Chapter 631 - Saint Level

Thrax was told to use a glaive instead of a spear for one main reason: the spear was made more for piercing attack, as such, it could not fully make use of his explosive strength. The glaive was a larger polearm-type weapon that would allow Thrax to still use most of his skills and retain his preference for polearms, thus letting him use both of his greatest proficiency.

[Power Glaives - Tier 4]

[Polearm]

[Length 3.2 meters, weight 46 kilogram]

[Increase strength]

The glaive he used was long and heavy, it was topped with a large one edge blade. As long as the wielder had the proper strength to swing it around, it was the perfect weapon to use when fighting against a group of enemies.

Swisshhh! Swisshh!!

Thrax was able to use his overwhelming strength to swing the weapon easily to tear his opponent apart.

As for Julian, he has always been proficient with the roman short sword gladius, but the magus advised him to use his skills to fill the gap for the group.

That was how he ended up with the role of main defender. Equipped with a shield and a hammer, his main objective was to hold the enemy's advance, not kill them.

[Earth smasher - Tier 4]

[One handed hammer]

[Length 1.1 meter, weight 41 kilograms]

[Spell - Quake]

[Causing vibrations upon impacts]

It was a magical artifact that looked like an anvil with a marking on its two sides. Took him a little bit of time to get used to this weapon but Julian understood that a hammer was the ideal weapon to break enemies' offensive waves and defensive lines. Especially when facing heavily armored enemies, a hammer would do much more wonders than a short sword. 

The role was to disrupt the enemy lines, then he would let Thrax make the killing blow.

"Hahaha! Those roles really suit us!" Thrax shouted, while swinging his glaive around, creating a distinct metallic sound every time.

Julian was as much a warrior as Thrax, so he would also like to have Thrax role as the main attacker, however he was raised to be a leader before a warrior. He was glad to accept the role, knowing the importance of his position. 

Meanwhile, Chumo and Klea got the role of ranged attacker, while Emery would be the vanguard that finished anything that came through the defense line Julian made. That was the advice and roles given to them by Magus Silica, after she saw their abilities.

As they finished the first 10 Terra knights, the sounds of marching could be heard. Thirty Terra Knights were coming through. Unlike before, the fight this time quickly went south and more complicated as now there were five tier 8 golden armor fighters among them who although unable to cast magic, their battle powers were at similar level.

Above all else the captain, a saint level fighter who was on a different scale altogether.

[Battle power: 130]

When Chumo told them the number, everyone was shocked. 

A "Saint" was a prestigious title given to those who have reached peak stage rank 9, just one step below a proper Magus.

This particular saint did not cultivate his spirit force just like the other Terra warriors, but on the other hand, his strength was stronger than Thrax, even with his full Immortal Gate buff and fire aura. 

The man also had his own buff skill that increased his own strength and also a special Saint fighter skill [Unbreakable Body] that made him even harder to deal with. As a result, the gladiator champion's loss in a battle of strength was inevitable.

The situation made Klea try out her new tier 5 spell [Greater Chain Lightning] to instantly stun half of the surrounding knights. With them incapacitated, Emery was able to help Thrax and beat the saint down.

However, it still took Emery and his friends all of their strength to finally defeat the 30 Terran knights.

When they tried to catch their breath, the magus told them their training was not finished. There was no chance for them to rest, as two more companies of a total 100 knights arrived to battle them at the same time. 

It was now a battle between 100 people against 5. Emery even had to resort to using his Fey shaman transformation. However, their fatigue began to catch up, after three hours, the team lost all their energy, causing them to get hit multiple times until the protective barrier of their new tier 3 armors were gone.

Magus Silica jumped in and stopped the battle, 

"Like i said, you must find a way to fight efficiently, the first game is about stamina after all"

Afterward she started giving tips on better ways to work together more efficiently. This was the only way they would be able to get through the higher levels in the game.

One of the main factors of their defeat was also the three Terra captains, whose strength was able to hold any of them even including Emery.

During the break, Thrax, who was unable to accept his defeat, decided to challenge one of the captains for a duel. However the gladiator champion tasted defeat yet again.

Thrax was so impressed with the Saint level strength and their innate ability that boosted strength and defense. He expressed his wish to become one someday. However, Magus Silica gave him an odd look before she said.

"No, you wouldn't want to be like them..."

"Why?" Thrax asked, still staring at them

Before Magus Silica could say anything, Magus Xion decided to explain.

"As a magus academy student, you might want to be a saint magician, but not a saint fighter."

The magus explain that outside the academy, their title mostly known as a magician than an acolyte, and after a certain age when an acolyte was still unable to reach magus level, they left the academy and took magician title instead.

A rank 9 magician was called a saint realm magician, but for saint fighters, they were the title for the previously rank 8 acolytes like them, who failed and gave up on building their spirit core foundation to reach rank 9. They choose to burn their spirit force and trade it with a large amount of battle power and the innate skill they just saw from the Terra captains.

Magus Xion added, as he glanced at them with pity in his eyes. "Yes, this will be the fate of some acolytes who fail to rank up in the academy."

Thrax and Julian, who still had much further to reach rank 9 couldn't help but feel disturbed by the information, promising they wouldn't let themselves fall to such fate.