Lina turned out to be the first seeded contestant to fall in the Mercenary Selection. As the saying goes, you never know where talent might appear. No one expected much from the Water Dragon at first, but it turned out he was the one to get the final laugh.
The battles continued and, soon, the fourth round was over. Krune and Ao had no problems in their fights either, much for Rog Werer and Shad Forgon sadness. After another pause of two hours, the fifth round finally started. That time, Ao would be fighting Rog Werer, the second fight of the fifth round. Krune, on the other hand, would not encounter Shad in the fifth round. Only in the last round, the sixth, would he fight the seeded player of his group bracket. It would also be the final duel that decided who advanced to the final phase.
Ao went up on the arena. Rod Werer had also been there already. The referee was just waiting for the confirmation to start. After taking a last look at Ao and Rog, he signalized the start of the battle.
Rog was a cultivator of the Sky Fall Continent, but he had not been specialized in the water element. His elements of specialization were earth and fire, a right combination for a big man like him, not to mention that his weapon of choice was the dual maces. He used brute force to smash through his enemies and the earth element to protect himself.
Surprisingly, it wasn't Rog Werer who made the first move as everyone was expecting, but Ao, instead. Ao knew that this might be a tough opponent. Then, he took the initiative: wind element for movement and swiftness, fire element for power, and metal for sharpness. He had no need to wait for the other part to move. He appeared behind Rog in a second and slashed forward.
But Rog was indeed a seeded player. Even though his speed wasn't as good as Ao, he had fought plenty of speed-focused cultivators before. By rotating his mace, Rog deflected the attacks aimed at him while the other mace came smashing down at Ao. One could see the flames of his Fire Element around it. Ao retreated to the side, and the place that he had just a second ago become a crater. Rog took his mace back and smiled at him.
"Quite fast, but that's useless if you don't have the power to even break through my defense."
Ao heard that but didn't mind the least bit. That was far from what he could do. He only used Sword Intent in his very first battle. After that, he defeated his opponents, relying on his control over the elements and swordplay alone. Some people even thought that they had imagined things and that Ao didn't know how to use Sword Intent.
Rog saw that Ao's expression didn't change even a bit after his mace attack and chuckled. He wasn't the type to keep waiting for his opponent, so he also moved forward. He had absolute confidence in his power and defense. Ao kept dodging and sent a few attacks now and then, but neither could breach Rog's defense. Of course, Rog couldn't do anything to Ao either, so the battle reached that stalemate.
Krune and Yusa were looking at that and sighed. The others might not know, but they understood Ao better than anyone else.
"He is obviously testing his sword skills. This is the first time he found a top tier cultivator at the same level as him with high defense. He is trying to understand how much power he should use against someone like that," said Krune while looking at the battle. Yusa heard that and was a little puzzled.
"But why is it that he only increases the power of each attack by a bit every time?"
Krune pondered a bit and then said:
"Maybe it's because he is trying to find the balance between soft and hard. Between us, he is the only close combat cultivator. You and Shinja are support or range-based cultivators. I'm also specialized at ranged attacks, so he hadn't fought anyone at the same level who could resist his attacks and still keep fighting. Of course, that is only my opinion, we will need to ask him later."
Krune was right. Sparring with Krune, Yusa, or Shinja was very good for Ao. But the lack of a close combat cultivator at the same level in their group made several doubts appear in his mind. It could also be said Rog has already been very lucky. If he were a long-range focused cultivator, he would have lost already. Few could match Ao's understanding against ranged cultivators, and he had Krune, Yusa, and Shinja to thank for that.
The people outside didn't notice anything. The battle seemed very even in their eyes, but that was just for those without discerning eyes. The referee and most of the Divine Soul elders and Guild Heads had already noticed that something was strange about the way that Ao battled. Arlan was also looking at it when, suddenly, his eyes lit up. He then started to laugh out loud.
"I see, I see! So that's how it is, no wonder, no wonder."
A member of the Makui Continent team heard that and couldn't help but ask why he was laughing at Ao and Rog's battle.
