Legacy of the Dark Sage

There was more to the concept Ambros used when he molded the needles. Because of his in-depth understanding of Earth magic, he could manipulate the rubble's composition and create an entirely different material. That was how he made those needles as sharp as a blade and solid as steel.

For the record, the arena was made from a durable material. That was how it could withstand most explosions. Because of its durability, it would be close to impossible for someone to create a sharp weapon from it. They would need to break the material, heat it, and forge it properly to have such a result.

The concept was similar to how Alchemists concocted potions. Depending on how they ground and combined ingredients, they could produce either medicine or poison.

Kyran harnessed the potential of Draconic magic, circulating it within his body. His control over it was limited, leading him to believe that he could only enhance a specific part of his body. However, if he were to tap into Draconic magic's true nature, viewing it as Chaos rather than just Draconic magic, he could influence all elements around him.

In this case, Kyran tried to influence the rubbles around him and created a thin coating to cover parts of his body. His magic energy was still limited, so he could not cover his whole body. Otherwise, he would not have removed the needles that pierced him and would have chosen to cover the wounds with that thin coating.

The coating itself was not visible to the naked eye, but it was enough to add weight to his attacks and enough defenses to guard against Ambros.

The coating's effect could have been better, though. It could break easily, especially since it was fragile as it was thin. He could have made it thicker if he had more magic energy that he could control. Alas, that was something he could not do at the moment.

The match everyone thought had ended resumed with Ambros and Kyran exchanging some punches and kicks.

All dragons who thought Kyran could only run away from Ambros were surprised that he was adequately responding to the latter's attack instead.

"He is using Draconic magic as if it is second nature," Ickle muttered, noticing the thin coating that covered Kyran's arms, legs, and torso.

"Yes. Though I suppose it is to be expected since he is the new Dragon Lord," Crei agreed and shared his opinion.

"However, there is something strange... his magic energy is too weak."

"I noticed that as well. He is not underestimating Ambros, is he?"

"Rather than saying he is underestimating him..." Ickle frowned as he continued the magic energy around Kyran. "It felt like he could not freely use his magic."

Meanwhile, the Earth Dragon Tribe's Patriarch, Velctor, who possessed a massive human frame and five dragon horns, watched Ambros's and Kyran's exchange with great interest. His light golden eyes glinted in amusement as he said, "It looks like he is trying to use the same concept Ambros did earlier."

Orena, his second-in-command, who had a slimmer frame but possessed similar light golden hair and eyes, furrowed her brows. As she did, the three horns on her forehead seemed to darken slightly as if to reflect her mood. She then said, "It is still far from being the same. Ambros's knowledge of Earth magic is already comparable to that of the older generation.

A human could not have possibly learned the concept in such a short amount of time."

When Orena pointed out the amount of time Kyran learned the concept, she did not mean that he only realized it during the match. She compared it to the difference in years and experience between Ambros and Kyran.

Ambros was considered one of the young talents of the Dragon Clan. But in terms of years, he was way older than Kyran. He was at least a hundred years old, and a hundred years old for dragons was considered young.

From this, it was easy to see that having an in-depth understanding of one's innate magic was only possible because he or she had been studying it for almost a lifetime.

Moreover, human mages who have gained an in-depth understanding of their innate magic should be around the level of a Legendary. And at most, Legendaries were already more than a hundred years old.

Beings in the Higher Realm were born as Sovereign. Because of this, they could quickly learn things that would take several years or even a lifetime for humans or beings in the Lower Realm to achieve.

But that did not mean that beings in the Lower Realm were at a huge disadvantage against them. This was because they had to learn and understand magic gruelingly; thus, their output was far better than those in the Higher Realm. If mages in the Lower Realm reached the same level as those from the Higher Realm, Kyran believed that their magic output would be far more potent than the latter.

It was for this reason that Kyran knew that if a mage in the Higher Realm could create a Domain, it would be weaker compared to the Domains created by mages in the Lower Realm.

Of course, mages in the Higher Realm would not bother using Domain when they had Dimension. In any case, these things were matters for later and should be put aside for now.

"True," Velctor agreed with Orena's point. However, the smile plastered on his face seemed to tell otherwise.

"You don't seem to agree. At least, not really," she replied, scowling at him.

"You're overthinking it," Velctor replied with a light laugh.

On the other hand, the patriarch near them could not help but scowl at Velctor's complacency. To them, Kyran exchanging blows with Ambros without appearing to be at a considerable disadvantage could be seen as a disgrace. They were dragons— a superior being. It should have been easier for them to overwhelm a human, even if he possessed the Draconic core.

BOOM!

Ambros landed a dropkick on Kyran, who barely dodged by rolling to the side.

Ambros's kick easily created a crater on the ground, sending clouds of dust and dirt all around them once more. Without pausing his attack, he went after Kyran, who had yet to recover his balance after rolling to the side.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Ambros sent out kicks or punches at Kyran using his feet and fists.

Kyran, who continued to roll on the ground, barely escaped the barrage of attacks with only a few scrapes on his face.

'Seriously, this guy...' he started to grumble inwardly. 'He is aiming at my head all this time. Does he want to knock me out cold or smash my head open? This is only a spar!'

Kyran never imagined himself complaining about a spar. He had been raring to go since last night, but things changed now that he realized his limitations.

'Stop aiming at my head!' Kyran grumbled as he greeted Ambros's fist with his own.

"..uff!" Ambros was caught off guard as his fist hit Kyran's. He stumbled slightly, surprised at the weight of the latter's fist.

Kyran took advantage of the momentary pause from Ambros's movement and lithely circled his body while still on the ground. He positioned himself shy from Amrbos's front before pushing himself upward with his two feet aiming at the latter's chin.

"Tsk," Ambros gritted his teeth as he tilted his head to the side, avoiding Kyran's kick by half a centimeter.

But.

WHAM! WHAM!

"Guh!"

Kyran slightly shifted his ankles just in time and finally succeeded in landing a clean hit on Ambros's face.

Once more, Ambros was shocked at the weight coming from Kyran's feet. The latter had such a small frame. How could he muster weight greater than his own?

Ambros staggered to the side after Kyran's clean hit.

Kyran did not wait for him to recover. He landed on all fours before stretching one of his legs. He then swept Ambros's feet with agile movement.

"..ngh!"

Like a clumsy big oaf, Ambros fell to the ground. And even then, Kyran did not stop his attack.

As soon as Ambros fell, Kyran hoisted his body backward and dropped a kick, aiming at Ambros's face.

But.

"..kuh!" Kyran gritted his teeth as hot, searing pain exploded from his thigh. As he looked down, he saw metal stakes protruding from the ground and pierced his leg and thigh to prevent it from completing its kicking motion.

"Don't get too cocky just because you landed a clean hit or two," Ambros growled as he grabbed Kyran's shin. He lifted him, not even caring that his thighs were still pierced.

"Argh..!" Kyran winced as he was forcefully lifted without even a care of his pierced thigh. Blood spilled around from the open wounds on his thighs.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Ambros slammed Kyran on the ground with great zeal as if to vent his annoyance at getting hit.

The audience, who had been watching the whole match in silence, finally showed some enthusiasm as they greeted Ambros's move with a cheer.