Chapter 1060 Upgrade
The fight between Atlas against Zetto began swiftly.
"ARGHHH!!"
The Titan bloodline possessor whose body was twice as large as Atlas raised the two battle axes in his hands into the air and shouted a battle cry before charging forward, creating a powerful tremor that shook the arena.
Seeing such a move from Zetto, Emery noticed Atlas' feet seemed to be slightly opened up before a bright light appeared. What followed right after was the sight of the half-machine acolyte disappearing, as he dodged the Titan's charge with lightning-like speed.
His opponent of course wouldn't let him escape so easily.
Knowing his initial attack missed, Zetto swiftly used his technique to chase after the half-machine acolyte. A stomp on the arena floor, and his figure shot towards where the latter reappeared.
Atlas however was able to escape the follow-up attacks, quite easily in fact. The Titan didn't manage to touch, much less injure him. The half-machine acolyte clearly displayed his superiority in speed over his opponent.
After knowing his opponent's speed was inferior to his, Atlas finally started his assault. He began firing destructive energy orbs from his palms continuously. Almost all of the orbs hit, forcing the titan to use his special battle arts.
[Berserker Fury]
Wisps of smoke came out of the Titan's body as he unleashed his inner fury. Brandishing the two battle axes, his form streaked across the arena and appeared right before his opponent. Atlas felt his vision darken as a huge ax descended upon him with such force that it cleaved through the air.
If that wasn't bad enough, his calculations told him that he wouldn't be able to escape this attack with speed alone. Rather, he couldn't escape even if he wanted to because it was already too late.
Atlas quickly fortified his footing and raised both his hands up in a parry motion. At the same time, a certain part of both his elbows was slightly opened up and the same bright light that his legs had emitted earlier appeared. The next second, the ax strike connected.
CLLANKKKK!!!
Shockingly, Atlas managed to block Zetto's powerful attack with the high-tier metal that built within his arm. He was even able to push the ax back.
Taking advantage of the opening he had created, Atlas swiftly dashed in and threw a punch with powerful force.
BOOM!!!
The Titan's feet skidded across the ground as he was pushed back a few steps.
Emery was impressed by how Atlas managed to receive and also deliver such a blow as he knew personally how powerful Titan's attacks were.
Annara who sat next to him opened her mouth when she saw his expression. "Impressed, aren't you? Atlas has done a few more upgrades to his body since midtest"
She explained how Atlas spent all the contribution points he had on upgrading his body with Tier 5 metals. The half-machine acolyte also managed to integrate his core into his elbows and legs more efficiently, allowing his lightning and fire element to provide a powerful boost to his hand-to-hand combat, not just ranged attacks.
Klea joined the conversation by saying, "It must have been a painful and gruesome upgrade."
Annara nodded slightly, then looked towards Emery and said, "It's all because of you, you know."
Emery was taken aback by those unexpected words. He was at a loss for words for a moment before asking why.
"Do you really not know or pretend to not know? You, a lower realm nobody, able to rise to where you are now.." Turning her eyes to the arena, the red-haired girl continued, "It… inspired him."
Upon hearing that, Diyoo chuckled. "Hahaha.. Sounds like a familiar story," laughing at Annara.
"Shut up you Dyoo!" The red-haired girl cursed.
On the other hand, Klea was smiling and said, "I know that feeling.." Glancing at the stunned Emery, she continued, "He does have that kind of influence on people."
The fight lasted for another hour, causing everyone who knew Atlas to be surprised. They came expecting that the half-machine acolyte would use his usual tactic of long-range attack while taking advantage of his agility.
However, Atlas chose to exclusively fight in close combat. While doing so, he also demonstrated what could only be described as a true integration between technology and magic.
Facing the ingenuity of the half-machine acolyte, the Titan bloodline finally admit defeat.
"Atlas won!'
Emery as well as the people in the arena cheered for Atlas' victory over Zeeto.
However, it seemed that Atlas had not finished yet as he was still standing in the arena. Apparently, he came prepared as one figure was ready to challenge him next and it was someone Emery knew well. The child-looking acolyte, Arcana.
Stepping to the arena, Arcana wore his haughty expression like always. Especially when he saw Atlas' current condition, which could be said to be heavily damaged from all of the Titan's attacks earlier.
Atlas was given a ten-minute break by the referee, but he didn't seem interested in prolonging his stay here as he quickly signaled to start the fight. After confirming once again to the half-machine acolyte, the referee immediately announced the start of the duel.
The duel between the two was unexpectedly a short one, as Arcana's strongest weapon [Eye of Mistra] couldn't affect Atlas' mind. His computerized brain possessed major, if not absolute, resistance to mind-type attacks. This fact quickly made Arcana lose his arrogant expression and turn pale, and in the end he lost his Rank 10 to the half-machine acolyte.
The crowd cheered again as they saw a new name on the top 10 ranking, Atlas III.
Atlas, however, didn't immediately leave after the referee announced his win. He was still standing in the arena. His glance focused on a figure that was currently sitting in the corner of the arena. A certain golden-haired young man. Eeshoo Nephilim.
There was an unspoken message when the two eyes met. After that, Atlas turned around and walked out of the arena. Returning to where Emery and the others were, he sat on the seat behind Emery and whispered, "You are next."
Emery smiled and said calmly, "Chase me up then," before standing up from his seat.
Annara quickly turn excited "Aaa, you are fighting too! We got another interesting show to see!"
On cue, the referee called Emery's name. Then, his opponent's name was also called.
[Rank 8 - Tyler Haze]
The man who arrived at the arena and stood before him had long white hair, a thin body, and pale skin, making him look more like a girl than a boy. However, the gaze he gave was sharp like a dagger.
"Fight starts!"
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Authors note:
I find tech and magic concepts to be interesting, for that, I wrote another spinoff of the Magus Universe about this. I did not plan to publish it yet and focus on the Apocalypse game instead. But if you are interested to be Beta readers, I publish the story on my p.a.t.r.e.o.n . check access link on www.avans.xyz its called "Rise of the Mecha Magus"