The Master of Uradan

His sword was pointing to the floor as Rohan stared in dread at his opponent. He was in the middle of the arena as all the clans of the Barren Lands were watching with apprehension and interest.

The first duel of the fifty or so winners from the four arenas was him against this man standing there. The pressure he emitted forced Rohan to gulp down.

The advisor shouted, it was the start of the duel.

Rohan breathed out and rushed forward. The man waited for the young warrior to approach him. He unsheathed his sword, making all the spectators exclaim among themselves.

Rohan's sword flashed at lighting speed. It was easily parried away. He felt as if he had hit a wall, an indestructible one. The sword his opponent wielded wasn't as good as him, but Rohan could feel it, the thin mana enveloping his sword.

It wasn't the weapon of his enemy that risked being cracked, but his own. His expression hardened.

His heart exploded inside his chest. Blood rushed over his body, heating his muscles. He thrust while spinning his blade, mixing the techniques of sword and spear he had learned. He slashed to the left, rushed to the right, and cleaved down with his sword.

He pushed the techniques he had trained for years at their limit. Sparks flew around him as he continued to dance like a wild beast around this man.

The spectators were simply looking without any noise, far too concentrated on this fight. All the chiefs of the great clans looked at each other before staring back at this young man attacking again and again, without ever slowing down.

Rohan felt the frustration swelled. He had been stupid. This man was simply playing with him. Even if he were to launch a wind blade in the middle of the fight, he knew well enough that the Intermediate Warrior wouldn't care at all.

Since the start of his assault, the young warrior had turned around this middle-aged man. His black hair, tied by the purple ribbon, flew around him under the high speed he constantly moved. He hit all around, tried to take by surprise this man, but nothing. The man had stood there since the beginning. He had never stepped back.

Rohan didn't cease to move for even a second, he couldn't permit himself to. He wanted to go faster, fiercer, to attack at a lightning speed. His mind was fully against his opponent. He forgot about everything else. His body and his sword fusion, accompanied by the mana surrounding it.

If Horim was here, he would instantly recognize the craziness that was happening, as he already had seen his disciple of him make such an incredible movement.

But the only onlookers were up to Intermediate Warriors. All they could see was that the swordsmanship of this young man blew their mind with such intricate gestures, they couldn't feel the mana sticking to Rohan, attracted by his body as if was a long-lost friend.

But Rohan didn't care about all that. He wasn't paying attention to his mana. He wasn't even planning on using any skills. All he wanted was to make this man in front of him take a step back, it was his only goal. He couldn't believe the difference between a rank 5 Beginner Warrior and a rank 6 Intermediate Warrior was this huge.

It was the difference between a river and the sea, and Rohan only felt minuscule in front of this man. He was simply moving his sword here and there, chasing away the little fly he was. Rohan could even guess that this man was feeling bored.

He used everything. All his might, all his strength, all his speed. Rohan was too engrossed in his goal and missed the brows of the intermediate warrior rising up.

Ha wasn't bored, not at all. It was even the contrary. Rohan felt the intermediate warrior, the strongest warrior outside of the central ring, could easily deflect every single move, but the truth wasn't that simple.

Rohan's father was an intermediate Warrior, and this was many years ago. But even then, Rohan had never seen his strength. The only point he was sure of before leaving for war, was that an Intermediate Warrior was fast enough to run as fast as a horse without any skills.

Even as a rank 5, Rohan was far from being able to do so. Becoming a Beginner Warrior wasn't considered to be difficult, and only reaching the rank higher was worthy of respect for the countries in the north. It was because a Beginner Warrior wasn't that strong, to begin with. He was stronger than an ordinary man, his physique more developed than any other mana user, but it was only that, just slightly better.

Compared to a Beginner Wizard, a Beginner Warrior was simply too weak! Once he opened his fifth meridian, it was indeed better, but the consumption of mana was too high to make it a sharp weapon.

It was only when the warrior reached the Intermediate ranks that he understood the meaning of being a warrior. The amount of mana wasn't that impressive. The skills a warrior could use were simply too costly in a prolonged battle.

But his physique was simply godly.

As Rohan was inside his own world, fighting like a beast against an INtermediate Warrior that was forced to pay attention to every move for fear of being too slow, the man decided it was time to stop here. This young warrior was definitely good.

The air hissed as the sword forged by Horim split everything before reaching the warrior. The man's weapon appeared from seemingly nowhere and a terrible blow shook the arm wielding the sword.

Rohan felt his muscles giving upon him. Each time he struck with all his might, he met nothing else but the sword reinforced by the mana. The shock was numbing his whole being, and he felt he couldn't keep up like this. He needed to find a solution.

The rebond sent his sword away, but Rohan used this momentum to prepare his next blow. But before he could hit anything, his heart tighten. the impassible warrior in front of him finally decided to move.

Chills ran down his spine as he felt doom approaching at high speed. The sword of the enemy was already on him before he could do anything. He couldn't believe it. There was no mana being used, it wasn't even a skill!

He saw the blade dangerously approaching. Without a choice, Rohan used Charge and leaped back to nearly evade the blow. A thin bloody line appeared on his cheek. A slight hesitation would be his death! Before he could even catch up his breath, the Intermediate Warrior took a step forward.

The acceleration of his blow was simply godly, and Rohan couldn't do anything to suppress it. It was now too late to give up, as the blade would be on him in less than a second. He couldn't evade the blow, nor could he block it.

Then he decided to go all out. The time slowed down as he saw everything. He followed with a Charge forward, to be even more close to this warrior. He chained with a Strengthened Blow.

He couldn't do anything else, but it was at this moment, that under the world slowed down by the skill Overload, Rohan saw the man smile. A happy smile.

Then, nothing.. Nothing but darkness.