Return of the Woodcutter

Black and white suns shone in the sky, bringing about an abnormal light. Grains of sand in certain locations appeared white, in others a deep grey, almost black, as if it had lost its luster. 

Behir Lamat, the moderator of the sixth floor, stood on black sand, watching from atop the canyon edge the sacred event unfold. Unaffected by the rise in temperature.

Finally, the fight between the two opponents he wanted to see was about to begin. 

He had been and still was curious about the black challenger's strength. Well, he theorized it could be due to that particular skill that made his skin glow red. Behir had noticed it before it disappeared a few moments ago, after the black challenger entered the fortress.

Thanks to his domain, the moderator could feel that this Aito Walker was an ascender, yet not entirely. 

There was that huge mana reservoir no challengers could possibly have, almost equal to that of an ascender, but fell a bit short. 

No need to state that monstrous power and those weird skills. He truly wondered who amongst the divine beings was his patreon. At first, he thought it was the goddess of pain, Brutalina. 

However, upon noticing that peculiar skill employing wind magic, he came back on his guess. Warrior mages were few and far in between. Even fewer could pretend to have as many spells as skills and be proficient in both.

Those were called Battlemages. 

Behir suspected Aito was one of the latter. A battlemage was so rare. Compared to warrior mages, they were as proficient in close-quarter combat as with magic skills. 

Certainly, the black challenger had other spells than the wind elemental one. Illusions for instance, or that hard to notice shift in weight. 

Weight Control was no simple spell. If the black challenger managed to level it up to Unique Skill tier, then it would certainly become fearsome, dreadful even. 

It looked like a simple spell at first, but it offered myriads of possibilities. Increasing the weight of one's weapon for more damage was just the tip of the iceberg. 

Behir could certainly see how that simple spell could counter all kinds of skills. Ranging from ethereal, elemental, physical, boosts, and so on. 

'I can't even fathom how powerful it'd get when he'll be able to influence living matter. Increasing the heart's weight by 50 times, for example, would be more than enough to crush it. Well, depending on whom it is used against.' 

According to the records, no one had gotten that spell before. Well, Behir could be wrong and hadn't read through all the archives. Some of them were off-limits, even to him, a level 7 a Transcendent archer class.

He currently served at Brulmär, a fortress located to the East of Iris, where ashes and burning rocks were common. With three active volcanoes in the surroundings, temperatures easily surpassed 100°C. 

In Brulmär, only a few people equaled his rank or exceeded it. 

'Oh, it's off to a bad start for the challengers,' he thought, seeing two of Lucius soldiers running headfirst with their shields towards the Khan, thinking it'd be enough to protect them from an eventual attack. 'Fools drunk on their own powers. They don't know what they're up against.' 

The Khan swung her mighty ax, cleaving their protections in one fell swoop. The challengers' upper bodies detached from their lower half. Terror filled their eyes as they touched the ground, literally in two pieces, tipping the scale of the battle in orcs' favor in terms of a numerical advantage. 

Orcs who were demolishing the walls on the outside stopped and joined their leader. All challengers in the wooden fortress focused their attention on the entrance, firing whatever projectiles they could on the Khan. 

Understanding, they absolutely had to bring that monster down. 

Wooden pikes, arrows, electric bolts, ice spears, water bullets, fireballs. The Khan covered herself using her armored arms coated with Durability. Leaving dents or scratches, those projectiles barely left a mark on her.

Soon, her soldiers joined her. Four orcs carrying shields formed a protective wall around their leader. 

Their defense was so tight, and thick that projectiles only managed to damage the shields, but not what was hiding behind them. 

'Commendable effort. Nonetheless futile,' Behir commented. It reminded him of his first fight against a level 4 Goliath. Back then, he had been only a level 3 marksman. 

That fearmonger was the most common type encountered, yet it was extremely powerful. Its bulgy muscles alone provided enough defense against physical attacks to ignore most physical skills. Behir had emptied his quiver, and even then only managed to turn it into a moving porcupine. 

It had been at that moment he truly knew fear, the same fear he could read in the challengers' eyes. Facing an army was one thing, but a strong opponent against whom no attacks worked was beyond frustrating. 

'However, it appears that one of them isn't that impressed at all,' Behir thought, his piercing eyes glued Aito that was shouting an order. 

Immediately after, the black challenger's teammates started focusing their attacks on the orc soldiers rather than the Khan. Ogoro bound an orc who was part of the shield wall using both wires and binding string.

With the help of George, he pulled the creature out of the formation, creating an opening. George then cast a water wall with a weird angle behind the orc, pushing its back, propelling the already unbalanced creature towards the challengers.

Sheyla riddle the orc with frozen arrows weakening its defenses. Ogoro finished it with a swing of his sword through the visor.

'Now this is interesting,' Behir thought, his gaze shifting from Aito's team to the others. 'While the other challengers were frozen by fear, the black challenger's teammates acted like one. As if they already knew a bit of fear. As if they trusted in him blindly. As if he is… a braver. Hum. Logically speaking, he cannot be. And yet…' 

The Khan spoke in a language even Behir could understand, only thanks to his status as moderator. She was apparently addressing the black challenger. The moderator already knew Aito could comprehend orcish, but how he had acquired the knowledge remained a mystery to him. 

"Come face me, human warrior, stop hiding behind your soldiers. I've had enough of waiting," the Khan said, gesturing for the orcs to pause their assault.

All attacks from the orcs stopped. Aito ordered the same for his teammates and other challengers that seemed unwilling to listen. But too confused and scared, they stopped nonetheless. 

The black challenger seemed to ponder his options and quickly gave instructions to his teammates before replying to the Khan. 

"Fine, let's take it outside," he said. With the Khan's consent, he advanced towards the orcs unimpeded. The creatures looked at him passing with quizzical gazes, probably due to the fact he could understand orcish and the interest the Khan had in him. 

However, being a challenger and fervent user of dirty tactics himself, Aito wasn't exactly inclined to follow the orcs' sense of honor. 

Amidst the orc soldiers, Aito rapidly brandished his ax, lengthening it, taking full advantage of this opportunity. In a sudden powerful movement, he rotated, decapitating three orc heads in one fell swoop. 

Surprised by the dishonorable act, the orcs barely had time to realize their heads dropping to the ground. 

'Now that's dirty, haha,' Behir thought, chuckling, 'but smart. There is no honor in war, after all. It's win or lose. Everything is allowed, nothing is forbidden. And that's one of the orcs' weaknesses challengers often forget to exploit.' 

The black challenger then charged at the shocked Khan, ramming into her, sending the tall female orc outside the wooden fortress's boundaries. 

Furious, the orcs tried to pursue him, but Aito's teammates, followed by the other challengers, resumed their attacks, preventing the creatures from giving him chase.

A few meters from the wooden fortifications, the orc chief spit sand, grabbing her ax tightly.

"You have no honor," the Khan proclaimed, rising to her feet, an angry expression on her face. 

"Yes, yes, I already heard that line from someone before. A certain baldie. Can you guess how he ended up?" Aito said, coating his armor and weapon in Durability. "Beaten to a pulp." 

"You talk big for a human." 

"Hum, yeah, but compared to others, I have the brawl to back it up," Aito replied, charging ax in hand.