Zeke was knocked out in a second. On the spot. Just like that.
Michael had to insert some lifeforce and origin energy into Zeke to bring him back. He regained consciousness but couldn't recall what happened. All Zeke recalled was that Lincoln counted down to start the battle. The next thing he remembered was waking up.
"What did you d-...." Zeke couldn't even finish the question as burning pain spread through his head and chest. It felt like his brain had been set on fire.
"I enhanced Spirit Eyes with two more Soultraits to unleash a powerful spiritual attack," Michael answered calmly. He didn't have to go into detail. Zeke understood him right away.
"Your Spirit Eyes Soultrait...is stronger than my Eye of Illusion?" He responded, his heterochromia eyes locked onto Michael's vibrant golden eyes.
"Spirit Eyes is a Soultrait, which fused naturally from two highly compatible Soultraits. Both were 6-Star Soultraits when they fused. It's no surprise that Spirit Eyes is a little bit stronger than most 6-Star Soultraits."
Michael knew that he didn't have to explain everything, but he wanted to give Zeke some understanding of the situation and how his Eye of Illusion had been overwhelmed so easily.
However, Zeke was having a hard time comprehending what had just happened. He didn't want to acknowledge his loss, but he could instinctively tell that his Eye of Illusion was going to be useless against Michael. Even if he managed to unleash Eye of Illusion's full power, Zeke felt that Michael's Spirit Eyes would be able to see through the illusions.
'My Soultrait is useless against Michael.'
The only people strong enough to see through his superior illusions were Higher Lifeforms with highly refined minds or the stronger members of the Lavita household. It was exceedingly rare for others to be able to see through the Lavia household's illusions. Illusions were the reason how they'd grown to High Nobles.
"I want to fight you as well!" Lincoln declared suddenly.
Well, it was not that sudden. Lincoln Piedra had been waiting for this moment since he watched Michael's spar with Kaleb.
Zeke was still flabbergasted but he moved aside to make space for his childhood friend. Lincoln patted his friend's shoulder lightly to comfort him before his attention turned to Michael.
"I hope you're ready for a fierce battle!" Lincoln said while manifesting a necklace. It was a Tier-3 Artifact.
Michael hadn't seen Lincoln use the necklace artifact before, but that was probably because Lincoln advanced to Tier-3 not too long ago. He replaced his customized Epic Tier-2 Gloves with the Tier-3 Necklace Artifact.
'A Legendary Artifact?' Michael could tell that the necklace was special via Spirit Eyes. It felt like the essence of earth, or mother nature had been infused into the necklace.
"Go!"
Michael didn't hear the countdown, but he noticed that the excited smile on Lincoln's face had been replaced with seriousness. Lincoln was ready to go all out.
The Legendary Artifact around Lincoln's neck glowed brightly as the young Descendant of the Piedra family charged ahead. His two-meter-tall figure expanded, his skin was dyed brown, whereas his muscular physique seemed to improve even further.
Rocks and dirt grew rapidly out of his skin and it was only a matter of seconds before Lincoln completed his transformation into a miniature-form of the stone giants.
He could not yet unleash the full potential of his 6-Star Soultrait, Stone Giant, but Gaia's Necklace granted Lincoln more control of the Stone Giant transformation.
Lincoln roared and charged toward Michael while manifesting several Earthen Walls around him. A humongous Earthen hand conjured above Michael and crashed down to the ground where Michael had been standing a moment ago.
Lincoln expected Michael to use his Space-type Soultrait to appear next to him and execute a surprise attack, but he couldn't be more wrong.
All of a sudden, Lincoln's conjured Giant Earthen Palm met some resistance. It wasn't much, at first, but that changed quickly.
Michael used the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique right before the Earthen Palm crushed him. However, instead of unleashing the Heavenly Beast Physique while also applying Enhancement and Soul Grimoire's Soul Tears to Superior Constitution, Michael refrained himself.
He was curious whether Superior Constitution alongside the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique was going to be enough to defeat Lincoln at his strongest.
A groan escaped his lips as he used every bit of strength within him. He resisted the tremendous force of the Earthen Palm and tore it apart.
