Chapter 192: I Will Not Allow Others To Use Me As A Stepping Stone

"A senior dares to bully children?" William sneered. "Such an honorable thing to do."

The man ignored William's taunt and simpy uttered an order.

"Cid, come."

"Yes. Master."

A handsome young boy who seemed to be around sixteen years old, with short platinum blonde hair, emerged from the carriage. Behind him, a lady who seemed to be of the same age followed suit. 

She also had platinum blonde hair which made William assume that the two of them were siblings.

The young teenager bowed to the man as he waited for his Master's order. 

"Defeat him," the man ordered. "If you manage to do that, I will give you a reward."

"This disciple will obey your order, Master," Cid replied and faced William with a serious expression. He unsheathed his sword from its sheath and held it firmly on one hand. 

"My name is Cid El Caliburn," Cid announced. "As per my Master's order, I will defeat you."

"I'm your daddy, and I'm here to spank you because of your stupidity," William replied as he lightly tapped Dia's head. "Dia, go with your Grandma Ella for now. You, too, Ragnar. Mama, I'll leave the kids in your care."

"Meeeeeh."

The serpent and the puppy reluctantly left William's side and went with Ella as she left the battlefield. 

William closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He could tell that the young boy who was about to fight him was strong. In fact, he was the strongest boy that William was about to face in his life. Kingsley couldn't even compare to the boy's presence, and William knew that he had to fight seriously if he hoped to win against his opponent.

'This might be one of the True Prodigies of the Hellan Kingdom,' William opened his eyes and focused on his opponent. 'I've always wanted to try fighting one of those Elven Prodigies that Master was so proud about. I'm guessing this man's level is similar to theirs.'

William twirled the staff in his hand once before taking the stance of the Relentless Dragon War Art. 

'System, change my Subclass to Spearman.'

< Changing Subclass has been successful! >

While William was preparing for the fight, Cid looked at him in contempt.

"I announced my name in order to declare my intention of fighting you seriously," Cid said. "Aren't you going to do the same?"

"Sure. I'll tell you my name," William said as he firmly gripped the wooden staff in his hand. "After you beat me that is."

"Arrogant."

"The word is handsome. Get your facts straight, fool."

As if waiting for that cue, both boys charged at each other. 

William thrust his wooden staff forward, while his opponent nimbly deflected it. The swordsman was about to go for a body strike, but the other end of William's staff striked towards his side, which forced him to take a step back.

The red-headed boy didn't miss the opportunity and took a step forward to deliver a barrage of short and long thrusts at the slippery boy who dodged his attacks with practiced movements.

After dodging a few times, the young swordsman regained his footing and delivered a combination of sword strikes that forced William to a defensive position. However, thanks to his Parry Skill, the critical strikes were deflected which allowed him to counter attack a few times.

Kenneth and the others watched this exchange with serious expressions. They had never seen William fight seriously before, aside from the time he fought against Priscilla. Kenneth watched his roommates' movements with discerning eyes.

He was gauging William's combat level through this battle in order to better understand how strong he was.

It had only been two minutes since the two boys clashed, but their exchange had already surpassed a hundred strikes each. This proved how intense their battle was. However, experts could tell with a glance that the one who had a disadvantage in this battle was William.

The two fighters separated and locked eyes with each other.

"You're not half bad," Cid said with a composed smile.

"You're very bad," William commented. "The grandma in my hometown who does the laundry is stronger than you."

The smile on Cid's face disappeared as he glared at the boy who dared to mock him. What he didn't know was that William was not mocking him, but praising him. The grandma the red-headed boy was referring to was one of the hidden experts of Lont. It was only natural that Cid was weaker compared to her.

"I will now get serious," Cid stated as he changed his fighting stance. "Playtime is over."

"Go ahead. I don't plan on getting serious anytime soon," William replied. "You're too weak."

Cid narrowed his eyes as he took a step forward. The sword in his hand glowed bloody red as he infused it with his Sword Aura. 

"Rend my foes, Lazarus!" Cid roared as he slashed the space in front of him twice. 

William couldn't see anything, but he could tell that two powerful attacks were headed in his direction. The red-headed boy was about to dodge, but he suddenly realized that Dave was hiding at the tree behind him. 

If he dodged now, the attack would hit Dave and it might give the chubby boy serious injury.

'It can't be helped,' William thought as he channeled his Aura in his wooden staff. 'Lightning God War Art, Twelfth Form, Gungnir!'

William threw his wooden staff towards Cid. However, instead of flying towards the swordsman, the staff swerved mid-flight and collided with something invisible. Two loud claps reverberated in the air as the wooden staff returned to William's hand.

The man observing the battle raised an eyebrow. He was a Sword Saint and he saw how William imbued the spear with his Aura. However, what he didn't understand was how the staff was able to neutralize Cid's attack. 

