Chapter 197: Why did you lose?

It was only a spar but Shane was sure that after witnessing today's fight most Elementals would start changing their combat style! 

Cedir had made too many mistakes when the fight began, allowing Shane to overwhelm him easily.

For example, he had grossly underestimated Shane, even if the Greater Wind Elemental had had no idea of his opponent's strength.

Furthermore, Cedir hadn't used his affinity thoroughly and simply charged at Shane, barely accelerating his speed with a light gust of wind.

As such, Shane reached for his opponent's mana core, only to halt a few centimeters in front of it.

Staring at Cedir, he pulled back before he retracted his bloodlust-killing-intent and fluctuating mana as he said

"I expected better of a Greater Elemental."

The [Berserk] skill's time was used up and Shane's demeanor changed back as the serious and cold aura around him turned to his normal, kind, and innocent behavior.

Shane was unsure how strong he had grown after transferring his world seed's stored mana, exerting his title's [Berserk] skill while at the same time exerting the [Slaughterer's Path] technique with the bloodlust-killing-intent, but he knew that it was powerful.

Nevertheless, the Greater Wind Elemental's fighting style was even worse than he had expected.

It was not like their fight had lasted long as it had barely taken him 10 seconds to defeat his opponent.  However, Cedir's approach to the spar seemed like a rookie mistake to Shane that was flawed and without a strategy. This indicated that the Elus race's fighting technique had more problems than he had initially expected.

'They must be more proficient in a coordinated team battle...but it's still worse than what the Emperor said!' Shane thought before directing his gaze to the Emperor, Empress Idral, and Ilya.

As he approached them, Shane could sense that Ilya and the Emperor's attitude changed completely because they hadn't expected Shane to be so terrifying. Empress Idral said to the Emperor,

"I told you that there is no need to worry about him losing!"

Shane suppressed a grin, as he didn't want to come across as arrogant. He wanted to ensure that he didn't go too far. He bowed to the emperor and spoke politely,"Esteemed Emperor, I hope my combat prowess lives up to your expectations! 

If I took it too far, I would like to apologize but I think most Elementals who watched this fight noticed that Cedir lacked something.

Considering that he is among the strongest Greater Elementals who challenged me, I think it won't be difficult to change the Elus races mindset now.

If it's wanted, I could also evaluate Cedir's strength and weakness."

Emperor Kidar looked at him for a moment before he averted his attention to Cedir who was currently being examined by the medic team to check if he had sustained any serious injuries.

However, that didn't seem to be the case which indicated that Shane had held back. 

"Bring Cedir up!" The Emperor ordered, which astonished the Elementals inside the arena a lot.

It had never occurred before that an Elemental was allowed to approach the Emperor and his family after tarnishing the Elus-race's reputation.

Yet, after carefully observing the whole situation more intently, the present Elementals could tell that the Emperor was neither enraged nor frustrated according to the fluctuations they perceived.

Instead, he seemed to be extremely calm and even slightly joyous.

Cedir, who regained a little bit of his strength after the medic team helped him to stabilize his mana core and non-corporeal body, floated towards the Emperor reluctantly, thinking that he might be punished, when the Emperor asked.

"Why did you lose?"

Astonished by this question, Cedir thought about it for a moment. He remembered Shane's terrifying strength which caused him to stare at him with a small trace of fear and apprehension.

"Honorable Emperor, I don't dare to excuse my loss but our race's esteemed guest is just too powerful. With his terrifying strength, I had no chance to stand against him."

After carefully listening to the Greater Wind Elemental's answer, the Emperor could only sigh inwardly, thinking that his race's stubbornness was an annoying trait as he turned towards Shane.

"Please evaluate the fight!" 

He gave Shane the chance to speak in front of the Elementals in the hope that his guest might be able to do something he had been unable to.

Shane had expected a similar outcome and was not really surprised as he took a step forward.

The only thing that astonished him slightly was Cedir's behavior. He hadn't accepted his fear and inherent weakness and put forward the lame excuse by saying that his opponent was too strong.

Pondering on how to start for a moment, Shane decided to be straightforward.

As he cleared his throat he received the attention of every Elemental present in the arena as he started with his evaluation.

"I might be stronger than a normal peak-Apprentice stage, but I doubt anyone believes that I can maintain the huge unleashed mana in addition to the bloodlust-killing-intent that I released for a long duration. 

However, my combat prowess is not even the most important factor to evaluate the spar I had with Cedir because I noticed many things which could have changed something.

Let's start with the fact that my race is unknown to almost everyone present here, shall we? What are the capabilities of my race, its strengths, weaknesses, and most importantly how strong is my race? Does my race have an innate affinity? We could even have special abilities!

Unfortunately, Cedir didn't care about any of these unknown possibilities and information.

He charged at me in his Lynx form that was enveloped in a light gust of wind, which allowed him to be faster than I would be under normal circumstances.

But, it's not like your opponent would allow you to act as you want, right? It was pretty easy for me to overwhelm Cedir by going all out at once, while Cedir still held back to conserve mana and energy.

This is not bad if one were to know who exactly the opponent is, but doing the same while fighting someone unknown? That's just suicidal.

When fighting against someone or something unknown, one should stay vigilant and use all possible ways to test the waters. 

Cedir, you have a wind affinity, why didn't you use it to attack me with wind blades, spears, or whatever type of long-range attack there is to see how strong, agile, and flexible I am?

There are so many possibilities to hinder someone's approach!

To put it simply, I wouldn't have a way to come closer, except using much force and mana by breaking through the long-range attack because I don't have an affinity!

Another important point to evaluate this spar is how calm one could remain under pressure…

Unfortunately, there is not much to tell about it because it's a shame that I have to say this but it was ridiculously bad!

After I used all possible weapons in my arsenal, the fight was already over before I began moving…

At least, that was what I could tell from the fear I perceived that could very well be seen in Cedir's body language.

To conclude my evaluation, there are four main factors one has to be aware of.

First, know your opponent.

Second, use everything you can to win, 

Third, stay level-headed. 

As for the fourth factor, I would say that it's important to fight with a slightly complex combat style. Instead of simply charging like a bull you should learn to bombard the opponent with a wider variety of attacks at the same time.

If I were to have an affinity, I would try to fight with long and short-range attacks at the same time!"

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