Hearing what this old man said, Danzel felt his none existence guts turning upside down and twisting around.

He had already experienced Agare's speed and strength the moment he met him together with Velkir.

If it weren't for Velkir stopping that old man, his neck would be laying on the ground.

If they were to fight, it wouldn't even be a spar!

The strength difference was just that big.

Alas, Danzel decided to agree on the spar.

"Very well..." Danzel answered with a cold voice.

Not only did he not have any other choice, but Danzel doubted that Agares would kill him.

The sole reason for this doesn't was the fact that he was still standing with his head attached to where it was supposed to be.

If Agares had the intention to kill him, he wouldn't have wasted his time talking that he came in peace.

Even if it was to lower his guard, Danzel believed that there wasnt a need to lower his guard, to begin with. If the old man wanted, he could kill him regardless of his intentions.

`So a fight is unavoidable... Danzel thought as he cursed his luck.

He scanned the distance between the two and where the other house was and he concluded that running away was also pointless.

It would take him only a few seconds to run back, at worse it would take him 10 seconds at his best.

Though it was fast, he doubted he could make it if the old man aimed to kill him here.

`As long as I manage to injure him...as long as I activate [Mortal Reminder], I might be able to escape!

Danzel doubted that either Velkir or Azrael would let him die and lose the chance to get some runed items from him. Although he wasnt too sure about Azrael, he believed that the Lich would save him after makings a deal with him

"You said you wanted a spar, right? Fine! Then I will give it to you!"

As soon as his words came out, though out his body his dark green mana started to surround him with his hand and sword being engulfed with a large amount of dead mana.

Raising his now cursed sword, he didnt stop there.

The dead mana channeled by his sword escaped through the air and started to form balls of dead mana that were much stronger than before thanks to his sword art.

One the first [Death Blast] appeared, the next appeared closely followed by a third. Making three balls of dead mana floating above him.

For a moment, the dead mana channeled in his sword went out to make another [Death Blast], but mid-forming the spell collapsed.

"Ugh, thats the limit?" Danzel mumbled to himself before raising his feet and stepping forward with all his strength.

*Bouf~

The nearby sand was pushed to the side and Agares felt a slight tremor under his feet. But even after watching Danzel preparing spells, he shows any signs of moving.

`I just need one opening! With that in mind, Danzel sends out the three [Death Blast]s towards his target. But he himself didnt stay idle to his spot.

Activating [Swift Movements] and [Shield Charge], he dashed forward with incredible speed, he was so fast that he overtaken his own three [Death Blast]s.

It took him a mere second to close the distance and be only 6 meters away from Agares. Even after emitting an intense killing intent, Agares had the same indifferent expression on his face. He simply gripped the handle of his scythe sword with both hands.

"A frontal charge?" Agares said with a slightly amused tone.

Danzel knew that this wont be enough, but he still had something up his sleeve.

Using the enchantment of his sand emperors blade, the sand under Agares feet shifted away like quicksand and the nearby sand jumped around his feet in the attempt to drag him done.

For a split second, Agares was surprised to find the sand itself trying to bury him alive. But he scoffed at the attempt itself and a wave of his mana generated a big burst of wind, making the nearby sand on his feet to be blown away.

"You will need something much stronger to hold me down." Agares comments with an amused tone before his and Danzel's sword meet with each other.

*Thinnnk!

A loud sound of metals echoed around the desert with sparks appearing under the night.

If one looked from the distance, one would assume that those two were equal, but that couldnt be more wrong.

Once their swords met, Danzel felt like swinging at an understructure wall of metal.

All his build-up momentum disappeared and he was left without being able to affect Agares's sword at all.

Opening his status window, using the hand holding his shield, he spends the remaining 24 attribute points in his strength.

But even after feeling his strength increasing, it was a hopeless attempt.

Agares didnt miss the sudden chance of strength, but compared to his strength, it was just a drop of water inside the sea.

"Unlike your looks suggest, you are quite fast for your level, but the same doesnt go for your strength." Agares commend, before gazing at the three-ball of dead mana closing towards him.

Pushing Danzel's blade away and swinging once more while he took a step back, Agares made Danzel block his strike while creating enough distance between those two.

The [Death Blast]s had already passed Danzel and were only a few meters away from crushing Agares.

Taking the same position that looked similar to a Te Ura Gasumi stance, an almost invisible light was going through the scythe sword.

Facing the three [Death Blast]s from right, left, and in front of him, Agares gazed turned ice cold.

"Sword Art-" Mumbling something behind his mask, the light became more noticeable.

And under Danzel's gaze, his connection towards his [Death Blast]s was severed and the three balls of dead mana were cut in half before exploding like balloons. The mana making the spell work faded in the air.

Looking dumbfounded at what just happend, Danzel would even gulp his saliva if he had any.

Everything happend in an instant.

What he found most disturbing about this was that all three of his [Death Blast]s were destroyed simultaneously.

He couldnt say for sure, but for a single moment he could swear that out of Agares's sword, another three came out and split his [Death Blast]s.

He couldnt say for sure because of how fast it was, but the three swords didnt look like the scythe sword of that old man, instead, they looked like usual curved swords with the same length (Imagine a Nodachi with less handle and more blade).

