[STT] Chapter 60: Spar With a Tier ? (Patreon)

Staring up at Cassian, Ben instantly regretted every single life choice he had made in the last hour. So basically, Ethan's brilliant master plan to go against the nobles had already hit a massive snag.

Protecting giant monsters from a horde of arrogant, strong kids was already going to be hard enough, helping those same monsters invade the barrier in the hope that what Ethan thought was correct was completely idiotic.

But then again, he did trust the guy.

He hadn't known Ethan for long, but he trusted him. He'd been nothing but honest and trusting to Ben after all. And Alice seemed to hold his opinion in high regard, too, so there was that.

But… Ben was actually expected to fight this guy?

This is a terrible idea.

Indeed, it was.

He should have never agreed to Ethan's suicidal scheme in the first place. And now he had to survive a spar, or more like beating, from a certified battle junkie just to get him to join them. Well, at least the guy was insane enough to not question it and would join.

Ben just had to give him a satisfying spar, and he intended to do nothing less.

"Are you serious?" Ben asked Cassian.

"Very."

Taking a few steps back to give himself a more advantageous position, Ben looked over his shoulder at his so-called friends and caught Ethan and Alice stepping away to give them room.

They were friends, right?

Traitors. The both of them. They threw him under the bus so easily.

He would have his revenge.

"Fine."

Ben pulled out the staff from his holding bag, gripping it tightly.

Not gonna lie…

Twirling the wooden staff in his hands, Ben dropped into a defensive stance.

I'm kind of looking forward to this spar.

At some point, a grin had spread over his face.

Seeing him get ready, Cassian let out a laugh and raised his bare fists like he was preparing to crush a bug.

"Don't hold back, Benjamin!"

Lunging forward, Cassian seemed to disappear from his spot.

So fast!

He closed the distance between them in a blink and Ben barely had time to react before a fist came swinging directly at his face.

Ducking under it, Ben swept his staff at the giant's kneecaps with everything he had.

Ignoring the strike completely, Cassian grinned wider and threw a backhand. Ben threw his staff up to block, bracing himself for the impact.

The blunt force of the blow sent him skidding backward through the dirt, his arms vibrating from the shock.

Ben quickly realized trying to trade physical blows with a walking tank was completely pointless. He just hadn't been ready for that speed, but now that he'd gained some distance again, Ben was ready.

Tapping into his mana, Ben channeled his energy directly into the wooden staff, preparing to blast the giant in the face. If Cassian wanted a fight, he was going to get a very unfair one.

Pointing his staff at the giant, Ben fired a [Mana Cannon] right into Cassian's grinning face. Crossing his thick forearms in front of him, he took the blast head on and skidded backward through the dirt, digging through it much like Ben had.

Smoke rolled off his arms. They lingered for a moment, staring at each other. Then, tentatively, Cassian lowered his smoking arms and stared at the undamaged skin. And then he threw his head back and laughed.

"Now this is an actual real fight!"

Ben instantly dropped his casual attitude and got serious. Sure, that blast had just been a quick test shot without much power behind it. But for the guy to take absolutely zero damage?

Just what is his skin made of?

Tapping into his combat instincts honed by [Warforged], Ben did the smart thing and went for altitude. A quick [Fire Burst] launched him high into the sky. Being airborne gave him the perfect angles against a grounded tank who couldn't fight back.

But hanging in the air was actually the wrong move on two different counts. First of all, kiting a melee fighter drained the spar of the exact entertainment value Cassian had demanded. Watching the giant's excited grin rapidly fade away proved that point perfectly.

And second, a very unwanted memory suddenly rose unbidden in the back of Ben's mind. He could clearly hear Theodore's condescending voice from the stairway, calling him disappointing.

I really hate that guy.

Stomping a foot into the dirt, the giant kicked a massive chunk of jagged rock straight out of the ground using some kind of skill.

