As the two – Elemental and Godling – bottled up their rage, the one involved was in a much better position than they thought. Although his facial expression which had been concealed by the mask had turned ugly upon hearing Maggie's words and understanding that his opponent was basically 'doping', he was able to calm himself shortly after. Taking in a deep breath, he did something that he hadn't done since the match started. He charged straight at Black Saga.
Wielding the sword that had been gifted to him by The Citadel, he weaved through the field, even avoiding the raindrops that fell his way. Like a swan taking flight, his movements were elegant and refined – almost ballerina-like. In under a few seconds he was right in front of his foe. Black Saga was momentarily taken aback seeing Lam appear so quickly. He was more surprised by the fact that Lam had taken the initiative to start an attack, something that the white masked boy hadn't done since their match began. Yet that gave Black Saga some confidence and a little bit of relief. Lam attacking meant that he was threatened by the change that the Healing Enhanced Potion would give Black Saga. And that calmed his rapidly beating heart down greatly.
"Roar!" releasing a mighty roar that was full of pent-up frustrations, the Captain of the Black Team hoisted his huge rod onto his shoulder and then span on the same spot he stood. Gathering momentum quickly, he crouched slightly – mid spin – and swung his large rod towards the incoming Lam. His speed was several times greater than before, and his rod was upon Lam before the boy could properly prepare himself. That was what an increase of 20% in all abilities did. Although it didn't look so significant, it actually was. If before he was slower than Lam, now he had just about caught up with the lanky teen. Added to the fact that Lam's mind had already projected the limits of Black Saga's speed from their earlier clash, he was caught unprepared. So even before he could prepare his strike, Black Saga's rod had gotten to him. That's when he remembered what his friend told him.
"Why do you dislike Half-Moon's Counter so much?" Lam asked Mane about a week ago. The young Supreme was shirtless, his well-proportioned body exposed to his surroundings. Mane smiled and replied,
"Because that isn't the way by which one must fight. When my Master taught me this technique, he warned me never to get too attached to it. He forbade me from using it until I mastered Dance of the Half-Moon"
"But I have mastered Dance of the Half-Moon," Lam argued.
"You think you have mastered it? If you had mastered Dance of the Half-Moon you would have been able to use Wrath of the Half-Moon by now" Mane smiled and shook his head wryly. Oh how sweet it was to be ignorant.
"Have I not?" Lam asked inquisitively. Mane didn't reply. What he did was use his actions to do the talking. He looked around, searching for something that he could use as target practice. Soon he found something he could use – a large tree about 70 meters away from his position. The tree was several meters tall – at least 50 meters by Mane's estimate – and about 30 meters wide, with a circumference of about 95 meters and an area of about 707 meters square. Mane picked up a stone from the ground. The stone was smooth and round, just like a pebble. He gently caressed the stone and suppressed his inner energy to the level of Lam's.
"Prideful Sword: Dance of the Half-Moon" Mane stated loudly to Lam's hearing. The talented young man was confused by Mane's actions so far, but gathered that his friend wanted to show him something so he remained silent. But when he heard Mane's words, and saw what happened next, his jaw dropped to the ground in stunned silence.
After activating the skill, Mane flung the small stone towards the tree.
*Crack*
The little stone easily penetrated the large tree and reappeared on the other side. But it kept going. Like a flash of lightning it whizzed past the entirety of the field they stood on and finally exhausted itself when it crashed into the wall of the compound.
*Bang*
Lam couldn't believe his eyes. Mane deliberately allowed Lam to sense his aura when he lowered it to his friend's level, so Lam could tell that he wasn't using his full strength. But Lam knew that at his level Mane should be was nowhere capable of delivering such a devastating attack.
"How?" Lam finally muttered after several seconds of standing comically next to Mane with his mouth wide open. The elegant boy had never been this disorganized emotionally.
"That was Dance of the Half-Moon. That skill is no weak skill. There are four stages to mastering a technique. The Beginner Level, the Intermediate Level, the Mastery level, and then the realm of Full Mastery. You are barely at the Beginner Level of proficiency with the Dance of the Half-Moon. Whereas I am at the Mastery Level. On the contrary, your Half-Moon's Counter is at the Intermediate Level, whereas mine is at the Beginner Level" Mane stated calmly. Then he reached out to gently push Lam's jaw back into place, causing his friend to blush embarrassingly.
"I didn't know it was that powerful," Lam muttered. He had seen Mane use Dance of the Half-Moon against the Apex Monkeys but he didn't see it having such a devastating effect. If Mane could do this with a pebble, then he could have surely finished the Apex Monkeys easily. So why didn't he?
"With the Apex Monkeys," Lam started.
"Why didn't I deal with them with Mastery Level Dance of the Half-Moon?" Mane laughed as he interrupted his friend's statement. Lam nodded, very curious about this.
"My Master's orders. 'Don't use Mastery Level skills. Keep using your skills at the Beginner Level. It is only by mastering a skill's basics that you would be able to reach the Realm of Full Mastery'. Those were my Master's exact words. I dare not disobey them." Mane laughed and said.
Full Mastery was a realm that couldn't be attained by just practicing. One had to gain insight into the skill to reach this realm. Mane had been stuck at the Mastery Level for several of his skills. In fact, all of his skills with the exception of Half-Moon's Counter had reached the Mastery Level. Yet after three years in the True Universe, he couldn't reach the Full Mastery Level for any of them. Even Star Flicker and Extreme Burst were only at the Mastery Level. However, for those two Mane could feel that he was close to breaking into the Full Mastery Realm. He could feel that he would get there if he was able to fully master integrating the two into the skill he had created based on his understanding of them. If he could master Flickering Burst, he would reach Full Mastery for Star Flicker and Extreme Burst!
