System vs Rebirth

"Start!"

The moment they heard Shale's signal, Noel and Azgar leaped forward.

To gain as much experience as he could, Noel wanted to fight Azgar without his Spiritual Energy first to measure how far he could go with only his Ardagan Swordsmanship.

Noel swung his sword from the left while Azgar slammed his sword toward Noel's head, wanting to crush it.

However, Noel skillfully struck Azgar's sword and slightly pushed the sword so that it moved away from its trajectory. At the same time, Noel had a few small steps to push his body to the other side, allowing him to avoid this powerful strike.

Once Azgar hit the ground, a small shock wave kicked up the dust. It was clear that Noel would have bled if he was hit.

Noel glanced at the power behind that swing while taking a few steps back, regaining some distance from Azgar.

His expression remained calm as he had expected this kind of battle. At the same time, he checked his hands' conditions. Luckily, he didn't feel anything because he didn't try to block the hit earlier.

Azgar didn't want to let him go because this was his chance to defeat Noel. Before the latter used his Spiritual Energy, he needed to win.

Hence, Azgar hurriedly chased after Noel and made a diagonal swing from above.

This time, Noel tried something different. Instead of dodging the attack, Noel parried this attack with his sword. But the result was expected. Azgar's strength overwhelmed Noel's and immediately pushed his sword back.

His sword continued making its way toward Noel's neck. Unbeknownst to him, Noel used the force that he used to his own advantage.

With the sword still clashing, Noel used it as a support to tilt his body in the direction the sword moved.

This way, Noel ended up falling to his knees with his body tilted almost ninety degrees.

Azgar smirked as he thought he was winning, but because of his huge and muscular body, Noel's body disappeared from his vision due to him dropping to his knees.

When everyone thought Noel would be in disadvantage after this exchange, they were shocked by Noel's adaptability.

In fact, Noel intentionally put himself in this condition.

Now that he had disappeared from Azgar's vision, he spun his body and raised his right foot, kicking Azgar on the head.

"Wha—" Azgar widened his eyes when his head was already tilted due to the kick. The sharp pain jolted his brain, making his body tremble and losing its balance.

Using this opportunity, Noel continued pushing his kick to the side until Azgar fell to the ground.

"Kh!" Azgar gritted his teeth and saw Noel rising from the ground as if he had won.

The only way to avoid losing this fight, Azgar hurriedly swung his sword even if his body refused to move.

Luckily, he somehow managed to swing his sword to Noel's feet, forcing the latter to jump.

However, Noel had pointed his sword at Azgar to stab him from above.

Azgar hurriedly rolled a few times to avoid the attack before rising from the ground. While stabilizing his body, he pointed his sword at Noel to keep him at bay.

On the other hand, Noel took another deep breath to calm his heart down. It was clear that Ardagan's swordsmanship appeared to be useful even in a battle like this. If he applied the swordsmanship while using the Spiritual Energy, it would become even more powerful.

The entire battle had been in Noel's favor.

"As expected, Noel Ardagan is strong even without Spiritual Energy."

"His swordsmanship is among the best."

"Still, his strength and speed are lower than us if not for the Spiritual Energy."

"But he has been improving by leaps and bounds. This means the longer we wait, the stronger he'll become."

"We need to challenge him as soon as possible, huh?"

The people started talking about the battle as the few rounds they exchanged were truly extraordinary. It was the swordsmanship that had been polished every time he challenged Anna.

Although Noel didn't want to admit it, Anna's swordsmanship was currently far superior than his. The experience he got in each spar was a huge boost in his stability.

And now, Noel had been utilizing everything he had learned to control the entire fight.

Even Anna couldn't help but smile, thinking, 'As expected, he's a genius, might be more than me. If his start wasn't that low, he would have surpassed me.'

Noel and Azgar continued their clash for another few rounds. Every time Azgar attacked, Noel skillfully blocked or repelled it before making an opportunity to deliver a counterattack.

Azgar managed to avoid some of them, but bruises started appearing on his body.

With the way things were going, it was clear that Noel would defeat Azgar without using his Spiritual Energy.

*Bang!*

Their swords clashed once again as Noel prepared to back down to avoid his strength again. However, Azgar did something different this time.

When their swords clashed, Azgar smirked as his head slightly leaned toward Noel. He opened his mouth, whispering something to Noel.

Noel widened his eyes in shock when he heard those words. His body trembled. He was clearly shaken by the words he told him.

'An opening!' Azgar thought. That news truly shocked him to the point it gave such an opening. He smirked and struck Noel's sword. He would have blown Noel's sword away if Noel didn't have a good swordsmanship foundation.

Still, with both hands above his head, Noel wouldn't be able to block his next attack.

He swung his sword once again to deliver the killing blow, but Noel's reflex was beyond his expectation. Even at the last moment, Noel managed to swing his sword once again, stopping his sword.

But his expression was still in clear shock. Azgar took advantage of it to let go one of his hand and punched Noel in the stomach.

"!!!" Noel felt the fluid in his stomach rise as he spat out some acid before getting launched into the air and falling to the ground. "Gah!"