Danmachi: Magus Rex

As he read his match up against the ape-type monster, Magnus felt his battle intent rising

'A battle with a peak level 1 is going to be interesting'

He then turned to check the other match ups, trying to find names he could recognize

Rador was matched up against a Lygerfang, most of the entries were mostly either level 1 or level 2 with the rare level 3 or 4 here and there

One name caught his name, one of the few Level 5's on the board

Bete Loga, representing the Loki Familia vs Loup Garou [Level 5]

He had heard of the Loki familia before along with its reputation as one of the top familia alongside the Freya familia. Bete Loga was an elite member of the familia, a werewolf by the alias of Fenris

'This should be interesting to watch'

Giving a small grin, Magnus moved back to find a seat and wait for his turn.

* * * * *

Quite a few level 1's had already stepped on the stage. Some came back with somber expression while other came back filled with glee. Their fights were being broadcasted inside the room via some sort of magical device.

After some time one of the Ganesha family members called out

"Magnus from the Dian Cecht familia please come up on stage"

Getting his que, Magnus walked up the stairs and into the arena to a crowd that was completely riled up by the fights.

He was getting mixed cheering, while some were cheering for him to win, others cheered for him to get crushed. Letting out an amused chuckle he walked up on stage to face the chained white ape.

"Participant Magnus, you may make your pre-battle preparations here now. The silverback will be released in 30 seconds" the host announced in a loud voice.

Taking this opportunity Magnus calmed down and observed his upcoming foe. The Silverback had a huge frame along with impressive muscles. 'If I get hit by those, I can forget getting out before this week ends, it seems like I'll have to stay on my feet and dodge or divert all attacks. No place to hold back, let's do this'

Calling up his magic power, Magnus activated the one magic he knew.

"Tribuo Sword Acri, Tribuo Buckler Ferreus, Tribuo Self Celer" he called out in a whisper as the trigger words worked on reality itself to enchant according to his command.

[Tribuo = Enchant/Grant, the word to grant something

Acri = Sharp, Ferreus = Hard/Durable, Celer = Fast/Speed]

30 seconds passed quickly as the host and other familia members evacuated the stage and the silverback was released.

As soon as it was released, the silverback jumped straight at the boy intent on crushing him. A huge cloud of dust was kicked up as the giant ape crushed the location the boy was standing.

"Now wasn't that rude of you" as the dust cleared a voice rang out from behind the silverback in a mocking manner. The silverback was left stunned as the prey it was supposed to have crushed was suddenly behind it.

"I guess it's my turn now" saying so the boy disappeared from his position and reappeared above the head of the silverback where he gave a good stab towards its eye.

Hitting the mark, Magnus was quick to jump away as the silverback roared in fury and covered its now useless eye.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a surprising turn of events on our hands as the silverback seems to be no match of the Purple Caped adventurer" the host announced from outside the stage as he continued to talk on about the fight.

Not giving it much reprieve, Magnus rushed at the flailing ape once more, aiming for the other eye. The ape seemed to have anticipated this course of action as it instantly moved to counter Magnus. Giving a slight smile, Magnus easily dodged the wide swing from the ape, instead using this opportunity to cut at the Silverbacks arm, leaving a huge gash in its place as he nimbly jumped away.

The silverback was now furious as it had already lost an eye and now its main arm was damaged. It went into extreme fury as its eyes glowed red and charged madly at the adventurer.

"Mad charges like that aren't going to help at all ya know?" Magnus taunted the beast causing it to devolve into further rage.

It tried to capture the boy in its giant hands but continuously failed as he was quick to dodge and even quicker to launch counters towards the maddened beast.

After some time the Silverback seemed close to collapsing but before it could fully do so, a strange black energy erupted from the monster as it wrapped itself around the beast. All of a sudden the injuries inflicted on the beast were healed up as it got up, new as ever, other than the fact that its fur was now a shiny black color

"Now that isn't something you see every day" Smirking, Magnus got into position to wait for the now Black Ape to charge him.

Not disappointing his expectations, the ape led another maddened charge towards Magnus but this time it moved with increased speed, Catching Magnus off guard and managing to land a strike on his buckler which he managed to get up in time.

Magnus flew to the other side of the arena as his buckler all but broke apart. 'Minor muscle pain and a broken shield, it seems like I won't be able to use my off-hand for some time. The beast has increased physical parameters so I should expect it to attack even faster and stronger than before. The broken buckler leaves me with one more enchantment that I can use'

"Duplex Tribuo Sword Acri" enchanting his sword once more to grant it additional attack power.

[Duplex = Double]

Giving the Black Ape a serious look, Magnus got into one of his more offensive forms as he got ready to battle this renewed foe.

The Ape wasted no time in charging towards its prey but before it could attack, Magnus moved. Running straight towards the beast, Magnus waited until the last moment before weaving through its arms and strafing to the side after leaving a giant gash in its torso. Before it could continue, Magnus turned around leaving another open wound on it back.

In this manner Magnus stuck extremely close to the beast while dodging its attempts to grab him and leaving behind devastating wounds.

Now left in a situation even worse than before, the ape fell to its knees and before it could make another sound Magnus let his sword fall an chop its head clean off its shoulders

"I really liked that buckler you know" he whispered in a dark tone towards the dissipating corpse before he turned around and left the arena to a huge round of cheers from the crowd.

* * * * *

Back in the waiting room, the other competitors gave him a wide berth after the display. He ignored this and headed towards Rador who was wearing an extremely excited expression. Walking up to the purple eyed boy, Rador put his hand on his shoulder.

"That was an amazing fight Magnus-kun, I'm pretty impressed. Honestly when I saw that blackened ape, I thought you were in for a loss but then that splendid display of swordsmanship touched my heart. I too shall do my best to put on an entertaining match like your"

Magnus gave him a smug grin "Thanks for that I guess, and best of luck in your fight, I'll be watching" saying so he walked off to the corridor leading to the stands

* * * * *

Walking back to the stands he was met by the applause of the audience, with many of them complementing him on his battle. He politely answered them and made his way back to where the Dian Cecht familia sat

"That was amazing Magnus-san, you were all whoosh and whoosh and all of a sudden the Silverback was dead, how'd you do that" he was greeted by an excited Jack who seemed determined to suck all the information out of him

"It was just swordsmanship practice, between physically matched foes, technique can be the tie breaker and that's all I did"

Jack seemed to take those words to heart as a strange fire started burning in his eyes.

Seeing him in a slightly bad mode Dian Cecht spoke up "what's wrong boy, you won a great victory today, you should be happy and celebrating"

"You're not wrong but I'm still mad about losing that buckler, it was one of the few things I had left of home"

"Oh is that all? Don't worry boy, the buckler broke due to their monster going berserk with weird energy, everyone here saw it. As a reward for showing me such an interesting battle and motivating Jack I'll handle the negotiations for you. Soon you'll get your compensation and more, leave it to me" Dian replied with a glint in his eye.

Shuddering at what the Ganesha family would have to go through with that ominous glint, Magnus gave a weak smile "Thank you very much Lord Dian"

"Think nothing of it, now then the level 2 fights are about to start. You should watch closely as it'll help you in the dungeon fights"

Nodding in acknowledgement, Magnus turned his attention back to the Arena.