Tim had no idea how powerful this young girl who went under the name of 'Transient Lily' would be, but he did have to assume that his titles, class and cultivation level put him above what the baseline for most human's should be. But then again, considering the hellhole the system put him through when he signed up for the trial, he wasn't sure if it would be.

His blood soaked claws that had accompanied him for a large part of his journey were no longer seen on his person, only his trustworthy, unassuming rapier was held parallel to his upright figure, loosely held in his right hand. His left hand was positioned over his heart, seemingly without any intention to utilize it in combat.

He had practised extensively with his new class in what remaining time he had, prioritizing it over his control over the Dao. He already had a fairly strong grasp over the Dao of the wind, while the Dao of the mists was not something he could brute force through. The class however, provided him with the necessary foundation he needed to center his combat style around, something he found himself to be desparately needing.

Though, he didn't get the complete mastery of the combat style he'd chosen implanted in his head, Tim had to agree that would make the intentions of the system pointless. So far, power had come at a price needed to be paid with blood, sweat or his organs getting ripped to shreds, so he wouldn't exactly find it fair if everything could easily be circumvented by getting a broken class from the begining, either.

Well, it was time to see just what he was capable of now. He had an odd feeling in his heart, something in him now wanted to see just how he would match up to a pure-bred cultivator from the multiverse, of an alien race at that. Would all his efforts triumph a life time of training in a militaristic universe? Guess, he'd just have to find out.

'Transient Lily' had her eyes trained on Tim, spinning the harmless looking wooden staff with her right hand, as if warming up for the duel that was seconds away from begining. The moment the system gave the go ahead, she exploded in a burst of speed right in Tim's direction, switching to a two-handed grip.

Or perhaps, gliding would be a better word. Like a small child leaping around a park in joy, except the fact that it was a far more terrifying sight. Each step she put on the ground would leave minor cracks on the pristine white marble flooring of the arena, and easily traverse a few meters without any evident difficulty.

"You've got to be fuckin' with me, man." snorted Tim, and even he could not help but marvel at the spectacle in front of him. The girl had to have a monsterous amount of strength, if her footsteps could crack the damned arena itself.

That was all he had time to ponder upon, before he found himself staring at the girl hovering in midair, staring down at him with a slight glimmer of.... what appeared to be pity in her eyes. The staff had a longer reach, so while she was poised to land an attack on him, a counter wouldn't reach. With both her hands channeling strength into the staff, she swung at Tim, aiming at his ribcage.

Stolen novel; please report.

Tim saw the staff inch closer to him, the shadow of death accompanying it. However, as one blessed by the winds himself, he was no stranger to speed.

'Marsinia's Treachery, Fifth form: Falsetto Grip.'

Tim slashed down with the rapier in response to the oncoming strike, a move that sought to confound his foe. A seed of doubt needed to be planted in Lily's mind, for his gambit to work. If it went well, the duel could be decided in the first exchange itself. Would she think he had given up and gone mad out of despair, or whether he too was a strength build like herself, didn't really matter much. But, he hoped she would invest a majority of her strength in this attack.

As the rapier and the staff clashed, Tim used the aspect of speed to rapidly help him change his stance. The overpowering momentum of the staff came crashing down like rumbling thunder, but Tim had no intention to fight it. He never really had exerted any real force behind his swing, his true intention was to maneovre the rapier sideways, to the point where it almost made a 90 degree angle with the ground, while taking a wind empowered step to his left.

All it took was a slight nudge, and direction of the attack was already no longer in control of the young girl who seemed to be an infinite font of strength, as the staff went careening down into the marbled ground, while leaving behind a trail of wooden shavings as it slid across the wickedly sharp rapier.

It had all gone to plan, and now her only weapon was embedded in the ground. Tim could easily disarm her and end the fight.

Oh, how he wished he could say that. Instead, he found himself quickly distancing himself from the girl after pulling off the maneovre.

The staff collided with the ground instead of his body, but what Tim didn't factor in was the resultant force behind her blow. It went and ripped through the flooring in a straight line for dozens of metres, causing shards of crushed white marble to rain down on the arena.

To be honest, Tim was slightly mortified at the sight and if there wasn't a transparent forcefield around the arena, like the one that separated him from slugging Indranath one earlier, running might not have been a bad idea at this point.

The mysterious energy behind the strike had given him an absolute sensation of imminent death the likes of which he had never felt before, not even when confronting the king of beasts, and he could only be grateful that he wasn't cocky enough to stick around.

A searing pain inside his sword arm all but confirmed this notion.His hand was trembling like crazy, and he almost dropped his rapier due to the sheer spike in agony it brought. Thankfully the pain subsided a few moments later, otherwise he'd be forced to fight with his off hand. Just an initial clash had reduced him to such a state, she definitely had some broken minor dao empowering her strike.

Or.... could it be?

This was the first time Tim had encountered an opponent that could wield the Dao, and he had to admit that he'd been given a bitter taste of his own medicine. However, what he found interesting was that her Dao was clearly focused on raw power, or some sort of natural crushing force. Yet, she somehow managed to use it as a movement technique as well, by using the force of her impact as propulsion for her jump.

Was Timothy subconsciously limiting what he could do with the dao based on his understanding of the old world? Could he too, use the wind to buldgeon his opponents to death? He wasn't sure, but it was worth looking into.

For now though, he had to find a way to deal with Lily without letting her staff make contact. He had to end it fast, because the longer he dragged it, the worse his odds got. Even a single blow would atleast severely injure, if not end in a fatality.