Duel

"Die!"

The burly man and his companions charged at them.

Getting serious, William ate the spirit boosting pill and wore his armor. Then, he retrieved his swords from the spirit ring, letting them hover in two groups to his left and right.

"Let me handle the guy in the middle. Hold off the other two until I deal with him," William said.

"Are you sure?" asked Ryan.

"I've improved a lot in these three days. Just hold back the other two."

"What about the other guy?" asked Fletcher.

William paused.

'System, do you know his cultivation level?'

"Estimates put it at the peak of the spirit condensation realm."

'Then I should be able to put up a fight.'

"Don't worry about him."

"Alright then... don't die."

"You too."

Ryan and Fletcher moved together, attacking the two people next to the burly man.

"Your opponents are us!"

They immediately clashed, sending wave after wave of attacks towards each other.

William turned away from the battle and looked at the burly man.

"You got lucky last time, brat. This time, I'm getting serious," said the burly man.

"So am I."

William took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself.

"Swords, attack!"

William held Dusk Bringer in his hands and sent three swords to attack the burly man while the others stayed with him.

"So annoying!"

The burly man swung his sword once, smashing the swords away.

"Mountain smash!"

The burly man suddenly appeared in front of William. His greatsword was now enveloped in a glowing orange light, and he swung it at William's head.

Immediately, William placed all his swords in front of him and braced for impact.

"Boom!"

William stumbled backwards, and his swords scattered onto the ground around him.

"Die!"

The burly swung his sword diagonally, slashing at William's waist.

Flustered, William placed Dusk Bringer in its path to block the attack.

"Clang!"

Dusk Bringer was knocked out of his grasp.

"Any last words?"

The burly man looked down at William and grinned.

William smiled.

"Only one. Die."

William waved his hands, and his swords came at the burly man from both his front and back.

"Eh?"

Hastily, the burly man blocked as many swords as he could, however, it was inevitable that some would get through his defenses.

After dealing with the swords, the burly man looked a little wretched, with several scratches on his arms, but was not badly injured.

"Ha, is that all you've got? If that's the case, then you might as well give u-"

At some point in time, William had appeared above the burly man's head, and he was swinging his sword at him.

"Die!"

"Crap!"

The burly man was unable to dodge in time, but he was able to move slightly and put his shoulder into the path of the sword instead.

"Argh!"

Dusk Bringer sank into his shoulder, bringing with it a scream of pain. William winced, feeling bad for him. Still, this person had attacked first.

William pulled Dusk Bringer out of the man's shoulder and stopped back.

"Swords, attack!"

The burly man held his greatsword in his other hand and stepped back unsteadily. William noticed an hint of fear in his eyes.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted from the sidelines.

"That's enough."

William swords were knocked back by some impact and were embedded into the ground.

"What!?" William was shocked.

The man from earlier had mysteriously appeared in front of the burly man.

"Retreat with your subordinates. Let me handle this."

"Yes, Lord."

The burly man nursed his injured shoulder and ordered his subordinates to retreat to the sidelines with him.

A moment later, Fletcher and Ryan came over to William.

"Why'd they retreat?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know," William said, shrugging, "ask him."

They finally noticed the man standing a few meters away. Suddenly, he started to speak.

"I don't want an unnecessary battle. Who here is the strongest? We will fight to decide the fate of the others,"

William stepped forward.

"I am."

Fletcher frowned.

"This could be a trap."

William rolled his eyes.

"We're already at a disadvantage. They don't need to trick us to win."

Fletcher sighed and let him continue.

As William walked over, the man spoke once more.

"They call me the nine heavens celestial lord, but my is Leonard. Who are you?"

William paused. Nine heavens celestial lord? What kind of title was that? Was this man really so awesome?

"Uh... my name is William Reynolds."

"Very well. William, I challe-"

"Will you hurry up?" asked Ryan.

"Fine, whatever. The battle begins now!"

Immediately, William charged at Leonard, swing his sword at his head and letting his sword attack him from behind.

"Futile."

The man dodged both attacks by stepping to the side, then brought out his own weapon.

'A glaive?'

Glaives were quite similar to spears, but instead of a pointy tip at the end of the handle, there was instead a blade, similar to that of a sword. If he had to describe it, he would say it a sword with a really long handle.

"Moon Slash."

