The orange haired Nexarion had received quite a heavy blow since it took him a few seconds to stabilize. All the while keeping his eyes on Ragnar that were laced with confusion and uncertainty. Despite that, it didn’t last long since just as his body stabilized, so did his mind. His eyes became sharp once more as he eyed Ragnar with a calculative look.

Ragnar had allowed himself and his opponent this moment of reprieve since he realized that he was not as immune to his opponent’s attacks as he once thought. The region of his hand that had come in contact with the whip was currently gushing out blood. The whip had managed to penetrate deep into his skin. As such, his previous actions clearly couldn’t be repeated endlessly in this fight, lest he wants to walk out as a bloodless husk from this stage. Taking that much damage couldn’t be justified in this situation. Hence, he turned to the referee, which was probably another Mystic powerhouse and spoke “Give me another dagger.”

The referee gave him a sidelong glance before tossing over a dagger from the weapon rack behind him. It was quite usual for people to lose their weapons or break them during a fight, but in almost all of those situations that person doesn’t get the chance to get a replacement before his opponent capitalizes on that advantage and takes him down. But this match had paused in quite an odd fashion where both the fighters were willing to allow themselves and their opponents a moment of respite.

Receiving the new weapon that felt natural in his hands, Ragnar was ready to get back into the fray and already considering his options. But the orange haired Nexarion’s next move threw Ragnar for a loop. The flaming whip in his hands lost its fire before being retracted into his body. He gave up on his biggest advantage just like that. Although Ragnar thought in this direction, he found out that this man felt just as much dangerous if not even more than he was with his whip.

***

Meanwhile in the audience, Aura was having this exact same thought as she whispered to herself “Why would he do that?” Although Aura knew about this person’s abilities, that was only because she was required to keep herself updated with all the important events and people around the world, being an up-and-coming Matriarch of the Sylvancrests, at least she wanted to be. Whether it becomes a reality or not was another matter. Hence, all she knew about the person was surface level knowledge and thus lacked any understanding of how he actually fights or his personality.

Even though it was just a whisper, Kalix, who sat right beside her and was also a spectral, heard it loud and clear. Smiling wryly, he spoke up. ”Miss Aura might not know but he is quite an unlucky fellow when it comes to his Spectral perk, one of the rare few cases where the perks actually hinder the overall capabilities of its user instead of bolstering them.”

Hearing him, Aura forcefully broke away from staring at the arena and looked at Kalix, urging him to continue with her eyes. Kalix got the clue and explained what he knew. “Ever since childhood, he was believed to be one of best candidates for the next head of the Nexarions, only below their current princess. One of the main reasons behind that being his proficiency in their family’s martial arts. He was undefeated in their younger generation ever since he turned 12. Even after he entered the Rift and came out as a walker. His ability was commonly agreed to be perfectly tailored for him. Giving his already high reputation another boosts and similarly for his strength. He was once again undefeatable in his rank and his peers.”

Kalix paused here to see her reaction but found out that her gaze was already glued back to the arena. Despite that he saw her gesturing with her hand to continue.

*Sigh*” All that changed when he became a spectral and awakened his perk. As you know the perk of a spectral serves as an undeniable enhancement to one’s strength. But for him, it was nothing short of a limiter to his strength, preventing him from truly rising to his potential that everyone believed he had. Ever since then, he has been trying to get comfortable with this new weapon that is in complete opposition to his previous fighting style. But as you are about to find out, his strength with his whip has come nowhere near what he can achieve with his bare hands. Let’s hope Lord Ragnar can surprise us once again.”

As he spoke, even he himself didn’t realize how smoothly the ‘Lord’ had flowed out from his mouth.

***

Looking at his opponent, for the first time today, Ragnar felt that it wasn’t going to be another walk in the park for him going further in this fight. He will have to try a bit harder.

“Heh” What more could he want? It was exactly why he was here in the first place.

With that in mind he made his move, with a new dagger in hand, he once again rushed forward with his waves shooting him ahead. At the same time on the other side of the stage, the orange haired Nexarion also shot forward, with a speed only slightly slower than Ragnar’s own.

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Ragnar was aiming for the man’s neck, now that the whip was out of the equation, Ragnar could be more active in his approach. But before the hand reached anywhere near his neck, the Nexarion swatted it away with one hand before sending a palm towards Ragnar’s chest. As Ragnar saw the palm getting closer, he felt a sense of foreboding, so without any delay in his movements he powered his other hand with a burst of waves and sent a fist to match the Nexarion’s palm. The palm and fist collided mid-air and one body shot back towards the edge of the stadium, while another simply lost its momentum and stayed at the centre of the stage. Despite what everyone thought would be the result now that the Nexarion was truly serious, the one that remained at the centre stage was none other than Ragnar.

