Similarly, Darius took a fighting stance and approached cautiously, taking one step after another closer to Lars.

The two fighters' ethos of battle was clearly demonstrated - Darius was always the aggressor and initiator while Lars leaned towards a reactive style of combat.

Darius approached to within 8 metres before Lars made his first move, merely angling his naked blade slightly to ensure the edge and tip were always facing his rival.

Then in a split-second, the two compet.i.tors burst into action!

Darius leapt forward with an incisive dash, disregarding Lars' defensive perimeter and immediately came face to face with the tip of a sword thrusting straight for the centre of his forehead! He leaned to the right in a feint, then suddenly pivoted and swept to the left in an attempt to escape the pursuing blade but was thwarted again and again.

He circled in and out, flirting with Lars' striking range as his speedy form left blurry afterimages. Each time, Lars' would change his grip on his slim longsword to meet his approach.

Finally, Darius was satisfied with his probing. He arrived at a simple conclusion - there was no way to pierce his foe's guard without an equivalent risk.

Then he leapt backwards and stood his ground for a moment as he narrowed his eyes slightly and tightened his fists, channelling mana into his two hands.

He grunted roughly and nodded at Lars, then the aura around his body began to change.

From an aggressive but refined aura, the atmosphere around him s.h.i.+fted gear into one that screamed of equal parts danger and relentlessness - the sign of an awakening of his bloodline!

Lars returned the nod, similarly igniting his blood energy and beginning to channel his mana to reinforce his body. He was confident in the advantage of skill and comprehension of laws but was also sure of the vast difference in their strength, speed and physiques.

'Heh... How pathetic... Just one careless move and I'll be hospitalised with broken bones...' He smiled self-deprecatingly as he thought about just how much weaker he was physically - something he would fix soon, with his physique just about to break through to beginning-Elite.

Then, their niceties done, Darius kicked off against the floor, leaving the deep impression of a footprint where his step hit the ground. It looked to be the same approach as his initial move, only, this time it was more than 5 times faster and resembled a bullet shot out from the muzzle of a rifle - he was headed for a head-on collision with Lars' defence!

's.h.i.+t... This..' Lars thought as he gripped his blade firmer and braced himself for a painful impact.

'THIS SUCKS!!!' He struck down with a mighty blow, trying to deter his opponent's charge, but the descending edge of his blade was met by two aurhardened fists. The azure aura coated Darius' knuckles, turning them as hard as tempered steel, if not harder still.

And when Lars' sword received the meteor-like blow, he felt the swords blade bend slightly and his hands nearly lose grip as he pushed back with all the force he could muster, just to defend against Darius' crus.h.i.+ng fists.

'C'mon c'mon!!!' Lars shoved hard and stirred up his own minotaur bloodline in order to push himself away from his adversary, and with one last burst of strength, he managed to knock aside the soaring punch and spin off to the right.

"HAH! Is that all you've got!?! You've gotta do better or I'll be disappointed!" Darius' feet shuffled quickly as he chased after Lars, not letting up on his advantageous position. Before Lars could touch the ground, he had already crossed more than half the gap between them and charged up a heavy punch once more!

"Light-Searing Fist!!" Darius shouted as he drew back his right arm which began to s.h.i.+ne with blinding yellow rays. Then his entire body suddenly sped up and shot forward; a bolt of lightning with his right arm extended right out in front of him like a harpoon of burning light.

This time when Lars saw the incoming attack, he knew that he could not compete with it just based on his basic abilities alone. Even as he still backpedalled furiously and tried to dampen the explosive attack, his brows furrowed as he focused his full concentration on harnessing the s.p.a.ce laws...!

"...VOID SPLITTER!!!" Lars roared out as he held his sword in a two-handed grip above his head and suddenly changed his backward momentum into a forward motion, ready to clash directly with Darius!

This shocking development caused Darius' eyes to widen mid-flight as he gasped, nevertheless he focused once more and stirred up his strength, ready for the head-on collision.

Then just when they were both about 3 metres away from each other, Lars' blade swept down in a heavy cleaving chop that seemed to slice apart the air, atmosphere and even the s.p.a.ce wherever the blade pa.s.sed.

Darius' hairs stood on end as despite being overall more powerful than Reshmont, he lacked the same level of defensive ability. He knew that unless he could completely disrupt the rip in s.p.a.ce hurtling towards him, perhaps his fists would still land on Lars' body, but the rest of his upper torso would be lacerated and left b.l.o.o.d.y!

But unfortunately for Darius, he had already fully committed his concentration and mana to his incandescent piercing punch; hence he was no longer able to change his course and could only go for a mutual exchange of damage!

He frowned deeply and grit his teeth as he prepared for the myriad cuts he would receive while focusing his weight on his explosive punch.

But just when he was about to connect with the ripped s.p.a.ce and breakthrough for a rib-breaking punch, he saw Lars smile... And begin to float upwards unnaturally, moving his body out of the way of Darius' punch completely!

'Sh*t!!!' Darius' eyes turned wide once more as he tried laboriously to cancel his meaningless punch and redirect his mana into defence instead! The moment his fist touched the void-s.p.a.ce created by Lars' sword, he felt immense pressure bearing down on him before his forward momentum flung his whole body into the turbulent twisting s.p.a.ce!

"GRAAAAAHHHH!!!! BREAK!!!!" He roared out loud and released a burst of energy from every pore of his body, struggling to tide through the intensely potent Void Splitter sword strike, until the spatial rips dissipated. By then though, he was left with his clothes ripped and multiple cuts all over his body!

However, instead of a look of distress, a wide smile was plastered across Darius' face as he looked pumped up and raring for battle!

"This is more like it! I don't want some p*ssy trickery or one-sided thras.h.i.+ng! That's too boring! Haha! That's just how I like it, more, MORE!!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs and his body began to ripple with a layer of illusory azure light.

"Watch out, Lars! I'm going to go all-out!" The whites of Darius' eyes began to disappear as his pupils distended and widened on and on. His long black hair began to grow longer and turn silvery with the slightest sheen of glittering blue. His shoulders seemed to broaden and his chest and legs thicken with a latent power hidden within and just about to break forth in earth-shattering strength!

As the fullness of his G.o.d-blood was drawn out, the air around Darius changed once more; if earlier he felt like a general about to set off for war, now he gave off the sense of a deity descending from the heavens, beatific and holy, able to wield great might sufficient to crush the mountains to powder or to upend the contents of the seas with one flip of the hand!

And Lars could tell that the time for testing the waters and probing each others' skills was ended.

It was time to get serious too...!

"Demon-Hunting Arts... First Layer!"