The Author's POV

Descending down the elevator

I quickly headed towards where the changing rooms were located. Suddenly, just as I was about to enter the changing room, an official guild member wearing a black suit stopped me.

Frowning, pointing towards my name tag, I said in a somewhat disgruntled voice.

"I'm the one participating in the fight, can't you see?"

"Haha, it's not that. If you want to get changed you must head to another room"

Pointing to my right, the man pointed at a pathway next to the main entrance.

"Oh, thank you."

Thanking the man, I walked in the direction he pointed at and soon arrived at my assigned waiting room.

[Waiting Room 3]

Entering the changing room, I walked in and sat down on a random seat.

"Fuuu...."

Letting out a long breath, I prepared my mind for what was to come.

From what I've gathered, my opponent, Alex Cloudburm was a spear user whose rank was a rank lower than mine.

Meaning that I was stronger than him. At least stats-wise.

...Coming into this match. I decided that apart from using the [Keiki style] I would go all out. Meaning that I was about to expose my rank.

After thinking for a bit, I decided that pretending to be weak all the time wasn't something that would benefit me. At least not when I wasn't in the lock.

There was no longer a need for me to stop myself from exposing a part of my abilities. It was fine to expose some of it. Not all of it, but some of it.

...and that's exactly what I was planning.

Recalling Alex's arrogant face as he looked at me in disgust, I was sure I wasn't going to pull any punches in our fight today.

...I made up my mind to absolutely destroy and humiliate him in front of everyone present.

I needed to destroy Martin's rising momentum and give my father some breathing space. And the only way to achieve this was through thoroughly beating the crap out of Alex.

Beat him to the point where he would forever remember the humiliation.

Fortunately for him, before the match was decided, I had told my dad to block people from taking videos or photos of the match, saving him from future humiliations.

When I asked my dad for this request, he initially thought that it was because I was afraid of it spreading on the web, but my reason couldn't be any more different...I wanted to leave a bit of leeway for myself in case I would be forced to use the [Keiki style] to win.

If videos of our fight were to be exposed to the world to see, though unlikely, there was bound to be someone out there who would be able to recognize what sword art I practiced.

Chances were that once exposed, my family would definitely be put in danger.

that I would need to use the [Keiki style] for my current spar, I just wanted to reduce any chances

...

Galxicus, stadium

a more modern version of the Colosseum. The central arena was split into three squared platforms, while the stands started

amongst the guild members as there would

at the top of the stadium giving a clear picture of what was happening in the arenas for the spectators to see. Because

duel, the guest seats were packed full of people. Because of the earlier

son losing miserably to Alex to spread, whilst others thought it was because he didn't want people to find out about the internal struggles happening within the

not being able to take photos or videos since they weren't expecting a decent match to begin

"Can Ren do it?"

glass cube, a few individuals

the arena, Samantha Dover glanced at her husband and

"I believe in him..."

Dover too

was extremely nervous. This fact was quickly picked up by his wife who

ago,

be a tough match for

"Hmph"

rows behind Ronald, Martin arrogantly looked at the arena below him as he sipped on

in his hands, Martin

your son can last long enough for this to actually be considered

"..."

his eyes on the arena causing Martin to clench his teeth in

son in front of the whole guild. I

"It's starting."

"…Tsk."

his arms and leaned against the back of the seat. From the way he was smiling, it was obvious that he was

between the Vice-guild master and guild master

middle of the arena, a middle-aged man equipped with a headset and a microphone,

be a duel between Vice-guild master representative, Alex Cloudburm,

the crowd in suspense, the host

rated as a D ranked talent overcome Alex Cloudburm who

confused expression as he said the last bit.

don't lose me just yet crowd. Did you know that Ren Dover over here is also a student at the lock? Yes, the most prestigious academy that there

the host tried his best to hype up the match as

whole arena. The blue film which was created out of mana was made to prevent the shockwaves from the

see big

Nola couldn't help but shout as soon as

cheer for

the right passageway, Samantha Dover

'Please be safe...'

...

"Are you ready?"

"…Yes."

staff, I walked up

rumbustious cheers

-Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I was about to get adjusted to the cheers, an even more boisterous round of cheers engulfed the entire