Mute's POV

"Everything's going according to plan," Mute thought to himself as he saw the captain of the Silver Mavericks rush to the dressing room, fuming in anger.

All this time, Mute saw countless warriors fell to their death because they could not contain their emotions. Fear, Anger, Lust. In battle, emotions were a hindrance. What someone needed were a cool head and a burning heart. If even the head had a hot temper, what could it do?

Mute could not believe it only took one sentence to rile up the Silver Mavericks Captain. Were they all right with someone like that leading them?

Suddenly, the small audience became noisy. The captain finally showed up, dressed up in complete battle gear.

This might just become an interesting fight. Although, Mute still believed he would end up triumphant as he could feel the glare from Kristoffer several feet away.

That rage would be his undoing. It always had been for the people he met.

The referees positioned themselves, their creepy smiles sowing doubt in Mute's mind. But only a little.

One of the referees gave the signal to start almost too quickly.

As always, Mute had cast [Body Enhancement] on himself, multiplying his strength and speed by 1.5 times.

Mute was surprised that the captain did not rush him immediately. Perhaps he was one of those defensive types?

"Oh, well."

Mute had known Earth Magic since he was a kid. By now, forming a bump on the ground was as effortless as breathing. Then, what if he used it to create a spear from below the enemy?

A ruthless trap.

The captain jumped, and from his previous position several short spears appeared.

Mute was amazed at the captain for dodging that. Could he detect mana flow? Or was it pure instinct?

Either way, it didn't matter. Mute also braced himself for the small chance that the captain didn't get impaled on the first try.

All Mute had to do was summon more.

With no way to dodge midair, the captain would have himself pierced. Or so Mute thought.

The captain swung his sword and all the spears easily broke like branches before he reached them.

Those weren't supposed to look so brittle, though!

It was a bit excruciating seeing the spears get destroyed when Mute didn't cut any corners making them.

Then what about a third time!

The captain's suppressed scream was music to Mute's ears as the captain's foot was caught.

This time, Mute only summoned a single stick that was 4 inches tall. Mute also had to time it at the exact moment the captain's foot touched the ground, needing precise control after guessing the landing spot.

Since he only created a single stick, the minuscule amount of mana it used was difficult to track as well.

The captain was now trapped and Mute charged. However, since Mute had already cast enhancement magic on his body at the start, Mute reached Kristoffer in a blink. If the captain wanted to keep his distance, he would have to extract his foot from the stick. That's going to hurt a lot. Mute was willing to bet that was the worst splinter the captain ever had.

The captain barely managed to block his strike and tumbled backwards, but with his foot still caught, just moving his leg would have hurt. The captain's grunting said so.

"I won't let you take any rest!" Mute continued with the onslaught.

All the captain could do was block and dodge. And since the captain could not move from his position, he was like a sitting duck and wounds started to pile up as Mute expected.

Despite that, Mute was astonished at the captain for managing not to receive any fatal injuries, magnificently positioning his shield and parrying with his sword with impeccable concentration. It would have been understandable if the captain was also using [Body Enhancement] magic, but the captain could still barely keep up amid the excruciating pain. What kind of training did these Mavericks do?

But would it matter in the end? Any time soon and the captain should begin slowing down due to his injuries.

Mute felt a little bad. That said, Mute also needed a little bit of rest so he took a breather.

Mute instantly regretted it.

It was a shock when Kristoffer suddenly pulled his foot out of the stick and the injuries started healing themselves. He never saw him take any healing potion, though.

Mute had a bad feeling about this. Mute redoubled his efforts in a bid to end the fight as quickly as possible.

Mute lifted his sword to his chest then charged again. However, that was only a distraction. When the captain readied himself for another flurry of strikes, he was not able to defend himself from Mute's spell.

A perfect surprise attack.

The captain was impaled by two earthen spears to his left side and vomited blood.

The captain should know by now that he had already lost. Despite that, it was not fear Mute saw in Kristoffer's eyes. It was burning rage.

For a split second, Mute instinctively stopped. Hesitation buried itself behind his mind.

But Mute would be an idiot if he did not press on his advantage. With a blink, Mute was already in front of Kristoffer once again.

First strike. The shield blocked it.

Second strike. The shield flew away.

The captain was now completely open, his neck a tempting target for his sharp blade.

This third strike should be the end.

And then, a head flew off.

Mute's head did.