Earth's Greatest Magus

Howlll—-

A pair of massive humanoids made of metal approached Emery with lightning speeds. One has four large limbs covering Jai Strider's whole body like a suit, while the second one was much more slender than its counterpart, looking like an approximation of a woman's body with a pair of wings on its back. 

One was built for strength, while another was built for speed. The two metallic humanoids worked in tandem as they attacked relentlessly, making Emery unable to easily focus on hitting Jai, the king of the group.

"How do you like it?! Hahaha!"

Jai jumped forward with four limbs, his movement reminiscent of that of a huge monkey.  Despite being encased in a massive metal construct, he moved so fast while the guardian queen dashed from behind, forcing Emery to cast [Blink] to get away from their pincer attack.

"Hahaha, I am telling you, savage.. You should finish me off while you can!"

There was no need to explain the taunt, as Emery knew for sure that right now his summons were being massacred by the other 14 humanoid metal constructs. And before long, Emery would be the only one standing against all of them.

While still dodging the fierce attacks, Emery observed the surroundings and his situation, paying attention and taking note of the metal summons attacks and fighting styles. Once again, he was impressed by his opponent's abilities.

There were soldiers, defenders, knights, healer and ranged attackers; Every summon had their own specialized role. Individually, they had glaring weaknesses, but together, each covered the other metal summons, ensuring they could operate as a single, powerful unit.

Unable to overpower the Duo King and Queen fast enough, Emery willed his brain to work. Various ideas came to mind on how he could win the fight, such as using his [Primal Flora] spell to add more fighting power to the troops, or using his spatial magic to forcefully separate Jai from his little army.

However, in the end, Emery decided to unsummon his own army, stopped abruptly in his tracks, and said.

"I admit defeat, you win."

Upon hearing that, the spectators were disappointed. They were certain that the savage acolyte hadn't given his all in this battle. Regardless, Emery ignored them all. 

He approached the annoyed Metal Puppeteer and said.

"Thank you, you are very strong indeed… I have learned much from this fight, and I really hope that you would be willing to accept a rematch in a few weeks."

Hearing the claim, Jai gave him a confident smile, and he said, "You are mistaken if you think you would be able to defeat me by then" to which Emery only responded with a smile of his own.

Emery thought that there was no need to insist on winning this fight, as there was basically no consequence of losing. However, Emery really wanted to give it another try to fight Jai on his terms. Hence his surrender.

After giving their mutual respect, Emery walked toward Klea. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he arrived in front of her. A troubled expression on his face.

"I am sorry I lost…"

Klea narrowed her eyes in annoyance for a second, but soon after, it was replaced with a nod as she said, "Hope you got everything you need."

"Yes, I actually did."

As the battle had ended on a disappointing note, the crowds that filled the wide clearing began to disperse, with Annara and Atlas among them.

The red-haired woman was cursing, disappointment evident in her tone for his loss. Meanwhile, the half-machine acolyte was throwing a sharp glare at Emery. If his eyes could communicate by itself, it would be clear that he wished to fight Emery right now.

Hidden by the crowds, in a certain corner, one man clenched his fists. He was glaring at Emery from a distance with apparent annoyance.

Anyone in the crowd would be able to recognize the man as the young prince of the Cross family. Shatter Cross, the current rank 5 holders.

When the crowds thinned and the man left, someone seemed to notice the anomaly and decided to approach Emery. 

Noticing the approaching figure from the corner of Emery's eye, he smiled and said "Ahh, Roran, I saw your fight before. Congratulations."

"Huh… How could a rank 75 be comparable to a rank 8?"

Roran then proceeded to tell Emery his worries about the rank 5 holder, Shatter Cross. The Cross family was one of the families known for their hatred of any halfblood. The last time, Shatter was beaten by Zach, causing the former to be harshly reprimanded by his family.

"You should know, the Cross family is a Grade 4 much like mine. However, he was sort of raised differently, so you should be careful."

Afterward, Roran talked about how unfortunate it was that Julian decided to join the Nephilims. But he also expressed understanding, after all, Julian had not yet become an inner member of the Harlight faction.

"Do you think he would be in danger?" Emery ask

Roran stopped for a second, clearly a bit hesitant to answer, and said "Julian knows how to position himself in a tricky situation. I believe he should be fine."

That answer was not enough to give Emery any real confidence in Julian's safety. However, it was still a confirmation that his friend was doing alright. Hence he nodded his head.

They resumed a short conversation, before bidding their farewells and going their separate ways. 

Now that his business in the monthly arena was over, Emery decided to go to the center and pick up his monthly foundation pill. On the way, he encountered Magus Ramora, who encouraged him to try harder.

"If you fight 3 more and win, you will reach the top 5. You can do it!"

It was not only an encouragement, but it was also a reminder of the incentives and rewards he would get from being in such a high rank.

[Rank 1-5 receives Divine Art - Rank A]

[Rank 6-10 receives Divine Art - Rank B]

[Rank 11-30 receives Divine Art - Rank C]

Emery vividly remembered how expensive and powerful his [Aegis of the Void] was while being only a rank C divine spell. Therefore, the prospect of obtaining a Rank A managed to give him a lot more motivation to try harder.

That Divine Art could be a great graduation present for him.

Afterward, Emery and Klea, together with Magus Shena, returned to the spirit cave for their training.

Emery thought of the experience he managed to acquire from the two fights and started training.