Warlock of War: My Ares System



Glancing over at my status, I noticed that my stamina and mana had been completely refreshed, meaning I didn't need to hold back. But, I did need to figure out if each round would reset these precious stats of mine since I still had no clue what counted as a failure. Was it another one of these death gauntlets or would it end as soon as I'm about to get dealt a fatal blow? 

For now, I could only assume the worst, so in order to test everything out, I picked the simplest option and the one I was most confident winning against: [10 Mermen Zombies]. The skeletons would be harder to burn with my flames than the zombies despite them probably being as easy as cutting butter with a hot knife. The slimes on the other hand would be a bit troublesome as they would be made out of water. 

Sure, there was the possibility that I could instantly evaporate them with my flames, but what was the point in taking a risk when I need to confirm some things myself? So, in the end, I selected the zombies and watched them appear out of thin air. 

With flesh practically dripping off of their tattered and rotted bones, they made an audible groan of pain each time they took a step. Their ears or at least what was left of it were two large fins, revealing the only feature of a merman that I could see. 

Even though they were slowly moving back and forth, tripping over their own flesh and falling limbs, they had two beady white orbs of light, enhanced with bloodlust, in each eye socket. It was as if even past the grave they had the will to fight. 

[Advanced Demonic Fire Magic] 

With a fluid motion, my hands extended outwards, whipping out two massive balls of fire. They whizzed through the air, screaming like arrows until they hit their mark, exploding and tearing apart each and every zombie. 

Their groans were the only thing left as they bounced around moist stone brick chamber, echoing across the atmosphere. It was almost pitiful the way they groaned, wanting to fight more despite knowing that not only were they physically incapable due to their restrictive decaying body, but also that their opponent was just too strong. 

[Round 1: Warm Up has been completed]

[Preparing Next Round…]

[Strength has been underestimated leading to a miscalculation]

[Everything will be recalculated]

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[Round 2: The Martial Arts of The Mermen]

[Description: You have easily passed the warm-up round, allowing you to reach the second round. Unfortunately, you may have a tough time as your opponent specializes in martial arts meant to close the distance between close combat fighters and mages who specialize in long distance. Not only is his body extremely resistant, but his mental fortitude is practically unshakeable. Good luck.]

[Monsters: [1 Merman Martial Artist]

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The zombie corpses were enveloped in the water pouring down from each waterfall. They broke down the rotting flesh and absorbed what little nutrients and mana it had before creating a new monster that appeared with two fists wrapped in white tape. 

With light blue skin that had occasional patches of dark blue scales and dark red eyes wanting to pierce me with just his gaze, I was instantly reminded of The Lord of Oceans. On top of having such a unique appearance, his structure and physique weren't lacking. He towered over me at a clean ten feet but all of that limp space had been filled in with rock-solid muscle brimming with power. 

"Damn… you're pretty powerful," I nervously chuckled with a drop of sweat sliding down my right temple. "But, you're not enough-" 

The merman reached out, his eyes as cool as ice. Just before I could activate [Advanced Demonic Fire Magic] once again and wipe the round before it could start, he activated some kind of skill that sealed my magic.

All of the mana in my body slowed down to the point where it nearly set in all of my mana veins. If I wasn't careful and didn't move it consciously I may have some major blockage later on… and right on top of that was the fact that this martial artist was closing the distance between us.

"I'm well aware of the weakness of mages…" I muttered, taking a few light shuffles back and as the man began with a single kick stretching so far out that it clipped the ends of my hair, I ducked down, narrowly dodging it. "But, Orion has taught me well." 

Tup Tup Tup Tup

With a quick and impressive display of narrow footwork and optical judgment, I slipped inside of his guard, taking him aback. It was clear he was expecting some normal mage who was nothing without their mana, yet I had somebody who made my weakness very apparent and somebody who helped me train to my utmost limit. 

The man clicked his tongue, attempting to take a few steps back in order to widen the gap between us. To him, it was most likely the best move that he could think of, but to me I expected something much different, allowing me to notice that I had overestimated this man.

My that hands had come to my diaphragm in order to protect me from a knee to the solar plexus, quickly heightened up to my head. I took another series of quick steps inward, forcing the man to throw a sloppy punch that I quickly deflected. This opened up a massive hole in his guard that I slipped into. 

Now, even though I overestimated his battle IQ, I wasn't going to underestimate his common sense. Clearly, he was chosen for this role as a decent martial artist so… "Any good martial artist will block it," I smiled, throwing a punch towards his liver. 

The man blocked it with ease, smirking as if he had done something, but in the end, he fell to a hook to his jaw that had slipped from outside his fallen guard. His eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped backward, slamming against the stone brick floor.