A massive army was assembled in front of Resonance City.
After the joint military exercise, the Terravalleans woke up early and had already finished their preparations for a long journey toward the Terravallean Capital, Braxford City.
"Hmmph! You and your warriors better not lose your edge just because we're going home!"
"Ha! We don't need you to stay motivated! Me and my warriors are always hungry for improvement!"
Helena and Geraint stood face to face as they bid each other goodbye.
Although they were still arguing here and there, their friendship has grown over the past few days.
In addition to this, after understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses, their respect for each other grew.
Seeing the "friendlier" interaction between the two, Blanc smiled. He then looked towards Grand Marshal Geraint and said
"Grand Marshal Geraint, I would like to thank you and your army for participating in a joint military exercise with Resonance City's army."
"It was our honor to be able to participate in a joint military exercise with the warriors of Resonance City. Having such dependable allies will surely reassure me and my king."
Geraint replied as he slightly bowed at Blanc.
"Well then, City Lord Blanc, until we meet again! Men! Towards the capital!"
Geraint said as he slowly turned around and ordered his army to start their march towards their homeland.
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In a life-and-death duel arena somewhere inside a city of a tier 2 kingdom, two combatants were locked in a fierce battle.
The crowd cheered wildly in excitement while others even placed their bets on who would win.
Inside the arena, killing your opponent is perfectly legal since they've signed a life-death waiver before they are allowed to participate.
Watching life-and-death duels in the arena while eating and drinking is one of the favorite hobbies of the nobles in this tier 2 kingdom.
Not only were they winning or losing large amounts of money in bets, but some of the more "sick in the head" ones even purchased specific items or body parts from the defeated participants
However, in this arena, such disgusting acts are all legal.
A truly sickening place.
After a few more moments, the battle in the middle of the life-and-death arena was nearing its end.
Shockingly, both of the participants were Swordmasters!
They both activated their sword intent and charged at each other. One participant looked emotionless and focused while the other one seemed a bit nervous.
*SPURT*
The crowd erupted in cheers as the nervous fighter was beheaded by the emotionless one.
Some of the nobles smashed their tables in anger and frustration while the other nobles celebrated.
"Match is over! The winner is the Swordmaster from the unknown lands! Leif Adler!"
Leif emotionlessly swung his blade one more time to remove the blood dripping from his sword before returning it to its sheathe.
He then looked in the direction of Resonance City and smiled.
Leif finally managed to conquer his inner demons by participating in this life-and-death arena multiple times.
This wasn't the first time that he fought against swordmasters and the most dangerous battle of his life two months ago helped him break through.
He reminisced about the time when he was drowning in insecurity and laughed mockingly at himself.
After breaking through to Swordmaster, he finally learned that he wasn't inferior to Alexander at all when it came to swordsmanship.
His defeats were all caused by his weak and fragile mentality. Fortunately, he had already overcame his greatest weakness so he looked forward to sparring against Alexander again.
Leif walked towards the Arena's office and took out a badge. He then returned the badge to the guy at the counter.
"Oh? Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, thank you for letting me have the chance to fight in this arena. I would surely return one day to participate again."
The guy at the counter smiled at Leif.
"Alright then! You are one of the rising stars in this arena so losing you would be quite a huge blow but we don't stop our warriors from leaving whenever they want so you can go now. Thank you for your service in this arena!"
Leif smiled and nodded at the guy before finally leaving the office. He then looked towards the direction of Resonance City again.
"I wonder how those guys are doing right now?"
Leif thought to himself as he boarded a horse carriage headed towards the Dumont Dukedom.
It was time for him to go back.
Hello, I have a busy schedule today so I could only upload one chapter, thank you for understanding.
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I would greatly appreciate it if you guys could use some of your precious power stones to vote for my work and give it a small boost! Thanks a lot in advance <3