The next three challenges ended just like the first one.
Michael used enhanced Qi Swords to overwhelm his opponents. He inflicted mortal wounds that nearly killed the poor students.
The 4th challenge had been a little bit more intense but the challenge was still not comparable to his sparring sessions with Kaleb, and Lincoln. The sparring sessions were simply on a different level.
He had begun to lose interest when he saw his opponent for the 5th challenge. Michael was facing a familiar Awakened; Frederik Kolbenheim.
"I never knew that you reached the top 100 of the freshman ranking," Michael said to Frederik when they met outside the arena.
"I've been trying my best to deepen my understanding of the Inheritance technique. That means I need to fight as much as possible while feeling my Soultrait, Aeoran, and how it influences my body, mind, and soul. It's pretty interesting," Frederik answered somewhat nonchalantly.
It was easy to tell that Frederik was a little bit tense at this moment, but he tried to look calm and composed.
Michael knew that Frederik had been working much harder than most Awakened in the last few months. His control of the 3-Star Soultrait, Aeoran, had improved drastically, and his understanding of the Inheritance technique had deepened a lot as well. His Soul had been altered to fit his wind-attributed Soultrait perfectly, and his mind had been refined with the sole purpose of gaining better control of the wind element.
One could say that Frederik's whole being had been attuned to the wind element. His control increased exponentially with the passing of time, and his Soultrait's energy consumption decreased considerably.
Other than practicing his Inheritance technique to the 3rd stage within a few months, Frederik also advanced to Tier-2. In terms of his War Rune's refinement degree, Frederik was among the top 25 of the entire year. That achievement spoke volumes about the work he put into becoming stronger and to close the gap between himself and Michael.
"You've been working hard. Good job." Michael said, only for Frederik to scoff.
Looking at Michael's body, Frederik could tell that Michael had gotten back to his senses. The monster he had known earlier had returned.
"How about we get started? We should show how strong we've grown rather than throwing pleasantries at each other!" Frederik said as he turned to the arena. He entered the first arena and waited impatiently for Michael.
Michael was pleasantly surprised by Frederik's temperament. It looked like he changed a lot in the last few months. Maybe, he noticed that he is not a prodigy, and that he has to work hard to compete with the real prodigies in the Saphirelake Military Academy.
Possessing a 3-Star Soultrait was a grave disadvantage compared to the prodigies with 5-Star, or even 6-Star Soultraits. However, controlling a 3-Star Soultrait with high mastery and proper techniques, such as the Inheritance technique that focused on attuing the entire being to the Soultrait meant that Frederik was most likely stronger than most Lords with 4-Star Soultraits. Maybe even some Lords with 5-Star Soultraits and a War Rune on the same rank would have issues dealing with Frederik.
That was also why Michael was a little curious. His fight with Frederik was supposed to be unpredictable.
Once Michael entered the arena the challenge between Michael Fang and Frederik Kolbenheim started soon after.
Michael Fang summoned Dragon Might and the Wyverntooth Spear. He readied himself the next moment, and paid attention to Frederik's movements.
However, all Frederik did was summon a large staff. The staff had a large emerald crystal embedded at the top. It released a bright sheen as Frederik came in touch with the staff that began conjuring strong winds around him in response.
"Fight!" The referee's shout rang through the surrounding alongside the arena's bell.
Both Michael and Frederik moved simultaneously. Michael instinctively exerted Eagle Eyes with three layers of Enhancement to see the traces of origin energy all over the arena. Afterward, he conjured six Qi Swords that were released with a burst of energy.
Michael then shot forward by kicking the ground with a tremendous force.
Frederik had seen some of Michael's challenges so he had an inkling of what would happen next. He didn't advance toward Michael, knowing that the silver swords would come for him. Instead, he coated his entire body in strong winds all while focusing on his lower body to enhance his agility drastically.
His weight decreased and he began to move through the surrounding rapidly. Frederik moved left and right without losing any momentum. He evaded the Qi Swords easily and conjured invisible wind swords in response.
The invisible wind swords were one of Frederik's deadliest attacks.
Frederik released them without hesitation as Michael closed in. However, the invisible wind swords didn't even make it past his Wyverntooth Spear forget reaching Michael.
Michael had coated the Wyverntooth Spear in the Power of Extraction. He applied several layers of Enhancement as well, further strengthening the natural Weapon Artifact. Thereafter, Michael moved rapidly, cutting through the invisible wind sword, and extracting bits of the energy that held them together.
Once they lost these bits of energy, the entire foundation of the compressed wind swords collapsed. The winds that had been compressed prior were released at once, turning the deadly attacks into warm gusts that brushed against Michael's face.
'Don't think that I will fall into the trap of your invisible winds again,' Michael thought, the corner of his lips curling up.
