Ken stood in a wooden-based arena inside the village. Many elves stood around watching, some in trees, their eyes pinned on the human that had come into their space. Many of these elves had never been this close to a human before, so it was genuinely fascinating, and to hear that he was about to fight one of the strongest people in their village was even more interesting.

He waited for Sierra to finally show up, and she did. She walked up onto the platform, but she was no longer in her armor. Rather, she had on a simple white blouse and black tight pants along with boots. She had silver hair that was tied into a ponytail.

A sword was on her waist, and she held another in her hands. She tossed the one in her hands over to Ken. "You do not have a weapon, so use that."

Ken caught the sword in the air. He pulled it from its sheath. It was pretty basic, to say the least, nothing special about it, but he was okay with it. He gripped it with both hands and swung around a few times in a completely untrained manner.

Sierra looked at that and frowned. "Was I wrong about him actually being strong? He holds that sword like a noob," she muttered to herself, but before she could find out more, an elf got onto the stage and stood at their center.

"For the first time ever, the head of the tribe guard will be taking on a human in battle here, and the winner gets a reward only Her Majesty knows." After announcing that, he lifted his hands, pointing one at each person.

"Are both fighters ready?" he asked.

They both nodded, and he immediately swung his hands down to signal the start. Everyone had expected both of them to explode forward, but they didn’t.

Sierra stood there and looked at Ken. She was waiting for him to make his move, as that would probably be the only opportunity he got to make.

Ken understood her thinking as well, but he didn’t rush ahead. He started walking toward her with steady and heavy steps, each one resounding on the wooden base. Every eye was on him as he walked, wondering what he was going to do.

’Rule number one of fights, seem confident and cautious at the same time. It shows the opponent you are ready to take a risk, but also tells them that you are scared of them in a way. She’ll believe she can take me down with a single attack. In her mind, I’m a cocky brat that isn’t strong, so I’m no threat to her.’

He kept walking until he reached the halfway point, and then suddenly he vanished. His feet pressed against the ground hard, and he exploded like a rocket, so fast that the eyes could not follow. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Fast," Sierra muttered when she saw him move. Her eyes darted around, and her ears scanned fast for her to find him, only for him to appear right beside her, his sword already swinging. He was going for the kill.

Sierra felt the bloodlust that came from him. She moved her legs fast, turning clockwise and immediately pulling her blade just in time for her sword to block his.

CLANG!

Their swords collided, their eyes locked for a second, and then Ken pushed away, landing on the floor.

"Did you see that? He attacked the head guard and forced her to block."

"That should be impossible, her sword skills are the best ever."

The elves started talking, shocked by what they were seeing.

Sierra, on the other hand, had a completely different thing in her mind. When Ken attacked, he went for the kill with no hesitation. It told her that he might have done that before. He also used that sword like he was one with it and not just holding it.

’Tch, he tricked me into believing that he could not use it, you tricky brat,’ she yelled in her mind, then she launched forward, this time the one leading the attack.

Her sword moved fast as she slashed down. Ken sidestepped and weaved through the attack, but she knew what she was doing. She stopped her hand halfway through after he had dodged and then let go while twisting her body.

Her left hand grabbed the sword in the air while continuing the twist, which now formed into a slash.

Ken saw the attack coming. She was fast, very fast. He pushed himself back and evaded the attack. The moment the blade passed him, he lunged forward again.

The both of them clashed, dodged, and blocked. They moved all over the floor and fought with the vigor of warriors that wanted each other dead. It was a ferocious dance.

Finally, after multiple rounds of collision, the both of them skidded backward, their breathing heavy. Ken still had a smile on his face as though he could not feel what was happening inside his body now. His heart was racing, and his entire body was burning up.

"You have strong swordplay, but that’s all. Now I’ll take this seriously, so ready yourself," she said and took a stance. Her stance changed from what she had before. It seemed she was far more focused now. Her breathing turned extremely calm, and her eyes locked on him.

"If you want the young mistress and our help, then show me really what you are, and make sure you do not lose," she said to him.

"Me? Lose? That’s impossible. I cannot lose. It is against my existence," Ken said in pride.

She frowned deeply and then pressed her foot against the ground, shooting forward so fast that the floor was blasted open and the wood debris flew in every direction. She covered the distance before even one fragment of wood touched the floor.