Jackpot

As Emery saw the name of his opponent, he could not help but feel he had finally pulled the Jackpot. He would be facing what others said was the strongest acolytes. The boy who was bestowed with Dragon Bloodline, Zach Talon.

From the information Emery got from Silva, he found out there had not been that many half-bloods, who had Dragon Bloodline for a while. Silva believed Zach's abilities were not at the same level with all the other acolytes, even when compared to those privileged class acolytes.

In short, he was ultimately the strongest acolyte of his year and the only reason the boy was not in the privileged class was mainly because of his bloodline and the bias brought by it.

Since Emery was going to fight against the famous dragon boy, he could tell that hundreds of thousands of spectators' eyes did not look to another arena. The situation was as if there was only one arena that existed at the moment. For this round, everyone was focused on their match, without exception.

The crowd cheered loudly, because they were going to have a good match at the start of the second day. It was like the moment when someone knew they would be served with the most exceptional appetizer.

Emery immediately walked towards the arena, where a young man with brown hair and muscular body was standing. As he walked up to the arena, Emery didn't forget to observe the young man standing across him.

Looking at the gait and demeanor the young man exuded, Emery was truly impressed. There was only one word to describe the figure in front of him.

Confident.

On the other hand, Emery's opponent, Zach, was staring at him without any kind of emotion. Unexpectedly, the dragon boy opened his mouth and said something to Emery.

"You wish to fight?"

A sentence which would be laughed upon when uttered by anyone else, but when Zach was the one who said that, it strangely appeared appropriate.

Emery felt a kind of pressure when he heard those words, as if there was a formless mountain weighing down on his back. However, there was no way for Emery to choose defeat without a fight.

"Yes. Let's fight!"

Still without any emotions, Zach replied, "Good." He then took out a large sword twice the size of a normal sword before stabbing it in the ground in front of him. "Let me see what you got."

Zach didn't move, he just stood still with his hands on the sword stuck in the ground in front of him. Even so, he was still exuding such a powerful aura, Emery felt as if he was currently standing in front of a massive sierra.

He obviously decided to give the first move to Emery. Therefore, Emery would not miss his opportunity and immediately made his move.

Emery was sure his tier 3 spell [Enfeeble Blade] would not bring any effect to him. Hence, he would try to fight against Zach using his swords. Emery immediately took out his tier 3 Reunite Sword and casted [Dark Infusion] on the sword, as the familiar black-colored substances swiftly encompassed the blade of the sword.

The combination of tier 3 sword and the spell would result in at least twofold the power that a single [Enfeeble Blade] exhibited.

Next, Emery activated his battle art technique [Immortal Gate - Stage 3]. Faint layer of energy rapidly engulfed Emery's entire body, as his battle power was increasing.

The reason Emery was so confident to fight in close combat, his source of certainty, was because of the new spell. Emery concentrated upon the three elements within him as he casted his spell [Jade Skin].

In an instant, Emery's whole body was gleaming with deep-green crystals.

With all his self enhancement preparations completed, Emery casted [Shadow Mist] as the last touch in the plan. Right away, the arena swiftly shrouded with darkish mist, as mirror images of Emery began to appear in it.

Immediately after, Emery dashed towards Zach together with his five illusionary figures. Unexpectedly, Zach still didn't budge, as he watched Emery do all of this.

Six identical figures from different directions began to swing their swords, as they struck the still standing Zach.

If it was any normal acolyte, Emery was sure they would not be able to differentiate which one was the real him and could only take his slash. Unfortunately, this was not the case right now.

*swish*

CLANK!

Zach raised his hand and managed to block the slash delivered by the real Emery. However, the thing that shocked Emery to his core was that Zach took the deadly swing, that could easily decapitate someone, with his bare hand calmly.

Even though surprised, Emery didn't let the shock last long, as he swiftly launched another attack. However, before Emery could move on his second attack, Zach used his other free hand to grab the huge sword stuck on the ground with speed before swinging it towards Emery.

The sequence of actions was so fast Emery didn't even have the chance to cast his [Blink] spell.

BAMMMM!!!

An explosive sound resounded through the Grand Hall, as Zach used the flat side of the sword to smash at Emery. As a result, Emery was thrown dozens of meters away and coughed a little blood upon landing.

Emery felt his head spun a little the moment the powerful smash with unimaginable strength struck his body. If it wasn't because of the [Jade Skin] spell, which covered his entire body, he may have been knocked unconscious.

As he lay there on the ground, Emery's thought ran quickly, as he could not believe the guy could that easily catch his real body amidst the mirror images. Moreover, the strength and speed Zach showed were causing Emery an extreme headache.

Not giving up, Emery decided to add the [Shadow Root Binding ] spell to the action.

5 shadow roots and 5 shadow figures were swirling all around Zach, attacking the dragon acolyte altogether. Zach clearly was not willing to let the roots have any chance to catch him, as he held his sword and began slashing any root coming towards him.

Meanwhile, Emery was hiding himself behind all the things happening in the arena, as he waited for the opportunity to send a decisive strike. He concentrated his mind on the [Dark Infusion] spell on the sword, as he prepared to teleport over and launched a deadly sneak attack.

Alas, when Emery was about to blink over, Zack suddenly defied all expectation and decided to ignore all the shadow figures, dashing towards his direction at breakneck speed.

"!!!"

The moment Emery blinked his eyes, a huge sword already descending right at him.

*swish*

BAM!

A loud explosion occurred, as the sword hit the ground, creating a small crater in the arena. Fortunately, Emery managed to cast [Blink] at the last moment. Hence, he was pretty much unharmed.

However, even though he had already teleported away and dodged the attack, Emery continued to retreat several meters away from Zack, while an incredulous expression appeared on his face. Emery couldn't believe how fast Zack moved, if he was just one second slower, he would have probably been split in half.

Zack slowly turned his body around as he faced Emery, while bringing his sword up to his shoulder. From the look on his face, Emery believed Zack was only warming up and was still not serious yet.

"I will tell you this… your illusion won't work on me."

The moment he heard that, Emery realized there was a golden glow on Zack's eyes. It probably some sort of skill that made him see through illusions or track his whereabouts.

Extraordinary speed, exceptional strength and a mighty body that could block Emery's strongest sword attack using just one hand. This guy was definitely a monster.

With his two most reliable spells: [Shadow Mist] and [Shadow Root Binding] practically useless against Zack, Emery had no other option other than using his transformation.

This was not the time to worry about what was ideal to show to the audiences and the grand magus. If he didn't transform right now, there won't be anything to show at all.

Emery made his decision and immediately carried it out.

[Fey Transformation - First Stage]