The Ashen Dominion

A few days had passed...

And currently, Kaiser was in the Silver Training Ground.

Beside him were Edmar and Viktor.

They had just finished eating lunch a few tens of minutes earlier.

That's right... Right now, it was time for their daily sparring with the three monsters!

Tap.

"..."

Kaiser boldly stepped onto the arena, a wooden greatsword resting over his shoulder.

A lot of eyes were watching him—other gladiators who were training too, and even some of the guards stationed in the area.

Then, his opponent stepped in from the other side of the arena—

TAP—

"Heh."

Brock entered the ring with a wide grin on his face, a wooden greatsword gripped tightly in his hand.

"Ready to get beaten again today, brat?"

He asked playfully, but with a glint of fighting spirit in his eyes.

Kaiser smiled at his words.

"Yeah..."

He answered.

"But I won't make it easy for you this time."

Then he declared as he crouched slightly and got into his fighting stance!

Fwish~

Kaiser lowered his center of gravity, eyes fixed on Brock. His voice was calm. His breathing was steady.

Brock's smirk deepened after hearing that.

"Enough talking... LET'S JUST START ALREADY!!!"

BAM!

He kicked off the ground and rushed at Kaiser with explosive momentum as soon as he said those words!

TWHACK!!!

Their wooden greatswords clashed!

"...!"

Kaiser received the blow firmly, both his hands gripping the handle of his weapon.

Then—

Tak~

With a sharp pivot of his body and a tilt of his greatsword, he redirected Brock's attack, making it slide past him!

F W I S H—

Though... Brock was already expecting him to do that.

So he immediately followed up with a horizontal slash, tracing Kaiser's movement!

"Ugh...!"

WHOOSH~

Kaiser ducked down and avoided it by a hair's breadth.

Then—

Brock responded with a heavy vertical down attack!

BOOM!

It landed where Kaiser just stood. But Kaiser had already rolled backward swiftly.

And when he got up—

"HUP!!!"

TWHACK—!

He thrust forward with precision!

Brock blocked it using the flat width of his weapon. But Kaiser anticipated that too—

He had watched Brock and fought him too many times now.

And calmly, he spun his body to the right, using the momentum to unleash—

SWOOSH—

A wide horizontal slash!

"Haha..."

Brock chuckled.

"Too wide. Too slow. Easy to block."

Then he mumbled that with a smug tone.

TAK—!

He blocked Kaiser's attack casually, as if he was proving a point!

"Heh."

But that was exactly what Kaiser wanted.

And as their weapons locked together, wood slamming against wood—

BAM!

Kaiser took a step forward!

His muscles in his arms tensed!

His feet dug into the arena floor!

And using every ounce of strength he could muster—

"HAAAAAAAA—!!!"

He roared and poured more force into his attack!

And in doing so—

TWHACK!

"...?!"

TAP-

He was able to force Brock to take a step back, and he flung his weapon up a bit!

"...!"

The other gladiators watching raised their brows. It was their first time seeing this happen!

"Was that... Kaiser overpowering him just now?"

"No way. That kid's a monster of his own..."

For the first time in their sparring sessions, Kaiser had pushed Brock backward! Edmar and Viktor were shocked as hell, their mouth hung open... But they don't know what to say!

Meanwhile—

"..."

Fwip~

Brock raised his weapon back up, smirking.

"You've gotten stronger... I felt that."

He muttered, still smiling.

"..."

Kaiser didn't say anything. He only raised his greatsword again.

And this time, both his hands are steady. Eyes locked in.

Then, after a few seconds of silence—

BAM!

Brock lunged forward again!

TWHACK! TOK!

Their weapons clashed repeatedly, loud sounds echoing across the arena.

Kaiser blocked, parried, dodged, and countered.

He was moving better... Way better than himself from last week! And definitely much better when it was his first week as a Silver Rank!

Kaiser became Faster. Sharper... His reflexes had improved a lot.

"..."

His breathing was always calm now, his form was precise.

BOOM!

Kaiser just sidestepped a crushing vertical swing.

And after dodging that one—he stepped in again!

TWHACK!

He aimed for Brock's side!

Brock blocked it, but he staggered half a step again!

'This kid... he's still getting much better throughout our fight...!'

Brock thought, surprised.

Then with a grin—

SLASH—!

He spun his body and delivered a wide sweep!

Bam-

Kaiser leapt backward and the wooden blade missed him by an inch.

Tap.

He landed, slid a bit, and took his fighting stance again.

"..."

"..."

Edmar and Viktor were still watching the two fight from the side.

Edmar crossed his arms.

"He's definitely learning."

Viktor nodded.

"Kaiser doesn't say much... but his body remembers every move."

They commented, impressed.

Then, back in the arena...

FWOOSH—

Kaiser dashed forward, being aggressive this time!

BOOM!

He launched an upward swing—Brock blocked it.

Kaiser ducked low—then followed with a low sweep!

WHOOSH—

"Hup!"

Bam-

Brock jumped, evading just in time!

Their movements were fast, aggressive, but calculated. Even with wooden weapons, each strike felt like a real battle to them both!

The other gladiators around them had stopped training.

"..."

"..."

Everyone was watching now.

"This again..."

