Garrett POV

  He had never felt more powerful in his life. The mana coursing through his veins gave him so much strength. He was able to reinforce his body with all of the excess mana, which meant his physical abilities were already through the roof.

  He laughed loudly and enjoyed the sensation of power. Nobody would be able to keep up with him now. He could probably even rival Isaac when it came to pure brute strength, not even saying anything about his speed. He was probably faster than most Tier 4s at this point.

  He did have a time limit, though. He would be able to squeeze out several minutes of fighting while in this state. Anymore would damage his soul too much to heal for the next round.

  He scoffed. As if I would need more than twenty seconds while in this state, he thought to himself confidently.

  Thankfully, his new rapier took some of the stress from this technique as well. He wouldn’t have been able to keep it active for more than thirty seconds before his soul collapsed, even with all the natural treasures he consumed the other day.

  He smirked as he stood there, watching his opponent and enjoying the expression on his face. Garrett was already imagining the fear that was racing through his opponent’s mind.

  Julius Snow…

  Garrett scoffed internally. Nobody thought he would win. They all thought Julius would win and go on to the next round. They all underestimated Garrett, and he would show them the error of their ways.

  Even his own family didn’t think he would win. How dare they? Did they understand how much he trained?

  He needed to win. Still, Garrett hated having to use the technique and the treasures his father provided. It proved that they were somewhat correct in their assumptions. However, he wouldn't lose now that he had been pushed this far.

  He had trained every day for the past four years for this moment. He wouldn’t let this pass him by. He would show everyone that he was better than this commoner.

  Somehow, this upstart had managed to trick everyone into thinking that he was the next Cassian Luminous. It was a ridiculous idea. The Emperor’s brother had managed to get to Tier 5 before he was twenty. This commoner trash didn’t even come close to the true talents.

  Eren? Isaac? Riven? Garrett had seen some of the true geniuses of the continent with his own eyes. The ones who were literally bred for war and death. The ones who had reached Tier 4 before they went through puberty.

  Garrett might not be on that level of talent, but there was no way he would lose to some commoner. Especially not a commoner who didn’t even have a single excellent affinity to any branch of magic. Sure, he might have been fast and had some strong skills, but it wasn’t anything Garrett’s training couldn’t handle.

  He had seen the commoner’s tricks when he fought Riven. It was nothing that Garrett couldn’t handle.

  He had some of the best trainers since birth, and they all told him how skilled he was. There was no way he would lose.

  The thought was laughable, and he used all of his pent-up anger to fuel his technique, flooding his body with even more power.

  He glared at the young teen with hatred and, with a simple push of his will, his body shot toward his opponent. It was obvious that Julius had some kind of perception skill or ability to detect the spatial tear his rapier used to attack, so Garrett didn’t use the ability again. Instead, he used his pure speed to close the distance.

  He grinned when he saw the look of surprise on the commoner’s face as his rapier thrusted forward. However, he felt that same annoying little ability activate, and his sword felt like it was pushing through a mountain of wet sand. It gave the commoner just enough time to react and flick his rapier away.

  However, Garrett didn’t have to use his rapier. He was trained in hand-to-hand combat from a young age and was close enough to throw a knee into the commoner’s stomach. His knee made contact, and he smiled when he heard the grunt from his opponent.

  Something must have gotten damaged from that attack, and he pulled back his leg to attack again, but for some reason, he wasn’t able to. His knee was stuck, and he belatedly realized that Julius had grabbed it.

  Before Garrett could do anything about it, his head snapped back, and his nose stung with pain. He swore loudly and tried to remove his leg, but before he was able to, he was punched in the face two more times in quick succession.

  His overclock technique helped blunt the damage, but his face still flushed with embarrassment. He quickly stabbed forward with his rapier; only then was he able to get his leg back.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  He wiped his nose and glowered at the other teen, feeling even more rage at the indignity of being punched in the face. Another surge of wind mana, and he was in front of the commoner again, attempting to pierce him with his rapier.

  The commoner must have had a status ailment resistance because his sword hadn’t been able to work on him.

  Probably from living in the trash for most of his life, he thought to himself as he thrusted his rapier.

  His opponent was slippery, always seeming to know where the attacks would come from. He didn’t fall for any of Garrett’s feints. It was like he could see the future. Still, Garrett didn’t let up, and when he thought he had an opening, he went for it, launching himself forward.

  Unfortunately, this was what the commoner had been waiting for, and Garrett got a face full of extremely hot flames. He flinched back from the pain and found himself suddenly under a relentless assault instead.

