Path to Transcendence

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.

Gabriel hadn't just stood back and let him breathe, he used that same ability that allowed him to flash in front of Julius again. Julius didn't have a sword anymore, but that didn't matter. In his opinion, he wasn't that great with a sword yet. He was much better with his fists.

Gabriel was sending attack after attack at Julius, he was doing everything he could do to avoid the attacks and deflect the ones he couldn't dodge. Gabriel was like a professional kickboxer, throwing tight punches and occasional low kicks, boxing Julius in a corner. They were almost against the barrier by now, but Julius was surviving, and even more importantly, he was starting to see some patterns within the assault. Gabriel would occasionally, drop his right shoulder when loading up an uppercut, it was barely noticeable, but Julius could feel it with [Spatial Perception].

He waited for his moment patiently. But it finally came, and when it did Julius was ready. He unleashed a simple burst of kinetic energy and fire at Gabriel's chest, Gabriel stepped back and used his skill to block all the damage, but that was what Julius was waiting for. In his left hand, he had been hiding the construct he had been making. It was a glove with small hardened spikes across the knuckles. But he didn't stop there, he manipulated his aura, something he hadn't used in the fight so far, and wrapped his legs, hips, back, and arm with it. He couldn't cover his whole body yet, but he could selectively choose specific parts of it, so he used to enhance everything he needed for a simple punch. He also released an explosive burst of kinetic energy directed at his arm.

The resulting punch was stronger, heavier, faster, and much more dangerous than anything else he had thrown before, and it caught Gabriel off guard, landing flush against his skin. Gabriel was pushed backward, he had been able to harden his skin at the last moment but was still unprepared for the sheer force behind the attack and he got knocked to his knees.

Julius didn't mean to go that far, he hadn't even planned to use aura in his fight. It wasn't done purposefully, it was just something that happened because he was in the moment, it was all done within a second and it wasn't until it had already happened that he realized what he had done.

Gabriel POV

Gabriel Keller was bewildered, he was called upon with no prior notice. Someone had made an adjustment and changed Emmanuel's examinee to him. Gabriel took a look at who authorized it and saw Silas's name underneath the change.

Why would the Assistant Director make a change like this? Does Silas want me to personally test the kid out? Maybe Silas has some sort of relationship with him.

A person had come looking for him not long ago. Gabriel had been busy, as a Senior Professor of the Combat Department, his responsibilities were to make sure the practical exams went smoothly for the next couple of days.

However, he would never say no to a fight. He was a little let down that it was only against a Tier 1 examinee but it was better than going through mountains of paperwork. He headed toward Section 13, passing off his duties to another Professor.

To his excitement, it seemed the boy wasn't normal. He didn't even hesitate to attack Gabriel right from the start. Gabriel tested his speed first, he wanted to see where the boy stood. To his immense surprise, the boy's body-enhancing skill was phenomenal, his kinetic affinity showing its value. Gabriel would put the boy at Tier 2 with just his physical abilities alone. His sword skills were not that great, it didn't seem like he had been training with them that much. His footwork and anticipation were great, but the sword seemed a little clunky in his hands.

Gabriel then tested out the boy's offensive abilities, letting him attack Gabriel, while he just stood there. It was certainly above average, but nothing on the level of his physical abilities. He should learn a skill like [Mana Slash] or some sort of fire skill that uses his sword as a medium.

But then the boy started to use some sort of [Fireball] skill, and they were condensed a surprising amount. He assumed the boy was a close combat fighter, but he also had a ranged skill in his repertoire. Even with [Steel Fortress] active, Gabriel activated [Extreme Mana Resistance] just to be safe.

There wasn't a lot of mana in each attack, but there was an impressive amount of force compressed in each one. Gabriel determined that he must have at least some sort of highly-ranked uncommon fire skill. Once, Gabriel got a feel for some of his offensive abilities, he closed the distance using [Instantaneous Step], it was one of the more important epic-ranked skills he had for a reason. It allowed him to close the distance between him and his opponent in an instant.

However, Julius's reaction made him smile even wider. The boy didn't panic, he didn't even seem caught off guard, he calmly handled the change of pace with a composure Gabriel only saw in more experienced fighters. Throughout the fight, Gabriel was starting to feel weird about the whole situation. The boy obviously had a very good kinetic body enhancement skill, an impressive ranged fire attack, most likely a combat concentration skill, and Gabriel suspected a perception-based skill.

Otherwise, there was no way for the boy to react to everything Gabriel threw at him, Gabriel had a feeling that the kid's perception skill was even better than his [Mana Sense] skill. He didn't fall for any feints or baits, no matter how good they were. Gabriel felt like the boy was reading him better than he was reading the boy. It was exciting and Gabriel was beginning to have a lot of fun.

Finally, Gabriel stepped it up a little, catching the sword in his hand with [Vibrational Surge], shattering it. The boy tried to blind him with fire, but Gabriel was able to sense the boy due to [Mana Sense] and landed a kick, fracturing the kid's shoulder.

However, the kid didn't show any signs of pain, his concentration skill took care of it. The kid's cold eyes didn't leave Gabriel, truthfully it was a little unnerving to be looked at like that by a young child.

Although he no longer had a sword, Gabriel quickly realized the kid was a much better fighter with his bare hands, even while holding back, Gabriel felt himself almost get caught several times, it was an aggressive style that worked well for the boy.

Finally, when Gabriel had Julius pressed against the barrier and thought it was over, the kid had a final surprise up his sleeve. He distracted Gabriel with some kinetic energy and fire and caught him by surprise with a fist covered in spikes, enhanced by a lot of kinetic energy and aura. Gabriel laughed, he couldn't believe it. Julius had an aura skill the entire time but never used it. Gabriel protected himself as fast as he could, but he was still brought to one knee from the impact.

Gabriel didn't move to get up, however, Julius didn't make any further moves either, they both stayed still and watched the other. Gabriel was beginning to see why Silas had assigned him to Julius.