Seeing the information stated in the notification, Emery was getting even more confused. The fact there was a weakened state added even more questions to his already clueless state. At the moment, Emery finally understood he didn't know anything substantial about his bloodline. Not even one bit.
Even though Emery had so many answerless questions inside his mind, he quickly threw them all to the back of his mind, as he had to win the fight with whatever he got right now. To at least have a chance to do so, Emery needed to throw anything unrelated to the fight away and focus on what he could actually do to win.
Emery walked up to the arena where the spiky-haired acolyte was already waiting for him. The moment the audience saw the sight of Emery without one of his limbs, they instantly became wild, as suppressed and unsuppressed chatters ensued through the arena seatings.
This time, Emery could clearly tell the cheers from the audience were much different than before. Countless shouts with mocking and ridiculing tones were launched towards the arena where Emery was.
"Hahaha, this one is so funny!"
"Heii!! What are you doing participating in the fight like that!"
"Get out!! You are ruining the game!"
"Just give up already!"
Just like what Silva had just said to him before, those spectators only cared about good entertainment and he should not be concerned with them at all.
One moment, they would vigorously cheer for your win, like a manic fan; one second later, they would immediately shove you down to the gutter, while you were disadvantaged. Emery's current situation was exactly like that because he had suffered a loss.
Emery knew not the whole audience was like that. Nevertheless, Emery was glad he never really cared about what these people thought about him. After all, they were just fleeting passersby in his life.
Unfortunately though, most of them were probably right. An injured person like him probably had no place in the competition. But it still didn't stop Emery from giving his best.
Moments later, the match finally started. From the information Emery read. His opponent was called Molt. Truly a befitting name for a nasty figure like him.
The spiky-haired acolyte's clothing looked a little bit different than the one others wore. Because Emery had seen his fight yesterday, he knew the reason why.
Molt was an acolyte of the Crafting Path just like him. However, while Emery had been accepted in the Apothecary Path, his opponent was part of another path, the Beast Taming Path.
Currently, the spiky-haired acolyte was smirking at Emery before he let out an unrestrained laugh, "HAHAHAHA, I'm so lucky! I got a free win. Hehehehe..."
Molt swiftly raised both of his hands and a few dozens of black ant-like creatures the size of a palm came out from the young acolyte's sleeves. The ant-like creatures immediately swarmed towards the standing Emery.
"Go get him, my Durantz!"
Seeing the incoming swarm, Emery quickly pulled out his sword and casted [Dark Infusion] on it. He also did not forget to use his [Immortal Gate] technique. Emery planned to give the creatures a spar with his swordplay.
Dozens of ants crawling were coming at him and Emery quickly sent a slash toward the nearest one.
Clank!!
Emery could see he landed the strike straight on the target, but he only managed to scratch its carapace and slightly hurt the creature. In short, his strength was not enough to kill it in one attack.
Looking at the dozens of similar creatures coming at him, Emery's expression turned grave.
Emery swiftly checked to find out the reason. Because of his weakened state, his current battle power was only 43, and that was after it had been enhanced by [Immortal Gate] technique. Moreover, the ants were stronger than Emery previously thought.
As he was being cornered and saw the ants almost reaching him, Emery quickly teleported away to the distance. Before he could let out a sigh of release, Emery was dumbstruck, as he looked at the place he was before.
The ants, who lost their target, appeared to have a great sense of reaction, as they were able to quickly change their course and headed towards Emery's new location. They were rushing towards him like a raging tidal wave.
On the other hand, Molt appeared to release more of his pets. At first glance, the creatures he released looked similar to the ants crawling on the arena. However, they could fly. It was bad news for Emery.
At the moment, there were around 30 or so palm-sized creatures chasing after Emery.
When Emery was cornered one more time, he proceeded to do his usual action, casting [Blink]. But instead of teleporting away, this time Emery teleported closer to Molt as his figure reappeared on the arena that the ants had passed.
Emery's intention was to defeat the tamer, as he knew he didn't have the necessary strength to decimate those creatures. After all, he only needed to defeat his opponent to win the match.
Unfortunately, right after Emery appeared close to the spiky-haired acolyte, Molt released more flying creatures that quickly sped towards him. The swarm immediately moved to the trajectory of the slash Emery launched at Molt and blocked it.
Hence, Emery was left in an extremely dire situation, as there were even more creatures chasing after him. He had tried to make use of [Shadow Mist], but apparently, those creatures could not be fooled by the mirror images. Emery assumed they must have another way to seek their prey besides their vision.
Emery then opted to his next option, [Shadow Root Binding]. Fortunately, it managed to do its job as the roots hindered the ants. Hence, Emery could only depend on the roots to help him. He also occasionally casted [Mudwall] to create a blockade, stopping the crawling ants closing over him.
Emery once again casted [Blink], chasing after the retreating Molt. Even though a dozen of those flying ants were coming at him, Emery still dashed towards the spiky-haired acolyte.
[Heroic Slash]
Plack!!
Loud crisp sound resounded as Emery saw his skill didn't manage to injure Molt. It appeared that Molt casted the tier 3 plant element spell [Oak Body] at the last second. Thus, Emery only managed to chip some bit of the sturdy wood covering Molt's body.
"No, no, no. You are not going to defeat me." Molt scoffed as he quickly retreated.
Emery was about to give chase again. Alas, he was late to do so as dozens of flying ants were already hovering upon and biting him. The strength behind their bite was stronger than Emery estimated.
[Protective Vest - Tier 2]
[Protective Barrier 72/100]
Just one round of bite was able to deplete a quarter of the barrier energy. Emery quickly casted [Jade Skin] to make sure the barrier was not destroyed right away. With the addition of [Jade Skin], Emery was able to reduce the damage he received into a third of its initial.
However, it still didn't change the fact there were too many of them and with Emery forced to fight with only one hand, he was quickly getting overwhelmed.
A few minutes later, after Emery played a cat and mouse game with Molt, or to be more precise, Molt's creatures, Emery was in a bad situation. Real bad.
[Protective Barrier 0/100]
Emery's extra defense was already gone and more of those little creatures were crawling at him.
To make matters worse, Emery felt his body nearly reaching its limit as well, he was not fully recovered from the last fight after all.
'I'm screwed.'
