57 Fight!

Carol, John, Samuel, and Jerome had all survived. With a few little characters who also made it, all of them looked at me with fearful eyes. Even John and Carol, who had to deal with my tyranny for much longer. With just my phenomenon I could eliminate all of them, what about when I swing my sword? How would they be able to defeat me?

"All he has is potential, just because he did some feats. Doesn't mean we will lose, we will only lose if we don't try." Jerome said to boost the spirits of the remaining competitors

"I do not fear my losing, I fear backing down!" Samuel said as he gripped his battleax

I chuckled they call it potential, yet I was holding back since there are certain powers I cannot show. I laughed at their pathetic attempts to make themselves feel better. The fighting order was determined in the time that I was listening to them. Carol vs Jerome, John vs Samuel, Faisel vs Lucas, Aria vs Xavier, and Clinton vs Ally.

I was unsurprisingly made to only have 1 match until finals. I assumed it was because I was a cut above everyone else. With Faisel being the weakest they didn't care to see his potential, and they already know mine. Carol and Jerome went up to the arena, Carol's affinity with her whip had improved significantly. But she was far bellow Jerome and his dagger.

The fight started quickly, Carol furiously swung her whip. It wasn't very heavy but the force she swung it with, left various marks on the ground. Jerome agilely dodged her strikes, his dagger still in its sheath.

"Is this the fastest you can go?" he said with a sneer

Carol gritted her teeth, and her hands became furious with power. The whip quickly became faster, and an illusion of a second whip appeared. Various flying strikes hitting at Jerome, as he dodged the real strikes. The fake whip strikes went right through him.

'Illusionary style just like Raynard.' I thought as I watched her fight

She was fairly strong but she lacked any real intent even Raynard had more intent. Although I could destroy his intent just by looking at it. Carol's arm started to tire from her furious fighting. Jerome moved between the gaps of her slowed attacks. He moved quickly like an assassin and he unsheathed his dagger.

He slashed at the whip, forcing Carol to retreat. Before he quickly accelerated and ended up in front of her. He kicked her in the gut and she flew back in pain. She fell off the arena, with a footprint on her chest, and she gripped her stomach in pain. She wiped the blood from her mouth and looked at Jerome in anger. Jerome smiled at her and sheathed his dagger.

"You aren't half bad little girl," he said with a smile

Jerome proudly left the arena and looked at me before he went down. I was busy examining my status, which hadn't changed. What had changed was I could break through to level 10 at any time. With a Pseudo Sword Heart, I had already mastered the first layer of the Lightning Sword Code.

The next layer of the incomplete code is about unending adaptable strikes. By mastering accuracy and precision to a high level, then higher speeds of combat can be supported. I checked on the Lightning marks throughout my body. They were bordering on true fusion with my intent. Normally I need to feed intent into the sword marks and get my lightning sword intent.

But that process was tiring and took a while, so I only use the true sword arts for finishers. But as they were starting to fuse, my intent was starting to become Lightning Sword Intent. Especially since I used my Lightning Sword Intent to form my Sword Heart. All I need to do is go into closed-door training, and I can break through to level 10.

Then my intent will take on a new form, and then I'll have the confidence to defeat the giants. John went up with Samuel, they both took a fighting stance in their areas of the arena. John's head dripped with sweat and anxiety. But Samuel was determined and ready to die to fight.

'Barbarians are rather suited to fighting....' I thought as I watched Samuel.

John took his greatsword and lowered his stance. He quickly jumped at Samuel, intent on cutting him down. Samuel vertically swung his ax and hit John's greatsword back. Staggering backward, John hit his greatsword into the ground.

Using it to slow himself down and guard against Samuel's strikes. Samuel attacked and hit the sword making a large clank sound. John unable to handle the vibrations let go of his sword and moved back a bit.

'This is the problem of large weapons.' I said as I shook my head

It wasn't that John was weak, it was that a large weapon was hard to handle. Great strength can be impressive and very sturdy but with speed you can cheat, strength can't give you speed. But speed can give you great strength, after all as long as you move fast enough. Your force can be as great as someone with great mass.

John started to dodge Samuel strikes, but Samuel was far too skilled. He used his body in ingenious ways, to strike at John as he dodged. He would miss with his ax strike leading John to the left, where his kick was waiting for him.

John became worn out and tired; he quickly fell apart in battle. He tried to get to his greatsword but Samuel became ferocious when he tried to flee. Quickly John was unable to fight back and he was kicked out of the arena, literally.

'Samuel takes all challengers seriously regardless of their strength.' I thought of him

Samuel and Jerome were very diametrically opposed, one looked down on everyone. The other treated everyone fairly, and hilariously the barbarian is the fair one. With one of a noble bearing is the arrogant idiot it seems. He chose to tease Carol, just because he was stronger than her. But he doesn't seem to realize that just helps her get stronger.

After Raynard pissed her off, she quickly caught up to him. He should be more careful, at least he shouldn't act unless he is completely confident with a good reason for doing his actions. Samuel took the greatsword out of the ground, and through to John. He bowed honorably and left leaving John stunned. Earlier he had insulted Samuel, and now he was utterly shocked to see his honor.

It even put him to shame, the guy that loved to preach about equality and fairness. He put his head down in shame and took his sword as he left the arena. It was now my turn, I looked at Faisel. He was blonde and short his face was filled with utter dread. He couldn't even handle my stare, as he looked away.

I jumped onto the arena, in one fluid motion. But Faisel slowly walked to the arena, as though it were an execution ground. Every step heavy and ripe with fear. I smiled in hilarity, it was better to be feared than loved. It was a very true statement, I rather enjoy being feared because it inspires a sense of security.

People wouldn't dare disobey if they truly feared you, but one must be careful to stop fear from becoming hate. When someone hates, they can become utterly unreasonable. To the extent that they do not care about the fear they feel. Faisel got onto the arena and avoided my vision he unsheathed his sword.

It was well made but unenchanted in any way; it was just a mortal sword. He raised his sword in guard, and quietly awaited my attack. I smiled at his fear, but I didn't remove my sword; instead, I focused on more interesting matters. My sword intent had already taken its soul form, so I released a bit of my soul.

A strange vibration came from my body, as the arena resonated with it. A powerful heartbeat that threatened to devour everything! Faisel took steps back in fear, as my sword intent saturated into the air.

A sense of bloodlust came about from my intent, my killing intent and sword intent mixed and matched. Reinforcing each other with the power of malice, all throughout the arena. My eyes flashed with a black light, and I reached for my sword. The sounds of screams and begging came about from my intent as I reached for my sword.