When y entered the arena, N could hear the nobles around herughing at his appearance.


    "What is he wearing?"


    "His clothes are five sizes too big him!"


    "What do you expect from amoner? He probably made those out of old bedsheets."


    They continued tough and make jokes, adding upon each othersments. Although theirments bothered N, she chose to ignore their words and focus on the duel.


    y and Nathan were standing across from each other with a man between them. ''N said that there would be a judge for the duel, this must be him.'' y thought while looking at the man.


    The judge lifted his hands and the crowd started to settle down until there was silence in the arena. He lifted a small and t rectangr piece of metal and pressed it against the side of his neck.


    In a voice much louder than any human could produce, the judge spoke "The duel between Sir Nathan Zemor and y of Holber Vige shallmence after I have rified the rules and conditions of victory."


    "The duel will end once one of the fighters umtes five points. A point will be gained when one fighternds a blow on the other. The duel will end if one of the fighters chooses to concede at any point during the duel, in which case the other fighter will be the winner. If one of the fighters is injured to the point of being unable to continue, the other fighter will be the winner. Blows to the head and groin are prohibited."


    "The rules have been stated, fighters get ready!" The judge said as he backed away from y and Nathan.


    y lifted his wooden sword in preparation but Nathan continued to stand and act in a nonchnt manner.


    "Fight!"


    ''I''d rather not use my ability, so let''s try and win with skill if possible.'' y thought to himself.


    "Although it''s typically done in private beforehand, we haven''t said what we want from the other upon victory." Nathan suddenly said, a cocky smile sitting on his face.


    "What do you want?" y asked.


    "When I win, you''ll be my servant for the next five years. You should be honored, it''s more of a reward than a punishment." Nathan replied, his smile turning sadistic.


    y nodded to show he epted "Then when I win, you''ll publicly apologize for the way you''ve treated N and myself, as well as admit to being less skilled than amoner."


    "Very well. I won''t lose so it makes little difference what you want." Nathan said as he finally lifted his sword and prepared to fight.


    y rushed towards Nathan and attempted a diagonal strike to the shoulder area. The strike was fast and urate but Nathan lifted his sword and parried the attack easily with a upwards diagonal strike in the opposing direction.


    When the swords collided, ys arm was pushed away and Nathan pulled his sword back briefly before lunging forwards.


    Nathans sword plunged into y''s stomach and pushed him off his feet. y felt the wind get knocked out of him and tried to catch his breath as he got up from the ground.


    "One point to Sir Nathan!" The judge announced and the crowd cheered.


    y steadied himself and lifted his sword as he took a defensive stance. Nathan chuckled as he saw this "Defending won''t help, I''ll just break through it!"


    Nathan charged forwards and attacked with the same diagonal strike aimed at the shoulder. Seeing his own attack used against him, y attempted to use the same parry that Nathan had.


    He swung his sword up and to the side and met Nathan''s sword in the middle. Rather than Nathan''s sword being pushed back like y''s when using this attack, Nathan''s sword was only halted while y''s sword was rebounded back down.


    y felt an immense shock run through his arm when the swords connected and his entire arm went numb for a few seconds as his sword was pushed downwards.


    Using the moment that y was stunned, Nathan spun on the spot and executed a backhanded sh into y''s ribs.


    y was once again winded and he was pushed a few meters to the side as he struggled to maintain his footing.


    ''This is what you consider to be just ''Okay'' at sword fighting? What do consider good then, N!?'' y shouted in his head.


    '' How is he so strong? He doesn''t have an ability since he wasn''t at the military academy but somehow he''s able to overpower me. I might not be strengthening my body using my Energy but all ability users are naturally stronger than a regr human, so how is he so strong?'' y struggled toe up with a reason and was forced to stop thinking about it.


    Just as the judge announced Nathan''s 2nd point, he charged at y once again. y decided to ce some energy into his body to increase his strength so he wouldn''t lose in the sword shes anymore.


    When an ability user channels their Energy throughout their body, it doesn''t give them a huge boost in power. It increases their strength to a point that takes them from being twice as strong as an average human to three times as strong.


    When their swords met this time their strength seemed to be equal, something that surprised both fighters. After realizing that neither one was pushing the other back, Nathan lifted his leg and performed a powerful kick towards y''s stomach.


    y saw the kicking and managed to sidestep at thest moment. Instantly y swung his sword out at Nathan''s ribs and due to the heavy kick having missed, he was off bnce.


    He tried to use his sword to block y''s strike but due the awkwardness of his stance he was unable to do so and received a strike to the ribs.


    "One point to y!" The judge announced. Due to this being y''s first point after losing the first two, the crowd cheered enthusiasticly at the change of events.


    y''s strike had focused on speed rather than power. The objective was tond a hit, not to injure your opponent, so long as the sword made contact the point would be won.


    Due to the attackcking power, Nathan was unharmed and simply raised his sword to continue fighting.


    Sitting up in the stands and watching the fight, N felt odd about what she was seeing. ''He''s just a regr human, yet he''s able to trade blows so easily with y, an ability user. Could he have an ability and hid it from the kingdom? Or does it have something to do with vessel improvement?''


    While she was thinking about the abnormal strength that Nathan possessed, someone sat down beside her. It was a plump middle aged man with curly brown hair and a goatee.


    "Lord Zemor? It''s surprising that you''vee personally to watch the duel." N said with a slight tone of surprise in her voice.


    Whenever an event like this takes ce, the head of a noble family will nevere to watch personally. Typically they will send whichever of their children are closest in age to the participants of the event. Because of this, the nobles at the duel currently were all around Ns age, apart from Nathan''s father.


    "Yes well, I happened to have some free time and decided toe see how much my son has improved his skills." Lord Zemor replied.


    At that moment Nathan managed to win another point, bringing his total points up to three while y was still at one.


    "It looks like he''s doing quite well. Thatmoner never stood a chance to begin with, but it''smendable that he''s managed to score one point against my son."


    N looked at the Lord Zogarth for a second and then back at the arena where y and Nathan had begun fighting again.


    " I wouldn''t be so confident if I were you. Nathan might be winning right now but that''s because y is letting him. If he wasn''t holding back, Nathan would have lost already." Nmented with an aloof expression and cold tone of voice.


    "Who''s the overconfident one now?" Lord Zogarth said while ring at N. ''I''ll make sure you eat your words when my son wins this duel.''


    After the longest interaction between the two so far, Nathan managed to fake a strike andnd a hit on y, securing his fourth point.


    "Sir Nathan has acquired four points, one more point and he wins the duel!" The judge announced, causing the crowed to cheer from the excitement.


    ''It seems I can''t win with skill alone. Even after I matched his strength, he still managed to maintain the advantage over me. I might not have wanted to win like this but it doesn''t really matter all that much to me.'' y thought to himself.


    "It''s time i stop holding back." y suddenly said. Nathan squinted in surprise and then startedughing "Holding back? Oh please, don''t try to act like you''ve been letting me win this whole time. What? Now that you''ve seen what actual power is, you''re embarrassed to say you ever challenged me, is that right?"


    Nathan continued tough but stopped when he saw that y was serious. His expression turned into one of fury" I''ve had enough of you, just ept your loss like a good dog."


    y pointed his sword at Nathan "Power? You don''t have any power. How about I show you what real power is?" y smiled as his body began to double in size and his muscles bulged as far as his baggy clothes allowed.