Faust judged the power rolling off William; the product of a skill, schema and system, and came to a conclusion.

Okay, I should use a skill for this one.

He used Greg’s Growth ability to increase his strength and durability, before activating the Bolster 100% Defensive increase.

William actually moved quite fast this time. He flickered from his position and appeared beside Faust in the blink of an eye. His fist made the air tremble with power. The moment he hit Faust an explosion surrounded them

BOOM!

Dust and force washed over the Gate. Everyone covered their faces, backing up in fear. A punch had just caused what seemed like an explosion!

William leapt out of the dust, soaring back almost ten metres before skidding to a stop. His body was trembling from how much power he had just used. The expression on his face was that of horror and fear.

But Faust walked out of the dust unscathed. "Don’t worry, you didn’t kill me."

The sound of gasps and murmurs filled the stunned space. Faust didn’t even look like he had been hit. That hit had more strength than any of them thought possible.

"No," William whispered, his eyes shook. He looked so fragile in that moment, so unlike the monster he had been seconds ago. "No, no, no, no... NO! This... this isn’t possible! You’re cheating. You did something, some kind of freak skill!"

Faust shrugged, raising his hands. "If it is a cheat, what about it? Learn some cheats instead of blaming me."

He walked towards William and the boy staggered back, grey eyes now full of fear and uncertainty.

"Hey. Don’t run," Faust chastised. "You owe me a few hits. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. But you might not be able to walk in time for the next wave."

William’s mouth opened to insult him, but Faust was already in front of him. His eyes widened and he jumped back. The sudden explosion of speed caught him off guard, but he was still empowered by seven people. He could—

Faust’s fist made his head snap back. Wind rushed around them as, for the first time, Faust met something he could hit without breaking.

Boosted by the Steel Giant Schema, his strength had dramatically increased.

William wasn’t out yet, his Constitution allowed him to take the thunderous blow with only a painful bruise. But Faust wasn’t even done yet. The first blow was just meant to stun.

He got into a boxing stance and followed up his straight with a right hook that drew blood from William.

BANG!

William staggered backward violently. The fool’s eyes widened as blood dripped from his nose.

Faust laughed loudly at his childish ignorance. "All that strength and you don’t know how to use it."

"Shut up!" William yelled back, but didn’t attack. Like the cowled animal he was, William just raised his hands shakily. "Do you ever stop talking?!"

"I’m just saying. If you threw a good blow the first time I let you hit me you might have drawn blood. Watch my form on this hit."

William was forewarned. He had his hands up. He used his skill to increase his durability in exchange for speed.

And yet the straight slid through his guard, slammed into his skull like a battle ram, and sent stars into his vision.

Instinctively, Faust’s right hand lowered for the body shot, but he held back again and let William recover. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

His face was now a mess of blood. Heavy gasps rattled from his mouth as he tried breathing through his nose. Shaking and wide-eyed, he faced Faust now with open terror.

"Did you see it?" Faust asked casually. "The way my entire body moved at once? The way I stiffened up just as it landed? The rotation of my hips? A good punch starts with your legs."

William spat out a glob of spit and blood, forcing air through his nose to remove the blood. A glare so dark it would shake any man was laid on Faust. In that moment, Faust understood why William hated him so much.

"Good," Faust said, nodding. "You still want some instruction. I’ll hit you two more times, stay conscious."

[Rage Strike Lv2 (Iron): Your fifth attack can be enhanced to be 50% stronger. Your tenth attack can be enhanced to be 100% Stronger. Requirements: 70 Strength, Level 3.]

He wanted to test this attack against a stronger opponent. Chaining Rage Strike with Flowing Viper might be his killer move in a battle.

He crossed the distance between them without Dash. Little Willy was already suffering so much.

His first hit, a sharp liver shot, was blocked. William grunted in pain from the attack, but he blocked it. A look of triumph flashed over his face.

He watched Faust’s left hand for the next lightning fast straight, but that was his mistake. Faust shifted and punched up through William’s weak guard. The last hit shook the world.

BOOM!

The air popped around the two of them. William was thrown off his feet, spinning through the air like a limp doll. When he hit the ground there was stunned silence.

William was bleeding into the ground, knocked unconscious. There were likely fractures on his skull from the blow, but Faust was sure Liora would keep him alive. She had a healing skill if he remembered correctly.

So Faust waved him off with a vicious smile. He didn’t want to fight William during the event, but if the boy was so eager to disgrace himself, Faust couldn’t resist.

As he walked away from the scene of the beating, people cleared a path for him, whispering in awe. Faust enjoyed attention a little. Everyone did.

But the feeling of William’s bones breaking under his fists was far more rewarding.

If he had any free slots he would have copied and permanently kept William’s Schema in that moment.

"I have to always leave an open slot," he murmured to himself.

Besides, a Gold grade Schema wasn’t anything impressive, it might be useful somewhere, but he only had five slots.

System, can i get rid of a Schema after replicating it permanently?

The system chimed and a panel appeared in front of him.

[Schema Hint: At level 5 of each rank you will gain more slots to copy Schemas. But at Rank 1 Level 5 only five Schemas can be replicated permanently. And these cannot be revoked.]

There are ranks for players? Like Bronze, Iron and Silver? That was good to know.

He had to keep an eye out for Epic or Legendary Grade Schemas.

Funny enough, Jason, Gamebreaker, had an Epic Grade Schema, one Faust really wished he left an open slot for.

[Schema: Iron King]

[Rank: Epic]

[Details: You rule with authority. To command is your birthright if you only take it.]

[Schema Abilities: Hand of Authority, Ignore Lesser Beings]

[Hand of Authority (Supreme): Your grasp is far and wide. Manipulate your marked foes from any distance.]

[Ignore Lesser Beings (Platinum): Any attack from a person at a lower level than you is greatly diminished, no matter their combat power.]