He was aware of the invisible winds Frederik could conjure. They consumed more energy, but they were also deadlier than the greenish hue that coated his winds normally. The greenish hue around the winds Frederik controlled exposed his plans quite easily normally. That was also why Frederik used mind games against his opponent by relying on a combination of the winds controlled normally, and the natural invisibility of winds he controlled using a unique elemental technique.
But to Frederik's dismay, it didn't matter whether Frederik attacked him with invisible elemental attacks, or if he used the wind swords coated in the greenish hue. He could see the invisible wind swords just as well thanks to enhanced Eagle Eyes.
Michael pushed forward, evading several wind blades from all directions with subtle motions. He didn't have to make any big moves against the wind blades that bombarded upon him from all the directions. Instead, he could destroy the most annoying attacks while evading the rest without losing too much momentum.
By the time, Michael finished evading all attacks, the distance between him and Frederik decreased to less than five meters. Frederik was pushed into a corner due to Michael's precise movements, creating the opportunity Michael had been waiting for.
He created a Spirit Whip with several layers of enhancement and lashed out at Frederik. However, a quarter of a second before the Spirit Whip impacted, Frederik unleashed a powerful wall of winds. The winds moved rapidly and wrapped around Michael, instantaneously lifting him from the ground.
In a second, the wall of winds had turned into a typhoon that drained most of Frederik's energy. But Frederik was ready to use his entire energy as long as he could throw Michael out of the arena that way.
After sparring with Michael for months, Frederik knew that Michael was extremely strong in terms of physical strength. He was also aware that Michael had an offensive-type Soultrait with which he could issue mental attacks. Mental attacks were Frederik's biggest worry while tackling an opponent. Unfortunately, he couldn't make up for his lack of mental fortitude for the time being. He had to focus his whole attention on his Inheritance technique first, otherwise, he would fall back.
Thus, by allowing Michael to close in, Frederik was already ready to exploit the Colosseum's rules to the peak. His plan was to carry Michael out of the arena before he could lash out with his mental attack.
The typhoon engulfing Michael was not humongous. On the contrary, it was rather small and held tightly onto his arms and legs in an attempt to restrict his movements. The winds were powerful and somewhat eerily sharp, cutting into Michael's flesh hundreds of times. Michael could only groan in response before he grit his teeth to calm his heart and his fiercely working mind.
Then he allowed his instincts to take over.
The Power of Extraction shot out of his body, dyeing Michael's body golden. The winds around his arms and legs were drained of their energy even before the Power of Extraction could be fully unleashed. A screech rang through the surrounding as the Power of Extraction was released explosively, extracting the typhoon's energy mercilessly.
Frederik only noticed that he lost control of the typhoon, which dispersed in all directions with great force. The winds whipped against Frederik's face, who couldn't help but stare at Michael with an expression of shock and confusion.
Michael landed softly on the edge of the arena with a faint smile on his lips.
His entire body exuded a golden sheen that enhanced the ever-increasing pressure in the arena. Dragon Might's presence was fully unleashed for the first time since he started challenging his enemies, and several Qi Swords coated in golden light manifested around him.
"You better evade them," Michael said just before releasing the Qi Swords with a burst of energy.
Frederik had seen the golden sheen shrouding Michael's body a few times already. However, he never figured out what the golden sheen could do. Even now that he lost control of the typhoon that had been manifested with his entire focus, the unique ability of his Aether Wand, and the vast majority of his energy, Frederik couldn't be certain about the power the golden light represented.
Nonetheless, he was scared witless. The golden light was several times stronger than his Soultrait – which was something he hardly ever sensed. He felt overpowered, just like it had been when he fought against Zeke, unaware of the potency of his Eye of Illusion.
It was scary, but Frederik didn't want to give up.
He tapped into his last reserves of energy, leaned forward until he nearly touched the ground, and released a burst of wind beneath his feet after he kicked the ground.
Frederik shot through the arena in an instant. The Aether Wand in his hands disappeared and was replaced by two dangerously gleaming daggers.
In an instant, Frederik crossed the distance to Michael. He appeared in front of him much faster than Michael could move. His heightened Agility and Dexterity came to display for the first time in a while.
Frederik's hands moved faster than most could follow, his daggers advancing toward Michael's vital spots with dangerous precision.
But Michael could see it all.
The moment Frederik began to lean forward, he had been prepared to enter a close combat fight with his friend.
What Michael didn't expect was how fast Frederik had become. Even though they were at the same rank, Frederik was much faster than Michael. His body refinement solely relied on Agility, and Dexterity build.
His physical strength was not low by any means, but it hadn't been refined like Michael's, whose Sacred Rectification body refinement technique focused on an equal distribution of strength, agility, dexterity, and endurance.
Unfortunately, Frederik missed out on considering an important point.
Michael was still full of energy – and three 5-layer enhanced Spirit Whips hovered around him, ready to lash out at Frederik at a moment's notice.
