Orien stood in the center of an arena, his large, imposing body and intimidating presence filling the area, making him seem much bigger than he actually was. His eyes fixed on the small figure across from him. The girl was just ten years old but stood tall and confident even in his presence, a double-edged steel sword set in both hands. 

He couldn’t help but smile in amusement at the thought of sparring against the little monster in front of him.

‘I think this will be the first I fight against a 10-year-old child. While I do feel a bit bad that I’ll have to crush that arrogance, she needs to learn to curb her ego early if she ever wants to improve. She might be talented, but there are people out there who have lived tens of times longer than her and have had a long time to improve their skills.’ Orien thought while resting a gleaming silver double-edged longsword on his shoulder.

The arena was a vast, circular space, ringed by tiers of stone seats that rose up to the ceiling. The sun beat down on the stands, casting long shadows across the expanse of the arena. A crowd of mercenaries had gathered to watch the sparring match, eager for some entertainment. Though, they barely filled up a fraction of the seats as this battle wasn’t made public. 

“Hey! I heard that the Guildmaster is going to spar against someone, but why is a little girl out there?”

“I don’t know! I just saw him coming to the arena with a group of people behind him, so I decided to follow.”

“You fucking dumbass! Then why’d you spread the rumor that he was fighting then?”

“...I don’t know…. Ahem! Anyways, he’s not going to fight that little girl, right?”

“No! That can’t be, right? I know he’s a crazy son of a bitch who’s always looking for a fight, but he wouldn’t stoop so low…”

“...”

“Nevermind. He would totally do that.”

“Yeah, he would, especially if she’s the one that asked for it. There’s no way he’d refuse something like that.”

“Sigh… And to think someone like that is our Guildmaster…”

“Hey! Don’t say it like that! At least he keeps our lives fun and entertaining!”

“Fun and entertaining, huh? Hahaha! You’re right! Well then, to make this a bit more interesting, I’ll bet 10 USD that he loses!”

“OHHH! That’s the spirit! I’ll bet 30 USD that it ends in a tie! Although he might look like a muscle-brained idiot, there’s no way he’d go all out against a child!”

Orien's lips twitched, and a vein in his head popped as he listened to the crowd's words.

‘These bastards!’ He growled inwardly and turned to glare at the small yet growing crowd. ‘I’ll be sure to teach them a lesson after I’m done with Mika!’

He remembered everyone’s faces, then ignored them, turning his attention back to Mika. Just like him, Mika stood there with her back straight and in a relaxed posture. However, as he looked closer, he could see that her muscles were taut, and her knuckles were white, indicating that she was serious about the upcoming battle.

Chuckling, Orien fiddled with his sword as he said to Mika, “If you want to back out now, I won’t blame you. You’re just a kid, after all. It’s normal for you not to know how high the sky is.”

Mika paused for a moment, looking at Orien with a strange expression before she sneered, “Heh! I know you’re strong, old man, but you might want to take this a bit more seriously lest you get humiliated.”

Orien’s smirk widened, Mika’s trash talk very much to his liking, but he waved his hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah. What can a brat like you do, anyway?”

“I guess you’ll find out soon.” Mika shrugged, before raising her sword, preparing for the duel to start. 

“I guess I will,” Orien chuckled, “Anyways, since you’re so confident, I’ll limit the strength of my attacks to equal yours to at least give you a chance.”

He raised his off-hand and motioned at her, “Come!”

Although Mika knew that he gave her the first attack because he looked down on her, she knew that this was also her best chance to catch him off-guard.

She flexed all the muscles in her legs and core, then shot at him with explosive power! Hoping to catch him by surprise, instead of going for the torso, chest, or waist like one might expect, Mika went straight for the neck!

Orien raised an eyebrow in surprise at Mika’s speed and brutality, but since he was multiple major Realm higher than her in power, the attack was still slow in his eyes. He parried the blow with a swift raise of his sword, his sword ringing against her steel, then counterattacked with the same power Mika generated.

Mika was ready for such an attack and sidestepped it with ease. Then, she grasped her sword with both hands and launched a sweeping attack! 