The muscles all over his body bulged as he turned around to face Lincoln in his Stone Giant form, a smile creeping up on his face.
Lincoln slowed down a little when he witnessed Michael tearing through the Earthen Palm. Michael was still surrounded by the Earthen Walls but he stood there calmly and seemingly unbothered about everything around him. Michael's smile caused Lincoln and the other spectators to feel the chills. Lincoln didn't hesitate for long. He released earthen spikes through the ground, ready to pierce Michael's calves and thighs. However, Michael didn't remain idle.
He kicked the ground and propelled his body closer to Lincoln. As the earthen spikes burst out of the ground, the corner of Michael's lip twitched. He summoned Aethyr around his hands and willed them to shape into gloves. The Aethyr within him responded instantaneously. They transformed gloves with solid knuckle caps, allowing Michael to go all out as he punched the earthen spikes one after another.
The brute force applied in his punches alongside the Aethyr Gloves was enough to shatter the earthen spikes without sustaining any injuries. Michael slowed down, but only a little. He was still faster and far more agile than Lincoln in his Stone Giant form.
The greatest advantage of Lincoln's transformation was increased control of the Earth Affinity, increased physical strength, and amplified endurance. In exchange for those gains, Lincoln's speed and dexterity suffered greatly.
Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be much of an issue for someone like Lincoln. He could slow down his enemies using his Earth Affinity.
However, Michael did not allow anyone to believe of his spar with them as 'normal'. It was anything but normal!
Michael's Spirit Eyes pinpointed the areas where earthen spikes would appear, granting him the advantage of evading them, or crushing them before they'd been fully formed.
He evaded some attacks, evaded others, and counterattacked using the Heavenly Beast Physique's boost in strength to his advantage. Michael dived through Lincoln's legs and delivered feisty blows to Lincoln's legs.
He executed various Martial Arts techniques that he'd learned from the hundreds of Memory Orbs he'd consumed up to this point and crushed the layers of rock and earth that protected Lincoln.
Lincoln was surprised, shocked even, but he reacted quickly. He twisted his body and manifested several Earthen Walls between him and Michael to spend a second or two regrowing the rock and earthen layers Michael possessed crushed.
Michael clicked his tongue when he saw through Spirit Eyes what was happening. He crushed the Earthen walls only to notice that the Soul Power amassed within the Superior Constitution Soultrait was about to be used up. Michael was a bit sad that it was already about to end and applied four layers of Enhancement to finish the battle before Heavenly Beast Physique would use the last bits of Soul Power within him.
The sudden burst in power and speed granted from Enhancement's four layers was more than enough to take Lincoln by surprise.
Michael appeared above Lincoln and kicked his huge head firmly. Lincoln reacted quickly and managed to manifest an Earthen Shield around his head even though he was surprised.
Unfortunately, the Earthen Shield was not strong enough to slow down Michael's fierce kick. The shield burst and the rocks coating Lincoln's head shattered.
Michael didn't hold back, at all. He used every bit of strength within him to kick Lincoln with as much force as possible.
Lincoln was knocked out cold.
His humongous, transformed body crashed hard onto the arena tiles.
Michael looked down at his leg and noticed with a grim smile that he was bleeding profusely.
"Looks like his defense is stronger than I expected," He chuckled lightly and waited until the Medic team of Awakened arrived to tend to Lincoln. They took care of his leg as well, saving some energy from using Archangel's Grace.
"That was…great," Lincoln stated reluctantly when he regained his senses. He looked at Michael who smiled back at him.
"Once you have a Custom Soul Technique, you will be much stronger than this."
Lincoln smiled wryly and he was about to say something when Alice Zenovia and the others appeared.
"Great. It's my turn now–..." Alice said, only for Oliver Zeus to step forward. The fire in his eyes spoke volumes as he locked eyes with Michael.
Oliver Zeus was fired up watching Michael fight three Descendants in a row.
"I want to fight you!" He said, electricity currents revolving around his upper body, "Go all out. I want to fight you at your strongest, little brat!"
**
