Earth's Greatest Magus

Wielding a hammer in one hand and a square shield in the other, a brown-haired young man hailing from the lower realm fought his opponent – a privileged acolyte – in a manner that stunned the audience.

He was only known by the crowd as one of the friends of the famous Savage Acolyte. However, unlike the exciting battles of the wolf half-blood who fought passionately through his sheer power, this particular young man was sort of boring to watch.

He fought cautiously, or rather, steadily. The particular fighting style that this young man had adopted slowly but surely suffocated his opponent with its methodical approach, leaving no room or opportunity whatsoever.

A block by a shield, which instantly followed by an attack that didn't pack much impact to his opponent but never put himself in risk as well. It seemed simple and looked boring, but such fighting style was effective in the hand of the young man.

The fight went on like this for so long that the audience got so bored they didn't really pay much interest to the fight anymore. It was only when the referee announced the name of the winner did their attention return to the arena.

...

"Julian Kaesar wins!"

After winning his third bout which raised his ranking to 78th place, Julian finally caught the audience's attention again. Mutters and discussions about him began to spread among those present in the arena.

"That's the top 5 ranking guy from the second game, isn't he?"

"You're right. But I heard that he's a strategist, not much of a fighter; so I'm quite surprised by his performance."

Oblivious to the debate over his peculiar performance, Julian gestured to the referee to continue his fourth duel of the day. This time, the person walking up to the arena was a face he was familiar with, a fellow comrade during the mid-test.

The 70th ranked, Reyne.

Stopping in her tracks a few meters away from the Roman, Reyne smiled at the latter.

"I can see you've improved, but make no mistake thinking you can win against me."

Reyne was a bow user that depended on her rune arrows, and thanks to their cooperation in the past Julian felt quite confident fighting her since he knew her skills and kit pretty well. Hence the Roman played the battle with the utmost care, watching his steps cautiously and dodging all the arrows shot in his direction.

After a few minutes, Reyne was surprised when she realized she had been led to a corner by Julian. Apparently, all his movements – the blocks, dodges, and counterattacks – were carefully planned out in order to bring her in her current disadvantageous position.

"You got me, Julian. But I won't be defeated so easily!"

[Shield Bash]

Feeling there was something within his opponent's words, Julian immediately used his skill as a way to throw himself close while also blocking Reyne's last few arrows.

KABOOM!!

A deafening sound ensued as an explosion occurred in the arena. To the surprise of the audience, Reyne had shot powerful explosive arrows that could potentially deal critical damage to her opponent.

But what surprised them, even more, was the fact that the Roman appeared to be unharmed. Instead of being injured or knocked back by the explosion, the young man managed to close in on the archer girl.

"Not yet!!" Reyne shouted.

Just as Julian's shield was about to hit the girl and knock her out, it was stopped by something. Various reactions emerged from the audience when they saw that the girl still had a trick up her sleeve.

Julian's eyebrows rose slightly seeing the bow she used had transformed entirely, now taking the form of a long spear. Grasping the shaft of her weapon, Reyne stopped his shield that was about to strike her body.

Immediately after, the tip of the spear spun and shot towards the opening the Roman had.

Alas, Julian responded swiftly by putting his hammer on the trajectory of the spear. Sparks appeared as the two weapons clashed. The former eyed the latter, surprised by the fact that she was unexpectedly good in close combat.

"What a surprise, Reyne!" Julian said with an excited laugh.

The two fought fiercely and the audience was free to compare their respective skills. At first glance, most of the audience thought that Reyne would win as the spear which possessed much more flexibility and reach should have won the confrontation between the two weapons.

However, things didn't exactly go as expected.

A few minutes into their fight, Reyne thrust her spear forward when she saw an opening in Julian's defense. But instead of stopping the attack by positioning his hammer or shield, the Roman raised his hammer high in the air and dropped it onto the spear.

The spear's path changed, shooting downwards. As a result, the spear and hammer were embedded in the arena floor, with the latter being above the former. Then, the Roman let go of his hammer.

With his opponent's weapon disabled by his own, Julian's right hand reached for the back of his shield and pulled out a golden short sword hidden there. Without further ado, he ran the weapon along the shaft of Reyne's spear, wounding her hands, until the sword eventually touched her neck.

Unbothered by the cold metallic feeling on her skin, the archer girl stared at Roman saying,

"What a move, Julian. One I didn't expect."

Facing his opponent's compliment, Julian calmly said, "Yes.. unfortunately for you, I have a past grudge against spears."

"Julian Kaesar wins!"

By this point, Julian had won a total of four fights, and when he did so with almost no injury, people finally began to pay attention to him. His name reverberated throughout the arena as people began shouting loudly.

Klea who was sitting among these people understood very well how much Julian had really changed. In fact, in her eyes everything about him had transformed; his movements, his strength, his tactics.

She also knew that the Roman hadn't used any spell or even the basic [Immortal Gate] to defeat his opponents so far.

It was apparent that the trip to the Nephilim domain had brought massive changes to Julian.

"What happened to you there?" She muttered under her breath as she stared at the figure standing in the arena.

At this moment, a figure came approaching her. A familiar young man with golden hair.

"I have seen the potential of that guy ever since last year. But I guess only a Grade 5 faction like Nephilim could turn raw metal into gold in mere four months."

The young man was the Harlight Prince Roran, and looking at his expression, it was apparent that he was regretful by the notion of being unable to completely lure Julian to join his faction when he had the chance.

Klea turned her head to him and asked, "Do you know how he can be that strong this fast, Roran?"

Hearing that, Roran gave a slight chuckle as he said, "Yes I know.. But as courtesy of a friend, I will let him tell you himself."

In the meantime, the Roman continued his fight and won his fifth and sixth duels beautifully. His deed of winning six times in a row was certainly enough to bring most, if not all, of the crowds to cheer for him.

"One more!! One more!!"

Julian casually raised his hand and gave a sign that he would not disappoint, which sparked an enthusiastic and lively response from the audience. His next opponent quickly walked up to the arena, and it was another familiar face. One too familiar, in fact.

"Next fight! Rank 50... Armand Nephilim!"

The Nephilim walked to the arena with a condescending look on his face. Staring at the Roman, he said, "You are new to the faction, so I will take it easy and will not hurt you too badly."

Julian, however, responded to such words with a chuckle before saying, "Hahaha, unfortunately, You are the main reason why I am here today."