Jumping up into the air, Cassian grabbed the boulder, and twisting his upper body, the battle junkie hurled the rock right at Ben's face.

It exploded forward, whipping past his head.

Ben was startled.

Cassian could've landed that, but he hadn't.

…and that speed.

Making a stupid, stubborn choice, Ben killed his upward momentum and dropped like a rock. Crashing back down into the dirt right in front of the grinning giant, he decided it was extremely dumb to fight a melee fighter.

Especially since he had nothing in any path other than mana. He only had the natural enhancement to his body advancing to Tier 1 gave him, and some skills to help his physicality.

And throwing up [Warforged] to empower his muscles, he whipped his staff in a tight arc. Winning was never actually on the table, so he was going to fight the tank in a phone booth and make this interesting.

A [Mana Cannon] slammed directly into Cassian's chest, but he just shoved his way through the cannon with a grin and swung a fist at him. Splitting his mind to handle everything, Ben used [Focus] to read Cassian like an open book while he kept most of his skills working in the meantime.

Even with all this, [Focus] still had room to do things, making him wonder if he'd been utilizing it properly at all. So he decided to experiment with it later.

He twisted his torso just enough to let the knuckles graze his side. Using [Mana Sonar] to track Cassian's blind spots, Ben thrust his staff toward the throat with a [Mana Cannon] loaded. They had Sera on stand by anyway if things got rough.

And he doubted this would be effective against Cassian even hitting such a vital spot.

But fighting in close quarters was entirely Cassian's forte, and before he knew it, Cassian had swatted the staff aside, and stepped right into Ben's guard, smashing a knee into him.

Blocking with the shaft of his staff, Ben was sent sliding backward across the ground with his arms completely numb from the rattle that had vibrated through the staff.

All the while, he kept the [Mana Cannon] loaded up thanks to [Focus].

So his dodges and parries were technically flawless, but it just wasn't enough against Cassian's overwhelming physical might. To the point he wondered just how much essence this guy had poured into the Strength path.

After all, every essence path other than mana had pretty huge effects especially at the start. Mana by comparison was more exponential, even if it started slow.

Still, taking glancing blows one after another, he was slowly being pushed to the back foot by Cassian. It was fun, and frustrating at the same time even though he knew Cassian was far stronger than him.

His [Regeneration] was burning through his mana reserves like a wildfire and his [Healing Mark] was still completely torn apart from fighting earlier today.

Pouring [Mana Manipulation] into his limbs, Ben reinforced his body to survive another sweeping kick that nearly took his legs off.

This sucks.

So Ben just let it all go. This was supposed to be a fun spar.

Deciding to just try the things he actually wanted to do, he finally went for the experimental move he had been putting off.

Practicing the concept on and off recently had given him a solid foundation of how not to blow his own arms off. And learning how to shape mana with [Mana Cannon] and [Mana Missile] had definitely helped him figure out the tricky mechanics.

So it was finally time to test it out in a real fight.

Waiting for Cassian to commit to a punch, Ben let go of his staff, aimed his empty left palm out at him, and ignited the magic right out of his skin. The very first bare handed [Fire Burst] instantly scorched his palm with blistering heat.

Cassian managed to dodge the blast, but the explosion worked perfectly as a sudden lateral dodge helping Ben get away from Cassian's follow up. Jerking his entire body sideways at a speed no footwork could ever replicate, Ben evaded the punch.

Slamming his fist into the dirt exactly where Ben had just been standing, Cassian cracked the ground. Seeing Ben literally explode himself out of the way, the giant's eyes went wide.

Chaining his momentum, Ben channeled mana into his feet, triggering [Fire Burst]. The blast propelled his leg upward, smacking into the underside of Cassian's jaw.

The explosive kick snapped the giant's head back.

And Ben sent a wave of life mana into his hand, raising it in a taunt as Cassian spat a bloodied tooth to the side, and gave him a bloody grin, dashing forward.

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