Michael's first fight was against Thaor. The Berserker was curious to find out how much stronger Michael had grown after advancing to Tier-3.
Thaor was still at the Peak of Tier-2, and there was just a thin line separating him from reaching Tier-3 as well. All he had to do was cross the small hurdle and he would be a Tier-3 Awakened. However, that small gap indicated a major difference in strength. Every breakthrough to the next Tier led to a massive surge of strength.
Michael ought to be much stronger than Thaor, however Thaor was in possession of a Unique Constitution. It didn't count as a Soultrait, allowing him to use Crimson Aura in a Soulless Fight.
Of course, Michael had his own advantages. Superior Constitution strengthened his entire being tremendously even if he actively didn't do anything. It was a Soultrait that refined his entire being passively, elevating his natural strength, speed, and every other characteristic of his body to the next level. Spirit Eyes was similar. It had a powerful passive effect that enhanced his eyes significantly.
Last but not least, all 6-Star Soultraits enhanced one's physique to a certain degree. He was not as strong as an Awakened at the Peak of Tier-3 in terms of physical strength, but the gap was not as big as one may expect.
"Are you guys ready?" The Chieftain asked Thaor and Michael. The two combatants stood in the combat ring of the Colosseum, surrounded by dozens of spectators, who came to watch Michael's spars.
Thaor summoned Glove Artifacts, a Helmet Artifact and a complementary leather armor set. None of the Artifacts looked overly impressive at the first glance but Michael's Spirit Eyes detected some energy fluctuations within the Artifacts. The energy fluctuations circulated through Thaor's body and connected to the other Artifacts.
'A Set of Artifacts? That's quite rare.' Michael realized, his body tensing up a little. It was possible to create custom Sets of Artifacts. These Sets connected the Artifacts and amplified their power drastically. The more pieces of a Set were combined, the stronger the Set's effects.
Possessing three Artifacts of the same Set was already quite rare. Even if their star-rating might not be that high, the effect of the Set increased their star rating passively.
Most Sets were creations of the Will of the Origin Expanse as only few races possessed enough knowledge to create their own sets. Thaor had been lucky to collect three Natural Artifacts with a highly potent Set effect that enhanced his Unique Constitution.
A thick hue of Crimson Aura coated Thaor's body, however, Thaor was not yet done. A minor portion of the Crimson Aura remained outside his body, tightly pressing against him to act as a second layer of skin, whereas the majority of Crimson Aura seeped into his hide. The Crimson Aura merged into Thaor. His skin tore apart and a burst of blood gushed out of him. A pained groan escaped his lips, but Thaor endured it all. His eyes dyed crimson, and he stared ferociously at Michael.
"I take that as a yes," The Chieftain said, his eyes traveling to Michael, who'd already summoned Aethyr in Spear form. His Spirit Armor Set and the Legendary Ring Artifact had been manifested as well. Michael was ready to fight.
He adjusted his stance slightly and stared at Thaor with full focus, patiently waiting for the Chieftain to give the signal.
"Everyone ready? Yes. Alright." The Chieftain asked rhetorically before he started the battle unceremoniously.
"Let the battle begin!"
Thaor kicked the ground with great force as the Chieftain's words resounded through the Colosseum. He burst forth with explosive strength and speed and arrived in front of Michael in an instant. The Crimson Aura around his fists expanded as he unleashed a flurry of blows. Michael's eyes and body followed the flurry of punches, the Aethyr Spear whirling through the air magnificently. Michael blocked the attacks with minimal force, lightly pushing the Aethyr Spear against Thaor's humongous fists.
The Aethyr Spear couldn't cut through the thick layer of Crimson Aura that tightly enveloped Thaor's fists, but Michael saw through Spirit Eyes' natural strengthening that Thaor had to use a large amount of energy and Crimson Aura to maintain his defense. Each impact of the Spear strike destroyed a small portion of Thaor's Crimson Aura. Thaor was aware of that and he accepted it with a shrug. If he had to sacrifice some of his Crimson Aura to get in Michael's attack range…so be it.
Once Thaor was close enough, a surge of Crimson Aura erupted from within him. The thick layer of Crimson Aura coating his hands transformed into claws that reached out for Michael's throat. Thaor's change in tactic was sudden and unexpected. The spectators didn't know that Thaor could fight like this. He was clearly stronger than some Tier-3 Awakened. However, Michael evaded Thaor's claws with great ease.
