As they struck each other at high speed, Ben noticed something. At the beginning of the blade, there was a dark blue colour. This was the colour of the long distance sword lights. Then suddenly the sword colour changed to dark blue. Ben spiked his senses to the limit. He quickly moved back, dodging the two dark blue sword lights coming from either side. As he was moving back, he saw a green light at the beginning of the blade close to the hilt. He quickly moved towards the side. Right as he moved, a shock wave struck the walls behind where he was standing.
Now he could discern a weakness. He decided to focus on the sword. He attacked her. The green sword was now light blue and the attack was cushioned by it. But near the hilt there was a red colour. So he deduced that she was going for the attack.
Suddenly the cushioning effect disappeared and her blade turned red. Ben prepared for the sharp attack from her sword. She swung her sword and Ben was about to block it. That was when an impact hit his gut. Ben clutched his stomach. He lost his balance and Rebecca brought down the sword. But Ben was not going to give up. He gritted his teeth and dodged the attack.
He gained some distance and looked at her cautiously. Rebecca said, " I know some close combat as well. I am aware of my weaknesses and I have learned some tricks to compensate for it." Ben replied, still clutching his stomach, " Nice punch. But not enough to bring me down."
Rebecca was about to reply but stopped because Ben had charged at her. At first it was Ben charging at her. Then it changed into a majestic lupis with black fur and white motes of light shining on them. Also, she could feel the speed at which it was coming at her. She hurriedly activated the light blue light meant to cushion the effect. But right as the ethereal lupis was going to impact, it suddenly stopped and jumped up.
That maneuver so abrupt that, Rebecca did not even get time to look up. Her senses alerted her of an extremely powerful energy coming towards her. She looked up and saw a revolving claw coming towards her. She blocked with her light blue sword lights.
Because the power of that revolving claw was high, she did not pay attention to Ben who had landed behind her. She was on one knee, even as her power was dissipating the power of the claw. That was when she sensed an energy spike behind her. Before she could gather her thought, the rush n' ram smashed behind her sending her towards the wall.
She was the daughter of the Khrav family. A sword cultivator born in the middle of flying swords and blades. Her reflexes and instincts were honed from the fights with her mentors and relatives who walked far in the paths of swords and blades. If she was going to fall, she would take the enemy with her. Just as the impact struck her, she instinctively turned around and activated her light green aura, sending a shock wave towards Ben.
Even though he was caught off-guard, Ben activated the ethereal lupis form and the humming shirt. Still he was skidding quite the distance till the edge of the arena. But he stopped there without falling.
Rebecca however crashed on the walls. Though she cushioned the crash, her aura was exhausted and some damage was done.
Ben and Rebecca looked at each other. Rebecca said: " You win this time". Ben said, " Thank you for letting me win." Rebecca narrowed her eyes a bit and asked, " Was that sarcasm? If so, you are bad at it." Ben had a slight smile under his mask. He shook his head.
Rebecca: " You have really mastered those techniques, haven't you?
Ben: I have not mastered them fully. My advantage came from all the innate techniques I have.
Rebecca: Huh. You don't tell me.
Ben: But you have variety. I was really at a loss due to all the different abilities you displayed. If the weakness you displayed was not there, it would have been really difficult for me.
Rebecca: I don't have a choice. I am still not that proficient and it will take time for me to change the powers displayed by the sword. So I found this solution for the time being.
Ben: Well, you did think of this weakness and had a counter measure in place. The punch to the gut was really good.
Rebecca: Heh. Yep, I am strong ( rubbing her fist)
Ben: Yeah, you are. But I defeated you.
Rebecca: ..."
By now they had reached the counter. They had put a small bet on the match. As they reached the counter , the person there was all smiles. He said, " Congratulations on your victory gentleman. You too lady. Both of you did a wonderful job. It was a stunning fight to watch and it streamed really well." Ben and Rebecca smiled. They wanted people to take notice. For Ben it was to earn some money. But for Rebecca it was to earn experience. To her money was not an issue.
The person asked, " Will you be fighting any more battles today?" Rebecca said, " I won't be fighting anymore fights for the day." Ben replied, " I would like to fight. Is there anyone coming at night?" The person at the counter smiled and said, " The SMT broadcasts fights 24/7. It is also open 24/7. So there would be people of course. "
Ben turned to Rebecca and said, " Please go ahead. I will need to fight some more." She said, " Well I will be watching the stream to see some one kick your ass". Ben chuckled.
Both of them had put bets on themselves. Thus both of them got some money. Ben got around 2,50,000 mudras. That was a substantial sum for him. It seemed like the people favoured a sword cultivator over a Shamanic one. It was just that people did not know he was a Shamanic Beast master. It was a rare variety. It was not like it was an extremely powerful version or something. It was something that was hard to master and because not many were there, people were not aware of their capabilities. Sword cultivators or weapon cultivators were there in plenty compared to Shamanic Beast masters and thus people knew their destructive capabilities.
Rebecca wished Ben a good night and went. The person at the counter looked at both. Ben noticed and looked at him. The person smiled a knowing smile.
Thus Ben stayed back at the SMT. He rested for about 1 hour and regained his strength and healed the light injuries. He then waited for the right opponent.