Chapter 174 - 173 What True Strength Looks Like

Looking at Sir Kase who had just unexpectedly challenged him to a match, Marcus quickly analyzed the situation and could tell what he was aiming for.

'Looks like he is a bit agitated that I beat up his disciple and have disrespected the strength of knights. However, defeating him will also help to hammer home the lesson Adrianna wants me to teach, and I do want to see what a veteran knight at level thirty-seven is capable of.'

Walking towards Sir Kase and stopping right in front of him, Marcus put on a confident smile and said, "Sure I can go a round with you, but try not to take me lightly because if you do you will end up just like your apprentice."

Marcus then turned around and made his way back into he ring but found Adrianna standing in front of him.

"Irene, I think you should reconsider. Sir Kase is one of the stronger knights in the kingdom. Even I would only have around a thirty percent chance of winning a fight against him. I know you are strong, but he is a vindictive person and has crippled opponents he did not like in the past."

Seeing the worry in Adrianna's eyes Marcus felt a bit happy to see his friends genuine concern, but he was confident that there was no chance he could lose.

"No need to worry. I still have a number of tricks up my sleeve, and I would be surprised if he even put a scratch on me."

Flashing a confident smile, Marcus walked by his friend and entered the ring where Sir Kase was waiting.

"Well, now that Adrianna has given you a little pep talk are you ready to go."

"Yeah, no problem, oh and if you want to cast any spells before the fight feel free to, I want to see what you are capable of."

After hearing Marcus' provocation, Sir Kase began scowling and angrily shouted. "Do not look down on me, you may have been able to beat a few infant knights, but my abilities are far greater."

He then took out a similar looking halberd to what Cain had, though of a superior quality and began chanting a spell only taking around a second to completed it.

"Spirit Blaze."

A red aura of shimmering heat quickly enveloped Kase, and Marcus could feel that his power had increased quite a bit.

'Wow, that is a powerful looking spell, probably tier four. I wonder if I could possibly get it somehow.'

Seeing the impressive spell that Sir Kase ha just cast Marcus began formulating a plan and before Kase made any attack said, "Hey Sir Kase how about we make this fight a bit more interesting?"

Kase who was about to initiate an attack suddenly stopped hearing Marcus' question and said, "What do you have in mind."

A devious smile then creeped across Marcus' face as he said, "Just a little wager. If I win you will give me the formation and chant for the spell you just cast, and if you win, I will make you and your apprentice weapons just as good as the ones I gave Clarisa."

A stunned expression appeared on Kase's face after hearing this since the value between what was being offered to him was far greater than what was being asked for.

However, the spell he was using had been given to him after years of service and was restricted. If he handed it out, even to a noble, he would face some type of consequences.

Nevertheless, what he could get in return was quite good, but Kase saw the desire for this spell in Marcus' eyes and decided to up the ante.

"Very well, I will give you the formation and chant for Spirit Blaze if you beat me, but only of well as making both me and Cain impeccable weapons, you will also become the subordinate of my lord, Marquess Vastik."

Hearing this Marcus grimaced since making weapons was one thing, but becoming someone's subordinate was something he did not want to do.

'Hm, I could lose big, but I am pretty sure there is no way I cannot win. Oh whatever, worst case I just use one of my unique skills and overpower him.'

Sure, that he would be the victor Marcus agreed to Kase's terms, and in response he began chanting a spell hoping to catch Marcus off guard.

"Flare Thrust."

Stabbing his halberd forward a massive blast of fire shot out towards Marcus, similar to the attack Cain had used earlier.

However, unlike Cian's flare thrust spell, Kase's was far bigger and stronger emitting enough heat that everyone within the training ground could feel it.

"Flame Tiger Strike."

Returning the tier four fire spell that Kase had shot towards him, Marcus used the tier four spell given by the system and the massive visage of a tiger made of flames appeared and pounced towards Kase.

Of course, Kase knew this spell as well, but he was confident that the power of his flare thrust was superior.

