108 A Display of Strength

Aiden reverted to his human form after taking the pills and got up and left in shame.

"What the heck! That wasn't a fight, that was a massacre," I said after seeing the battle. Seji was so skillful with his weapon he only took one attack to hit a Werewolf moving at incomparable speeds flat on his ass. His execution of his \u003cTroll Bat\u003e was perfect. He even withdrew his strength just enough, so he didn't kill the poor werewolf.

That execution was flawless. So much skill and control. So this was what a battle master could accomplish! I was now excited for my duel with the troll, even though I knew I'd probably lose. My blood was boiling for the opportunity to fight that damned troll!

I immediately headed down to the arena for my fight. I brought out Judgment. For the first time in ages, my weapon would face battle. This will be a magnificent show.

"On the right we have Soulless, the devil. On the left we have Seji, the troll. You have 5 minutes to place your bets with your Aphalla. The odds are 1/10 Seji and 20/1 Soulless," said the announcer.

'What, they think I'm that much weaker than the werewolf?' I thought after I heard the odds. They expected me to just roll over and lose to this damn troll. Never, I will fight with everything I have!

"Hey, mon. Just give it your all ok. It's fine if you lose," said Seji as he brought back out his club.

"I'll give it everything, you won't beat me as easily as you beat that stupid dog," I said.

"Hey mon, don't make fun of Aiden. He gave a good fight, that's all that matters in the arena," said Seji.

These other races were different than devils I had interacted with in the Abyys. Devils were very arrogant and overbearing, those that were strong looked down on everyone. The troll was a scammer for phallic points, but he didn't seem to be overbearing to other cultivators. This is strange, I'll never understand the thought process of these lesser races.

"I understand, my choice of words were improper," I said.

Since I was interacting with multiple other races I had to fit in. This fight was my introduction to many people in the trial. It was in my best interest to be humble. I would curtail my arrogance until I am stronger than these lesser races, then I shall dominate them all. A devil is nothing if not cunning.

"Begin," said the announcer.

\u003cSoul Eyes\u003e

The troll was laid bare in front of me. From my Soul Eyes, I could tell he had powerful regeneration abilities. If I was fighting to kill him the only way to win would be to lop off his head, then destroy it immediately. However, this is a sparring match. To incapacitate him would be much more difficult. The troll physiology is dominant in this type of sparring match.

\u003cHollow Aura\u003e

"What a disgusting skill, that skill requires the user to kill innumerable lives to increase in power."

"That's simply barbaric, is that what those devils practice?"

"What type of society would allow someone to murder so many people?"

"Devils are evil incarnate, they have no morals or etiquette. It's best we stay away from that malignant star."

Listening to the peanut gallery comment on my \u003cHollow Aura\u003e and not be suffocated by its power made me upset. These lesser races were looking down on my cultivation of Slaughter Dao, as if their lives meant anything. Before this trial is over, I should gain the coordinates of one of these foolish races worlds and do a little purging.

"That aura doesn't even affect me, mon. You got to come at me with something better than that," said Seji as he sat there calmly.

It figures, this trolls a peak-Baron. My \u003cHollow Aura\u003e in its current form is nothing to him.

I grasped Judgment in my hands and began circulating my essence through the weapon. This troll is just relaxing like this is a vacation, I'll take the time to send a \u003cJudgment Slash\u003e to him to kick things off. If it can hit that should even the playing field by quite a bit.

Fire and Lightning Essence began to entwine around Judgment as I channeled the weapon, preparing my most powerful attack. There was no use of any theatrics in this fight. The troll thinks of me as a joke. I'll show him why he shouldn't look down on this young devil lord!

As my essence came to completion, I readied my strike.

"Take this," I said.

\u003cJudgment Slash\u003e

I slashed my hammer-ax down with the ax side facing him. The powerful slash of Fire \u0026 Lightning barreled through the arena, bisecting the ground as it headed towards the troll. There's no way he could take that attack head-on.

"Interesting, you have some fight in ya, mon," said Seji as he hit his club square in front of him.

\u003cTroll Bat\u003e

Part of my vicious assault was deflected by his \u003cTroll Bat\u003e but he wasn't without injury. I burned his whole left side to a crisp.