‘Oh? It seems she wasn’t lying when she said she had some skill.’ Orien praised. As someone who has lived as a mercenary his entire life and was one of the strongest beings in the Kingdom, he could naturally tell that Mika was a talented fighter just from these last two moves.

‘However, that’s not enough. If she wants to think about teaching someone, especially someone with Aurelia’s status, then this much isn’t enough!’ Orien thought, his eyes sharpening for the first time.

‘Alright, let’s give you a little push. I want to see why you’re so confident.’ 

Orien blocked Mika’s attack, and before Mika could rebound off of the block, he leaned into his sword, swatting Mika away and destabilizing her balance.

Now that her front was wide open, he took a step forward, his long sword coming down on top of Mika!

Orien examined her expression to see if there was any sign of panic, but all he saw was a slight narrowing of her eyes for a split second before she took half a step to the side and raised her sword, parrying the attack.

Mika used the force coming from Orien’s downward slash to give her more momentum for her next attack.

In the blink of an eye, his sword slid down Mika’s as they dropped toward the ground together before Mika used that extra power to carry into an upward slash!

‘Impressive!’ Orien’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he smiled, ‘Then, let’s see how you deal with this!’

He stepped back to avoid it, not having to go too far due to Mika’s small wingspan, but before he could counterattack, Mika canceled her upward slash halfway and lunged at him!

‘What?!’ Orien’s eyes widened in shock, and he was about to bring his sword back to block Mika, but he knew it was too late. So, he did the only thing he could do in this position (other than using his superior power) and tilted his head and body out of the way.

*SWOOSH!*

The wind vibrated around Orien’s cheek as Mika missed the killing blow, but the sound of metal hitting leather resounded right after as her sword managed to scrape across his cheek, shaving off some of his beard and leaving a white mark on his face. Mika wasn’t strong enough to damage him significantly, but this was already exemplary, considering how much stronger he was.

“OHHHH! The Guildmaster got hit!  The Guildmaster got hit!”

“Holy shit! Who is this little girl?! In just a few moves, she’s already landed a hit on one of the best swordsmen in the city!”

“Are you recording this shit?! We need to upload this fight to GalactaTube! Who knows how many views we’ll get from this!?”

“Don’t worry! I’ve been recording since the trash talk!”

Orien slowly brought his hand up and touched his cheek in disbelief, shocked that he actually allowed himself to get hit by a child!

“I see,” He muttered, his voice devoid of the usual amusement. He lowered his hand onto his sword, grasping it tightly, “It seems you were right. I need to take this fight a bit more seriously.”

Mika grinned at his words, happy that he finally realized who he was up against, but she inwardly frowned.

‘Damn, he’s strong! I landed a clean hit, but I didn’t even break the skin! No wonder he’s the leader of this entire Guild.’

Orien quickly regained his composure and pointed his sword at Mika, “That will be the last time you land a hit on me.” 

His words were simple, but his point was clear. He was saying, ‘That was the only chance you had to beat me now that I’ve recognized you as a worthy opponent.’

Mika chuckled, “We’ll see about that, old man!” Then, she launched herself at him again! Orien did the same, intending to take this fight seriously.

The two exchanged a few lightning-fast blows, then backed off, only to lunge at each other again a moment later. Every attack was fast, precise, and deadly, proof that they were real swordsmen and not just a couple of fake wannabes. 

They continued to spar back and forth, their swords flashing in the sunlight. The Guildmaster was an experienced fighter who quickly began to test Mika's defenses. He feinted left, then right, then lunged forward with a fierce attack.

Mika responded with a series of lightning-fast strikes, her steel sword darting out in a flurry of blows. The Guildmaster parried them all with ease, but Mika was undaunted. She knew that she had to be creative if she was going to land another hit.

So she began to mix up her attacks, throwing in unexpected moves and feints. She lunged forward with a sharp thrust, then spun around with a sweeping strike. The Guildmaster was caught off guard, and for a moment, Mika thought she might have him.

But he recovered quickly, and soon they were back to trading blows with lightning speed. Orien tried to match Mika’s strength and speed, intending to make this a battle of pure skill, though he’d be lying if he said he didn’t add a little extra power behind some of his blows. 

