Even Alice Zenovia was in the arena.
She didn't fight anyone – fortunately –, but she observed the fight in the arena with Oliver Zeus.
Both Oliver Zeus and Alice Zenovia turned in Michael's direction upon sensing that someone new had arrived in the arena. They were surprised to see Michael as nobody expected him to return from the Origin Expanse anytime soon.
Frederik and the Berserkers mentioned that Michael had been busy for a while and that he didn't want to be disturbed by anyone. The Untamed Awakened might not have a clue about what Michael was doing, but they could tell that he was working hard. That was also why they returned from the Origin Expanse to spar with the Descendants and the strongest Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs who'd transferred to the Saphirelake Military Academy.
Michael nodded toward Alice Zenovia and Oliver Zeus upon seeing them and turned his attention to Frederik and the others.
Frederik Kolbenheim dashed left and right. He evaded the mighty blows of two Warlock Centaurs and shattered the water jets that were fired at him. Faced with three enemies at Tier-3, Frederik wasn't supposed to be at an advantage. However, by utilizing his three Soultraits with the Wind Sage's Inheritance technique, Frederik's top speed and movements increased rapidly.
His understanding of Aeroan had skyrocketed in the battle against the Heart of the Blazing Lion army. He suffered considerable mental damage to push the Chaos away from the Untamed Jungle, but that allowed him to break through his limits as well. Enhanced Wind, combined with Wind Mastery, enlightened him enough to learn more about his main Soultrait than most would be able to learn about their Soultrait within a decade.
Frederik's entire body was shrouded in raging gales. They supported every movement and improved his speed as he moved around effortlessly. It was almost like Frederik managed to alter the planet's gravitational force around him.
'That's interesting, but you are at your limit. Your top speed cannot improve further if that's all you can do,' Michael thought critically, his Spirit Eyes detecting various things that were hidden from others.
Frederik appeared behind the Descendant whose Soultrait allowed him to conjure highly compressed water jets. He delivered dozens of mighty punches in a second and was about to deliver a final punch by compressing the winds around his right arm when he noticed that his opponent wasn't injured.
The Descendant was unfazed. He observed Frederik lightly as he conjured more than a hundred water jets around Frederik. Frederik tried to move but the water jets reacted the moment his energy fluctuated. The water jets burst forth and were about to pierce through Frederik when Hiraku arrived next to his friend.
A Sphere made of metal manifested around Frederik as the water jets burst forth. Hiraku transformed into his several-meter-tall Silver Titan form, burst forth, and reached out for the metal sphere. The silver skin around his right arm was covered in draconitum suddenly, protecting him from the water jets as he grasped the metal sphere. Hiraku threw the metal sphere high into the air in one motion and dispersed the sphere, releasing Frederik once again.
Frederik shouted, voicing his complaints, but nobody listened to him.
He noticed that and grumbled quietly as he conjured some winds around his body to levitate high above the arena. In the next instant, Frederik conjured dozens of invisible wind blades.
Since nobody seemed to pay much attention to him, he might as well make use of that!
Unfortunately, before he could utilize his seemingly insignificant presence and the invisible wind blades to his advantage, an Ice Bullet hit him square in the chest. Frederik was hurled through the arena from the impact. His Armor Artifact cracked and he smashed hard into the ground.
Kaleb appeared in front of Frederik, a thin smile blossoming on his handsome face, "You're a lot stronger than you used to be."
"But I wonder if that's going to be enough to beat the shit out of the Orlando family's Elders. Do you think that's enough?" Kaleb provoked his friend intentionally, the corner of his lips curling upward as he saw the fury in Frederik's face.
Kaleb's body was shrouded in an armor made from his Soultrait. Ice grew out of his body like skin, expanded, compressed, and reshaped. The more time passed on the battlefield the stronger Kaleb's Nova Armor grew. He had to supply origin energy to the Nova Armor at all times, which increased his energy consumption, but Kaleb had already refined his body using his Inheritance Technique, therefore, decreasing his energy consumption when he used his Ice-type Soultrait.
