CLAP!!!
Ivan did not dodge this time, he had instead used his arm to block Damian's kick!
Ckreeeeee!!!
Ivan's foot created two long trenches on the ground as he was sent sliding away due to the force of the kick.
The whole arena: Gasp!
Ivan was currently raising his left arm to protect the side of his head; his entire left arm was covered in a thick layer of red energy, which had helped him to take the full force of Damian's kick.
Damian, with his leg still hanging in the air, looked at Ivan in shock.
Ivan had actually taken his kick head-on without sustaining any damage, and the reason for that was…
"He's already at the True King rank!" Miko squeezed out through gritted teeth; she stood up because she did not feel comfortable sitting anymore. This new discovery shocked everybody.
"He's already at the True King rank? So fast," Elora gasped from where she was hidden; she did not expect Ivan to be so strong.
"Hehe, good job buddy! It's another win for us!" Glen cheered loudly.
'He is already a True King Nexulyte at such a young age; what a terrifying talent,' the referee thought within himself as he stared at Ivan from above.
He was already in his thirties and was still at the Partial Lord rank, he was only a rank higher than Ivan! Although the gap between these two ranks was huge, he believed that it would not be a problem for Ivan to reach the same rank in a few years or even surpass him if he worked hard enough.
All the other trainees were in a state of absolute disbelief as well, they were finding it difficult to understand how Ivan could grow so strong within such a short time.
"With this level of strength, you are more than qualified to graduate from training. Why still keep the resources to yourself?" Damian asked while dropping his leg, he had recovered from his shock of finding out that Ivan was a True king rank Nexulyte and was now angry that he was still unwilling to let others get the resources of the first place on the ranking.
Ivan dropped his arm and retracted his energy, his eyes gazed at Damian calmly for a few seconds before casually saying.
"Having more strength isn't a bad thing. Besides, I already have plans for the resources given to first place"
Wooosh!!! Wooosh!! Wooosh!!
Immediately after saying that, Ivan disappeared from where he was standing previously and reappeared in front of Damian; one of his swords in his hand and the other three around him as they attacked together.
Ding! Ding! Ding!×99
The speed of the swords attacking became faster and faster with Ivan attacking as well. Damian could only retreat continuously while desperately blocking the attack with his shields.
Numerous cracks kept appearing on both shields, which Damian would quickly fix up, only for Ivan to cut it open again.
This dragged on for a minute, Ivan kept advancing with his swords while Damian kept getting pushed back till his back hit the yellow barrier.
His bald head was now covered in sweat, which made it shine from the lights of their clash; Damian was beginning to get exhausted; he was expending too much energy to fix the cuts on his shields.
Finally…
Clap!!
Ivan landed a clear hit! He used the blunt side of his sword and slapped Damian's bald head heavily.
The hit was so strong that a red print of a sword was instantly left on Damian's head as his face smashed into the ground.
BOOM!!
The ground collapsed from the force of Damian's fall, and everything stopped.
Damian felt dizzy for a few seconds and only regained clarity after a fierce head shaking; he could have sworn that he had seen seven stars when his face smashed into the ground.
"You lose"
An emotionless voice rang in Damian's ears, it was then that he realized that he was lying on the ground and a pair of legs were standing in front of him.
Damian's eyes traveled up the pair of legs to see the owner and saw Ivan standing above him while gazing down at him with a blank look in his eyes.
He was pointing a sword at Damian's bald head while the remaining three swords circled above Damian, ready to stab him at any moment.
He had undeniably lost.
He did not even get the chance to avenge the shame of getting his head smacked by his opponent's sword and was already at his mercy.
The referee landed at this time.
" Trainee number one wins the match!" He announced.
Only then did Ivan withdraw his swords and walk to the other side of the stage.
The referee turned to look at Damian, who was still lying on the ground; thankfully, he didn't have dull eyes, so his fighting spirit wasn't crushed yet.
"Trainee number five, you may leave the stage now," the referee said softly to avoid embarrassing Damian any further.
Damian immediately stood up but didn't leave right away; he stared at Ivan, who was looking back at him from the other side of the stage with an intense gaze for a while before raising his hand and giving a thumbs up.
"I acknowledge your strength!" Damian said and immediately walked off.
Ivan looked at his departing back for a while before turning his gaze away.
'A failure who could not pass during his time, are you worthy of acknowledging me?' Ivan thought. He would have preferred hearing those words from that Alaric Vladimir guy instead.
The referee turned to Ivan and once again asked if he would like to continue or take a break; Ivan obviously chose to continue; he only had one challenge invitation left, and he would have enough break before it was his turn to request a challenge.
"Alright then," the referee said before placing one of his hands on the barrier and fixing the stage.
"Trainee number 8, proceed to the stage for your match!" The referee called out after fixing the stage.
"Ehh? Who's this number 8? I don't pay attention to anyone below the fifth rank"
"Bah! You trash at rank 200 dare to say nonsense, are you worth paying attention to?"
"Someone still dares to face Ivan after finding out he's at the True King rank? I bet they will forfeit"
"Forfeit? I'll eat shit if they even dare to show up!"
"Then be prepared to eat a bucket of shit, my friend, you might not know this but that number 8 is a very good friend of Ivan"
" That's right, Ivan has only two friends and that number 8 guy is one. I heard that they came to the tower together "
" What?! Is that true?"
" Yes, very true. They were scouted together and came together, I remember seeing Miss Elora showing them around the tower on the day they came"
" How lucky, I wish I was his friend too "
" You can wish for that later, for now, wish for how you will eat that bucket of shit you promised "
" What? I was just joking, can't you take a joke?!"
" Sure, sure. You'll jokingly eat it too "
" Get lost!"
" Fight me!"
While the trainees were chattering, Ralph had already made his way down to the stage and was already inside the barrier.
The referee flew back up into the air to give them space.
"I don't think there's even a need for this fight; you're already at the True King rank; I'm not even at the Mortal King rank yet." Ralph took off his glasses and wiped them with his shirt while saying this.
"Don't worry too much, I just want to see how much progress you've made. I'll still stick to the original plan" Ivan responded with a small smile.
Ralph paused and glared at him. Although Ivan doing so would help him and Glen, it would be too shameless and many would criticize Ivan. Before he could speak though, Ivan raised his sword and pointed the tip at Ralph.
"I know what you're going to say, and I don't care about all that; they were not there with us in the outskirt," Ivan said coldly as if threatening Ralph not to dare forfeit.
Ralph froze, the words just now were like an electric current that struck him unexpectedly. It took him a few seconds to come back to his senses, a faint chuckle left his lungs.
"Indeed, then please provide pointers for me, my friend," Ralph said amidst his chuckling, but he was already getting serious.
His eyes turned blood red as a large amount of Nexus energy flowed out of him like a cloud of smoke; the oppressive aura within the stage was impossible to overlook.
Anyone with weaker strength than Ralph would immediately find it difficult to breathe under this oppression aura.
'He is not as powerful as this white-haired kid, but his potential isn't to be underestimated either,r, ' the referee commended inwardly while nodding his head.
The mist continued to expand and covered a distance of ten meters around Ralph; only after this did it stop and slowly begin to vanish, only to reveal the appearance of an old man in a big black robe.
This was the same old man during Ralph's awakening.
It was an Undead General, a General of the undead legion in the underworld!