While he was trying to process what happend, Agares's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Your use of spells isnt that bad, but it seems you waste too many movements with your sword."

Danzel thought out his confusion and the monologue of the possible senile old man had already a [Gale Mana Blade] preparing the whole time.

Swinging his sword, the dark green wind blade towards Agares while splitting the ground. As he did that he speed up right behind the wind blade.

Staring at that, Agares pointed his large scythe sword towards the dark green wind blade with one hand before the similarly faint glow appeared on the scythe sword.

Similar to before, the light brightens up for a split second.

What happend next was the dark wind blade crumpling from its center.

Feeling the sudden danger coming towards him, Danzel halted his steps and pushed his shield towards where the danger was coming with the assistance of his [Vanguards Defense] skill.

The next second, he felt a massive blow hitting his shield, so strong that he was being pushed back a few meters and almost falling to the ground.

"What the..." Dumbfounded, he stared at his shield, only to find no projectile or anything the like.

He felt as if he got hit by a bolt by a ballista at point-blank range.

And that was understating the power behind that sudden attack.

"Mhm, it seems like you got some nice reflexes under you. Your judgment of danger isnt half bad." Agares said as he slowly walked towards Danzel.

In the next moment, upon Danzel's watchful gaze, Agares disappeared from his location and appeared in front of him without realizing it.

"!!!"

Surprised, he swung his blade at him, only to be blocked by Agares scythe sword.

Pushing Danzel's sword away, Agares swung once more with incredible speed towards Danzel, the speed of Agares was just enough for Danzel to raise his shield with the help of [Vanguards Defense] and block the swing.

The swing was so heavy that he thought that his arm bone will get dislocated.

Staring at Danzel indifferently, Agares stepped back and pulled his sword back from his shield.

With his scythe sword tip being reversed curved, he directly pulled Danzel's shield towards him, which resulted in him being pulled too.

It was such an unexpected move from such an unorthodox weapon that Danzel didnt see it coming.

With his footing lost and his chest wide open, Agares raised his leg and kicked him directly at his chest plate so fast that Danzel didnt even have the chance to use his [Armor Mana Plating] skill.

The kick was so strong that Danzel was sent flying several meters before meeting and rolling to the ground like a rag doll.

"Dammit..." Cursing at one of his broken ribs, Danzel stabbed his sword into the sand and rose up.

Before he could relax though, he felt an intense feeling of danger coming toward him.

To his surprise, without making any sound Agares was in front of him with his sword held up in the air with both hands.

Feeling the gelatin aiming at his head, Danzel swiftly raised his shield.

*Think!

Feeling the overwhelming pressure from his shield, he gritted his teeth and thrust his sword toward Agares's stomach.

Agares in turn only step slightly to the side while raising his sword and swinging once more at a speed that was barely for Danzel to respond to.

Soon out of the few swings and clashes, several minutes passed with Danzel trying to fend off Agares swing with everything he had while trying to fight back, but regardless of any of his attacks, the old man either dodged them using only the necessary movement or just blocking them with his scythe sword.

Upon the hellish clash of the two, the 5 minutes soon turned into 10 before even those turned into 30 minutes.

Then it happend.

[You received 5000 XP]

"!!??"

With Danzel using all his focus to fend off Agares, the moment the XP notification appeared, Danzel for a split second lost his focus.

Once he remembers the intense feeling of danger, Agares scythe sword hit his sword near the handle with enough strength to drop it off his hand,

With sparks reigniting, Danzel's sword flew through the air and stapped the ground several feet away from him.

With no weapon in his hand, Agares instantly swung his scythe sword towards his neck, but albeit stopping inched away before decapitating him.

Once his scythe sword stopped, the wind generated by Agare's swing pushed the nearby sand away.

"Why did you lose focus? If I didnt stop my sword, your head wouldnt have been in place." Agares said with a harsh tone, similar to a teacher watching his student fail his exam because of a stupid mistake.

"..." Danzel in response was dead silent.

Staring at the blade in his neck and then at the notification that made him lose his focus, he felt both confused and bitter.

Bitter because though all this time, Agares was merely toying with him and that he could kill him any time he wanted.

And confused about the appearance of notification.

`Why did I gain the same XP I gain when I train? It hasnt even been an hour yet.

While trying to think for a reason, a sudden thought appeared in his mind.

`Did I receive my training reward faster because I fought with Agares?

The fight was so intense that it paled in comparison to when he trained alone so he thought that maybe that was the reason for the sudden XP notification.

`Does that mean if I train with someone else, I will gain faster XP?

Once that thought crossed his mind, Danzel's gaze towards Agares changed.

Walking a few steps back away from the sword on his neck, Danzel made [Hand of Mana Affinity] appear and pick his sword for him.

Agares in response silently stared at what he was doing.

Having his sword back in his hand, it was Danzel this time that pointed his blade toward Agares.

"I might even make a mistake, but that wont happend the next time."

"Lets continue our spar, after all...the night is still young."

Saying that Danzel charge at Agares who had a wry smile behind his silver mask.

*Thinnk!

The two who had hidden intentions in mind clashed with their sword once more.

And the echoes of their clash went until the day of tomorrow.