Grandmaster

Will retreated at once as Nisha attacked Dracul to buy Will's retreat time.

Dracul's fist slammed into Nisha's ribs to a loud, "Crack!"

Nisha winced in pain but landed on her feet. She landed away from Dracul giving him a wide berth. She quickly drew mana from Will to heal her wounds.

"This is going to be an interesting fight," said a person in the crowds.

The crowd could clearly see Dracul was out for blood and relentlessly pressured Will across the arena.

"Do you think Will shall win?" Liu Kang asked Priestess Xing as they watched from the sidelines.

"So far we've yet to see the extent of Will's sword skills so I cannot say. However, Dracul is a renowned sword expert who learned Sword Aura when he was only 2,250 years old. He's definitely one of the best swordmasters in the Dragon City."

"Stop running and fight me!" yelled Dracul.

Will summoned Heavenly Malice from his sheath for the first time shocking the spectators.

"Is that…?"

"That's an Ancient Dragon Sword!" a spectator said.

The spectators at once recognized the Astaroth's spirit despite its lack of aura.

"Good now stand still and fight. Show me our Leopard Style, and I'll show you why Dragon Style is considered superior.

"[Dragon Flame]" Dracul double cast, shooting fire over to Will

"[Earthen Wall] Will cast blocking the flame, only to realize Dracul used the spell for misdirection.

Before Will could move, Dracul had cast [Flame Wheel] and swiped his sword up at Will's chin.

"Argh!" Will screamed. With that hit, he felt his health rapidly decline.

Will cast [Sandstorm] [Quicksand] in retaliation.

In response, Dracul cast [Fireflies] and burned away the sandstorm. As the fireflies hit the ground, they also burned away Will's quicksand.

"I'm going to bet ten spirit stones on Dracul!" One of the spectators suddenly said.

"I'll bet fifteen on Dracul!" said another spectator.

"Fifty for Will!" shouted the priestess.

"Twenty-five spirit stones on Dracul!" said another spectator.

The spectators began shouting out their bets with most of them betting on Dracul's victory, which wasn't too surprising due to his high rank, sword aura, and perfect win rate.

"I will bet one thousand spirit stones on Will!" A clear voice suddenly resounded, causing the people to turn to look at this person who dared to bet such a large amount.

"Mother Tiamat? You think this young man is going to win?" One of them couldn't help but ask her.

"Not really. I'm just hoping for a miracle to happen," she said with a calm smile on her face.

Meanwhile, on the stage, Dracul suddenly released his Sword Aura, filling the area with a domineering pressure.

The audience was immediately awed by Dracul's Sword Aura.

"Wow! How long has it been since I last saw Dracul's Sword Aura?"

"I have seen it many times now, but it still leaves me speechless."

"As expected of a swordmaster. Even though he's not directing the Sword Aura at me, I can still feel as though there are invisible swords surrounding me!"

"Sword Aura, huh?" Will was surprised by the overbearing feeling!

Will studied Dracul's Sword Aura and the way it felt. The more he looked at Dracul's Sword aura the more he began to comprehend what was Sword Aura. The same way an amateur artist studies a masterpiece. The amateur studies a master artist's strokes to understand an artistic style.

Will used magic against Dracul and kept his distance. He knew if he clashed swords with Dracul he'd lose, and Will smarted enough that Dracul's taunts did not work.

[Dragon Slash] [Ground Wave] Will cast sending a beam of light.

"Is that supposed to be your attempt at Sword Aura, that weak beam?" Dracul asked easily slicing Will's dragon slash and stomping out his ground wave.

"That was Sword Aura?" Will said.

"Didn't you know? Only swordmasters can cover their swords in that light. That's why your beam was weak, you're using Sword Aura without mastering it!" Dracul instructed.

"Thank you for the lesson!" Will said politely.

"Don't thank me, I'm not your damn teacher! Now die!" Dracul roared displeased that he inadvertently taught Will.

As Will continued to fight Dracul, he felt his mind expand. His comprehension of Sword Aura became to quicken. Suddenly, his sword entered his mind. He studied it and knew that his sword art was not the one he learned at the Knight Academy, but Leopard Sword Style. The Leopard Sword Style allowed his mana to stimulate his sword. He knew he had yet to fully commit to the Leopard Sword Style because he was unsure of his identity.

He was a leopard. He was cunning and ruthless. He'd always been that way in business. As a CEO, businessman, and now merchant he was adept at hiding reasons and making fast-paced decisions. He was a leopard. And his sword was his claws and teeth. He'd always been a black leopard because his sins were black.

Like a shadow panther, who stalked in the night. How many times had he ruthless screwed over his enemies? Many did not even see his attack until his claws were at their throat. He was a leopard that is why he always felt so connected to Nisha.

As he fought, his sword began to glow a bright translucent green.

"What! Impossible!" yelled Dracul.

"You're not the only one who can use Sword Aura!" Will said with a smile on his face before releasing his Sword Aura, immediately colliding with Dracul's Sword Aura.

The first to express her shock and disbelief was the priestess.

"Close your mouth dear, it unbecoming of a priestess," said Mother Tiamat.

"Yes, mother," the priestess said embarrassed.

If she remembered correctly, Will mentioned that he was only 31 years old! How could someone comprehend Sword Aura at such a young age?!