Leonard waved his glaive and a white crescent of energy formed, flying at William.

William used his sword control technique and layered all his swords on top of Dusk Bringer, creating a giant sword. Then, he waved his sword with both hands and shattered the crescent into streaks of energy.

'Hey, system. Is it possible for me to use the comprehension boosts in the middle of a battle?'

"Affirmative. In fact, it would be much easier to understand a technique if you were to use it during a battle."

William scratched his head. Should that have been how he used it?

"Whatever. Give me a minute of ultra comprehension boost, for now.

"Purchase 60 seconds of [Ultra Comprehension Boost] for 600 SP?"

"Yes."

William grabbed the stone tablet and immediately used it.

"Here I come!"

Using the Fleeting Cloud Movement Technique, he moved forward, swinging his sword.

"Clang!"

Leonard responded by blocking it with the handle of his glaive. Then, he swung his glaive sideways, striking towards William's neck.

William quickly moved several swords in the way of the attack so that they would deflect it.

"Clang!"

William stepped back and pointed his sword at Leonard's head. Then, he channeled his spiritual energy into the into the sword and fired the energy at him.

"Illusory sword!"

Leonard dodged the attack by tilting his head and continued attacking William.

Even during the battle, William was constantly realizing better ways to utilize his attacks. Due to the comprehension boost, his head was continuously spinning, figuring out how to properly use his combat techniques.

'If I use Illusory sword in this way instead, I could...'

'If I can do this with the movement technique, my combat power would...'

As the battle went, on, William constantly gained new insights into his battle techniques, raising their proficiency quickly.

A few moment later, the comprehension boost ran out, and William took a deep breath. Leonard would be a good parring partner, but right now, he needed to focus on winning.

"Illusory Sword!"

William waved his hand, and two of his swords floating in the air shot out sword auras. He discovered his could do this during the battle, and this made it so that he could essentially have artillerly that would support him from behind.

Leonard waved his glaive, shattering the sword auras.

Taking the opportunity, William used the Fleeting Cloud Movement Technique to move to his side, slashing at his waist while his swords assaulted him from the other side, creating a two pronged attack.

"Spiritual burst!"

William and his swords were all knocked back by another burst of energy, sending them flying. William was sent tumbling on the ground, but he quickly scrambled onto his feet.

"Moon Slash."

William blocked the attack with his swords and charged at Leonard once more. He could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead, probably from using too much spiritual energy.

"Illusory Sword!"

William formed three swords auras and fired them to distract Leonard while he charged at him. As he did so, he layered the rest of his swords onto Dusk Bringer again. Then, he swung the giant sword at Leonard.

"Clang!"

This time, Leonard stumbled back a few step from the attack. Not letting go of the opportunity, William pointed his sword at him.

"Illusory Sword!"

Leonard blocked the sword aura with his glaive and stumbled again. In a flash, William had already arrived by his side, and his held his sword to Leonard's neck.

"You lose," William said, panting.

Leonard smiled, putting his glaive away.

"I admit defeat."

William stepped back, putting his swords into his storage ring.

"Let's go," said Leonard, walking away.

"What! Why? We clearly outnumber them!" The burly man complained. "They've already been weakened, now's the time to strike!"

Fletcher and Ryan raised their guards, anticipating an attack. However, Leonard didn't turn around.

"I don't believe your boss tolerates insubordination."

The burly man stopped his complaining and begrudgingly followed him with his companions.

When they left, Fletcher let out a sigh of relief.

"It's a good thing they left."

William looked around.

"Well, now that they're gone, we should probably continue heading to the village."

"Oh, right."

Fletcher thought about something.

"I should be about time for the elimination in a week or so, right?"

Ryan frowned.

"Guess we better hurry. I should be able to stay on the rankings now that I've stabilized my cultivation, but I still need to go back to the school to register it."

"The horses on the carriage have definitely left by now. That, or they've died. William, we'll need to go to your village to get a carriage. Can you show us the way?"

"Yeah, no problem."

William and the others ran to the village at their fastest speed, reaching it in a few hours. After the village chief arranged a new carriage for them, Fletcher and Ryan said their goodbyes, leaving behind the name of the school they attended and a leather pouch.

"White Rose Academy? Sounds like a school full of girls."

William shrugged and put the leather pouch away, He would look at it when he got home, but right now, he still had some things to do.