Chapter 226: The Battle of the Candidates

Jin folded his arms and reclined in the chair. "What's the point in explaining something as monumental as this to a prospective dead man?"

"Aren't we all prospective dead men, Jin?" Errick asked. 

Jin smirked. "Yes. But you're dying before sunrise."

Errick mulled for a bit. Then, he furrowed his brows. "So you won't give me the information I want, huh?"

"Nope," Jin said brusquely. 

Errick wanted answers. But truth be told, he only wanted them from Jin to spite him. It was a thing of vanity. He knew that Kaylie was around Jin's level, if not better than him, thereby making her experienced enough to provide him with the information he needed. 

"That's unfortunate," he said.

"Well," Errick said, "I guess I tried my best to get you to tell me more. Looks like I'll be asking Kaylie instead so that means I literally need one obvious thing from you: your system and your life," he cackled, "my bad, those were two things."

Jin smirked. 

Errick suddenly shot up from his seat, standing. He clutched his hand to the table. Jin grabbed up the bowl of french fries. Errick pushed the table toward Zane. Zane dashed right, some of his fries pitching out of his bowl. A cool stepped out of his body and caught them all with one fell swoop. 

The clone placed the fries back into Jin's bowl and walked back into Jin's body. 

Errick furrowed his brows. "Cloning?"

Jin looked at him with narrowed, apathetic eyes. 

Errick furrowed his brows. Suddenly? He gasped his mouth to an inhumanly extent and thrust his uncannily long tongue out at Jin. His pink slimes tongue burst through the air and went straight for Jin's head.

Jin sidestepped, and threw a fry into his mouth.

Errick's tongue slammed into the wall behind Jin. The entire Inn, on that side of the room, rumbled.

Errick quickly retracted his tongue. The giant tongue went right back into his mouth, thrusting back his body a bit from impact. He slammed his jaw shut. 

Jin narrowed his eyes again, and teleported. He reappeared, sitting on a random chair in the Inn, eating his bowl of fries.

Errick spun in circles until his eyes had relocated Jin. He grimaced. "Teleportation?"

The Innkeeper widened his eyes. He had no idea Jin was capable of the same ability he even flexed for so long when around him. Jin possessed teleportation as well. But how was he capable of both teleportation and self-duplication? A double ability, perhaps? 

Jin continued eating.

Errick's ability allowed him to copy the specialties of any organism and for one week, the effects remained ineradicable. Moreover, he was not able to copy the specialties of any other organism until that one week was over. This time around, he was stuck as a lizard, but looked perfectly human. Albeit, not for long. 

Jin was still seated at the table, munching on the fries. There were quite a bit of fries in that bowl. The Innkeeper knew that he couldn't get Jin to stay longer unless he gave him a large amount of food. The Innkeeper needed Jin's shoulder to cry upon, so he loaded Jin with food. 

Jin started rocking in chair.

Errick sent his tongue at the table. It ruptured through the wooden table and went straight for Jin when he suddenly vanished. Errick retracted his tongue again. 

Jin reappeared, leaning against a wall in the Inn.

Errick spun around and relocated him. Somehow, Errick had formed a smirk on his face. He stopped, deflating. His stance changed. 

"Hey," Errick said, "since you have teleportation ... does that not mean you can escape when you want?"

He was awaiting an answer, but one was alas not received.

"How about this," Errick said, "we make a deal. You don't get to use your teleprotation to escape this building. If you do, you're a coward and I win the battle."

"Game on," Jin said, still showing no note of enthusiasm.

Errick firmed his muscles again. He quickly started scuttling toward Jin. "This time I'm going all out—you're already dead!" He cackled.

His tongue shot out of his mouth and soared toward Jin. Jin dashed left, barely evading. The tongue crashed into the wall. There was a web of cracks in the area of collision. And Errick's tongue was in the middle of these cracks. He suddenly dragged it to the left, knocking Jin to his kidney.

Jin gasped from the sudden blow. He teleported to his feet before falling. The tongue went slamming into things to the left of the room. Jin's bowl was falling. Over ten clones dashed out of Jin's body, and started catching ten fries in the air before they fell. Not a single one reached the ground, not even the bowl. 

The clones dropped the fries in the bowl and one handed it to Jin. All but one of them returned to Jin's body. That clone had a single fry in its hand. It stood in front of Jin solemnly. 

