Although the wind created by this ferocious strike moved Cech's hair, Cech was really calm; no emotion could be read from his face.
Woooo! As the strike came closer, some of the audience closed their eyes; they had already foreseen the bloody scene where Cech's head exploded. The spiked clubs were going to hit Cech's head; the two clubs were about a centimeter away.
At this moment –
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
A series of light crackling noises sounded
The battle turned around in this split second.
Everything seemed to be frozen at this moment on the Sword Testing Stage.
The tough Gude Warrior who was charging at Cech like a beast suddenly paused completely. The two clubs that were swung at Cech also froze in mid-air.
The two clubs couldn't move forward anymore.
What was stopping them were two fingers.
Two fingers that weren't thick.
Peter-Cech who was calm raised his arms and pointed out his fingers. The two fingers pressed against the tip of the clubs and eliminated this strike from this vicious Gude Warrior.
Actually, it did not just eliminate the strike.
It actually defeated the Gude warrior.
Soon, the audiences' mouths opened wide as they witnessed something unbelievable.
A crack slowly appeared on the two clubs where Cech's fingers were at. Like spider webs, the cracks enlarged in the same pattern. Gradually, this pair of clubs that were made from top-quality iron got turned into a pile of iron dust.
"Si..."
The bearded warrior from the Gude Kingdom gasped as he looked at the handles in his hand. His face paled as if he saw a ghost, and his legs started to shake out of fear.
Breaking two clubs made from top-quality iron using two fingers signified the different in the power levels between them. The warrior from Gude knew that he would be dead if his opponent wanted to.
"You lost." Cech pulled back his fingers as he said: "I don't want to kill anyone. Jump off of the stage!"
"I..." The bearded warrior wanted to say something, but all of his courage disappeared as he looked at the iron dust on the ground. He paused and jumped off of the stage.
"Winner of this individual ranking match is Peter-Cech from Chambord!"
The judge announced the result loud and clear using the special magic array on the stage that could project his voice. Everyone heard that.
"Cech! Cech! Peter-Cech!!!"
No one expected such a fantastic battle early on. Although there weren't explosive warrior energies, chipped flooring, and flying dust, Cech who was in a light leather armor and easily destroyed the iron clubs shocked the audiences.
This shock was far stronger than the shock that any other kinds of fancy fights could bring. The judge's announcement woke up the people who were shocked and dumbfounded, and these people in the audiences started to cheer Cech's name. The scene was really moving.
On the Sword Testing Stage, Cech completely demonstrated the presence and the style of a warrior and a commander. His leather armor was bright under the sun, and his cape fluttered in the wind as well as his long hair.
Fei who was sitting in the resting area laughed and clapped his hands.
The fifty soldiers from Chambord were also excited. They knocked their weapons against their iron shields to make a lot of metal-colliding noises; they were doing what they could to cheer on their commander.
This was the first time that these soldiers saw Cech battle.
They didn't expect their commander who was low-key and rarely engaged in fights to be so powerful; they thought that Cech was weaker than Pierce, Drogba, Torres, and others leaders. After seeing their silent commander standing on the stage in such a cool fashion, all of the soldiers felt like their blood was boiling.
"Another master warrior from Chambord?"
"Peter-Cech? Why haven't we heard of this man before? It felt like he didn't even use warrior energy, and he was able to shatter the iron clubs. From the look of it, this man can easily become one of the top ten warriors in the northern battle region!"
"Such power... Eh, he is probably a five-star warrior."
"Eh, a nice warrior. Look into it and see if we can get him on our side!"
A lot of people who were sitting in the VIP area were shocked upon seeing this. In the chattering and cheering, some of the influential figures had already planned to recruit Cech.
Actually, this military competition was also a chance for the noble families and major forces in St, Petersburg to recruit powerful warrior and mages. Many forces would try to use methods such as money or threats to get these people into their party.
