Aside from Victoria, Michael wasn't going to cheer for the Masters since he didn't have the time to get to know any.

However, that didn't mean he was going to miss the chance to inspect their overall powers. Even if the strongest Masters would be akin to children in his eyes, it was still important to know where the overall power of humanity lay.

With most Masters being awarded a general position, it was essential that they were in tip-top shape.

"Begin!"

Hearing the signal, the two Masters pounced on each other. Under the unparalleled power the two held, the arena shook but remained whole.

"Holy shit!"

"I can't see anything!"

"A human can move that fast?!"

The gathered soldiers were both inspired and frightened. All of them were human, so there was a chance that they might manage to achieve such powers one day. Yet the more they thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed.

"Did I waste my money coming here?"

To their dismay, the moves of the Masters were simply too fast to follow with the naked eye. While they could still catch glimpses of the silhouettes of Experts, the Masters were a different matter.

The only indication they had of their movements was the faint clouds of dust that would rise where they clashed.

"Now that I think about it, aren't they moving as fast as that one Expert?"

"Are you a moron? How could an Expert rival a Master's speed?"

The soldiers didn't believe their eyes. However, the Masters that had watched the exchange were another matter. Even now they threw glances at Michael, not paying attention to the fight.

In their eyes he was a person that specialized in speed, hence his fast movements. Nevertheless, they wanted to recruit him into their factions and bases.

Unknown to them, Michael was an all-rounder, and his stamina and strength didn't fall behind his speed.

"Can you keep up with them?" Ava looked at Michael with her eyebrow raised. Unlike the soldiers, she was able to somewhat make sense of the Master's movements.

"More or less." He replied. With the help of Perfect Vision, following their movements was made possible. But he decided to turn off Parallel Sight.

Since the technique gave him insight into the possible future attacks, the area was getting too crowded. Naturally Masters had many attacks in their arsenals, and that resulted in them overwhelming his vision with countless possibilities.

Several minutes later the winner of the duel was made apparent. The onlookers needed a few seconds to realize that the round was over before erupting into cheers.

"I didn't see shit, but it was inspiring nonetheless!"

"Just think of it as your end goal."

Michael observed their reaction with interest.

'Even if it's still a bit too soon to say, the competition appears to be a success.' He concluded. The troops had certainly found an end goal to strive towards.

Several other duels passed; while the Masters were fewer than the Experts, each duel took at least 30 minutes due to their monstrous stamina.

Soon the inevitable happened; Victoria's turn had come.

"Don't show them mercy!" Ava tried to hype her up.

With a nod, Victoria's eyes sharpened like those of a fearless lioness.

"What luck…"

Her first opponent was Austin, the short man that always seemed to follow Isaac around.

"Even if you are fated to join our faction, don't expect me to go easy on you." The man said with a nonchalant expression.

A smirk appeared on Victoria's face as she got into a battle stance. "I wonder if that confidence will last after I am done with you?"

Austin shrugged. "Hey now, if you have pent-up anger, take it out on the others. I have nothing to do with this."

"..."

The area grew quiet awaiting the go signal.

"Begin!"

Hearing the command, Austin instantly took a step forward before dissolving into shadow.

"What?!"

"Where did he go?"

"Teleportation?!"

Michael's eyes narrowed; Austin's presence instantly disappeared. His senses weren't picking him up at all no matter how much he tried to enhance them.

Yet he knew where the short man had gone. He had experience fighting people able to command darkness.

Fortunately, Victoria also seemed knowledgeable of the element. Acting by instinct, she changed the grip on her sword before thrusting backward.

The onlookers were puzzled by her actions until a figure exited her shadow with a blade going for her neck.

Austin's plan had been to backstab her before she could retaliate!

Stab!

Yet he didn't expect for her to react in such a timely manner; before his blade could end her life, his heart was pierced by her magma sword.

"Sigh~"

Releasing a disappointed sigh, his body went limp, collapsing on the hard ground.

A second later he appeared outside the ring unharmed. The duel had lasted less than a second.

"..."

The soldiers grew cold feet. If they had been fighting against Austin, they would have died before even knowing what hit them. More frightening was how Victoria was able to make decisions in a split second without any kind of hesitation.

"Fuck yeah, you showed him who is the boss!" Ava shouted, echoing across the quiet arena.

With a faint smile Victoria retreated, not paying any attention to the bewildered soldiers.

"You should have taken the fight seriously." Chloe frowned; now she was the one that had to beat Victoria.

The man shrugged. "I gave it my all from the very start."

"I don't believe you." Chloe sneered, certain that Victoria couldn't be that powerful.

"Believe what you will." Austin didn't bother pursuing the argument.

While the preparations were being made for the next Master's duel, a woman observed Victoria's fight with great interest.

"So this is the King's granddaughter… Not beyond my expectations but great nonetheless." She mused.

Of course, she made a mental note that she appeared to be close to the promising Expert.

"I have seen enough. It's time to get out of here." She mumbled, only to stop in her tracks a second later.

Slowly a mischievous smile spread on her face, her eyes settling on a particular member of the crowd.

"Now what do we have here?"

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