Facing the hooded person, Kelf told him, ‘I don’t know who you are, but I will not underestimate you.’

It was not a meaningless conversation as one might think it was. He had wanted to see his reply. The way he replied might give an insight to the character and habits of the opponent. Of course, this was like taking a chance. Because, from the way things went, the kid would not even talk in the first place. Was he a mute? Or was he simply quiet in the first place? It did not looked like he was a quiet person though.

A smile appeared on the face of the kid. The fight started. The kid appeared behind Kelf but a pillar of ice formed immediately after that, blocking the attack. It was as if Kelf had expected that to happen.

‘There is no need to change tactics if it work every single time,’ Kelf had thought to himself, regarding the kid.

Yes, going all out and doing a surprise attack was a very efficient way of fighting. Because in this kind of fight where both got ready, if one was not well-trained enough or not fast enough, it would almost be impossible to get to the opponent’s back in an instant and deliver the critical hit. As such, everyone expected the opponent to charge directly, or at the very least attack from the front, where the eyes could see.

But the previous battle showed that the kid had both speed and technique. What he lacked was only strength. So, in a way, Kelf had guessed he would do something like that. It was a good move. But if a surprise was discovered, a surprise attack would not be a surprise anymore. A technique which always worked was good, but if a technique was repeated again to those who saw it, then it was as good as asking the enemy to prepare an ambush for you.

The pillar of ice had full of ice spikes on it. The kid managed not to hit it. As one hand pushed himself away from the pillar another hand took out a whip and with one smack the ice pillar got smashed into pieces. Jumping away, he avoided the ice spikes which came falling down from the sky.

The whip flew up and changed the direction of the ice spikes towards Kelf. Just before they hit Kelf they turned into water and fell to the floor. But behind that water came the whip flying towards him. He avoided it and the whip smashed the tree behind him into pieces.

People were amazed that a small kid was actually on par with an adult. The pace of the fight was very fast. It was as if they were professionals fighting who knew exactly what to do at any given situation without the need to consider and think about it.

What they did not know was at any high level fights, thinking was absolutely necessary. It was just that the 2 people had been through many fights, and through that, gained enough experience and so their thought processes were relatively faster than most people.

The kid did not stop after each attack. Like what Xel had taught Xue, this kid was following up every attack until he had determined the man in front of him was down. But of course, the man in front would not go down that easily. He was afterall, a survival of the previous rounds of trials which were meant to take down the weaklings.

Forming an ice sword Kelf began to swing it down to cut the whip. But the whip had something like long and flexible blades coming out from the sides and caught the sword. Immediately after the sword was secured and bounded to the whip, he attempted to fling the sword away but Kelf’s grip was tight. He did not have the strength to overthrow an adult body.

A kid’s body, was afterall, not fully developed. No matter how much he had trained, there would be a limit. The same applies to all humans. But for adults, it gave them a higher limit.

Kelf was impressed. His skills were good, his speed was extraordinary, his reactions were fast, and his thinking was above average. Just that he lacked the strength. If he had more strength, who knows, what new techniques he might come up with.

Currently all the techniques he had used did not require a lot of strength. It seemed that he had known his own weakness and devised the correct but still limited usage of the weapon. In a way, his full potential was not reached yet.

Now both weapons were tangled together. Forming another ice sword he began to cut down on the whip again. But the blades that came out from the whip and caught the ice sword went back and now the whip was freed. He aimed for the hand of Kelf but managed only to hit the block of ice which appeared ablove the area under attack, protecting him. Kelf had no injuries.

High above the seats of the audiences another hooded kid was looking at the battle and thought: the people here are good. If I were truly wanting to accomplish my goal, I would have to work harder. These people might be my enemies one day and I might have to fight them. It was a correct decision to send one down to test the fighting capabilities of these people.

Still going at each other without relenting for a moment, as if their fight would not pause or stop until one of them went down, Kelf said, ‘Your hood is irritating, I’m going to take that down and see how you look like.’