"My blood's boiling mon, I haven't been injured in a while," said Seji as his toxic skin boiled and bubble.

\u003cTroll Blood\u003e

The charred skin on his left side fell off his body as new skin grew to replace it. He cracked his neck and looked straight at me.

"Patience cost you your strength, victory has defeated you. What else you got, mon?" said Seji.

This damned troll! He doesn't even take battles in this arena seriously. His regeneration is way too powerful! If you don't kill him or incapacitate him, he can ignore attacks. That was my \u003cJudgment Slash\u003e for crying out loud!

I even charged it up fully and sent it straight at him, but he deflected most of it with his \u003cTroll Bat\u003e and healed the rest of the injuries with his \u003cTroll Blood\u003e. The only other way I could fight him would be to engage him in melee with my Curses and try to outlast him.

I slammed Judgment into the ground.

\u003cWithered Land\u003e

"What the hell's that? I can feel my essence draining?"

"Devils are truly despicable, this attack affects everything in the vicinity. Friend or foe, even the devil himself is affected by this area of effect ability."

"Activating Arena Shield," said the announcer.

A huge blue dome encompassed the arena. It cut off my \u003cWithered Land\u003e from heading outside to the stands. I guess they didn't bother to use the arena shield unless it was competition between strong competitors.

"Curse Dao, mon. A powerful Dao against the untainted, but we are tainted aren't we Soulless?" said the troll as his skin boiled and bubble under my \u003cWithered Land\u003e.

"Bring Bring," said an artifact on the troll's waist.

"Mon, normally I'd give you all the time in the world to set up your tricks. But, there's a new trial taker that just joined Satyr Castle, so I got to get back to business. You have three more minutes then I'm going on the offensive," said Seji as he gripped his club.

"I don't need three more minutes, we can fight now," I said as I charged at the Satyr.

I came right into melee range and attacked with a ferocious strike, swinging my hammer right at him.

\u003cEnfeebling Strike\u003e

\u003cTroll Bat\u003e

Both our weapons connected and were knocked out of our hands, halfway across the arena. I could feel the recoil of the \u003cTroll Bat\u003e traveling through my body.

\u003cSoul Mortis\u003e

My skin hardened, stopping the spread of the impact. My hit didn't do any damage, but the troll wasn't unaffected. I had hit him with my \u003cEnfeeble\u003e through Judgment with that attack.

"Oh, mon. You think the Curse Dao is your ally? You merely adopted the Curse Dao! I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't learn another Dao until I was a man. By then they were nothing to me but dead weight!" said Seji as his skin became completely toxic and he rushed to me with his fists blazing.

\u003cTroll Punch\u003e

I parried his punch with my forearm, then countered with my own.

\u003cPrecision Punch\u003e

I hit him square in the chest. Then backed up a bit, separating us.

"Ahh," I screamed.

I felt an unknown Curse flow through me after parrying his \u003cTroll Punch\u003e. His punches were laden with a Curse! This strong troll practiced Curse Dao, and he had better mastery over the Dao than me. My \u003cSoul Mortis\u003e was stopping the Curse in its tracks, but I still was in pain.

"How does it feel, mon? Does it hurt? I feel that every day, every hour, every second mon. That's the curse flowing through mi bloodline," said Seji as he came closer to me with his fists ready.

We then engaged in fisticuffs, our only weapons were our fists, a true battle of strength. The boxing match was brutal and savage. We both had so much strength behind our attacks, they were bone-crushing. Each of us would send powerful punches to the other, while the other dodged or parried.

\u003cTroll Punch\u003e

\u003cParry\u003e

\u003cPrecision Punch\u003e

\u003cTroll Blood\u003e

\u003cTroll Punch\u003e

\u003cDodge\u003e

\u003cEmfeeble Punch\u003e

\u003cTroll Blood\u003e

He was just sitting there absorbing all my attacks with his regenerative physique, while I had to parry or dodge his. His curse was starting to take its toll on me, after taking repeated hits from his \u003cTroll Punch\u003e. My entire body was in excruciating pain. 

"Good match, mon. You are worthy enough to see my true power!" said Seji as he jumped back away from me.

\u003cTroll Berserker\u003e