As the topless Early Rank 2 Aura Master flew towards the crowd standing out of the battle platform, they quickly scurried out of the way.
Thud!
The topless Early Rank 2 Aura Master landed on the ground with a heavy, and the crowd immediately exploded with cheers and disappointment.
“Yeah, Kaspar! We knew you could do it!”
“No, Goran! How did you fall for such an obvious feint and get kicked out off the platform like that, you donkey!?! My money was on you, you bastard!”
Amid the cheers and disappointment, Goran, who was already unhappy with his loss, overheard the criticism and derogatory terms hurled at him.
“What the fuck did you just call me?” Goran glared at one of the spectators, a less burly handsome man at Peak Rank 1 Aura Warrior level.
The hotheaded person immediately paled, and the spectators around him also drew their distance in an instance.
“S-Sorry, Sir! I was a misunderstanding!” the Peak Rank 1 Aura Warrior quickly apologized.
“Fuck your misunderstanding! Do you think I will believe your bullshit?!” Goran roared angrily as he picked up the Peak Rank 1 Aura Warrior and hurled him onto the battle platform. “Since you sounded like you could do better, why don’t you go ahead and show everyone!”
After landing on the platform, the Peak Rank 1 Aura Warrior stared at Kaspar with cowardice.
However, Kaspar had already secured his spot on the expedition team. Thus, he didn’t see a reason to fight again unless someone formally declared their challenge towards him.
Seeing Kaspar walk away, the Peak Rank 1 Aura Warrior heaved a sigh of relief and climbed down from the battle platform to rejoin the crowd awkwardly.
Nevertheless, Goran didn’t pursue the matter either and rejoined the battle queue with a snort.
As the battle queue moved forward, a number of smartass Low Rank 2 Aura Masters tried to challenge the Mid Rank 2 Aura Masters to secure their spots, thinking they wouldn’t have many challenges if they succeeded.
However, they overestimated themselves and got their asses beaten terribly.
The Mid Rank 2 Aura Masters also didn’t go easy on their challengers either. They broke their challengers’ bones and left them in bedridden states.
As a result, no one below Mid Rank 2 Aura Master dared to rechallenge them.
The Low Rank 2 Aura Masters challenged the other Low Rank 2 Aura Masters, who only occupied fifty out of the three hundred available spots for the expedition.
Meanwhile, Vaan watched the battles one by one as he moved up in the battle queue.
Ding!
<You have learned the attack-type martial art, Swift Eagle Claw (Low rank)>
<You have learned the movement-type martial art, Seven Illusion Steps (Low rank)>
<You have learned the attack-type martial art, Hundred Shadow Palm (Mid rank)>
<You have learned the attack-type martial art, Raging Bull Charge (Low rank)>
<You have learned the…>
…
Vaan continued to pick up numerous new martial arts, even some aura circulation methods of the low rank, as he watched the Aura Masters battle.
In a single match, he learned at least three skills. Longer matches let him learn at least five.
Eventually, he accumulated tens of low-rank martial arts of each type.
‘Even if my memory bank is near infinite as I continuously expand the Heaven-Swallowing Space, there’s no need to waste my memory space on these low-rank martial arts,’ Vaan furrowed his brows.
He randomly picked ten low-rank martial arts of each type, took their essence, and combined them one after the other.
‘Combine!’
Ding!
<You have created a new attack-type martial art, Great Unity Fist (Mid rank)>
<You have created a new movement-type martial art, Illusory Lightning Steps (Mid rank)>
<You have created a new attack-type martial art, Seven Sweeps of the Swallow (Mid rank)>
<You have created a new defense-type martial art, Great Earthen Boundary (Mid rank)>
<You have created a new aura circulation method, Way of the Big Dipper (Mid rank)>
…
By the time it was Vaan’s turn to climb the battle platform and pick a spot-holder to challenge, he had already created a whole set of new martial arts for himself.
Even if he used them, no one would recognize any of them. It was just perfect for his new mercenary—No, hunter identity.
“State your name and who you want to challenge,” a Mid-stage Senior Witch instructed after Vaan hopped onto the battle platform.
“My name… is Van Helsing, and I challenge the current 250th spot-holder for the expedition,” Vaan declared with a rough and uncouth voice, seemingly lacking in etiquette but outright disrespectful to the Senior Witch.
In that instance, the crowd of spectators cheered with a wave of new energy. It had been some time since another challenger picked one of the Mid Rank 2 Aura Masters.
Finally, they have another good show to watch.
“Hmph!”
The 250th spot-holder, a burly Mid Rank 2 Aura Master named Eliphas, snorted with a displeased look, having been challenged at least five times. He hopped onto the battle platform and stared at Vaan with a dark look.
“I’m going to make you regret challenging me!” Eliphas threatened.
“No weapons are allowed for the duel,” the Senior Witch overseeing the match reminded Vaan.
“You don’t need to worry. I won’t be using it,” Vaan calmly said before he declared arrogantly, “One fist is enough.”
“I see. Then you may begin.”
Swish!
As soon as the Senior Witch declared the start of the match, Eliphas lunged at Vaan pre-emptively, fully cloaked in his red mana as he intended to crush him instantly.
However, Vaan reacted even faster as he covered his body with his aura and enhanced his strength and speed to Mid-level Rank 2.
Illusory Lightning Steps!
Using the new mid-rank movement-type martial skill that possessed both evasion and speed, Vaan easily shifted to the side of Eliphas, evading the pre-emptive strike, and followed up with a counterattack.
Great Unity Fist!
An aura-coated fist headed towards Eliphas’s left ribs while pulling the person towards it with a suction force.
Bang! Ka-cha!
The fist landed right where Vaan intended, breaking the Eliphas’s ribs as he sent the person shooting off the battle platform.
“Thanks for letting me win,” Vaan said apathetically.
A deathly silence quickly filled the crowd. Everyone was stunned by what had happened, not expecting the fight to end in a mere instance.