As Death Calling stared down his opponent, trying to pry into the secrets of his opponent, his heart entered a tumultuous state. One of his favourite weapons, intent, seemed to have little to no effect at all.

A battle between Truthseekers was one that involved Intent often, because Intent was a key component of Truth. Every Truthseeker could utilise intent, but not every user with Intent could use Truth.

Even though Death Calling was still low levelled and had a weak mind, he felt he should have been able to cover his opponent with some sort of suppression. He had slaughtered thousands upon thousands of creatures over a long period of time and his killing intent had started to slowly conceal along with his Truth.

'I can't only use Truth as a killing blow in one fatal hit, so I will avoid using it needlessly. For now, I will slowly test the waters. But he doesn't seem to tough'

The young assassin was still quite confident in his skill, and considering his identity, one could understand why.

"Ladies and gentlemen. The first duel is about to begin!"

Hercules figure appeared in the skies above the duo addressing the crowd in holographic form. And of course, he was pumping weights. His voice was loud but one could tell it was not because he was shouting, but because of the way the sound system had been set up. There was a rippling echo that excited the crowd causing them to enter a frenzy. Cheers erupted as the heroic figure of the most popular Prince of Olympus appeared in the crowd.

Women swooned while warriors raised their fists in respect. The younger one's had stars in their eyes, hoping to one day be able to emulate the man's feats. Ascending to divinity from being a mortal. Granted Hercules was a demigod but his journey was anything but easy.

…

Within the observation booth that Michael and his team were in, the atmosphere became a little bit intense. It was only the first round, but a talent from an enemy nation had already appeared.

"Melissa, what's your take on this?"

Michael's question was welcome as the group was a bit confused. They were trying to comprehend why on earth such a scenario had occurred. He had a ridiculously embarrassing name. He had no face to show and was clearly hiding his identity, despite the fact that he was just a state lord.

'There are only two things I know for sure."

Even Sonny could not help but perk up his ears, he was smart, but only when he had information to work with. Melissa on the other hand could get to the crux of an issue in seconds.

"Firstly, he is quite strong. To have reached this stage is already quite impressive. Everyone in here knows that to use Truth as a mage is much harder than as a warrior. Because mages need to have a deep amount of studying in spell matrices before they could get a decent result. Where as warriors just need to focus on form and the 'feel' of their technique. So all they need is physical resources and a good teacher. Mages need those things and lots of time studying as well.

With water mages this is even worse because water magic is diverse and has water matrices which have countless permutations. As you know, matrices take the traits of the elements they focus on. Fire and water matrices can be tricky because fire and water are formless and ever changing. Water can even change states of matter and is a universal solvent necessary for biological life.

A truth seeking water mage is an incredibly rare sight. Making it this far means he is clearly a combat mage. Hence he should not be one to look down upon."

Hope nodded her head in agreement. "I'm a water mage so I can tell you, she is very correct. My talent in Truth is decent but my attribute is too hard to harmonise because there is simply too much for me to learn. Technique, intent and energy have to be in their perfect states relevant to your cultivation level. Water type mages will always suffer because our spells rarely reach perfected states. In return we have many types of spells we can use to fight. The universe is fair in this regard."

"Then what is the second thing you noticed?"asked a curious Isabel.

"Secondly, Hercules did not mock his name."

Even the usually cheeky Hope lost her grin when Isabel spoke. The whole room became quiet as they thought about what she had just said. Hercules was an arrogant man who often mocked those who considered themselves above their station. This was not the first time he had hosted an event as the MC.

Many a time he had mocked countless usernames with equal meanings such as Unrestrained Realm Sweeper or Supreme Empyrean of the Nine Heavens. He always had a stoic expression but he had quite the sense of humour. But he had not mocked Will's name at all.

"Your highness, this has many implications! I can't even begin to-"

"Relax Sonny, first we must observe this battle carefully. The previous orders have changed. Isabel, Hope and Melissa, focus on the mage while we will focus on Death Calling. We need to get a clear picture of their abilities, because if they both survive this battle, we will have to face them in Fafnir's grave."

"Yes your highness!"

"Understood brother."

Michael's face welcomed a rare show of nervousness as he observed the proceedings.

'Hercules actually called an independent State Lord of a small territory on a developing world strong. Just what is that man?'

The words developing world were quite ambiguous and made Michael nervous because it could mean anything from Lower Worlds to Middle Worlds.

'If he is from a Lower World…' Michael started to feel childish curiosity in regards to the upcoming battle.

…

Death Calling stared daggers at Will. He was sufficiently creeped out by what he saw. Nevertheless he distanced himself a 100 metres away from Will, who stood still and did nothing.

As the seconds passed, the air thickened with the desire for blood. Death Calling was using his time to build up qi in his body. The Eternal Night Code was the secret manual for internal members of their nation. It was decently known and had quite a few skills. One of them he was using now.

"Night Reinforcement."

As soon as Death Calling had spoken, his body greedily sucked in World Energy as he increased his overall abilities, from speed, agility and strength, all got a temporary boost. The disadvantage was that this technique was weak in lit areas and weakened the user afterwards for a period of time. But they would get 10 hours of rest between each battle so it was fine.

'Not to mention I haven't even touched any of my medicinal pills.'

Death Calling was not underestimating his opponent, but he was extremely confident in victory. Who here was not a State Lord? That was the minimum requirement to become level 75. Although Hercules not mocking the name caught him off guard as well, he still fancied his chances.

'Can he see through that mask? Or does he perceive the world through other senses such as sound or smell? Maybe vibration?'

…

"He Is using Night Reinforcement from the get go, at least he isn't underestimating his opponent." said Sonny with an approving nod.

"His opponent on the other hand."

Will did nothing besides just standing there. His arms were straight by his sides. No expression could be seen, but his stance was a bit strict and upright. He gave the impression that he came from a strict military background.

There was no chant, no build up of World Energy or Mana. He was just standing there, in his normal state.