Mourad wasn't worried that he'll accidentally kill the woman in front of him.

He was fully in control of that stab and he's planning to stop his sword if he noticed that she's unable to dodge. It would be enough to tap her throat to gain a point for the match.

​​

However, since the lady managed to react quickly, he decided to continue with his thrust and intimidate her.

Everyone who is watching their fight was perhaps confused about Vinete's action just now... They have probably seen him move forward while Vinete did nothing...

'Hmph... The trick might be seen by the observers... But the one facing me is definitely confused. I can do this.'

Mourad encouraged himself as he knows that Vinete's Mu no Kamae is a troublesome technique. He can't allow her to control the pace of this combat...

Since Vinete was already out of her perfect form, Mourad decided to test her strength…

Pah! Pah! Pah!

Renzoku Waza…

It's three quick sword strikes and almost all of them landed at the lady… Luckily, she managed to jump away and was only hit on her shoulder…

'Ugh… Annoying… How did he reach me so quickly?!'

Vinete complained a little as she stabilized herself.

'Hmph! Don't be so cocky… I'll be returning the favor.' Vinete took a deep breath as she continued using her Mu no Kamae. However, instead of staying on her shizentai, she decided to continue moving forward.

She's using Ayumi-Ashi while on her Mu no Kamae!

This is such a rare sight and everyone wanted to see what she was about to do.

On the other hand, they saw Mourad returned to his stabbing form as he pointed it again at Vinete. It was like he's about to jump on her with a thrust…

The young man also started emitting a bit of bloodlust. It wasn't strong but it can be felt by the target…

Pah! Pah!

This time, Mourad decided not to use his Seigan. He's still inexperienced using such high-level technique to a moving target… At the moment, he can only confidently do this trick to unmoving opponents like how Vinete acted before. Now, it seems that Vinete managed to fight against his Seigan Stance without her noticing it…

Thud! Thud!

Finally, as soon as Vinete grasp the rhythm of their sword fight, the terror of Mu no Kamae was unleashed!

Sword strikes coming from multiple directions came as Mourad was unable to launch an attack and could only try to dodge or parry her swings…

***

The elders of the three Villages saw the incredible fight between the two…

They've only exchanged a few sword strikes but it was enough to realize that the two were on a different level.

Their execution of attacks wasn't clumsy and their techniques were all well polished. Aside from that, their aura isn't yet being manifested but they can feel that it is slowly forming as they continue with their battle…

The Aura they are referring to is called the Imp Aura. Apparently, it should only be seen if they have achieved full control of their Imp's bloodline… So this is such an amazing sight for them since the youngest member of their clan that has attained this level was already 34 years old.

However, the two in front of them are already showing signs of achieving it! This is such an incredible discovery! And they can only think of one thing that helped them achieved this, it is the appearance of the five guardians!

Perhaps, allowing them to handle the younger generation was the best decision they've ever made.

'Vinete and Mourad, I have to see whether there are more of them…'

'These instructors are amazing… If they continued teaching for a year or two, perhaps we will have a lot of strong fighters and we can try to expand our lands.'

'But this is dangerous… Our recovery arcane magic is not that good, they can't be injured in this assessment…'

The elders had their own thoughts as they saw the exciting battle between the two… After seeing their performance, they know that the two are taking this seriously and they might get injured just to get a chance to summon their Arcana…

Haa!

They heard the two clashing in the midst of the platform…

Pah!

Their swords crossed with each other as they used their momentum in hopes of pushing the enemy away…

The elders were unaware but both of them executed Taiatari at the same time!

Taiatari is not popular among the practitioners here since they don't think that they'll be able to use this against the Evil Beasts…

This technique is executed by attacking using your sword and then ramming into your opponent… It is a technique that is not rare to be seen in Kendo since the opponents are humans who can easily lose their balance.

However, if this technique is used against some four-legged beasts, it wouldn't be as effective and they'll just probably hurt their bodies and get injured…

***

Saira looked at her older brother fight against the strongest practitioner at Reboroz Village.

She was shocked as she stared blankly at the two's battle.

Her true intention to have him participate was just to make him work harder. She had seen her brother as someone who doesn't take things seriously and would always find a way to make his work a lot easier.

Because she has seen her brother's friends working hard and practicing the sword style every day with full of conviction, she felt that her brother should try it as well, so he can get a higher rank in the assessments or get recognized by the five guardians.

In that way, she would be able to brag about it to her friends.

However, it didn't occur to her that her brother was actually really cool when using the sword! His stance was also mesmerizing with that stabbing form!

Then, she heard her friends behind her…

"Whoa~ Saira! Your brother is so cool! I heard she's fighting against the top 1 in another village…"

"He might actually win this!"

"I bet that he'll win this… I think that the girl's arm is too small. I don't think that she'll last against your brother."

"Yeah… Can you hear the impact of their sword clash? I'm sure that their hands are numbing already…"

Saira smirked after listening to them. She then prayed a bit to the Nine Imp gods for them to guide her brother and become very strong to defeat all of his opponents today.

***

Finally, after fighting for more than five minutes, the winner between the two was decided!

Mourad gained 5 points first while Vinete managed to get 4 points.

It was Mourad's win but everyone knows that the battle was too close and Vinete could've won if she didn't carelessly let Mourad get a point in the beginning.

'This is bad… I've shown almost all I've learned from Master Reiji…'

Mourad thought as he rested on the floor.

The battle was extremely tough and he became extremely suspicious… He guessed that this girl was indeed his Master Reiji's student as well…

'Haa~ I wonder how many students did he accept…' Mourad mused as he looked at Vinete…

She's staring at her but she doesn't seem to be angry…

'I guess she realized that I'm a direct student as well… I guess it won't be that difficult to guess…'

Then, Mourad looked at the two other practitioners that were likely to be his master's student as well.

To his surprise, they were also staring at him and even smirking a little.

He can only shake his head as he focused on regaining his strength.

'Hmm?'

He suddenly felt another gaze locking on his and glance in its direction. He noticed that it is from an elder of their village…

'Ugh… This is bad… I hope he forgets about me…'

Mourad knows that the elder would surely remember his name after seeing his performance. However, there's nothing that he could do about it. It's not like he would be immediately put into risky missions after realizing his strength.

Anyway, he can only try to get stronger so he would no longer have to worry about the evil beasts outside, and perhaps he could even explore the world with his little sister…

"Next!"

Ruthren called for the next practitioners as another 10 of them went to the platforms…

"Eh?"

Mourad and the others from the Bhibra Village were a bit surprised after seeing the match-up at Platform 3…

It would be a match between Droltob and Vrogh, two of the triplets from their village. The two don't seem to be surprised as they have probably already exchanged information a while ago.

Then, Mourad saw Imane and Stasis, the two other suspected students of Master Reiji, as they walked in Platform 1 and Platform 5…

'Tsk… They should've fought against each other… So unfair…' Mourad thought as he wanted to see their secrets as well…

After all, he saw their average opponents for this round and he felt that it wouldn't be a challenge to them and they wouldn't be forced to show their real strength.