"Sixth match, Andrew Ursus and Biren. What a surprise. It is a clash between two young masters. Please come to the centre."

Upon hearing the commentator, Biren stood up with a groan. He had a frustrated expression on his face. He had not expected to face that person so early. It seemed like he would not be able to grab the second or third position as he had claimed to Jacob earlier yesterday.

Both the young masters came to their spots. The judge gave his permission and the fight started.

Soon, their weapons collided and they started their bout. Biren fought hard and tried his best to hold his own against Andrew's superior sword skills. For a couple of minutes, this continued until Andrew outmanoeuvred him and delivered the first wound. Things went downhill from then quickly and Biren lost.

After losing, Biren exited the coliseum accompanied by a medic without looking back. He didn't even bother looking toward Jacob.

He must be very sad. If only he had not encountered Andrew early on. This was Jacob's thoughts as he returned his gaze toward Andrew who had already returned to his seat amidst loud cheers, with his usual expression of aloofness.

Jacob was a bit interested toward the Star Sword academy that Andrew had graduated from. He did not know that academies existed in the world who taught special styles to people. So, he looked toward the person sitting in the chair right next to his. It was the guy who had started the conversation about the identity of Andrew in the first round. Jacob was surprised that this gossipy guy had also won his first match.

"Brother. Hello." Jacob tried to start a conversation with him.

"Hello." The whisperer guy replied

"I need your help. Can you help me?"

"Of course. How can I help you Mr. Jacob?" He said politely to Jacob with some respect. Jacob was surprised at that. He was also feeling a bit awkward. He did not know the name of him at all. All he cared about were faces. He did not bother remembering the names of the participants.

"During the first match, the commentator talked about some Star Sword academy. Can you tell me about it?" Jacob asked his question that was bugging him.

"You don't know?" The guy replied with a slightly surprised expression.

"No I don't. That's why I am asking for your help." Jacob replied helplessly.

"Right. You see, there are many academies all over the world, well, all over the human territories. They are usually founded by lords or sovereigns who want to pass on their legacy. Some also found it if they are in need of money." He paused at it as if waiting for Jacob to give some kind of response.

"Ok. I got it. Continue." Jacob said in order to keep the conversation going.

"So, people who get admission in them are either highly rich or highly talented. The young master sitting beside me is both. The academy takes full care of them until they graduate. It includes physical training as well as weapons training. They also teach special styles to those who are talented enough to learn them. The students usually graduate a year before the adulthood. But when they get out, they become very tough and highly trained."

"Ok. Where is this Great Oren Kingdom?" Just like the academy, he was also hearing this kingdom's name for the first time.

"It is located in the far west, near the border with Astoria continent. It is a very prosperous country, with a strong lord as its king."

"Ok. Thanks a lot for your help. I shall remember it." Although Jacob came upon a new term of "lord" and his curiosity was burning badly, he did not want to keep asking the man questions.

"No problem." After that, they stopped talking.

Unfortunately, the whisperer young man's turn came in the next match and he was defeated. There was another empty seat right next to Jacob. He was also feeling a little bad for that guy. It seemed like he had taken advantage of him on the right time.

Soon, the second round ended. There was not much difference between the battles fought during this round and the previous one. Almost every participant was giving his best in order to win and advance to the next round.

The only thing that was different was the number of participants remaining and the extent of their injuries. All of them were sporting newer injuries in addition to the ones they had suffered during the preliminaries. But there were two exception. Jacob and Andrew were not injured at all and were in their peak condition. They were not much tired from their precious two battles at all.

The audience also noticed this thing. And with it, their excitement increased. They were already considering Jacob and Andrew to be the finalists. By now, they had not seen someone else as witty as Jacob and as skilled as Andrew in the rest of the participants. They were still unaware about Jacob's fighting skills.

Unknown to them, Jacob had another advantage. He had already recognized the weak points of everyone present there, except Andrew. As for why he had not taken advantage of the injuries of his previous opponents, he had not identified them at all.

