Chapter 26: Jacob X Raphael (6)

"geez... You're pretty strong to be able to make me bleed." Raphael stood up and stretched his back and said again:

"Okay, let's fight for real then."

Jacob stomped deep into the ground, but when he was going to advance on Raphael, an abnormal pressure was summoned and began to push him down. Jacob gritted his teeth and resisted that pressure, but Raphael took the opportunity that Jacob was motionless and used fire magic in his fists and launched a fire magic attack at Jacob.

The fire attack manifested a form of a fire dragon and flew at Jacob, but suddenly time went in slow motion for Jacob and he reflected:

'This magic that is trying to crush me, has a range of only 5 meters, meaning that after I get 5 meters away, the magic will fail. But unfortunately Raphael already knew that and launched a large scale attack, so I can't escape.... Damn.'

Raphael, smiled and increased the firepower of his attack to the maximum as he spoke:

"You are someone resilient, so I believe you won't die from that attack, but I can't guarantee you'll get out in one piece."

Jacob looked coldly at the giant fire dragon coming towards him and smiled.

Suddenly, the attack crashed into Jacob and created a huge explosion. A tension was created in the surrounding audience and Rodric stood up concerned for Jacob's well being. Grace was shocked by the power of that attack and ran up to lagertha and said:

"Queen lagertha, I thought the fight was just going to be a friendly one where the opponents didn't use spells that can cause permanent damage, but Raphael is clearly crossing the line and breaking fair play."

"Pffff, it is normal that you find the fight unfair, But I know who Jacob voss is and I also know that ordinary attacks will not defeat or even kill him, so if Raphael does not fight using all his power, it is obvious that Jacob will win. But don't worry about him, Jacob voss can't be killed."

"Tsk." Grace clicked her tongue and looked worriedly at the curtain of fire that had formed where Jacob was standing.

Raphael reflected as he waited for the curtain of fire to disappear to see the state Jacob was in:

'This guy is very strange.... He's not using mana and so far has only used brute force. Was my theory about him not having mana true? Because that would explain a lot...'

Suddenly Raphael stopped talking when he heard a "crash" sound, then he looked down and noticed the ground cracking and said:

"What is that?"

As he finished his sentence, the floor broke completely and Jacob appeared from there smiling. Being caught off guard, with his guard down and at that distance, Raphael was literally an easy target and without wasting his attacks, Jacob punched the tip of his chin with all his strength and Raphael lost consciousness and started to fall, but Jacob took the opportunity and kicked Raphael in the skull. After all this, Raphael finally collapsed passed out on the floor and the audience vibrated, the excitement was easily compared to when your favorite player scored a great goal.

Attacks to the skull, on the other hand, do not cause fainting, nor do they lead to death in a short period of time. However, the continuity of these lesions causes microtrauma that in the long term can cause significant sequelae or even death. The TAU protein, present in the composition of cells and neurons, has its normal function altered and triggers significant damage.

Jacob after knocking Raphael out, sat down in front of him and waited for him to get up. After a few seconds, Raphael regained consciousness, sat up and said:

"Your attacks are fatal... Now I understand why you don't use mana. Tell me Jacob, are you god rank?"

"Rank god? Pffff, I'm not lucky like you. You are losing to me because you lack humanity."

"Hm, I feel like I'm lacking just that..."

"Ysabel is rank dragon and she almost managed to beat me, do you know why?"

"Because she has combat experience?"

"No, because she uses a feeling called fear. Fear that causes her to make choices that prevent future fatal mistakes. Just like someone chooses not to walk on the edge of a mountain or not to approach wild animals. She uses this to her advantage and calculates possible attacks and strategies of her opponent."

Raphael widened his surprised eyes and said:

"Now I get it... I'm missing being human instead of a hero."

"Yes, since ancient times, humans have feared the unknown and avoided it, but you, because of this hero syndrome or thinking you are the protagonist, plunge head-on against the unknown without thinking about the consequences."

Suddenly, Raphael stood up and released his full aura of a rank god and said:

"Thank you, now I understand what was missing in me..." Raphael finally realized that even though he was a god rank hero, he could easily be killed by a random arrow that was shot by a goblin a mile away. He had realized that this world was just like a jungle and just as in the jungle the animals use fear to survive, here in this new world it would be no different.

The ground and the barrier began to crack due to the extreme pressure of Raphael's aura and Jacob stood up as he reflected:

'This guy wouldn't be a bad protagonist, but unfortunately he has too many wives...'

The barrier began to fall and Raphael said in a serious tone:

"Shall we pick up where we left off?"

[...]

Author's note:

"Fear has some utility, but cowardice does not."

Fear plays a key role in human evolution, but it works best away from extremism. Homo sapiens, over thousands of years, would not have escaped if he went on a rampage against any animal he met. Nor would he have lasted if he were paralyzed to the point that he could not escape when necessary. The same would apply to living with one's own kind. After all, letting dread reach a debilitating level could cause an individual to isolate himself from his peers, reducing his ability to protect himself. Neither extreme would allow him to survive for long.