No one really knew what the reddish aura meant. Not one but Juliet, who was staring at Jacob open-mouthed. She felt the same ripple she had felt the day they had fought against the Mantis realm Charybdis.

How could Jacob so casually use the same move that had killed the strongest entity they had met so far?

Because it wasn’t exactly the same.

During the one-month recovery, Jacob had fine-tuned his Sword Aura in order for it to be better controlled. Now, he was using less than one-tenth of the power he had been using during the battle against the Charybdis. Plus, his body had become much more resilient thanks to the Alchemic concoctions he had been eating—ingesting. Now, he could easily fight on pair with any Beginner Great Stage Mantis realm. He could not take on Juliet or Helena in his current state, but Geneva was ‘only’ at the 4th level of the Mantis realm.

In theory, he would need to use more power than this to defeat Geneva. In theory, at least. But, in reality, Jacob rarely made a contest of raw power out of a duel. So, even a tenth of a million of his Sword Aura should be enough.

Aura Synchronization, 0.0000001%

“Look! He did something to himself; he’s red now!”

“It looks kind of cool, but it won’t help him win against Geneva. Maybe he’s some sort of a Berserker like the ones in videogames?”

“Or maybe it’s a buff of some sort he can apply to himself? Maybe he’s some sort of shaman?”

“Well, anyway, he’s in for a bad awakening.”

Jacob snorted at the people laughing behind his back.

Newbies.

Geneva, instead, was now frowning. She was starting to develop a Sixth Sense for fighting battles, not unlike the one Jacob possessed.

And she could vaguely feel that the person in front of her had just jumped a whole realm, landing somewhere in the Mantis realm. Of course, her senses were barely able to catch that since she was still an amateur, but it was enough to make her incredibly serious.

Apart from Juliet and Helena, no one currently knew what had transpired in Fort Mountain. No one knew that the one who had ruthlessly killed the Mantis realm Charybdis was Jacob. Everyone told mighty tales of Frederick, and Jacob had even started working on a statue of the guy.

Jacob was not about fame and recognition. But he wasn’t the type of person to not take a spar seriously.

“Geneva, don’t get too close!” Juliet shouted.

Wow, she’s bad. Playing for the other team, Juliet?

Jacob frowned and shrugged it off. It was fair enough.

Some people looked at levels as good indicators of how a duel could go. Masters, instead, looked at much more. Anyone with a bit of sense already knew the outcome of this spar.

COME ON, LOSING TIME WITH AN AMATEUR? CUT HER ARM OFF TO TEACH HER A LESSON, MPF! THIS GREAT ONE—THIS KEVIN DOESN’T STAND WASTING ITS OWN TIME. COME ON—

“Ready?” she asked with a more conservative stance now.

“Whenever you feel like losing,” Jacob grinned.

Geneva put a foot forward to get the ball rolling but immediately jumped backward as soon as Jacob slightly moved his sword. She grimaced and tried again; this time, she wielded the halberd closer to her body in favor of speed over power.

Once again, Jacob slightly shifted his posture, and she backed off again immediately.

“What’s happening?” a guy asked from the crowd.

“Is she feinting? Why’s she not attacking? She is usually relentless and ruthless!”

“Maybe she wants to play with him?”

“But she never does that!”

It’s incredible. She can feel it, Jacob smiled. He marveled at the natural battling talent of the woman. Her instincts had already reached the minimum threshold to earn his respect as a warrior.

She had just developed the same primitive instinct for attack and defense. Jacob had unknowingly poured his own intent in his stance – it was a rookie move, but he had never felt like hiding it in the presence of newbies. Obviously, when battling masters, giving away your next attack can very well get you killed.

Jacob exhaled and hid his intent this time.

Geneva felt the great pressure from Jacob finally relent, and she attacked. Unfortunately, her vision went dark the next second.

When the woman opened her eyes again, she was on the ground, with a hand stretched toward her in her field of vision.

“Well, not bad,” Jacob acknowledged the progress, “but remember, when you fight an opponent who is too strong, you should just run. There is no shame in recognizing which battles you cannot win. Let this be a lesson for you, Geneva.”

He helped her on her feet, but she was still confused.

“How did you do it? I don’t even remember fainting,” she was furious with her own ineptitude.

“I struck your solar plexus with the hilt of my sword. You opened yourself for a fraction of a second, and I simply sprinted inside your guard. That’s it, nothing fancy.”

Jacob made it sound so easy that she was frankly speechless.

Truth be told, only the great experience he had and the fact that she was still too green to be a real warrior made it possible. If Geneva had had even a third of his experience, he would have lost without a doubt.

People all around were speechless. Louise, Joseph’s only teammate, was clinging to his sleeve with nervous excitement.

Aunt Linda showed her little cult how a master should pose, telling them that Jacob had just given them the perfect display of overbearing force.

Most people, though, were simply staring. They stared at Jacob, and the gears in their heads turned, suddenly swapping the position of the strongest warrior in St. Peter from Geneva to him.