Path to Transcendence

Darren POV

Darren didn't know how he felt about this. His style might have revolved around using his opponent's emotions to unbalance them, but he wasn't sure if it was the best strategy at the moment.

From what he had seen from the other fights, Julius had been holding back. At least, that was the feeling that his gut told him. The younger boy never fought the same way. Using a variety of styles of techniques to win.

It almost seemed like he was playing around, which was crazy considering what was at stake was a slot in the top sixteen.

No matter what Darren said to the boy just moments ago, he didn't really think the recent victories were just flukes. He had seen Julius fight and understood that he was someone who deserved some respect. He only said those things in order to rile him up and let his skill work a bit easier.

However, something was telling him that provoking the boy was a bad idea.

But Liam had also agreed that it would be better if Darren could oust more of the boy's secrets. He did notice that Liam was more curious than normal. Usually, Liam didn't care all that much about Darren's fights, but this one he paid more attention to. Which was why Darren agreed to Liam's unspoken request.

After all, of all the people still in the tournament, Darren was probably the most suited to elicit some type of reaction. Still, he didn't think it would matter all that much. It wasn't like he was expecting to lose.

Even if Julius had accomplished an already amazing result, Darren had no intention of letting the boy get any further. He would try and provoke some secrets from the boy before he ended the fight. That was the bare minimum he could do in order to satisfy his friend's curiosity.

At least, that was what he had been planning in the beginning. Darren couldn't help but feel that uneasy sensation grow deeper, the longer he fought the boy.

He had only felt this way in front of his stronger family members. Even then, it wasn't anything quite like this.

The first sign he should have been worried about was how his taunting skill and aura were unable to affect the boy. Most people would have already been affected, but the boy had some type of focus skill that protected his mental state from being altered or manipulated, something that typically only mages had in their skillset. Not even his insults had any effect on him.

The second sign he missed was the first year's ability to avoid his attacks. There was not an ounce of panic in his movements. Everything was calm and calculated. It didn't matter what Darren did. Not when he used some of his active skills to try and catch him off guard, nor when he attempted to grab his opponent in order to immobilize him. None of it worked.

However, the real moment he should have known when he made a mistake was when the boy decided to completely open up his aura to Darren's own aura and taunting skill. What was even more odd, was that it wasn't by mistake either, it was totally voluntary.

What is he doing? Why all of a sudden let my skill go through? He must have a plan, he thought to himself confusedly.

The usual reddish hue surrounded the boy's aura. This was the normal indicator that his taunting skill had worked. He had been expecting the boy to have some type of plan, but it would appear he was simply allowing Darren to use his skill on him without resistance.

His taunting caused the boy to finally stop dodging around, and with the heightened aggression his skill caused, Julius tried to meet the next blow of his axe head on.

Darren grinned at himself as he finally forced the boy to make a mistake, and with another burst of aura from his enhancement skill, he increased the strength behind the next blow, intending to end the fight then and there.

He internally apologized to Liam for not learning more about the boy's skillset. Darren hadn't even managed to get the boy to use the long-range attack that he had used to beat Bethany earlier. But he wasn't going to take any chances. The opportunity to get in the top sixteenth was too enticing to risk.

So, with a brutal downward strike, he smashed his axe toward the first year.

However, instead of blowing through the boy's defenses and activating the safeguard enchantments, it felt like he slammed into a wall of steel. A large shockwave rang out from their collision, and when the dust cleared, Darren was alarmed when he saw the boy holding the very edge of the sharp axe with a single hand covered in blue mana.

But what unnerved Darren even more was the psychotic grin on the boy's face. This was worrying because his skill was supposed to induce rage and anger. But in this case, it seemed like he had induced excitement instead. If it wasn't for the glowing red eyes, he might have believed his taunting skill failed.

He gulped harshly as he stared directly into a face that had a faint red glint in its eyes and a toothy smile. He was nervous because the boy grasped tightly onto the blade of the axe with just his hand.

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No matter how hard Darren tried to pull away, he wasn't able to. It was like the axe was stuck to the boy's hand.

Realizing that he had to do something, he slammed a front kick at Julius's chest.

However, once again, the boy didn't try and dodge it. Nope, he merely stood there as Darren's foot crashed into the sternum of his chest with a loud boom. And yet, nothing happened. It was like kicking a mountain.

Darren swallowed anxiously once more as the boy continued to grin at him with that manic smile, and before he could step away, all he saw was a blur of motion. He didn't even see the fist that buried into his chest with unfathomable powerful force.

He was launched right off his feet, flying backward across the stone floor. That single punch almost shattered his aura barrier in a single strike. He got up immediately, but when he looked up, he didn't see the boy anywhere near him.

