CHAPTER 36: MARIA VS JORDAN.

With both contenders agreeing to a duel, the battle for the title of first commander was about to commence.

They both stood at opposite sides of the arena, already holding a weapon of their choice.

The arena was built for warriors to spar in when needed. Right now, it is used for just that.

Soldiers were curious to see how the battle would turn out and surrounded themselves around the arena. Most of them already had their hopes on Jordan.

A few of them, however, stood by the young lord’s warrior choice.

Considering all the feats he had attained in the barony so far, to doubt him in this felt almost forced.

Dorian, on the other hand, stood at the side, close to the crowd, where he could get a good view of the fight from Maria’s point.

So far, there were two things he had noticed before the fight had even begun.

One, Maria looked to be taking it too seriously. Ever since she stepped into the arena, her focus has been on Jordan.

Second, she refused to take any other weapon than her chipped sword. If he remembered correctly, that was the blade he bought for her from a street shop. She had only used it once to fight the monsters back then; there is no doubt it won’t do much in a battle.

’Is she having second thoughts? I won’t blame her for it; this might be her first battle in a while. I should watch for now.’

Back in the arena, Jordan had pulled down his double-bladed sword, a somewhat concerned look on his face.

"Young maiden," he yelled out to her, "To hit a lady is not in my principles; as such, I will try to go easy on you. But I must ask, why do this? I am sure you can see the disadvantage in our strengths."

Maria didn’t say a single word. She was locked in, her grip tightening around her blade as her eyes darkened.

Jordan glared at her rudeness, then he sighed.

He recalled Lord Dorian saying she was a Lord rank. Bullshit.

It said the hero who attained the Lord rank had a different aura around him. However, the same can’t be said for the woman before him.

Sure, she was intimidating, but that was about it.

"Fine, have it your way." Jordan leaned his upper body forward, about to launch himself, black mana surging around him. "I’ll finish this quickly so you don’t get too hurt!"

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, he had closed the distance between himself and Maria.

Yet, Maria was still calm, her eyes following his movement while her body stood still.

Jordan suddenly halted, taking a sharp turn to her side as he turned his blade to the blunt side, planning to knock Maria out.

Which didn’t go as planned.

Maria, once again, followed him with her eyes.

"You’re slow..." she muttered.

Her voice was low, but Jordan heard it. It left him in shock as he watched her raise her blade, ready to strike him.

To catch himself midair, he threw one of his blades at her, aiming directly at her head.

Maria slapped it to the side with her sword, sending it spinning towards the arena walls, inches away from a soldier’s head.

Maria kicked Jordan hard in the gut before his body had even touched the floor, before he could realize what had happened.

Luckily, he was able to block the full impact with his blade, but the force still sent him flying.

As his blade slid against the ground, he used his other hand to flip himself to his feet.

"Oh wow—" his eyes drifted to his bruised hand oozing with steam. "That is some kick—"

He looked forward and was immediately left speechless.

A trail of flames spread from where he was all the way to where he received the kick.

At first, he assumed she kicked him so hard that his hand started steaming, but after seeing this, he realized she used flames to increase her damage.

"If you are able to do something like this, then you have to be a Grandmaster," Jordan hardened his gaze.

"..."

Maria walked slowly towards him, her blade burning with blue flames.

"I see."

Jordan gripped his blade tightly, his mana surging even more.

"Then there is no reason for me to hold back!!!"

He charged forward, his entire body turning into a line of dark mana.

Maria did the same, as they clashed with a massive force.

They began fighting, slashing and dodging as they moved all over the place.

The audience watching were left in awe at the sight; not many of them could follow their movement.

One soldier, who was a Master Rank, suddenly spoke.

"That woman," he observed the fight for a while, "She is strong."

Another soldier, who was right beside him, argued.

"Yes, but now, she is on the defensive; Jordan has her cornered."

"You’re a fool."

"What?"

"Look closely, she is calm. Does that look like the face of someone having a hard time?"

The soldier who argued turned to look at the fight once more and saw how Maria was dodging every attack thrown her way while keeping a calm facade.

"No way, are you saying she is truly a Lord Rank like the young lord said?"

The calm soldier sighed, his arms folded, "This battle had already been decided the moment she drew her blade. It’s over."

A large gasp echoed as Jordan suddenly fell to the ground after Maria slammed the flat surface of her blade on his head.

He tried to get up and grab his blade when Maria suddenly stepped on his thighs with her heel and then aimed her broken sword at his neck.

His eyes shook with fear.

"I lost—" he whispered, clearly shocked.

Maria stared at him for a while, then she sighed, lifting her heels from his thighs.

"You are strong. I hope to work with you more in the future," she reached out.

Jordan smiled, grabbing her hands as he stood to his feet.

"I must confess, I don’t know what to say. I still find it hard that I lost," he scratched the back of his head. "But I am man enough to know when to give in. You have my respect, First Commander."

Maria was quick to pull her hand away from his shake, her eyes drifting to where Dorian was.

She could see how he was clapping as though he had just finished watching a 10/10 movie. As he clapped, the rest of the soldiers followed.

And soon, they were chanting—

"First Commander."

Maria glared.

"Kill me."