Darius Supreme

Jonathan gazed at Derrick with a look of amusement, while the Sword Dancer displayed absolute shock. He expected the apprentice to be tanky, sure, but to outright ignore his attack seemed nonsensical.

Immediately, the Grandmaster struck the Journeyman rapidly, slicing and slashing all over his body, even aiming for his head, eyes, and other delicate places he could reach.

Jonathan just stood there and took it all, the most damage he ever took being some white lines on his throat and face. His smile grew wider with every passing second, until he burst out in laughter.

Why was Jonathan so happy? Well, it had to do with the lad himself.

Among the Five Apprentices, he was the most ambitious and violent one. If given the chance to solve a problem, his go-to method would leave behind a pile of ashes or bones.

He had always prided himself on his large build which had allowed him to beat up the local boys in Andrato before forming his own gang in the back alleys, until he was grabbed by Jeanne's agent who sifted the capital for talented young mages back then.

Captured, he resisted but was beaten down and had stopped fighting back once he learned that he was going to be tutored by a Master mage. The boy had forcibly humbled himself and suppressed his violent tendencies so his new master would favor him, yet Darius had read him like a book upon their first meeting.

What made the Five Apprentices love their mentor was that he had never done anything to suppress their true nature, instead he had encouraged it. He never forced them to be calm and levelheaded mages, allowing them to be whatever they wanted to be as long as they achieved results.

And this created the most important relationship in Jonathan's heart, him and Gunner. The half-giant had been their martial arts trainer and had beaten them into shape repeatedly until they slept while weeping.

Just drinking Darius' top-tier potions and using the transmuted materials would not have been enough to allow literal Journeyman humans to have stats rivaling, much less exceeding that of Grandmasters. However, that couple with consistent and brutal training in all aspects had done the trick.

Jonathan was the largest among them and considered himself the most powerful minus Anthony, though that fellow was only half-human so Jonathan didn't see him as a rival. If anything, Ash would be his rival, but that story was for later.

Just like Reina saw herself in Sasha, Jonathan had seen himself in Gunner, and wanted the kind of power the Branded Servant had. As such, he had chosen heavy weapons that took advantage of his mature frame in order to suppress the half-giant.

The results had been traumatizing.

Just as Jonathan stood there while Derrick flailed upon him, so too had Gunner simply folded his arms while waiting for the apprentice to exhaust himself from trying to inflict some damage.

Eventually, he was beaten by his own lack of stamina, crumbling in defeat while his mentor just stared at him with disappointment. That had left a shadow in young Jonathan's heart, but Darius' mental training had turned that into motivation.

He fought and fought, even teaming up with the other apprentices to fight Gunner, while the half-giant brushed away their attacks nonchalantly every time. Nevertheless, Johnathan had never stopped improving till today.

He had always wondered, why Gunner had chosen to act so cruelly towards them. Surely, the Branded Servant should have known that showing them how absolutely weak and powerless they were would crush the Five Apprentices' spirit, yet he had done it anyway.

Now, looking down at Derrick who was sweating as he had exhausted more than 50% of his Stamina, Jonathan understood. He deeply understood why Gunner took such an approach when dealing with most enemies.

It wasn't the feeling of superiority. It wasn't the feeling of invincibility. It wasn't even a feeling of laziness or disinterest.

It was shockingly, a feeling of curiosity that could be boiled down to one simple question.

'Could this guy perhaps hurt me and prove to be a worthy foe?'

That was it.

As Jonathan - and even Gunner at all times - watched Derrick strike him over and over, his laughter subsided as he began to adopt a slightly bored and neutral expression.

Just like Jonathan back then, Derrick tired himself, dropping his two blades as the palms of his hands shook with blood. The Sword Dancer's eyes were hollow, filled with shock, disbelief, and defeat.

Even if he survived this, he would probably never be able to feel as confident in his power ever again, always second-guessing himself and believing himself to be flawed. He would be a timid character, running away from fights where he would have won had he some backbone, becoming a shell of himself.

Of course, all of this was if he survived.

Sighing, Jonathan brought his great poleaxe down with slight swing, cleaving Derrick in two from skull to groin with ease. The man still adopted his defeated posture with his hollow eyes, even as his body split apart and fell on either side.

Jonathan frowned and waited for his next challenger, collecting Derrick's corpse to the side and not letting the Maidbots clean it up. This action angered some Grandmasters who felt this boy needed to be tortured to death for his disrespect.

This time, a female mage floated onto the stage, her expression severe and full of reproach. She was a middle-aged beauty, with some slight wrinkles, but her lovely blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail and clear, sapphire eyes gleaming with mana highlighted how exotic she was.

"Boy, you have no respect for your elders, for the dead, and for life. As your senior, it is my duty to educate you properly." She spoke sternly as he held a carved, cyanwood wand.

Jonathan just ogled her. "Trust me, I respect life. Just turn around and bend that ass over and I'll happily demonstrate to you just how much I love creating life, heh heh."

Filled with endless fury and indignation, the woman screamed in anger. "How dare you!! In place of your failure of a master, I shall teach you some proper manners!"

She immediately began casting, using the One-Word Cast skill most Grandmaster mages had mastered.

"Brisingr!"

A giant ball of fire and magma coalesced before her, growing in size rapidly as it absorbed her mana. It expanded into the size of a small bus before the female mage shot it out, her eyes gleaming with the intent to cripple.