Chapter 380

Chapter 380: Initial Environmental Awareness

The fourth and fifth ranks were held by two dark elves—a mage and a warrior, both at the peak of level 60.

Though Midi had only reached minor success at level 60, he wasn’t afraid to face either of them head-on after defeating the Lizardman in direct combat.

Before leaving, Zaknavan had warned him that many high-level ranking battles took place in complete darkness—a significant disadvantage for a human like Midi.

Even if he lit his surroundings with Golden-Red Sword Lights, he’d remain the most visible target.

Overcoming this weakness became Midi’s top priority.

Perhaps it was time to upgrade his telepathy into full environmental awareness!

With five days until the next match, mastering this skill would drastically boost his chances. Otherwise, even reaching the top five might force him to reveal too many secrets.

"Five days… Let’s try," Midi muttered, his eyes flashing deep blue.

He immediately activated his telepathy and began training.

The Inheritance of the Sea Emperor stated the simplest way to strengthen mind-related abilities was relentless practice. Technically, he didn’t *need* to improve—he could just blanket the darkness with psychic explosions to stun every creature within 100 meters. But crude tactics like that wouldn’t save him from Death’s Pursuit Order later. Low-tier psychic energy proved useless against titled demons, as shown during his fight with the demon viscount.

This became his chance to advance both his psychic energy and skills. His personal level still grew slowly through the Radiance of Darkness’s gradual refinement—unless he found ancient ruins for quicker gains.

Midi’s telepathy spread through the Wolfspider tribe. Aware the black dragon priestess possessed psychic resistance akin to a half-Thought Capturer, he wove Threads of the Mind instead. These threads skimmed dark elves’ thoughts while avoiding Galantis and her rival Zaride, stretching beyond the cavern into the Shaded Realm’s wilderness.

Few minds existed in that dark expanse—perfect for environmental awareness training. He shifted focus from sensing thoughts to perceiving his surroundings through psychic energy.

The pitch-black world gradually brightened in his mind’s eye, revealing faint shadows and outlines. This basic progress took over two hours and drained him severely—high-level mind-related abilities demanded heavy energy. But Midi pressed on.

Extreme conditions bred breakthroughs—his own Experience and Rot’s teachings agreed. "Push until you’re nearly unconscious," the Eighth Apostle declared. "I’ll handle any fools trying to interrupt."

Hours later, Midi could vaguely discern environmental shapes—but his psychic energy drained completely, dimming even the Spirit Dragon Sword. Continuing would harm rather than help, so he stopped.

Instead of resting, he forced his exhausted body to recover psychic energy—solidifying his limits through strain. The next two days followed the same pattern.

By the fourth day, the full outline of the Shaded Realm finally sharpened within Midi’s psychic vision.

The images transmitted through his Threads of the Mind now formed a complete terrain map instead of blurred shadows and lines, every rock precisely mapped.

Even the movements of mindless creatures like dark mice became visible to him.

Previously, such simple animals couldn’t be detected through telepathy due to their lack of intelligence.

But environmental awareness laid everything bare.

Still unsatisfied with mere outlines, Midi pushed his senses further until the phantom-like shapes gained depth.

Not just rock positions but their surface textures and uneven details emerged.

Moss and plants clinging to the Shaded Realm’s damp ground materialized at last.

His psychic vision now painted a vivid world.

Though darkness rendered this realm monochrome to normal or infrared vision, Midi saw it in color—each hue sharpening his environmental judgment.

"Mastering environmental awareness in four days, even crudely, is worthy of pride," Rot remarked with approval.

"Now I can fight even in total darkness—surpassing dark elves’ Night Vision Abilities!" Anticipation surged in Midi’s heart.

A warrior at core, he hungered for trials by fire more than comfort.

Yet environmental awareness had flaws.

Its energy drain far exceeded telepathy’s. Even Midi’s deep blue Pure psychic energy couldn’t sustain prolonged battles.

Arena fights ended quickly, but true missions in the Shaded Realm’s wilderness would demand precise control over this skill.

How to adapt?

Midi’s solution was simple—fight first, adjust later!

On the fifth day, he halted extreme mind-related abilities training to rest.

Tomorrow, White Rock Cave’s high-level slave warriors would begin weekly ranking matches.

Each fighter would battle repeatedly to face varied opponents, minimizing luck’s role in scoring.

A day of grueling exertion.

As a seasoned Demon Swordman, Midi needed peak condition.

The Shaded Realm’s level 60 warriors eclipsed even Sea of Clouds elites. Trump cards aside, arrogance here meant death.

Prudence and composure—keys to survival for any practitioner.

Yet trouble found Midi despite his low-profile training.

"Human! Crawl out here!" A venomous voice taunted. "Or are you cowering in your den?"

Midi frowned.

White Rock Cave forbade physical clashes—unlike Black Rock Cave where he’d skirmished with the Lizardman before warnings came. Here, lightning arrows struck instantly at any violence.

Thus, slave warriors honed verbal barbs instead.

The heckler outside clearly excelled in this.

Midi disdained wordplay but silence invited disrespect.

As he weighed choices, inspiration struck.

"That neglected skill might prove useful," Midi muttered with a cold smirk, striding outside.

Two dark elves stood waiting, flanked by jeering spectators. Zaknavan’s icy gaze locked onto them nearby.

Midi instantly recognized the duo—ranked fourth and fifth.

Partners since before becoming prisoners of war: the mage "Ice Hand" and Demon Swordman "Blood Hand"—the Ice-Blood pair.

Though individually weaker than Zaknavan, their contribution points accumulated faster.

Their purpose here? Given their hostility, intimidation seemed likelier than recruitment.