The Arena was reminiscent of a boxing ring, except there were no ropes to prevent you from going over; just a pool of water on all sides. Noah had been brought to the arena by means of a stone pathway that materialized as they walked over the large pond full of crystal clear, shimmering water. Unfortunately, that stone pathway seemed as it never existed after Bulai, Sanaya and the two guards accompanying them retraced their steps back towards the viewing platform.

“Well, this is new,” Liam called out from behind, as Noah came face to face with the man he had, rather treacherously, replaced. Dressed in azure robes that concealed every inch of his body except his strikingly grey pupils and spiky black hair, the man glared at him with what was obvious hostility. Great, he was pissed.

“So….,” Noah mused, “You are the one that has challenged me? I am not sure whether to laud your bravery or laugh at your foolishness, but do not feel too disheartened when the inevitable outcome confronts you.”

“We shall see, young master,” The robed man replied, his tone icy and focused, enough to give Noah slight chills. This guy was serious business.

“The duel shall begin on the third strike of the gong,” one of Bulai’s guards called out, his voice loud enough to reach them over the pond.

The azure robed man unsheathed the exceptionally long katana that was easily 5 feet long and raised it above his head with both hands gripped tightly around it, causing Noah to give him an odd glance. Why raise the weapon for a strike before the fight even began? What were his intentions?

The first gong rang out.

The second gong rang out barely a second later.

“Oh, bollocks lad, that’s Wind Blade. Run!” Liam called out, and the pieces clicked together in Noah’s head.

The third gong rang out.

The Azure Robed man slashed his katana downward, causing a crescent shaped blade that seemed to be crafted with the blessings of the Wind God Himself, if such a deity existed, to explode in his direction at the speed of a bullet.

Noah remained standing in position, slashing his gladius towards the oncoming wind blade as if he had any hope of parrying it. The Azure robed man looked at Noah with shock, and then panic; killing a member of the San Sect would bring a calamity of unprecedented scale on their Sect.

The blade passed cleanly through Noah’s neck, causing his image to fade away into nothing. The azure robed man turned his gaze eastward, glimpsing at Noah’s silhouette that was coming for him while testing the limits of his dexterity.

Noah’s image burst into two figures once again, one that remained standing still with a blank expression on his face while the other changed directions and headed towards him from a different angle.

The Azure robed man slashed twice in rapid succession, causing two wind blades to hurl towards Noah’s moving figure; one directed towards his present location and the other aimed a meter forward, at his expected location.

The first wind blade missed, with inches to spare, while the second was a perfect bullseye, getting Noah through the waist. Once again, his image faded into nothingness, and the azure robed man realized that he had been tricked.

Noah was only fifteen meters away now, and the azure robed man was starting to show signs of panicking. He slashed parallel to the ground with a wide berth, hoping to defeat Noah with this blow. This time, he was on target, but an ice doppelganger materialized in front of him, absorbing the damage in his place. Two silhouettes materialized behind the ice doppelganger, heading towards the azure robed man from the left and right, in a vicious pincer attack.

The azure robed man yelled in frustration, and slashed in both directions vehemently. The real Noah was waiting for this moment, hidden behind the remnants of his doppelganger, choosing the moment where he’d committed to the first attack to charge at him faster than the speed of both his illusions combined.

A cocky grin rested on Noah’s face as he held the tip of his gladius near the azure robed man’s neck, tightly gripping his katana wielding arm with his other hand.

“Not bad,” Noah spoke with a condescending tone that made him look like a complete prick.

“Primordial…

“Back off lad!” Liam called out.

“… Spirit”

Noah hurriedly created distance as a puff of green smoke enveloped the azure robed man, Noah could hear the sound of fabric tearing. He gasped as the result of the transformation was revealed, his katana laying abandoned on the floor.

The man… or monster was covered in green scales from head to toe, the characteristic green eyes of a lizard replacing his human ones, with long, wickedly sharp nails poking out from his toes. Instead of hands, the ‘lizardman’ had a sharp, tapering blade protruding out from the bicep that looked positively deadly.

“You won the previous round. Hiss… care for a second one?” The previously azure robed man asked, looking at Noah with an intense gaze that wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer.

“You don’t want to do this,” Noah replied with an arrogant and demeaning tone that probably wasn’t helping the situation.

“Oh, but I insist,” The lizardman said with a hiss, looking at Noah with bloodthirst in his eyes.

“Bulai, try and save him,” Noah said, and with that warning white smoke enveloped him, hiding the transformation.

Moments later a fifteen-meter-tall giant was standing in front of the puny lizardman, reaching for the black void and pulling out a massive hammer.

“PUNY LIZARD, TITAN SQUASH YOU,” Noah bellowed, steam flowing out from his mouth as he spoke.

“SECT LEADER!!!” The man called out in panic, all traces of his previous dignity lost.

“MYRIAD ILLUSIONS,” The Titan bellowed, and three gigantic hammers that could blot out the sun, moon and sky materialized, smashing towards the ground with a titanic amount of force.

A loud crack echoed out, and Noah yelled boisterously as the arena broke into dozens of pieces.