Chapter 51: Practical Exam

Julius was a little suspicious, Declan had told Julius that most test proctors would be Tier 3, but he was almost certain that this man was not Tier 3. Gabriel felt similar to how Declan felt. It doesn’t matter, Tier 4 or not, it doesn’t change a thing.

The two of them walked into the sectioned-off area and Gabriel handed Julius a pair of silver bracelets. They were intricate pieces of work, runes were inscribed all over their surface. He could feel the vast amount of mana powering these things as well. There was also a connection Julius could sense linking the bracelets to the field around them. He didn’t understand how they worked, he could barely follow the winding circuits of mana.

Julius snapped them over his wrists, the bracelets shrinking as they tightly clung to his skin. They felt very light, he barely noticed they were there. Gabriel had also put on his bracelets and was waiting in the center of the ring.

The man had a big smile across his face, and he yelled, “Don’t hold back, come at me with everything you got!”

There was a selection of weapons that Julius passed as he was walking in, and he chose a bastard sword, one similar to the one he used with Orus. He gave it a few test swings to get a feeling of the balance and once he felt comfortable he approached Gabriel.

Julius activated [Savage Dance], [Fighter’s Will], and [Kinetic Augmentation]. He could tell that Gabriel was not taking him seriously. Not that Julius could blame him. Even if Gabriel was a Tier 3, fighting against a Tier 1 should be a cakewalk. Julius allowed Gabriel to underestimate him, it would be his fault if he wasn’t prepared.

Julius didn’t give up this opening, and blitzed Gabriel going half-power right off the bat. Even at half power, he was able to enhance his body to three-fourths of his previous max. He had gotten much more efficient over these past several days, sparring with Orus and Declan. He was now able to enhance himself more with less mana.

That meant Julius was fast, as fast as he was when he was fighting against the trolls in the rift. Much faster than anyone would expect from a Tier 1. Julius saw Gabriel’s eyes widen and his smile grew as he saw Julius attacking. Although Gabriel was initially surprised he quickly recovered, very swiftly leaning back, avoiding the blade slashing over his head.

Julius didn’t let Gabriel have the opportunity to counterattack, he relentlessly pushed Gabriel back, making sure to keep him off balance, going after his legs and making him dodge in the most awkward positions possible.

Gabriel was obviously an experienced fighter, he didn’t make any mistakes and was allowing Julius to dictate the pace. Julius knew that Gabriel could change it whenever he wanted, but that would require him to use more power to do so, which wasn’t the purpose of the practical exam.

Eventually, Gabriel stopped evading and started to block Julius’s sword strikes with his bare arms. Julius could sense large amounts of aura and mana infused into Gabriel’s flesh, hardening it. Gabriel stopped evading and stood firm. He began to block every strike Julius threw at him, he was like an impenetrable fortress. Julius tried every trick he knew, but without using his other techniques, he would not be able to break Gabriel’s defenses.

Understanding that, Julius stepped back and started to use some fire attacks. Julius recreated his old [Firebolt] skill using [Mana Manipulation] and [Arcane Construct], he made sure they didn’t have too much mana but did use [Pure Compression] to condense them into small bullets. He shot a dozen small fire constructs at Gabriel, but the man activated some sort of barrier skill.

The barrier was able to deflect his attacks and Gabriel just stood there taking them like they were just flies. It was an interesting skill, it was similar to the chieftain’s aura ability that broke down his constructs. However, the chieftain’s barrier felt like a cushion, it was mainly there to slow down attacks, while Gabriels felt like a steel wall. Not a single attack got through.

Julius was with this, he could stay like this for a long time, just launching attacks from a distance. But it seemed that Gabriel had other ideas. He seemed to have tested the strength of Julius’s attacks enough and charged at Julius.

With a burst of mana, Julius felt Gabriel’s speed explode and he appeared right in front of Julius within the blink of an eye, throwing a punch right at Julius’s chest. Julius kept his composure and used several of the constructs hanging over his shoulder and reformed them into a shield that blocked the punch. It cracked a little, but it held up under the force.

Gabriel didn’t stop there, but the shield had allowed Julius the time to step back and use his sword’s reach to his advantage. Gabriel was no longer passively defending, he was holding back, but he was actively trying to pry apart Julius’s defense.

Finally, Gabriel tricked Julius by leaving a tiny opening. It wasn’t too obvious, Gabriel had learned that Julius wouldn’t fall for obvious baits but it was small enough to believe that it wasn’t on purpose but big enough that Julius couldn’t let the mistake go unpunished.

When Julius extended with a quick thrust, Gabriel’s hand grabbed ahold of his sword latching onto it, and released a pulse of mana. The skill was some sort of vibrational skill that rattled the steel of the blade so much that it shattered immediately.

Julius instantly released the useless sword and released a wave of flames at Gabriel’s face and tried to get some distance. However, Gabriel seemed to have another skill that allowed him to track Julius without eyesight, he dashed to his exact location and kicked Julius right in the shoulder, throwing him across the arena.

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He already had gathered life mana and was about to instinctually heal it before he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to use [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal]. He quickly released the mana and rolled with the attack, flipping up to his feet with a slide. Julius could feel the bracelet tighten his shoulder, making it feel like it was injured. He could tell that it wasn’t, but he wouldn’t be able to use his “fractured” shoulder at full capacity any longer.