"That Ao Sulian guy is a sword user just like me. So I can see what he is trying to do. Simply put, he doesn't have a lot of experience against close combat cultivators at the same level as him. So he is using Rog to refine his understanding of the sword at melee range."
A few of the contestants heard that, and their faces showed incredibility.
"Is he crazy? It's Rog who he is fighting against. One good hit and he will be done for. He's being too brazen!"
"There are crazy people everywhere, and those usually don't live long, just let him be."
"He had almost been hit several times already, not to mention that he hasn't done any damage to Rog so far yet. I don't think he will last long like this."
Arlan heard those commentaries but didn't say anything. There was no point in discussing such things with lower-level cultivators, this battle in his eyes was completely different. The others might not have noticed, but he was sure Rog had no chance at winning. Not to mention that he still had remembered to have felt a hint of Sword Intent coming from Ao's sword in the first battle Ao had last day. He didn't think that it was only his imagination.
Rog was starting to get upset. There have been many opportunities where he could have struck Ao down and ended this battle. But Ao would have always dodged in some fantastic way the last instant, which made him furious. But he didn't lose his cool. Ao couldn't do anything against his defense either since he couldn't receive any damage. Sooner or later, the victory will be his.
Ao, on the other hand, was very relaxed. That battle against Rog had cleared many doubts against melee range fights that he had before. But it started to get less and less useful. The reason was simple, Rog, in the end, wasn't a speed-focused melee range cultivator, so it was way too easy to dodge his attacks. Fortunately, his extremely high defense helped Ao understand the concept between hard and soft.
Ao once again dodged and decided it was enough. Suddenly, it seemed that his sword came to life. The power of the elements around it increased. He started to get faster, he attacked Rog by the side, Rog defended as always. But for some reason, his mace passed through the sword as if it didn't exist. It turned out that it was only an afterimage, the sword hit his earth defense but couldn't stop its power. It was the first time in this battle that someone got injured.
Rog saw that and couldn't believe it! Even with his Divine Sense, he couldn't follow the speed of the sword. Ao kept sending a barrage of attacks from all sides, small cuts started to appear all over Rog's body. They weren't anything serious if there were only one or two. But the sheer amount was making him lose too much blood. Rog finally lost his patience and activated one of his trump cards.
"Fire Body!"
The fire started to revolve around Rog, and the temperature of the arena immediately soared. Rog looked like a ball of flames himself. He then focused on his own movement technique and charged forward. Ao suddenly had to put a lot more effort to dodge Rog's attacks. The effectiveness of his own attacks diminished a lot too. It wasn't that Rog had become faster, but the area covered by his attacks was a lot bigger. Ao didn't have to dodge only the maces anymore, but the fire attacks coming with each swing.
Ao saw that, and a smile appeared in his face. He thought there wasn't anything else to learn from this fight. But it seemed like he was mistaken. He increased his speed and the power of his own attacks and started to use his skills. Rog wasn't receiving only attacks from Ao's sword anymore. There were several blazing wind blades. A merge skill that he'd learned from Krune, coming from everywhere. His vacuum blade skill was active at that time. The speed of his attacks and his skills in the area of effect increased another fold too.
Rog was indeed a seeded mercenary. Even while defending against Ao's attacks and the blazing wind blades, he still found apertures where he could launch attacks at Ao. Unfortunately for him, Ao was too fast!
In fact, as long as Ao wished, he could take the attacks head-on. But it would use a lot of spiritual energy and show to the others that this state wasn't his best. It's always good to keep some trump cards in the pocket.
Krune's group, Arlan and the Divine Soul Realm elders and Guild Heads, could already see the outcome of that battle. Although the two of them seemed to be evenly matched again, the fact was that Ao had an absolute advantage in their exchanges. Even more, injuries started to accumulate on Rog's body, and he already started to feel dizzy due to the blood loss. But he gritted his teeth and performed another one of his trump cards. He suddenly gave up his earth element defense and switched to the wind element. He might be able to control two elements simultaneously, but it didn't mean that he didn't know how to use others.
