Chapter 264: Swordmaster

'This sharp aura must be a swordmaster.' thought Angus.

"Jayna, be careful the expert may be a swordmaster." said Angus.

"A swordmaster?? Then, I will have a chance to steal his technique." replied Jayna excitedly.

Hearing this, Angus flicks Jayna's head. *Pak* "Don't think about it. Just focus on the fight and prioritize your safety." said Angus seriously.

"Alright.. Alright… stop the nagging. Then, I will go first." said Jayna.

"Yeah, good luck and beat him." said Angus.

"Alright." replied Jayna shortly before going with Vigo for registration.

Apparently, Obo is already preparing everything. Obo proposes a contract that if Vigo loses, he will serve him for eternity. On the other hand, if Obo loses, he needs to give all Vigo's money back along with interest and leave Porros forever.

Breaching the contract will result in getting their mana core break and becoming disabled. For a fourth-grade combatant like Obo, leaving Porros and surviving in the wilderness alone is the same as a death sentence.

After looking at the contract carefully, both Vigo and Obo signed the contract. During this time, Obo noticed Jayna as Vigo's helper. Seeing that Jayna is only a second-grade combatant, he feels a little bit of relief.

'She also doesn't seem to be a hidden expert either. Did I become too paranoid?' thought Obo.

"Vigo, is this your helper? Why don't you just surrender now and not waste everyone's time.?" said Obo.

"Y-You…" Before Vigo could reply, Jayna grabbed Vigo's shoulder and shook her head.

Seeing this, Vigo decides to calm down and leave the place with Jayna, ignoring Obo. Currently, Jayna is wearing a helmet and her usual protective gear to hide her identity.

Because of the special arena in the Battle Arena, her usual protective mana barrier item also could not be activated. Jayna could only rely on her armor to defend the incoming attack. 

Then, Jayna goes inside the waiting room to prepare and keep her focus while Vigo goes back to the audience seat. On the other hand, Obo goes to the waiting room where his expert is staying. 

Entering the waiting room, Obo finds an old man meditating in a lotus position and a double edge sword on his lap. During this time, Obo could feel a dangerous aura from the old man. Suddenly, the old man opened his eyes and retracted his aura before looking at Obo.

'What a powerful aura!! I wonder what his true grade is?!!' thought Obo.

"Sir Nigul, the battle will start in a few minutes. Your opponent is only a second-grade girl with the name of Sword Princess."

"According to my source, she is a rookie that entered the Battle Arena around one month ago. It should be an easy battle for someone like you." said Obo.

"I see… Then, after this fight, I will have nothing to do with you anymore." said Nigul before going back to his meditation, ignoring Obo.

Hearing this, Obo feels like cursing Vigo many times. He feels it is too wasteful to use Nigul against a rookie like Sword Princess. 

Although he heard Sword Princess is quite skillful, he feels that she will never be able to win against Nigul, who has trained in the way of the sword for a dozen years.

After waiting for a while, "The next fight is another exciting fight. It is a fight between a rookie and a veteran. Let's not waste any more time and welcome the fighter."

"On the red side, we have our beloved Sword Princess, a talented girl in the sword and has a great battle sense. Last time she managed to beat an opponent with a body many times bigger than her own."

"On the blue side, we have a veteran called Nigul. According to our source, he is one of the strongest swordmasters in the Porros. 

"In the past, he managed to defeat all his opponents without giving them a chance to retaliate. Now, who do you think will win the fight?!"

"Is it our beloved Sword Princes? Or the Veteran swordmaster Nigul?? everyone places your bet and welcomes both of the fighters!!" said the announcer.

"Woooww!!" cheers the audience as both Nigul and Jayna enter the arena.

Nigul is an old man around 40-50 years old and wearing normal long-sleeved clothes without any armor. On his waist, there is a double edge sword inside the sheath.

Despite his aged appearance and lack of armor, he radiates a dangerous sharp aura that seems to be able to cut anyone that attacks him. On the other hand, Jayna wears a few protective leather gear and a helmet to hide her face.

Unlike Nigul, she didn't radiate an aura like a completely ordinary person. However, most of the audience here knows behind her fragile shape, there is a dangerous beast that managed to defeat many skillful fighters.

