At the end of the battle, the Power of Enhancement stored in Dragon Might had been applied to the Symbol of Extraction. Thereafter, the four golden threads of extraction inside Thaor grew several times stronger.
Compared to the light energy drain before, 10-layer Extraction evolved into a mega drain of energy, emptying Thaor's energy storage near instantly.
The sudden drain of Thaor's remaining energy took the Berserker by surprise. His crimson aura was forcefully retracted, and the freezing mist in the combat ring took effect. Simultaneously, Michael's origin energy was rapidly replenished by annexing the energy Extraction had extracted within Thaor.
Six Qi Swords and close to a hundred Glacicles manifested around Michael as Thaor appeared in front of him. Thaor was about to deliver one fierce blow after another when his eyes widened in surprise. His energy storage was empty, his crimson aura had forcefully receded due to the lack of energy to maintain it outside his body, and his physical strength decreased ever so slightly.
Michael released the Qi Swords and Glacicles with a burst of energy. He dived to the side, rolled over the ground and jumped up smoothly. As he jumped up, Michael manifested more Qi Swords and Glacicles, ready to release them toward Thaor at any moment. But that didn't seem to be necessary.
Thaor could barely destroy the six Qi Swords before nearly 100 Glacicles shattered all over his body. Thaor's body temperature decreased rapidly, and it exhausted a tremendous amount of his stamina to increase his body's temperature once again. His stamina was rapidly exhausted to work against the highly potent effect of the freezing mist each of the Glacicles released upon shattering.
Michael released several batches of Glacicle and Qi Swords one after another. Thaor's movements slowed down, his body temperature decreased, and his hide-like skin began to freeze slowly. Meanwhile, the Qi Swords seemed to accelerate with greater velocity as they bypassed Thaor's black knuckles, inflicting deep gashes all over the Berserker's body.
Not even a minute passed since Michael drained Thaor's energy storage to annex his origin energy when Michael disappeared from Thaor's sight. The Berserker was panting heavily. His stamina was drained, and his body made loud crackling noises as every single move broke some of his frozen hide-like skin, chipping it off.
When Michael re-appeared, he was in the air above the Berserkers, standing on one of his Qi Swords. His Wyverntooth Spear was coated in Reinforced Sword Qi, and several layers of Enhancement. Michael kicked his feet from the Qi Sword and propelled himself downward with the speed of a cannonball. He smashed into the Berserker's shoulder just moments before the Wyverntooth Spear cut into the Berserker's neck.
"Dead," Michael said quietly as he pulled the Wyverntooth Spear away from the Berserker's neck. Blood gushed out of his neck like a fountain, but Michael didn't pay much attention to that.
He retracted the Wyverntooth Spear and lifted his right hand high into the air. In the next moment, a strong suctioning force pulled on the freezing mist that enveloped the combat ring. He retracted the freezing mist into his body, where Glacicle would dismantle the freezing mist and turn it back into energy – though much less than he had used to create the Glacicles.
Once most of the freezing mist in the arena had been retracted, Michael retracted the golden threads of extraction within Thaor's body as well. He looked into the Berserker's eyes, where shock and disbelief were the most apparent. Michael sighed, hoping that Thaor wouldn't cause problems now that he had been defeated.
He didn't realize that the opposite was the case. As Thaor regained his senses, he looked over to Michael with a meaningful smile on his face.
"You're strong," His voice cut through the silence of the arena.
"I shouldn't have underestimated you. My prejudice against humans led to my miserable defeat. I owe you an apology," The Berserker said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "I am sorry for my ignorance in front of a brave fighter such as you. I embarrassed myself."
Michael never expected Thaor to apologize, let alone that he would be loud enough for everyone to hear. It took him by surprise, but it was not bad. On the contrary, Michael felt quite good after hearing Thaor's apology.
"Lions use their full strength even when they hunt rabbits. You learned after losing to this young Warrior. This lesson might save your life in the future," Mekhaz, the Warlock Centaur, said.
He had appeared next to Michael and Thaor at some point. A vibrant smile plastered his lips as he looked at the wounds all over Thaor's body. Mekhaz called for a medic who rushed over to tend to the Berserker's wounds. Mekhaz's attention moved over to Michael with great curiosity gleaming in his three eyes.
"Seems like I should apologize as well. I didn't expect Thaor to lose either. The prodigies, who can defeat Thaor with a lesser refined War Rune, can be counted in just one hand. At least in Piloq," Mekhaz revealed in all honesty, "I apologize for my ignorance."
