"Are you done transmuting your weapon?" Kyran asked with a smile that did not reach his eyes.


    Kairo''s eyes widened in surprise. It was one thing if Kyran had used the word ''summoning,'' but he used the term ''transmuting.''


    This...


    Even the audience who heard Kyran thought they had misheard him.


    An undaunted smile soon reced Kairo''s surprised expression, and he said, "Oh? I did not think you would realize my trick."


    Gasps of surprise filled the gallery. They did not mishear Kyran after all! But transmute? Most of them were mages and would not misuse that word. Did it mean that Kairo was actually...?


    Kyran shrugged and said, "Was it meant to be a secret? It was too obvious. I thought you wanted everyone to know."


    Kairo''s brow twitched. Before he could fully react, Kyran had already made a move and ran toward him.


    Light golden magic arrays appeared and circled Kyran''s forearms and lower legs.


    "Humph," he sneered. Did this kid think he could take him by surprise? How immature.


    When Kyran ran toward Kairo, his speed was still average. When the magic arrays appeared, his speed doubled, and he managed to cross the remaining twenty-five meters in a second!


    Instinctively, Kairo shed out his long sword, drawing a ming arc before him.


    Kyran bent backwards, avoiding the ming arc by a hair. After which, he twisted his waist, letting his upper body face the ground while sending his right leg at the side of Kairo''s head.


    Seeing Kyran''s iing kick, Kairo gritted his teeth, barely avoiding it by lifting his chin and pulling back his head.


    The tip of Kyran''s toes brushed past Kairo''s chin, grazing him slightly.


    But Kyran did not stop after this. As soon as he missed, he dropped his hands on the ground, used them to turn his whole body forcefully, and then sent out his other leg. With the help of his hands, he stretched his body further to maximize the range his leg could reach.


    "Ngh!" Kairo raised his ming long sword to deflect Kyran''s other leg.


    Ding!


    "What--? Gah!"


    A momentary surprise caused Kairo to receive the brunt of Kyran''s kick and was sent flying a few meters to the side.


    The audience was shocked. From their view, they clearly saw Kairo''s long sword touching Kyran''s calf. But instead of getting sliced, Kairo''s long sword bounced back after hitting what sounded like solid metal.


    Blood trickled down Kairo''s lips from receiving Kyran''s kick. The hit ignited his fighting intent, and his eyes glowed brighter. His magic energy rising. He pierced the ming long sword on the arena''s floor to break his momentum.


    Meanwhile, after sessfully kicking Kairo sideways, Kyran did not stay idle. He dropped to his feet and immediately went after Kairo. The strength with which he dashed forward left a deep crack on the arena''s floor.


    Seeing the approaching Kyran, the mes on Kairo''s long sword burst in different directions, filling the arena''s floor with a sea of mes in a matter of two seconds.


    Before the mes could reach Kyran, he had already jumped. Then he arched his back and pulled back his right arm, preparing tounch a punch.


    Kairo, who finally regained his bnce, looked up. He unpierced his long sword on the ground and jumped, meeting Kyran in midair. He waved his ming long sword horizontally, sending out another ming arc at Kyran. But Kairo did not stop at this. Using the ming arc as cover, he pressed onward and followed up a normal strike.


    Ignoring the iing ming arc, Kyran sent out his right fist.


    DIIIING!


    As if Kairo''s long sword and Kyran''s fists were made of metal, a loud metal sound rang out. A shockwave followed, resulting in the sea of mes below being blown away.


    With both attacks ending up in a draw, the two separated andnded on the ground with a loud thud.


    When the two had separated, most of the audience finally managed to let out the breath they unknowingly held back. Some instinctively looked at the timer above and were shocked to realize that the exchange between the two had happened in only eight seconds!


    Kairo''s brow furrowed as he stared at Kyran in disbelief.


    "You..." he started through gritted teeth. "Howe your skin is as hard as metal? What kind of physique do you have?"


    Twice he tried to slice him but failed, and both times he heard a metallic sound during the collision.


    Earlier, Kyran summoned his magic arrays and let them circle his arms and legs. Obviously, he used his Strengthening magic to strengthen parts of his body. It was due to this strengthening that he was able to speed up and increase his physical strength. But could his innate magic really make his skin as hard as metal?


    It was unfortunate that Kairo failed to realize that the magic arrays Kyran summoned did nothing. The reason for Kyran''s burst of speed and strength, as well as his physical defence, was because of his Body Tempering technique.


    Kyran only replied with raised brows and a small smile. Without further ado, he ran toward Kairo again.


    Kairo''s stood up and summoned a one-and-a-half meter radius magic array before him. Several short swords appeared within the magic array''s border and circled behind him. He raised his ming sword in a clockwise motion, and as it passed through a short sword, its des burst into mes. After that, he also charged forward to meet Kyran, the short swords hovering right before him.


    With a wave of his hand, Kairo let the short swords fly toward Kyran.


    Kyran seeing the iing short swords, did not pause. Instead, he met each one and struck it with his fist and leg.


    Ching! Ching! Ching!


    Every short sword he hit had fallen to the ground with a loud ng. Some of them also pierced the floor.


    Kairo, who was still advancing, waved his long sword several times in midair and sent out me shes at Kyran. At the same time, he summoned more short swords and ignited their des with mes before sending them out at Kyran as well.


    Kyran deftly dodged the iing me shes while also hitting the short swords that came at him in different directions.


    Most of the audience was stunned at Kyran''s disy. It was as if they were watching abat specialist performing acrobatic stunts. Some already had their jaw hanging open at how agile and skilful Kyran could move around, dodging the me shes and hitting the sword shorts.


    "Tsk," Kairo gritted his teeth after witnessing Kyran''s movements.


    He waved his long sword again, sending out more me shes and summoning more short des. However, no matter how many times he did this or how many me shes and short swords he threw out, he still could notnd a hit on Kyran!


    Kyran''s movement was not something a normal mage could do! As a matter of fact, even an experiencedbat mage or abat specialist would not be able to move like him. Kairo''s short des and me shes were not only embued by Fire magic. They were also embued with Wind magic. Just by this, their skin would be torn even if someone tried to dodge the shes or the swords. Their clothes would also end up getting shredded to pieces!


    As the rain of ming short swords and me shes continued, Kyran started getting annoyed. Was Kairo nning to continue attacking him like this?


    Truth be told, Kyran was waiting for Kairo to summon the ming whirlwind. Earlier, Styx could not do anything apart from enduring the attack''s mes. It made Kyran wonder just how fierce it was. After that, he nned on breaking it just to despise Kairo.


    However, Kairo did not seem keen on using it. Or could he only summon the ming whirlwind because of the two long swords he had used? Regardless of the answer, Kyran decided not to dwell on it. He had some things to do, after all.


    When he finished hitting the previous set of me shes and short swords, Kyran bent his knees andunched himself at Kairo. All the while ignoring the iing shes and swords.


    On the other hand, Kairo was only ten to fifteen meters away and continuously summoned the short swords or shed out me attacks using the ming long sword.


    As soon as Kairo spotted Kyran ignoring his multiple attacks, he pierced the long sword on the ground. A two-meter radius red magic array span out, with the long sword and Kairo standing in the middle. Weblike cracks spread out on the arena''s floor. From within the cracked floor, mes spew out.


    Boom!


    Kyran, who had been ignoring the cracks, did not realize mes woulde out of them and failed to avoid the mes'' eruption.


    Gasps of surprise spread throughout the gallery. Even the Conve council members, watching the match from the executive booth, were shocked.