remaining time, Ryan continued to fight against the middle-stage Rank One puppet, trying to refine his fighting style and properly utilize his strength.
Currently, his fighting style was like a street thug, someone who only knew how to wildly throw punches and kicks without any real technique.
However, the puppet was programmed to fight using proper techniques. Although they were basic, they were still extremely useful to Ryan, as he had no foundation in this area.
Perhaps it was because of his Bloodline Aspect, Infernal War Ape, that contained the word "war" in its name, but Ryan noticed that he could learn these fighting techniques rather easily, as if he had been born to fight.
Soon, the one hour he had booked for the training room passed by, and a reminder rang throughout the room, informing him that his time was up.
The puppet that had been sparring with him stopped on its own and returned to its original position.
Ryan, drenched in sweat from the intense movements, exhaled deeply, and a smile appeared on his face.
"I've basically understood the basic fighting style that the puppet was using..." He muttered under his breath as he walked out of the training room.
"Since I already have a good grasp of my strength, it's time for me to do what's necessary."