"How would you feel about joining Velin in the tribunes to watch Aydor fight?" Hog asked.

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Fear not, no one would dare object tonight. Besides, I'd like to watch Aydor fight myself. And it would do you good to watch your future opponent, too. Whoever it is," Hog replied.

"I'm really interested. I haven't seen any fights yet this year, unless you count mine," Cenn replied uncertainly.

"Then follow me. And try to ignore the spawn of the Orist clan."

Cenn silently followed the fat man, unable to find the words to reply.

Reaching the tribune where Velin was already seated, he and Hog took a couple of empty seats next to him.

"A glorious fight, Cenn. You earned this victory." Velin patted Cenn on the back, congratulating him on his victory.

"Hmm, could barely beat even a squishy girl. A glorious victory indeed..." Mizra Orist muttered the words under his breath as if he was talking to himself but could be heard.

"You old fuck, you wouldn't last a minute against that girl." Hog snarled.

"Ten seconds would have been enough for me to finish this fight." Mizra replied haughtily.

"Ten seconds? That's your record for dealing with women? Uh huh. Too bad your wife died without ever tasting a real man." Saying that, Hog grinned viciously.

"Scoundrel, how dare you!" Rant Orist jumped up from his seat, but was immediately stopped by his father.

"Your jokes are crossing all limits, Hog. Velin shut his mouth or I'll have to do it." Mizra was hurt by Hog's words, but he couldn't let his son start a fight in the arena. Especially since the outcome was known in advance.

"And what are you going to do to me? Spit in my footsteps and spread rumors behind my back? At most your seven..." continued Hog's skirmish.

"Enough! Both of you will remain silent for the rest of the battle. Or get out of here now. This is not the time you've found for infighting." Velin intervened in their squabble.

Cenn already regretted coming to the tribunes. Every time he was near the head of the Orist family, the old man tried to insult him in every possible way. And this time was no exception.

"The next fight is Aydor Bael versus Krinnel Faro." Came the voice of the judge over the arena.

"Well finally we get to see a real fight, hehe." Said old man Orist, pushing his son in the side.

"А? Yeah, finally going to start the fight we came here for." Rant tried to play along with his father.

"Father-in-law, it seems you've begun to forget our arrangement." Velin looked angrily into Mizra's eyes. "If you can't watch your tongue, you'd better not open your mouth."

"Come on Velin, we're just rooting for Aydor. And not trying to offend anyone." Replied the old man smiling.

"Keep your mouth shut during the fight, I don't want your yelling to distract Aydor." Said Velin and turned away.

"You think you can tell me what to do? This is my grandson and I will say what I want and when I want." Snarled the old man.

But this time Velin didn't answer. He was fed up with the old man's craziness and didn't want to be distracted by it during his son's fight.

Meanwhile, in the arena, the temple servants standing at the gate signaled to the judge. It means that the participants are waiting for the command to start the fight.

Seeing this, the judge raised his right hand up, attracting the attention of the spectators.

"The fight begins!"

The gate leading to the arena immediately opened.

"Come on, Aydor, kick that forest goon's ass!" Shouted Mizra at the top of his lungs.

Cenn looked around at the tribunes where hundreds of people were shouting in a frenzy to the tournament participants who were about to converge in battle.

"Uncle Hog, what's going on? Why did so many people come to the arena today?" He asked the fat man sitting next to him.

"After everyone found out about the sect story. The people from the gambling house made a generous donation to the Temple for the opportunity to take bets on the tournament results. And as you can see it's been quite popular." Replied Hog.

"What are bets?" Asked Cenn.

"Heh. You should have been out of the manor a long time ago. A bet is when two people argue over who will be the winner, in the end the one who loses is obliged to give the winner money as a reward. But you better not think about it. And don't ever gamble yourself, I beg you?" Hog tried to explain to Cenn the meaning of betting.

"Okay, I won't. Especially I still don't understand the point of these bets, why all these people came here," Cenn replied puzzled.

"Eh, you're still very young. You'll understand with age anyway. Stop distracting me and better watch the fight."

While Hog was explaining the intricacies of betting to Cenn, Aydor was leisurely testing his opponent's defenses with a couple of quick attacks.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Krinnel, in turn, was in no hurry to attack.

In the end, the opponents simply circled around the center of the arena, waiting for the enemy's actions.

"Boo! You fucking chicken, start fighting already!"

"Fight! Let's go!"

"Kick his ass, Krinnel!"

Cenn could hear people on all sides shouting to provoke the fighters to fight.

[I wonder if they shouted that to me during the fight too?]

But Krinnel's actions snapped him out of his thoughts.

Swinging his saber high above him, he brought a blow down on Aydor. Then another. And another.

These blows were not like the blows of a warrior. They were more like the blows of a woodcutter trying to cut down a tree with a saber.

His attack was both unhurried and sharp at the same time. And that combination mesmerized Cenn.

Aydor tried unsuccessfully to block the attack, but he only managed to sidestep the blade.

"Parry the attack like I taught you! Knock the saber out of his hands," old man Orist shouted with all his might. Hoping his grandson would hear him. But his voice was lost amidst the hundreds of others.

Meanwhile, in the arena, Aydor was on the offensive. With a series of quick attacks, he tried to find a weak spot in the enemy's defenses. But all his attacks hit Krinnel's saber like a wall. The difference in strength was too great, and even his strongest attacks couldn't break through the opponent's defense.

Despite the fact that the guys were almost the same height. Crinell was much better built. He weighed almost 40 jin(45pounds) more than Aydor, and looked like a grown man, not a youngster.

