Rio left the hotel and headed toward the tournament arena.
On the way, he saw Bai Chen standing there, waiting for him.
Bai Chen walked up to Rio with a smile and greeted him.
"Oh? Hey Kai, what's up, brother?"
Rio replied casually.
"I'm good, thanks. Today is my match, so I'm heading to the arena."
Bai Chen laughed.
"Oh, what a coincidence. I was planning to come watch your fight too. Let's go together."
Rio agreed, and they headed toward the arena.
(A few minutes later)
They arrived at the venue, and Bai Chen followed Rio into his room.
They sat there. Rio began gathering energy, while Bai Chen stayed seated to make sure no one disturbed him.
The announcer shouted loudly.
"Hello everyone! Welcome to the third round of the combat tournament!"
Bai Chen heard the voice but stayed seated, simply listening.
Rio continued gathering energy and showed no reaction.
The announcer continued.
"Alright then, let's get started with the matches!"
This time, Rio was not the first fighter.
Two other contestants began the fight.
"The first match will begin between two talented mages."
"Eldar and Maron, please come forward and begin the first match."
Bai Chen kept listening, while Rio was still absorbing energy.
Fifteen minutes passed, and Eldar was announced as the winner.
Three more matches followed in the same way, and nearly two hours passed.
Finally, the match between Rio and Vesper was about to begin.
"Alright, alright! Now it's time for the next exciting match,
between Kai and Vesper!
Please come forward and begin the fight."
Rio had finally finished gathering energy.
When he stood up, the amount of energy stored in his body was so great that even Bai Chen could sense it.
Bai Chen thought to himself.
"Wow, what powerful internal energy. His progress is truly impressive."
Then he looked at Rio.
"Well then, Kai, I'll head to the spectator stands. You go on. I hope you win, brother."
He hugged Rio and slowly left.
Even though he believed in Rio, he knew that Dark Knights were ruthless individuals who would do anything to kill their opponents.
At last, Rio left his room.
Although he felt a bit nervous, it was far less than before.
This time, he entered the arena far more mature and prepared.
As soon as he stepped in, the spectators began cheering.
Both of his previous fights had been exciting enough to hype everyone up.
That was why the crowd cheered for him, and he felt happy because of it.
He walked toward the arena and saw his opponent standing before him.
A boy with short black hair, blue eyes, and pale skin.
He wore black clothes, and his sword was also black,
made of a type of metal Rio had never seen before.
He was roughly the same height as Rio, and his face was expressionless.
Yet, he was quite handsome.
Rio had imagined a Dark Knight as someone with a rough appearance, covered in scars.
But this boy did not fit that image at all.
He was a little shocked, but his expectations did not drop.
He knew this fight would be difficult.
They stepped closer to greet each other.
Vesper stared at Rio and said,
"They say you're pretty tough. I hope you survive my attacks, because I don't show mercy."
Rio broke into a light sweat and replied with a grin.
"Haha, that's exactly the kind of fight I'm looking for."
Vesper smirked and returned to his position.
The referee stepped forward and explained the rules as usual.
Three.
Two.
One.
"Start!"
The match officially began, and both rushed toward each other.
Since Vesper wielded a sword, he had the advantage.
He could attack more easily, while Rio had to defend and dodge, making sure not to get hit right from the start.
Rio carefully observed Vesper and his movements.
Since he didn't know his sword style yet, counterattacking was difficult.
Vesper also didn't use any special techniques at the start.
He relied purely on raw swordsmanship.
After dodging several times, Rio spotted an opening and quickly tried to strike.
But Vesper swung his sword, aiming to cut off Rio's arm, forcing Rio to retreat instantly.
Rio thought to himself.
"He deliberately left that opening to lure me into a trap. Damn it, this won't be easy."
His current opponent was stronger than his previous two.
He might not have Bai Chen's raw power, but he excelled at deception and trapping his opponent.
Rio had to start attacking.
He finally pulled out his dagger.
"Oh? So you're using a dagger now?"
Vesper said with excitement.
Rio didn't actually know dagger techniques.
