Nobilis of War novel Chapter 57

Darren glanced swiftly over the training ground, and found that everyone was watching him with their mouths open in amazement.

There was a complex expression on the old man's face. On one hand, he felt embarrassed and disgraced, but on the other, he also felt astonished. He had never expected that Darren would be that strong. He even had the ability to demonstrate such a formidable, compelling internal force with his sword. But while he indeed found Darren's tremendous strength marvelous, he also felt awful for his disciple who had been beaten by Darren.

It was his feelings of vengeance over what Darren did to his disciple that compelled him to challenge Darren. He wanted, more than anything to get even with him for what he did. Since his strength was at the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm, which was a much higher stage than Darren's fifth stage, he thought that Darren defeating him would be out of the question.

Having made up his mind, he stepped forward. "Young man, the sword skill you have just demonstrated is indeed marvelous and impressive. I am really impressed, and I want to know if my strength can be comparable to yours. I am wondering if you will be willing to engage in combat against me?" he proposed.

"It was just a simple trick, and not a big deal. You don't have to take it seriously." Daren waved his hand dismissively, refusing the old man's proposition. He knew something else was up.

The old man smiled and shook his head, not ready to give up just yet. "Don't worry! Since my stage is much higher than yours, you can rest assured that I will suppress my strength to match yours so we can have a fair fight. I'm really not one to bully someone who has less experience than I do. What do you think?" he asked.

The minute the old man's words escaped, the crowd let out a deafening roar.

"So, he's at the fifth stage of the Spirit Realm, huh? Who even said that he was ruined? Where did that even come from?" one observer asked.

"Well, as we all can see, it truly is nothing but a rumor. We have witnessed just now how proficient he is in his sword skill. Maybe he is even the one who spread the rumor so we will all be surprised today," another one said.

"Actually, it seems like the Valiance Sect elder is not only afraid of him because of his strength, but also because he is a disciple of the Ilmen Sect.

I didn't think that the elder would stoop that low and actually challenge him though," another person from the crowd noted.

Darren sneered upon hearing the elder's remarks. "You're not fooling me, you know? You may be at a much higher stage than me, but I'm not stupid. Drop your dirty tricks now and leave while you still have the chance. Otherwise, I'll make sure to make you regret ever crossing me!" Darren threatened in annoyance.

His words led to a louder uproar among the crowd. Everyone there started exchanging their hunches on why exactly the elder was challenging Darren. It just didn't seem reasonable to them.

A sly, shifty smile formed on the elder's lips. "What do you mean by dirty tricks? I'm not playing any tricks here. I really just want to learn something new by fighting you. Please don't get me wrong!" he said defensively.

Looking at the elder's sinister face and dreadful smile, Darren snorted with anger. This old man was truly getting on his nerves, and he wasn't having any of it. "Don't think, for one second, that I cannot see through your ugly heart. Your challenge is no more than an excuse. What you really want is to test my strength and see how far I can go. You said that you would suppress your strength to match me who is only at the fifth stage, but I don't believe you. It's just another one of your dirty antics. The fact is you have no idea how strong I actually am, so you are not fully confident that you are going to be able to beat me. You're only saying that you will suppress your strength so that you will not be embarrassed if I defeat you in front of all these people. On the other hand, if you are able to defeat me, you will make sure to harm me afterwards. Did I miss any part of your dirty plan?" Darren said.

The elder frowned. He did not expect Darren to see through his plan so easily. For a moment, he struggled to find something to say to Darren.

"It really is not a big deal to me. If that's what you really want, I will just accept your challenge." To the elder's surprise, Darren gave in to his plan despite seeing through it.

The elder could barely hide the excitement on his face. He thought, perhaps, that Darren was just making that decision because he was a young and reckless man who could not, in good conscience, resist such an interesting challenge.

"Well, you are indeed a brave young man. Like I said, since I am at a higher stage than you, I really won't bully you. I promise to use only one move, and I'm going to stick to my promise," he said. He smiled treacherously at Darren as he spoke words of contempt and mockery.

"No, I don't accept your terms," Darren refused. A curious change came over his voice, which was one of suspicion and annoyance. "What a bunch of crap! There is no holding back in any fight, and I truly don't care for any of your nonsense promises. If you have guts, you will not be afraid of being killed. Will you dare?" he countered.

As Darren's words rang through the place, the entire training ground became eerily quiet. By this time, the taunting smile on the elder's face had long vanished and been replaced by astonishment and wonder. Not in a million years would he have expected that Darren would have the level of confidence to challenge him like that. Now that Darren had put forward his terms, the elder had no choice but to accept his challenge, otherwise everyone in the battle ground would see him as a coward.

"Master, he has gone mad. No one would blame you if you kill him," the girl prompted. She hated Darren, and she felt that this was a very good chance to eliminate him. Not only had he hindered her killing and left her with nothing to do, he had also nearly put her to death.

In her eyes, her master was invincible and talented. She had no doubt that her master could kill Darren without any difficulty at all. After all, he was already at the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm while Darren was only at the fifth.

"What the hell is Darren doing proposing a full fight? Is he really aware of whom he is provoking? The Valiance Sect elder is not someone he should underestimate," one of the three wounded elders of the Chu Clan commented. The other two nodded their heads in agreement with him.

They were not the only people who had doubts about Darren's strength. In people's opinion, Darren already had one foot in the grave as his stage was far lower than the elder's stage. More than that, he had just achieved the fifth stage not so long ago, so going against the elder who had far more experience than he did in a fight seemed like a futile exercise or more like a suicide act for Darren. It was only Darren's resolute eyes and decisive manner that gave them the impression that there might be hope somewhere. Besides, none of them had ever seen Darren cheat anyone.

While everyone in the crowd was gauging Darren's strength, a voice called out from the direction of the Chu Clan crowd, "There is absolutely nothing to worry about! I have seen Darren's strength for myself. If Gavin were alive, he would not be on par with him in strength." The voice caught everyone by surprise. Everyone turned their heads to see who had made such a shocking comment. In an instant, they realized that it was Toby. Unlike the others present, he had absolute confidence in Darren winning over the elder. Darren's magical performance last time had impressed him so much that the only way he could describe Darren's strength was by comparing it with Gavin's as he was well-known by everyone for his otherworldly strength and honorable reputation.