Although these actions were hidden, they were implied to be acceptable since the higher-ups in the empire didn't stop them. Many people referred to this as a "harvest". There was a three-year gap in between each of the competition. The major forces would wait for these potential warriors and mages to grow, and they would be "harvested" when they were ready every three years.
The cause of this was very complicated.
The empire didn't have 100% trust in the affiliated kingdoms. After all, incidents where affiliated kingdoms that were strong overthrowing the empires they were in happened all the time. Even Zenit was founded after betraying Spartax Empire. By "harvesting", it would allow the empire to get stronger while decreasing the strength of the affiliated kingdoms. This was one of the ways where the empire controlled the tempo of everything.
Also, the "harvest" wasn't 100% successful all the time.
Normally on Azeroth Continent, a warrior who swore to stay loyal to a king would never change his or her master.
This was one of the ancient beliefs and honors of warriors and mages.
However, on the Azeroth Continent that was ruled by the law of jungle, some people chose to be loyal while others chose money and status. There were also times where kings would end their relationship with their loyal warriors and mages just to hand them over to the forces and nobles families in St. Petersburg. They were often encouraged and threatened by the empire.
These types of incidents happened too many times.
The fact that the king of Chambord soared into popularity brought a lot of attention to Chambord. Although the Chambordians jumped in strength, they were also seen as delicious meats. People who were capable all wanted to eat these meats and absorb the power.
These people were like patient yet vicious wolves; they were all waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Now, the opportunity was here.
They would identify each of the master warriors of Chambord, and they would then lure them in or threaten them in private.
No one believed that Chambord was unified as a whole. They believed that the warriors from remote regions where resources were scarce would definitely be moved by money and status.
The "fruits" were ripe, and it was about time for the "harvest".
...
In the next five battles, the warriors of Chambord took care of their opponents so fast that it looked like they were eating pieces of cake.
Pierce, Drogba, Torres, Oleg, and Inzagi each appeared on the stage and won.
Among all opponents, the prince of the Gude Kingdom who had the title of [Black Wolf] and was a character in the [Seven Wolves] lasted the longest. He battled with Torres for more than twenty minutes, but he was still no match for the arrows that shoot out of Torres' bow. His left shoulder got pierced, and he lost most of his combat abilities; he had to surrender by jumping off of the stage.
All six individual ranking battles were great shows.
The power the Chambord warriors showcased did shock all of the audiences around the No. 44 Sword Testing Stage.
Pierce and Drogba's viciousness and power, Oleg's insane defense and strange technique, Torres' agility and god-tier archery skills, and thin boy Inzagi's chilling assassination skills...
Each of the Chambord warriors demonstrated a new battle style. A lot of the audiences were happy that they chose to watch this stage rather than others.
Some of the more talkative traveling poets already gave cool nicknames to the six warriors, and these names were passed around before the matches were over...
"[White Haired Fast Sword] Paul-Pierce. He is a cold-blooded swordsman under the king of Chambord. He is tough as a bull, and his sword is faster than lightning... God, no one can see the path of his sword. If you feel a wind passing through you, that means you are dead..."
"[Black Haired Vicious Fist] Didier-Drogba. He is a tough warrior under the king of the North – Alexander. He is stronger than a beast, and his fists can crush anything. Poor souls, don't trigger this warrior. His fists will destroy you..."
"[Desperation Creator] Fatty Oleg. He is a huge monster of war. Even dragons would feel a desperation in front of him. His body can defend again all attacks, and his fists can tear the land. If you stand against him, your desperation would be as deep as an abyss.
"[Destructive Fingers] Peter-Cech. His fingers can crush metals as well as everything in front of him..."
"[Son of Wind] Fernando-Torres. His arrows are faster than wind, and his grace figure is cooler than wind..."
"[Deadly Assassin of Shadow] Philip-Inzagi. His enemies would pray to not encounter him. When you see him, his dagger would have already pierced your heart..."