The moment the fight started, Tian Fen lifted his sword.
Meanwhile, Aaron waited in the same position, his guard up.
'I won't make the same mistake twice.' He smirked as he saw his opponent taking the same pose.
Although Aaron believed that he could win, he didn't dare to underestimate his opponent. Especially the opponent who had beaten him before, whether it was a fluke or not.
Waiting, Aaron wanted his opponent to attack first. That way, the opponent's speed would be significantly reduced. He still shuddered when he remembered the fast sword that defeated him last time.
Contrary to his expectations, Tian Fen didn't move even after a whole minute had passed. By that time, Aaron was sure that Tian Fen wouldn't attack, no matter what.
"Uuu."
"Move!"
"What did I spend my money for?"
The booing was heard from the stands, irritating Aaron.
Stell facepalmed as he watched Felix join in with the others in booing. "Also, what's with the guy who said that he paid?"
Unable to bear the wait, Aaron took a knife from his waist and threw it at Tian Fen. The knife accurately flew towards Tian Fen.
Just as it was about to hit him, the knife was deflected by an extremely fast counterattack.
"So you are still alive," Aaron smirked, unsurprised that his attack was easily dealt with.
"Can we get this over with?" Tian Fen furrowed his brows.
"Once you attack me." Aaron's smirk made most spectators with to beat him up.
Tian Fen looked at Aaron before lifting his sword. Then, he made a slashing motion.
Aaron tensed as he felt the slash's might. Furrowing his brows, he looked at Tian Fen oddly.
"It might be strong, but it's useless from a distance." He mocked.
Tian Fen ignored him as he slowly lifted his sword again. Then, making another slashing motion, he confused every single spectator.
"What is he doing?" Stell asked Felix while listening to the booing of the spectators.
Felix just shrugged his shoulders while booing.
'Why did I even ask him...' Stell shook his head, wondering when he had started relying on Felix.
Adding it to his list of necessary fixes, he redirected his gaze to the fight.
"Are you mocking me?" Aaron's eyelids twitched as he watched Tian Fen practice swings.
"I am not." Tian Fen curtly replied.
That made Aaron's veins twitch as well. "You motherfucker!" He yelled as he rushed at Tian Fen.
Lifting his sword once again, Tian Fen calmly looked at Aaron, prepared for his attacks.
Throwing small knives at Tian Fen, Aaron swiftly descended into his shadow, moving as one.
"He couldn't move fast as a shadow earlier!" Stell pointed out Aaron's improvement. In Aaron's second game, he could barely move his shadow, only remaining in one spot.
"He looks more interesting now." Felix grinned, desiring to fight Aaron.
Stell looked at Felix, feeling his inferiority again. 'This is too infuriating! Why don't I feel the same desire? Why do I feel afraid?' Stell hated that feeling.
And yet, he could only hopelessly watch someone else's story.
Tian Fen swiftly deflected the throwing knives as he waited for Aaron. Swiftly approaching, Aaron started zig-zagging when he was ten meters from Tian Fen.
Tian Fen only looked calmly at Aaron's shadow. Then, as if by some miracle, Aaron appeared behind Tian Fen, his dagger already reaching Tian Fen's chest.
Tian Fen didn't even turn as he swiped his sword to the side, deflecting Aaron's dagger. Then, he didn't slow down as he made a turn, slashing at Aaron.
With a shocked look, Aaron started descending into the shadow. But it was too late. The sword was about to reach him. If it didn't slow down, that is.
Safely entering the shadow, he moved as far away from the danger as possible.
After exiting the shadow, he heard Tian Fen's voice. "You already lost."
His words caused the previously booing audience to start cheering. With a contorted expression, Aaron shouted. "Lost? What kind of bullshit is that? You clearly missed!"
His words made Tian Fen furrow his brows. Then, some people in the audience fanned the flames. "It's true! You didn't hit him, did you? What kind of excuse is that? Do you think that you sound cool?"
Stell could only shake his head. No one in the audience could even clearly see what happened at that moment. Not even him.
'Maybe Felix could.' Looking at Felix expectantly, Felix answered the silent question. "I don't know. But I wanna see them fight more." He grinned.
Then, he shouted loudly. "You didn't hit him! That doesn't count! He is able to fight!"
Stell could only wryly smile at Felix's actions.
"That lad clearly pulled his sword back! I tell ya!" The older man who discussed the bets earlier shouted.
Stell looked at the older man. 'What?' He believed the older man was spouting nonsense, but Tian Fen's next words shattered his beliefs.
"I won't hold back then." Tian Fen lifted his sword as his eyes turned sharp.
Aaron gulped before throwing knives at Tian Fen. Then, again, he entered his shadow. Suddenly, parts of the shadows of the arena separated and mixed into Aaron's shadow.
Following that, the shadows separated, each one approaching Tian Fen from various directions.
Stell blankly looked at Aaron's prowess. 'He is much stronger than the deer!' His eyes grew bloodshot.
As he felt envy building up, he closed his eyes, concentrating on suppressing it.
'Why does he have a System? That's not fair!' He felt as if demons whispered silent jealous words into him. Struggling, he barely suppressed his envy.
'I just have to work harder. I just have to work harder.'
While Stell was dealing with his own problems, Tian Fen turned toward one shadow before making a slash.
His slash emitted a faint, white energy that collided with the shadow.
"What's that?" Felix jumped from his seat in excitement, looking at the incredible slash.
"That! It's..." Stell's shocked voice was interrupted by the older man.
"That's Sword Intent! He has Sword Intent!" The older man started laughing, slapping his thigh with every laugh.
"What's Sword Intent?" Felix turned to look at the older man.
"Lad! It's the highest mastery of a sword. I tell ya, that lad is talented! Hahaha!" After a slight laugh, the older man continued. "I heard that it could only be achieved in this universe! Our old ones won't do."
Felix's eyes shined. The highest mastery of a sword! That's a person he was spectating. It had only been three days!
"It's possible if he trained with the sword earlier. It doesn't mean that he achieved it in three days." Stell didn't wish to believe that Tian Fen had reached such a level of mastery without any prior training.
After all, it was an impossible dream even for First Order existences. And he read that First Order elevated a person's lifespan to two hundred years. In other words, if your talent was ordinary, you wouldn't be able to reach that state even after two hundred years, not to mention three days.
Aaron left his shadow with his chest cut. Grimacing, he looked at Tian Fen with a twisted expression before sighing.
Sitting down, he studied Tian Fen. After a while, he asked. "What is your daily routine?"
Tian Fen looked at Aaron for a few seconds before answering. "Training; eating; training; resting; training."
His words left Aaron speechless. With a silent sigh, Aaron continued. "I admit defeat. I am inferior."
His words caused every spectator to cheer. It made Stell wonder. How could they even hear them? Are there hidden speakers in the arena?
"However, don't think that this is your win. You may have won this time, but I'll win in the end." Aaron grinned as he approached Tian Fen. Tian Fen didn't do anything, allowing Aaron to touch his hand.
After that, Aaron left. With the audience shouting the name "TIAN FEN!" Tian Fen became the most famous person in the exiles city.
Stell silently looked at Aaron's retreating back. He felt bitter. Aaron could accept defeat gracefully, so why couldn't he?
It was as if it was against his own existence. As if it was against his own principles.
His whole life, he had been running from reality, saying that a defeat didn't matter. What now? What excuse could he come up with now?
Shaking his head, Stell abandoned his thoughts. "I'll win next time." He whispered.