Tim could feel the hard work and effort Alex had put into the practice to hone his skills.
The boy before him was born as an imbecile with no one to take care of and was pitifully thrown out of the house as he came to age.
From being fat or unable to walk properly and being ridiculed all over the world, to the current him who was as fit as a horse.
And his strength and his kingdom had been rising greatly.
Just how much effort did this boy put into training who was born with below-average physical traits and just how many times did he encounter a wall that he wasn't able to overcome, how many times he had felt hopeless unable to find a proper direction to advance until he craved his way through sheer will and determination.
Those who trained until death and went through hell knew very well the value of the harsh training and can only know the amount of effort put on by others.
Even on his path to Legendary rank, he despaired many times, lost his direction on the way and just to reach this level he had trained till exhaustion but even though he lived a harsh life, he had comrades and got sincere guidance from his seniors.
But the boy had none to guide him and take care of him. Except for his wives, he had none to whom he could convey his feelings and bottle up stress.
And one even doesn't know how close he was to his wives who had been forced to marry him against their wishes.
As Tim felt the emotions conveyed to him in each strike, he suddenly noticed something amiss.
With each strike of the blade, vibration spread throughout his whole body.
'Wait!!'
Tim, who was momentarily lost in thought while swinging his blade, subconsciously frowned for a moment.
CLANK!
Alex parried his forward slash and changed the direction of the sword path and gave a half thrust which Tim reacted quickly but the blade just passed through a few millimetres away from the cheek.
Crackle!
Tim could hear a small cracking sound which might be due to joints losing up or it may be due to fractures in Alex's arms.
He could see the eyes devoid of any emotions and a face that seemed to be fully immersed in a sword strike Alex.
Even though Alex seemed to exhaust his body and it was filled with sweat and his breathing became rough, his attack only became fiercer and fiercer.
Tim was momentarily stunned for a moment and reacted instinctively while raising his sword vertically and slashing it at Alex with full force.
The sharp edge of the Tim sword flew forward to split Alex into two but he forcefully turned his body at the last moment as he quickly leaned to the side to dodge the blow.
The sword hit the ground and Tim used a little bit of his strength to swing the sword and was unable to stop from cleaving the floor.
A small cloud of sand flew.
Alex's eyes shone as he dodged the attack and he suddenly ran around Tim and dashed toward his back.
Alex ran as agile as a cheetah pouncing on his back, his legs clutching into Tim's lower body while raising his sword and swinging it horizontally.
Tim's eyes flashed and he rotated his body with great momentum throwing Alex's balance into disarray and quickly retracted his sword and raised it upward to block Alex's attack.
CLANK!
A series of metallic sparks flew as Tim intercepted Alex's attack and pushed his sword and threw Alex from his back.
Alex rotated his body in the mid-air and landed on his feet.
"Tsk!" Alex clicked his body in annoyance as this was a chance to finish things off.
"What an extraordinary response King Alex?" Tim smiled while pointing his sword at Alex.
A small ripple burst from him causing the sand and dust on the ground to be swept away for a certain distance.
His sword started to glow with a faint blue light.
"I know we promised not to use mana but it doesn't mean we can't use sword aura. Seeing your skill I think it would be a waste if we don't fight to the heart's content today."
"You can also use a sword aura, can't you?"
Tim's words made everyone dumbfounded for a moment. Even though they were greatly surprised by Alex's ability to match Tim, Alex's ability to use
aura was really out of their thinking.
"Huh!!
"What!!"
The soldier mumbled among themselves and thought about whether they had heard anything wrong and looked at Alex with a hint of anticipation.
Alex cast a playful smile and raised his brows.
"So, we are going to do this huh!"
Alex's body started to glow and his eyes gleamed with a crimson flash and a crimson aura enveloped his sword as he pointed it towards Alex.
"Everybody step back!"
"Also enact a barrier," Tim ordered his man.
All the knights started to encircle the area while others fell back. A light shone and a barrier started to form around the arena trapping Alex and Tim.
Tim gently flickered the sword in his hand aiming at Alex. A powerful sword strike just flew out from the simple swing of his sword in the air.
Surprising before it could reach Alex it hit something that burst in the middle.
QUEUEING!
Tim just lightly swung his sword to test the waters and realised that the previous blow was easily neutralised by Alex.
Alex was losing in terms of physical prowess as the battle prolonged but in terms of sword aura, it even gave him a sense of fear.
Alex's aura seemed slightly denser than his but only after colliding with Alex. So, he decided to move in earnest.
"Alex, I will seal my strength to Epic rank," Tim shouted to warn Alex.
Tim raised his sword and gave a thrust toward Alex.
A sword manifested before Alex and was shot toward Alex with a frightening speed.
