Mercenary God: Reborn with a talent for fighting.-Chapter 32: Ch Holding back.

A few minutes ago

"Sir Felix, is it wrong to say, I find Abel Blade quite a luckster in contrast to his legends?"

Seated at the uppermost seats of the coliseum where the full battlefield was revealed to them, Umbra commented, his expression complicated.

Ever since he joined the Knights Order and the Knight of Ideal took him in, Umbra had heard nothing but tales of Abel — about how much he was unmatched, how he was the strongest of the S-rank, and so much more.

Such tales had folded in his mind, a one-sided battle between the acting Patriarch and his cousin, and yet what he was experiencing wasn’t a one-sided match, and Abel also hadn’t shown any impressive feat to earn him the title of strongest S-rank.

Hearing the response of his naive disciple, Felix merely shrugged, but he couldn’t blame him either because Abel was a very convincing man.

Felix could have given a very lengthy response about why, in fact, his student was wrong, but he preferred for him to witness it himself; hence, he kept his mouth shut and pointed at the battle just as Abel abandoned his sword.

--------

Gilhunt felt his ribs shatter after receiving the full impact of Abel’s punch.

Immediately, blood filled his mouth as his body was temporarily rendered useless against Abel.

The crowd gasped in awe as they witnessed the mountain of a man clutching his stomach and unable to move even as a stream of blood poured out of his mouth.

Abel, having retracted his clenched fist, sighed, his wrist disjointed from how hard Gilhunt’s skin was.

"It feels like I just punched titanium."

Stepping back, he cracked his wrist back in place only for Gilhunt, whose body had recovered, to charge at him with bloodshot eyes.

[Heaven’s Defiance Style: Demon Raging Bull]

Tearing through the barriers of sound, he stomped the ground, leaving massive craters and earthquakes in his wake.

"Heaven Defiance... oh, the same art the Warmonger used." Smiling softly, he closed his eyes and planted his feet firmly on the ground.

[Fuji Style: Wind Guard]

Golden aura exploded from his body, while the surrounding wind gathered around him like a thin firmament.

Gilhunt, reaching him, pulled back his fist, which ignited with fierce blood-red aura before whipping it forward at Abel.

The force behind his attack shredded the earth and heated up the winds, transforming his fist into a supercharged beam that clashed into Abel at hypersonic speed.

The atmosphere was scorched in a matter of seconds, and the forcefield protecting the crowd shattered like brittle glass, but before panic could take place, they were mended just as quickly, allowing everybody present to witness an impossible sight.

Gilhunt’s attack, powerful enough to shatter a forcefield equivalent to the prowess of an S-rank warrior, hadn’t so much as touched Abel.

He was safe, confined within the thin firmament of wind that clad the surface of his body.

"How?"

Just as Gilhunt questioned, Abel moved faster than he could anticipate and launched a kick at his side.

Gilhunt, weakened but still reactive, guarded by moving his arms to intercept, only for the same arm to groan in pain as his bones were shattered and his body bent inward and launched into the nearby walls.

A single kick, with no technique, just applied by aura — that was all Abel needed in order to finish the fight.

"How is that possible... he was on equal footing with Senior Gilhunt minutes ago?" Umbra asked in shock as the rest of the crowd questioned his master, eagerly seeking an answer.

"How did he knock him out in one blow?"

Laughing at Umbra’s inability to comprehend what had happened, the Ideal Knight no longer hesitated and began, his tone also excited.

"The four children of Klaus Bladeheart — each were born with a uniqueness."

"Like a special ability?" Umbra chimed in, but Felix shook his head.

"Only Alex seemed to have been born with one, but I will come to him later. First off, I’ll tell you about Abel’s uniqueness."

Leaning forward, he began,

"I’m sure you’re familiar with the Elves of the Southern Continent."

"Only in the book, sir!"

"Well, Elves are known as spiritual creatures. In terms of mana or aura, their body is more in tune with it than a human’s. So during enhancement, an Elf will always attain a superior result to any of the other races, but that only extends to their body."

"Then....."

"Yes, Abel inherited that trait from his mother’s bloodline. Then coupled with the purity of his aura by his higher potential, Abel with his aura coating alone can output enough power to harm an SS-ranked. Of course, that is only if he uses his body and not a weapon."

"I see, so dropping his weapon was a sign he was about to get serious."

"Pretty much!" The Knight of Ideal, even while smiling at Abel’s strength, couldn’t help but shudder back to a time when he underestimated that body and ended up with five broken ribs after being hit by him.

Till now, that was his most humiliating loss, one that had traumatized him more than the demons he had killed.

"Does that mean Vanessa Bladeheart also has the same constitution?"

Curious about Alex’s siblings, Umbra asked another question.

"Vanessa did inherit Elven traits, but they don’t make her stronger — rather, resilient, as a result of the abundance of life force Elves have. She can fight for days without rest, and the only way to truly defeat her is through completely overpowering her or via mind hex."

"That is actually insane."

Umbra knew she wasn’t called the Valkyrie of the Frontlines for nothing, but still, he didn’t know whether to be impressed or scared.

"As for Alex, he is the weakest of the siblings, but even without his unique skill, he is unmatched in swordplay."

"Swords," Umbra rephrased.

"Yeah, that child first picked up a blade at age three, and by nine, he could face an ordinary knight with nothing but a sword. If not for his mild core potential, he might have even become a rival for Abel in the near future."

"What about now though?"

"...No matter how much martial arts he can comprehend, eventually his core and progress will reach a deadlock, one that would either take him ages to overcome or will be his stopping point."

It wasn’t an assumption but merely fact on Felix’s part.

People born with a silver core hardly surpassed the A-rank roadblock. The few that managed to do so ended up stuck at S-rank for the remainder of their lives.

"I see. What about Alice Bladeheart?"

"Well, that child, I’ll say, might end up giving our Great Emperor himself a run for his money for how monstrous her growth might be."

While Klaus Bladeheart was hailed as the greatest of geniuses, he was by no means the strongest.

That title was and would solely be held by the Emperor himself.

At least, that was what many believed.

For Felix, however, one of the main reasons he was here was to see if the status quo could be challenged.