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He thought that they were hidden behind their armour and clothing. In addition to that, they were perfectly capable of hiding their effects by acting normally, without any fluctuation from normal operation.

"And second round ends. We only have twelve warriors left. The third round will consist of six matches and after it, only six participants will remain. We are nearing the final, folks. So, keep holding your breaths. Now, let us officially begin the third round. The first match is between I.........."

Jacob waited for his match to come. He did not pay much attention to the matches now. He had already analysed their fighting styles along with their weakness. He was very confident of beating them all one by one. The only thing that still frustrated him to no end was Andrew. He still had to get any advantage over him. He was unable to analyze his fighting style and possible flaws due to lack of data.

"Third match. Bailey versus Jacob."

At last. Only three more to go. Jacob stood up as he thought inwardly. Not many matches were remaining between him and the beast core. Soon, the beast core would be in his hands.

This time, his adversary was a dual wielder, just like his third opponent yesterday. The only difference between this man and the girl from yesterday was that the man in front of him was wielding normal length swords instead of sabres.

Jacob was taking it easy right now. He knew his current opponent's weakness. Something was wrong with the Bailey's left hand. It was either a teared muscle or a fracture. His left hand was not working as fluently and flawlessly as his right hand.

Jacob had seen it all in the Bailey's first match. It was easy enough for a sharp eye to catch the contrast between both the hands. It could also be a ploy or deception from his side in order to catch his opponents off guard in the next matches, such as the current one with Jacob.

Jacob had thought of this possibility but from what he remembered, his opponent had barely won his first match after seemingly trying his best. He had won by a hair's breadth.

Only one way to find out. Jacob thought as the judge started the match. He decided to stop thinking about things and concentrate on the match. Even if he knew that he would win, losing concentration would prove to be disastrous in any kind of match, whether hard or easy. He would be able to take advantage of his opponent only when he is extremely concentrated. There was no other way.

At the judge's cue, Jacob slowly started walking toward his foe. Bailey kept standing on his spot with his dual swords raised, prepared to block Jacob's first strike.

As Jacob reached in range, he struck. It was an upward down slash. He did not put too much force behind it. It was just a probing attack.

Bailey blocked it easily and warded the sword off. After that, he delivered own strike. One of his sword attacked diagonally while the other one horizontally.

With a beautiful and well timed stroke that drew an arc in the air, Jacob parried both the swords at the same time. Now it was his turn to attack. Holding his longsword with both his hands, he delivered a heavy attack this time. The opponent blocked this as well albeit slight difficulty. Jacob had not too much strength behind his attack. He wanted his opponent to think that this was his full power. He was waiting for an opportunity.

In the same way, both of them collided again and again for the next few minutes. Bailey knew how to skillfully wield his dual weapons. Although the stamina drain due to using both his arms simultaneously in each clash was a bit high, he did not dare lax. The opponent in front of him was unpredictable and terrifying.

Jacob maintained same strength behind his each and every attack. He also did not pull any stunt or tactical maneuver during these few minutes. He was waiting for the right time. When the time would come, he would finish the match quickly.

And he was rewarded for his patience. After parrying away the opponent's left sword and making sure that Bailey would be unable to use it in the next couple of seconds, Jacob struck the enemy's right sword with full force, thus disarming the stunned opponent in the process. Bailey could not keep holding his sword and lost it. The web between the thumb and index finger of his right hand was torn and it was bleeding slightly.

This surprise attack sealed the deal for Jacob's victory. Without his second sword, Bailey's combat strength decreased by more than half and soon gave up after suffering a couple of painful slashes on his abdomen.

Without any surprise, Jacob became victorious again. The audience was also not surprised. Jacob returned to his seat with the audience shouting his name his name.

This victory had slightly strengthened his pride and self-confidence. He sat down and looked toward Andrew who was still ignoring him.

