“Alright here I come,” Elder Jeb announce. He took three steps to close the distance between himself and Elijah, then swung his sword at Elijah’s chest.

Elder Jeb’s announcement was appreciated but unnecessary. Before Elder Jeb moved, Elijah already saw that he was about to attack. Elijah saw where Elder Jeb’s foot would fall before he lifted his leg.

Using his Supreme Eyes, Elijah was able to see through all of Elder Jeb’s movements. Not only did he predict the next attack, but he was also able to see the intentions behind each of his opponents’ attacks. That’s why Elijah knew Elder Jeb was intentionally holding back and his next attack did not contain his full strength.

Raising his sword, Elijah met Elder Jeb’s attack head on and easily received it. However, for him to do so, Elijah had to take one step back to disperse some of the attack’s strength. Although Elder Jeb was holding back, it wasn’t easy to receive an attack from someone that out classed him in strength by more than twenty points.

“Not bad,” Elder Jeb remarked. A brief flash of surprise appeared in his eyes when Elijah received his attack. He gave Elijah a smile of approval before he stepped back and continued speaking.

“See, you improved a lot. Although the hits you received from me were painful, they improved your ability to receive my attacks. Normally you would be laying down in the dirt right now. This time you only took one step back.”

The smirk that appeared on Elijah’s face was his only response. He gripped his sword tighter, and his golden eyes became brighter. As his eyes became brighter, so did his arrogance. How could Elijah ever doubt himself? Right now, there was no doubt in his mind that he was destined to be one of those unbeatable protagonists.

With that thought in his head, Elijah stepped forward and launched an attack of his own. Elder Jeb smiled when he saw Elijah take the initiative. He was prepared to casually avoid Elijah’s attack like he normally did, but this time he was in for a surprise.

As Elder Jeb stepped to the side, Elijah’s sword followed his movements. Elder Jeb was caught off guard, but he managed to quickly react and block Elijah’s attack. Elijah smiled when he saw the shock in Elder Jeb’s eyes. He enjoyed Elder Jeb’s shock for a second and then he continued attacking.

Before Elder Jeb had time to properly analyze what happened, Elijah pulled back his sword in preparation for another attack. Once again, Elder Jeb attempted to dodge Elijah’s attack, but to him it felt like Elijah was perfectly following his movements. No, it felt like Elijah could predict where he would dodge. Before he even moved, Elijah’s sword was already slashing down at the position he would arrive at.

It happened again for the third time, the fourth time and the fifth time. Each time it happened the shock in Elder Jeb’s eyes rose to another level. Each time it happened Elder Jeb struggled to receive each of Elijah’s attacks.

Elijah managed to seize the momentum of the battle. Each of his attacks came one after the other and for the moment, Elder Jeb had no way of breaking free. If Elijah was fighting a person with strength similar to his own, that person would have been sent stumbling back or fell down by now. If it was a person with similar dexterity, they would have received multiple cuts. Eventually, after the tenth attack, Elder Jeb managed to break free from Elijah’s momentum.

“Well, you’ve certainly improved,” Elder Jeb said. “And your improvement is a lot greater than I thought it would be.” Elder Jeb was truly surprised. When they fought before it felt like he was bullying a child. Now, it felt like he was facing an expert.

“Are we going to talk all day or are we going to fight?” Elijah arrogantly replied. His arrogance had made a complete recovery and rose past its previous levels.

“Oh, it looks like someone regained their confidence.” Elder Jeb responded with a chuckle. “Alright, let’s continue to spar.”

After Elder Jeb finished speaking, his face became stern. Elijah could feel that Elder Jeb began to emit a dangerous presence, but he wasn’t deterred. Instead, Elijah’s arrogance surged as he tightly gripped his sword.

“Did you enjoy bullying this Supreme with your sword?” Elijah thought to himself. “You actually dared to behave arrogantly before this Supreme. This Supreme has finally gained control of his true strength. Now, this Supreme will use the sword you're so proud of to bully you.”

Or so Elijah thought. Before Elder Jeb even moved, Elijah’s eyes widened in alarm, and he quickly stepped to the side. What came down in the spot he previously occupied was a force of nature.

Bang!

Dirt erupted from the ground when Elder Jeb’s sword strike fell. Elder Jeb’s sword was akin to a meteor falling to the ground. His body moved like a ferocious beast pouncing on its prey.

Dirt showered down on to Elijah as he froze up and stared at Elder Jeb. His eyes were opened wide and full of shock. He knew Elder Jeb was holding back, but the amount of power that he currently saw was a lot more than he expected.

Before Elijah could collect his bearings, Elder Jeb turned and continued to attack him. Elijah’s Supreme Eyes made sure he wasn’t completely caught off guard. However, Elijah wasn’t able to avoid Elder Jeb’s second attack like he did the first.

Channeling his stamina and mental energy, Elijah used his Supreme Power skill. Elijah’s physical strength increased, and energy was pulled from his surroundings as he swung his sword. Although Elijah’s strength and attack power increased, he didn’t have the ability to block Elder Jeb’s attack head on and remain standing afterward. Therefore, using his Supreme Eyes, Elijah’s goal was to deflect it.

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When Elder Jeb’s attack reached him, Elijah used his own attack to guide Elder Jeb past his body while he stepped away. As Elder Jeb was guided past Elijah, the power within his attack forced Elijah to take a few steps back. Luckily, Elijah managed to recover before Elder Jeb did and was able to launch a counterattack.

Reseizing the momentum of the fight, Elijah unleashed several powerful sword strikes. Sadly, he only managed to perform three sword strikes before Elder Jeb broke free. When Elder Jeb’s inevitable counterattack came, it was different from his attacks from before.