"I really wonder about your Master. He must be a great man" Lam stated. He didn't pry into the matter because he had spoken with Mane several times concerning this matter and his friend had been clear with his intentions to keep that information hidden.
"He is. But so are the others" Mane replied.
"Who created a hole in the wall?!" an irritated voice interrupted the two's conversation.
"Oops," Mane laughed foolishly when he saw the angry Orange Ivy approaching.
Back on the battlefield, Lam's eyes flashed with a feeling of realization. His hand that was grasping his sword seemed to come alive, and just when the rod was about to smash into him his sword arm moved to intercept it. He didn't block the attack. He attacked the attack!
"Prideful Sword: Dance of the Half-Moon," Lam mumbled as his sword flashed and struck the base of Black Saga's rod. The power behind his strike was comparable to the power of Half-Moon's Counter from earlier. But this time it was a few times stronger.
"He broke through," Mane's rioting aura cooled drastically upon feeling the change in Lam's Sword Mastery. His friend had reached the Intermediate Level of Dance of the Half-Moon! Mane couldn't help but be pleased with the result of this unfair match. Now his fury had dulled greatly, and his eyes were flashing with delight.
*Bang*
Black Saga's expression changed greatly when he felt the power of the strike. Even with his strength so greatly improved he was sent flying back. He spat out a mouthful of blood and crushed into the barricade for the second time today.
"I don't believe it! Even with the Healing Enhanced Potion, Black Saga is totally outclassed! Who is White Mask? And how is he so strong?!" Peter exclaimed, echoing the sentiments of the crowd that had gathered today to watch their team. All of them were silent. There was no cheering nor were there feelings of optimism, for there was no need for either. Black Saga had been beaten without the Healing Enhanced Potion, and then with it. He had tarnished his image by doing something unacceptable as a warrior of his standards, yet the results were the same. How could they cheer? How could they be optimistic?
Lam's eyes flashed – and so did his figure – when he sent Black Saga flying into the barricade. He timed his run perfectly, and when Black Saga crashed into the barricade he activated Star Flicker.
*whoosh*
He was there in a flash, and in a flash he attacked.
"Guard of the Half-Moon," he mumbled and rammed his sword– hilt first – into the huge frame of Black Saga that had bounced back after hitting the barricade, slamming the large fellow into the barricade yet again.
*Boom*
"Genius," Mane couldn't help but admit that the way Lam used Guard of the Half-Moon was art in itself.
The secret of Guard of the Half-Moon was in the hilt of the blade. The skill enforced a person's wrist and hands, as well as the hilt of the sword so that one would be able to withstand the force of a blow. Lam had reached the Intermediate Level of Guard of the Half-Moon even before he reached the Intermediate Level for Half-Moon's Counter. That was because his defense had to be strong enough to block an opponent's attack before he would be able to unleash a counter. What Lam did was to use himself like a battering ram. Applying Guard of the Half-Moon to his sword, his rammed into Black Saga with his hilt instead of his blade, and succeeded in causing significant injuries to the man but keeping him alive.
Black Saga felt his vision slowly fade away, yet he was unwilling. Several of his ribs had been turned to dust following Lam's brutal assault, and both wrists were dislocated after Lam's Dance of the Half-Moon attack. He slowly slumped onto the ground as his vision turned white.
"He is unconscious," Steel Fist quickly checked Black Saga's pulse before breathing a sigh of relief. She looked at Lam strangely. This person was not fighting to kill. He didn't even plan on hurting Black Saga so badly, and she could tell that Black Saga had only been so badly injured because Lam had gone all out, something he had been forced to do. This was strange to her considering that Black Saga was clearly trying to kill him, and she thought Lam was from The Citadel.
"White Mask wins!" she announced, finally allowing the healing team to come in and check on Black Saga.
Lam stood before the man he had beaten, sword in hand and mask on. As the rain fell upon his lanky frame, the audience stood. Every person rose to their feet, their faces filled with unwillingness, but also with awe. They had watched a legend of their home cheat his way to defeat. And in his defeat a new legend was born; the legend of the sword wielder who wore a white mask. It wasn't clear how, but the crowd were now on his side, and they chanted his name, albeit with a small change to his title.
"Sword King White Mask"
"Sword King White Mask"
"Sword King White Mask"
"Sword King White Mask"
"Sword King White Mask"
"Sword King White Mask"
"You are a Sword King now," Lam felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder, and a small smile found its way to his face. Unfortunately, no one could see this smile due to his mask. He knew who it was that dared to hold him like this. Who else other than Mane would do this?
"Thank you," Lam whispered, but Mane heard it. A month and a half ago his friend promised him that he would make him stronger than the Grand Tourney's best. He had his doubts then, and he never believed it would happen so soon. But here he was, standing victorious over the unconscious figure of a man he had once watched through the images of a Record Stone and admired. Mane had kept his promise.
"I only gave you a push. The rest was all you. You took flight all on your own" Mane replied through his mask.
"You say that now but who was the one who was threatening to flatten Asher City only a few minutes ago," Hildegarde scoffed, but Mane ignored her. He was too happy to care about her words.
"The Citadel is really full of freaks" Indigo Queen muttered as she and the rest of the Indigo Team sat in their place, witnessing the birth of a new legend.
"Indeed. The Citadel remains The Citadel. In a way we should be pleased that the last stand of mankind is growing stronger." Celestial Fairy nodded her head, concurring. As for Swift Indigo and Indigo Shadow they didn't say anything, but their eyes reflected their amazement at what they had just witnessed.
"I told you he would be fine," Orange Ivy breathed a sigh of relief. Lily remained silent, but a small smile hung on the sides of her lips. Finally she whispered silently to herself,
"You have finally become who you wanted to be. You are now strong."