From the outside, it looked like Thaor missed him by a hair's breadth, but Michael's movements were calculated with great precision. He retracted Aethyr and manifested it around his feet. Long blades shot out of his soles as Michael twisted his body and kicked upward. Thaor's claw missed his throat narrowly, yet his kick impacted. The Aethyr blades pierced through Thaor's Crimson Aura and cut deep into his flesh. Blood splattered on the ground and Thaor groaned in pain.
Thaor grit his teeth and suppressed the pain spreading through his legs. However, it was already too late. Michael was on the move. He retracted a portion of Aethyr, leaving the rest to coat his boots, whereas the remaining portion of Aethyr transformed into lengthy claws that grew from his knuckles. Michael kicked the ground, lowered his body, and clawed Thaor. It was about time that he changed his fighting style from defense to attack.
Spirit Eyes' natural enhancement allowed Michael to see the energy and Crimson Aura within Thaor. He could see the energy and Crimson Aura circulate through his body and follow its trajectory. It was also not difficult to see the smallest movements in Thaor's muscles. Every move of Thaor was laid out in the wide open for Michael to see. All Michael had to do was sort the movements of Thaor's muscles, energy, and Crimson Aura to connect it to his movement pattern.
That required some time, and it would have taken much longer if the external enhancement of the Legendary Ring Artifact hadn't focused on reinforcing his mind-related abilities. Luckily, Michael was multitasking. He analyzed Thaor's fighting style, his power level, and his next movements, while simultaneously inflicting a wide variety of injuries all over his body.
Every kick issued was either reinforced with Aethyr blades shooting out of his soles, or Aethyr solidifying around his boots, increasing the destructive force of his kick. The same happened to the Aethyr shrouding his hands. A few times, Michael transformed the Aethyr Claws into hardened gloves to smash Thaor's face. Then he transformed the Aethyr Gloves into a sword to inflict a long gash all over Thaor's body.
The sole reason why he was still alive and why the Chieftain hadn't intercepted yet was Thaor's Crimson Aura. It not only enhanced his assault power and defense, but it also accelerated his natural regeneration drastically. The vast majority of Michael's attacks inflicted minor wounds. The injuries were tended to rapidly, allowing Thaor to counterattack with Crimson energy and brute force.
Instead of following traditional combat styles like most Awakened, Michael made use of the countless memories he had collected over the last year. The combat experience he acquired through the Memory Orbs was worth several decades if not centuries. Some memories showed similar combat styles, but the vast majority of combat styles executed by the former owners of the memories used special techniques, whether it was Inheritance Techniques, Racial Techniques, or Basic Martial Arts.
Michael learned everything from their Memory Orbs and he found himself imitating certain fight styles, only to end up switching in-between their combat styles to gradually adapt himself to his enemies' fighting style.
Michael didn't have the time to study all Martial Arts and organize every single memory he'd obtained over the last year, but he progressed rapidly. His progress amid deadly fights was the highest. While fighting, his full focus was pulled toward combat, drastically increasing his understanding of particular techniques and ways to resist his enemy that would otherwise take hours if he tried to simply read.
That was what Michael was trying to do right now. He was trying to counter Thaor's Crimson Aura. He could execute large attacks to finish Thaor with a few sweeps but Michael understood that larger attacks exposed his openings. Thaor willingly revealed a handful of his weaknesses to pull Michael closer to him, attempting to finish him with a few strikes. However, Michael didn't allow that. He went against his instincts and kept a distance to Thaor, only attacking him with swift attacks that inflicted minor damage.
The cumulative damage caused by his weaker, rapid attacks seemed nonexistent but Michael knew better. Thaor looked perfectly fine on the surface but his Crimson energy was about to be sucked dry.
That was also why Michael changed his attack pattern once again. He switched to mightier and slower attacks after kicking Thaor twice. The Aethyr all over his body gathered in his hands, forming a thin longsword like Tigerfang. Aethyr Tigerfang soared through the air and impacted where Thaor's Crimson energy was at its weakest. Tigerfang cut through the Crimson Aura in a single go before proceeding to cut deep into his arm.
Tigerfang reached Thaor's bone, and it was only then that Thaor's fist reached Michael's face. However, before Thaor's punch could impact, Michael ducked and manifested a small dagger in his other hand. He dissolved Tigerfang and kicked the ground to jump up. His right hand reached out for Thaor's head while his left held the dagger pressed tightly against his neck.
Michael crushed the Crimson energy coating his neck before lightly cutting the Berserker. If it was a life-and-death warfare Michael could have killed Thaor.
The Chieftain realized the same and he announced the end of his battle. His thunderous voice resounded through the Colosseum.
"Victory goes to Michael!"
In the next moment, a cacophony of cheers and roars rang out.