Michael didn't worry too much about being underestimated. In the first place, he knew that he only won against Thaor because he grossly underestimated him for being a human. If Thaor had unleashed the full power of his black knuckles, and the fusion of his fully released Soultrait and his Crimson Aura, Michael would have lost within seconds.
The Qi Swords would have been destroyed easily, and the Glacicles would have been repelled.
Fortunately, Michael could inflict four shallow cuts to infiltrate his body with the golden threads of Extraction before the Berserker went all out. It secured his victory, which was great for Michael, but also a little disappointing. He used most of his Soultraits without holding back, yet he could only win because his opponent underestimated him.
'I'm still not strong enough.'
"Little Fletchli–....no, I should call you young Warrior now. I challenge you for a spar!" A loud voice resounded from behind Mekhaz.
A Berserker – shorter than Thaor – jumped down into the combat ring. Excitement gleamed in his eyes as he stared intently at Michael.
"Your Soultraits are extraordinary. Show me your power in an honorable battle!"
Michael looked over to Mekhaz and Thaor, who didn't say anything. However, Kraft Viton's voice reached him through Whispering Energy.
"It's normal for Berserkers and the Warlock Centaurs to challenge you after you defeat one of their strongest. They want to see how strong you're compared to them, or if you were just lucky. They also want to defeat you to defend the honor of their race that might get tarnished after you earned your victory against Thaor."
Michael nodded his head in understanding. He glanced over to Kraft and smiled thankfully.
Then his attention returned to the Berserkers, who jumped down into the combat ring one after another.
'You guys cannot defeat Thaor, but you want to gain honor by defeating me – who defeated Thaor. You sly bastards…I'm up for it!'
"Give me five minutes to replenish my energy," Michael replied calmly to the challenger.
He retrieved a normal energy pill from his War Rune's storage and consumed it. His energy storage was almost full due to the vast amount of energy he had annexed from Thaor, but Michael didn't want to make it too obvious.
Five minutes later, his second fight in the arena began.
His enemy was a Mid Tier-2 Berserker, who had still a long way to go before he would be promoted to a Champion. He still had his powers as a Lord, but his combat awareness, and combat prowess was much lower than Thaor's. Michael bombarded the Berserker with hundreds of Glacicles before entering close combat using four-layer Eagle Eyes, and the Wyverntooth Spear with Reinforced Sword Qi and three layers of Enhancement.
Reinforced Sword Qi couldn't be applied to the whole Wyverntooth Spear, but it could be used on the Wyverntooth Spear's blade. The Soultrait's potency was comparatively lower than it would have been if applied on a proper Sword, but Michael was not really a sword wielder. He had only used a sword before because Danny taught him how to wield swords – and because Danny gave him Tigerfang.
But now that he obtained Danny's Soultrait, Michael wondered if he should switch back to wielding a sword. In the end, Michael decided to focus on long-range combat these days using Glacicles and Qi Swords as his primary strategy.
By using Glacicles and Qi Swords, combined with Eagle Eyes to pinpoint the movement patterns of his enemies, and Enhancement to further empower his other Soultraits, Michael defeated two more Berserkers before Mekhaz pulled him aside.
"You should check your notifications. I made sure that your status will be upgraded as soon as possible," Mekhaz said, giving him a thumbs up before he looked over to the Berserkers, whose expressions were overflowing with sourness.
"It was about time that someone beat the shit out of them. Fighting these muscular no-brainers is quite…mentally draining. Unfortunately, their combat awareness, battle instincts, and physical strength is quite terrifying. They're perfect if you need a punching bag with anger issues, who punches back at the slightest inconvenience," Mekhaz joked lightly.
Thaor frowned deeply upon hearing Mekhaz.
"At least we're revealing our honest feelings rather than accumulating it in our hearts. We might be considered a short-tempered race, but you Warlock Centaurs are even worse. The moment someone sparks the wrath that has been accumulated within your hearts for weeks, months, if not years, you brutes won't even calm down before your bodies are covered entirely in blood. If anything, we Berserkers are an honest race, while you guys turn into maniacs when someone triggers your wrath!"
Mekhaz was still smiling at Thaor, but a glint of anger flashed through his eyes. He pointed at the combat ring and stomped with his hooves on the ground.
"You know nothing, brainless fool! Fight me, and you'll witness what I can do once I'm angry!"
While Mekhaz and Thaor quarreled with each other, Michael stared at the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs with a faint smile.
If he felt like an outsider before entering the arena, Michael now felt like he had been fully accepted by the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.
It was a weird feeling, but it was certainly not bad.
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