The match started and Kibol broke into a run toward his opponent. Weapons collided but he was not able to budge his opponent from his spot by even an inch. Andrew flawlessly blocked his enemy's strike with the flat of his longsword.

After that, they clashed with each other again and again. It was a simple display of skill. Andrew was fighting with a peculiar sword style. He was not moving much but fluidly kept waving his sword around. There was not much force behind his strokes but they were beautiful. It was obvious that he was holding back his strength.

This made the spear opponent angry. He utilized all his power to disarm his opponent but could not do so. He was not able to even touch the enemy even once. It was as if the sword in front of him was an impenetrable barrier.

Andrew's strokes were very light and fast. Without giving much movement to his arm, he handled the longsword pretty well. Only his wrist kept rotating about with an arm movement here and there when needed. He was efficiently saving his energy as opponent exhausted himself. Soon, Andrew came out as victor after inflicting a slightly deep slash on the enemy's chest.

Without saying anything, Andrew Ursus sheathed his sword and started walking back toward his seats the audience kept shouting his name in the background. The intensity of the shouts were same as that during Jacob's turn. Andrew did not pay it much attention and calmly retuned to his seat without saying anything to the fellow participants, his face supporting the same blank expression he had before the match. It was as if he was aloof of any popularity or happiness after a victory.

"With a stunning display of sword arts, young master Andrew has defeated his opponent easily. As expected of his star sword style, we were not disappointed at all. I had to rub by eyes twice to make sure I was not dreaming. What beautiful execution. I cannot wait to watch his next matches. What do you all say?"

At the commentator's question, the audience became much more excited than before. Their joviality also reached new levels.

Jacob was impressed by his fighting style as well as his way of conserving energy. Even after observing him for a few minutes, he was not able to find any flaw in his fighting style. There were no mistakes, neither were there any openings. Jacob could describe his match in only two words. Fast and efficient.

So this is the Star Sword style. Impressive. Jacob thought inwardly as he gave the person sitting near him a look over. Not only him, all the remaining participants were paying close attention to him. Andrew kept sitting there without any reaction toward the attention of the fellow participants he had attracted, looking straight with an expressionless face.

"Twentieth match, O......"

Jacob did not find the next few matches as impressive as the one in which Andrew fought. Even then, he kept his attention on them albeit a bit bored.

In the meantime, some tried to talk to Andrew but all their attempts were in vain. He did not bother replying any of them.

Is he arrogant or is he deaf? At least, he should reply to their greetings. This is basic courtesy. Jacob thought inwardly as the image of his toughest opponent fell rapidly in his mind. He thought that Andrew was being rude to them all just because he knew how to fight or belonged to the ruling clan. Jacob was completely unaware of the bridge between the truly powerful and common folk. All of his life was limited to the small Rokas clan and to his father.

Soon, the first round ended and second round started.

"The first round have come to a a superb end. After twenty three battles, twenty three out of initial forty six participants remain. Since this is an odd number. We have to draw a name first before properly initiating the second round. Please wait for a minute." The commentator declared as everyone in the coliseum became curious about the identity of the participant who would skip this round.

"We have the result. The one who is going to skip the round is Bailey. He will not participate in this round. One more thing, he won't be able to skip next rounds if his name comes again. Same is the case for the other participants. You can lay back for only once. Let us begin this round. First match, Jacob versus Coley, please step forward."

Looks like my match is first this time. Is this deliberate on their part or random? Jacob mused as he stood up and started walking. He looked on his right and found a man walking in the same direction. He was slightly muscular and carrying a mace in his right hand. He was having a confident smile on his face. It was Coley, Jacob's adversary this time.

"Jacob. Jacob." As Jacob walked toward the designated fighting spot, people in the audience started shouting his name. Although the shouting was not as loud as the first time, it was still loud enough to resound through the entire field. Jacob broke into a small smile as he heard his name resounding throughout the area.

Compared to Jacob, nobody was shouting for Coley. This annoyed the muscular man to no end. He was also feeling a bit jealous. I will wipe the floor with this show off's face today. Then everyone will know how much strong I am. People will shout my name then. Coley motivated himself as he raised his fist toward someone in the audience with a confident expression.

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Soon, both Jacob and his opponent came to stand on their position. They then started waiting for the match to start. They did not say anything to each other and remained silent.

This time, there was no commentary. The commentator had already introduced them both in the first round.

"Start." At the judge's cue, the match started.

Coley started moving toward Jacob while rotating the mace along with his wrist. Similarly, Jacob also started walking toward the opponent slowly.

As he walked, he tried to analyze the opponent. He knew that a mace packed too much punch. It's one hit was enough to heavily damage a fully armoured warrior. The downside of such power was its slightly slow use. Although it required a bit strength to use, learning how to use it was extremely easy. It was like using a club and did not have any complex moves or hand movements.

Jacob had not trained in the simple usage of clubs or maces but he was aware of its pros and cons thanks to his father.

Seems like a lot of dodging this time. He arrived at a conclusion after briefly analyzing his opponent. The opponent's arms muscles were a little bit more developed than the rest of his body. This pointed to the face that he was an adept user of heavier weapons.

Jacob did not even think about the opponent being extremely dexterous with his weapon. They were not cultivators and could not overcome some things, such as wielding a mace with agility. Even he was doubtful of doing it himself with his current specially strengthened body.