Frederik disappeared on the spot instead of answering Kaleb. He accelerated from 0 to 100 in an instant and appeared next to Kaleb, his arms shrouded in raging gales that had forcefully been compressed and shaped into blades. Even if Frederik's Soultrait and Inheritance Technique were leagues below Kaleb, his speed ought to be superior to Kaleb's.
They were both at the Peak of the 2nd Tier and Kaleb's Frozen Nova didn't enhance his Agility a lot. It might be a 7-Star Soultrait, which meant that Kaleb's constitution had been reinforced by it, but Frozen Nova didn't have any functions to enhance his speed upon being used.
Aeroan was different. Frederik's constitution didn't change now that Aeroan was a 5-Star Soultrait, but its power skyrocketed with the addition of the increased star rating and the two Soultraits that further amplified Aeroan's power. He had to be faster!
Frederik was indeed faster than Kaleb, but it was unfortunate that he forgot something very important.
Kaleb's Inheritance Technique was a lot stronger than the Kolbenheim family's Inheritance Technique, and Kaleb's perception had been reinforced drastically to counter Agility- based enemies easily.
Frederik's Blades of Raging Winds were about to pierce deep into the Nova Armor when the scenery around them changed. Icicles shot out of the ground surrounding Frederik and the Nova Armor expanded rapidly in Frederik's direction, swallowing the unfortunate Awakened in one go.
Frederik might have been faster than Kaleb with Aeroan used at full power, but he didn't have the same combat experience, training, awareness of the surroundings, and perception.
If Kaleb wanted to kill Frederik, he could have done so at this moment. However, instead of ending the battle here, Kaleb released Frederik and grinned at him.
"I'm glad that you regained your competitive spirit. But you need to work even harder to catch up to us. You'll have to find ways to overpower Lords whose Soultraits are amplified by their amassed Soul Power, and you're at a natural disadvantage due to the difference of resources we can use."
Kaleb didn't want to talk down to his friend, but it was a fact that Frederik had been unable to train for quite a while. His battle spirit had been crushed and he ended up depressed after losing almost everything important to him.
Kaleb was never good at comforting people. However, he was naturally talented at provoking people. His sister told him about that more than he wanted to acknowledge…while beating him for annoying her.
Nonetheless, Kaleb wanted to help Frederik, somehow.
The best way to do so was to beat him up repeatedly by exposing his weaknesses. At least, that was what Kaleb believed.
"You have peculiar friends," Hiraku noted from the distance.
He was about to help Frederik once again until he noticed that Kaleb freed him from the ice prison right after imprisoning him. Hiraku didn't hear a lot about their conversation because of the commotion surrounding them, but the bits and pieces he managed to grasp were…confusing.
Was Kaleb Frederik's friend, or was he a bully? Hiraku wasn't too sure about that.
"I should still help him, right?" Hiraku muttered to himself while hurling a young Berserker through the air. However, before he could do something, Hiraku sensed something. A trace of energy arrived him, planting words in his mind.
["Don't interrupt them."]
Hiraku flicked around, kicking a burly human Descendant firmly in the gut, only to discover Michael. Michael grinned lightly in his direction.
["I get that you want to help Frederik, but he needs a beating to figure out his weak points. I don't want him to die once the all-out war against the Council of Xylon begins. He must improve and understand that he is not invincible with three Soultraits."]
No matter how many Soultraits you had. A blade to your heart could still kill you – except if you had a Soultrait that created a second heart. But how likely was it for someone to have such a Soultrait?
Hiraku felt like responding to Michael's comments, but he was not sure what to say.
Saying that he didn't like seeing Frederik getting beaten up was nonsense. Frederik gained a great opportunity to learn about his weak spots by fighting Descendants from Superior Families and High Nobles. It was not all day that Alice Zenovia announced a small-scale Brawl, or that so many Descendants and other youthful powerhouses would come to participate in a messy Brawl.
It was a rare occasion and something that could be utilized to improve their battle awareness and find their weak spots against a wide variety of Descendants, Warlock Centaurs, and Berserkers who used various Soultraits.
'Well. It's better to get beaten up in a safe environment to learn and adapt rather than getting killed on the battlefield because your enemy managed to find and exploit your weak spots…'
Hiraku decided to leave Frederik alone. The result was efficient but cruel.
Frederik was beaten up. Over and over again.