He stood there staring at his fist that he had used, waiting for the burning sensation to come, but it never came. It would appear that the Nexarion had given up on using his ability against him and was just relying on his Spectral body. Ragnar respected his decision but that didn’t mean he would once again allow him to rethink his strategy and wait for him to be ready. He hated nothing more than being reactive in combat. In order to seize the momentum and gain the upper hand, one should always be active and make the opponent react to your moves.

Before the Nexarion could stabilize once again, Ragnar zipped forward with the intention of ending it but the Nexarion seemed to have something else in mind as he somehow once again managed to dodge his knife and shot his leg forward to counter Ragnar. But Ragnar easily matched it with his leg and a crack was heard across the arena. But people didn’t get the chance to register what cracked as they were still in the same place and neither was flung away from the other. Ragnar didn’t want to keep repeating the pattern of sending him away only to chase after him so he was keeping him at a hand’s distance while trying to dish out as much damage as he could.

Many subsequent cracks were heard in the arena as the audience sat with a pin drop silence. They were gobsmacked by the complete absurdity going on stage as they could see that the person taking the burnt of the attack was the Nexarion. They were thoroughly confused as well as to why he was not utilizing his terrifying ability and instead allowing the Arcane to push him around like that. This sent them further into the serene silence as they once again realized that this was just an Arcane, and the one he was pushing around was a True Spectral.

Ragnar had to admit in this situation that he was completely and thoroughly outclassed when it came to combat skills. The only thing that allowed him to come out on top in every exchange they had was the absurd power behind his every move which was all because of his ability along with the speed that it allowed him to move at. His hands and legs could reach out to any position in order to either block or counter, catching him off-guard almost every time.

But this had also allowed Ragnar to find out something else that he needed to work on. Since during this long series of moves it happened several times where he boosted his limb forward with his waves but it happened so fast that he couldn’t prepare his muscles for the upcoming thrust that they were about to receive. This ended up adding a few cracks of his own to the series of cracks that came from this arena.

But those were the only cracks that his body received since his opponent seemed incapable of adding them himself. Although he had received several hits on his body as well, none of them were critical and were unable to damage him substantially or even hinder his movements. For the Nexarion on the other hand, it would be right to say that the only thing keeping him standing was his will since almost all his limbs were cracked in some places or other. He had also received several cuts from his dagger but they were also not substantial. He had somehow managed to block each of Ragnar’s lethal blows either with his dagger or with his waves, only allowing some scratches and a few broken bones.

This was why Ragnar had to accept that he was completely outclassed since he was unable to end it cleanly even after giving his best with his main ability on full throttle. Ragnar had used everything he had learned and had in his arsenal other than his tainted perk and his other ability.

***

Inside one of the VIP boxes on the top floor.

A young man sat on a sofa, observing the arena through the black tinted glass that prevented others from peering in. He wore a black vest with a black jeans alongside a black cloak that seemed to be there for just a visual purpose. He had a dagger inside a scabbard hanging around his waist with its hilt visible outside. On that hilt a half moon symbol could be seen protruding out from the surface of the dagger.

He had a calm look in his eyes as he watched an Arcane completely dominate over a True Spectral. He was now a Spectral himself but he couldn’t say that he could have replicated that feat when he was an Arcane. Despite that his eyes were completely calm observing this never-before-seen event. Since even though he couldn’t overpower a True Spectral when he was an Arcane, if it came to killing them… Yeah, he had done that plenty.

A tall person stood behind the sofa, also observing the Arena with a serious look. They also wore a cloak but it served a more serious purpose. It perfectly hid their identity. They had been quiet for quite a while but couldn’t contain it any longer. A rough yet feminine voice was heard in the VIP box.

“Young lord, should I bring him in for questioning, he is clearly trained by one of us. I suggest you take him under you. Although he is still a bit rough around the edges, I am sure I can carve him into a diamond for you. With that unique ability of his, he should be useful and would serve well under you. So much potential would go to waste if you- “

At this point the young lord sitting on sofa raised a hand and the woman instantly stopped speaking as if a mandate from gods. The young man opened his mouth and spoke in a calm tone as could be expected from his serene expression that seemed like it wouldn’t falter even in death.

” No need, he won’t serve under me. And let me enjoy the match.”

The woman knew better than to question her young lord’s decision but she couldn’t help but murmur in defiance. “But the match is already over… what’s left to watch?”

The Young man revealed a hint of a smile before speaking out once again “You think so?”

***