The lady named Yoran released a deep breath and wiped the sweat that dripped down her forehead.
The man who she defeated weakly got on all fours, struggling to even breathe as he was in a loud coughing fit.
His thin chestnut hair blocked his face, only revealing his lower face.
"That was brutal!" Salvador exclaimed with his jaw dropped.
If it wasn't for the fact that the woman stayed in the position she attacked in, he wouldn't even have known what type of attack it was.
Suddenly, a booming voice sounded out of the thin air all around the stadium. "There we are! Fifth Force Knight, Yoran prevails!"
The crowd roared out again as she released a small smile to the crowd and galloped into a dark exit from the arena.
Three men and women dressed in white robes rushed out to the man and emitted a gaseous form of mana over the man. Immediately, his coughing ceased and he leaned back, looking into the blue sky.
He stood still as a statue for a moment before shaking his hand and standing up, refusing the help of the medics.
Following Yoran, he walked to the same exit, blatantly unsatisfied with his defeat against the powerful woman.
The area of around 100 meters across and wide was cleared up, the rubble and damage it received fixed itself in merely a minute, and the next fight was on its way. "I'm hoping this next fight has some low Force Knights near the Second force so you could see their attacks. I assume you couldn't see any of theirs?" William curiously asked his younger brother.
Salvador nodded, "I only knew that the last attack was a knee and elbow because she kept her stance after the blows connected." William nodded in response.
On cue, the same voice rang from around the stadium, "This next fight is a big one! It wasn't even scheduled until just now!" The people around Salvador released some curious and surprised gasps and some muttered to each other about the supposed big fight.
"We have Malo Ikona, versus the brother of the most revered warrior in all of Locha's history, Lance Leonard, Jaxon Stokovor!"
The crowd was still for a moment. No one even let out a breath. But after the first cheer, the noise of any cheer beforehand couldn't even compare to the current one.
Salvador had to quite literally cover his ears as the crowd burst out.
"TWO! That's right, TWO Ninth Force existences are here, fighting in this arena TODAY!" Some spectators stood up and shot their fists into the air out of pure excitement, some screamed as loud as they possibly could.
But the two stars of the show stood with calm expressions, stoic almost if it wasn't for the small smile Jaxon had.
As the man finished speaking, long blue barriers glistening with power were erected and covered the entire boundary of the battleground, these measures were necessary as if there was no protection for the spectators. Anyone that was below a Fifth Force Mage or Knight would surely die or be critically injured from the shockwaves or remnants of a spell.
Unlike other Knight's their level, they were also Eighth Force Mages, something nearly unheard of for their level.
Jaxon released a small breath, a sword of pure and bright light materializing into existence in his hands.
His opponent, Malo, spawned a spear from nowhere.
"I-" Salvador turned his head to his brother, "What did you say?"
William turned his head with a questioning expression. "I didn't say anything?"
"Yes you did, I heard you!"
William shook his head again and shrugged in response to his little brother. "Must've been someone else."
Salvador moved his eyes back onto the two fighters, "I guess."
He sat down, and rather than hearing something he felt something.
When he laid his eyes on Jaxon, something inside him trembled. The sensation he felt was as if he knew this person somehow.
And the same was with Malo, but unlike Jaxon's feeling, looking at Malo made it more sinister and gave him a tinge of disdain.
'Is it his face?' He jokingly thought. He let out a chuckle, but as he did Jaxon flicked his eyes to him.
For a solid three seconds, the two maintained eye contact. In those three seconds, the trembling intensified to such a strength that it felt as if he was shaking and wobbling where he stood. 'J-Jaxon...' A voice in his head murmured out of nowhere, catching Salvador by surprise.
As his eyes dilated, Jaxon smiled and diverted his eyes back to Malo, and put his angelic sword in front of him.
Malo responded by lifting his spear up a foot away from his head, his right hand near the back of it and his left hand near the blade of it. 'Hello! Is someone in my brain!' Salvador inwardly screamed.
Yet, there was no response.
Earlier, he thought his brother said something but it turned out to not be him, so he just thought it was someone close to him.
But there was no misperceiving it this time, there undoubtedly was something up. 'Am I fucking schizophrenic!' Amidst his internal crisis, a delicate woman's voice stopped him.
'Please, Calm down.' She kindly asked him.
Salvador completely froze. All of his bodily functions seemed to cease for a second as he registered what just happened. 'I-Is someone really in my head?'
He could hear, or rather feel a small chuckle from the person harboring themselves within his body. 'Rather your body, your soul.'
The word soul sent shivers down his spine, an undescribable feeling swelling within his chest. 'W-Who-'
'Don't speak, just watch the fight little one.'. Salvador didn't dare to disobey the voice in his head. He instantly came up with the conclusion that if they were in his 'soul', they could definitely deal irreversible damage.
'Haha! Don't have such ludicrous thoughts, Salvador. If anything I am your companion, your friend for life.'
Her soothing tone of voice worked on Salvador as he immediately calmed down, 'Still doesn't change that you've been in my soul for who knows how long.' He retorted with a nervous chuckle in his head.
'You're right. I wasn't expecting to meet Lance's brother here.'
Salvador furrowed his eyebrows for a second, 'You know him and Lance?"
The silence was his answer for a few seconds before the voice let out a small sigh. 'I'll tell you soon. In the meantime, watch the fight, afterward there will be a twenty-minute break and we'll go find him.'
Salvador inwardly nodded and set his eyes on the fight that was soon to commence.
"Are you ready folks! In Three, Two, One, FIGHT!"
Instantly, the two forces dashed at each other. The sheer speed and power from the two existences caused the ground beneath them to crack and shoot out, strongly colliding with the mana barrier.
Before that happened, the two forces clashed, instantaneously releasing powerful shockwaves that clashed with the mana barrier, causing it to rumble.
Despite being far from the battle, the shakes and power from the blows were felt all the way to Salvador. 'I can't even see them at all...' Salvador exclaimed in his head.
'They are absolute powerhouses. In no time they'll be Tenth Force Knights. However, that is where the problem lies.
Once a person reaches a Tenth Force Knight, they are given some power; Not just strength but political power such as that. And that's where Malo comes in.
I cant tell you now, but if he gets to Tenth Force, the demon army will more or so likely annihilate Locha.'
Salvador's jaw dropped for a moment, a steady stream of questions flowing into his mind. 'Why is it that I feel something when I look at Malo? It's the same for Jaxon... But it's worse.'
Just as before, the voice was quiet, contemplating whether it should reveal the truth or not.
'There is no point in hiding it. Malo killed Lance Leonard, or rather Lance Stokovor, his blood family.'