After Thaor ordered everyone to leave the combat ring, he and Michael had more than enough space to go all out.
Mekhaz and the other Warlock Centaurs looked for a good place to sit down and watch the battle. Meanwhile, the Berserkers shouted loudly, telling Thaor to beat the shit out of Michael.
Michael ignored the Berserkers. He glanced over to Kraft Viton, who sat down in the first row without any worries. Rather than being worried about Michael, curiosity could be seen in the old man’s vibrant eyes.
“Ready, puny human?” Thaor asked while manifesting a set of black knuckles. The knuckles had various miniature enchantments engraved on their surface, creating a pressure that rivaled the Legendary Ring Artifact’s dragon might.
‘Can they customize Legendary Tier-2 Artifacts? That’s…amazing.’ Michael thought, his heart stirring in excitement. If he could find the Blacksmith and Enchanter who created Thaor’s knuckles, he might as well get hold of a customized Legendary Weapon Artifact. By then, he would have even better equipment than many descendants.
Michael licked his lips at the sight of the black knuckles, and he manifested the Wyverntooth Spear and his Spirit Armor Set not long after. As for the Legendary Ring Artifact, Michael wouldn’t store it away under normal circumstances. Instead, he would keep it around, infusing bits of energy into Dragon Might’s storage whenever possible.
The Spirit Armor Set was the most recent creation of the Relic of Draka. It was dark blue and glimmered brightly as the surroundings’ origin energy naturally channeled through it. Michael had used highly purified Zention metal to craft the Spirit Armor Set that fit him perfectly.
The Spirit Armor Set didn’t have a single enchantment engraved on its flawless surface, but that was acceptable. The Spirit Armament forwarded its strong external enhancement to Michael the moment he put it on. All of his skills received a considerable boost, while his Agility was enhanced the most.
Spinning the Wyverntooth Spear around his body, Michael moved around slowly. It had only been a few hours since the Spirit Armor Set had been forged and it was the first time he wore it. He slowly adjusted his body to the enhancement he received from wearing the high-quality Spirit Armor Set by moving around and jumping up and down a little.
Once both sides were ready, one of the Berserkers stepped forward. He lifted one of his arms high into the air and bellowed loudly.
“FIGHT!”
Thaor’s muscles bulged the instant the battle started. His body expanded by a few centimeters and his red skin color changed into a darker tone.
His foot kicked the ground and he propelled forward, crossing half the distance to Michael in an instance.
Michael had already activated Eagle Eyes with four layers of Enhancement. Nonetheless, he was surprised by Thaor’s speed. He was definitely faster than Mr. Klein had been.
Michael saw that Thaor’s crimson aura engulfed Thaor’s fists like gloves, so he prepared for impact.
First, Michael released a small domain of extraction that covered a range of five meters around him. The golden dome caused ripples in the surroundings as the origin energy permeating the air was annexed. Simultaneously, Michael conjured dozens of Glacicles around him. They were released with great velocity and crashed into Thaor the next moment – just as the Berserker entered the dome of extraction, and his attack range to inflict bloody attacks on Michael.
Michael willed the dome of extraction to extract the crimson aura engulfing Thaor’s hands when the Berserkers entered the dome of extraction. Unfortunately, extracting the crimson aura didn’t work well. It was just like Michael expected.
‘Extracting the creations of Innate Powers seems a little bit too hard without enough layers of Enhancement,’ Michael concluded instantaneously. For a quarter of a second, he considered using the Power of Enhancement stored in Dragon Might to enhance the dome of Extraction, but he chose against it.
Extracting the crimson aura engulfing Thaor’s hands wouldn’t necessarily result in his victory.
Michael manifested a large Glacicle vertically in front of him. It acted as both a shield and a visual blockage against Thaor. Thaor had already seen Michael manifest several Glacicles before. Thus, he wasn’t surprised to see a large Glacicle appear in front of him.
He had also felt the effect of the Glacicles before since more than a dozen Glacicles burst on his skin a second ago. The prickling sensation of his body working against the freezing chill that enveloped the areas that had been hit by the Glacicles was nothing new for Thaor. He easily concluded the effect of Michael’s Glacicles and acted instinctively – moving around the large Glacicle with a single stride to avoid releasing a massive amount of freezing mist by crushing it.
Thaor’s left arm jerked back and propelled forward, ready to bash Michael’s head, as he moved around the Glacicle. However, what Thaor didn’t expect was to see six silver swords hovering amidst tens of Glacicles. Six Qi Swords, strengthened with three layers of Enhancement had been conjured the instant Michael sensed Thaor moving around the Glacicle.