Of course it had nothing to do with whether the hood was irritating. It was just a dressing. These 2 fighters down at the arena, both of their dressings stood out the most among all the competitors. Kelf probably had no right to make any comment about the kid’s sense of fashion, but that was just an excuse to take down the hood.

The hooded kid said nothing and began to start a new wave of attack again. He believed in surprise and continual attacks and not allowing the opponent to use their powers. Even if he had the most useful ability, it did not mean anything at all if he could not even display it and suffered a loss.

He hit the floor repeatedly, tearing the ground apart and flung the big pieces of hardened soil and rocks in all directions, giving both defence and offence. Kelf suddenly appeared very near him, past the rocks, and with the sword he went for the small face under the hood, not in an attempt to take down the hood, but more like an attempt to stab at that face. But the kid had already expected that. On the side of the whip which is flying in all directions came out a long blade which went towards Kelf.

Kelf stopped suddenly, as if the law of inertia was a crap theory which did not apply in real life, and the blade which was an extension of the whip shot past his face, missing him by less than an inch. Of course, that sudden stop was not predictable. It required a lot of skill to stop at the right time, and to make sure he really did stop. Stop a little earlier and the opponent would have enough time to change his direction of attack. Stop a little later and he would be dead. The timing was near perfect. Why was it not perfect?

Because there was no perfection in this world. For every course of action one took, there would be a slightly better course of action. And that would continue until it reaches the realm where human abilities were not able to perform the action. But for that move just now, according to human standards, it was already very close to perfection.

And as the blade shot past him, with his left hand extended towards the kid, a small finger movement from top to bottom with his index sealed the kid inside an icebox.

In that volume of box he is trapped in ice and coldness, unable to move. Still conscious, but trapped. Even if one had enough strength, one would not be able to break the ice if he could not even move a single bit. The ice had filled up every single bit of volume of that box, take away the volume occupied by the one inside.

Was it Kelf’s win? It certainly looked like it. Everyone thought so. How could the kid inside continue to fight? But that thought could not even last for a mere half second. Some of them had not even registered what was going on when the fight continued again.

Simply surprising. Even in this kind of condition, the kid could come up with a counter-attack, without the need to stop. Or maybe, he really did stop, for that half-second in the icebox. But for half a second to register and analyze his own situation, and to come out with a counter-attack, it was something even most adults could not do.

Many of the adults, who were supposedly to have more years of training compared to the kid, could not even match that small fellow there in terms of speed, reflexes, battle experience and battle intelligence. What on earth made that kid like that? Was he a genius? That half-second of thinking gave the kid a plan.

Kelf had made a mistake. When he sealed the kid, he did not seal all of him. The main part of the whip extended to outside the icebox. What he had sealed was the kid himself, and a part of the whip. But even so, there was no need to use that. Inside the ice more blades came out from the whip and forcefully tore the ice block apart. There was no need for him to move. The whip, which had more mana injected into it than the ice, could easily tear it apart.

That icebox was gone, and he jumped out as soon as he was able to. He began to shiver in cold. This time, he really stopped. That cold had temporarily numbed his body. Maybe, that would be a costly mistake if that was in the real battle. Or maybe that kid was not so good afterall that he had stopped, in the middle of a fight. Compared to the better fighters, this kid would still lose. Still, he was already amazing.

Kelf had to admit, at his age, he was still not able to form a single piece of ice in his hands. And for that moment of not moving, an ice sword flew towards him. He bent backwards. It was battle instinct. He needed to bend backwards so he was able to see front and up. If he bent forwards he could only see the ground and back. The fact Kelf was in front meant that the correct course of action would be the one he had taken. Kelf noted that and was impressed again that a kid actually applied all these. Any other kid would know the theory but few actually apply it in the middle of a fight. That was why he wanted to see his face and that was why he formed the ice block.

It was to create an opportunity so he could throw the ice sword and take out the hood. As he bent backwards more of his face was exposed. A small face, and a small mouth. But that was to be expected. He was still a kid. And as the ice sword flew and brought back the hood, long hair came out.

The hair reached to below the shoulders. Long, soft and silky hair. It flowed out as the hood which was keeping it in check was taken away.