The power of Rog's fire attacks got completed by his wind element while his speed increased by a lot. The people outside saw that and noticed they had been underestimating Rog all along. It was a good thing Ao forced Rog to show his cards before the final phase. It doesn't matter if Ao or Rog won, they were grateful to both for showing so much that day.
Ao was quite impressed with that. Rog moved this fast and swift with his big body while still increasing the power and the area of effect of his attacks. If it were anyone else in his group, they would have lost already, and since that is the case, Ao made a decision.
"Since you decided to show everything you got, out of respect, I will take you seriously too."
Ao's sword suddenly seemed different, but at the same time, it didn't. It was as if some kind of power was coming from it. The majority of the mercenaries taking part in this selection couldn't tell exactly what it was, except for Krune's group, Arlan Rosier, and some of the other seeded contestants.
"Sword Intent!"
Arlan saw that and laughed even more at that moment.
"I knew I wasn't wrong, it really was Sword Intent!"
The other seeded mercenaries also noticed that. However, their reactions were the total opposite of Arlan's, their faces were gloomy. A Foundation Establishment cultivator who can use Sword Intent and is also under 40 years of age! How rare is that in the Makui Planet?
In the arena, Rog also noticed that, and finally, some fear appeared on his face. But he wouldn't give up that moment. He still believed that he only needed one good hit, and the victory was his. He charged forward even madder than before. He was stacking everything in his next attacks.
Surprisingly, Ao didn't try to dodge that time. He also activated his movement technique and stepped forward. Rog saw that Ao was planning to fight him head-on and got delighted. He refused to believe that even with the sword intent, Ao could take an attack of his at full power.
The referee narrowed his eyes, this was the decisive moment, and the time he would have to save the loser in such an outcome would be very short. Without getting on the way of both Rog and Ao, he approached the place where the exchange would be made. He was ready to intervene the moment the victor of the clash appeared.
Rog roared and smashed down his two maces with his most powerful mace skill.
"Titan's Fury!"
Ao also showed one of his cards at that moment. It was the same attack he used against Turi Belane back in the Mercenary Headquarters. It was just that this time the Sword Intent behind it, the power of the elements fused in the attack, and the speed was a lot more powerful.
"Decapitation in Flames"
Arlan saw that and knew who the victor was even before the attacks hit each other.
The moment the maces and the sword clashed with each other, the maces immediately snapped in two. Not only that, but even the air, the skill, the elements, everything was slashed in half. It was as if a void had appeared where the two maces were before. The referee was alarmed at that sight. Ao's attack was faster than he had predicted. He wanted to intervene, but it was already too late. He immediately thought that the first dead person of this selection would appear during his watch.
But surprisingly, Rog was fine. The people saw that, and their jaws dropped. Just how did Rog survive that attack? Even the Divine Soul referee was powerless at that moment. After that exchange, Rog fell on his knees, looked at Ao, and sighed.
"You changed the trajectory of your attack the last instant. The sword slash passed above my head, didn't it?"
Ao smiled and then nodded.
That moment, the crowd finally understood the situation. Everyone looked at Ao as if he were a monster. Guild Head Yulie had an ugly face. His mercenary guild had only two mercenaries with real chances of getting one of the five slots. One of them was Shad Forgon, his nephew, while the other was none other than Rog Werer, who had just lost, and both of them were fighting members of the Yule Continent at the top of that.
Other than Arlan, the other seeded mercenaries started to consider if they should admit defeat when they encounter Ao at the final phase. Ao turned out to be too strong. It was evident that Rog and Ao weren't in the same league, and since their strength isn't much different from Rog, it would do no good to fight him head-on.
Ao came down from the arena and sat to recover his spiritual energy. Although the outcome of his group was pretty much decided due to Rog's loss, he would never underestimate his opponents.
His fight was the last to be over between the second fights of the fifth round. Another two hours pause came by, and the third fight of each group started.