"Still it will be difficult for my brother no matter how big a genius he is but I still believe in him, "Alice interjected.
"It was never about winning or losing. Alex is only testing his limit and his current strength. Since there is an expert here, wouldn't it be a waste not to seek guidance from him?" Christina explained.
Everyone nodded on hearing Christina's explanation.
Due to Alice's orders, the personnel from Kinley were helping the soldiers of Nevan in their training who have greatly benefited due to this.
Not only did they become better, but it also made them open their eyes to the strength of the world and widen their horizons. Otherwise, they would be frogs sitting at the bottom of the well thinking highly of themselves after winning Amidon.
.....
As Alex and Tim raised their sword, the shouts and screams that echoed in the surrounding grew faint. Their surroundings became blurry and gradually became dark as both of them focused on each other.
It was as if they had entered a world where only two of them were present.
Tim stared at Alex and felt as if he would put up an exhilarating fight. He didn't need to say that he was surprised because the look on his eyes gave out.
It was a common hallucination when two sword masters duel one another with utmost focus.
He could feel the aura of the sword master radiating from Alex which startled him.
When Alex asked him for a match, he just saw it as a teaching session where he let the junior realise his weakness and unravel his strength but at the moment he was feeling that the person before him was a strong opponent who put up a strong fight which gave him a sense of dilapidation.
Tim smiled gently looking at Alex while wondering just how far this kid might have grown if he was still in the Royal palace.
But unfortunately, he will never know that answer.
"King Alex, I will treat you as an equal opponent from now on, so be careful," Tim spoke with a small smirk on his face.
"Let's begin," Alex muttered.
Sssshhh!
They simultaneously took a deep breath calming their nerves, it was then a loud clicking sound spreading across the place.
It was difficult to tell who struck first and who had the advantage in the first clash.
Just a simple clash of the sword and the impact of the blades cause small blinding sparks to rupture.
Alex felt that he was at a slight disadvantage in the aspect of strength as even if they have sealed their mana, Tim was still physically stronger than him, and he must have a strong physique.
It was only because Alex focused on his physical growth and strengths most of the time due to being unable to awaken mana, that he was able to handle Tim.
On top of that, his mana heart improves his physique gradually.
Tim, who noticed something, tried to test Alex's physical fitness first and he swung his sword more fiercely than before.
Alex channelized all of his energy equally into his arms to attack while using his legs to support the upper body while propelling himself forward.
There was a sound akin to a small burst of explosions along with the shrill screeching noise of metallic friction due to blades sliding against each other and the cutting of wind echoing throughout.
DANG!DANG!DANG!
CLANK!CLANK!CLANK!
Because of the impact, small shockwaves were created causing ripples in the air, and sweat and sand splattered and sprayed around the place as both of them mingled with each other with the swords.
At the moment, unlike before, a loud cheering was surging, and the crowd spectating the battle grew quiet from the shock.
The two fighting before them looked like sword masters and they didn't even blink their eyes lest they would miss the moment of their fight.
The Transcendent rank knights and the experienced soldiers looked at the scene with eyes filled with amazement.
It took some time for them to notice the abnormality but as the match prolonged they could see Alex's moves which were quite simple.
Contrary to Tim who was using the swordsmanship taught to them in Kinley, Alex was countering the moves with the basic sword movements.
Horizontal slash, vertical slash, slice, thrust, stab, block and parry.
Alex's swordsmanship didn't have any variety except the basic moves but the proficiency in using the moves made him look like a veteran soldier who had gone through countless battles.
He blocks attacks or parries the ones he can and waits for the lapse of opening, he would counterattack with a stab or swing or rotate the body using the momentum developed due to the clash.
His cleverness in using the moves and throwing the faint made it difficult for one to predict the next.
Alex's heart was beating fast and his arms started to ache as both of their swords collided.
Alex gnashed his teeth and bit his lips to hold on to himself. Although he can manage the strengths aspect using his battle experience his stamina was still lower than Tim's by a huge margin.
After all, even though Alex wasn't mentally tired his master rank body still had a limit even though his stamina was comparable to Epic rank but a legendary rank was the league of his own as it was the rank where one transcends the very limit of mortals and breaks through the shackles.
It was quite a quantitative leap and many even fell to advance at this point and are trapped at transcendent rank.
The difference between a legendary rank and transcends rank was similar to the difference between a squire rank and master rank in normal circumstances.
Unless one is a monster like Alex or his wives blessed by Goddess it was really difficult to fight crossing the ranks.
Blood started to trickle down from Alex's nose but he was too busy deflecting the attack to notice it.
Tim felt Alex's determination and the feelings that he conveyed through his sword.
