"Isn't that the knife I retrieved from the cave those 2 serpents called home?" Ben asked Roubaul, who held the black knife in his right hand.

"You're right. I've calculated the strength of the Etherious inside it. It will be the perfect opponent for your S-Class exam." Roubaul said.

"Heh, an Etherious huh? I've only fought one before. It was that one-eyed Etherious that could petrify things." Ben stated.

"That was months ago when you weren't this strong. This Etherious is different. It is a lot stronger than the last one you fought." Roubaul informed Ben.

Roubaul then erected a dome barrier that covered the whole field. It would prevent the Etherious from escaping. The Etherious contained in the black knife is dangerous so they cannot allow it to escape.

Ben assumed a fighting stance to take on the Etherious and Roubaul also got ready to help him in case something went wrong. Then Roubaul removed the seals on the knife that contained the Etherious. He threw the knife to the other after doing that and the knife started to crack.

Black smoke came out of the knife and then it shattered into pieces. The black smoke gathered and became denser. After some time, the smoke started to disappear and a black werewolf-like creature is seen.

"HA HA, I'M FREE! I'M FINALLY FREE FROM THE KNIFE! THOSE DAMN MAGES, I WILL TEAR THEM APART NOW, HA HA!" The Etherious laughed and looked to the sky.

Ben was able to sense that this Etherious was very different than the one he fought in the past. Compared to this guy, that one-eyed Etherious was a kid in front of an adult in terms of strength.

This guy is the strongest opponent Ben has ever faced. This will be a difficult fight, but Ben still thought it was possible to win. He knew that his power and the power of the Etherious weren't far apart. That meant he had grown a lot since last time.

The Etherious stopped laughing and realized it was trapped in a dome barrier. It looked around and saw Ben on the other side. Strangely, it didn't notice Roubaul, so now it thought Ben was the one that erected the barrier.

"A human kid? Are you the one that erected this barrier?" The Etherious asked.

'It doesn't see Gramps? Hmm, maybe that old man did something before.' Ben thought.

"So what if I did? What are you going to do?" Ben asked with a grin as he assumed a stance.

The werewolf-like Etherious smiled wickedly before suddenly disappearing. Ben's eyes widen in surprise and he looked for the Etherious, but he couldn't find it.

Suddenly, a big fist appeared in front of Ben's face and connected with him. He was flung back at high speed and crashed into the barrier. The impact created a boom and blood trickled out of Ben's nose.

'Shit. He's fast.' Ben thought while sticking into the barrier.

He suddenly tilted his head to the left and a big fist appeared where his head was. The Etherious attacked Ben without waiting for anything.

Ben quickly moved from that spot and immediately covered his entire body in light. It will make him a lot faster and allow him to dodge the next attack. The Etherious was extremely fast, after all.

He suddenly sensed danger and moved away from the spot he was standing at. He managed to avoid a claw attack that cut the ground a little. Ben would've been badly injured if that attack hit him.

'It's fast and strong, this will be very difficult. It hasn't even used it's curse and I already need to access my Light Mode.' Ben thought.

Light Mode was one of Ben's basic magic enchantments. He has 4 basic magic enchantments which are Light, Fire, Heat and Gravity Mode.

He also had a advanced magic enchantment that combines Light, Fire and Heat. He referred to it as Plasma Mode and it was known as Sun Mode in the past. But it hasn't become the real sun without gravity.

So of course he had his ultimate magic enchantment, Sun Mode. It combined all the basic elements he had. However, this mode is still not perfect because he just started working on it last month.

All of his modes were of his creation, not things Escanor came up with. With A.I Chip's help, Ben can formulate and create the modes with all the knowledge he obtained from books. If he had more books, then he would be able to increase the power of his spells too.

Ben chose to use Light Mode now because it increased his speed. The Etherious is very fast, so he needs to move a lot faster to keep up with it. His priority now is to know more about his opponent and avoid getting hit.

The Etherious moved to attack Ben again. He dodged the attacks while moving back. He tried to read the Etherious' movements and find any gap in it's attacks.

Seeing Ben continue to dodge his attacks, the Etherious grinned and flashed it's fangs. It suddenly had black smoke oozing from it's pores. Then it's moves were a lot faster now.

Ben was surprised and knew he couldn't keep up with it's moves. He was hit again and flung away, but stabilized himself. The Etherious attacked again and Ben dodged. But after dodging a few times, he was hit again.

'Shit, he can move even faster now. Is it because of that black smoke? Just what is that?' Ben asked in his head.

"Heh, you're quite good for a human kid. You will be a good target for me to vent my years of suffering in that damn knife. I need to flex my body a little. It's become stiff." The Etherious said with a grin.

"Don't worry, you won't suffer after this. Dead people no longer feel pain." Ben replied.

"I like your gut kid, but that won't happen to me, it will happen to you. So before you die, remember the name of the one who will kill you. My name is Varg, remember it!" The Etherious said with a grin.

Varg suddenly had black smoke covering his entire body. Then he suddenly came towards Ben at high speed, punching him in the stomach. He wasn't able to dodge because Varg was too fast, even for Ben's Light Mode.

Ben crashed into the barrier and coughed up some blood. He wasn't able to move when Varg appeared in front of him and unleashed a barrage of attacks. Ben assumed a defensive position and kept covering his body with magic.

'Damn, why do his attacks feel so painful? The power of his attacks aren't very strong, but they're very painful. It must be his curse.' Ben thought.

"Ha ha, I'm surprised you're able to last this long after being hit by so many attacks. This is the first time someone managed to last this long after being punched by me repeatedly." Varg said with glee.

"I've been through worse. This is nothing." Ben remarked.

"Heh, I wonder how long you will be able to withstand my Pain Curse. My Curse will make my attacks very painful even a simple flick." Varg said with a smug expression.

Varg was very confident of his victory, so he told Ben about his power. Ben was happy to hear this, he knew what Varg was capable of. Varg's arrogance will be his demise, but this must be his nature.

"Sun Dragon Light Roar!" A beam of light hit Varg.

Varg was hit because the attack was so sudden. He was flung back and crashed into the barrier. But Varg wasn't injured because Ben didn't use that much power. He focused on attacking quickly because he needed to get Varg away from him.

Ben took a deep breath to relax. He dispelled his Light Mode and then used another spell. A purple magic circle appeared above his head. Then it moved down towards his feet like it was scanning him.

"Gravity Mode!"

Ben activated a new mode, Gravity Mode. His body was now surrounded by a purple aura. The ground around his feet dented and cracked a little. The gravity mode increased the gravity in the area around him in a 5 meter radius.

"Gravity Domain: 5 Times Gravity!"

"What is this? Another spell of yours? Hah, such a useless struggle. Any spell of yours will be useless to me." Varg said.

Varg rushed towards Ben at high speed and entered the Gravity Domain. Varg suddenly felt his body become very heavy and he fell to the ground. He didn't know what happened, but Ben made his move. He leaped up and stood on top of Varg's body, cracking his fists.

"It's payback time." Ben said with a grin on his face.