  He tried to use his own movement skill, but for some reason, it didn't activate. It was the same sensation he had felt earlier in the fight. It was like all of his skills were being ripped away from his control.

  It’s the aura, he realized too late. The commoner’s aura was literally eating away at his skills and techniques.

  Was this why Riven had such a hard time against him? Comprehension dawned on him as he found himself being pushed back despite having so much mana at his disposal.

  He thought that the boy’s spikes and mana manipulation were the things to worry about. This was why he had decided to attack from up close. However, he was starting to realize that it wasn’t just his mana manipulation that he should have been aware of.

  Garrett blasted out a massive wave of mana from his body just to gain some space. But the commoner tanked it without so much as a wince. He continued to push forward. He bashed Garrett’s rapier to the side and kicked him in the stomach.

  The wind was squeezed out of his lungs, and he gasped for breath. He stumbled back but choked on his tongue when a jab hit him right in the throat. He reached up to grab his neck, but the other boy snatched his wrist out of the air and yanked hard.

  Garrett felt his entire body tilt on its axis, and before he could realize what was happening, he felt his face slamming into the stone ground of the arena. He heard something crack and desperately kicked at where he thought his opponent was.

  He hit nothing but air.

  He lashed out wildly and blindly, hoping to connect with something. He didn’t and found himself in the air once more, tumbling through the air uncontrollably. He attempted to use some wind magic to halt his spinning, but once again, that aura ripped everything he tried into small pieces.

  His body smashed into the barrier on the side of the arena. He could hear his bones crack with his own ears. He flopped to the ground and staggered up, throwing up a barrier of mana to block the incoming spikes of mana.

  The disgusting aura from the commoner slammed against his barrier with such ferocity that it scared him. Garret exerted his willpower and tried to fight back. However, what he experienced shook his soul.

  His willpower was kicked to the side as easily as one might do to a child clinging to their leg. He was still able to delay the aura, which is the only reason his barrier held up long enough that he wasn’t immediately killed by the spikes.

  He felt his burns all over his body, but he couldn’t focus on that since Julius was on top of him once more. Garrett tried to defend himself, but nothing worked. Each attempt was slapped aside. It wasn’t even about speed or strength.

  He was being outmaneuvered. Plain and simple.

  His head snapped to the side when another fist hit him flush against the face. He didn’t even manage to turn his head back around before a flying knee caught him in the jaw. He felt something shatter, and all of the feeling in his face was gone.

  He tried to stab the commoner with his rapier, but each attempt was parried with a dismissive slap and another punch to the face. His technique was running out of juice way faster than it should have. That was how much damage he was taking. If he didn’t have it, he would have already lost.

  That fact stung when he realized it.

  He desperately put a hand up. Or rather, he tried to. His hand was snatched out of the air, and he was flung to the ground mercilessly. The air exploded from his lungs as he was thrown across the field.

  He scrambled to his feet, holding his hands out. He didn't even have any thoughts of victory anymore. He just wanted the pain to stop.

  “Wait… Hold on a—”

  His vision exploded with stars. Then he felt something hard lodge into his ribcage, snapping even more bones. The pain was intense, and he could only groan as the agony was finally getting to him. His focus skill could only hold back so much pain.

  He could barely see since there was so much blood on his face, and his eyes were swollen from the repeated hits to the face.

  He started to swing his sword blindly. He didn’t care about how it looked; he just wanted to hit his opponent and hopefully get some space. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and he felt Julius grab his arm and give it a hard twist.

  Something snapped in his elbow, and he screamed as his arm was wrung like a dirty dishrag. His rapier tried to help him, but every time it tried, his opponent countered it.

  There was nothing he could do as he was given the beatdown of his life. He didn’t care if it was in front of the entire capital. He just wanted it to stop. The pain was becoming too much.

  “I surrender,” he mumbled incoherently. His mouth was full of blood, and it sprayed everywhere.

  The punches kept hitting him, causing even more agonizing pain. There was nothing he could do except curl up into a small ball.

  They must not have heard him.

  “I surrender,” he said a little more loudly, but was muffled since a fist knocked him in the teeth.

  He wanted to scream. They still didn’t seem to hear him. He used the last vestiges of mana to set off a blast made of wind magic.

  “I said, I fucking—”

  A steel-like hand wrapped around his throat, stopping his words from forming. The commoner’s face was right in front of him. He didn’t even get a chance to plead with him to stop because the young teen squeezed and ripped open his throat. Then, before he knew it, he felt his head being torn from his shoulders.

  The words died on his tongue. Literally.

  Patreon!