Kade silently observed Lawrence’s gait and demeanour as he made his way up onto the stone stage for their battle.

The boy was confident and smooth, no hesitation in each step as he advanced towards Kade, smiling warmly at him before bowing to the referee.

Each of them made a respectful martial gesture, followed by the signal from the referee which announced the start of the duel.

Lawrence wielded a long spear made from a lacquered red wood for the handle and a brightly shining silver metal for the blade.

It was decorated with fabric tassels of red and yellow woollen threads that hung from the end opposite the spearhead and the way he whipped and twirled it between his hands indicated years of experience with the weapon.

Judging from the design, Kade guessed it was either High quality Mortal grade or Low Quality King grade. The Realm Engineer System hadn’t specified the quality of his own Resonant Echo Staff, but it was probably Mid quality at minimum.

While he was confident in his weapon’s superior build, that wasn’t everything in a close quarters battle. Lawrence had been at his current cultivation stage for longer, meaning his foundation was probably more stable.

In addition, Kade only had a few weeks of practice with the staff, while the calm and collected youth facing him had been wielding the spear since he was a child according to a childhood anecdote he overheard from Helena.

From what he’d managed to glean so far, this would be an intense, evenly matched battle. His staff wasn’t as long as Lawrence’s spear so his opponent would have the range advantage.

Building up amplification with consecutive strikes would be difficult and he’d need to focus on disarming the youth first.

Lawrence made the first move, abruptly ceasing to show off his flashy moves, the spear vibrating as he locked it straight and thrust directly for Kade’s liver.

Fortunately he’d not been idle while running analysis and reacted promptly, holding his staff in a reverse grip and jabbing downwards to catch the blade of the spear before it could connect.

However, Lawrence was ready for the counter attempt and in an ingenious move, kicked down onto the rear of his spear’s handle which sent the spearhead flying upwards and into Kade’s throat, bypassing his parry entirely.

With almost no time to dodge, Kade had to think of a solution before his neck was pierced and all hope of promoting to the inner sect was lost.

Rather than try to deflect the incoming blow, he continued his downwards strike beyond the original target and smashed the metal cap into the arena’s stone flooring, wedging it into the crack it created and pushing backwards using the new foothold, just about moving out of the spear’s path before it caught him.

Kade’s creative movement caught Lawrence off guard as he’d been expecting to secure an early victory with the near unavoidable strike and for a brief moment he paused, his overextended spear leaving a gap in his defence.

The Resonant Echo Staff was stuck and he wouldn’t be able to take full advantage of the opportunity, however Kade pulled on the body of his weapon and swung round, roundhouse kicking towards Lawrence’s chest.

It wasn’t the most deadly of attacks but it would at least deal some damage to his opponent, or so he thought right up until Lawrence opted to disarm himself - slamming the spear into the ground so it bounced high above the duelling pair.

Following the suicidal manoeuvre, he reached behind his back and pulled out a small black blade covered in ornate gold markings, which he thrust into the soft flesh of Kade’s calf right as his feet connected with Lawrence’s ribs.

His body had acted before his brain and pulled back slightly to lessen the damage from the incoming stab, which unfortunately reduced the impact he’d expected to have with his kick.

However it clearly did some damage to Lawrence as he staggered backwards from the impact, letting his grip on the dagger slip.

Not wanting to give up momentum now he’d been injured and suffered reduced mobility, Kade stomped his left leg down to gain a stable footing and wrenched his staff from the ground, swinging it in a wide arc over his head aiming for his opponent’s dominant right shoulder.

CRUNCH!

There was a loud impact as the hard metal cap of the Resonant Echo Staff smashed into Lawrence’s shoulder, most likely breaking bone.

However Kade hadn’t dealt the severe blow for free as Lawrence’s spear had fallen from its earlier bounce and he’d caught it deftly in his left hand, managing to slice a deep gash down Kade’s right arm as it fell.

It seemed the boy was moderately ambidextrous from a lifetime of wield the spear, however his movement was sluggish without the use of both arms and Kade capitalised, gritting his teeth and pushing through the pain, hooking his leg through Lawrence’s and barging into him with his shoulder.

His gamble paid off as the boy stumbled backwards, careening to the floor and desperately trying to maintain balance.

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Kade was relentless and gave him no time to recover, jabbing his staff into the same injured shoulder and almost wincing at the sickening pop of the joint dislocating.

Lawrence cried out in pain and despite feeling somewhat bad for being so ruthless, Kade smashed his staff into the same spot.

Crackkkkkk…

A splintering crack ran across the boy’s chest and arm, every single bone shattering in a chain reaction from the massively amplified strike.

He fell limply to the ground and his eyes drooped shut as he faded from consciousness. The referee double checked his condition before announcing Kade’s overwhelming victory and two assisting disciples rushed forth to carry Lawrence away for medical treatment.

