Darius Supreme

Seeing that the crowd treated his words as nothing but a big fart, Nicholas' eyes curled into crescents. He couldn't be happier that they would underestimate them, because first up on stage was his own son. Underestimating him would give him easy wins for the first few battles until the rest would begin to wizen up.

However, it would naturally be too late by then.

"The rules are simple, you can use any recovery items in your arsenal at any time. The arena has boundaries, so falling off the edge counts as a loss. Each Apprentice will be on stage for 10 battles a day, until they fight a hundred battles total."

After a few more words explaining the rules of the battle, Nicholas announced who would be the first to come up on Safemoon's side.

"Anyone can apply, but the final selection of their opponent will be up to the Martin AI. First Apprentice, please come on stage!" Nicholas exited the stage as Ash jumped on.

The father patted his son's shoulder reassuringly, to which the lad let out a long breath filled with nervousness. He wielded a custom gray sword in a standard stance, his face radiating resolve despite himself.

Seeing this, those Grandmasters were even more certain that they could handle this. However, some did frown as they sensed that Ash's life level was unnaturally high.

(Author's note: For those who don't remember what life level is, it's the combination of one's Power, Constitution, and Magic stats, allowing native Faustians to sense the power of another person without having a system.)

Right then, a Grandmaster who applied was selected by the Martin AI, so he landed on the stage with a majestic flair. It was a human man who wore a black swordsman's trench coat and dual-wielded two short swords in each hand.

[Name: Killian Gentry || Race: Human || Stage: Grandmaster || Jobs: Sword Grandmaster, Blade Champion.

HP: 14,807/14,807 (47,460) || MP: 8,428/8,428 (18,000) || STA: 5,762/5,762 (9,040)

Level: 86 ||  (Note: The stats in the brackets are Ash's current stats, so you can compare)

Power: 221 (210) || Speed: 138 (127) || Constitution: 67 (226)

Magic: 98 (450) || Will: 78 (899) || Luck: 15 (50).

Skills: Grandmaster Dual Wielding Style, Cross Slash, Mach Slash, etc.

Spells: None.]

"Kid, your AI is quite brutal but efficient. It chose a swordsman at the Grandmaster stage to fight you since you seem to wield the blade." Killian Gentry, the Grandmaster Swordsman, spoke cockily.

He then pointed at the nervous yet determined Ash with derision. "Remember my name, Killian Gentry! I will be the one to take your pathetic life and become rich!"

With that, the battle began. Using his footwork from his dual-wielding style, Killian quickly appeared before Ash and swung both swords down forcefully. He aimed to overpower the boy and cut him in half right away.

Ash was slightly slower in speed, but the margin was not enough to make a decisive difference at this level. He was easily able to respond to Killian's attack with his own sword that had been crafted by the best smith on Fallon, Maximo Riverstrike.

The resounding clang shook the ears of all listeners, a small shockwave occurring due to the force used. Killian's own swords were expensively crafted, so their durability could hold up in high-level fights, but he was surprised to see that Ash's sword - and arm - hadn't collapsed.

Nonsense!

Could it really be that this Journeyman boy really had the power of a Grandmaster around his level? Thinking like this, Killian's heart shook, and so too did those who were looking on, having expected Ash to get eviscerated in the first strike.

Ash cried out and pushed Killian back, brandishing his blade as he struck forward using an Inclined Slash attack. Killian calmly parried the strike with one sword and used the other to strike at Ash's defenseless body.

However, Ash suddenly smiled and used his mastered Adjust spell.

[Adjust - Level 20 Spell (Max)

Grade: Basic

Cost: 10 MP

Description: Control the fundamental force of the planet that retrains all beings to its surface. This spell increases or decreases the user's weight by 100%.]

Killian suddenly felt like his body weight had doubled, making his slash go astray while he was now open to Ash's counterattack. This chilled his heart greatly as he saw Ash's blade slowly go for his neck.

Killian immediately used the special ability of Super Instinct, which one gained when they passed the Master level limit of Speed. (I.e, 100+ points)

[Super Instinct - Intermediate Ability

Cost: 20% of Stamina

Description: Your mind and body have melded as one. Even before your nerves can transmit information, your body reacts to danger around you. You are able to move anywhere within a distance of 1 kilometer in an instant.]

As it cost 20% of total stamina, it could only be used five times in a battle, so it was an important life-saving measure for most assassins and fighters with good Speed above the Master stage.

Just when Killian 'blinked' away and thought he was safe, he was stunned to find that Ash was still right before him, his blade now inches from his neck.

In that instant, Killian understood his blunder. If he could blink away using this ability, so too could Ash since their speed was almost the same. Even if he blinked away again using this ability, Ash would just follow him, so his end had already been decided.

Killian's eyes reddened as he used his last energy to shout: "Spare my life, Good Sir!"

However, Ash's eyes were filled with coldness, and his blade passed through the neck of his target with ease, bottoming his HP in one go. Then again, the True Supreme System did not affect this area, so things like HP did not matter.

Killian's last sight was the smile of Ash as he swung his blade to the side, splashing Killian's blood that had soiled the shaft of the weapon onto the ground. The lad showed no remorse, only a morbid appreciation for his success.

'Just what did they do to raise a kid like this…?'