Merchant Of Yliaster

The platform descended once more onto the arena, and Maxwell gazed at his enemy, feeling a bit ridiculous. His enemy this time was the first guy who used tech, and Maxwell couldn't help but feel sad for the man.

The gadgets this man used were simply devoid of his own mana, and this meant that Maxwell could just pull the fundamental mana inside them out, causing them to break down. Maybe I shouldn't do that, he thought. Having some of his abilities hidden in the grander universe wouldn't hurt, as there were definitely gods watching who knew how mana infusion worked.

He observed the man, curious about his class, and was quite surprised to see the result.

Garland - Engineer - Level 50

An engineer? This explained the lack of mana for sure. This man was not a fighter at all. His stats were distributed so that he wouldn't be too weak while having a very strong mind. He was intelligent without a doubt, and right now, he wore an apathetic expression.

"I can't see how I could win, but let's try," Garland said, sighing as he took out a couple of gadgets and a pistol similar to before. Almost lazily, he fired the pistol after aiming, and Maxwell chuckled at the man's antics as he blocked the plasma bursts with a metal plate similar to before.

Around him on the ground, he could see small gadgets with wheels form a hexagon around him, the man thinking that he was distracting Maxwell as he prepared something. Nonetheless, Maxwell let himself get distracted. Fighting without seeing the capabilities of the grander universe would only be a waste.

Soon, the hexagon was fully formed, and the man threw a sphere into the air, positioning it at the center. Lines of blue light shot out of the sphere, connecting to the gadgets on the floor, and Maxwell was encased in a cone of blue light.

He examined the light with interest and found that it was made from an incredibly complex formula. He tested its durability, smacking his metal plate on the wall, and the barrier held. The gadgets had smaller shields around them, too, and the floor was also covered with the same shimmer.

Slowly, the walls started to move inward, the components on the ground moving towards the center. Maxwell, though, wasn't panicked in the slightest.

"A pretty good plan. Can't you make them close in faster?" he asked.

"The stability suffers," Garland answered simply, as he stared at Maxwell with no emotion. The man still looked like he had no faith in winning.

"I see," Maxwell said, and waved his hand, making the wind mana move. Immediately, the wind inside the enclosed space moved towards the center, causing a vacuum to form at the edges. At the same time, Maxwell commanded the air outside, increasing the atmospheric pressure.

The effects were immediate, as the walls closed in with incredible speed, not being able to handle the incredible pressure of tens of thousands of kilograms. They immediately reached Maxwell, but with his enhanced perception, Maxwell could see that they were too fragile right now.

With a simple expulsion of mana from his body, the walls shattered before they reached him.

"You probably shouldn't say the weak points of your creations. It's bad for business," he sent to the engineer before gathering the wind mana he used once more to create a wind blade. Wind was simply air moving to differently pressured areas, and Maxwell had no problem creating it for real with delusion.

Any inaccuracy was smoothed over by the skill, and with a sonic boom, the wind blade moved, dissecting the engineer neatly in half. Immediately, they were back to their platforms, Maxwell's fight ending with a bang once more.

Others probably thought that he was an elemental mage at this point, and they were partially right, he supposed. Among other things, most of his skills relied on elements after all.

Garland stood on his platform, his face betraying no emotion, but Maxwell didn't think that man had experience getting cut in half. He probably had a great poker face. The turbulent mental waves the man emanated also supported that.

To his surprise, he could also see that the woman with the blood magic was also intently looking at him with a focused look. Apparently, the woman's obsession was now transferred to Maxwell as he beat the man who had beaten her.

The next fight was between the elemental mage and the guy with the small knife, and it was over in a flash like before, with the expected result. The mage couldn't even summon his element before he was beaten, and his head fell to the ground with a thud under the gazes of everyone.

The platforms moved once more, and one of the martial artists descended onto the arena, facing the warrior who had faced a wind mage before. The matchup promised great close combat, and Maxwell was quite excited to see it. With his stats, Maxwell could memorize and analyze things pretty well, so any martial prowess would be helpful for him to improve his own in the future.

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The warrior was a bulky man with almost two and a half meters of height. He held a proportionally accurate, but still ridiculous-looking axe in his hand, and he wore a worn-looking metallic armor. It was apparent that the armor was crafted with high-tech materials, but it was definitely not some new technology.

Martial artist, on the other hand, wore a monk's robe and carried no weapons. Still, his presence was more than adequate, as no one thought that this man was not dangerous. Every move the man made gave the watcher a sense of harmony. To Maxwell's eyes, the man was a phenomenon just by breathing, as the world seemed to try to give the man more oxygen as he breathed.

