The moment he felt Vicente's magical power showing itself in its 'entirety', Ayden made a bitter expression, seeing the problem he had put himself in.",

'Shit! Now I can't give up or I'll seem incapable of facing challenges. But if I fight, I'll certainly lose in front of my men.' He thought to himself as he pointed his hammer in Vicente's direction.

'The only alternative I have here is not to fight with everything I've got!' He moved without using his skills, just using the magical body of his hammer.

Seeing his opponent attacking him like that, Vicente subtly smiled as he made his pentagrams disappear, seeing that the king would not take this fight to an exciting level.

'You want us to exchange normal blows, is that it?' He moved too, ready to use only his body against Ayden.

Vicente's magical form couldn't be used in the same way as Ayden's. He could certainly influence metals, earth and lightning even without using the powers of his pentagrams. But Vice couldn't use something like Ayden's hammer.

If he used all his powers, Vicente would overcome Ayden with ease. But in a limited fight, as this match proposed by the king seemed to be, the conditions between them were less unfavorable for the local monarch.

When Ayden arrived in front of Vicente, he attacked the young man as if he were trying to hammer a metal bar in a forge, beating the body in front of him.

Vicente dodged the attacks that could have reached his body, using a combination of his physical characteristicspowerful, because he has a good pentagram configurationwith his limited ability to manipulate metal.

Ayden's weapon was not made of metal, but of mana. Vicente couldn't affect it. However, there was enough metal in the king's body for the young Fuller to counterattack his opponent.

Feeling something strange in his body, the king made a strange expression, seeing how capable the boy in front of him was.

'You can manipulate my body even in these conditions? Impressive! You could probably kill me easily using all your powers!' the king thought to himself.

As the king attacked Vicente at high speed, the young Fuller suddenly stopped moving.

Ayden saw the smile on Vicente's face and didn't stop his attack aimed at the black-haired young man's chest, making everyone in the vicinity narrow their eyes as they watched the young Paragon silently telling everyone that he didn't need to defend himself against the king.

When he was hit hard in the chest, Vicente leaned back slightly, but expressed no pain.

When exchanging blows with the king a few moments ago, he had correctly gauged how much power Ayden had. By estimating his own physical capabilities in that brief fight, Vicente felt confident enough to accept such a blow.

His estimates were not wrong. He felt pain similar to the fracture of a bone when he let himself be attacked, but it didn't bring him down. Even before the enemy's weapon moved away from his chest, his bones and muscles began to recover.

Vicente clenched his fingers and prepared a punch, getting into a fighting stance, aiming for Ayden's left rib.

"Aagh!"

His movement was swift. By the time everyone realized what he had done, the king was taking steps backwards, feeling one of his ribs break as he emitted a restrained cry of pain.

"I believe this is my victory." Vicente said as he revealed his pentagrams, before pointing one of his hands at the king's body, stimulating Ayden's heart.

The people in the surrounding area, who didn't know Vicente yet, felt a little uncomfortable seeing him act like this. But before anyone could move, the king's expression improved, showing that things weren't as simple as they seemed.

'Such a skill?' The king was surprised to find himself no longer in pain, feeling his ribs recover to their best condition.

After Ayden was recovered and Vicente retracted his pentagrams, there was silence in the surroundings for a few seconds.

Then the king raised his head and let out a long sigh.

"It seems that the younger generation has already surpassed us. This victory is yours, Vicente Fuller." Ayden announced loud and clear, while a subtle smile formed on his face as he walked towards Vicente.

"You're a sensitive guy. Thanks for the fight." The king said in a low voice as he came very close to Vicente.

Vicente smiled and said. "We're not enemies. I had no reason to act otherwise. And, at the end of the day, I have to respect the older generation, right?"

Ayden closed his eyes as he accepted Vicente calling him old.

"You're an interesting fellow..." the king muttered before opening his eyes and focusing on the group of strangers in his city. "Anyway, I see you're not an enemy trying to take over my city, but what's the meaning of your passing through here?"

Vicente became more serious as the king's men approached him and the rest of his group. "I'm helping Trevora Kingdom so that the kingdom can help me."

"Oh? How exactly is that?" The Mid-level Paragon asked as he approached Vicente, scanning the young man much more cautiously now that he had seen Vice fight.

Vicente replied as he looked at the old man. "Some things I'm doing and will do, you'll only be able to understand by seeing. But for now, just understand that I am arming your soldiers and helping to establish secure borders.

Some may wonder, how does that help me, right? My domains are in the south of the continent. The stronger and more prepared to kill monsters the forces in the central region are, the fewer problems will reach my domains. That's my current primary aim.

Ultimately, just resisting monsters isn't enough. So as long as you can fight and grow, I can count on allies in case one day I go off to fight the enemy leaders directly."

Vicente's words were sensible and logical. The people in the king's entourage easily accepted his justification, only being curious what exactly Vicente's help was for their kingdom.

"To get a better look at what Senior Fuller is doing for us, please accompany us to the border of the kingdom." Esther said as she signaled toward the exit from Stormhold.