Rayna was doing everything to keep her mouth closed. When she had heard her father wanted to meet the Dark Magus, she thought the two of them would simply talk.
Maybe discuss helping each other in certain ways and then they could be on their way, but the way her father was speaking, of a test, it was almost like the two of them were about to fight.
"I can't go against father. I know you saved my life, Dark Magus, but this is something that I just can't do," Rayna thought.
Meanwhile, Raze was thinking along similar lines. When he had entered, he had already decided that it wasn't a good idea for him to go up against the Clan Master.
Now, it sounded as if he was proposing for the two of them to fight.
"He can't be expecting me to win against him. He should know that is impossible, and if he wanted to just get rid of me, I doubt he is the type of person who would need to make an excuse, something like this.
"During this fight, what I need to do is at least show skills enough to impress him. That is the type of person he is, but can I do that without my magic?"
Raze was thinking back to when he had bested the Behemoth Clan Middle stage warrior.
At the time, he was only successful because of three things. The first was the element of surprise.
The Middle stage warrior never expected such an attack to be used, so Raze got a clean attack in.
The second was the item itself. The item had a special condition where it grew stronger based on the number of people around, and there were many.
On top of that, the skills used were stronger, but then couldn't be used again within a certain period, that was the curse.
Then finally, Raze had used the special Dark Edge Sword Arts, not just the Dark Edge Sword Arts but the Magic Dark Edge Sword Arts.
A special technique that was meant to fuse both Magic and Qi together to create the ultimate attack.
'I won't be able to use my magic clearly, only if I think my life is in danger I should use it, but if I use the Magic Dark Edge Sword Arts, people seem to not be so suspicious about those skills. '
'They believe the lingering magic that they can see in the air. It's just visual Qi.'
The room temperature had changed ever so slightly, and Raze could feel the difference instantly.
He turned his head, and that's when he noticed someone else entering inside, pushing the doors open.
It was a young man that looked close to be in his thirties or mid-twenties. He had a sword by his side, dressed in all black.
He calmly walked over, and when he reached the same area as Raze and Rayna, he too got on the floor and bowed down.
"This here is one of our individuals who have managed to reach the lower end of the middle stage. He was in the same year as my son, who I believe you are well acquainted with as well," Belil explained.
"Yet, he managed to reach the Middle stage before him. Although we are not the biggest clan, what we do pride ourselves on, is creating strong warriors, which is why we have more Middle stage warriors compared to any other clan out there, which is proof of our strength," Belil continued.
"I want you to face him, please, take your position toward the end of the pathway, and Trin here will take his place at this side," Belil ordered.
Almost immediately, the Clan member named Trin had taken his position. Rayna stood up and moved into the oval area but still stayed relatively far away from her father.
"Rumors are rumors," Trin said as he pulled out and held his sword, Raze had yet to move to the other end just yet.
"I can tell you are not a Middle stage warrior. You're still in the Initial stage, yet you managed to best a Middle stage warrior somehow? Everyone knows that's an impossibility and most likely the Crimson Crane were there to help you."
Raze understood, according to everything he knew, it was unlikely for those who were a higher stage to beat those who were a lower stage than them.
So for an Initial stage to best a Middle stage warrior, where there was clearly a large rise in power difference, it seemed like a complete lie.
"Before I take part, am I allowed to use any skills and any items I have on me at present, including Qi pills?" Raze asked.
"Of course, I want to see how it was possible for you to defeat a Middle stage as well, and whether or not you are worth my time."
Hearing this, Raze started to move to the other end, the first thing he had done was take a light blue pill.
Straight away he could feel its effects, the extreme heat being produced down here.
It was no longer affecting him, but it would only do so for a limited amount of time.
What this did allow him to do was use magic the way he needed to as well.
Raze then stopped as he was close to the door and turned around.
'Everything the Clan Master does, it seems there is a reason behind it. I doubt that it was a coincidence that he placed me next to the door, to try to lure me in an attempt to escape.'
'But I know that is useless, and I'm not a fraud,' Raze pulled out the light wind-enchanted sword that made next to no noise at all as he swung it through the air and positioned himself.
"Get ready, fraudster, you will not fool the Neverfall Clan!" Trin exclaimed, as he charged forward and ran towards the center.
Raze then had decided to do the same, as he ran empowering his steps with Qi.
Before Raze had even reached the center, though, Trin was already there in the air, swinging his sword to the side.
A dark red aura wrapped around his blade as he swung it. Instead of backing away, Raze went straight ahead.
The second Descending Step pushed him forward, and he swung from the side with the third Devil's Formation.
As the two swords clashed, there was no contest as to who had the stronger strike.
Raze was immediately pushed back, and the power was so overwhelming that he had tumbled across the ground a few times.
"Ah, the Descending Steps and Devil's Formation, you have a good basic foundation and they work well together, you had a good teacher," Trin claimed.
As Raze was getting up off the floor, he had taken a red pill, restoring some of his health, and a green pill as well.
"I can't take too many more of those hits, or I'll be done for, but this is a test, so he won't go all out with his strength or follow up on strikes that will kill me," Raze thought.
Raze charged in again, this time, using the first Descending Step, and following it up all the way up to the fourth step.
When he burst forward he used the first Devil's Formation, a strike from above. It swung down and the sword hit the hard ground surrounded by Qi, but Trin had managed to get right behind him and delivered a large kick right to his back.
Raze's upper body made him fall, and his face hit the ground. When he looked up he could see the disappointed look on Belil's face, and the concerned look on Rayna's as she was biting her fingernail.
"I guess even with the pills and the sword techniques I haven't done enough to impress him. Well, I hope you keep your promise, anything I use will be fair game, right?"
Raze thought as he stood up and firmed his feet once again. This time he waited for the Middle stage warrior to strike.
Trin was growing impatient, and he had decided to charge right ahead just like last time.
"The way this little fight was set up, we can only directly go after each other. There's little room for us to move side to side, but in this case, it works out well for me."
Raze's sword was placed down by his side as he shuffled his feet so they were the correct distance apart. Then the sword started to be wrapped around, wispy trails of Dark Magic were wrapping around the sword.
At the right time, Raze burst forward with the second step, and swung the blade.
"The 1st Formation of the Dark Edge Sword Arts! Shadow Bind Formation!"
With a little bit of magic added, Raze thought in his head. The sword clashed with Trin's again and the power this time was equal; there was no clear winner.
Then the shadow that wrapped around the sword started to bind Trin, holding him in place.
Quickly, Raze used a couple more of the Descending Steps while Trin was struggling with what was happening, and then lifted the sword in the air, holding it by the hilt with both his hands.
"Dark Edge Sword Arts second formation, Eclipse Strike!"
The sword had turned completely black, as added Qi and Dark Magic were combined. A large amount of power was channeling through the sword.
"The Noctis Clan's sword art was hidden here, the Dark Faction leader's message was hidden here. So I have to hope that this won't cause a problem!"
The attack unleashed from Raze's sword, as it swung, the air behind it was covered in Darkness. Only then had Trin gotten out of the Shadow bind, the attack was ready to hit him.
Until, in one half of the room, all of the candle lights had gone out, and the attack landed, hitting a certain person's forearm, leaving no mark on his body. Belil was standing there having blocked the attack.
"Now, you are certainly full of surprises, aren't you?" Belil said with a big smile. "Alright, then it's agreed, I give you permission to marry Rayna!"
