The creatures of level 3 were there.

Twelve of them.

Kai saw them and smiled with his whole face.

"Hey there," he said.

---

The creatures of level 3 were bulky — one-ninety tall but twice as wide, their bodies built in layers of visible muscle beneath translucent gray skin that showed the structure underneath like a map.

Four arms, the upper ones longer with permanently closed fists, the lower ones shorter with three fingers each used for gripping.

No neck — the head came straight out of the torso, small in proportion to the body, with a single strip of black eyes stretching from ear to ear.

All staring at Kai.

Kai stared at them.

Qi active from his feet. Flowing.

’Twelve.’

’Good.’

The first one charged.

---

The upper right fist came at Kai’s chest — the blow arrived with all the mass of the arm plus the speed of the charge, not much precision but maximum impact arriving with everything.

Kai didn’t dodge it.

He deflected with his left forearm to the outside of the fist, redirecting outward with the minimum necessary angle, using the strike’s momentum to rotate his body ninety degrees.

The fist passed by the creature.

The rotation placed him on the creature’s right flank with all the inertia of the deflection already converted into momentum for the counterattack.

Elbow to the side. His Qi concentrated at the point of contact.

The creature went rightward one step.

’Heavy. Very heavy.’

’But the side doesn’t have the same muscular density as the front.’

’The side is the point.’

---

[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ KAI FINALLY ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[RagingMutant: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ LET’S GO ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Drakeking: first Chapter. someone explain why the guy without magic is excited facing twelve huge creatures.]

[Jack_Moore: @Drakeking because he spent 52 minutes in an empty corridor. that’s why.]

[Wolf1179: the side. identified the weak point in the first exchange.]

[Mist_Of_Death: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

---

The second came from the left while Kai was finishing with the first — both upper arms together, a double strike leaving no lateral space for individual deflection.

Kai went to the ground.

Rolled.

Got up behind the creature.

Kick to the back of the knee — the joint in creatures with this type of musculature concentrated all the weight at that point when they were in motion.

The knee buckled inward.

The creature fell to that side.

Kai was already on the third.

’Knee. Side. Knee. Side.’

’The pattern works as long as they don’t anticipate it.’

---

The third one anticipated it.

When Kai went for the side, the creature turned.

The creature’s lower arm was waiting for him there.

The three fingers closed on Kai’s shoulder.

Not to strike — to grab.

With the strength coming from an arm the size of Kai’s torso.

Kai felt his shoulder compress.

’It learned from the first two.’

’Good.’

Qi concentrated at the grip point — not to break it, to transmit vibration through the grip into the creature’s hand.

Resonant Impact but applied in reverse — from inside the grip outward.

The creature’s hand opened.

Kai slipped out of the grip and launched a palm strike to the chin — upward, using full hip.

The creature’s small head absorbed the blow and the creature went backward.

’The chin. The head is small but connected directly to the torso. Impact to the chin transmits to the entire spine.’

’New point.’

---

[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ RESONANT IMPACT APPLIED IN REVERSE ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[RagingMutant: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ LEARNED FROM THE GRIP AND TURNED IT INTO A TECHNIQUE ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

[Drakeking: wait he learned a new technique mid-combat?]

[Jack_Moore: @Drakeking yes. that happens all the time with him. welcome.]

[Wolf1179: (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง KAI (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง (ง’̀-’́)ง]

[Mist_Of_Death: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ CHIN ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

---

[ACTIVE VOTE — VIEWERS FROM OTHER STREAMS]

[Modification: Level 3 — mid combat]

[Option A: Creatures learn faster — 67%]

[Option B: Additional creatures — 21%]

[Option C: No modification — 12%]

[Result: Option A]

---

[DraconicLegacy: 67% voted for them to learn faster. that’s specifically against Kai.]

[RagingMutant: (╬ Ò﹏Ó) (╬ Ò﹏Ó) the other streams hate us (╬ Ò﹏Ó) (╬ Ò﹏Ó)]

[Drakeking: wait the other streams can vote against ours?]

[Jack_Moore: @Drakeking correct. and they’ve been voting like that all Chapter.]

[Wolf1179: Kai teaches by fighting. if the creatures learn faster that cancels his main advantage.]

[Mist_Of_Death: (ง’̀-’́)ง he can handle it anyway (ง’̀-’́)ง]

---

The change was noticeable in the next exchange.

The fourth creature arrived — and instead of attacking directly, it waited. Stopped two meters away and waited, all four arms in position not to attack but to respond.

Waiting for Kai to move first.

’They learned to read the start of the movement.’

’They don’t attack anymore. They respond.’

’Good. Different. More interesting.’

Kai waited too.

Two seconds of both staring at each other.

The fifth creature came from behind.

Kai felt it in the floor vibration — the step of something moving with its legs angled to reduce noise — and launched himself forward instead of to the sides, entering the fourth creature’s space before the fifth’s attack arrived.

The two creatures met where Kai had been.

The fourth’s upper fists went straight to the fifth’s torso.

The fifth took the hit from its own companion.

’They did learn to respond to movement’

Kai struck the fourth in the side while it was still processing what it had just done.

---

[DraconicLegacy: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ HE MADE THEM HIT EACH OTHER ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[RagingMutant: ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ USING THE VOTE AGAINST THEM ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛ ┗(°0°)┛]

[Drakeking: the other streams voted for them to learn faster and he turned that into a way to make them crash into each other]

[Jack_Moore: @Drakeking in about forty seconds. correct.]

[Wolf1179: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Mist_Of_Death: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

---

Level 3 found its rhythm.

The creatures learning.

Kai learning what they learned and using it.

The level escalating in real time — each exchange tighter than the last, each neutralized creature requiring more variation in technique.

Kai was sweating.

Not the sweat of exhaustion — that of real effort.

His left forearm had two marks from the upper fists where the block had been insufficient.

His right knee protested since exchange six where he’d needed to turn at an angle that wasn’t natural.

’Twelve creatures.’

’Eight neutralized.’

’Four remaining.’

’And I’m smiling.’

He knew it because he felt it — the muscles of his face doing something he hadn’t planned.

’Fifty-two minutes in the empty corridor.’

’Worth it.’

---

[ACTIVE VOTE — VIEWERS FROM OTHER STREAMS]

[Modification: Level 3 — remaining creatures]

[Option A: The remaining four combine what they’ve learned — 81%]

[Option B: No additional modification — 19%]

[Result: Option A]

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