Sam hadn't used the full power of his Thunder Blade attack, so he had enough spiritual energy left, though the tornado itself was formidable—and direct contact would have seriously injured him.

At least now, Sam had a clear sense of Lisa's full power. Though she'd grown much stronger than he remembered, he was more confident in his chances to win.

'I'll have to go all out, or I'll lose.'

Lisa realized the same thing. Next, she began assaulting Sam continuously with her techniques.

It took time for her to form another tornado, so she needed to keep Sam at bay until then.

Before she could activate her next technique, what if Sam pushed her back? That was why she wanted to keep him at a distance, bombarding him with wind blades.

These blades were invisible to ordinary eyes, but Sam's shadow vision allowed him to see every one.

His quick reflexes let him dodge most of the attacks.

*******

In the medical room, Alexa and Fiona watched the fight, cheering for Sam. Both had smiles on their faces, confident that Sam was in little danger.

Anyone could tell that Lisa was running low on spiritual energy—she was tired and battered—while Sam remained relatively unscathed.

That alone made Alexa and Fiona hopeful for their friend's victory.

"He's really a mysterious guy. It would be great if he joined our family," Alexa's uncle commented.

Upon hearing this, Alexa blushed deeply, clearly embarrassed by her own train of thought.

"Oii!! Why are you blushing? Are you thinking inappropriate thoughts about Sam?"

Fiona teased Alexa, noticing her reaction and growing curious.

Still, even Fiona would be embarrassed if someone in her family suggested something similar.

Many families would arrange marriages to talented warriors like Sam, tying them to their families.

What if Alexa's parents considered it? What if even Fiona's parents did? The thought made her cheeks burn.

'Don't be ridiculous. You're just friends. You can't let yourself think that way,' Fiona told herself.

But she didn't realize that some relatives already had such plans. Since she was close to Sam, her family might use it as an advantage.

****

Forty-five minutes had passed since Lisa and Sam began fighting. Both were hurt, but Lisa's injuries were far worse—even her armor was cracked.

Still, she had no intention of giving up. She pushed herself, using every ounce of power in her techniques.

Her wind bullets and blades became even more ferocious. In merely a second, she could launch nearly twenty wind blades at Sam.

Sam countered with his Fast Slash, though it wasn't enough to parry them all.

The important thing was that his injuries were few—not just thanks to his armor, but to his formidable defense.

'I need to finish this fight as soon as possible,'

Sam thought. He was beginning to tire, and he knew he couldn't keep this up forever. He had to close in on Lisa and end it.

Suddenly, another surge of wind swept the battle ring, and more blades hurtled toward Sam.

Sam's expression hardened. Once again, he relied on his movement and sword techniques to defend himself.

Five minutes later, Sam had already destroyed all the wind blades, and even the wind flow vanished from the arena. But now was not the time to celebrate.

As expected, Lisa had been waiting for the perfect moment—and this was it. Suddenly, two tornadoes formed inside the ring.

Everything around the arena began to swirl toward the tornadoes. A powerful suction force, along with raging wind currents, swept across the place.

Even the shattered pieces of the battle ring were pulled into the tornadoes.

Realizing the sudden danger, Sam grew deadly serious. Intense energy surged around him—he no longer wanted to hold back and began channeling as much spiritual energy as he could.

In the next second, his blade was coated in a layer of thunder—it felt as if he now wielded a true thunder sword.

Not only that, his entire body became enveloped in crackling thunder.

Sam paid no heed to the spectacle. Without hesitation, he swung his sword at the tornadoes.

He slashed five times in quick succession, sending five thunderous sword waves hurtling toward both tornadoes.

Moments later, a massive collision shook the battle ring. It was as if an explosion had erupted, only without fire—but the destructive force was still there.

Even the remaining structure of the battle ring began to break apart. Both participants struggled to keep their footing.

But how long could they endure such overwhelming power? The impact was not to be underestimated.

After a brief yet tense pause,

A thick cloud of dust enveloped the ring. Spectators strained to see who had emerged victorious. Unfortunately, with so much smoke and debris, no one could tell what had happened.

All they knew was that the medical team had already leapt into action.

As the smoke began to clear, people finally spotted Lisa—she now lay outside the ruins of the battle ring.

Although the ring was completely destroyed, none of its debris had landed on her.

She was stretched out on the ground, receiving treatment from the medical team.

On the other hand, Sam still stood, battered but conscious, inside the ring. The intensity of the previous collision had clearly taken a toll on him.

He did not resist as the medical warriors began to heal his wounds. After a while, the referee approached and officially declared Sam the winner.

The announcement seemed to snap the audience back to reality. Instantly, they erupted into cheers and applause for Sam—and for Lisa as well.

It had been an intense match, one that kept everyone guessing until the very end. Most of all, the crowd was awed by Sam's true strength.

He was anything but weak—in fact, he was far stronger than Lisa.

Even though people did not know about his blessing, after this match people have realised his blessing is also strong. Without a strong blessing like Lisa he would not be able to create that kind of destruction.