But Billy did something unexpected, instead of attacking Alberto head-on like other normal people would do, he concentrated his Mana on his legs and in the blink of an eye, he bent down and swept Alberto off his feet.
Alberto was surprised as his back struck the ground, he had expected a frontal attack, maybe punches and kicks but Billy had aimed for his legs. He balled his hands into fists as he trembled in the anger of getting hit by a street fighter.
But there was no time for regrets, Billy's foot was coming for his face on the ground where he lay, he quickly rolled out of the way and Billy's foot hit the ground making a deep footprint there due to the amount of force he used.
He smiled maniacally and charged at Alberto again but Alberto was ready for him this time, he concentrated his Mana on his legs so before Billy could reach him, he moved forward by one step taking Billy by surprise then grabbed his head and brought it down on his knee.
GAH!
Billy screamed in pain as he felt his nose crunch under the impact of Alberto's knee. With his head down, Alberto jumped in the air and used his elbow to strike Billy at the back of his head.
AGH!
Billy tottered away as the pain at the back of his head stung him like hell. Alberto didn't want to give him any chance as he lunged at him again with his Mana engulfed hand.
When Billy saw the hand coming, he knew that a punch from this could possibly render him unconscious so he gathered himself together and used his left hand to deflect the punch away from his face and used the right hand to grab Alberto's head, his nails digging into the tan looking but tough skin. His left hand had already returned to his side as he enhanced it with Mana and punched Alberto's defenseless abdomen.
GAH!
CRACK!
The impact of the punch sent Alberto flying across the fighting area to the other side of the magic circle, a blue ripple appeared in the air as Alberto's body struck the invisible wall.
'Ugh!, Don't tell me…' Alberto groaned as he felt a sharp pain in his chest and abdomen. Billy's punch shattered his ribs, he didn't know how many but he knew it was serious due to the intensity of the pain he felt.
He stood up slowly and saw Billy running towards him at full speed, he couldn't perform any complicated moves right now because of his body's condition, he had to think of a way to counter and defeat Billy right here and now because dragging the battle any further wouldn't do him any good.
It was then that he remembered one of the deadliest martial art techniques that his master taught him, a forbidden technique that could kill the opponent in an instant, The Kinjutsu.
The Kinjutsu can only achieve maximum effect when it is used with Mana but if Alberto uses it with Mana, he might collapse halfway across the technique because of the strain it has on the body and his body wasn't in optimal state for him to consider taking that risk, so he concentrated his Mana on his injured ribs and took a stance, he would try to pull this off without using his Mana.
One of the advantages of concentrating an injury with Mana was that the user won't be able to feel any pain or hindrance on the body for that period of time but the disadvantage was that the user won't be able to enhance his weapon or body parts for battle.
Just as Billy was few feet away from him, Alberto unleashed the technique. Billy was shocked when he saw Alberto move towards him like he was unhurt but when he noticed that Alberto's movements were slower, he smiled inwardly and pressed forward aggressively.
With his two hands fully enhanced with Mana, he stretched them forth to grab Alberto's head, but Alberto dodged and planted a palm strike on Billy's forehead, the first strike of the Kinjutsu.
Billy was surprised that Alberto was able to dodge and strike back in his condition. The palm strike was weak and didn't carry much force so Billy pushed forward and raised his knee to Alberto's abdomen
"Mph!" Alberto muffled his scream as he stood his ground, fought through the pain and chopped Billy's neck with his palm, the second strike of the Kinjutsu.
Billy winced slightly, "What the hell is wrong with this idiot? what sort of attacks are these, they're so weak that I can barely feel them?"
He pulled his hand back to unleash another punch on Alberto's face but he felt him grab his biceps and pinch it, the third strike of the Kinjutsu.
"Bastard!!! fight seriously, will you?!!"
Billy screamed in rage as he grabbed Alberto's abdomen and squeezed it.
"Aaargh!!!" Alberto yelled in pain as he planted the last strike on Billy's abdomen and fell back.
"Die already!!" Billy screamed and jumped in the air and with his Mana enhanced legs, he kicked Alberto's head back.
The kick sent him sprawling some few metres away yet he still tried weakly to stand up. He seemed to be mumbling something that no one could hear.
Alberto's team mates had a grave look on their faces, they never believed that the prince could be reduced like this while his opponent was more or less unhurt with just a nose bleed and a mild gash on the forehead.
"Ha ha ha ha, didn't I tell you that I'd knock that pretty boy look off your face?" Billy laughed and taunted him as he walked slowly to Alberto who was still struggling to stand, the damage to his body was enormous, he was even finding it difficult to breathe as some of his broken ribs could be seen poking out of his skin.
"I win" Alberto smiled with bloody teeth and spat out blood as he looked up at Billy
"Bwahahahaha!! Are you kidding me?You are on the ground bleeding and I'm about to crush your skull and you have the guts to tell me that you win? Damn…. you're stupid man"
Steve watched with keen interest, the match seemed one sided because Billy had broken Alberto's ribs in the beginning of the match thereby retarding his speed and attack strength, but there was something else that caught Steve's interest. Alberto's last attacks on Billy, they looked extremely weak but Steve felt that there was something more to it, someone like Alberto wouldn't just make last minute desperate attacks like that, he would just have to wait and see.
"… It's time to end this fool!" Billy's foot stopped in the air just few metres away from Alberto's head.
"What are you waiting for Billy? Crush him already" His teammates cheered him on from behind but he didn't budge one bit.
"I… can't….move" He was rooted on the spot as the paralysis effect of the Kinjutsu kicked in.
"Huh?"
"What happened?"
"Why isn't he moving?"
The crowd murmured as Billy stood still at the spot.
Alberto managed to stand up and stared coldly at Billy. The paralysis had begun tightening his heart, his eyes dilated as he entered into cardiac arrest.
'Haa….that was close'
"You know, if I wanted to kill you, I could do it right here and now but…it would just be a waste of your talents…..bridle your pride man" He pulled his hand back and punched Billy so hard that he blacked out, cancelling the effect of the Kinjutsu.
Winner: Prince Vittorio Ranieri Maria Alberto
Alberto turned his back on the words that had suddenly popped up in the air as the magic circle disappeared and his teammates rushed in to assist him and lead him to the infirmary.
Steve smirked and walked away from the crowd
'What a fight'
He thought as he reflected on the match as he walked back to the dorm, they clearly depicted level four swordsman supremacy, their movements were even difficult to follow with normal eyes.
'Well…those are my opponents, I need to level up fast if I'm gonna be able to challenge them in future'
As Steve was about to enter his dorm room, he noticed someone staring at him on the hallway.
"You there… you're not up to level three, are you?"
It was the voice of Lloyd Ronan, the number one swordsman among them currently.
"…"
Steve was speechless, he didn't expect to be asked that question but before he could answer, Lloyd shook his head and said
"Drop out of this contest while you still can, for your own good"
Steve just stared on as Lloyd entered his room and shut the door softly leaving only Steve in the silent hallway.
'I have to level up as quick as possible, if more people find out that I'm a low level swordsman I might become a target'
He thought and then walked into his room and began to cultivate his Mana.