Compared to the sporadic cheers that he’d noticed after his previous victory, a large portion of the crowd was in uproar at the brutally intense show that he and Lawrence had just put on.

As the number of competitors dwindled, the rounds were more evenly matched between skilled disciples and thus far more entertaining than the one sided thrashings that most early rounds had been.

In addition, all of those who’d been knocked out joined the crowds, swelling the number of people who were watching.

Perhaps some of those now cheering him onwards to victory were the same bastards who turned a blind eye to the injustices he’d faced in the past.

It was silly to hold a deep grudge with everyone. It was just the way of the world after all; the strong were praised and free to act as they wished while the weak were trampled.

The only way to change such a self centred and egotistical way of life was to reach the pinnacle and impose his own morals on those around him.

After releasing a little of his negativity from the past, Kade felt his steps were a little lighter as he made his way to the medical tent.

He’d not won easily and the two vicious wounds on his calf and arm were testament to Lawrence’s lethality and quick thinking.

It took the Junior Elder who he was sent to a few minutes to patch up his wounds and feed him a healing pill, superior to the low quality variants they’d had on the expedition to the Demon’s Fang.

Mystic Solar Valley wasn’t holding back any resources when it came to the tournament as it would be unfair if disciples weren’t able to duel on even footing.

Damage would still accumulate however so getting beaten up in every single round would slowly wear you down even with the help of the pills.

As he was leaving he spotted Lawrence lying still on a nearby bed, now just barely awake after receiving some early treatment and having his bones set.

“Damn, you got me real nasty at the end of that fight. Your weapon has to be King grade right? How did you manage to acquire that? Even getting this High quality Mortal grade spear took me like eight months of contributions,” he asked, voice strained from the damage to his chest.

Kade chuckled before replying, “It was just a lucky encounter, nothing special. You put up a solid defence and your spear handling is crazy tough to deal with. I’ll make sure to win it all in your honour, just rest up and make sure you’re watching tomorrow.”

“Haa!” A bout of raucous laughter turned to vicious coughing as Lawrence reacted to what he thought was a joke. “Good one mate. I’m sure you’ve got what it takes to secure your advancement but it’s not healthy to hold such delusions.”

Rather than try to clear up the misunderstanding, which would only lead to Lawrence thinking him crazy or worse, Kade just chuckled and wished the boy well before returning to check who his next opponent would be.

After the next round concluded, the tournament would be put on hold until the following day. Given that there would be just forty-eight disciples remaining, the latter rounds would be carried out on larger stages and with far more focus on them as the Senior Elders sought to discern any standout talents they wished to nurture into Core Disciples in future.

There were only a few other disciples hanging around the noticeboard when he arrived, since his match had actually concluded rather quickly compared to some of the others in the same round.

Each round he half expected to see a very familiar name like Catarina or Aurora, which would’ve made his life extremely difficult.

Not that he’d go easy on them due to their friendship or anything, but rather because he didn’t actually believe he could take them down in a one on one battle.

Particularly Catarina. That girl was an enigma wrapped in a mystery and beyond her obvious talents and skills she had far more tricks hidden up her sleeve that not even Kade knew about as one of her closest friends.

However when he saw the name written next to his on the bracket, he was shocked senseless for a moment.

That surprise soon turned to grim satisfaction however as he loosened his mental blocks and felt the heavy tug of the Realm Engineer System drawing him towards the arena.

It was finally time to settle things with Aaron once and for all. He’d truly believed he had seen the last of the bastard after their previous encounter but fate has a sick way of playing with mortals.

There was still some time before the sixth round of the tournament would begin in earnest as some of the previous battles had yet to conclude.

Kade wondered how the system would react when faced with the Anomaly, the Demon God’s Inheritance. Would it assist him in the battle or simply awaken to feast on the remains when he was done?

Could he even take down Aaron with the massive power boost he’d likely received. Furthermore, he was hesitant to reveal the full extent of his strength in such a public arena.

Too many questions and worries were running through his mind and he felt himself being overwhelmed by his own nerves.

“Stillness without form, strength without limit,” he muttered.

Chanting the mantra helped him to reign in the errant thoughts and get a hold on himself. Aaron was nowhere to be seen but there was no possibility of him missing such a great opportunity to publicly embarrass Kade.

He’d battered him once and he’d do it again, only this time the payoff would be far greater as his Realm Engineer System would receive another powerup and perhaps his cultivation would along with it.

Whatever unknown deity had granted him this power surely had a reason for it as well as their own plans for Kade, but right now his strength was akin to that of an ant.

Worrying about useless things would only serve to hinder his progress and possibly even form a heart demon in the future.

All he needed to focus on was the battle ahead.