The stage was a tform of stone raised at a height of about 3ft, and was about 300sq-m in size. Its color was grey, but it featured golden markings on its surface and smooth sides.


    Immediately the countdown ended both individuals didn''t immediately attack each other and proceeded to simply stare at themselves. The stare-off or sosted for about five seconds before anybody made a move.


    The male who was thedy''s opponent drew his sword before shooting forward, and he crossed the distance between them in barely three seconds.


    Thedy having since seen that moveing prepared herself for a sh as she raised her sword above her.


    The man smashed into her figure barely an instantter and the slight shock in his eyes couldn''t be more evident when he saw that thedy had parried his attack as if she had read his moves.


    Nevertheless, he entered a sharp stance and thrust his sword at her gut, but she parried it again, but this time with a second sword!


    A frown appeared on the man''s face, and he tried to escape that position, but a smashing kick struck his gut sending him high above the stage.


    Blood flew out of the expert''s mouth as shock filled his face, he hadn''t seen the attacking even if he had been close to her legs.


    His figure returned to the stage with the grace of a rock, but thedy wouldn''t let him recover yet. Although she had been able to stop his strikes, each one of them contained incredible power.


    She crouched a bit before sprinting towards his position. Her figure appeared above his stillying figure then she raised her swords above her and prepared tounch her own shes. She had been a tad bit too slow however since a sword appeared on the path of her des.


    For the first time in the fight thedy frowned, but her arms never stopped moving to try and destroy his surprisingly sturdy defense. His de never failed to stop her swords.


    She would cut through his sword if she had to, but unfortunately, he wouldn''t allow such an oue.


    With a bit of panic filling his mind, he continued to move his de to parry every one of her barrage of attacks, but her blows had started to be overwhelming.


    He hadn''t even disyed his martial art well and she already had him pinned.


    "Secret art it is," he muttered grimly, loud enough for her to hear, even amid the loud shing of their weapons.


    The man took a deep breath and thedy''s eyes widened. His aura exploded forth and in the blink of an eye, she watched his de flicker upward aiming for her face. He didn''t care that he would get hurt since he understood thatnding such a hit would most likely disable her. Probably kill her even.


    Thedy withdrew her swords to ce them vertically before the horizontal strike.


    Shock filled her eyes when the de struck hers and her arms were unable to withstand the sheer power contained in the blow, sending her flying toward the edge of the stage.


    However, a thin silver barrier flickered into existence before she could fly out off the stage.


    Coughing a mouthful of blood as pains filled her arms and back, she quickly stood and felt mildly surprised that the man had not attacked even if he was already on his feet.


    "I am Zar member of the Crumbling sky guild. Witness the power of my Dividing mountain technique!" The expert announced as everyone took note of the changes that had filled his body.


    His veins bulged grotesquely all over his figure including his face. He looked sick even if his figure radiated vitality like never before. His aura had gotten heavier and radiated his anger and blood-lust.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Thedy remained silent at his deration and crouched to enter a stance. She could tell that the battle would be harder now.


    A sigh escaped Zar''s mouth when he suddenly waved his sword in a horizontal sh.


    Surprise filled the faces of the viewers when they saw that his sh generated a powerful gust of wind that morphed into a flying sh more than a few meters in length. It felt sharp even from the screen.


    Thedy sprinted away sessfully dodging the sh and she too moved tounch her own attacks. Performing a series of steps, her lips moved in silent words then she delivered a horizontal then a vertical sh, that created a cross-shaped attack.


    Her moves caused the stage to tremble as the brute force within her attacks covered the distance between the two individuals.


    Unfortunately Zar''s de moved tounch another sh at her almost invisible attacks. Both attacks shed mid-air and the ground immediately saw cracks spreading in its structure.


    Zar moved without words, and danger entered thedy''s mind when she realized she couldn''t follow his movements.


    "Its a shame you had to force me into activating one of my strongest forms barely at the beginning of our fight. Zar appeared beside her, his de already stretched towards her, she would be unable to stop it and the power contained in that move felt able to sever her in two halves.


    The world seemed to slow down before thedy''s eyes as she considered her two options, trying to stop the de which she already knew would fail, or giving up.


    Zar suddenly made another move however, his sword tilted to stop the de from reaching her, but its pommel reached her instead.


    It struck her hip and sent her figure crashing into the barrier an instantter. Devastating. Fast.


    Blood flowed out of thedy''s nose and mouth and her shocked never left her now bloodied face. She thought she had died when the blow hit her and now she wasn''t far from it.


    Her insides were a mess, he had shattered her hip and crushed a few organs on that side of her body. Her vision continued to blur and shake, she knelt about to pass out and she knew there wasn''t much she could do, yet she fought that sensation.


    But Zar moved to make an overwhelming show.


    His figure arrived in front of her then he grabbed her by her attire and proceeded to m her on the ground.


    Silence filled the entire ce as he continued to m her into the ground tainting the stage with blood. He broke an unknown number of bones in the process and threatened to crack her skull.


    A smile appeared on his face after some point, she looked awake, but barely. He clearly enjoyed his actions and that couldn''t help but send disgust spiraling into the minds of many.


    He had obviously won the fight even if thedy continued to try. Making her suffering long.


    Zar delivered a final kick on her chest sending her towards the edge of the stage, however, the barrier didn''t appear, allowing her figure fly outside the stage where a series of masked individuals came and took her away.


    "The winner of the first battle, Zar!" The females voice sounded, but the said man fell unconscious after her words. Blood poured out of his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Utilizing his secret art had damaged him, leaving him in a no better state than thedy he had brutalized.


    He was immediately carried out of the stage while it repaired itself and the next pair were selected, but Noah wasn''t part.