Suddenly Errick's tongue went rupturing through objects again, going straight for the Jin and his clone. Jin and his clone did not move. Jin opened his mouth. The tongue darted toward them. Their bodies both went translucent. The clone placed the fry between Jin's lips. The tongue passed right through their bodies but didn't hit them. 

Errick retracted his tongue. There was a slurping noice from the suction involved in the retraction of his tongue. He grimaced at the anomaly before him. "Phasing?"

The Innkeeper was discontented at the fact that his Inn was suffering damage, but his anger melted as recognition dawned on his face. He was utterly baffled.

'That's a third ability,' the Innkeeper thought. 'A third ability. Three of them are all outright different from each other—no connections. This shouldn't be possible. Jin's ... not normal.'

Errick stood with furrowed brows. He was convinced that this was either an exhibition of an ability that alllowed its user to steal several others or rather this was an exhibition of Jin's system power. He needed confirmation. 

Errick lunged toward a random wall. 

Jin teleported and sat at a random table.

The Innkeeper pouted. Another table was going to be destroyed. 'Just stop sitting and defeat the man already, Jin!'

Errick stopped before a wall. His hands and feet grew large. So much so that his feet had even destroyed his shoes. He then placed his hands and feet upon the wall and started climbing at an uncanny speed. 

He rushed accross the wall. Then, another wall. Then another. Jin's pupils were rolling in his head as he tried to keep track of Errick. 

Errick was then on the ceiling. He was in an odd position. His back was against the ceiling and his stomach was pointing at the ground. He opened his mouth and his tongue bursted through the air and crashed into Jin's table. The table burst into pieces of wood and splinters and wooden dust.

However, Jin wasn't on the floor with these things. 

Errick growled and then went invisible. 

Jin couldn't see him. In fact, he didn't bother trying to. He leaned against a wall, still eating. When suddenly he was hit. He went pitching. Before he could think, he was hit again. He crashed into a wall. The wall fractured.

Jin stood, and cracked his neck. He then looked down only to see that his bowl was no longer in his hands. "Okay," he furrowed his brows. "I've had enough with you now."

Suddenly, Jin was hit to the head. He was sent spinning. Then, he was hit again. He collapsed. But quickly, he teleported to his feet again. His neck was almost snapped.

[Strength: 85]

[Health: 110]

[Speed: 68]

[Skill: 81]

[UP: 12]

[Exp: 76/100| Level 14]

[HP: 94/110] 

Jin listened to the air. He heard something forthcoming. He quickly phased. The invisible tongue passed right through him. He then dashed forward and turned around.

He smirked. All he had to do was have a general idea where the tongue was, specifically, what part of the room. Surely, Errick could have simply retracted it, and shot it arbitrarily, throwing him off—but this was what he wanted.

Jin listened to the air. He sensed the tongue coming again. He quickly phased through it again. This time though, he kept listening. He listened carefully until the moment he heard a slurping sound. His head followed the trailing sound, and his eyes locked at a damaged wall in the room. 

Jin smirked and vanished.

Suddenly, two figures were revealed. Jin stood with his hand sunk into Errick's gut. And Errick was stuck to the wall. His invisibility had disappeared from the time he received the hit. 

Jin glimpsed at his system message.

[Opponent's HP: 51/67] 

Jin sunk his fist deeper. "Just as I thought. You're weak."

Errick groaned. Then, he quickly thrust his tongue out.

The tongue hit Jin to his stomach, and started pushing him across the room. Jin teleported just in time before his back touched the wall. He reappeared over at Errick again.

Errick still hadn't retracted his tongue yet. Jin clenched his fist and thrust it into Errick's stomach again.

[Opponent's HP: 45/67] 

Errick groaned again. 'His punches are loaded with phenomenal natural strength.'

Suddenly, Errick's eyes bulged, and his mouth gaped wider until the sides burst open. Another tongue bolted out from mouth and smacked Jin to his head.

Jin went pitching over to a wall. He teleported to his feet. All momentum died. He started sauntering toward Errick. "You're getting desperate," Jin said still approaching him deliberately. "For that, this comes to an end right now." 

Jin closed his hand. Suddenly, a dagger manifested in his palm. It radiated green. He whipped it out, leaving a green contrail of light. The dagger shrieked as it cut through air. The blade gleamed.

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