The Divine Wolf... or?

A young man slightly over the age of 20 walked up on the stage. As Ark saw him, the first thought that crossed his mind was that his name was perfectly fitting. The young man was very bulky in stature, and his shiny black-steel armour reflected the many rays of sunlight that hit it. His weapon of choice was a shortsword as well as a very large rectangular shield.

The shield was far from normal, and it looked like it was several hundred years old, made completely out of wood. The helmet that adorned his head hid any facial features, except for his piercing blue eyes.

He stopped when he stood about 50 meters away from Ark, face to face. Their eyes met briefly, and intense fighting desire awakened in both of their hearts. Fighting against other strong young people was exciting, and both Ark and this young man had the spirit to do so. The middle-aged man retreated to the very edge of the arena before he made his announcement.

"The fight will commence as soon as this piece of fabric hits the ground, my princess, if you'll do the honours." The middle-aged man took out a piece of white fabric from withing one of his sleeves. A beautiful young woman then proceeded to take the piece of fabric, before eyeing the two contestants.

When her purple eyes met Arks, a weird sensation welled up withing her chest, had she met this young man before?

Ark was even more shocked himself. What a coincidence! The young woman was none other than the third princess of the Estridsen kingdom, Annette Estridsen! Ark didn't think much of it though, and he averted his gaze from hers, returning to the young man in front of him.

Annette didn't think much of it either, she was a little captivated by his gaze, but she was a princess, love wasn't something she should think about.

"Are both of you ready?"

Seeing both of them nod, Annette gently tossed the white piece of fabric into the air. The wind wasn't particularly strong, and the white fabric didn't stay in the air for too long as a result. Four seconds after being tossed into the air, the fabric gently landed on the ground. As it did, Allastir brought his shield up in front of him and got into a defensive stance.

He had wanted to use this opportunity to observe his opponent, but when he looked up, what he saw shocked him!

Ark didn't waste any time. As soon as the piece of fabric hit the ground, he instantly used his skill [Holy Spear: Dawn] and took three steps forward. Instead of running up to his opponent and attacking, Ark flung the spear with all his might, sending it whirling through the air at an insane speed.

All Allastir could see was a golden blur radiating holy aura zooming toward him at a speed faster than a bullet.

Even though he could dodge it, Allastir held great confidence in his defence, and he didn't believe that this young man in front of him would be able to break past it. Especially considering the energy fluctuating from the spear, it didn't seem too special except for its great speed. As he slanted his shield a little sideways to deflect the spear, Allastir realised his mistake.

Although the spear seemed average, it contained a terrifying amount of power buried within. As the spear collided with the shield, a loud boom was heard as Allastir was sent skidding backwards from the impact. He stopped about 10 meters back, but astonishment was written all over his face. The crowd was completely silent as well before they started roaring in excitement.

Who here had not heard of Nature's Guardian Allastir? Seeing his defence breached in such a way was a first for many, and the excitement of the crowd was astonishing.

Before Allastir could really reflect on what happened, the sounds of rapid footsteps approached him quickly. Ark wouldn't let go of such a great opportunity, and he went on the offensive once more. With a new spear in his hands, Ark arrived in front of Allastir in a matter of seconds.

When Ark was only 10 meters away, Allastir was about to make a move, when the tip of Ark's spear suddenly shone with a blinding light!

The light caught Allastir off-guard, and he instantly slammed his large shield into the ground and hid behind it. Ark naturally took the opportunity to circle around him. Appearing behind him, Ark lashed out with the spear once more. Allastir felt Ark's movement behind him, as well as a weird aura of death that accompanied his movements.

Since he couldn't do much, Allastir turned his body slightly and swung his sword against Ark's spear. Since he was still blinded by the burning light, he could only guess where Ark's attack was coming from, and his prediction was slightly off.

Since Ark's spearmanship had reached the intermediate level, he was able to notice that if he proceeded with his attack, Allastir was likely to die. Feeling no need to kill anyone just because of a tournament, Ark angled his spear slightly, so that the tip of his spear whistled straight past Allastir's ear, while the shaft of the spear slammed straight into him.

Ark used his full force in the attack, which resulted in Allastir being sent flying through the air.

Landing miserably on the other side of the Arena, Allastir quickly scurried to his feet, with agonising pain all over his body. Ark didn't let him do as he pleased though, and just when he got to his feet, he noticed Ark's next attack. Just after Ark sent Allastir flying, he jumped high up into the air. Instead of using the spear this time, Ark condensed a large sword made out of Ice.

A feeling of nostalgia washed over him as he thought back to the first time he had used a move like this, when he was facing off with the commander of the demons.

Allastir's expression was one of despair as he watched the large sword made out of ice descend on him. In stark contrast to the spear he had thrown earlier, everyone could sense the dreadful mana this attack contained, and Allastir was scared out of his wits. He almost resigned himself to his fate, when he decided that he would go all-out to face this attack.

He lifted up his wooden shield up high and used his strongest skill.

"Guardian Of Nature!"

Screaming at the top of his lungs, the shield started to glow with a viridian light. The glow was intense to say the least, and it seemed to contain an inexhaustible amount of vitality. Ark had been planning to just stay his hand at the last second, forcing his opponent to surrender, but seeing the viridian glow, he just let nature take its course, and didn't stop the large ice sword.

Everyone was watching the intense scene with fervor, not daring to blink, just in case they missed something important.

"BOOM!"

A large explosion kicked up a large cloud of dust on the stage, blocking everyone's vision. Ark didn't want to waste any time, and he just waved his hand. As he did, the dust particles in the air seemed to disappear, and everyone present could clearly see the outcome...