"Stop holding back, hit him with full force! Tear that son of a bitch apart!" Mizra shouted with all his might, spitting saliva. It seemed to Cenn that the old man was ready to personally enter the arena and continue the fight instead of his grandson.

"Stop yelling in my ear, you old asshole!" Hog couldn't stand the old man's continuous bashing and pushed him away from him with force. Which caused Mizra to fall on his son Rant, and both nearly fell off the bench.

"You bastard!" Rant sat his father down on the bench and pounced on Hog with his fists.

But at that moment Velin came up. Grabbing Rant's arm, he pulled him aside. With his other hand he took Mizra by the collar and dragged him back to where he had been sitting. Then he did the same to Rant. Eventually ending up in the middle of the tribune between Mizra and Hog.

"Shut up, both of you!" He was darker than a cloud. Whether it was because of the everlasting conflicts among his family. Or because his son was clearly losing his fight.

While Velin tried to separate Hog and Mizra, Cenn watched Aydor's actions closely. No matter what, he believed that the boy could win the fight.

Aydor at this moment realized the pointlessness of his attacks and decided it was time to use his sigils.

Without much hesitation, he chose his strongest sigil, Soil.

"Soil Enchant!"

The Soil Enchantment.

Enchants the wielder's weapon with the power of the soil. Increases the weight of the weapon and the strength of the blow for a period of time depending on the strength of the wielder.

This time he decided to enchant his sword, hoping it would help him break through Krinnel's defenses.

"Fuck, the kid fucked up big time!" Hog blurted out, and slammed his fist on the railing in front of him in frustration.

Cenn, hearing his words, considered what he meant. Surely the Soil Sigil would greatly enhance Aydor's attacks, but because the difference in strength was not in his favor from the start, he would only equal Krinnel's strength by using the Sigil, essentially gaining no advantage.

With the boost, Aydor went back on the attack. His attacks are still just as fast, but now the force of the blow is enough to make Krinnel take a step back after each block.

"Yeah, so him! Well done Aido! Pin him against the wall!" Mizra cheered as he saw his grandson's attacks.

Encouraged by the success of his attacks, Aydor continued to press the enemy with a hail of blows, putting more and more force into each successive blow.

*Punch*

Suddenly Krinnel didn't block his saber, but took a step to the side and dodged the attack. This caused Aydor to lunge forward and lose his balance.

*Kick*

Seeing the moment of weakness, Krinnel kicked Aydor in the stomach with all his might and continued the attack with a blow to the face with the hilt of his saber.

From this blow, Aydor recoiled a few steps back. His nose was bleeding profusely. His left arm was pinned to his abdomen from the knee strike.

Krinnel stood in place waiting for his opponent to recover from his blows, not trying to end the fight before his enemy recovered from the blows he received.

"Shit, that scumbag is just playing with Aydor. This fight is already over." Hog was infuriated by what he saw in the arena.

"Don't be ridiculous, Aydor just made a small mistake. Now he'll get his act together and beat the crap out of that forest goon." Mizra never stopped believing in his grandson. Though Cenn could hear the worrying notes in his voice.

One way or another everyone sitting at the Bael family's trebuncle was worried about the boy.

Aydor finally recovered from the shock and regained his breath. The missed blows had not broken his will to fight. Seeing that his robe was stained with his own blood, he became furious.

"AAAArrrgh!"

With a furious shout, he lunged at Krinnel. This time, he didn't try to pierce through his enemy's defense. Instead, he was trying to make him bleed.

A chopping right punch to the shoulder.

Slashing attack from below the thigh. Stab to the stomach.

Slashing right to the torso.

A slashing blow from above to the head.

Aydor pelted his enemy with strikes. Trying to avenge his blood at all costs.

Krinnel only defended himself, these attacks were not as strong as before, but they were more cunning and unpredictable.

"Aydor, stop. Don't give in to anger!" By this point, even Velin couldn't stand it and began to shout, trying to reason with his son.

But Aydor heard nothing but the call of his own anger.

Without relenting for a second he continued to attack. With each blow, his sword came closer and closer to Krinnel's body.

A slashing right blow to the head.

Krinnel tried to block the blow, but failed and the sword sliced into his ear, after which Aydor pulled the sword towards him, cutting his ear in two and leaving a deep cut on his opponent's cheek.

The people in the tribunes gasped. Blood flooded Krinnel's robe and the ground beneath him.

"Well, bastard, you got it!" Aydor, having gotten what he wanted, did not miss his chance to mock his opponent. He lunged again, grabbing his sword with both hands.

A chopping blow from above the shoulder

Krinnel was furious, but he kept his mouth shut. He blocked the blow with his right hand. He grabbed Aydor's wrist with his left at the moment of the blow, preventing him from getting out of the clinch.

Kick

His foot slammed into Aydor's crotch with such force that boys vision went black.

Kick

Another kick to the stomach and Aydor flew back 7 feet, barely able to stand on his feet.

"You fucking asshole. Don't you dare call yourself a man after that." Shouted Mizra turning green with anger.

A cruel smile appeared on Krinnel's face. He had already won the fight without a doubt. But he couldn't just let Aydor go. He must pay for the scar he had left behind.

"Claws!"

Sigil of the Tiger spell.

Claws - Using qi energy, the caster creates a rupture in the space in front of him. The rupture delivers a stabbing blow and causes the target to bleed out.

After shouting this he waved his left hand from bottom to top. His fingers were clenched as if mimicking a tiger's paw.