Blood Elf Monarch

The two of them stood on each side of the field facing each other. On one side, the beautiful gate of Arcadia's southernmost city stood proud, while on the other side, there was a horde of 10,000 orcs.

Tristan took a deep breath, prepared himself, and used [Blood Synthesis]. Fountains of blood appeared around him and merged into a massive greatsword made of blood. It was his preferred weapon in fights.

The King used his storage ring and took out a broad sword with a golden handle and shining blade. The weapon looked majestic and elegant, fitting for a king.

Both of them pointed their weapons at each other. Tristan grinned and boldly claimed.

"To be clear, you are offering the kingdom if I manage to beat you, don't you?"

The king replied.. "That is what normally happens when you defeat the King, so yes."

"Then…" Tristan took on a fighting stance. "Don't even bother asking me to submit to you if I lose! You better kill me with that sword of yours!"

His opponent, the king, shook his head and held out three fingers towards Tristan. "Three years! If I beat you, you will be in my service for three years. Surely, the whole Arcadian kingdom would be comparable to the value of 3 years of the blood elf's services!"

Tristan stared at the King in disbelief,  The king definitely struck a hard bargain, as he would not accept anything more than 3 years. "Alright, then! But only if you let my sister go!"

"She was never my prisoner, but yes! It's a deal!"

The King snapped his fingers, and light shone all over his body before solidifying into a layer of rough black stone all over his skin.

[Greater Stone Skin] a tier 4 spell, and the same earthen spell used by the Forlorn elder Dulos. Tristan remembered it was this particular spell the one the king used at his last moment of the duel, a decision that cost Tristan the fight. But currently, he has no worry about this spell at all and Dulo's wellbeing was the proof.

Tristan charged at high speeds and pointed his blade towards the King.

Clank!

His [Blood Synthesis] sword was effortlessly parried with the golden sword, but this time, Tristan could feel that he was able to exert some pressure on the King. At least, the King had to be capable of this much to spar with him.

Clank! Clank!

Their swords collided over and over, creating a cacophony of metallic sounds echoing throughout the arena. On their last duel, Tristan was only on his stage 3 Blood Monarch body, and it ended in his loss even with his best efforts. Now that he had raised his strength to stage 5, he was definitely able to fight on an even footing with the King.

King Callan definitely has as much strength as a Katra 5 elf just like Janus. Tristan was really still holding back most of his strength to check how much stronger Callan was compared to Janus.

Clank! Clank!

Tristan realized that the king has a much more refined sword skill, as King Callan definitely had taken a part in kingdom-scale battles and thus had more experience. However, in terms of pure strength alone, Tristan was still better, so he was definitely able to close the gap.

Whenever the King used a sword battle art to counter, Tristan would always have enough speed to dodge or enough strength to push back without the King's weapons harming him too much.

On the opposite side, King Callan was definitely surprised to see Tristan's blood construct sword able to match the strength of his tier 4 sword artifact. It was even able to hurt him slightly and gave him small cuts that oozed blood, which made the King even more excited.

His expression showed nothing, but deep down, he was amazed by Tristan's skill to make high quality weapons out of his blood.

Clank!!!

A loud metallic ringing resounded, and the two were thrown back away from each other at the same time. The King appraised Tristan from top to bottom, and said

"Your sword skills are very basic, you should spend more time training!" 

After being thrown back a few steps and dashed towards Tristan. Tristan responded by doing the same and dashed towards the King as well. 

"Don't you worry about that! I will have plenty of time later after I beat you and become king!"

"Your improvement in such a short time span is impressive! Then, I shall honor this fight and use my real strength!"

The King jumped back, dispelled his tier 4 stone skin spell, and used a much better earth spell. His skin glowed with yellowish-golden light, and the texture of stone was no longer visible. What protected him was pure concentrated spirit energy.

[Tier 6 – Armor of the Earth]

Finally, the king revealed a high-tier spell worthy of a Katra 5 fighter. Even with a casual glance, it was easy to tell that the spell gave the king a much better defense than the [Greater Stone Skin]. But he was not afraid; in fact, he felt his bloodlust surge as his blood sang for more violence.

Clank! Clank!

As Tristan expected, his sword was only able to scratch the surface of the king's skin, without being able to cut flesh let alone draw blood. Tier 6 spells are definitely on a whole different level.

In addition, the king's new spell had started to push him back. The king's strength had increased exponentially, and his advantage in strength was no longer valid. Added with the king's multiple sword art, Tristan started to receive damage.

With a strong defense coupled with excellent sword skills, Tristan was unable to maintain his advantage without strength or technique, it was only a matter of time until he started to taste defeat.

Splat!

The king's sword landed a solid hit and cut deep into Tristan's neck. Blood splattered under him and on the golden sword.

Tristan jumped back as the king swung the sword. He then used his [Blood Synthesis], and little by little, the wound closed as if it was never there in the first place.

The king's smile became wider, almost manic in his excitement. He stared at Tristan and said.

"That is a very handy skill, do you have anything else to show me, Tristan?"

"That depends, only if you are strong enough" Tristan answered once more grabbed the sword with all of his strength he charged again.

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,