It took Dracul 2,000 years to understand Sword Aura and he was considered a top genius with the sword!

Meanwhile, the other spectators were shocked speechless, and they could feel invisible swords touching their necks after Will released his Sword Aura.

Dracul's red Sword Aura and Will's green Sword Aura clashed in the middle of the ring.

CLANG

On the stage, Dracul stared at Will with a gawking look on his face, looking like he was looking at ghosts for the first time in his life.

"H-How old are you, again?" Dracul decided to ask him, completely forgetting about their match.

"I'm thirty-one years old," Will responded.

"T-Thirty one-years-old… A-And when did you learn Sword Aura?"

"Now from watching your Sword Aura, I guess," Will said.

"Y-You learned Sword Aura during the match? And it's already this powerful?" Dracul's body trembled after hearing Will's words.

It was at this moment he realized that his 100 percent win rate was in jeopardy. How could he possibly fight against someone who has managed to learn Sword Aura two thousand years faster than him?

Not to mention Will's Sword Aura was already stronger than his own. He did not own a sword made from dragon bones, like Will. Although his father gifted his body to Dracul to make whatever weapons he needed.

'I-It's okay. His Sword Aura may be more powerful than mine, but when it comes to techniques, I should still be superior!' Dracul thought to himself.

Indeed, Dracul had guessed correctly. Whilst Will was a monster when it came to comprehension, he was still too young and inexperienced compared to Dracul, who had thousands of years of experience under his belt.

Therefore, while Will was unrivaled in terms of raw strength, his technique was a bit lacking.

"Nisha let's attack now!" Will said telepathically.

At once Will used his Leopard Style to close the distance whilst swinging his sword in quick successive movement precisely landing his sword strikes.

For the first time in the match, Dracul took a step back.

Will also used his Leopard Style to dodge the incoming strike before retaliating with the Heavenly Malice.

[Dragon Slash!]

Will swung his sword as though it was as light as a feather. He watched the beam of light leave his sword. He could tell this time the beam was thicker, solid like steel. It was like he used his spell [Modeling] to turn the beam into Dwarven Steele.

'I cannot block that with my sword! He'll send me flying!' Dracul could instinctively tell that he wouldn't be able to withstand the might of Will's Sword Aura and didn't even bother to block it, using his effort to dodge it instead.

Dracul could tell that slash used up a lot of what little Will had left. He figured that because he noticed Will had left an opening. Dracul saw this as his chance to strike and immediately went for Will's neck.

'Oh!'

When Will saw Dracul suddenly appear in front of him with his red Sword Aura already in motion and heading towards his head, he subconsciously cast [Domain] and [Rock Spike], taking Dracul by surprise and instantly halting his movements.

[Domain] was an impressive spell that combined [Radar] and [Aura], that created a square kilometer cube that amplified a caster's magic and suppressed an opponent's magic. Inside the domain, the caster was almost a demigod in that space.

After casting that spell Will almost fainted from the lack of mana. He ignored the throbbing headache, amplified his Sword Aura, and swung Heavenly Malice, separating Dracul's surprised face from his body in a split second.

The audience gasped in shock after they witnessed this unexpected outcome.

"I-Impossible! How did he know win?!" yelled a spectator.

"D-Did I just witness Dracul lose?" said another spectator in disbelief.

"I think he did…" smiled the Priestess.

"Are all humans this strong now?" asked a curious spectator.

"No, Will is a special human. He is blessed by Gaia," Mother Tiamat said.

The audience immediately began to speculate about Will's background.

A few moments after Will killed Dracul, he reappeared outside the stage still with a dazed look on his face, almost like he was still in disbelief himself.

"You brat!" Dracul roared coming out of his stupor.

Then Will felt his body heat up, his mana pool expanding rapidly taking in the ambient mana. His body felt like it was about to burst with a million tiny needles pricking at his skin. Suddenly he heard a loud "pop' in his mind and body deflate slowly.

"Oh, my goddess, he just broke through!" yelled a spectator.

Everyone quickly turned their heads and looked at Will. They saw his aura had changed.

"He's a grandmaster now?" said the Priestess.

Now it was the priestess's turn to be in disbelief. Will had broken every conception he had of humans.

"I think it's best everyone leaves, while he settles his new rank," Mother Tiamat said encouraging everyone to leave.

"I'll kill you later!" Dracul said leaving the arena first.

After settling his new rank, Tiamat treated Will to a sumptuous celebration feast. At the end of dinner, Tiamat said, "Will and Nisha rest early tonight for tomorrow Sir. Perceval has summoned you to his cave," Mother Tiamat said.

Before Will went to sleep that night, he checked over his new stats:

Race: Human

Rank: 4 (Earl)

Title: Lord of Commerce/ Gaia's Champion

Class: Merchant

Sub Class: Spellsword Knight

Attributes:

Constitution—90

Strength—95

Dexterity—83

Intellect—102

Charisma—19

Ranks Skills: Management (87), Diplomacy (78), Accounting (91)

Class Skills: Appraisal (100, 100) [Radar]

Abilities: Grandmaster Swordsmanship (2, 100), Grandmaster Terramancer (5, 100), Gaia's Blessing (multiplies your spell strength x2), Journeyman Blacksmith (37, 50), Immunity to [Dragon Fear]