Emery had won his first battle, but it left him with mixed feelings. On one hand, he was happy with his win, but on the other hand, he was actually not satisfied at all. There was an unusual hunger wishing to unleash.
Giovanni probably could be compared to Orycon when it came to a contest of pure strength, but at the same time, he wasn't comparable, because he lacked the fighting spirit Orycon had.
This led Emery to believe the proud guy probably managed to get into the privilege class with the help of his family backing, or perhaps, thanks to how impressive that flashy battle art looked.
But no matter how powerful it was, if it cannot hit anyone, what use does it have?
After the match, there was a 10-minute break to let the participants prepare themselves for the next challenge. Emery walked down from the arena and saw someone waving his hand at him. On closer look, it was Roran who was calling him from the sidelines.
Emery nodded and nonchalantly made his way toward the man.
"Emery! How unexpected of you! I mean, I knew you could beat him, but I didn't think it would be in one hit! Hahaha, amazing!" Roran laughed so freely, as if he was the victor.
"Thanks." Emery gave a simple answer.
"I expect you will go all the way to the top 80, right? Those four acolytes above you are no match for you, I'm sure. I know they are a bunch of privileged class acolytes who entered the class with the power of their family connections, after all."
Upon hearing that, Emery couldn't help but glance at him and comment, "Just like you?"
Emery's answer was so curt, sharp, to the point, even he himself was as surprised as Roran was. Somehow, Emery felt as if he was just looking for a fight
However, Roran wasn't bothered at all, in fact, he was amused.
"Haha, of course not, I refused such treatment from my family, don't you remember? I entered this class with my strategy and your help, hahaha!" Roran laughed for a bit, before he continued his words. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you to save your energy, because there are still many fights ahead of you. I want to see your rank rise up high!"
"Thanks."
"One more thing, your next opponent's specialty is spirit attacks! So don't go in unprepared."
"Thanks. I appreciate the warning, Roran." Emery nodded again, this time with a faint smile.
Emery walked back to the arena and prepared himself for the next fight.
[Rank 86 – Rift Callr (82)]
His opponent this time looked more like a bobblehead doll than a human. His body was skinny, yet his head was much bigger than the rest of him. It was like all the fat his body had was sent upwards to his head.
The arena staff gave the two of them a sign, before he counted down and shouted.
"Fight begins!"
Because of Roran's warning, and the fact that Emery knew he was lacking in spirit defense, as soon as the fight started he immediately used his [Immortal Gate – Stage 5] and dashed towards the enemy.
Swissshhh!
However, instead of a straight trajectory, Emery decided not to charge directly at his target. Instead, he ran in a curve to confuse his opponent and attacked from the side at his highest speed.
The skinny acolyte was shocked by Emery's speed. Therefore tried to run away in a hurry.
"You are not getting away!"
Unfortunately for his opponent, in his current state Emery could run almost twice as fast as him. He did not even need to swing his sword. Instead, he put all his battle power in his fist, before cocked it backwards and launched it forward.
The acolyte was unable to dodge, as Emery's fist was upon him.
Swiish!
However, right as he felt his fist connect, Emery realized he only hit empty air. Looking around, he saw that the acolyte's figure had somehow disappeared and reappeared two steps away from him.
"Is it a battle art that allows him to move in a sudden burst of speed?" Emery muttered to himself. "That can't be!"
Without further ado, Emery chased the acolyte again. The moment he caught up, he immediately launched the same attack. Surprisingly, the same thing was repeated in front of him.
In the meantime, the acolyte's expression was still one of panic, as he tried to get away from Emery.
Realizing there was something amiss, Emery stopped for a second and started to analyze the situation, trying to think of possible reasons. As he watched the acolyte's movements, he quickly realized it was a spirit attack that distorted his senses.
Emery closed his eyes, concentrated on his two cores, and found the anomaly that bothered his senses.
At this moment, the panicked expression on the acolyte's face disappeared, as he stopped and looked at Emery.
"Hah, you are quick on the uptake! Hehe, I know, I have seen you show your strength, with that kind of power you should be in the top 30 or 40 in physical strength. however, your test rank shows 68. As I thought you are very weak at spirit defense! Haha, you will not beat me!"
Emery tried to ignore this guy and focus on his spirit core instead. He carefully perceived his spirit energy circulate into his 7 major points. Gradually he now manages to see the two images of the acolyte.
"I see you're not that weak! But let's see if you can handle my full power!"
The acolyte placed his fingers onto the sides of his massive head. Emery instantly felt as if someone was hammering his head with a boulder from within. His head spun and sharp pain throbbed from inside, just like what he had experienced in the test room.
He watched as his opponent's images turned to 10, before all of them took out a dagger and charged towards him.
He was able to dodge with just using his speed, but right now it would be a folly to trust his senses. He countered an attack and took out half the illusions, but in the next few seconds, they had doubled again.
Emery knew the reason he was still standing right now was because of his soul tempering practice that allowed him to filter his opponents' spirit attacks. He knew his spirit defense had increased as well, but this time, his enemy was a privileged class acolyte specialized in spirit attacks. This battle would not end that easily.
He took a deep breath, stood still, and controlled his spirit cores' energy. He might not have the capabilities to quickly find his opponent's real form, but he could faintly sense the real one was a mere five meters away from him.
With that information, Emery decided to once again put all his strength onto both his arms, before swinging both arms downward.
Baaaaammmm!!!
The entire 10-meter radius arena shook instantly. The tremble of the air and the stones falling helped him to detect the exact position of his opponent.
The skinny acolyte's face turned pale, as Emery grabbed his uniform and aimed his fist towards him.
"Aaaa… I give up! I give up. Please don't kill me…"
The expression seen on the man's face was pure horror and he looked like he was about to wet his pants. It took him a lot of willpower to pull his fist not to hit the man.
A moment later, the announcement came.
"Emery Ambrose wins!"
[Your Privilege rank increased to 86]
With this Emery already won two matches, he wondered what kind of person the one he would fight next,
[Rank 85 – Median (79)]
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,