Child of Destiny

...

Arthur watched Professor Michael walk away before looking at Thomas who was still on the ground. "Hey, stand up from there. Show me your real abilities."

Then he saw Thomas slowly stood up while his body started to release some black Internal Qi that was giving off a strange feeling.

"Huh? An 'Evil Qi'?" muttered Arthur when he saw the Internal Qi coming from Thomas. But he immediately rejected the idea a moment later. "No, it is not. Evil Qi is sinister and wicked but this one is somewhat different; it is more like a cold and dreadful aura."

While Arthur was still guessing what type of Internal Qi Thomas had, the latter answered it for him. "It is another type of 'Death Qi'. A combination of Assassin's Internal Qi and 'Aura of Death' that they nurture from assassination."

After that, Arthur suddenly sensed a very dangerous feeling coming from Thomas which was why he suddenly jumped away from the latter.

"What was that?" muttered Arthur while looking at his opponent with a deep frown.

Then he saw Thomas finally stood up from the ground while raising his head and looked at Arthur with his bloodshot eyes. "Arthur Springfield, you will regret your decision just now."

Right after those words left his mouth, a Battle Spirit with a form of cloaked skeleton manifested behind Thomas while wielding a pair of bone daggers on hand.

The eyes of this particular Battle Spirit were burning with purple flame while a glowing crown made of bones was on its head, making its appearance somewhat majestic yet frightening.

Seeing that, Arthur started grinning from ear to ear instead of being frightened. He then took his battle stance with the spear pointing towards the ground in front of him instead of his opponent. And at the same time, his left hand was placed gently on top of the spearhead.

"Regret, huh? I don't remember having something like that. I wonder if you have the ability to give it to me," he said while releasing his multicolored Internal Qi alongside his battle Battle Spirit.

Just like Leonard, the current Battle Spirit that Arthur had was quite different from before. It was still a muscular dragon in human form with dark skin and some golden scales on its bare chest and shoulder.

Its golden bull-like horns were glowing with a brilliant light alongside the floating crown above its head. This Dragonkin Battle Spirit was standing haughtily behind Arthur while staring at its opponent with full of arrogance.

Both Arthur and Thomas stood in their respective positions, staring at each other while releasing a powerful pressure that was trying to suppress their opponents. And that staredown lasted for a couple of moments before the latter suddenly took the initiative.

Swoosh!

Thomas disappeared and arrived near Arthur in an instant while planning to get as close to his opponent as possible.

Shu!

Unfortunately, he was immediately greeted by a spearhead right after he entered Arthur's attack range.

But this time, Thomas suddenly moved his feet with strange movements, making his body sway left and right before transforming into multiple blurry silhouettes. One of them was pierced by the incoming spear but given that there was no blood seen from it, it was clear that it missed hitting its target.

Meanwhile, the real Thomas suddenly appeared behind Arthur while planning to stab his opponent from behind.

But during this time, Arthur suddenly leaped forward while thrusting his spear towards his opponent behind him by letting his spear brush past his waist and doing a quick hundred and eighty turn midair.

Due to those sudden movements, Thomas was forced to dodge once again but he still chased after Arthur persistently.

Seeing that, Arthur quickly extended his other hand to hold his spear with both of his hands before forcing his body to spin in the air. And during that spin, forcefully swung his spear towards Thomas to buy himself more time to land back on the ground.

Just like what Arthur was hoping, Thomas was forced to duck forward to dodge the spear, delaying his movements for a moment. But that was still not enough to stop his advance, so he immediately continued moving forward right after the spear flew past over his head.

And when he reached the optimal range to attack, both of his daggers suddenly glowed with a deep purple light as he swung them at Arthur while striding forward.

'Demon Slaying Method: Life Execution'

But in the middle of his charge, Thomas saw Arthur readjust his balance in the air while using the momentum of his spin to swing his spear downwards in a very strong manner.

'True Nine Dragon Arts: Earth Splitter'

Swoosh!

Because of the falling spear, Thomas had no other choice but changed the trajectory of his attack and swung his daggers at the spear instead.

Bang!

Crack!

Thomas' feet suddenly sank on the ground as he tried to redirect the force that he got from the impact towards it. And because of that, Arthur was able to land on the ground safely.

After that, two were engaged in a very intense battle with Thomas circling around Arthur with his strange foot technique and the latter matching it up with his 'Dragon Dance' movement skill.

The two exchanged quite a lot of flashy moves and high-class Martial-Art Skills. And unlike the battle between Leonard and Simone which was a contest between absolute strength and strength supported by explosive speed, this particular battle was a competition of speed, agility, and technique.

This time, Thomas was much faster than what he showed during the physical assessment exam previously; he even surpassed Leonard's explosive and did it with great mobility. Unlike the 'Devil's Footprints' and 'Devil's Dance', the current movement technique that he was using was much controlled and consistent.

But despite him having the advantage in that area, Arthur was still able to keep up with him with the help of his own movement technique, the 'Dragon Dance'.

Even if it was slightly lagging behind in terms of overall speed, this foot technique was at least better when it came to mobility. And putting it together with Arthur's current attainment in spearmanship, his battle capabilities was not something to be scoffed at.

Moreover, there was also the ocular skill that Arthur had personally created. And with the help of that skill, he was able to see his opponent's tricks. So, no matter which direction Thomas was attacking from, Arthur would always respond to it accordingly.

The battle lasted for a few moments and the two of them already traveled the whole arena by running around and chasing each other.

In the meantime, Ezio was currently wearing a deep frown while watching from the side. "That guy from the Springfield Family sure is skilled."

He paused for a moment to look at Dylan sitting beside him before asking. "Hey, Sword Genius. What do you think about that guy's spearmanship? Is it-…?"

  He was still in the middle of talking when Dylan immediately answered what he wanted to ask. "Yes. His spearmanship is on the same level of attainment as my swordsmanship in terms of skills and techniques."

"Oh! Is that so? Then who do you think will win if the two of you fight?" asked Ezio curiously.

Dylan thought for a couple of moments before answering the question. "If we are comparing our swordsmanship and spearmanship, then I will win without a doubt since he didn't train any kind of Qi related to weapon-wielding."

He then took another pause and frowned before continuing. "But if it is an actual fight between a Martial-Artist and a Swordsman, then the result is going to be really hard to predict."

"Ho~! That guy is that good, huh?" said Ezio with amusement. He then turned his head back to the battle once again before asking. "So, who do you think is going to win this duel?"

Hearing that, Dylan threw a sneering look at him before answering. "Are you really asking that question? Hasn't the winner already been decided since the very start?"

Ezio was confused at first before he immediately came up with a realization when he remembered what happened earlier.

Regardless, he still shook his head and said for not being fully convinced. "But Thomas is not showing his real skills up until now. I doubt he is going to lose that easily."

This time, Dylan shook his head and smiled bitterly before responding. "That is the whole point here. Since Thomas still hasn't learned his lesson after what happened earlier, then he will pay a heavy price sooner or later."

He then paused for another time to cast his gaze back at the battle before focusing his attention on Arthur. "After all, the patience of that Young Master from the Springfield Family is not endless. So, he can't wait forever."

"Huh?" Ezio raised his eyebrow for a moment when he heard before also turning attention to Arthur. He stared at the latter with squinted eyes before muttering to himself. "His patience, huh? – Since when was the 'Golden Dragon of the 32nd floor' patient?"

...