Warrior soon charged, apparently using a skill, and his form blurred, stabilizing in front of the martial artist in mid swing. Maxwell could almost see the air resistance increase around the martial artist even without him moving, and with a dancelike movement, the monk pushed the axe to the side.

A palm immediately connected with the warrior's abdomen, and a metallic gong sounded in the arena, the man flying backwards like a ragdoll. As he flew back, he hit the ground with his axe and stopped himself before looking at the monk with a feral grin.

He jumped immediately, and the monk just smiled amiably, watching the man swing his axe from above. He lifted his hands and brought them together around the axe, and under the disbelieving looks, caught the axe.

Maxwell watched as the ground before him tightened to help the man, and air resistance increased to slow the axe. Even gravity itself seemed to lessen, as if this man were the child of the world itself. Is this something like harmony with the world? How the fuck does it even work? He thought as he watched the monk repel the warrior once more with a kick in his chest.

This time, though the axe was left with him, the warrior tumbled on the ground until he hit the wall with a bang. When he first saw the arena, Maxwell thought that the arena was pretty big, but he could now see that his standards were wrong. The people on his planet were simply too weak compared to this.

The warrior pulled himself out of the wall, his body still looking in pristine condition. His armor was filled with cracks, yet he seemed even more energized than before.

"You are strong, I'll give you that," he said, and disappeared, giving the spectators a moment of confusion. Next moment, he materialized near his axe, which was still held by the monk, and punched the back of it.

For the first time, the monk's eyes widened, and he dodged out of the way of the axe, finally letting it go. The axe was buried into the ground with a crash, but the monk was not defeated, as he dodged, danced, and kicked the warrior with a roundhouse kick on the side of his head, once more sending him away.

The helmet the warrior wore shattered immediately, its pieces falling to the ground, and he pulled himself out of another wall, still wearing his grin on his face. If anything, he seemed more energetic compared to before.

His body was glowing with white smoke, almost looking like an exerted horse, and once again, he charged. The weird duo exchanged a few more blows, and the monk remained unharmed while the warrior proceeded to redecorate the walls of the arena a few times more, but Maxwell could see that the battle was slowly turning to the warrior's favor. The man was getting stronger as he fought, while the monk kept staying on the defensive, only counterattacking.

Still, Maxwell got an interesting feeling from the man. Despite the long battle, the man still didn't use any of the strange energy inside him, and he didn't seem tired at all.

The warriors' attacks became more and more fierce as time went on, and the monk started to have some difficulties in parrying and dodging all of the attacks. And at one moment, the axe finally managed to graze the arm of the monk.

Drops of blood fell to the ground, and the battle came to a temporary stop. The warrior was still smiling, and he looked like he was having the time of his life, yet Maxwell couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.

For the first time in the battle, the monk showed a real expression, except for the amiable smile on his face, as he suddenly grinned with a familiar grin. It was almost the same as the warriors. Maxwell watched with interest as the energy inside the man started to move.

"You managed to shed my blood. I will show you what I conceal beneath the flesh," the monk said, his voice trembling as if he couldn't hold back his excitement.

With a red flash, his body glowed, and the monk disappeared and appeared before the warrior. He punched the man in the face, and in a fraction of a millisecond, he was on a different side, punching once more.

Maxwell's eyes widened due to the sheer speed of the man, as he was having difficulty perceiving him even with his full senses. The man didn't teleport; he could see that, but the energy inside him burned with a brilliance that surpassed any type of mana he had ever seen.

The warrior's grin turned to a grimace as he was pummeled from all sides without being able to show any kind of resistance. The monk was truly an expert. Any vectoral force he applied to the warrior was immediately countered with a completely opposite force from the other side, and the warrior's body remained stationary in the air, slowly turning into a pile of flesh rather than a human figure.

He gave a roar and managed to swing his axe in a hurry, but he could only attack the empty air, as the monk didn't even slow down his attacks. As he moved, none could follow his movements, and even Maxwell couldn't completely see them, but he could see an interesting detail at least.

As the man beat the warrior, his skin was starting to crack and fall, showing red skin beneath. It was as if the shell of the man was slowly breaking down, revealing something terrible. The eyes, once filled with benevolence, now glowed with a fierce red, and there was burning fury in them.

Soon, the warrior was completely reduced to a pile of flesh, and the monk stopped abruptly, showing no signs of his previous change in appearance. He bowed towards the pile of flesh, as if apologizing.

"I'm truly sorry for revealing what's beneath," he said, and the last spark of life left the pile, teleporting the contenders to their platforms. The warrior appeared in his previous spot, looking completely unharmed, yet there was something different about him.

The man was staring ahead with a vacant look. And in his eyes, Maxwell could see the unmistakable glint of paralyzing terror.