Before Elder Jeb attacked like a wild beast, now he attacked like a calm tactician. Each of his movements were precise and calculated. Each sword strike contained hidden intention that set up the foundation for Elijah’s downfall in the future.

Elijah managed to easily see through each individual sword strike. He could easily dodge the first three sword strikes that Elder Jeb tried to hit him with. However, the fourth sword strike would be difficult to avoid. As for the fifth sword strike, Elijah would have no choice but to face it head on.

You have received -4 (197) blocked damage.

You have received -44 (237) blocked damage.

You have received -4 (197) blocked damage.

It would be a lie if Elijah said he didn’t feel any pressure from the seemingly inescapable traps that Elder Jeb set for him. However, unlike before, this pressure didn’t weaken Elijah’s arrogance. Instead, the pressure only increased the arrogance Elijah felt.

There was no doubt in Elijah’s mind about whether or not he would be able to figure out a way to beat the traps Elder Jeb was creating. Once he found a way to beat the traps, Elijah knew that it would serve as another piece of evidence to prove that he was supreme. Now, all he had to do was keep swinging his sword and wait for his opportunity to obtain victory.

And Elijah’s opportunity came. Not all at once, but gradually as the battle continued. Bit by bit he improved his combat ability and gained the knowledge he needed to beat Elder Jeb’s traps.

It began with Elijah unconsciously memorizing the traps Elder Jeb set up. After several attacks Elijah noticed the familiarity in Elder Jeb’s movements and began predicting what he would do next. As he predicted Elder Jeb’s movements, Elijah was able to increase the number of attacks Elder Jeb needed to use before he faced Elijah head on. The attacks increased from five to six and then from six to seven.

The more Elijah understood, the better he fought. Once he thought he had a good grasp of Elder Jeb’s movements, Elijah began breaking free of the traps Elder Jeb set. He stopped his continuous retreat and broke free before he reached the point where he was forced to face Elder Jeb head on. He broke free at the seventh attack, then he broke free at the fifth attack, then the third attack and finally the first attack.

And then Elijah began creating traps of his own. Elijah managed to use the time when he was on the defensive and when he was attacking to pull Elder Jeb into his momentum. Once he fell, Elijah only needed a few moves to create an opening where he could land an attack.

“Who said you could be arrogant before this supreme?” Elijah thought to himself. “Do you think you’re the only one who knows how to fight with a sword? Do you think you’re the only person that could set up traps? How does it feel to be on the receiving end, huh? How does it feel?”

Elijah arrogance soared to new height’s as he managed to beat Elder Jeb at his own game. He reaffirmed his belief in his own invincibility as he continued to fiercely battle against Elder Jeb. Of course, Elijah’s current achievement didn’t only originate from himself.

If it wasn’t for the hard work of Elijah’s future self, there was no way the current Elijah would be able to perform so well. Normally, the spar should have ended by now with Elijah lying on the ground beaten, bruised and battered with a small chance of improving his understanding of combat. Now, Elijah was able to have a fierce battle with Elder Jeb because his future self prepared a skill for him.

Supreme Combat. This was a skill that improved Elijah’s attack, defense and overall combat ability. As the skill improved so would Elijah’s combat ability. As Elijah’s combat ability improved so did the skill.

During his battle with Elder Jeb, Elijah’s combat knowledge, ability and most importantly, his Supreme Combat skill, all improved. This was the way the skill was designed by his future self. As long as Elijah continued to fight using the skill and his combat ability would improve. In one spar he could understand what other people took years to grasp.

Unfortunately, there was a limit to the benefits he could receive from the preparations of his future self. Although Elijah was able to improve rapidly during the battle, he wasn’t able to overcome the decades of experience that Elder Jeb had. As the battle continued, Elder Jeb drew from his wellspring of experience to make improvements of his own.

As the battle continued, Elder Jeb began to emit a sharp sword energy. At first, Elijah didn’t pay it much attention, but as the battle continued the sharpness increased and looking at it made Elijah’s eyes sting. The sharp energy made it harder for Elijah’s Supreme Eyes to see through Elder Jeb’s movements. Fortunately, Elijah had already improved his combat knowledge and ability, so he had a way to compensate for his decreasing visual abilities.

Elijah and Elder Jeb traded blows, avoided each other’s attacks, and exchanged injuries. The leather and fur they wore was damaged. Sweat streamed down their bodies and blood leaked from their wounds. However, neither of them paid attention to these insignificant details. The only thing they were focused on was defeating the enemy in front of them.

The battle was intense, but there came a moment when Elder Jeb rapidly retreated from Elijah and closed his eyes. At first Elijah was confused by this action, but he quickly obtained an answer a moment later. The sharp energy Elder Jeb was emitting exploded in intensity, stirring up the wind and dirt around him.

Elijah was forced to close his eyes due to the intensity of the sharp energy. It felt like countless tiny silver needles were stabbing at his eyes. When Elijah opened his eyes, he did so without his Supreme Eyes being active and he found that he could look at Elder Jeb without experiencing any pain.

Elijah didn’t need to use his recently gained combat experience to figure out what was going to happen next. Elder Jeb was planning on using his finishing move. Elijah could feel the next move would be very dangerous for him and he made his preparations for dealing with it.

Patiently waiting, Elijah griped his sword and kept his eyes on Elder Jeb. He knew he had to wait for the perfect moment to act if he wanted to deal with Elder Jeb’s finishing move. Without any fanfare, the moment arrived.

Elder Jeb opened his eyes and Elijah activated his Supreme Eyes at full strength. Elijah’s eyes began to tear up due to the pain, but he endured it for the sake of the next moment. He needed to keep his eyes open so he could see what would happen in the next moment.

Elijah saw his death.