The Founder's POV

Chapter 29: Starting [2]

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I looked at the puppet in front of me, a B- rank goblin, a being that should crush me in seconds given the overwhelming difference in power between us.

But in a strange phenomenon, everyone had placed their bets on my victory, and the demon trembled oddly at the sight of my blade.

I pointed the sword at him, and his fears suddenly turned into drowsiness.

Even though the effects of my combat technique were well known, knowing it did not help in resisting it. Everyone knew that drowsiness comes with lack of sleep, but that did not prevent them from feeling it.

This is the advantage of having control over one of the strongest sensations and emotions; no one can resist such things. I moved toward the goblin. I couldn't put him completely to sleep due to the huge power gap, but his movements slowed significantly.

He was much stronger and faster than me, but the Commandment of the Sloth easily bridged the gaps between us.

After about the tenth strike, the goblin's sword fell from his hand, and he immediately fainted.

He couldn't resist in the end. Although my martial art is extremely powerful, I know my limits more than anyone else.

There is a certain threshold, starting at rank A-.

Reaching that rank does not happen with just training the body and mana as usual; all creatures exceed their limits there.

Therefore, I dare not rely entirely on this art, or I won't even know how I died in the future.

<First Step of the Commandment of Sloth: Dream Descent>

After reaching a high level of understanding of the first step, I realized that drowsiness is not equivalent to slowness.

This helped me master the true essence of the first step and the ability to use it in battles. I raised the sword vertically above my head and brought it down slowly. Everyone around me felt a strange drowsiness, as I didn't suppress my abilities from reaching them this time.

In the middle of the swing, the sword suddenly disappeared.

Or at least that's what people around me saw; the truth is that the sword moved at an unfamiliar speed to their minds.

Although this speed isn't particularly remarkable and they should've seen it easily given their high ranks, my previous slow step made it unexpected.

This is the essence of the first step...

I heard cheers around me as people saw something new from me for the first time in a long while. Unfortunately, I couldn't put them to sleep, as they were all at least rank B.

If I tried anything extreme, it wouldn't go unnoticed, and the consequences would be disastrous.

I looked at Diana surrounded by many people; her state had changed significantly in the past few days, and her confidence began to grow more and more. On the other side, her rival, whose name I forgot, was also surrounded by many people, but they had clearly become fewer.

I sighed internally, not believing that all the tragedy that happened to me was because of a children's game to gain silly fame. This made me feel a lot of anger, but I forced myself to calm down.

I can't ruin everything for petty revenge, despite the great temptation; I am smarter than that.

About half an hour passed until Diana finished talking with her group, receiving many different challenges for the next time. I had become one of the major sources of entertainment in this arena due to my slow and unconventional martial style.