After they left the lounge, Lord Izta led Emery through the corridors of the battleship to one of the many training grounds that existed on board. It was a rather large clearing with a protective barrier installed.
As soon as Lord Izta said he could come at him any time, Emery immediately took out his new trump card.
[Twilight Transformation]
He did not waste any more time, as he wanted to show the other party his current strongest strength.
Emery's appearance swiftly changed upon the ability activation. Familiar-looking furs and tattoos began to appear while his teeth and nails became sharp like blades. The same thing also happened to his spirit force, as the transformation greatly boosted his spirit energy as well.
The renowned combat magus was impressed, as he watched his junior bring out his all. In fact, for a moment he was actually surprised seeing the gradual yet rapid increase in Emery's strength.
"Quite impressive."
The level of power Emery was exuding at this moment was enough to produce a smile and make Lord Izta's fighting spirit soar high. He quickly grabbed his trusted weapon - a large axe, and with a smile on his face, he beckoned Emery with his hand.
"Come here. Show me the best you've got, Emery!"
Emery did not plan to use the tier 5 sword Silva gave him just yet, but facing Lord Izta he knew that any subpar weapon wouldn't cut it. Therefore he employed his innate skill.
[Blade Claw]
As soon as the blade-like bones finished growing through the gaps of his knuckles, Emery immediately shot towards the combat magus, while brandishing them with fighting intent.
Swiissshhh! Swishh!
Clankk! Clankk!
Lord Izta didn't seem to be moving from where he stood, but the man managed to perfectly block all the attacks Emery threw with his pair of razor-sharp claws. Realizing the frontal assault wasn't working well, Emery immediately added his mainstay skill [Blink] to the mix.
The overwhelming mobility [Blink] bestowed Emery, coupled with the extraordinary 300 battle power his transformation gave, finally succeeded in forcing Lord Izta to move his legs to be able to dodge his attacks.
However, in just a dozen or so exchanges of attacks, the advantage Emery had managed to gain was nearly lost as Lord Izta had once again took full control of the course of the fight.
Knowing full well he couldn't keep this up, Emery swiftly added his other mainstay spells [Jade Root] and [Shadow Mist] over his flurry of attacks; reinforced by his spirit power boost, the two spells were taken to another level.
The training ground was quickly filled with Emery's shadow clones and jade-like green roots working in tandem to restrict Lord Izta's actions and movements. Coupled with his incredible mobility, Emery once again managed to overwhelm the combat magus.
Clank, clank, clank!
However, even though he was clearly being pushed to the back foot, Lord Izta started laughing heartily.
"HAHAHAH! More! MORE! Show me all you've got, Emery!"
In order to satisfy Lord Izta's request, Emery took out another card. He quickly used [Immortal Gate - stage 5] to boost his prowess even further, this move seemed to take the combat magus a little bit by surprise.
But then, he suddenly opened his mouth and said something that puzzled Emery.
"Not good enough."
Before Emery could understand what the other party meant, he suddenly felt a surge of power gushing from Lord Izta's body. His muscles seemed to be retracted, which then followed right away by a cloud of smoke coming out from his body and with it a powerful explosion of strength.
BOOM!
[Immortal Gate - stage 8]
Emery looked dumbfoundedly, as he perceived Lord Izta's power shoot through the roof. Thanks to that, the man managed to grab his two arms and gave him a powerful headbutt to the face.
BAM!
Emery's [Jade Skin] quickly crumbled to pieces upon impact and he could feel his consciousness blurred for a moment. Even so, Lord Izta's two arms still held strong, not giving him a chance to escape.
"It's still not enough to knock you out? Hahaha, very good! Let's continue then."
After saying those words, Lord Izta swiftly yanked Emery's body through his arms and brought him high into the sky, before slamming him straight into the ground. Throughout the process, Emery couldn't even move his body an inch no matter what he tried.
BAAAMMM!
Smoke of dust rose into the air, as Emery's body hit the ground hard. He felt as if his entire body had been stamped by a herd of horses and many of his bones had cracked as a result. Fortunately, his [Undecaying Flesh] started to kick in and did its job.
However, before he could do anything else, Lord Izta's hand was already raised high into the air and clenched into a fist. The man was clearly ready to hit him again, even though he was basically one with the floor at this point.
Emery desperately wanted to run away, but he was still held down by Lord Izta's other hand which still hadn't let go. His will to escape only strengthened further when he could vaguely perceive within Izta's clenched fist there was a powerful will ready to crush him apart.
Alas, he was rendered helpless by the hand and pressure the other party was exerting.
But then, suddenly, the powerful will within the fist disappeared, as if it was just an illusion. Before Emery could comprehend what was happening, Lord Izta unclenched his fist and quickly helped him to his feet.
It was at this moment Emery finally realized what had happened and he breathed a sigh of relief. Lord Izta had decided the fight was over, hence he quickly undid his transformation. As soon as he returned to his normal appearance, Emery immediately sat down and rested.
Lord Izta also sat in front of Emery and smiled when he saw the contemplative look on his junior's exhausted face.
"You should learn some claw techniques, Emery. What you showed earlier was terrible, randomly swinging your claws like a beast. It was embarrassing."
Emery quickly nodded his head, as he also realized his shortcoming. The only excuse he could give was that he never really had any chance to learn claw techniques, because of how chaotic his situation had been.
Next, Lord Izta mentioned Emery's [Immortal Gate]. He strongly believed that with his current physical condition, Emery should be able to advance to the next stage.
"Actually Lord Izta, Thrax is already able to do stage 6."
"I expected that," said Lord Izta, nodding his head. "After stage 5, it's not just about your body anymore. On the contrary, you really need a tenacity, a strong will to break through beyond your body's limits."
Apparently, Lord Izta believed Emery relied too much on his bloodline, and his battle arts had slackened. In order to tackle this, Lord Izta suggested he should go through more battles without using his bloodline transformation.
Knowing [Immortal Gate - stage 8] gave a staggering 256 battle power, Emery certainly drooled and dreamed of mastering it.
After giving some more constructive advice, Lord Izta did not forget to praise Emery.
Lord Izta also added, "I also genuinely think that you really have a chance to become the Magus Academy's Big 10 as long as you keep this up."
Hearing this, Emery was flattered. Lord Izta, after all, had worked as an instructor at the Magus Academy for dozens of years. Hence, he could be considered an expert regarding this matter.
However, he let out a helpless sigh and said, "Unfortunately Emery, this is far… far from enough to challenge the Nephilim."
The combat magus looked at him seriously, "I'm sure, you should have realized by now, how big a faction they are, right?"