Swinging his head around nervously, he wasn't able to see the boy until he appeared right under his nose, and another punch completely shattered the remaining vestiges of his defenses, sending him rolling off onto the floor once again.

Some of the bracelet's enchantments activated, and he lost feeling in his chest, signaling that he had received significant damage. This was extremely worrying because if there was one thing Darren was confident about, it was his ability to take a hit.

It was the reason he was a tank for his delving team, yet he found himself almost being taken out in two strikes.

Before it could get any worse, he activated his berserk skill and felt a surge of powerful aura and mana flow through his body. He had no more thoughts about taking it easy or luring out secret skills; it was an all-out fight to survive.

With the berserk skill activated, he had become almost twice as strong and much faster. The only real downside was the punishment after he deactivated the skill. He would experience a large cooldown and period of weakness, which would make him unable to fight.

But in a tournament setting like this, it was actually quite powerful since he didn't have to worry about those side effects. He would only be fighting a single opponent anyway.

With this boost, he was finally able to perceive the next incoming attack and threw up a large barrier around his arm as he tried to block it. A fist blasted into it, and for a moment, he thought it was going to shatter right through it like it had previously.

Thankfully, it held, and he was able to retaliate with an attack that only hit the air.

He preemptively activated his protective skill once more, expecting another attack, but was surprised when he saw the boy pull back and look at him with that same eerie smile.

Darren saw the boy nodding to himself, and before he could question what he was doing, the boy walked over to where Darren's axe was lying and picked it up.

He needed that axe. A lot of his skills revolved around him using a weapon to enhance the power of his strikes. If it weren't a tournament, he would have already summoned his backup weapon from his ring, but he wasn't able to do that here.

The boy looked at him with that manic grin, and Darren saw his red eyes flash before he tossed the axe right at Darren with a single arm.

Darren snatched the axe out of the air with a hesitant expression on his face. The boy had just willingly given him his weapon back for no reason.

What the hell is happening right now? Did he really just give me back my weapon? He thought to himself, genuinely baffled at the events occurring.

However, he wasn't about to look the horse's gift in the mouth and gladly took the axe. But with a bit of uncertainty, not sure if there was some type of trap put on the axe. The last thing he would want was to use it only to find out that it would explode in his hands.

Despite his worries, he still decided to use the offered weapon. Based on the look and the boy's attitude, Darren doubted that it was trapped. It simply just looked like his opponent wanted to have an honorable fight with Darren—something very admirable in Darren's opinion.

Once he readied himself, it was Julius, this time, who made the first move. In a flash of movement, he appeared right to the side of Darren, slinging a fist into his gut. Darren thankfully reacted quickly enough and managed to choke up on the shaft of his axe to block the punch with the blade.

Alarmingly, this didn't seem to deter the boy, and the fist met the blade with a loud boom. He tried to block the next strike, but he was a little too slow and took a hard hit to the knee.

He followed this up with a wide slash, trying to force the boy to back up and give him some space to work with. But instead of dodging, the boy stepped forward and slammed his elbow onto the shaft of the axe, staggering Darren backward.

Before he could react, a spinning elbow caught him right on the chin, dazing him even further.

Then, he was swarmed by small but quick blows. His opponent was no longer focusing on powerful punches but on ensuring that Darren couldn't find his balance. He said it was small blows, but in all honesty, it still felt like a sledgehammer smashing into him.

Every attack was focused on something annoying. One moment, it was a kick that took out his knee, and the next, a punch to his wrist, which almost caused him to lose his grip on his axe.

His berserk skill desperately tried to keep up with the onslaught of blows, but even with the skill, Darren found himself too slow and too weak to put up any defense. He did his best to parry as many attacks with his axe, but he was slowly being pushed into a corner in a display of total dominance. He couldn't help but wonder if the boy had activated a berserk skill of his own. That was the only logical way the boy was outclassing him so overwhelmingly.

There was still that frustrating psychotic grin on the boy's face as he systematically ripped Darren apart, and it was somewhat of a blessing when the boy finally smashed a powerful kick at his head.

Darren hazily felt himself flying through the air and smashing into the walls of the barrier containing the field in a deafening boom. Fortunately, the safeguard enchantments activated and saved him from actually being hurt. He imagined that if he took that without the bracelet, he might be little more than a splatter of flesh on the barrier's surface.

He gingerly peeled himself off the ground. While he hadn't sustained any real damage to his body, his mind was still in recovery. He still couldn't wrap his head around what had just happened.

But he was certain of one thing. He was naive in believing he ever stood a chance against this first-year. He was a monster who only looked human on the outside.