Even Cid, who had executed one of the secret arts of his Master's Sword Technique, was surprised by the outcome. Even a steel sword would be cut in half if it faced his attack head-on. However, what truly shocked him was the fact that his attack was blocked by a wooden staff, and it wasn't even damaged!

Unfortunately, William wasn't planning to give him time to recover from the shock. The shepherd used his movement technique to close the gap and delivered a powerful thrust.

Cid nimbly dodged to the side to evade the attack. However, for some unknown reason, the end of the staff still hit him squarely on his chest, sending him flying a few meters away.

'He's wearing some kind of armor underneath his clothes.' William clicked his tongue as he prepared for another strike. He was still currently using the Lightning God War Art and Gungnir's specialty was its ability to "Always hit its target". 

Each of the moves under the Lightning God War Art lasted for a minute. William wouldn't be able to use the same move again because it had a cooldown of twenty four hours. The only saving grace was that William could still use the other "Forms" in his repertoire like the killing blow "Gae Bolg" and the piercing strike "Longinus".

For this one minute, all of William's attacks would never miss as long as he was holding a staff, spear, or polearm weapon.

Cid immediately fell on the defensive as he did his best to block all of William's thrusts. After trying to dodge a few times and getting hit a few times as well, the swordsman felt that something was wrong. 

However, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with a solution and decided to just go on the defensive for the time being. 

"Enough!" Cid shouted as he unleashed his Sword Aura to its limit. He was getting annoyed that the red-headed boy was able to get the upper hand in their exchange. With a single slash, he managed to push William twenty meters away from where he stood.

The red-headed boy was unharmed and simply used the momentum of the blow to skid on the ground. 

Cid looked at his opponent and removed the bracelet on his wrists. He was no longer treating this fight as a game. He couldn't afford to lose face in front of his Master and his older sister.

William smirked as he watched this scene. 'This battle will end in the next clash.'

He already knew that Cid was strong, but he noticed a very crucial flaw as he exchanged blows with his opponent.

'This old fox. He is only using me as a stepping stone to hone his disciple,' William sneered internally. 'Since that is the case, I will play along. I also don't want to waste my time on this farce.'

William unsummoned his staff and took a barehanded stance. The red-headed boy's presence changed as the air around his body seemed to fluctuate. 

< Changing Subclass to Monk  Successful! >

A brief flash of admiration appeared in the Sword Saint's eyes as he looked at the grandson of the man he hated the most in the Southern Continent. 

Yes. Aramis already knew of William's true identity. How could he possibly not? The boy had been in his territory for four days and the Saint had been paying close attention to his movements ever since he subjugated the first bandit group in his domain.

He wanted to see just what kind of child William was, so he decided to bring his disciple to have a duel with his nemesis' grandson. Since he couldn't bring himself to lower his dignity to fight a kid, he ordered his disciple to beat him in his place.

Amaris didn't expect that William was strong enough to push his disciple to become serious. However, he already knew who the victor of this duel would be after the first clash. 

'This will be a good lesson for you,' Amaris thought as he waited for the final exchange between the two prodigies of the young generation. 'This is the difference between someone who knows how to fight, and someone who is fighting with his life on the line.'

The Sword Saint closed his eyes. 'As expected of your grandchild, Erza.'

"Exceed Break," William muttered as he bent his wrist in order to execute the strongest attack in the Monk Skill Tree, the Overwhelming Strike. 

After removing the bracelets on his wrists, Cid's speed and power grew threefold. William on the other hand stood his ground and initiated the crane stance.

It was an attack that William could only use once a day, and it was the strongest attack amongst all of his Job Classes. 

Two shouts pierced the air as William and Cid exchanged the final blow that would end their battle. 

William activated the Exceed Break in order to raise his sensitivity a hundredfold. This meant that every little thing that was within hundred meters around him would be perceived by his senses. 

And then, it happened.

A loud clap, accompanied by the sound of something breaking reverberated in the surroundings. Cid's body slammed against a tree a hundred meters away before falling on the ground with a dull thud.

Blood dyed the ground red as blood flowed from William's left arm and broken right hand. Even so, that didn't stop the boy from raising his right hand in the air to announce his victory. 

"I do not wish for Dominion, but I will not allow others to use me as a stepping stone," William announced as his body fell backwards due to his injuries. 

William didn't want to lose again. 

He'd had enough of losing.

That's why, he didn't back down even though the odds were against him. He utilized everything in his arsenal to show the Sword Saint that he wasn't a stepping stone that his disciple could trod over.

Instead, he would be the mountain that Cid, and the other so-called geniuses in the Southern Continent, had to overcome. He would be the peak that they would never hope to reach during their entire lifetimes.