Michael didn't show any mercy.

He went all-out and shot across the arena like a cannonball, slicing off Niklas' sword arm with a single attack.

Michael was not only a Tier higher than Niklas, but he had multiple other means to enhance his strength further. Niklas's Tierless Artifacts and his 2-Star Martial Aura were not enough to keep up with Michael's speed, and strength.

He could only scream as Tigerfang's razor-sharp blade cut through his flesh, muscles, and bones.

Michael hadn't expected Niklas to be defeated that easily. He stared at the pitiful figure of Niklas with disgust and shook his head.

"To think that I allowed someone like you to bully me in school," Michael mumbled in a voice loud enough only for Niklas to hear before he turned to the referee.

"I think you should announce the winner and tend to his wound, otherwise, you won't be able to save his arm," He suggested in a neutral tone though his gaze was ice-cold. There was not a trace of guilt or remorse in his eyes. It was almost like he didn't feel anything right now.

"Michael Fang won the fight!"

The referee acted quickly. He called the medic team over, rushed to the arm that had been cut off cleanly, and handed it over while hoping that the leading Doctor with her 4-Star Healing Current Soultrait could heal Niklas Liekhofen, and reattach his arm.

The referee knew that he had been too slow in reacting and should have taken the necessary steps without Michael having to suggest anything to him. But then he had not expected the situation to escalate so suddenly. The earlier fights barely caused any injuries, which was why the referee was a little bit too slow. Fortunately, Michael didn't pierce Niklas' heart and merely cut off his arm.

With the advancement of technology and Soultraits that could be used for medical purposes, it was no problem to reattach limbs. Even the regrowth of lost limbs could be stimulated with the use of rare and high-ranking Soultraits.

That was also why cutting off arms and legs could be considered an ordinary injury on the battlefield. But they were not on the battlefield right now, and the Awakened were not fully trained Soldiers either. Some of them weren't even daring enough to fight their opponents seriously, fearing that they might injure them.

And that was why those young Awakened were terror-struck and staring blankly at Michael, thanking their fate that they had not been paired opposite the monster. They could not even begin to imagine what would happen to them if they were to face Michael in the arena.

The thought alone was enough to wreak havoc in their minds. Their eyes began to quiver, and their legs felt like jelly.

Meanwhile, Silverian Schild and the assistants made notes of the battle and its result.

"Looks like they came from the same school," One of the assistants mentioned. The assistant had opened the assessment forms of Michael and Niklas Liekhofen even before the battle started. He had noticed that there was some tension between the two combatants.

"Is that so?" Silverian Schild asked.

He glanced at the assessment forms of the two combatants as well and realized something.

"Graduate from the Elite Class of the Golden Sun Exlor High School. His background is very ordinary. Michael Fang…why does that name ring a bell?" Silverian murmured. He looked at Michael sharply for a few seconds, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why he felt so strangely familiar.

Only after his gaze moved to Tigerfang did he recall something, or rather someone, who was very interested in a particular Epic Artifact.

'Is that the guy she mentioned before?'

Niklas was being tended to by the Medic with the 4-Star Healing Current. A warm and soothing light engulfed Niklas' cut-off arm and the severely bleeding arm stump. The veins and muscles at the cut spot began to wiggle while Niklas began to groan in pain.

His arm felt super sensitive at the moment, and his pain intensified as the Medic put the cut-off arm back to the arm stump. The other medics used several machines to stimulate the growth of flesh and muscles, while small nanomachines were utilized to connect the severed veins, and muscles, fusing it together.

After ten minutes of hard work, Niklas' arm had been reattached. The medic team sighed in relief and returned to the small medical tent they'd constructed.

They took Niklas with them and ignored that their patient was glaring at Michael. Niklas was in pain and angry, however, he couldn't say anything to Michael, whose eyes stared into the depths of his soul.

Gone was the puny little kid who would cower before Niklas. Now, Michael stared defiantly in the young man's eyes who had bullied him in school. Instead, it was Niklas, who couldn't endure Michael's intense glare anymore. Niklas shut his mouth and disappeared in the medical tent with the medic team.

While this glaring match was in progress, the rest of the participants had gone deathly still. An eerie silence filled the arena. At one point, the other combatants stopped fighting as well. They looked over to see what happened, and a terrifying scene entered their view.

A massive amount of blood had splattered across the arena.

Upon seeing that, their faces turned pale, and their eyes widened in shock as well.

Did a monster wreak havoc next to them?

"Why did someone put these guys together?!" One of the combatants asked loud enough for everyone to hear, but nobody answered his question.The Real Combat assessment was fair and pitted Awakened of the same age against each together. The Awakened had roughly spent the same time in the Origin Expanse and could show off how far they had come in that duration.

Of course, everyone had different starting points. Some received special training for more than a decade before they turned 18, and a massive pile of resources, while others started from scratch when they first entered the Origin Expanse.

The only luck factor inside the Origin Expanse was related to the territory's location, and what Summon you would obtain from the Fortune Summoning Scroll.

However, it didn't change the fact that ordinary people would have fewer resources when they started their journey in the Origin Expanse. They lacked Artifacts, Summoning Scrolls to expand their population, and various techniques, which ordinary Awakened could not afford for themselves, and their subjects.

Ordinary Awakened would struggle in the beginning while descendants of bigger families would have a head start.

The more subjects they possessed, the stronger their Soultrait would be. Simultaneously, with more and stronger subjects, it was easier to hunt. That resulted in more energy shares from more monsters that had been hunted by their subjects.

Even if their Links of Loyalty were not firm, the massive advantage of Lords with connections and backing was not to be underestimated.

However, Michael was younger than Niklas, and he didn't have a wealthy family backing him secretly.

Yet, he had managed to overpower Niklas and crippled him with a single strike.

It seemed that a dark horse had appeared in the midst of the Real Combat assessment and that it was thirsting for blood.

While the other participants stared at him in shock, Michael left the arena calmly. He had won the first battle in the blink of an eye and showed clearly that he was not afraid of shedding blood. His gaze traveled through the large open space, taking in the terrified faces of the other combatants before his eyes landed on Silverian Schild. The Combat Instructor returned his gaze before he turned back to the arena.

The Real Combat assessment had to continue. There was no time to waste!

"Hey, sorry for bothering you, but I saw your fight and heard someone talk about you before," A skinny young man approached Michael with an amiable smile.

Niklas was the only one from his class so technically nobody was supposed to know him. However, when he saw where the skinny man was pointing, he could only frown.

'What are they doing here?'

"Is it true that you don't have a backer and that your entire strength comes from your great luck?"

**

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