Kanoru's second fight was not particularly difficult. His opponent was a man wearing a golden mech, resembling a general clad in shimmering golden armor, wielding a spear.
Kanoru defeated him easily, using the same hot wind technique he had used against Wu Hou.
However, the third fight was different.
His opponent, Chen Zhi, stood at a distance. When the referee declared the fight, flames erupted around Chen Zhi's body.
As the fire dispersed, Chen Zhi's form had changed—in his place stood a blue flame wolf, with a wolf's head and a humanoid body. His hands were no longer human; instead, razor-sharp claws extended from his fingers.
From the crowd, Kanoru heard the murmurs:
"Blue Flame Wolf!"
Chen Zhi waved his hand, and a towering firewall of blue flames ignited between them.
Kanoru noticed the sand beneath the firewall starting to crystallize from the intense heat.
Moments later, massive fireballs came hurtling toward him.
Kanoru saw an opportunity—this was the perfect practice ground to refine his ability to generate hot winds.
With each incoming fireball, he countered with a wind blade, effortlessly shattering them in mid-air.
Seeing his attacks failing, Chen Zhi's eyes narrowed.
He began to murmur a chant, then thrust both palms forward.
From his hands, twin streams of blue fire shot out like flamethrowers, not at Kanoru, but into the existing firewall, feeding it.
The flames surged, rising higher, the heat intensifying. Even from a distance, Kanoru could feel the scorching waves washing over him.
From the blazing firewall, blue fire wolves emerged, their forms flickering and snarling.
Kanoru watched them calmly, realizing he had nothing more to learn from this fight.
Without hesitation, he began swinging his sword relentlessly, sending wind blade after wind blade through the battlefield.
The flaming wolves lunged at him but were cut down—each requiring five to six wind blades to be fully destroyed.
Desperate, Chen Zhi retreated behind the blue firewall, using it as a defense.
But Kanoru's wind blades easily sliced through the flames, sending slashes of cutting wind toward Chen Zhi.
As deep cuts appeared on his body, Chen Zhi's eyes filled with fury.
With a feral roar, he charged toward Kanoru, claws outstretched, swinging viciously.
Kanoru's eyes narrowed as Chen Zhi lunged at him, claws outstretched. The heat radiating from the blue flame wolf form pressed down on him, making the air shimmer with waves of searing intensity.
He could feel his skin prickling from the heat, his breaths growing shallow. The temperature around Chen Zhi was so intense that ripples formed in the air, distorting his movements like a mirage.
But Kanoru remained calm.
Instead of backing away, he stepped forward, facing the overwhelming heat head-on.
With a swift motion, he swung his sword in a circle around himself, conjuring a protective vortex of wind. The gale swirled tightly around his body, forming an invisible barrier.
The scorching heat could no longer reach him. The winds cooled his skin, creating a buffer zone between him and the blazing aura of the blue flame wolf.
Chen Zhi's claws slashed down.
Kanoru tilted his head, narrowly dodging. The claws grazed his cheek, leaving a faint burn, but he didn't flinch.
He stepped in, sword flashing.
The fight turned into a blinding flurry of strikes.
Chen Zhi's claws lashed out in rapid slashes, each swipe carrying the roaring heat of blue fire. But Kanoru's sword met each strike with precise, fluid movements—a parry, a counter, a thrust.
Sparks danced in the air as the blade clashed against the claw, sending embers scattering with every impact.
Kanoru moved with effortless grace, his footwork sharp and agile, using the wind barrier to keep himself light and fast. He would twist and pivot, sidestepping each feral lunge with just a breath of space.
Chen Zhi's movements grew faster, his claws a blur, but Kanoru matched him—blow for blow.
Then, Kanoru's gaze sharpened.
He had seen it.
The slight hitch in Chen Zhi's step after each slash—the briefest opening, a vulnerability.
Kanoru's lips curled into a faint smile.
He shifted his stance, lowering his body slightly, holding his sword with both hands. His blade glided in fluid arcs, weaving and slashing in patterns that mimicked the wolves' lunging and sweeping strikes.
He was adopting Chen Zhi's wolf style.
Each strike became faster, wilder, yet precise, slashing and twisting like the claws of a beast.
For a brief moment, the crowd fell silent, sensing the shift in the fight.
Chen Zhi's eyes widened as he realized Kanoru was matching his style but with far greater precision.
Kanoru's sword blurred, the movements seamless and feral.
He sidestepped a lunge, twisted mid-air, and slashed downward. Chen Zhi barely blocked with his claw but stumbled back, disoriented.
Kanoru didn't stop.
He advanced, his sword flowing with the wild grace of a wolf, his footwork swift and predatory.
Then, in the final strike, something changed.
As Kanoru lunged forward, a phantom black wolf appeared behind him—a shadowy manifestation with glowing red eyes and a sleek, muscular form.
The wolf's ethereal presence let out a deep, bone-chilling howl.
The sound resonated through the arena, sending a shiver down the crowd's spine.
The phantom wolf lunged forward, merging with Kanoru's sword, making the blade pulse with dark energy.
