Chapter 1039: The Next Step. 3 "Hey, it's funny, isn't it?" The Vampire version of him spoke. "Indeed, it is funny." The version in his Nightmare Form spoke with a distorted voice. "A mere gate preventing my progress." The Vampire Victor spoke in disdain. "Limitations do not exist for me, so why is this here?" Eldritch Victor spoke, genuinely confused. "It's puzzling, isn't it?" Vampire Victor said. "Indeed. Why is it here?" Eldritch Victor asked again. "Who knows? But does it matter? I just need to destroy it." Vampire Victor said. "That is true... It doesn't matter." Eldritch Victor said. "Anything in the way of my progress must disappear." Then, the two acted in unison, placing their hands behind them, and the next moment, a greatsword was created. The version of the Greatsword from Vampire Victor was a deep red with shades of black. Victor Eldritch's version was abyssal black, filled with eyes. Looking at these two and observing their movements and their respective weapons, something clicked in Victor's mind. "I understand... It was so simple." Victor placed his hand behind him, creating a violet greatsword with black tones and Draconic Runes. He held the Greatsword in front of him with both hands, a basic stance, the first stance taught to him by Scathach. "How can I think of advancing if I do not perfect my origins? A building cannot be constructed without its supporting pillars; that is irrational." Victor laughed in amusement. "Heh~, it seems he understood. As expected of me." Vampire Victor laughed along with him, and the next moment he began to fade, merging into Victor's body. The Runes on the Greatsword glowed faintly with a crimson Power and soon returned to their violet color. "What is a Grandmaster if not one who has Mastered the basics perfectly?" Eldritch Victor smiled, and then he also merged into Victor's body. The next moment, the Greatsword assumed the same appearance as what was shown to his Wives outside. "I always wondered why Rose and Scathach did not have grand movements... I finally understood why." "Do not fear the one who has a million different skills. Fear the one who has practiced one skill a million times..." Victor's voice distorted as if three people were speaking at once, all with different tones, but undoubtedly all were him. 'I was doing everything wrong from the beginning… Which is why I did not progress.' The thought crossed his mind. Victor stopped using all his other Martial Arts, even the one he himself created and just assumed a basic stance that was refined and, at the same time, was the epitome of perfection. "This is the Essence of a Grandmaster." Victor's voice returned to normal, now understanding why Scathach, despite knowing as many Martial Arts as she did, had only managed to advance with the spear to the next level. Because the spear was the first Martial Art she trained, that was her Essence. Holding the Greatsword with both hands, he stood up and then delivered a simple forward slash. … Victor, who was fighting with Scathach and Rose with a stunned face, suddenly stopped moving and assumed the same stance he had in his Inner World. He raised his sword, and although it wasn't emitting any Power, all felt a chill. Victor's appearance returned to normal, and the only thing that remained abnormal was his Greatsword, which hadn't changed at all. "Shit." Rose, Scathach, Roxanne, and Amara said simultaneously. Amara and Roxanne quickly appeared in front of Scathach and Rose, using their combined Powers to create an extremely powerful barrier. Rose and Scathach didn't stand idle as they used Runes to further strengthen the barrier. The next moment, Victor made a simple 'slash' in front of him, and suddenly everything turned white for them. … At the same time, the inner Victor did the same towards the cracked door. The result of the attack was clear: the door was completely destroyed. The next moment, Victor took the steps to the level of a Grandmaster. The whole place glowed with a white light as Victor looked at that light while absorbing an abnormal amount of information. Stances, breathing, footwork, positioning, postures... Everything he learned was being refined to completely suit his monstrous body. 'Learning' was an incorrect word. He wasn't learning... He was refining what he already knew. It was as if before, he was blind, and now he could see his own flaws. Flaws that no one could point out except himself. When a Grandmaster attacked, they did so with extreme precision and perfection. The 'force' behind the strike was merely a consequence of the attack, not the goal itself. Because of this, except for the 'special skills' created by Scathach, she never seemed to be straining to perform her Martial Arts. Just as a Being instinctively knew how to move its body, a Grandmaster instinctively knew their own Martial Arts. Everything was natural to them. Without even being aware of what he was doing, Victor began to reproduce all the basic movements he learned from Scathach, which he later refined himself to suit his own style. … Outside, the women watched Victor, who suddenly started practicing alone. They were simple movements yet extremely refined, resembling Human Martial Arts, but at the same time, they were completely altered