UNLIMITED SPEED

Noah stood atop the grey stage with a colder-than-cold expression. His eyes swept the environment outside the room and found that it was mostly plain apart from the glass screen up in the walls which probably featured the tier 4 cultivators.

Returning his focus to the stage, his cold gaze fell on the two individuals spread out before him, and he cursed again. Although he disliked that situation he preferred it to being disqualified.

The countdown this time around had been raised to thirty seconds, and the time for the battle had been increased to eighteen minutes, but neither of the three individuals cared so much about those details.

Each expert had begun to prepare a plan seeing as they would be required to split their focus between two opponents.

Noah according to his base cultivation was weaker than the two of them, who had power very close to the peak of the middle stage.

One wielded a giant sword and was a bit bulky. While the other held in his grip a long sword. Both individuals radiated an aura that told him they had been with those weapons too long.

The countdown ended and all three figures vanished from their positions.

Noah clashed with the bulky man mid-air, and he didn't hesitate to perform a back flip dodging the thrusting blow of the other man.

The attack landed on the giant sword of the bulky expert and managed to push him back a few steps, but the ground experienced cracks in the process.

Noah landed on a position a bit distant from the two figures, then the sword Elder Sarah had given him appeared in his hand. He would need it to deal with both men.

"I am Aiden of the Divine Lightning guild, I'm sorry but I'll be winning this battle," he announced unsheathing the sword and entering a seeming battle stance with it.

His figure disappeared at that point catching both individuals off guard. He ran at a speed their eyes couldn't follow and he did so casually.

Noah appeared behind the giant-sworded expert, but the man sensed him and swung his blade towards him in panic. Unfortunately, Noah moved and a knee smashed into his face mid-swing.

Shockingly, however, the expert refused to drop his sword as he balanced himself and moved to perform a sword technique after the first one had been interrupted.

He delivered an ascending slash towards Noah's figure, but to his dismay, he had disappeared from his position.

Noah appeared behind the bulky man, his peripherals already on the second man who was dashing toward him.

Sending a kick behind the man's right knee, Noah shattered the bones within it, disabling his next move.

His focus moved to the second man at that point, and all he had to say was "First form"

The fear of death reached the expert's mind in that instant. Noah executed the first form at point blank. He had never expected such rapid attacks from such a small figure.

An explosion of sheer force resounded in the whole place at that juncture as the bloodied figure of the second man flew out of the blast radius and crashed into the white barrier.

Noah without caring about the fact that he had almost killed someone, turned to face the bulky man.

The expert had returned to his feet, but Noah placed his sword between his teeth and proceed to execute the first form on the said man. But unlike the first time, he utilized only his fists.

Another explosion, this time more spectacular than the first occurred, and a dense mist formed as a result of his execution.

Noah spotted the bulky man flying out of the mist barely conscious, but pain suddenly exploded on a spot closer to his hips.

With shock filling his mind he stared at his back and saw a sword had pierced him, almost side to side.

Blood flowed out of his mouth and a frown appeared on his eyebrows. His eyes fell on the long-sworded expert he had sent flying the first time.

His hand was raised meaning he had thrown the blade at him, but there was something more. His figure had started to bleed badly then it dawned on Noah, that he was dying. The execution of the first form with his sword had dealt serious wounds to him.

Shooting his gaze towards the glass screen in the distance, he desired to say something, but the bulky man began to approach him.

The expert tried to slam his large sword on Noah's figure, but astonishment filled his mind when he saw that Noah bent into an unnatural position effectively dodging the slamming swing.

Noah's figure sprung back up an instant later, but he didn't immediately attack. He stood a bit; worried about the bleeding man. He feared the possibility of a punishment if he ended up dying.

Thankfully, however, a series of masked men rushed to the scene.

Noah could focus at that point, but he got rid of the sword inside him before throwing it toward one of the masked men. A bit over 4k worth of speed essence vanished to repair the injury.

"There's no reason to continue," Noah's voice sounded. "I'm stronger than you."

"I'll rather die than quit. I have come here to test my strength against the experts of the other guilds, fight me," the man responded keeping track of the damage Noah's extraordinary attacks had caused him. His years of training turned into nothing before one execution of the man's martial art.

Noah kept quiet at that point and nodded. He understood what the expert meant so his aura flared. "I'll show you a bit more then. Just don't die," he announced, slowly setting his sword before him. The bulky man did the same.

Noah moved at that point, and their spar began. It seemed being in pain allowed the man to focus his movements on dodging and attacking at the same time.

Noah's movements were radical and absolutely random, but he began to time them and successfully began to parry his strikes.

Noah of course held back by a lot, but he began to have fun fighting the man anyway. His figure continued to disappear and appear to no end, he even started to attack mid-air.

Their swords clashing continued to increase in intensity and soon heavy sparks flew about madly. It felt shocking to Noah that such a small sword could withstand that level of power. He went wild after confirming that his weapon wouldn't randomly crumble and drowned himself in the pleasure of participating in a battle where one wrong step could mean his death.

Noah eventually had to end it, however. "I had fun," he announced to the barely standing expert.

"While I've had my eyes opened to the monsters out there," the bulky man responded, even if his eyes were mostly closed due to the level of fatigue he had fallen into. Noah praised his resilience, however. They would rival him if the man had access to better energy.

"Then let's end this," Noah smiled crouching. His nostrils drew in an incredible amount of air.

"Second form," he muttered then he stomped the ground causing huge cracks to spread on the stage, after which his figure vanished to appear behind the barely standing expert. His figure had flashed in two places, but it had been brief.

A loud clanging sound reached Noah's ears as the man fell in pain. A long cut stretching from his chest to his waist appeared on his figure, and it made him desire unconsciousness.

Storing his sword, Noah watched as masked men rushed to move the expert away. He had won the battle.

"At least show me your face." the man said halting the masked men.

'How can he even still talk,' a wide smile grew on Noah's face as he uncovered his face and watched an astonished expression appear on the expert's face.

"I'm Sirius, by the way. I hope we meet another time. I'll be rooting for you," Sirius explained while the men carried him away, his words leaving Noah with a wider smile.

"Me too," he replied with a wave.