94 The Gathering of Experts Part 7 (1/2)

Once in the city square, Edmund teleported himself in the balconies and sat next to his wife Emelnie, which looked at him and asked in a low voice ”You didn't tell me that you had made progress..”

With an embarrassed expression, Edmund simply said, ”It wasn't me..” Edmund was a very prideful person, and yet there was one person he would not be able to lie to. That person was his wife Emelnie.

Not to say that his daughter had spectated the embarrassing scene of him bargaining with Daniel to teach him the concept of portals.

Back in the square, right in the middle, a large ring had appeared. Standing onto this stage, was the man hidden under the black cloak.

He stood immobile, and with a loud and powerful voice he said, ”The competition stage has begun. Who is the first one that wishes to compete for the title of Guardian of the Axe?”

”I am.” Responded a young man clad in platinum armor. This young man was the same who had gone second during the presentation stage. His name was Riher, and was part of a school called 'Pantheon of the War Gods'. He had claimed the title of Guardian of the Axe for his master, one of the school's elder that went by the title of 'The Axe Wielder'.

After jumping over the stage, he waved his double-headed axe in the air and creating powerful winds. He then said, ”Who is my first challenger?”

Another young man within the crowd of disciples jumped over the stage. He was wearing a gambeson that didn't hinder his dexterity in the slightest. In his hands, was a single handed axe and a large shield.

”I am your first opponent.” Responded the young man with a loud and clear voice.

Both cultivators were at the peak of nigh inhuman stage, and they had both claimed the title of Guardian of the Axe for their respective masters.

The man hidden under the black cloak looked at the two competitors, and with his usual clear voice, he said, ”The rules are as follow. You may not attack with anything but your axe and martial arts. The fight will go on until one of the two will surrender or will be unable to continue fighting. This isn't a fight to the death, and death is the punishment for whoever causes one.. Do you accept the rules as they were described to you?”

”We accept!” Responded the two young men in sync.

”Let the battle commence.” Said the man hidden under the black cloak before suddenly disappearing.

The two young men looked at each other for a few moments, before the young man called Riher dashed at his opponent while brandishing his double-headed axe.

Blow after blow, parry after parry, the two contestants fought brutally. The gamberson wore by the challenger was great at reducing the damage of impact, and his shield was extremely useful for the strongest and most dangerous attacks. Riher's plate armor was also very useful to parry the attacks of the single-handed axe, which were faster and more diverse, but they lacked the strength necessary to go through the plate armor.

After a few minutes spent fighting intensly, the young man that wore the gamberson was forced to concede due to the state his weapon and shield were currently in.

Riher had won, but his armor wasn't in the best shape either. A few powerful hits had reached the soft junctions of his armor, and right now he was suffering the muscular pain caused by the impact.

His overall ki had also been greatly reduced.

Only ten minutes were given to the winner to recover. During these ten minutes they would be allowed to use anything they thought was necessary to reach their best state. The only limitation, was that the effects of whatever they took had to stop before the ten minutes ended.

Of course, ten minutes weren't enough for someone at the peak of the sixth rank to recover his ki completely, nor would they be able to stop the effects of a healing pill before the ten minutes ended, so, the winning participants were hardly able to fully recover before the next fight.

After the ten minutes passed, Riher went back in the middle of the ring and said with a loud voice, ”I await for my next opponent.”

During the presentation, not every single one of the disciples would claim a title for their masters. If a master was certain that their disciples would definitely not be able to win against the others, they wouldn't send them to lose face for both of them.

Out of all the disciples that wielded the axe, only three had claimed the title of Guardian of the Axe for their masters. The platinum armor young man with the double-headed axe, Riher. The young man in the gamberson what wielded the single-handed axe and shield, and finally, a twenty odd years old man in leather armor.

This third contestant was adept in dual-wielding, and his weapons of choice were two twin hatchets. His style of combat was more oriented in evading than parrying, and his main strength was dexterity.

The battle started after the man hidden under the black cloak said, once again, ”Let the battle commence.”

The young man in leather armor immediately dashed towards Riher, which tried to met his approaching body with a solid slash with his double-headed axe.

Instead of jumping high in the air, or backing away, the young man in leather armor opted for sliding on his knees.

Riher's powerful slash broke the barrier of sound and caused a sonic boom. A huge waxing crescent moon-like wave of light green ki was sent in the air, which forced the ever present elements of wind and water to part.

Avoided just in the nick of time, the young man in leather armor hooked the hatchet he was holding in his right hand into Riher's right greave. Then, he pulled it towards himself, forcing Riher to lose his footing and fall on his right knee.

Now behind a kneeling Rihel, the young man in leather armor went for the weak spots. He used his second hatchet to cut the leather straps that firmly kept the plate armor on Riher's body.

More than once did Riher try to pull his leg forward and get back up, but whenever he tried, the young man in leather armor would hit the back of his waist with the handle of the hatchet he held in his left hand.

In a moment of desperation, he pushed as much ki as possible under his left food, and jumped backwards and against the body of the young man in leather armor.