As the minutes ticked by, the crowd in the arena cheered and shouted, egging the two fighters on. Mika could feel the sweat on her forehead and the throb of her muscles, but she didn't let it slow her down. She was in the zone, her whole being focused on the dance of swordplay.

Orien wasn’t much different, with the only difference being that he wasn’t covered in sweat. His strength and cultivation were too high for him to sweat from this kind of battle. However, his mind was working overdrive, trying to one-up Mika!

‘Dammit! Why can’t I hit her?! Is she some kind of mind-reader or something?!’ Orien ground his teeth in frustration, swinging his sword from the side, hoping to catch Mika off-guard, only for her to jump back like she had expected it!

‘Fuck!’

However, unknown to him, Mika was feeling the exact same way.

‘This brute’s defenses are too tough! I can’t break past them!’ Mika clenched her fists and thrust her sword at the inside of his leg, but the man dropped his sword just in time, blocking it.

‘Fuck!’

Ever since Mika hit him, neither of them had landed another attack. It was as if the two were evenly matched when it came to sword skills, neither of them able to cause a chink in the other person’s armor.

The fight continued for another few minutes, but by that point, Mika’s movements had noticeably slowed. Unlike Orien, who only used a portion of his strength to fight against Mika, she used every bit of power she could squeeze out. The difference in strength was just too large, and Orien would win by default just because his endurance was naturally higher.

A sheen of sweat covered Mika’s body and soaked her clothes, and her chest rose and fell quickly as Mika tried to control her breathing. However, the fire in her eyes hadn’t dimmed one bit. She still looked at Orien as if he was a wall she needed to overcome.

‘If I can just land one more hit! One more hit! One more hit!’ That line kept repeating in Mika’s mind. 

Just as she was about to launch another series of attacks at Orien, he spoke up and stopped her. 

“If we keep going like this, there will never be a winner. So, why don’t we finish this with our strongest attacks?” He asked. 

Orien knew Mika was running out of stamina, while he could do this all day. As a man, he didn’t feel good about winning a spar against a 10-year-old simply because she lacked the cultivation he had. Thus, he offered her this lifeline.

Mika paused and took a few moments to catch her breath before nodding. “L-Let’s do as you say.”

Since he got confirmation, Orien stopped attacking and took a few steps back, as did Mika.

He raised his sword straight in front of his face, focusing his mind on the blade, “Let me show you the next Realm on the Path of the Sword.” He said. 

Suddenly, he released an overbearing and sharp aura, imbuing his sword with it, “Sword Inte-” He was about to announce but was interrupted by Mika.

“Sword Intent!” Her eyes lit up in surprise, “You can actually use Sword Intent?”

Orien felt something was wrong with how she talked as if she knew all about it, but nodded in affirmation. 

“What a coincidence! So can I!” Mika said as she unleashed a similarly sharp and overwhelming aura. 

The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, but she didn’t stop. Since Orien used Sword Intent, then how can she not?! 

‘It seems I’m still too weak to use Sword Intent.’ Mika thought bitterly as the Sword Intent she exuded rampaged inside her body. ‘But at least the damage isn’t quite as bad as last time.’

Orien’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, witnessing Mika use a power similar to his.

“Y-You… You… How?!?” He pointed his finger at Mika and yelled. 

“Save the questions for later!” Mika snapped back, blood leaking out of the corner of her mouth.

“I’m attacking!” Mika yelled, releasing every ounce of power her body contained and shooting toward Orien like a bullet. 

The Guildmaster snapped out of her reverie and stared at the oncoming Mika with narrowed eyes. 

“Very well! Show me everything you got, Mika! Let me see what a genius of your caliber is capable of!” He lifted his sword and swung it down at Mika!

“RAAAA!!!”

Mika released a battle cry and thrust her sword forward as she got within Orien’s range! 

*SWOOOSH!*

The swords shot out at lightning speed, causing the air to vibrate, and finally, the attacks landed, creating a mini explosion! The attacks were so ferocious that all the dust in the arena rose, blocking everyone’s vision.