I will see him in final. Let's see how much of his arrogance remains after I defeat him. He will surely not ignore me again whenever we met again in the future. Jacob chuckled inwardly as he thought. He was a bit annoyed by his biggest opponent's lack of care for his existence.

It was Andrew's turn in the next match. The match went well for the Ursus young master and he defeated his opponent easily, just like Jacob. Seeing that, Jacob unconsciously clenched his fists.

The third round also came to an end. This round was far shorter than the previous two since it only had six matches. Now only six of the participants were remaining including Jacob and Andrew Ursus. In the fourth round, only three matches would be fought. Jacob realized that another skip would take place in the semifinal round.

The seating area assigned for participants were looking deserted. Initially, all the forty six seats were occupied by participants. Now only six chairs remained that still had contested sitting in them.

This time, the first match belonged to Andrew. He defeated his opponent after fighting for a while. During that match, Jacob strained his eyes hard in order to spot some kind of flaw in his fighting style or physical state but met with failure. It was as if the arrogant youth in front of him was unreadable. His frustration also increased.

Jacob's turn came in the third and last match of the fourth round. His opponent was a strong sword and shield user. Although Biren was also a sword and shield user, his physical strength was not that great.

In his precious matches, Jacob's opponent won by outlasting his opponents while making full use of the protection given by his large round shield and trained sword strokes. His opponents also lacked in the field of physical strength so they could not overwhelm his seemingly impenetrable defence.

Jacob was not like that. He had both the mastery and the physical strength. The opponent was greatly mistaken if he had thought that Jacob was just like the fighters he had defeated previously. He was in for a surprise. Although he was fast and strong, Jacob was faster and stronger than him. In addition to that, he also had many tricks up his sleeves.

After the match started, they fought with each other as if they equals for the first few minutes. The opponent kept blocking Jacob's attacks with his shield. Similarly, his attacks also kept being blocked or parried by Jacob.

The change happened in the third match when Jacob suddenly wielded his longsword with both of his hands and delivered a strong overhead chop while jumping slightly. He was using all the physical strength that he could muster while mobilizing his entire body.

Clang

As Jacob's rapidly descending longsword connected with the opponent's shield, the sword and shield fighter could not help but take a few steps back disorderly. The wrist of his hand who was holding the shield almost broke as he tried his best to not lose the shield. His left arm was also shaking a bit.

There was a reason Jacob liked a longsword. He can wield it both single handed and double handed whenever he want. He could rapidly switch between them whenever he needed greater mobility or greater strength behind his attacks.

Just after Jacob landed, he did not relent at all. He delivered thunderous consecutive two handed attacks and kept pushing the adversary back. The opponent tried his best to keep blocking Jacob's relentless onslaught. But his physical strength did could not keep up.

He soon left an opening that Jacob took full advantage of as he inflicted a large gash on his chest.

"Stop. I give up." The shield man said as he tried to block Jacob's next attack.

After hearing the injured man in front of him, Jacob stopped. He was a bit angry since he could not find an opening in the first few minutes and had to make one himself.

Although he already knew that the man in front of him was a bit rigid in fighting style after watching his precious matches, he still could not find an opening during the first few minutes and had to make one himself. This thing incensed him a bit. He wanted to hit the man again but his senses prevailed and he sheathed his sword.

After returning to his seat, he looked toward Andrew unconsciously.

Soon. After seeing no response, Jacob thought inwardly about their soon to be held match. He was incensed about being ignored continuously. He was also getting a bit impatient. He could not wait to teach this arrogant person a lesson on being humble.

The fourth round also ended with the end of Jacob's match.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the fourth round has also come to an end. From the initial count of forty six, only three contestants are remaining. Since it as an odd count, we will have to draw again. Please wait for a second." The commentator became silent at that. They were drawing the name of the skipper this time around.

"We have a name. Can you guess who it is? It is Jacob. He is our first finalist. Andrew will have to fight with Kole for the final. Although Andrew is the favourite contender, we should not underestimate Kole. He did not reach the semifinals while having nothing. Young master Andrew and Kole, please step forward."