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Maverick's POV

All the elders watched silently as the fight proceeded between Master Blake and Master Frederick. Occasionally, they stopped to make comments.

I made the perfect bet by putting my money on Frederick. There’s no way he’s going to lose to Blake because of his skill and technique.

“I don’t think Blake is going to win this,” Master Rob said.

“I definitely agree with you,” Master Henry said quietly and continued watching.

“The fight is still early. Blake is still warming up. You know that Blake likes to have an explosive win,” Master Gerald said, his hands folded and his attention rapt on the fight.

Master Frederick attacked Master Blake relentlessly with his two swords. Master Blake, on the other hand, only had one machete, but it was stronger because he was using both his hands to wield it. Master Frederick struck relentlessly from side to side, but Master Blake was easily able to deflect it by hitting the sword with his machete. Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere with the two swords, Frederick decided to take a short break.

He jumped away, creating a huge gap between them.

“What is it? For someone who has called me an old man multiple times, you seem to be the first one to run out of energy,” Master Blake said, mocking Master Frederick.

“You think you can carry as many weapons as I do without getting tired? If they put the number of weapons on you that I’m currently carrying, there’s a good chance you would just fall to the ground,” Master Frederick said directly.

“I don’t think that’s the case. To be honest, I think you are just whining because of how weak you are,” Master Blake said.

“Oh, I’m weak, am I?” Master Frederick said and immediately lunged toward Master Blake. He made frantic hand movements before bringing out a battle axe, which he used to direct a swing against Master Blake’s face.

Master Blake was quick to react and blocked the attack using his machete. But due to the amount of force the swing carried, Master Blake was knocked to the side, weakening his hands.

Before Master Blake could react, he realized that Master Frederick was already swinging a club his way. He dodged to the side once more and struck forward against Master Frederick using his machete. Master Frederick dodged, avoiding the swing, but felt a deep pain in his stomach. Master Blake had landed a heavy kick on his stomach.

Master Frederick retreated and stopped to take a deep breath. He looked at Master Blake with eyes of wonderment. I also held my breath.

“You’re really strong. I actually felt the weight of your kick while I was within my thick membrane,” Master Frederick said.

“What are you talking about? What thick membrane?” Master Blake asked, curious.

“Don’t worry. You don’t need to know that. You just have to lose,” Master Frederick said, his voice growing cold.

Master Blake suddenly became alert, and then he heard a soft metallic sound pass by his ear. He turned to look and realized that the small knives Master Frederick had used to injure his cheek earlier had just passed by his ear. He quickly turned to look upward and realized that there were up to 30 of them falling down toward his face.

He used his machete to wave them away, but a few of them made their way to him, wounding him in multiple places on his body. There was more blood coming from him now, while there was not a single drop of blood on Master Frederick’s body.

Master Blake looked at Master Frederick angrily and lunged at him without mercy. He struck out with his machete, but Master Frederick was much too fast to allow an attack like that to hit him. Bringing out another spear, he deflected Master Blake’s attack and got his spear under Master Blake’s armpit.

He lifted Master Blake off the ground and pushed him down with his spear, creating a particularly humiliating sight for Master Blake.

Master Blake, seeing himself on the ground and noticing the looks the elders were giving him, felt deeply embarrassed and ashamed. His shame was immediately transformed into anger, and an uncontrollable rage led him to lunge viciously at Master Frederick.

But Master Frederick was ready for him. As Master Blake sliced at Master Frederick with his machete, the machete clashed against Master Frederick’s battle axe.

Everyone was surprised by what happened next. Master Blake’s machete actually cut its way through Master Frederick’s axe and hit Master Frederick right in the stomach.

Everyone’s breath left their lungs momentarily because they all thought Master Frederick was about to be bisected in half. To their surprise, they heard a metallic clang.

Everyone turned to look at Master Frederick, surprised by what happened. Many began to wonder if Master Frederick had a suit of armor on.

“What the hell was that, Frederick? What did my machete just hit?” Master Blake asked while straightening his stance.

“I guess since you already ripped a hole in my garment, I may as well reveal it,” Master Frederick said and reached for the core of his garment.

He ripped the upper layer of his garment away from his body, and what was revealed completely surprised them.

Covering Master Frederick’s upper body was an armor-like array of several weapons. I looked at the armor-like vest he was currently wearing and realized that any weapon I could basically think of was there, and even some I didn’t know about were still right there on the iron vest.

Master Frederick cleared his throat and set aside the battle axe that Master Blake had just divided into two. He moved his arms in a strategic way, and in a short time, several chain blades fell out. They were connected in such a way that it was quite longer than it looked. I could easily tell that with a tug, a long chain could be pulled out from the chain blade.

Master Frederick carefully wrapped the blade around his arm and began to swing it in the air, the motion similar to Armstrong’s. But I also noticed that the movements were not as fluid as Armstrong’s. When Armstrong wielded the chain blade, he utilized it in such a way that the chain was one with his body.

When he swung the chain around, it was with a certain ease that Master Frederick currently didn’t have. Master Frederick was swinging the chain blade, but it seemed a bit forced, and he was using a lot of strength to do it—unlike Armstrong, who simply seemed to move the chain blade around with only his mind.

Master Frederick did not hold back and swung the chain blade, with the knife at its end, in the direction of Master Blake. Blake dodged this and then launched himself forward with his machete, precisely aiming at Master Frederick’s leg. He was now aware that he could not do any damage to Master Frederick’s upper body, so the only way he could win the fight was to slowly immobilize Master Frederick until he won.

Master Frederick did not give in to Master Blake’s pressure. He simply moved to the side when necessary and attacked Master Blake relentlessly with his chain blade. Eventually, the marks on Master Blake’s body became more and more, and he began to get exhausted.

“You know, Blake, His Majesty told us that we shouldn’t cause too much harm to each other. After all, we’ll both be going on very important missions soon. It’s important we are in the best shape and capability to accomplish them. So how about you surrender now, and I spare you?” Master Frederick said, looking down on Master Blake.

“Over my dead body!” Master Blake said firmly as he stood up to his feet.

Master Blake’s aura began to rise rapidly, and it soon filled the entire environment. It rose to the point that it began to get physical and lifted his garments into the air. Not only were his garments floating, but his hair was also floating in the air now.

He began to move forward toward Master Frederick with his machete in hand, slowly and calmly. Observing from a distance, it was almost as though Master Blake was a god in a man’s body. It was as though a god had descended into their midst and was currently at war.

I had never known that one’s aura could get so powerful that it could actually have a physical manifestation on material things.

Although Master Blake’s aura was absolutely imposing and terrifying, Master Frederick did not seem to have a care in the world. He simply continued swinging around his chain blade, waiting for Master Blake to arrive.

When Master Blake got close enough, he swiftly attacked Master Frederick’s waist area. Master Frederick quickly dodged and attacked with his chain blade, but in an instant, Master Blake had vanished from the spot. He had gotten behind Master Frederick and hit him violently on the neck with his machete.

Master Frederick instinctively reacted sharply and managed to get a knife to his neck in time. But the knife had been broken, and his neck had been wounded. Master Frederick now had a severe neck injury, and Master Blake had landed his first hit in the fight.