Laston at this point was screaming inside his head, "You had to be a loud mouth laston, you just had to be a loud mouth, and now you're gonna take a beating"
The middle-aged man then said, "I would have loved to show you your place, but that would have been considered bullying, so I will let my student deal with you and because of your pitiful rank, we will be excluding the use of outward spiritual energy, the factors that will determine the victor will be, raw sword skills and the grade of the weapon, and not to make it unfair you will be given the opportunity to purchase any sword of your choice.
His pursed lips tightened into a thin line, and his tense face reflected his inner turmoil, "this is my dojo for the time being, and if I win it only means I get to keep what is already mine."
The middle-aged man then smiled ominously, "Since that seems to be the only obstruction, what do you want?"
Laston still playing along with a mean face was inwardly gripped by frustration, not knowing where the confidence was coming from, maybe it was his new sword, or maybe due to the new moves he had under his arsenal, but all this didn't matter because he couldn't back out anymore, even if he wanted to.
Sweat dripped down his chin from the tension bearing on him and sure enough, this didn't go unnoticed by the disciple who immediately started laughing at him, "I have two conditions, one, I win and you and your disciple will apologize to my servant, secondly, if I win you will be giving me two hundred gold coins.
This was his last-ditch attempt in trying to scare them away by giving them conditions that would scare them away while maintaining a calm demeanor, although it seemed to work just fine as one of the disciples said, "This is akin to robbery in daylight, this dojo cost only twenty gold coins for the week and here you are demanding two hundred gold pieces"
But Bernard, on the other hand, was not worried, because his brightest student just acquired a sword with a potent lightning effect, so he was confident the win was in the bag even before the match started.
Even if laston had successfully fooled his disciple, he could still see signs of anxiety in him though he was trying his hardest to hide it, hence why Bernard started getting aggressive, "Fine, your conditions are well accepted, Hilston show this brat Why we are among the top three sword academies."
When the other disciples saw who was chosen, "No you are finished brat, get ready, they all said, some of the disciples felt pity as he was about to face the youngest top stars of the phoenix sword sect."
Benard standing in between the two contenders said, "The rules of this sparring match will be as so, firstly no lethal wound that would lead to death or permanent damage, you are allowed to concede or surrender, he said staring at laston
Hilston stared at laston, never in his life did he think he would spar with a core one brat.
Benard then said out loud, "Rank doesn't matter in a sword fight, what really determines the victor is one's understanding of the sword.
Hilston could only sigh in defeat as he pulled one of the swords from the shelf, Bernard on seeing this had a stiff smile, "why are using that scrap, he asked pointing at the sword in his grasp, "It only right to use the level of sword his going to use, his already at a disadvantage".
On hearing that statement Laston had a wicked grin, already harboring malicious intention, "Razor?! Get me my sword"
Pulling two swords out of his newly acquired storage pouch, he asked with a cheeky smile
"Which of them?"
"Ice."
Throwing the sword into the air, which was gracefully caught by laston, pulling it from its sheath he Immediately took a sword stance not wasting any time he poured his spiritual energy into the weapon, and just like magic the temperature in the surroundings dropped as the sword began to freeze.
Hilston on seeing this quickly knew he was the one at a disadvantage, not wasting any time laston swung the sword sending a little line of ice toward Hilston, who used his movement technique to evade the incoming attack.
Ran toward laston to take a swing, which laston blocked, but the impact and force of the attack were enough to swab both his hands to the side leaving him completely open
Hilston seeing the opportunity quickly swung without hesitation, slashing his thigh open
`The metallic tang of blood hung in the air as blood sipped out of his body, falling to the ground two familiar voices rang in his head in unison, "Master!"
"You should be stronger than this boy!" splinter for the first time spoke in anger
After the attack, Hilston quickly distanced himself from laston who was in a daze as he had never seen his blood leave his body in such a manner coupled with the different voices buzzing in his head.
his eyebrows furrowed in pain as he shouted, standing up he narrowed his eyes at Hilston raising his sword over his head in a sword stance, small shards of ice began to grow larger filling the dojo all focusing on a particular point, which was Hilston.
With a downward slash all the ice shards launched at Hilston giving him no chance to dodge; wasting no time out of reflexes he quickly pulled out another sword from his storage ring, arcs of lightning immediately formed around him destroying the icicles that came close.
But due to the range of the attack and the angle at which it came, he was left with various cuts on his body as the attack had taken him by surprise.
Laston blew an air of relief as he had put every single output of spiritual energy he could muster into that attack, seeing the result left him in shock and fear as he could already picture a dead Hilston.
Benard immediately came on stage, "That attack could have killed him!" trying to hide his face of absolute shock and disbelief.
"No core one should be able to graze his number one student, and aren't meant to have such spiritual energy output even if they were with a sword of attribute, all this he thought inwardly.
Laston then responded, "your rule clearly stated not to inflict lethal injury, he looks to be in a better condition than I am, I could have stopped my attack at any time" laston lied blatantly, plus he used another weapon, does that means I can use another weapon?