The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Isaac heard this and sighed. He abruptly halted his charge towards Tore.

"Hm!"

He gave a short, loud grunt of pain as he forced his dislocated shoulder back into its socket. Then he walked to the side of the ring and sat down.

The duels were fought in a best-of-three format, so he still had a chance. Even if he lost the next duel too, he could win in the 3rd by dealing a 'fatal blow' (a blow which would've been fatal if the referees didn't block it). This was how he'd beaten Erling and he was confident of doing it again, but he didn't want to wait until the third duel.

His mind worked hard, formulating a plan to overcome Tore.

'Use the Nihility Anima to destroy his attacks and create an opening which I can exploit? No. If I expose the Nihility Intent Anima this early, it'll give me no trump cards later on. I'll have no hope of winning the tournament.

'He's got nothing protecting him at close range. I just need to get past these jets and into close quarters, but how? I have to kill that creature to stop it bending the water, which would let me dodge and get closer. But I don't have any ranged methods, so I need to get closer to kill the creature. It's a paradox!'

Isaac's eyes dimmed momentarily, but then they lit up again. He had an idea.

When he was done thinking, he got up. He did some stretches and light preparation for when the next fight started: Tore had been doing this since the duel ended. Neither wanted to let their muscles cool down or tighten up, since this would make them significantly less athletic.

After a while, the referee stopped them,

"Your three-minute break is over. Please return to the ring."

Isaac and Tore complied. As they faced off in the ring, Isaac could see a slight smile on Tore's lips.

'Good. It'll be easier to surprise him if he's confident.'

"On your marks. Begin!"

This duel began the exact same way as the first. Isaac created a sword and charged forwards. Meanwhile, Tore used water jets to obstruct him while he summoned his unusual helper.

The jets were much easier to dodge when they could only go in a straight line. Isaac rushed forwards while dodging them, trying to reach Tore before he could summon the creature. Unfortunately, he was a few steps too slow.

The glowing white pentagram on the ground slowly faded as a seal-like creature with bulbous brown eyes and a fish tail appeared. It squeaked cutely.

However, its actions were not cute at all. It waved its flippers, causing the water jets to bend and twist at fiendish angles. Isaac had to halt his progress, dodging and defending frantically. However, he didn't retreat.

It took all his skill to remain unharmed. Eventually, there was a slight gap between attacks. Tore was confident he'd cornered Isaac, so his fighting intensity unconsciously dropped.

Isaac took full advantage of this gap.

He cocked his arm back, giving it the force of a loaded spring. Then he extended his bent elbow and flung his sword with maximum power! The blade glinted as it left his hand and drew a trajectory towards the strange seal-like creature.

Tore panicked the moment he saw Isaac draw his arm back. He activated the Tri-Jet Anima as he jumped in front of the small creature, which was known as a Picot. He was ready to fire the jets and knock the sword out of mid-air, but he was stunned: as soon as it left Isaac's hand, the sword rapidly faded then disappeared entirely! Isaac had also vanished!

Actually, Isaac had merely taken advantage of the moment Tore looked away. He had activated the Snowshoe Anima and sped forwards. Before Tore could even react, a sword was already cutting at his throat.

The referee managed to save his life, but the fight was over. The crowd cheered raucously as Isaac walked out of the ring. He wore a comfortable expression, relishing his victory. In contrast, Tore headed for the exit dejectedly. The audience had already forgotten all about him.

Ultimately, the fight could only ever end in 2 ways. Either Tore kept Isaac at a distance for all 3 fights and won 3 – 0, or Isaac managed to get close and dealt a fatal blow. After all, Tore had no movement Anima or close combat abilities. Isaac could easily defeat him so long as he got past the storm of water jets.

Isaac got close, so he won. It was as simple as that.

He knew this, so he didn't let the victory go to his head. He merely enjoyed it while walking back to the stands. The fight with Tore had already been pushed to the back of his mind by the time he sat down, and he was fully focused on the fights to come.

Fight 2: Liam Berg was fighting Lukas Brink, who had eliminated Johan in the previous round. Isaac was extremely interested in this fight since he would be facing the winner tomorrow, but he was shocked by what he saw. Lucas Brink was in Rank 2! He simply used brute force to overpower Liam, crushing him beneath the overwhelming force of Rank 2 Qi and dealing a fatal blow in the first duel.

