Weak and Strong

In the middle of a serious conversation, Mahendra, who felt he had heard enough of Mi's comments, suddenly blurted something out.

This was about the Immortal Warrior. His real name is Adinata. He was a figure the gods in the Upper Realm once called a sinner. His hometown was in the old world, the same place as Mahendra's last place of birth.

Mi once told him that her great-great-grandfather, or rather, her ancestor, gave her a piece of paper with the language from the old world on it. This implied that Mi was also a descendant of the Immortal Warrior (even though the Immortal Warrior had honestly never been married).

A spatial portal then appeared right in front of the Immortal Warrior. He was with Azazel and the Wandering King, and for a moment, they were stunned.

"What is that kid up to now?" The Immortal Warrior thought Mahendra was about to do something.

However, what he thought was far from the truth. The portal disappeared after someone emerged from it. It was Mi, a girl who was now over 20 years old.

Mi was also momentarily stunned. Her gaze was fixed on the tall, large man in front of her. His black hair was tied back, and his plain, unadorned clothes gave a sense of poverty. There were no weapons on his body. The man only had a bit of handsomeness and a body full of scars.

"Who is this kid?" the Immortal Warrior asked, his brow furrowed as he stared at the girl in confusion.

"Is she that kid's daughter?" the Immortal Warrior blurted out without thinking.

"Huh?!" Azazel and the Wandering King simultaneously turned to the Immortal Warrior. They couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"That's impossible," Azazel refuted.

"His love life failed, so how could he get married?" the Wandering King added.

"Well, why not?" The Immortal Warrior glanced between them. "Maybe she's an illegitimate child?" he added.

Azazel laughed at that, while the Wandering King remained calm, holding back his own laughter.

"Hahaha! Is he like you? You suddenly got picked up by a woman and then got her pregnant when you had the chance?" Azazel retorted.

"H-how dare you! I'm not like that!" the Immortal Warrior shouted in denial.

***

[...just fight against a weaker person...]

[...all you have to do is suppress your strength...]

Remembering those words, Mahendra wanted to try them out somewhere.The old memories that had become one with him and all the knowledge he had once absorbed now yielded something surprising. Thanks to the suppression of his power, Mahendra could now control it much more freely.

Because of this, teleportation was the easiest thing for him. Even without a portal, in the blink of an eye, he was in the Western Region, in the Mageia City.

"What a nostalgia trip," Mahendra muttered. He pulled his black hood tight to conceal his face and walked normally toward the place where the tournaments were usually held.

Back when he was still a student at the Magic Academy, Mahendra had fought in this Magic Fighting Tournament. He fought against the seniors he had once admired. It made him feel a little better.
And now Mahendra was going to try it again. But this time, he felt his opponent was a bit familiar.

"First place for 10 consecutive years, the Pointy-Eared One!" The tournament announcer called out his name, cheering with great excitement.

"On the other side, a mysterious new challenger! Will this tournament bring something new?!" the announcer shrieked again, his voice loud and echoing throughout the tournament area.

With shoulder-length golden hair and clothes that showed off his figure, the man, who was said to be in first place for 10 years, had a fairly tall posture but a very sharp gaze. He piqued Mahendra's curiosity.

But before the start signal, the opponent with the pointy ears lunged forward quickly. In an instant, he was right in front of Mahendra. Even so, Mahendra was startled, and he held back the punch with all his might.

Not stopping, the opponent, who felt this wasn't enough, quickly distanced himself. He stood with his eyes closed, and a magic circle appeared under both his feet and under both of Mahendra's feet.

Too late to realize and with the spell cast quickly, the opponent released green vines that bound Mahendra's body. Mahendra was locked in one place and unable to move.

"Suppressing my strength to face a weaker person made me let my guard down," Mahendra muttered.

Mahendra had suppressed his power to the level of a magician: Level Super Great Magician. This was the final level for magician.

(In truth, Mahendra's power level couldn't be measured by human standards; it could be said that his current power was like fighting dozens of Level Super Great Magicians.)

Of course, he had intentionally suppressed it to the power of a magician. This was because the level of the Pointy-Eared One was indeed at the same level.

The opponent used the opportunity when Mahendra was unable to move and lunged back at him with a sharp dagger aimed at his face. Mahendra dodged by tilting his head back, and as a result, the hood of his robe was torn.

"It really is the Devourer of Destiny," said the Pointy-Eared One.

Mahendra smiled broadly with a furrowed brow. He seemed annoyed. He quickly burned the vines with fire magic and aimed a punch at his opponent. Although in the end, his fist was stopped by the same vines.

For more than 20 minutes, the fight continued. The announcer's voice was ignored, while the audience was enthusiastic because they were seeing something new, where the Pointy-Eared One was cornered by the mysterious challenger.

Not only were they exchanging punches, but they were also exchanging magic. Despite putting everything into it and matching the power level, Mahendra was still overwhelmed by him.

Even so, according to the laws of nature, plants will lose to fire.

The Pointy-Eared One fell to the ground with a burn on his left hand. Meanwhile, Mahendra stood with his palm pointed forward, intending to attack if his opponent moved again.

The cuts all over Mahendra's body also damaged his clothes. It was either from the thorns of the plants or the dagger that was used.

"The fight ends with the victory of the mysterious challenger!" The announcer cheered again, ending the fight unilaterally.

The announcer, who was about to congratulate him, rushed over, but in an instant, Mahendra had disappeared.

Staggering and feeling his way along the street wall, breathing heavily, Mahendra hid in a quiet alley to regain his breath.

"Senior Uru's attacks were indeed ferocious, but it wasn't enough. Well, at least he managed to suppress me and injure my old wounds from the attacks of the law of power."

From the fight earlier that day, Mahendra felt he understood a little more about the meaning of emptiness. Fights were boring if you could easily destroy your opponent. It was different when you fought with all your might.

"Just like before... when I was very weak," he muttered.

Mahendra walked through the crowd. Luckily, no one noticed him because he walked like a shadow.

Mahendra was intrigued by several people talking about something while looking at a poster pasted on some street walls.

"They say that even commoners can join the Masquerade Ball. Everyone has the right to join so they can find a partner."

"This is the first time. Is there something secret about this party?"

"Well, I heard another rumor... The Princesses of the Kingdom will also be present."

The Kingdom of Murcia was holding a Masquerade Ball in a large park in the Mageia City. Mahendra was immediately reminded of his "four years from now" promise to someone who was highly respected in this area.