With a single, fluid motion, Kanoru slashed diagonally, the wolf's spirit guiding the strike.
The blade cut through the blue flame wolf form, severing Chen Zhi's spell.
The flames scattered, dissipating into the air.
Chen Zhi staggered back, his human form re-emerging, clutching his chest, where a deep gash now marked him.
He fell to his knees, his breath ragged, staring wide-eyed at Kanoru.
Kanoru's sword, now sheathing the black wolf's essence, hummed faintly before returning to normal.
Without another word, Kanoru turned around, walking away as Chen Zhi collapsed, defeated.
The arena fell into stunned silence, then erupted into thunderous cheers.
Gu Mingzhu's eyes glimmered with pride in the royal stands, while her cousin's smug expression faltered.
The girl with the mole sneered, but her voice lacked the earlier confidence.
"There are still seven more fights," she muttered, trying to mask her uncertainty.
Gu Mingzhu simply smiled softly, her eyes never leaving Kanoru's calm, unwavering figure.
With this victory, Kanoru had mastered another sword style, leaving only three more to learn.
The new mastery strengthened his control over his body and sharpened his command over the wind. He could now manipulate the wind to release a howl or hiss—mimicking the eerie sounds of wild beasts.
He knew that if he fully grasped all five sword styles, he would be able to unleash five distinct sounds, allowing him to comprehend nature-sound—the essence of swordsmanship that merges power with the voice of the elements.
Determined, he decided to prioritize his sword skills, using the power of wind only as support.
---
The fourth fight pitted him against a warrior in a white stone form, a massive and lumbering figure with colossal strength. Kanoru's sword danced around the slow, crushing blows, his movements sharp and fluid. With a series of precise strikes, he shattered the stone body, leaving his opponent collapsed on the arena's cracked ground.
The fifth fight was against an opponent in a Stone Mantis form—agile and unpredictable. The mantis' bladed limbs slashed with blinding speed, but Kanoru's footwork and blade control were flawless. He parried and countered with precise strikes, gradually dismantling the mantis form piece by piece until his foe was left defeated and disarmed.
In the sixth fight, he faced a warrior in a knight's armor made of red vines, wielding a thorned whip laced with poison. The poisoned thorns tore through the ground and lashed at him with deadly precision. Kanoru, however, remained calm, dodging with effortless precision. He relied on clean swordsmanship, striking only when needed, and with one swift, decisive slash, he severed the thorned whip and cleaved through the vine armor, sending his opponent crashing to the ground.
The seventh fight brought a Black Iron armor form with a lion head and human body, radiating sheer brute force. The opponent's roaring strikes shook the arena, sending shockwaves through the sand. Kanoru met him head-on, his sword clashing against the iron claws. Though the lion's strength was immense, Kanoru's blade precision and flawless parries chipped away at the armor piece by piece, until he finally delivered a decisive slash, sending his opponent sprawling in defeat.
The eighth fight was against a sand avatar, a warrior who was an expert in sand spells. The arena was filled with swirling sandstorms, obscuring Kanoru's vision. His opponent conjured sand spears and whirling torrents, making it impossible to rely on sight alone. Kanoru closed his eyes, feeling the flow of the wind. Using his heightened senses, he slipped through the sand traps and countered with swift, precise strikes. His sword pierced through the sand avatar's core, scattering the form into grains.
The ninth was against a warrior in a white-silver metal armor form, with razor-sharp claws and unrelenting ferocity. The metal claws tore through the ground, sending shards of stone and sand flying. The warrior's relentless assault forced Kanoru to rely on pure skill, deflecting the strikes with expert parries and narrowly dodging the razor-sharp swipes.
With a sudden burst of speed, Kanoru surged forward, weaving through the storm of claws. In a single, decisive strike, he cut through the silver armor, leaving a deep gash in his opponent's chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
The tenth and final fight was against a warlock whose avatar form was a construct of red flame, its body covered in snake-like scales that shimmered with heat.
The flame serpent slithered across the arena, leaving a trail of searing fire in its wake. Waves of heat radiated from its form, distorting the air and scorching the sand beneath it.
Kanoru, however, remained calm and composed. Relying solely on his sword skills, he weaved through the serpent's fiery strikes with fluid movements.
When the flame construct lunged, he sidestepped effortlessly, his blade slicing through the scaled flames with precise, controlled strikes. Each cut dispersed parts of the fiery form, gradually weakening it.
Finally, with a decisive burst of speed, Kanoru closed the distance and unleashed a flurry of swift, seamless slashes, his sword cutting through the flame serpent's core.
The construct shattered into embers and smoke, and the warlock staggered back, defeated.
Once again, Kanoru emerged victorious, relying purely on his swordsmanship without invoking the power of the wind.
---
Though Kanoru emerged victorious in every battle, he failed to master any of the remaining sword styles.
Nonetheless, he felt no frustration.
Each fight sharpened his skills, honed his instincts, and brought him closer to mastering the essence of swordsmanship. With three sword styles left to master, he knew that greater challenges still lay ahead.