Chapter 239: First Fight

Emery looked up and down at the 3-meter giant human standing in front of him and wondered. Was this acolyte named Sparse really a bloodline acolyte just like Ivar and Igor, Silva's two teammates? But, he could see no other sign of a beast bloodline from the giant. All Emery could see standing before him was a large man with bulky muscles.

"What are you waiting for, wimp?" The acolyte taunted. "What is it, boy? Did you wet your pants?"

Emery simply laughed inwardly. Anyone with half a functioning brain would know better than getting close to a giant without preparation. He saw through the giant's attempt to make him approach and force a close range battle, where he most likely would have an advantage in strength considering his size. Of course, Emery was above responding to such pathetic attempts to rile him up.

"Nah, thank you, I'm just fine here." Emery replied, before he waved his hand to cast his long-ranged spell. Right now, he needed to assess the situation and a ranged spell would allow him to do so at a safe distance.

[Enfeeble Blade]

Darkness gathered together in the air next to Emery, before materializing into a blade made of coalesced smoke. The blade flew towards the giant at breakneck speed, but the giant simply raised his hand, blocked the spell and crushed the blade with his palm, turning the blade back into smoke and letting it disperse into the air without hurting him.

When the giant blocked his spell, Emery could see ridges and bumps on the giant's skin, similar to when he used the [Stone Skin] spell. Emery realized he was about to face a giant with massive physical strength along with good defensive skills. The battle would most likely be extremely tricky at best. However, this kind of fighter would usually have a lowered speed due to the weight of their body.

Emery casted two more [Enfeeble Blade], a pair of black blades flew towards the giant. This time, the giant did not make any attempt to block them, but the attack still did not leave any wounds. In fact, it only served to enrage the giant.

The giant touched his storage ring and a pair of massive maces appeared in his hands, before he dashed towards Emery, creating a terrifying sight similar to when a predator has focused on its prey. Emery reacted quickly and decided to cast [Blink] and dodge the attack by disappearing and reappearing around 10 meters away, before casting another [Enfeeble Blade].

The giant stared at the blade, letting it hit his body and turn into smoke, before adding. "Dammit you little coward, do you want to fight or do you want to play hide and seek? Come on, fight me like a man!"

When he heard the cheap attempt at taunting again, Emery frowned and sighed.

"Seriously? Are there actually people who would run towards you after hearing that?"

The giant expression suddenly turned into a laugh hearing emery remark "Haha! Actually more than you could imagine!"

Emery laughed in his mind. Would someone that stupid be able to reach the third game? Apparently, the giant has been winning fights by getting an advantage from taunting. If his enemies took the bait, they would initiate the attack and the leverage he required to win would be in his hand.

The giant reached for his storage ring and took out a new weapon. This weapon was a large metallic chain, adorned with a circular handle on one end and a large heavy ball at the other end. With a simple flick of the giant's hand, the weapon was moving around ready to strike.

Bamm! Bammm!

Emery had to admit the giant's weapon of choice really suited him. The long range provided by the chain would cover his lackluster speed, while the weight of the ball would only serve as means of sending powerful attacks towards the enemy without hindering his movements at all, due to the giant's strength. Even worse, Emery could see the chains were able to cover the entirety of the arena. If he stepped outside the bounds of the arena, he would be disqualified.

But still, his speed allowed him to partially dodge the attacks by blinking and dodging in the middle of the chains. To ensure his victory, he casted another spell [Shadow Mist], causing illusionary images of him to appear all around the arena.

He kept dodging and used [Enfeeble Blade] multiple times, until he could see the protective aura around the giant's body had finally shattered. But, Emery could see right away the fight was far from over. Even without the energy shield surrounding his body, the giant still had his protective skin.

The giant acolyte's attacks were relentless, each strike so strong it was able to shake the arena and destroy most of the floor. One moment, Emery's concentration faltered and the acolyte rushed close and used the mid-range spell [Stone Spikes]. The earth rumbled and long spikes of various sizes jutted out from the ground, before rushing towards Emery. Unable to dodge in time, Emery quickly casted [Granite Skin] and took the attack.

Upon seeing Emery's spell, the giant fell into deep thought and said. "Wait! Wait!" The sudden shout made Emery stop and hesitate.

"I see your defensive spells are not inferior to my own and this could end up being an extremely long and exhausting battle. So, I have a proposal for you."

"What would that be?" Emery stopped attacking and asked.

"The Idea is simple! We could just each take turns taking hits."

Of course, Emery's first thought was to reject the proposal. But right before he opened his mouth, the acolyte added. "Both of us still have to do another fight today, right? It'd be more beneficial to the both of us, if we could save our stamina, so we can do better in the upcoming battle. What do you think? Brilliant proposal, right?"

Emery hesitated still and frowned. Was it a trap to get him to let down his guard? The giant seems to be good at close-range battles and getting closer would mean his own disadvantage.

Sensing Emery's hesitation, the giant man hurriedly added. "If you're still unsure, I can even let you hit me first! What do you think? Do you accept?"

Now that would be an advantage to the giant. If Emery striked first and the attack did not do any damage to him, he would be in an extremely vulnerable position.

Emery gave it a short thought and decided to say "Yes! Let's do it!"

"Hahaha! I like your confidence! Don't go back on your words!" The giant dropped his weapon, raised his chest, and shouted in such confidence. "What are you waiting for? Come here and give me your best shot!"

Right as Emery was about to prepare his spell, he saw the body of the giant emit a dim yellowish glow before changing. His whole body turned into stone and the rough texture of his skin became more pronounced. Amidst the bumps, Emery was able to see a different colored glow illuminating the stones.

[Greater Stone Skin – Tier 4 Earth Element Spell]

Emery knew not many people were able to learn the next stages of the basic spells and among those people, Sparse seems to be one of them. It was no wonder the giant man was so confident. Not only did he have the unique ability to enlarge his body, he was a master capable of learning the next stage form of a basic spell.

Emery shook his head, realizing how shameless and one-sided the giant's 'deal' was.

Finally, Emery sighed and decided to continue the fight. He raised his hand and concentrated, figuring this time was a time as good as any to attempt using his strongest offensive spell.

Emery held the wrist of his right hand with his left hand before closing his eyes and concentrating on his dark core. He obviously planned to release the strongest tier 4 darkness spell available to him. 

[Dark Matter].

His opponent gave him the perfect chance. As they agreed to take turns, this gave him time to charge the spell to its maximum power.

Emery closed his eyes and concentrated. Letting dots of pure darkness appear in the air and gather together into a single ball. Seconds passed and the ball slowly got larger and stronger, fueled by the pure darkness energy poured into it. It was all or nothing, Emery decided to push all his remaining energy into this one single attack that would decide his victory or herald his defeat.

Sparse simply stared at the ball while it got larger and larger. The larger the ball, the more worried his expression looked. He shook his head, deciding it was not time to falter. "No... No... surely no spells can break apart my advanced Greater Stone Skin that easily."

Emery continued pushing darkness energy into the ball and, when he could not hold it anymore, he decided against throwing it. Instead, he dashed forward and pushed the black ball square into the giant acolyte's chest.

A second before the spell detonated, Emery could see an expression of regret on the giant's face.

Kabooooommmm!

A large explosion of energy resounded throughout the arena, sending waves strong enough to throw the giant meters outside the bounds of the arena. The giant laid down on the ground, unmoving, a testament to Emery's victory.

"Aaa... Heii... are you ok? It's your turn now.."

[Congratulation you win first match]