to suit Victor's body. When Victor finished reviewing all the basics, completely eliminating all the 'errors' he had been making, he Awakened in Reality. He placed the Greatsword on his back and took a deep breath. "I finally understand." He smiled broadly. Morgana, Kali, and Haruna, who had been holding their breath, finally let it out and began to catch their breath. What they saw was so inspiring that they instinctively picked up tips to improve their own Martial Arts. "Darling... Congratulations on taking your first steps into the Realm of a Grandmaster." Rose smiled happily. Victor looked at Rose and smiled gently. "Thank you." "Hmm." Rose nodded, then commented with utmost seriousness. "Now that your Enlightenment process is finished... Fix this mess." She pointed behind her. Victor looked in the direction Rose pointed and saw a giant rift in Reality, a rift that spanned his entire Inner Cosmos. "Holy..." Victor opened his mouth in disbelief. "Yeah, we reacted the same way." Roxanne sighed. "Fortunately, even in his stunned state, Darling wouldn't attack us with that strike." Amara also sighed. When she 'received' Victor's attack, she realized that most of the strike was directed at Space, and they merely defended themselves from the 'remnants' of his attack. Even then, they barely managed to defend themselves. "Of course, I would not harm my Family." Victor snorted, trusting himself in his stunned state. After all, he had his priorities in order. Trying to assess the damage to repair it, Victor closed his eyes and saw the damage he had caused. His entire Dimension had been sliced in a straight line, causing damage even outside his Domain. Damage that not even his created Martial Arts could make if he did not use additional abilities like Reality Distortion and his own Energy. This damage was caused by the pure sword skill. This was the difference between those who were at the Grandmaster level and those who were not. 'But... Why do Scathach and Rose feel so weak...?' The answer to this question was the same as for any other Martial Art; the effectiveness depended on the user themselves. Even at the Grandmaster level, you didn't exactly need 'strength' to execute the Art, but strength was still an important component. The higher the overall level of the user, the stronger the attacks were. Victor, being in his own level category, naturally would have his effectiveness shot through the roof. "Hmm, the damage was caused outside the Dimension as well. To fix this, I need to enter my Dragon Form..." Victor disappeared, and the next moment, on the horizon in the distance, a majestic Dragon appeared. In the blink of an eye, the moon was fixed, as well as the rift in Space disappeared and returned to normal. Kali looked at Amara, her eyes focused on her hair made of pure white Energy for a few seconds, and nodded. She had some questions about what exactly Amara was and who she was; after all, unlike Roxanne, Amara didn't talk much with people outside of Victor's Family. "... So beautiful..." Kali murmured. 'And at the same time so lethal...' she thought to herself. "Oh, this is the first time you are seeing this, huh?" Amara spoke. Kali looked at Amara, her eyes focused on her hair made of pure white Energy for a few seconds, and nodded. She had some questions about what exactly Amara was and who she was; after all, unlike Roxanne, Amara didn't talk much with people outside of Victor's Family. 'She looks like Roxanne… maybe they are Sisters?' Kali thought. The Dragon vanished again, and a few seconds later, Victor appeared in his humanoid form. "Done." "Shall we go back to training now?" Scathach smiled. "Now that you've reached this level, you need to take it to the top." "Sure... But at the same time, let's make time to teach Kali, Morgana, and Haruna." "Three Grandmasters teaching, huh…" Rose looked at those mentioned. "I expect an extreme level of dedication. You have no idea how lucky you are to have us as your coaches." "Yes!" Haruna and Morgana spoke excitedly. Kali just nodded. She felt like those words were more directed at her than the other two women. 'Well, she's not wrong. It is very difficult to find Masters of their own craft who are willing to teach you.' "Oh... What you just saw is a secret, Kali." Victor smiled. Kali rolled her eyes. For a moment, she thought Victor would forget that detail. At least she could have talked to Shiva about it as a form of motivation for him to stop the idiots in his Faction. If three Grandmasters weren't reason enough not to fight them, Kali didn't know what else would be. Unfortunately, despite having noble intentions, Kali completely underestimated the foolishness of certain individuals in her Faction, and the ambitions of Victor himself. "Victor, did you restore the effects of Time here?" Rose asked. "Yes. I put 10 years for an hour outside. I think that will be good enough." Victor replied. "...Only 10 years?" Scathach asked, clearly dissatisfied. "Yes, although I would like to train non-stop, I would really miss my Family, especially my Daughters... 10 years is good enough." Victor's words were reason enough for Scathach to remain silent and agree. She also didn't want to spend too much time away from her Daughters. .....