Trevor stepped down the stage and looked at the referee before saying.
"I forfeit the next match too."
He meant the fight between him and Nicholas. He is not stage of fighting now and he needs a lot of time to recover.
Nicholas took the stage and said to Sam.
"Do you need time to recover your strength?"
"Nope."
"Good." Nicholas smiled and took out his spear. He released his aura of a level 3 Great realm warrior completely. He didn't even have a single thought about starting it slow. He already played that game with Sam before and now all he need is an all-out battle.
Sam also took out reaper and released his aura. Anyone can tell he is a Level 1 Great realm cultivators.
But his strength is definitely beyond that.
Sam looked at Nicholas and with a smirk made his first move.
The sword and the spear clashed as both of them moved like flash. Sam is actually surprised that Nicholas can catch up with his speed.
Out of all the battle methods and techniques one can use, speed is difficult to counter.
If the speed and control are together, it would be even more hard to counter.
Sam used speed to attack all the previous people in order finish the battle more efficiently without wasting any time.
But that is not going to work anymore.
This time, Sam didn't use any elemental techniques right from the start, he wants to estimate how much he can handle Nicholas with pure warrior mode.
Their battle, became more and more intense. Nicholas had a big grin on his face which grew wider and wider as the battle went on.
The remaining candidates couldn't follow their movements all they can see are one blood red and another silver coloured cold gleams with a lot of blurry images.
Their fight didn't seem like one that was on their level. The people who are fighting seemed to be on a different league. Only Trevor has some clarity on the whole scene.
Even the judges couldn't help but be mesmerized. The battle of two youngsters made them excited.
As the sword and the spear collided continuously for two minutes, both of them finally took a hit.
Sam and Nicholas both took a step back. Nicholas took some damage as the sword left a small gash on the shoulder, on the other hand, Sam was unscathed, the reason is nothing but the feather coat.
The spear failed to penetrate the coat and all he took was the brunt force, the sharp stab wasn't able to harm him.
"I haven't had this much fun in a while." Nicholas said as he spun the spear once and made his move again.
He leapt at Sam as he yelled.
"You better fight me with all you got, or you would regret it."
Sam didn't say anything in reply, but he was also having fun. He also didn't feel much pressured in a battle since he came. Every battle he either won with an overwhelming power or wit. This type of head on confrontation is rare for him.
He also took a step forward and swung the sword, but this time he started using the wind elemental energy.
That's right, even though Sam is always capable of fighting someone of higher cultivation, Nicholas is also capable of that. So, fighting a person like Nicholas, Sam is having a hard time with only warrior mode even including the body strength.
This is due to level difference, if he was on the same level as Nicholas, he is quite sure that he could win.
But now that it is difficult, he is going to use the elemental energies, anyway they are his abilities too and there is nothing wrong in using them.
As they clashed Sam's sword aura became sharper due to the enhancement of the wind element.
Every move is becoming more lethal as not only the sword swing itself is dangerous now even the tail wind of every swing is also sharp enough to make Nicholas feel threatened.
But instead of panicking he grew more and more excited as if he was a kid in an amusement park.
The battle grew more and more ferocious. Nicholas is accumulating the damage slowly. Even though, the attacks of Sam aren't of large scale, he is still facing some problem as they are completely repetitive and continuous.
Sam is also not having a good time either. Nicholas noticed that the feather coat is extremely hard to pierce, but that also gave him away the remaining parts which are completely open for attack. So, his attack space got reduced but he is not discouraged at all.
Sam had at least three close shaves and there is one clear stab on his chest.
But the one who got surprised was Nicholas himself. He wasn't able to penetrate deeper into the chest. Sam's muscles and skin are so dense that unless he made a full power attack, all his other attacks will not finish off Sam, he would be able to make a comeback easily.
The two of them are enjoying the battle. This battle doesn't have any flashy moves like the one with Trevor, there is no high-level control of elements and large-scale spells. All that was present is a constant pressure of potential danger and a very high-level test to their senses and battle instinct.
Both of them are on pins and needles. This is not only a battle of strength and technique but also for their will. The first person to back down and show a hint of fear will be done for.
They are on an extreme edge.
As both of them are fighting the audience also grew more and more intrigued and immersed in their fight. They are completely drawn into this.
Sam only used the wind element; he didn't dare to employ another element as he was afraid if he added one more and if lost control of the rhythm for a second, he would lose. He doesn't dare give Nicholas a chance.
As the both the candidates are fighting on those extreme limits, the audience saw something magnificent which they might not forget in their lives.
The battle spirit of the two youngsters started conjuring into forms, that is the conjuring of battle spirit.
Both the battle spirits are about to form on the same time. On Nicholas' side they could see a four legged animal silhouette, which was pretty common as most of the human beings battle styles are driven from the animals and as the battle spirit is a form created by nature they will always show something that was related to the wild.
But on Sam's side, they saw something different. It was a silhouette they never saw in their lives or never even herd of, even the Duke and Generals have no idea what it was.
But just as they were waiting for the two figures to conjure so that they could witness the miracle, the battle took a sudden turn.
Nicholas, who took most damage out of the two finally couldn't hold up and took a critical injury on this shoulder. Sam repeatedly targeted that area so that he could have an easier time and now due to the accumulated damage of that small wounds on that shoulder, he couldn't take the pain and effects of blood loss.
Sam is not in a very good stage either. He also had several small injuries of chest, abdomen, legs, wrists, he even had a tiny gash on his nape.
But he didn't fail to take this chance and threw multiple attacks with his sword. Four sword rays came towards Nicholas one by one out of which he evaded two but couldn't help but take the remaining two.
He had a deep gash on his chest, and before he could buckle in for the damage, Sam came forward and placed the sword on his neck.
"You lost." Sam said as he gasped for air. This is the toughest one on one battle without any tricks and external factors he had since he came to this world. This reminded him of his olden days from his previous life.
Nicholas used his spear to support himself, refusing to fall down and looked at Sam straight in the eye with a smirk on his face.
"I guess I did."
Only after that did Sam retract his sword and both of them collapsed on the stage at the same time. They didn't lose conscious, they just wanted to take a break.
"Next time, I will beat you."
Nicholas said in a soft voice.
"You can keep on dreaming, next time I will beat you without any elements at all."
Sam gave the answer showing that he doesn't want to be outdone, this rare for the cold faced and cold hearted Sam. He doesn't usually give comebacks or like these types of banters.
But this time, he did.
He laid down on the stage as he looked at the clear sky. Today he felt so alive. His heart was brimming with vigour.
This feeling reminded him of the words one of the closest people to him in his previous life said.
"No matter, how many things you excel in or how many titles you achieve, remember on thing Sam, you will always be a warrior and a battle is the only place you feel most alive. Even if you dislike it, or deny it, that is the truth."
Sam always liked his identity as creator and inventor, which gives him a chance of explore and learn. But it was only a escape for most of his previous life. After all, he spent half his life time on the battlefield and in between the corpses. Even if he disliked it, that quality was ingrained in his heart and soul and he couldn't deny or escape it. He only has one choice and that is to embrace it and stay alive."