Dodgan was shocked by Ash's sudden recovery, then gnashed his teeth. "Brat, you're full of surprises, huh? You seem to have awoken to the Gravity element and chosen Life as your second one? Not bad."
Then his angered expression changed to one of mockery and superiority. "However, you are a Journeyman, after all! Unlike those annoying Grandmaster Mage, now that I've seen all you can do, this will be the end of you!"
He swung his hammer around, readying to charge Ash. "Gravity and Life are not difficult for me to overcome! Haarrghh!"
He roared and jumped up, bringing his hammer smashing down where Ash stood. The apprentice himself was dumbfounded by the thought process of this fellow. He had assumed him to be cunning and smart from the way he acted earlier, but his current words tore down his reputation.
How could he be unaware that the Awakening Scrolls Darius sold gave one the choice of any 5 elements? Literally everyone knew that, which was why they were so highly sought after in the first place!
Since he had used one of them as an Amateur, he naturally had access to six elements as a Journeyman. His original five and the Material element that Darius had made all five Apprentices select so that they could have ways to make money on their own out there.
They wouldn't be under his tutelage forever after all.
Even more bizzare, Dodgan was someone fighting for the rewards for defeating Ash - of which Awakening Scrolls were part - so shouldn't this fellow have done the obvious calculations?
The apprentice naturally suspected the Hammer Bouncer was intentionally acting stupid to lower his guard. If so, then this fellow was truly conniving and scheming!
In order to test this hypothesis, Ash stood right where he was and used his Master's trademark spell, Lightning Bolt!
[Lightning Bolt - Level 40 Spell
Grade: Intermediate
Cost: 100 MP
Description: Cast a pure bolt of electricity at a foe, paralyzing them immediately on contact. This deals 500% lightning damage.]
Even though Ash had learned it using Darius' spellbooks, meaning he benefited from the boost, it was still slightly weaker than his master's version. Nonetheless, power of this level, coupled with his stats, was enough to do quite a bit of damage seeing as Dodgan had shitty Will.
Ash had expected his enemy to avoid the blast, but he was left speechless when the fellow was struck head-on by it, frying severely in mid-air as he screamed in agony. The shock was so strong that his skeleton showed as if it were a cartoon, his smoking body falling to the earth limply the next second.
Dodgan shuddered on the ground severely for a few seconds, barely regaining his bearing a while later. Ash could have killed him ten times within this period, but he was too flabbergasted to react.
The Grandmaster raised his charred body up and cursed weakly. "You… despicable brat… how could you still… have a Lightning element?"
From his scandalized look, to the way he pointed at Ash with anger, the youngster finally understood. This Dodgan hadn't played a fool, he really WAS an idiot. A fresh retard straight from the assembly line of brainless dolts.
Realizing this, Ash immediately became bored. He simply blinked in front of Dodgan and swung his blade across his neck, no longer acting cautiously. The Hammer Bouncer, still trembling from the stun, could only have his accusatory words cut off as his head rolled off to the side.
Ash then turned to the crowd of spectating Grandmasters who shook their heads at Dodgan's idiocy, some even laughing or sneering. Ash's face no longer held fear or nervousness, only calm battle will.
He had finally grasped the first lesson Darius wanted him to from this event. This lesson was that no matter the stage, from Amateur to Grandmaster, all were mortals, organisms, and living beings in the end.
The prevailing mentality for the local Faustian was the higher your stage, the more perfect you were. Just look at the treatment Adepts and above got. Grandmasters were treated like gods on earth, their will the law, and their wisdom endless.
Truthfully, this was a narrative pushed through weakness and ignorance. They did not understand what it meant to be a Grandmaster, at best only being able to see the huge power that came with it, so they thought with such power, one must also have other extreme qualities.
Ash had been trapped in the same belief, yet this fight had allowed him to get rid of that mindset. He calmly waited for his next foe with a slight smile, his eyes now firmly on the prize.
.........…..
About 1 hour later, Ash got down from the stage with a beat up appearance. He was burned, cut, and bleeding all over, but the bright look in his eyes couldn't be diminished.
He had made great gains in these 10 fights against Grandmasters, so he was in a hurry to head back and digest them before tomorrow's battle.
This left space for Reina, the next in line, to go up to the arena's stage.
While all four had watched Ash's battle and had somewhat grasped the lesson by proxy, there was still nervousness and fear as they would need to individually comprehend it themselves through battle.
Reina held her bow tightly as she waited for her opponent to be selected. She didn't have to wait long before a Demon from Armadon in the stands was chosen, specifically, a fire imp!
[Name: Derrick || Race: Demon (Fire Imp) || Stage: Grandmaster || Jobs: Torturer, Fire Spitter.
HP: 2,860/2,860 (13,407) || MP: 25,755/25,755 (15,880) || STA: 3,740/3,740 (4,360)
Level: 85 || (Note: The stats in the brackets are Reina's current stats.)
Power: 65 (123) || Speed: 188 (146) || Constitution: 44 (109)
Magic: 303 (397) || Will: 21 (1205) || Luck: 2 (55).
Skills: Grandmaster Fire Control, Giant Fireball, Flame Shield, Heat Ward, etc.
Spells: Demonic Aura, Demonic Corruption, Spirit Attack, etc.]
This was a versatile foe for Reina, one that was airborne, small, and very nimble. He could use ranged attacks like her, so pretty much all of her advantages had been negated or leveled.
Then again, Ash had suffered the same thing, so this was the best way to test the lads' capability.