"Yeah. Their daily training or whatever."

"But this time, Kaiser's pushing back harder."

"He's adapting fast."

They talked among themselves.

TWHACK! TAK! TOK—! THUD!

Kaiser and Brock clashed their weapons back and forth, no one backing out.

Then, Kaiser spun once more—

SWOOSH!

It was another wide spinning slash!

T O K—!

Brock blocked it, but this time... Kaiser immediately kicked forward with his foot!

BAM!

And he successfully struck Brock in the gut!

Though—

"...?!"

Brock wasn't pushed back by his kick, it doesn't even look like he felt it!

Bam!

Kaiser jumped back and raised his greatsword again, his eyes still focused on Brock.

But then, at that moment... Brock raised his hand, smirking.

And in the next moment—

BOOM!!

Brock was in front of him, and their greatsword clashed against each other!

"GURGH...?!!"

Kaiser groaned. It happened way too fast, he almost wasn't able to raise his weapon and react!

SHHHHHK—

Kaiser slid backward, a frown on his face.

And seeing that expression—

Brock exhaled sharply and laughed.

"Hah... you're not bad. Really not bad. I didn't expect you to block that."

He said. He meant all of his words just now.

"..."

Kaiser didn't answer, he remained wary.

Tap.

He just stepped forward again. One hand on his sword. The other... loose by his side.

Brock clicked his tongue.

"This brat... You still want to keep going, huh."

He mumbled.

"THEN LET'S GO!!!"

BAM!

And he rushed in again!

FWOOSH—

Brock swung from above, a heavy overhead smash! Kaiser raised his sword in time—

TWHACK!!

And he received it perfectly! Though, the weight of Brock's strike pushed him down a bit.

"Gurgh...!"

"HAAAAA—!!"

Brock roared.

He added more pressure to his attack, copying Kaiser earlier.

But instead of resisting—Kaiser suddenly let go with one hand and twisted his grip.

Fwish~

He sidestepped.

BOOM!!

And Brock's sword slammed on the concrete floor!

Kaiser didn't waste that moment.

The moment Brock was defenseless—

He surged forward!

"HAAAH!!"

He raised his weapon above his head, both hands gripping it tightly!

He was aiming for Brock's open shoulder!

But—

"...?!"

Before his wooden greatsword could even get close...

Brock suddenly turned his head toward him! And with absurd, spine-twisting flexibility—

TAK!!!

He raised his weapon and parried the incoming attack upward!

"Gugh...?!"

Kaiser's eyes widened!

His balance was shaken—he didn't expect that at all!

And before he could even recover—

"—HAAH!!"

Brock's right foot shifted.

And he thrust forward!

A sharp, fast, and precise straight strike!

It was aimed directly at Kaiser's chest!

"Shit—!"

Kaiser instinctively turned to the side!

SWISH!!!

The thrust grazed his shoulder!

"Ugh..."

But Brock didn't stop there, he pulled his weapon back in a flash, then—

BOOM!!

A kick landed straight on Kaiser's stomach!!

"AGHHK!!"

Kaiser was sent flying backwards!

BOOM—! THUD!

He rolled across the ground—once—twice—before finally stopping with a thud!

"....Khhhg."

He quickly stood back up, panting heavily.

His grip on the wooden greatsword tightened.

Tap. Tap. Tap—

Brock was already walking toward him again... Smiling.

"Still got that energy, huh?"

He said.

"..."

Kaiser didn't answer. Instead—

BAM!

He ran toward him once more!

FWOOSH~

He spun!

And then, using its momentum again—

SWISH!!

Kaiser performed a powerful horizontal slash aimed at Brock's waist!

"Told you... It's slow."

Bam-

But Brock jumped back lightly, avoiding it.

He spun midair—and while still twisting—

BAM!!

His wooden greatsword slammed down from above!

His weapon clashed against Kaiser's again!

"GHH—!"

The impact sent shockwaves through Kaiser's arms!

He blocked the attack with both hands!

But—

"GHHH—!!!"

His knees bent from the heavy force. He was forced down!

THUD!

Brock didn't let up even after Kaiser got on his knee.

And in that moment... Brock's barrage of attacks began.

THWACK!

SWISH!

THWACK—!!

BOOM!!!

Kaiser's weapon kept getting pushed back receiving and blocking those attacks.

He was getting overwhelmed!

Forced to retreat!

Over and over!

"...!"

His eyes desperately followed Brock's movements—but his body couldn't keep up!

TAP!

SWISH—!

"Kh—!"

And then, as he was dodging around—

BAM!!!

A diagonal slash landed clean on his ribs, it got too fast for him to avoid!

CRACK—

"GAHHH—!!!"

Kaiser was blown back again!

BOOM!

He crashed on the ground, his weapon slipping from his hand!

And before he could grab it—

TAP-

Brock was already in front of him. Smiling smugly.

"Too easy, kid."

He said.

Kaiser looked up, panting and sweating as fuck.

His chest was heaving.

"...Still not enough..."

He muttered, brows furrowed.

Then clenched his fist in frustration.

Fwip-

Brock then held out a hand toward him.

"Get stronger, alright?"

He said.

Kaiser looked back at him again.

Then—

He grabbed his hand.

"...I will, just wait you monster."