He only wanted to block the sword.
He held the dagger in his left hand so he could attack with his right.
Rio charged forward, aiming for Vesper's shoulder with the dagger.
Vesper blocked it.
Rio seized the moment and punched Vesper in the side with his right hand,
but it felt like punching air.
Suddenly, Vesper vanished.
Rio sensed something behind him.
As Vesper tried to decapitate him with a direct strike, Rio reacted faster and blocked it with the dagger.
But a dagger couldn't fully stop a sword.
Rio tried to kick Vesper while he was in midair,
but once again, it felt like hitting nothing.
Rio quickly leapt forward to dodge a surprise attack,
but this time Vesper appeared in front of him.
Rio barely managed to evade, and a piece of his clothes was sliced off.
Vesper stood in front of him, sword in hand.
"Haha, you're the first one to dodge Shadow Step twice."
(Shadow Step is a technique that allows a knight to teleport a very short distance.
Although it seems powerful, it consumes very little energy.)
Rio realized that this technique was Vesper's key ability, preventing him from landing hits.
He was about to attack again, but hesitated.
Then he remembered the best technique for locating an enemy.
He sent energy into his eyes and formed a thread,
connecting it to the tip of Vesper's sword.
But something felt wrong.
His energy was being consumed.
Rio felt a wave of weakness and immediately realized his energy was being devoured.
He quickly deactivated the energy thread.
Dark energy absorbs the energy of others, and it was draining Rio's as well.
Rio didn't know what to do.
Vesper kept attacking.
Then Rio realized he didn't need to keep the energy connected constantly.
He only needed to spread the threads around himself at the moment of attack,
so even the slightest movement would reveal Vesper's position.
He attacked again, and Vesper used the technique once more.
But this time, before Vesper realized it,
Rio already knew where he was and punched him directly in the face.
Vesper was sent flying several meters away, blood trickling from his nose.
"Hahahahaha!
You've exceeded my expectations, Kai!
I want to enjoy this fight and have some fun, so don't die too quickly!"
Rio was surprised by Vesper's words,
but he knew Shadow Step wasn't the Dark Knight's only technique.
He raised his guard to prevent a sudden attack.
Vesper's sword became coated in dark energy and swung toward Rio.
(Dark Sword Technique – Star Slash)
The strike landed, but Rio managed to block it with his dagger.
Still, the sheer power of the darkness pushed him back.
The sword, wrapped in darkness, continued to assault him.
This time, the attacks were faster and stronger.
Rio was being pushed back.
At any moment, he could be injured.
"Damn it, if this keeps going, he'll take full control and I'll lose."
Rio thought with frustration and concern.
He kept dodging, using the threads to track Vesper's position.
Minutes passed, and Rio began to understand both Vesper's normal swordsmanship and his dark-energy techniques.
He rebuilt his plan from scratch.
Even though dark energy could devour other energies,
Rio decided to use a clever approach.
He memorized Vesper's movements while observing the openings with the highest chance of landing a hit.
The opening he noticed most often was Vesper's right shoulder.
When Vesper swung his sword, it took a moment to bring it back into position using that shoulder.
Once he was certain, Rio moved in.
Vesper slashed toward him, but Rio dodged.
After several exchanges, Rio saw the perfect opportunity and struck toward Vesper's shoulder.
He grabbed it—
But something sliced his hand.
(Dark Sword Technique – Black Flame)
Rio was finally wounded.
His strength began to drain as the dark energy weakened him.
"Hahaha, I can't believe you fell for it!"
Vesper laughed and continued.
"I deliberately exposed my biggest opening on my shoulder so you'd take the bait and think it was real.
The moment you went for it, I activated my sword technique and wounded you."
Rio felt his strength fading and his body growing tired.
He was breathing heavily as he stared at Vesper.
He knew a single wound shouldn't reduce his power this much,
yet his strength was still dropping.
Finally, he decided to take a risk and use that technique.
"Even though my energy is running low, I have to use it if I want to gain the upper hand."
He steadied himself and charged toward Vesper once more.
End of Chapter 37