The two fire spells crashed into each other, fighting for dominance as the two forces pushed each other back, until Marcus' spell won out, to Kase's surprise.

Certainly, in terms of power his spell was greater but that did not come close to making up the difference between his and Marcus' spirt stats.

Seeing the flame tiger coming for him, Kase grimaced and quickly chanted another tier four spell finishing it right before Marcus' spell engulfed him.

"Fire Phalanx."

A dozen shields of fire formed around Kase as Marcus' spell crashed into him and tried to burn him to cinders.

Luckily, his defensive spell was able to block Marcus' after having lost a decent amount of its power during the previous clash of spells.

Breathing heavily, Kase looked at Marcus with disbelief on his face. He knew that Marcus had not been lying when he told him that his level was lower, so how was he so handedly overpowered.

Marcus was not a pure spell caster; he was also proficient in melee combat meaning that his magic should not have been any stronger than Kase's.

'What the hell. She has multiple magic skills as well as a slew of combat skills. How did she do it, picking up that many powerful skills at such a young age should be next to impossible. Has she been training since she was a toddler?'

Sir Kase was quite confused by Marcus' strength that seemed far from the norm, but if Sir Kase knew Marcus could chose his skills, he would begin cursing the unfairness of the world.

"That is a pretty good defensive spell you have there, did you want to add that onto our bet, and you can ask for anything else from me, how about it."

Fury began to well up in Kase hearing this. Marcus was looking down on him, a knight with over two decades of experience.

"Do not think you have won yet; I am going to show you what the power of a knight is."

In a fit of rage Sir Kase rushed towards Marcus planning to win in close quarters combat since his magic had already been proven to be inferior to Marcus'.

"Ahhhhh."

With a loud battle scream Kase began stabbing and swinging his halberd around towards Marcus, actually pushing him back due to the power increase from his Spirt Blaze spell.

"Iron Skin, Arms of Darkness, Legs of Light, Lightning Strider."

While fighting defensively, Marcus quickly cast his four enhancement spells, increasing his strength speed and defense by a large margin.

With his own spells now active Marcus soon began to push Sir Kase back, using his heighten abilities to toy with him.

Becoming ever frustrated, Kase felt himself losing and even when he used his best skills, he stood no chance now that Marcus was taking him seriously.

"Fuck!"

"Flame Pillar."

With a loud scream Sir Kase stabbed his halberd into he ground and completed a quick chant before casting another tier four spell causing a burst of fire to blast up from the ground below Marcus.

Practically wheezing since he had used up the majority of his remaining mana and strength to cast his last spell, Kase looked towards the area where Marcus had been expecting to see him terribly burned.

Except instead of seeing a heavily burned body all he saw was six gleaming wings of iron.

"The look on your face tells me you are surprised. Is this your first time seeing a tier five spell."

Kase's eye suddenly went wide as he heard what Marcus had said.

'Did she say tier five. That should be impossible, even supreme geniuses are at least level forty when they get a skill to level five. Did she lie about her level, but Adrianna even confirmed that she was a lower level than me?'

His head spinning from Marcus' revelation, Kase could not believe what he heard. Tier five spells were practically the height of magic only a select few reaching that level and even fewer getting past it.

"I believe you brazenly told me earlier that you would show me the power of a knight, but this is what true strength looks like."

Releasing over a hundred feathers form his wings, Marcus shot the feathers forward towards Sir Kase in a barrage of iron death.

Kase for his part brought his halberd forward and tried to defend but being low on mana he only blocked a few feathers before the other began shredding him.

The over one hundred feathers flew around Sire Kase, each one delivering a shallow cut that began bleeding until hundreds of cuts overwhelmed him causing him to collapse.

Walking over to his opponent that was now bleeding profusely from cuts all over his body, Marcus stood above him and said, "Looks like you lose.. And I just want you to know that each of those cuts on your body, had I wanted them to be, could have been a kill shot."