Way of the Knights

---

The match ended as the arrow pierced the skull of the Harpy.

Carl announced her victory which made her sigh in relief. Her parents were a little bit worried about her state of mind but seeing that there were no trace of discomfort in her face, they too breathed a sigh of relief.

The world is full of dangers and they knew that if their daughter wants to walk the path of Knighthood, she has to eventually stain her hands with the blood of her enemies. Even so, they still have mixed feelings about this, they thought it was too early for her since she's too young.

But what they didn't know is that Anne wasn't a stranger to this. In the Virtual Beast Arena, she lost count on how many times she has to face this, she was already used to this and she even had to do in reality. Raven made them realize that 'mercy to one's enemies, is cruelty to one's self.' She learned this the hard way during her attempts at the Virtual Beast Arena, and she nearly lost her life once in the battle against the ants. She no longer held any hesitations on her heart.

Anne made her way back down and Mark went next. His enemy was a Ferocious Mountain Bear, a beast that has an incredibly tough hide, heavy strikes, strong jaw, aggressive demeanor and quick speed despite it's huge frame.

The Ferocious Mountain Bear is similarly, a Soldier-level beast. It naturally excels at a close combat fights, so many people thought that Mark was in a pinch for this battle. Surprisingly, he wasn't.

The bear was strong, there's no doubts about that, but it ultimately is a regular beast in the end. It can't compare to the wit of a human. Mark knew that trading blows with this beast is a no go, so what he did instead was to target it's weak points, mainly the ligaments on it's body. Mark's energies are dense, molding it to cover his swords and making it twice as sharp as before was an east feat for him, not to mention, his speed is quicker that the bear. Mark dodges at the last second before quickly evading and launching a counter attack was his tactics. He first severed the ligaments on it's left arm, then he proceed to cripple it's movements by severing the tendon on it's feet.

When the beast lost it's balance, Mark then sliced it's neck cleanly, separating the head from the shoulders. The match ended then it was Ellen's turn.

Ellen's battle was against a Soldier-Level, Three-headed Lion. A rare beast that is an absolute terror in the jungle, because of it's multiple heads, it's line of sight is wider than most beast, which means that launching a sneak attack against it is useless. It has huge claws, sharp fangs and very agile too.

As soon as the match started, the lion attempted to bite her in pieces. Fortunately, Ellen was quick on her toes and managed to evade the initial charge. She spun her body and swiped her sword in a circle around her, the tip of her sword wounded the eye of the 2nd head which made the lion go crazy in rage.

It tried to pounce on her but Ellen grunted hard and sliced one of it's paws in two. She then quickly stabbed the first head and severed it from the main body. Now, the lion was missing a head and blinded on the other, only one was functioning properly, and because she damaged it's foot it's mobility was also greatly hindered. Ellen had much easier time dealing with it now. With one sword wave, the remaining heads were severed and the match ended.

Paul's enemy is a Steel Rhino, a soldier-level beast that has a singular horn that it usually use to puncture it's enemies, it's hide were as tough as a steel, and each time it stomped it's hooves the arena will shake briefly.

As soon as the match started, the rhino wasted no time and charged towards him while snorting loudly. Paul didn't falter and raised his shield to meet it, with a loud collision, he skid back for about four five steps before stopping, the beast tried it's best to puncture his shield but Paul was like an iron wall that cannot be moved no matter what.

With a quick draw of his spear, he punctured the eye of beast. The Steel Rhino roared in pain and fury but Paul was unaffected, with a vicious expression on his face, he raised his spear using both hands and smashed the head of rhino. The beast was forced flat on the floor due to the sheer force of Paul's strike and he ended the battle after piercing the head of the beast all the way to it's brain.

Luna's match was against a Quicksilver Boa, it's length was about five meters and it's scales were completely silver in color, it has a black cockscomb on it's head and two sharp fans protruding out of it's mouth. This soldier-level beast is famous for it's innate poison which is called: Quicksilver Poison. When afflicted by this, the victim will lose their bodily function after 10 seconds, allowing the beast to eat them without resistance.

The match was surprisingly tense, there were numerous times that the beast nearly bit Luna but she will always brush away from it in the last second possible. The crowd was awed by her skillful mastery over the spear. From the moment she launched a counter attack, she forced the beast to retreat over and over again, there were several times that she landed a hit that left deep wounds on the beast's body. Eventually, the spear head made it's way toward it's mouth and came out of it's head, ending the boa's life and the match.

"Next battle. Vendrick Valorheart against a Soldier-Level Human."

Raven made his way on top of the stage, donning the Flexible Brawler Set, he set his gaze to meet his opponent.

His opponent was a six foot male, wearing a white mask like the one's they saw before. He was also wearing a light gray armor that covered majority of his chest aside from pits and his elbows. There was a single edged blade strapped on his waist while his hand was firmly gripping the handle of the blade.

"Take out your weapon." His deep and muffled voice sounded behind the mask, Raven shrugged and said...

"I don't have one."

His reply made the soldier frown behind his mask, he carefully observed Raven and found out that he wasn't lying.

"Hmph! You're treading the path of Knighthood, which knight doesn't own a weapon? Do you no longer want you arms?" He jeered with a thick disdain in his voice.

"How funny. You, a Soldier Realm, teaching me about the path of knighthood? Don't make me laugh. I don't even know if you will reach that stage during your lifetime." Raven sneered as he crossed his arms in his chest.

The masked man was undeniably incensed, he fumed as Raven's words struck a sore spot in his chest.

"Arrogant little brat!" He growled under his mask.

"Ignorant Old Man." Raven retorted.

"Match start!" Carl shook his head and announced.

The masked man went into a stance and glared furiously at Raven.

"Prepare yourself, I will let you experience the price of your arrogance." His full aura flared letting the crowd knew the majesty of his cultivation base.

"Oh? Show me the then..." Raven sneered once more and didn't even bothered to make a stance nor flare his aura.

With the twist of his body, the masked man kicked off and flew straight to Raven. Seeing that Raven didn't bothered to defend himself, the masked man sneered and thought: 'Arrogant kid, don't come crying to your parents later if you got severely wounded.'

"Mountain Splitting Blade!" With a loud yell, he drew his sword and targeted Raven's defenseless waist. The blade was covered in dense blue light and was making it's over to sever him in half. The crowd held their breath, even Luis and Eva was about to stop the match, but before they could do so, Raven moved his right hand.

*Clink*

An unbelievable scene happened, the flaring blade energy disperse like a retreating sunlight. The blade was firmly grasped between Raven's fingertips.

Silence permeated in the whole stadium, they watch with mouths agape and unblinking eyes to see if what's happening right now was real.

"Tch." Raven sneered amidst the silence. "Mountain Splitting Blade? Really? You call this Mountain Splitting? Fancy name but the attack doesn't have any substance. How disappointing."

"Y-you!"

The masked man was unbelievably horrified to see his attack nullified like this. How was that possible? This was the first time that something like this happened to him. He had been polishing this attack for god knows how long yet it was stopped by a thirteen year old brat using his fingertips! How can he accept this?

"What was is again? Letting me experience the price of my arrogance? Is this it?" Raven sneered once more and continued: "How embarrassing."

"Grit your teeth Old Man. I call this move, 'A Casual Punch'." Raven gripped his fist and threw a punch on his stomach. When his fist connected, the masked man's body flew back and rolled for a couple of times before stopping.

Then, there was nothing but absolute silence after that.