His dome of extraction allowed Michael to sense everything that happened in its range even if it was in his blind spot. Thus, by blocking the view of the other person, Michael could rely on the dome of extraction to pinpoint Thaor’s position.
That was also how Michael could react perfectly in time to retreat a few steps and manifest Qi Swords and Glacicles in front of him. He sent a burst of energy through the Qi Swords and Glacicles to release them with as much velocity as possible.
In the next instance, they smashed upon Thaor.
Thaor reacted quickly. He forcefully terminated his attack and moved his arms to block his vital points as well as possible. At the same time, a dense membrane of crimson aura covered his body, which began to release smoke.
Thaor’s hide-like skin tightened as puffs of smoke were released through his pores, allowing the crimson aura to spread smoothly all over the Berserker’s body.
His defense, reinforced repetitively, was powerful. It was strong enough to block dozens of Glacicles, and the freezing mist they released upon shattering, easily. However, Thaor’s means of defense wasn’t enough to block six enhanced Qi Swords. The Qi Sword’s destructive power was terrific, and it grew even more terrifying as layers of Enhancement reinforced the blades.
Two Qi Swords shot straight ahead, crashing into Thaor’s black knuckles, forcefully blocking his movements, while the remaining four Qi Swords shot toward his shoulders and thighs.
Thaor’s crimson aura erupted when he sensed the danger of the Qi Swords, but he was already too late. The crimson aura was unleashed too late, merely altering the trajectory of the Qi Swords by a few centimeters. They still cut into Thaor’s arms and thighs, leaving deep gashes or so Michael thought.
Thaor tilted his body after the four Qi Swords cut him. He sustained only light injuries through the cuts – nothing noteworthy. His combat prowess wasn’t affected at all. Thus, he moved rapidly, smashing the Qi Swords that collided with his knuckles before he unleashed the power of his black knuckles.
A dark sheen spread all over the knuckles’ surface, sucking in the hostile energy that permeated the knuckles’ surroundings.
Michael released two more Qi Swords, which were crushed as they collided with Thaor’s fist.
Michael raised an eyebrow when he saw that, but a smile formed on his lips soon after. The dome of extraction regained its original shape when the Qi Swords cut into Thaor, and infiltrated Thaor’s body by bypassing the crimson aura with a considerable amount of energy left within them.
Thaor didn’t even notice the golden streams that disappeared inside his body, however, everyone else watching the battle saw that. They witnessed the golden dome shaping into golden threads that disappeared in the four cuts Thaor sustained.
But that was not the most surprising thing that had happened since the battle started.
The most surprising event was the huge variety of Soultraits Michael had displayed since the battle started.
His black eyes turned golden when the battle began. He summoned a golden dome, conjured icicles, and manifested silver swords. That was something everyone could see. However, Mekhaz and Kraft Viton could clearly tell that the white hue around his golden eyes, and some of Michael’s silver swords were another Soultrait, a powerful Soultrait at that.
The silver swords strengthened through the white hue were a lot sharper, more resilient, and their destructive power was a lot higher than the ordinary silver swords Michael could conjure with a single thought.
“This Fletchling…has five Soultraits?” Mekhaz asked himself quietly, his third eye shimmering brightly. He continued to watch the battle with a lot more focus than before as a single thought flashed through his mind.
‘What kind of monster did these humans breed?!’𝗇𝑂𝒱𝗲𝓵𝚗𝖊xt.𝗇𝓔t
Even Kraft Viton was surprised watching Michael. He had watched Michael’s fight against the Zan Twins, and Mr. Klein several times, and knew that Michael had multiple Soultraits but Michael’s execution left him stunned.
Michael told him that he obtained the Reinforced Sword Qi Soultrait from the Lord Rift, which was the truth, but that didn’t explain his other Soultraits – especially not the appearance of the Soultrait he used to conjure icicles.
Michael hadn’t even revealed Glacicle in the battles within the Colosseum. Yet, he used Glacicle and his other Soultraits so easily that Kraft Viton began to question his own talent.
He had been a prodigy when he was young, yet the ease with which Michael controlled five Soultraits simultaneously was terrifying to watch. They weren’t even low-ranked Soultraits. All of them had to be 4-Star Soultraits or higher.
‘How did Alice poach this kid into her team?! This…freak…’ Kraft Viton asked himself before realizing what he just thought.
‘It’s a good thing that he is Bartholomew’s ally…’