Chapter 152: Duel with the King

Tristan drew the new Mithril sword he acquired as he walked to the center of the courtyard under the gaze of everyone. Faint huff of breath could be seen coming out of his mouth as the cold winter made them visible to see.

Even though the performance the Arcadian King showcased against the four masters told him that the fight would be far from the word easy, Tristan still had to accept no matter what he thought nor felt about the former's machinations.

Firstly, although there was only a sliver, or rather, nearly nonexistent chance of him winning this fight, it was still a good opportunity for Tristan to free himself and his sister at once, in the off-chance that he managed to win the fight.

Secondly, Tristan believed this person, the Arcadian King, would always be his obstacle now and in the future. He just had a hunch about it.

Therefore, he really had to know the length of the gap and subsequently the amount of effort he had to put in, to get past this so-called obstacle. Tristan was sure this fight would become his springboard as it only made him stronger for the future.

Lastly, the third and main reason was his growing urge. Tristan wasn't sure it was because of his prison life or this strange new body. He somehow felt the need to vent his irritation by moving his muscles actively especially in a fight.

Tristan gripped his new sword with his two hands and swiftly took his newly learned elven Blade Song stance. It was a high stance where the practitioner would hold their sword with two hands and raise it above the head.

King Callan, who nonchalantly watched Tristan, brandished his own sword and said, "Let me see how good your sword skill is."

Tristan ignored the other party's remark as he was busy preparing his first strike. The stance allowed him to build up energy through his two arms, and that compressed power was released in a burst through a downward swinging motion.

Swish!!

The swing caused a deafening sound to echo across the courtyard as it sliced through the air. Right after, Tristan took advantage of the motion he was in to transition into another swing which swiftly followed by a dash forward.

With the existence of his 200 battle power, Tristan was sure that his speed wasn't slower than the four elven masters.

His figure shot across the courtyard, heading to King Callan who still had the nonchalant attitude. 

Clank!!

Unfortunately, the strike was easily parried by the king's large sword. At that moment, Tristan felt as if he had hit an immovable mountain.

"Not fast enough!" King Callan declared as he pushed Tristan back with a turn from his sword. "Again!!"

Even though the former's action looked extremely casual, the same couldn't be said to the result. Thanks to the push which contained a power he didn't expect, Tristan was thrown a few meters back.

"Dammit!" Tristan cursed as he tried to stabilize his body.

As he thought, Tristan couldn't just depend on his physical prowess alone. That kind of raw exhibition of strength had always allowed him to bulldoze through his enemies. Alas, it simply wasn't enough for an opponent of King Callan's caliber.

Silently vowing to hone his expertise later, Tristan once again prepared his sword stance while also moving around, step by step, closing onto the king's sword.

He discovered that he had much interest in the sword used by the Arcadian King. It was a 1.5 meter long sword at the very least, with a silver blade and golden guard. Its blade was wider on the base which led to a much heavier swing.

A sword made for a powerful swing.

With this type of sword, the wielder would place themself in a more advantageous situation if they attacked directly from the front rather than from the sides.

Tristan bravely chose to confront his opponent's advantage by attacking directly!

Swish!! Swish!!

Clank!! Clankk!!

This time, Tristan attacked King Callan continuously in a flowing motion that seemed unstoppable.

Clankk!! Clankk!

Each strike he sent was fast and powerful, but each of them was also parried perfectly by the Arcadian King. 

Even though Tristan could clearly see his attacks were fruitless, he didn't stop. Instead, 

He just had to land one strike.

One successful strike was all he needed to win this fight, and solved all his worries.

With that determination in mind, Tristan sped up his actions as a torrent of strikes was brought into existence.

Clankk!! Clankk!! Clankk!! 

Only several seconds had passed, but there were already more than two dozen attacks that Tristan did. Even so, King Callan still managed to parry each of them with perfection, not allowing even the tip of his clothes to be touched.

Not giving up until he was defeated, Tristan channeled even more strength in his strikes, even more determination and willpower, as his motions became faster and fiercer.

Amid the downpour of strikes he was in, King Callan commented while his hand continued moving to parry everything, "Still lacking! Your efforts aren't good enough to hurt me!"

Realizing that he would be spent if this kept going on, this time Tristan used Katra. He concentrated and let his senses flowing towards his movement and the sword. Katra let him more focus and increase his concentration.

Thanks to it, he also feels that the Arcadian King's flow of motions became a little bit easier to read. 

Moreover, he realized that his rough application of Blade Singer style was far from enough. Hence Tristan started going out from it and began improvising his attacks.

Clankk!! Clankk!!

But the moment he did so, he saw the Arcadian King only shake his head and decided to stop defending and began retaliating.

SWISSHH!! Splat!

Blood splattered to the air as Tristan was cut by King Callan's one strike.

It was just a mere one swing. A wide swing that looked full of openings, but it managed to cut his chest.

Tristan staggered a few steps back while clutching his bloodied chest.

King Callan looked at him in a condescending look. "Amateur! Preposterous! You think a random attack is better than thousands year old Elven arts?!" He brandished his sword at Tristan and spoke in a cold voice, "I think we are done here."

Upon hearing the insult and seeing the look he was given, Tristan fell into rage as he once again dashed forward.

"No! Dont you Quit now!

Clankk!!

The rage-filled strike, once again, successfully parried by King Callan who kept his condescending look.

"Don't blame me for hurting you then!"