Swish

The first strike by Coley was a diagonal sweep. Jacob ducked to the side as he dodged the attack. Now it was his turn to to attack. He swung his sword and delivered a lowered horizontal slash while still in the ducking position. He wanted to damage the opponent's legs.

Coley jumped in time and avoided the fate of being immobilized in the initial few seconds. He then tried to hit Jacob again but Jacob dodged again.

In the same way, they kept exchanging blows for the next minute. Although Jacob was well versed in the usage of long sword, every match had to be fought according to the encountered conditions.

His slight mastery would only make much difference when he was engaged in a duel with a similar weapon wielder, such as a sword or a sabre. In case of a spear or a bludgeon, he could not do much and only win by pulling stunts or taking advantage of some situations.

And this was what Jacob was about to do. Just as he ducked again and the opponent reoriented himself toward his counterattack, Jacob still in the ducking position, jumped into a dive while holding his sword like a knife. The foe was caught off-guard by the sudden maneuver and could not counter it in time.

Snip

"AHHH!" Coley screamed in pain as he hastily tried to distance himself from the still trying to stand Jacob while limping. His right calf was injured badly and many of his lower muscles were damaged. He was feeling an intense sharp pain and could not help but cry out loud in pain. It was over for him.

Jacob did not let the opportunity go and fell on the limping opponent immediately. Coley tried his best to defend himself between an intense pain and greatly lowered mobility but could not do much. He suffered from many slash wounds from Jacob while trying to ward him away. The pain also increased with increasing wounds but he did not give up. He was a prideful person. He would rather die than suffer humiliation in front of tens of thousands of people.

"The match ends. Jacob is victorious." It was the judge who ended the match using his authority given to him for such situation.

Jacob stopped his attacks and distanced himself from the wounded opponent. But Coley did not want to give up. As a result, he tried to pursue Jacob while limping.

"I said the match ends. Didn't you hear me the first time? Cease your actions immediately." The judge came in between him and told Coley to stop with a strict expression.

Coley could only stop this time. With a depressed expression, he lowered his head as he limped toward the exit. All of his confidence and pride was gone, crushed under the feet of Jacob according to him. His confident smile was also nowhere to be seen. What replaced it was a depression and desolation.

As he limped for a few steps, a stretcher immediately arrived and he was forced to sit on it. After that he was carried away.

As for Jacob, he simply sheathed his bloodied sword and started walking toward his street. He looked up toward his father and smiled. The elder was also smiling back at his sob. He did not dare wave toward him, fearful that Rokas would spot his father and recognize him. Things would turn real bad then.

With the background noise of the crowd shouting his make and cheering for him, Jacob made way for his seat. The commentator was also commentating as expected and was describing the detail of his battle along with praising Jacob.

Jacob did not pay any attention to it and reached his seat. Many people congratulated him for his victory this time unlike his first match. Biren also gave him a thumbs up as he simply nodded back. Andrew was sporting an expressionless face as usual and did not even look toward Jacob.

Jacob was feeling very good. He was the centre of attention of everyone right now except Andrew. He thought that even Andrew was paying him attention and was not showing it on the surface. Almost ninety thousand people were shouting his name and cheering for him. His name was resounding in half of the city. Even those high profile people sitting on the raised platform were looking toward him.

In addition to that, he has won seven matches in a row since yesterday. During those matches, he did not suffer from even one injury and managed to grab victory in each and everyone of them. The attack that hit him during the fourth match only gave him a minor pain that went away ten minutes later.

With his superb sword arts and battle tactics, he had fell rivals consecutively. Many people were impressed by him by now and knew him by his name. The only regret he had was that none of them could see his face due to the presence of Rokas and his son. Otherwise, it would have been perfect for him.

Jacob basked in the glory and attention he was getting. He was becoming addicted to this euphoric feeling. As he thought about these things, he produced a speck of arrogance and conceit in his heart. He started feeling proud of his achievements and developed slight arrogance as a result.

With a small prideful smile, he started looking at the still cheering audience. What a waste of time. They are wasting their lives away by not working hard. They should have been like me, hard working and diligent. What a disappointment. I wonder whether father is also disappointed in them just like me. Jacob thought inwardly as he looked around on the common citizens.

He was looking down on the common people, thinking that they were inferior to him. They did not know how to fight like him, neither did they know how to hunt and how to use a bow. Similarly, he was about to step in the great path of cultivation that would put him much further from everyone else in the path of greatness.

His victory in this tournament was a foregone conclusion since his father had said so. His father was never wrong. Soon, he would defeat Andrew and take the beast core for himself. What star sword arts and star sword academy? In front of my fine swordsmanship and great wits, he can only taste dirt. He thought as he imagined himself standing over his final foe in a marvelous display of strength and skill.

Jacob was unaware that he was becoming just like Andrew in thinking and behaviour who he had despised just a few matches ago due to his rude behaviour to those who were inferior to him in fighting and lineage. He was slowly becoming like those who had become addicted to power and wealth and did not take the common folk in consideration.

Although, he still remembered the training of both his father and mother and would treat the elders and children with kindness, they started looking inferior to him in value and importance.

"Son..." At this point, the elder uttered softly as a change took place on his face. His still smiling face had something more to it now. It was benevolence and age. With a benevolent smile, he kept looking on his slowly changing son. Nobody knew what he was thinking.