After thinking about the incoming match for a long time, Erik stopped being delusional about his win. He clearly accepted that victory against Nathaniel was impossible at his current strength. That if he couldn't use all his powers.
However, the fact that his friends didn't have a shred of confidence in him greatly upset the young man. That made Erik think, was it better to have friends that tried to cheer him up and believed in him regardless of the situation or friends who told him the truth regardless of how bad it was?
The young man was still too much socially inexperienced to understand or simply decide what he liked more. However, he was slightly disappointed by Amber, Floyd, and Gwen.
"Erik, do remember this, Nathaniel has the weird habit of toying with his opponents," said Floyd as they sat together in front of the ring. "He's always doing something unnecessarily violent and only cares about winning. Be careful out there because he will probably try to make you suffer!"
"Yes, don't worry..." Erik replied.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE NEXT MATCH IS GOING TO START SOON. THIS FIGHT CONTESTANTS WILL BE ERIK ROMANO AND NATHANIEL MC CONEL! A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE TWO FIGHTERS!" the referee said.
Erik walked toward the ring with heavy steps. He was really nervous and anxious. His mind tried to race over every possible scenario this fight could take.
What would happen once he was face to face with Nathaniel? Would he even be able to resist ten minutes? Could he even land a hit on him?
Erik had already decided not to quit and actually give his all during this match, but he had to admit that all his friends said about the young man scared him a little bit.
But the problem was if he didn't try now, that would already be a loss. If he really planned to escape the nation, sooner or later, he needed to steel his resolve. He needed to be strong enough to pull this off.
He had to start facing opponents he wasn't confident about winning against. After all, once outside of the city, it was the law of the jungle, and every fight he was going to partake in would be a fight to the death against thaids.
"Good luck, Erik," Amber said to her friend from the side of the ring. "Remember what I taught you during our sparrings: keep your guard up and move forward," she added.
Gwen nodded encouragingly while Floyd gave Erik an enthusiastic smile.
Erik nodded, trying hard to keep his composure. As soon as he stepped into the ring, the first thing he did was look around to see where Nathaniel was standing. The young man arrived in the middle of the ring shortly after.
"AS USUAL, BOYS, NO LETHAL MOVES, OR YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED!" The referee eyed both Nathaniel and Erik since they were the ones that used the most dangerous moves out of all the tournament participants.
"Your mom will not be able to recognize you once I am done with you... OH SORRY! YOU DON'T HAVE A MOTHER!" Nathaniel mockingly said.
Erik's rage surged inside him, but he tried to fight it with all his strength since he knew that an unstable state of mind was much more dangerous than a strong opponent.
<Analysis,> Erik said in his mind, and the usual screen appeared in front of him.
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- Name: Nathaniel Mc Conel.
- Brain crystal power: Force manipulation (UNIQUE)
-Race: Human.
-Physical characteristics: Approximately 1.70 centimeters tall. Very muscular. Estimated weight 95 kilograms.
-Personality and traits: Nathaniel Mc Conel is a very prideful individual with violent tendencies. According to the rumors, he beat up many opponents during past matches and isn't a stranger to bullying. Floyd describes him as a very violent individual who likes to toy with his opponents and make them suffer. Many people highly evaluated his power, and his teachers declared him a battle genius.
-Approximate level: 78
-Approximate Strength: 23
-Approximate Intelligence: 12
-Approximate Dexterity: 19
-Approximate Energy: 672
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<WHAT THE HELL?> Erik thought. On his face was plastered a look of incredulity. He was already aware that Nathaniel had a B-ranked brain crystal on the Ferebitz scale.
Still, since he never fought against people on this level, since they were also very rare, he didn't actually know the range of energy such people possessed.
Nathaniel had 672 energy points. That was the highest amount of energy Erik had ever seen, and the system estimated his level to be around level 78.
The highest leveled creature he ever faced was the Leylarhad, which was at level 21, but Nathaniel was 57 levels higher.
Now, Erik was aware of how the system estimated a creature's level. It used a complicated formula that was based on the amount of Energy, Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence the creature possessed.
It was clear that the higher the amount of energy, and clearly of mana, the individual had and the higher his or her level was, but physical stats also played an important role.
Mana was not everything. From Nathaniel's stats, it was clear that he wasn't superhuman and still was an RHO3-ranked individual on the Idor scale. Yet, his strength was on par with the Leylarhad cub and the Criculs.
Erik's strength and dexterity were still manageable since Nathaniel wasn't much stronger than him. Besides, the awakener actually had a point more than Nathaniel in dexterity. Still, he lacked four points in strength, meaning that his opponent was stronger and faster than him.
Yet, his absurd amount of mana was the real problem, and it meant two things: first, Nathaniel could use his power for a long amount of time, and second his power was bound to be very strong in terms of destructive power.
Being low ranked on the Idor scale meant that the mana expenditures were still relatively high. Still, with all that mana, Nathaniel could already fight for long periods. He was actually able to fight against high-ranked individuals with ease.
Erik's opponent observed the look of pure horror in his eyes and made an evil grin. Then, the referee went to the middle of the ring, standing in front of the two opponents. He started counting down from sixty. The fight was going to begin in a minute.
"3...2...1... FIGHT!" the referee said, and then the bell rang.
Nathaniel immediately dashed at Erik while the young man channeled mana throughout his body. Erik knew that if he sharpened his arms, at least he would prevent Nathaniel from attacking melee. However, that wouldn't stop his power. But at least it was better than nothing.
As soon as Nathaniel was in front of Erik, he unleashed a barrage of punches that Erik evaded with difficulty.
The young man kept dodging the attacks until he reached one side of the ring. Nathaniel managed to push him with his back on a wall in not even a minute!
The force user punched hard, but Erik parried with his arms this time. Nathaniel could stop his momentum before his fist clashed with Erik's mana, avoiding a bad injury. It did look like Erik wasn't as inept at fighting as he did believe.
However, Nathaniel knew that wasn't enough to stop him. He retreated several steps and started channeling mana. Erik could sense the sheer amount the young man was able to control and was horrified. Soon after, Nathaniel's fists were surrounded by energy. While looking at his opponent, he suddenly said, "You are done for plant hugger!"
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