Both of them reach the center of the arena and look at each other. None of them say anything as they focus entirely on each other. Seeing this, Angus couldn't help but smile.

"It seems Jayna will have a hard time in this fight." said Angus.

"Angus.. Angus.. Will big sister lose?" asked Anna worriedly while looking at the arena.

'It seems Anna also recognizes the strength of this man.' thought Angus.

Although Anna is very childish and likes to create trouble, she is very accurate in judging someone's power. Angus knows that someone that could attract Anna's attention is not an ordinary person.

"Don't worry, big sister Jayna will be fine. She may not be strong in physical strength and lack battle experience. But, in terms of combat talent, I never saw any other person as talented as her." said Angus reassuring Anna.

"True, Lady Jayna's talent is monstrous. Even without her Fire Phoenix's power, she will become a great person in the future." said Jade, who is beside Angus.

While everyone was discussing the two fighters, the referee explained the rules before getting out of the arena.

"Now, let the fight begin!!" said the announcer.

Hearing this, both Jayna and Nigul disappear on the spot and meet in the middle of the arena, clashing with their swords. During the clash, Jayna feels overpowered by Nigul in physical strength.

She immediately retreated a little bit to redirect Nigul's force. This is a technique that she learned from Angus. Rather than receive all the force at once, Angus likes to redirect the incoming force to others and lessen the burden.

It seems like a simple technique, but the implementation is very hard. Even Jayna barely managed to do it despite learning it for more than one year. 

Nigul is surprised to see his attack force being directed for a moment. But, as a veteran, he immediately calms his mind and tries to stabilize himself. Using this opportunity, Jayna attacked Nigul relentlessly. *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

Nigul managed to parry Jayna's furious attack. Using her current momentum, Jayna keeps launching an attack on Nigul. Soon, they clash dozens of times in the span of a few minutes. 

The audience couldn't help but become silent and focus on their fight, afraid to miss a single moment. Despite receiving Jayna's flurry attack, Nigul keeps his calm and parries every Jayna's attack.

In the middle of Jayna's attack, Nigul grips his sword firmly and launches a counterattack that seems like a regular attack [Sword Art - Downfall]. 

However, Jayna, who used [Analyze] at full capacity from the start of the battle, managed to notice this change and immediately dodge to the side. 

*BAM* The hard stone arena cracked from Nigul's attack. Using this buffer moment, Jayna also decides to attack Nigul [Sword Art - Phoenix Claw]. *Clang* On the contrary to her expectation, Nigul managed to parry her attack.

Then, same like what Jayna did before, Nigul redirects her strong attack to the side and makes Jayna lose her balance. Fortunately, Jayna is already getting used to this feeling and immediately trying to stabilize herself.

However, Nigul also launched another attack on her [Sword Art - Mighty Lion] in this split second. *BAM* The attack hit Jayna and threw her away despite her attempt to parry it. 

Seeing that Jayna is not getting out of the arena from his attack, Nigul couldn't help but grip his sword more tightly with a more serious expression. 

At first, he just wants to throw Jayna out of bounds and end the match. However, Jayna is proven to be more challenging to handle than his estimation.

'Hmm… What an incredible battle sense?!! At the last moment, she redirects the force while jumping back to reduce my attack force. Unfortunately, I can't let you win.' thought Nigul as he became more serious.

At this moment, Nigul radiates a powerful sharp aura and pressurizes Jayna. But, compared to Angus and Jade's aura, this is nothing for her. Ignoring the pressure, Jayna begins to become more cautious as Nigul raises his sword.

Suddenly, she feels Nigul launched a heavy attack at her. Her body immediately dodges to the side instinctively, but she notices Nigul still stays on his spot without moving and raising his sword, looking at Jayna with a smile.

"Got you!! [Sword Art - Tiger Maw]" said Nigul while attacking Jayna, who has a broken stance.

*BAAAM* *Swish* Jayna gets hit by the attack directly despite the distance between them. Furthermore, the attack also managed to penetrate her enchanted leather armor and throw her back towards the outside arena.