Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Priam took a deep breath. He had burned what little he had by using his wind movement technique before. Now he didn’t have a single drop of Ether left in his body.

But he didn’t need it.

He had created a Power Rune using the last crystals with bestial power he had, mixing them with demonic herbs.

Priam clenched his fists, and then all the energy of the power rune emerged at once.

A torrent of pure vital energy flooded his muscles, forcefully expanding his meridians. He only had a few minutes before the effect ended, and he intended to use every second.

*BOOM!*

Priam shot forward, and the ground beneath his feet exploded.

All the elemental power was brutally split in half just by his physical movement.

Walhart barely had time to raise his terrifying spear when the enemy was already face-to-face with him.

”Die!” Walhart roared, thrusting forward with a strike infused with the explosive power of fire.

Priam took one step to the side.

The spear hit only empty air.

The people watching almost jumped in fright.

Another attack came.

Nothing again.

He attacked, attacked, and attacked. The heat was capable of melting steel, but Priam moved like an intangible god of war. With millimeter-precise tilts, he dodged every explosion and every path of the spear.

*DAMNED HELL*

Walhart began using the fire Magical Arts he knew, nonstop.

But...

Besides dodging the spear strikes, Priam could use the system to dominate the elemental power and make it slower and weaker. Then, with a powerful punch using his fists, he broke any fire attack.

The people were shocked. Each fire strike was more powerful than the last, but... nothing worked.

Then, the counterattack began.

Priam didn’t use grand spells or complex techniques. He used only his enhanced physique and the black branch, wielding it like a relentless sword.

*WHACK!*

The branch struck Walhart’s shoulder. Physically, the blow didn’t tear deeply into his flesh, but the true lethality was in what came after.

*WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!*

With every touch of the branch, a mist of black curse silently infiltrated Walhart’s body.

All the elemental power, which should have been the great difficulty of this test, simply opened around them with the power of the two being used, diverting to the sides.

”AAAH! DIE!”

Frenzied screams escaped Walhart’s lips. He moved and attacked, but he was always hit by the branch, unable to accomplish anything.

The curse began to tear the Super Genius’s mind apart.

Coherent thoughts turned into chaos. The mental pain was so excruciating that Walhart stopped thinking, acting only out of pure panic.

Unable to reason, he began leaving massive openings in his defense.

Priam showed no mercy.

In a few seconds, the fight stopped being a duel and turned into a one-sided massacre.

*CRACK!*

A brutal kick from Priam broke Walhart’s left ribs, throwing him to the ground. Before he could recover, another kick crushed his right knee.

”GUAAGHH!” Walhart screamed, his pride being ground down along with his bones.

In an act of blind desperation, Walhart burned his own vital force to detonate a massive fire explosion at point-blank range. The fire swallowed them both in a dome of destruction.

The Mages watching at the end of the valley held their breath.

But from inside the flames, Priam merely walked out calmly.

The destructive power of the fire element was completely subdued by his ’mere presence’. He ignored the heat, crossing through the inferno without suffering a single scratch.

Priam brought the branch down again and again over the Super Genius’s body. The sound was like a whip striking flesh. With every movement, everyone felt their hearts jump together.

After mere seconds and dozens of blows... he put away his secret weapon.

”The branch is disgusted by hitting someone mediocre like you. So now... it’s my turn to play...”

*CRUNCH! CLACK!*

The sound of breaking bones echoed rhythmically through the valley.

In mere minutes, the commotion ceased.

The dust finally settled, revealing the result...

Walhart was completely unrecognizable, lying on the ground.

Almost every bone in his body had been broken, and his face was just a bloody mess. His high-quality clothes had been turned into bloodstained rags, and across his skin, black marks had been imprinted with great clarity, making it possible to even see the leaves of the branch in detail.

The once-feared Super Genius of the Divine Plane was now nothing more than a trembling, defeated mass of flesh on the ground.

Priam snorted, feeling his energy nearing its end.

He grabbed Walhart by the hair, then turned around, moving his feet toward the end of the valley.

His steps were slow and calm, but everyone with their eyes fixed on him felt each movement as if it came from a giant.

The other three factions were already very close to where the fight had happened. They hadn’t been able to advance during the fight because the energies were far too chaotic, and the people in their factions could have been killed accidentally.

So, everyone stopped everything and watched that unfold right near them.

Priam reached the end of the valley, then threw the dying Walhart far away.

If he had left Walhart back there in that state, he would have died, swallowed by the elements. Unfortunately, Priam couldn’t kill this young man without a major reason. He was certain that, if that happened, he would have big problems inside the sect.

Since Walhart hadn’t managed to do anything against his faction, giving him this lesson was already enough. As for the deaths of the people in his faction, that was the sect’s problem, not Priam’s.

Of course, leaving this idiot alive would also bring problems. But Priam wasn’t afraid of idiots, and it might even be good to have a whetstone for his allies to use in the future.

”Advance!”

The Super Geniuses of the other factions roared almost at the same time, making their soldiers start walking again.

Walhart’s faction stayed still at the very end the whole time, without reacting, afraid that Priam and his people would try to attack them.

Minutes passed silently...

Until Daraen’s faction arrived first, followed by Inigo’s, and finally Sallya’s.

They looked at the bubbles where their final challenge should have been... all empty.

They hadn’t known about this challenge before. They only believed that the first ones to arrive would get higher positions. But when Priam and his faction arrived, they heard the explanation of everything.

”This is the end...”

Uswyn’s slightly strange voice suddenly sounded.

”The programmed final test no longer exists, because a single person completed everything. This was not predicted in the rules, so... the Elders discussed it and decided that the evaluation of the other four factions will be based on the order in which they reached the end, as well as the number of dead members. This will be fairer, since it evaluates the commander’s ability.”

Priam nodded, satisfied. These Elders weren’t idiots, and they also hadn’t liked Walhart’s attitude. So, since this test deserved a reevaluation, they took the chance to change how things worked for the better.

”I don’t need to explain that Priam’s faction took first place, right?”

When that confirmation sounded, everyone behind Priam held their breath.

Those young Mages, who had been rejected and had practically given themselves over to death... none of them could digest reality... they had really taken first place?

”The fifth and last place goes to Walhart’s faction. Despite arriving second at the objective, his leadership caused the deaths of more than 70% of his faction.”

”As for the others, they had minimal losses that didn’t harm the result too much. Fourth place goes to Sallya’s faction. Third place, to Inigo’s faction. Second place goes to Daraen’s faction.”

The Mages who hadn’t been born inside the sect felt euphoric, because now they were official outer members. Those who had been born inside the sect merely stared fixedly at that figure not far ahead.

”That’s all, the entrance test is officially over. All of you are now part of the sect.”