The onlookers were all shocked to see this happening. How could such a weakling hold ground and even counterattack against Maru, who was a son of the main lineage of the Silver Dragon's House. But no one was more surprised than Maru himself. The way his sword just flew over his head, without even scratching a hair on his head! How did he do that? It felt as if the sword itself didn't want to hit him. But that was impossible!
They stood a few metres apart, Maru panting and holding his chest, sword pointed towards the ground, while Rho just stood there with an ice cold look in his eyes. Maru looked at him, but what he saw didn't feel like what he saw. It was like as if this person was an ancient godlike figure, a mountain so large it blocked all of the sun. It was as if he stood there, ruling the world just by looking in some direction. Maru was unable to move under the pressure of this person whose name he didn't even know.
"Who the fuck are you?" he screamed while looking at Rho as if he had seen a murderous spirit. Ghosts weren't far as scary as this guy.
Rho smiled and answered with a nearly invisible spark in his eyes "My name is Rho Doka! You better remember it, because I am the one who will rise to the top!" While he spoke these words, it was as if the world suddenly became full of energy, or rather, as if the worlds energy was being collapsed onto this point. Every person around felt their mana surge and boil, continuously being stimulated. Some even broke through a level, since they were at a bottleneck in their power levels for a while. It had to be said, Rho used a trick to control the ancient arrays here, of which the use was long lost before. The main reason what this place was used for was a gathering point to enter the dimensional "train" to get through to the separate world of the magic school.
But that wasnt the original use of this place. It was the matter that the main gate of this place was stuck on the destination of the school, because the uses of the gate were long lost. This was one of the so called "Spatial World Gates"(translated from the ancient language), which would enable people to travel through countless other gates and worlds. Of course, around it were various supportive arrays, systems and facilities. There were training places, arena's, smithy's, alchemy labs with very profound magic circles and inscriptions. Of course, the use of these were lost as well. But luckily, Rho could use these facilities with ease. This, of course, had to do with the legacy which he had obtained, as well as his knowledge of the systems themselves.
To put it frankly, it was basically him using a trick to seem extremely overpowered. It was just a way of borrowing some of the ancient might of the formations here. But of course, there was no way these people would know that. His imminent victory wasn't just only a trick. But Maru would only find out after Rho would tell him.
"What is this complete bullshit! You're not weak at all! You lied to me to make me look like a fool!" Maru screamed with bloodshot eyes.
"You call this bullshit? You are the one who was planning on chopping me up. Also, I will admit, I used the ancient arrays that are laid here to empowerer myself. You understand very well that in a head-on clash, I'd lose for sure. So, I used a method to ensure my victory. Also, dont try gathering mana unless you want to die, I've won. You will die if you continue to fight."
Rho looked at Maru with cold eyes, while standing there leisurly and completely relaxed. During the entire fight, not a single drop of sweat had formed on his face, nor was he out of breath. It was as if it was a casual stroll instead of a deathmatch.
Maru frowned, while checking his mana. Now that he paid attention to it, his mana was in complete disorder, as if he could barely control it himself.
Seeing the change on Maru's face, Rho chuckled and smiled lightly. "You've noticed. Yes, I caused this disturbance in your mana. Remember that first exchange? I let a bit of my mana manifest as a mana parasyte in you, to feed on it. It takes an insane effort to control over a distance and to not let it kill you instantly. You can't do the same. I slowly made it grow inside of your meridians and now its to the point where I can control your flow of mana. So once again, you've lost."
Maru couldn't say a single word. He fell to his knees and stared at the ground. Rho walked up to him and said "Get up, you couldn't have known this. Now follow me." He then turned around and left the arena. Maru got up in a daze and, surprisingly followed him. The crowd parted to make way for the two men and watched them leave in disbelief. Amongst the crowd, whispers could be heard. "You think he told the truth? There is no way someone with that level can defeat a genius of the house of the Silver Dragon." "Yeah, but, did you feel that energy? He said it was from the ancient arrays laid here! I broke through just because of that ridiculous amount of pressure and mana!" Rho ignored the whispers and walked steadily towards the south. Maru followed him, still clutching his stomach. He gathered his courage and asked "You aren't lying are you? You said you are going to take me as a follower?" He then kneeled and shouted "Please, allow me to be strong like you!". Rho turned around and tapped him on the back, sending a refreshing cool wave throughout Maru's body.
"There, I dispelled the mana for you. And yes, I was serious about taking you as a follower, and even more so since you just gained my approval. I will tell you this, by following me you will be stronger than you can imagine. This world is going to go through a storm very soon, but I have access to the best training methods, the best fighting arts, the best way to use resources and a lot more as well. I know how to bring out people's potential and how to train in things like Sword Intent and more. I also have Immortal quality weapons available if you're fated to gain approval of them. Now, the question is, do you wish to join me, and gain these benefits, but also fight against my enemy? I have only one opponent worthy of me, and he doesn't realize I am his destined nemesis, but once he does, his forces will clash against mine. I have zero forces at the moment so I will have to catch up with him, but I will be able to. Of course, I will help you face your problems as well, that's a given. Now, I've said what I needed to. The choice is yours."
Maru looked at him and grinned. "You convinced me the moment you fought me and when I saw you looking at me. That moment, I could feel the terror that you hide and the power that still could be. Count me in." He grabbed Rho's extended hand and stood up. "I'm one of yours now, please take care of me." Rho laughed and looked at him. "You know why I took you in, out of anyone that could be around here? You were with your head in the clouds, but I could feel in your aura a gentle soul, with a determination not far off from my own. And above all, you have great potential. Let me guess, you train in the [Dragonfire Soul Taming Technique], and you have a young dragon's Spirit bound to you in a soul contract. But, you're unable to draw out power and have to fight for it every time, while also suffering from backlash afterwards right? I know what is most likely wrong, and I felt bad for both you and the young dragon, since you both have very great potential."
Mare stared at him as if he saw one of the stars in the sky descend from the sky and talk to him in human form. "How do you know that? Nobody knows what causes it and how do you even know what training technique I have?"
Rho looked at him and winked "I've got good eyes." Maru grimaced and then laughed. "Well, as long as you can fix it I'm fine with it." Rho started walking towards the plaza and said "First we have to do something else though." Maru's eyes lit up and he showed a knowing smile. "You're gonna recruit someone else?"
"Most certainly."
Author's note: I am slowly building the world as of now, so please bear with the slow start because it will be some more chapters before the real plot begins to very slowly unfold.
