The Warehouse Elder moved to walk beside Min.

"What is this you're saying about a new Shaman? Are they a craftsperson?" He asked.

"No, a new Immortal to be inducted into the Clan. However, their

circumstances are a bit unique, and related to Karl. I don't know how much you know already, so I will let him explain once you've seen him again.

I was hoping to bring you back to his apartment. But someone saw Thor and challenged him to a ranking battle."

The Elder blinked slowly.

"Did anyone warn him that the Behemoth was going to humiliate him in public?"

Min shook her head. "It was an abrupt thing, and we didn't have a chance. He'll find out soon enough, though. Actually, I'm a bit curious to see how Thor fights a duel. He's usually a Knight protecting his Red Dragon Priestess wife.

But as far as actual duel type combat skills, I don't know what he has. Especially in humanoid form."

They reached the arena, and Min followed the Elder into the stands, while Thor went to the sand with the challenger. The stands were already filling with all the curious Clan members.

The new guy didn't look like much, part Elf or Fae, going by the ears and green hair. But too big to be most Elf species, unless the other half was something very muscular. In contrast, the challenger was even more muscular, but half a head shorter, and wearing highly fashionable battle robes, instead of Thor's plain tunic.

Elder Socrate took the referee's stand, and raised his hands to silence the crowd.

"We won't waste much time waiting for the crowd today. The stands are filling nicely.

On the north side, we have Romano, Blood Knight, rank two hundred and eighteen on the Spirit Immortal Ranking. On the south side, we have Thor, an unranked Paladin."

Thor waved happily to the crowd, who cheered for the new arrival.

He just looked so happy and approachable that they almost felt bad about the initiation process. Though, Romano was much weaker than his ego told him he was. It might actually be fairly decent for Thor to duel him and settle into a lower spot in the Clan right into the start.

"Contestants, cast your buffs."

Thor smiled as he stacked [Haste], [Brutality], [Crushing Blows], [Bestial Raiment], [Inspiration] and [Eternal Lightning] to armour himself up and buff his speed to an insane level.

Then he used [Bulwark] to enhance his shield, and created a club with [Holy Weapon], that he wrapped a [Tribulation Chain] around. He'd seen Cara create a barbed wire wrapped bat before, and it looked perfect for duels.

Min howled with laughter as she realized that the bat was an Epic Grade control spell that would cause stunning and paralysis on top of massive lightning damage.

But Thor was also being forced to hold back. As he couldn't use his best spells without switching back to a four legged body, he couldn't use [Warbeast] or [Greater Beast Form].

While his opponent flexed and showed off blade skills for the crowd, Thor simply slammed his shield into the ground and spread [Bulwark] in an arc in front of himself, then nodded to the referee.

"Oh, this is going to be fun. The life steal class against a lightning bulwark equipped Paladin." Elder Douglas joked.

Min giggled. "That's an Impenetrable Bulwark Behemoth."

Then she raised her hand to call a bookie over to place her bet on the match.

"Ten Clan Credits says that Romano doesn't even break Thor's defensive barriers." She insisted.

The bookie laughed. "Alright, we will take that bet."

The Blood Knight was an offence heavy class. They were excellent in duels, and their damage output was much higher than a Paladin or Warrior.

"Begin!" Elder Socrate announced, and the arena immediately filled with light as Thor activated [Circle of Protection], followed by [Consecrated Ground].

The holy damage hit the Blood Knight, and the Elders in attendance sighed.

This fight was already over, and nobody had even realized it. The System capped damage reduction at about eighty percent, but in Thor's case, that was eighty percent reduced, and he would ignore the first ten percent of his health pool, plus a point for every day that he had been alive.

Nothing that Romano could do would even scratch him.

Not that he didn't try.

The golden light was tinged with red as Romano flared with power and activated [Deadly Burst], a flurry of attacks that sent lightning sparks up from Thor's shield, crackling in the air as [Bulwark] absorbed the damage.

Then, Thor's arm flashed down, and Romano was driven to his knees by the lightning damage and stun effect of [Tribulation Chains].

"Gods that hurt," he muttered as he rolled back and tried to regroup.

The Paladin was insanely fast. But Thor was using both [Haste] and humming a tune that activated the bardic skill of [Inspiration], which added another 40

percent to his speed.

Thor advanced slowly, despite his immense speed.

He wanted to corner his opponent and pummel him into submission, since they were in an enclosed space, where he couldn't run away.

Romano desperately poured power into his attacks, his blade slamming into [Bulwark] a dozen times a second. But the spell wasn't even flickering, as Thor constantly added mana to keep it stable.

The crowd had fallen silent as they realized what was happening.

Someone had found the ultimate group tank and brought him to the Clan. If

you were taking a Spirit Immortal group to the Dungeon, this was the man that

you wanted to have on the front line.

Even the mightiest of dungeon opponents would be helpless against his

implacable advance.

Unfortunately for Romano, he wasn't doing any damage to recover life. With the constant holy damage he was taking, his natural regeneration was worthless. Then, with every strike, he took Lightning Element backlash from Thor's defences.

He shifted left, hoping to find a way around the Bulwark.

It was focused forward, so if he could get behind Thor, there might be a chance to deal some actual damage.

Unfortunately, Thor was much faster than he was, and a side arm swing of the

bat sent Romano flying.

"It's a bit like watching a dungeon boss marching through the damage classes after the tank dies." Elder Douglas whispered to Min and the others sitting in

the Elders' section.

Elder Forsham smiled softly. "Like Karl, that one has an Epic Grade constitution. Plus, he's a Behemoth. It literally is a world boss mopping the floor with a solo damage dealer at this point.

Romano should just be thankful that Thor isn't using any actual damage skills."

Douglas looked startled. "You can see his name plate? I don't see anything for him at all. It's like he doesn't have a System Interface."

Forsham shrugged. "I have a skill to get information about beasts. He's bonded to Karl, so he won't show a standard name to some Systems. If you've got a

similar one to his, you should be able to see his name, though." Min nodded. "I can see his name and the special thingy, like Karl has." "Apparently, most of the crowd can't. The betting favoured Romano pretty

heavily."