Fight 3: Nora Hoen vs Alma Nelson. Alma Nelson was likely the weakest participant left (it was either her or Liam Berg) and Nora used her will-style anima to good effect. Alma couldn't endure the formless attacks to her will and quickly lost.

Fight 4: I say fight 4, but there wasn't really a fight at all; Hayden surrendered the moment he entered the ring. He was in a team with Erik, so he was aware of the man's strength and knew it was pointless to even try fighting him.

Hayden's surrender whipped the crowd into a frenzy. It was the most animated the stadium had got since the tournament had started, and several people hurled trash at Hayden. They might've even fired Anima at him if it weren't for the no-Anima rule for spectators. Of course, Hayden was furious and Erik had to drag him away. Even while he was being pulled back, Hayden continued screaming profanities at the crowd.

It looked like one big pantomime to Isaac. In fact, when he saw Hayden screaming at the crowd and offending Rank 2 and 3 cultivators left right and centre, he was rather glad he hadn't chosen this rash, foolish man as part of his team.

Eventually, the drama with Hayden ended and everybody left. Today's fights were done.

Isaac didn't go straight home. Instead, he secretly made his way to the Friberg residence. Johan had been eliminated from the tournament yesterday, so Isaac had come to discuss his payment for injuring him.

Of course Isaac wouldn't suffer a loss. He made sure he was compensated properly, just as Lara had promised.

*************************

The following day, a new round of duels began. It was the semi-finals.

Semi-final 1 was Isaac vs Lukas Brink. Semi-final 2 was Erik vs Nora Hoen.

Lukas Brink was a Rank 2 cultivator! He was a 1st class talent, so his cultivation speed was astonishing. He'd even been taught to fight by one of the sect's officials, so his combat ability wasn't lacking either. He would easily be Isaac's toughest opponent so far.

Meanwhile, Nora Hoen had an Anima which attacked the will. She would be different to all of Erik's opponents and pose a unique threat to him. Maybe he would struggle in this matchup too. After all, this was the semi-finals! These were the 4 strongest newcomers that had passed the sect's rigorous trials: none of them would be even a little bit weak!

There were muttering in the stands as Isaac walked towards his seat,

"Lukas is a Rank 2 cultivator! No matter what, there's no way anyone can beat him."

"Yeah the difference between Ranks is simply too huge. There's no way Lukas won't win the tournament."

"It's a bit boring now. Who's he fighting today?"

"Isaac Dahl. His swordplay's good and he seems like a solid fighter, but it's a bit of a surprise he's got this far. Lukas should walk it."

"A surprise? I've been watching Isaac, and let me say you're seriously underestimating him! He barely won against some of the weak people in his group; based on that, he shouldn't have been strong enough to beat Erling or Tore. But he did! I bet Isaac Dahl's hiding his strength and still has a lot more to show us!"

"If Isaac's so great, do you think he'll beat Lukas?"

"... No."

"Exactly."

All kinds of discussions were going on in the crowd, mostly about the Rank 2 Lukas, or Erik who had already been recruited by one of the 4 great factions. They were already anticipating the final between the 2 tomorrow, and almost nobody expected Isaac or Nora to win. Anyone who did think highly of Isaac or Nora was immediately dismissed as a fool and laughed at by other spectators.

"Isaac Dahl and Lukas Brink, please enter the ring."

Isaac had to walk into the ring while enduring this kind of atmosphere. However, Isaac was well beyond the point of caring what others thought.

He'd got into a lot of conflicts in the farm and endured a lot of criticism – not constructive criticism, just sharp, spiteful comments designed to crush his spirit. If he never learnt to block out that white noise, he would've never got strong enough to reach a semi-final.

Isaac didn't attach much importance to the crowd's jabbering. He just focused on fighting his own fight, and stepped into the ring with a determined gaze.

Lukas looked back at him with his own bright, confident eyes. He was a prodigy! It was his destiny to win the tournament and stand head and shoulders above his peers! This was Lukas' own conviction.

2 young stars of the sect faced each other, ready to engage in fierce combat.

"On your marks. Begin!"