Chapter 153: Entering Top ten
The head of the spear emerged from Vlad’s stomach. Or rather, that was what would happen one second in the future, according to his Foresight Eye.
Without even looking back, Vlad swung the sword upward behind his back. It struck the incoming spear, changing its trajectory and sending it into the air.
After spinning through the air several times, the spear arced back into Gareth’s hand.
"Telekinesis?" Vlad gasped, taking a step back.
"Haha, so you actually dodged it," Gareth laughed, swinging the shaft of his spear around his hand.
’He is repeatedly targeting my vital points,’ Vlad muttered inwardly. ’If I was any weaker, I would have been fatally injured or even dead.’
He gripped the sword with both hands, moving one leg back. ’I will get wounded if I hold back too much.’
"The look in your eyes changed," Gareth said, launching himself at Vlad. "Have you decided to take this duel seriou—"
His words stopped mid-sentence as Vlad vanished from his place. Gareth’s head snapped from side to side as he desperately searched for Vlad, but all he could see was a streak of crimson lightning darting across the dueling ground.
"I cannot follow his movement at all," Gareth muttered, restlessness clear on his face.
Slash!
He felt a stinging pain on his cheek. A shallow mark was left behind, from which a bead of blood emerged.
Several similar slashes followed across his forearms, hands, and legs. Vlad’s body became visible only for a moment at random points around the ground before turning into bolts of lightning again.
As the wounds on Gareth’s body continued to increase, the frustration of being unable to dodge or block the attacks began surging within him.
"You cannot defeat me with these tricks!" he shouted, bursting his mana out in every direction.
It struck Vlad as well, who was about to land another attack on his back.
"So there you are!" Gareth shouted, pivoting on his feet as he launched the spear at him in short, repetitive thrusts.
"Tiger Spear Art! Stone Splitting Claws!"
From the movement of his spear, a claw of concentrated mana, as large as Vlad’s body, materialised, each of its sharp nails carrying the same sharpness as an Aura Blade.
Vlad faced the attack head-on, swinging his blade in a horizontal slash.
’The Tiger Spear Art is the secret spear technique of the Mercenary King, which he only passed down to Gareth,’ Victor murmured to himself. ’Although Gareth can only use its first two moves, they are powerful enough to defeat any of his peers. These Stone Splitting Claws are the second technique, which can materialise Aura into the four fingers of a tiger, each one as powerful as a blade swung by an Aura wielder. This duel... Vlad has lo—’
His thoughts came to an abrupt stop, his eyes widening at the impossible sight unfolding before him.
Vlad’s blade cleanly sliced through the first finger all the way to the last one in a single swing.
A ripple of gasps spread through the spectating students at the sheer absurdity of what they had just witnessed.
"Im-impossible," Gareth exclaimed, the earlier expression of confidence and amusement gone from his face. He had fought his fair share of strong prodigies in the arena tournament. His Stone Splitting Claws had been blocked before as well. But never had anyone stopped the attack by cutting through it with nothing but Sword Aura, without using any weapon art. "Didn’t you only awaken the Sword Aura? How could you already master it to such an extent?"
Vlad let his sword do the talking. In an instant, he appeared before Gareth, his blade coming at him like a blur.
Tang!
Tang!
Tang!
Sparks erupted from the collision of their weapons as Vlad released a barrage of strikes at Gareth, pushing him back with overwhelming strength. Each strike crashed against Gareth’s spear like a falling boulder, sending numbing shockwaves through his arms.
His eyes shifted to his hands, where the skin had ruptured. A trail of blood leaked from the corner of his lips from the internal injuries he had suffered while blocking Vlad’s strikes.
’Strange...’ Vlad murmured inwardly, confused. ’He is in the top ten, so why are his skills just mediocre? Even his Aura is unstable. Is he still holding back?’
"Do you have any other moves, senior?" Vlad asked, his breath even. There was not a single bead of sweat on his face.
His genuine question felt like a mockery to Gareth, the veins bulging at his temple. "I indeed have a move," he muttered. "But it will take time to cast it."
"Go ahead," Vlad’s response came instantly. He wanted to know where he stood with his current powers.
"Such arrogance," Gareth muttered.
An auburn layer of energy surrounded his silhouette. The mana from his body channeled into the spear, accumulating at its tip. Dust and debris rose from the ground, spiraling around the tip like a drill.
"This is..." Victor’s eyes narrowed. His hands glowed with a faint blue light as he prepared to step in.
"I accept that you are talented, junior," Gareth said, pointing the spear at Vlad. "But in battle, the one who prevails is not the talented or stronger one, but the one who never lets their opponent gain an advantage over them. You were defeated the moment you gave me the time to unleash this move!"
"Tiger Spear Art! Roar of Baiju!"
A wild, cylindrical beam of wind burst from the tip of the spear, moving like a serpent with a sharp, piercing edge. The wind howled like a furious tiger bolting toward its prey.
Vlad dropped the Éclair and drew another sword from his storage ring, lacing it in ominous dark mana, with countless limbs of black flames emerging along its edge.
Crimson lightning danced around his feet as he bolted head-on toward the incoming drill.
His blade struck the tip with a heavy thud. Waves of dark mana and powerful wind burst outward from the collision. Slowly, his blade pierced through the drill, the dark flames devouring the Anemo mana. The moment it broke, Vlad moved like lightning, his blade cutting through the entire beam and stopping just before Gareth’s throat.
"It was a nice attack, but you haven’t mastered it yet," Vlad said, his tone calm.
"W-would you have lost if I had mastered it?" Gareth asked, breathing heavily, his eyes widened.
"Nah, I’d win," Vlad replied matter-of-factly.
Gareth dropped onto his back and murmured with a sigh, "I lost."
"Th-the winner is Vlad Lumberjack," Victor declared, every syllable laced in shock. "He has officially entered the rankings of the top ten."