[Red's POV]

Taking a closer look at the person opposite of me, that person looked very familiar to me. Oh. It was the a*shole that spit on me back when I first came to Ferdra. The more I looked at his face, the angrier I get. Actually, screw that, everything about this situation is pissing me off. 

I removed White who was disguised as my scarf and sent him to the Pet Farm. I could see some of the spectators were startled by White as the scarf started moving around and disappeared after that.

The host of the arena appeared in front and started to speak in front of his audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Arena. Normally this would be a private event for the public but thanks to the King of Mydarn's generous suggestion, we decided to host this publicly to showcase the next generation of young fighters."

King Darius: "Hey, what do you mean by my suggestion."

The audience all laughed as King Darius said this.

"This time we have rosters ranging from not just nobility but also rising stars of the academy."

"This will be a duel that one noble can choose his or her successor or child to represent them and compete against one another with all their skills."

This

"Without further ado, let's welcome our first match."

"From the left corner, we have the participant from the Marquis House of Elbene, from the Lindbergh Kingdom. The Second Son of the House of Elbene, Irvin Elbene."

The crowd started cheering for my opponent as he walks confidently forward to the centre of the stage, with his rapier sheathed. The girls especially were screaming for his name while holding up signboards of his name, similar to how fans are cheering for their idol. 

"From the right-hand corner, we have....Oh. This is a new one. From the country of Mydarn, we have a new entry. The Barbarian King's one and only disciple. Red."

The crowd stopped and stared at me. Then the whispering began.

"The Barbarian King has a disciple?" 

"How is that possible, he was known as the strongest and most violent one?"

"I heard he had a daughter, why didn't he make her, his disciple?"

"Why is he wearing a mask?"

As the crowd continued among the spectators. The Host asked:

"King Albert, your majesty. As I know from the rule of this competition, excluding the talented commoner from the academy, aren't nobles the only ones that could participate in this competition?"

I turned my head to see where the King of Frostguard was. He was sitting beside King Darius as King Darius laughs hysterically. 

[King Darius's POV]

"Sorry Albert, can you let it through this time? Think of him as my adoptive son."

"Really. After this all this year, you can never seem to make anything boring for once can you?" Albert sighed while looking at me and smiled

"Let's see what your disciple can do." Albert replied before nodding his head towards the host of the arena, granting permission. 

Suddenly, I'm starting to get jabbed in my arm by someone.

"You hate losing to me so much that you find someone else to fight for you? What do you think Seren would think." It was my Wife, Molly, glaring at me as she was saying those words.

"You know how long your daughter has been seeking your validation yet, you chose a disciple out of nowhere. She has always wanted to learn under you, and you know that."

"She will be fine." I replied. I know Seren had always wanted me to train her but I chose not to, not because she was unworthy. She had already surpassed me in terms of talent. But her desire for power was deep and it was never enough for her. I do not want her to be drunk with power.

"You better pray she doesn't kill your so-called disciple." Molly warned.

[Seren's POV]

Father had a disciple? After all these years when I have been begging him to train me personally. 

He would always reject me and only comes once in a while to oversee my progress. 

He chose that outsider instead of me?

How is that fair? I have always beg for him to pay some attention to me but he didn't even bother. But now he chose a nobody to train in his ways?

That's unforgivable. 

I'll show him in this competition. I'll show him that I don't need him to teach me to get this far.

He better listen to me once I cripple his disciple.

[Red's POV]

[Barbarian King. It suits him.]

"No kidding."

As me and Ryong were still making fun of King Darius, the Host continued his speech:

"Now introduction is done, without further ado, let the match begin!"

"Gong-!!!" A loud bell was rung to signify the start of the match.

As soon as the gong was heard, Irvin, without hesitation closed the gap and thrust his rapier multiple times at me.

However, something was wrong. Why did he seem so slow to me? It's as if he was stuck in slow motion when attacking me. 

Realising there was no need for me to summon my weapons, I used the gloves that Ryong first provided me, and parried all the attacks with ease.

I finally realised why it felt so easy. It's because I had been fighting absolute monsters this entire time.

"What! How dare you!" Irvin exclaimed after I blocked all of his strikes aimed at me with the back of my palm. 

The moment Irvin pulled back his sword to prepare to launch his attacks, that was my chance. I leaned forward and 

[Right Hook]

It landed on his ribcage. Irvin yells in pain as I lift my leg prepared to initiate a kick. Sudden a notification appeared.

[Killing Intent detected]

I backed off immediately, just to find, Irvin charging his rapier with mana and delivering a stab motion. I blocked the attack just in time with the gloved and I got thrown backwards.

"You plebian. I'll show you the difference in status between us."

He starts casting a spell, and from there, his rapier starts glowing in a light green shade. He aimed the rapier at me again, thrusting it in the air. 

How he shot his rapier at me seemed very similar to how King Darius cast his [Wind Cut]. Maybe due to experiencing something like that before, I tilt my head to avoid whatever was aimed at me. 

"Wha__! How did you kno___" Before he could finish his sentence, my fist was already planted at his face. 

He staggers as he felt the impact, trying to regain his posture. But it was too late, another fist came towards him landing on his liver. He coughed out and slashed his rapier. Being too close to him, I got a pretty deep cut from his weapon as I skipped backwards.

The Fans of Irvin started booing at me, saying stuff along the lines of:

"What's with that brute, is there no elegance in his fight."

"As expected of the Barbarian King, he is as violent as him."

"Stop hiding behind your mask, you coward."

Hearing all these made me even madder. I decided to end things quickly. But Irvin himself wasn't done. With his beat-up face, He lifts his rapier and starts conjuring another spell. This time, the spell length was longer. And because I gave him the advantage by retreating to a longer distance. This meant that there was no interruption when he was casting the spell.

The wind around the air starts twisting clockwise around the sword, as it starts speeding up, faster and faster. In the end, it became a whirlwind, spinning wildly on his sword.

"Eat this." He yelled, dashing at me with his sword. With swordsmanship I had never seen before, he starts slashing and thrusting his sword again towards my direction. Even though the sword did not land on my body, the wind around it cuts my skin and flesh and it grazed my body. 

I snapped back to increase the distance between us. He reposition himself to prepare for anything that I was going to throw at him. I exhale and slowly release some Aura in both my first.

The whole crowd went silent as we circle each other. Without hesitation, I leapt forward towards the sword and closed in. Startled by my sudden movement, he swung his rapier immediately on my neck. 

But he was too late. I caught him. Gripping his wrist to prevent him from swinging the sword. I pulled him towards me and gave him a knee in the ribs.

He struggled as I release his hand and Bobbed my head from left to right.

[*Link Established*]

[Close Quarter Combo 1 Created.]

[Right Body Blow] --> [Left RoundHouse Kick] --> [Crescent Axe Kick] --> [Push Kick]

The entire Combo plummeted him and the last pushed Kick sent him flying all the way backwards.

Gong-!!!

The bell sounded off again.

"Match!" The referee who was on site stopped the match after checking Irvin's condition.

"The winner for round 1 is Red."

The crowd started clapping slowly before turning it into cheers. I could still hear Boos from the fans of Irvin as well as some complains and cries from what I can only assume was the House of Elbene family.

I bowed my head thanking them before heading back to the gate. 

The guard who was from the gate I came from said to me:

"Congratulations Sir Red."

Before leaving the arena, I looked at King Darius who was smiling and laughing at me. I sighed as I thank the guards and head off to rest.