I Can Only Cultivate In A Game

Blades swung faster than most could see. Elyra shifted smoothly, flowing through every movement like liquid frost with her green-tinted blade swinging effortlessly to intercept every blow.

On the fourth swing, she twisted and sent him flying with a sudden shoulder check that struck with the force of a charging beast.

Zeke crashed into a stone barrier and rolled across the ground, dazed.

Zeke jumped up in the next instant and surged forward like a launched spear, swinging his blade horizontally in a move that could split steel beams.

Elyra raised her sword and met the attack with a single-handed parry. A booming clash rang out, cracking the ground beneath them.

With a snarl, Zeke unleashed a combo of warrior techniques...

[ Iron Barrage Has Been Activated ]

[ Momentum Cleave Has Been Activated ]

[ Thunder Lunge Has Been Activated ]

Iron Barrage sent out a bunch of sword strikes that got more powerful with every turn.

Momentum Cleave was a sword skill that could only be as powerful as how much one charged forward before striking while Thunder Lunge was a movement skill that made the user twice as fast.

At this point, Zeke had turned into a miniature battle got as he streaked across the terrain at a speed of two hundred feet per second and unleashed the power of these skills one after the other, cornering Elyra.

Elyra saw the strikes headed her way and casually raised her blade.

[ Momentum Cleave Has Been Activated ]

The moment Elyra swung her sword vertically, a powerful burst of energy swept forward with intensity.

All the strikes headed her way were instantly neutralized but it didn't stop there.

Zeke who had used thunder lunge was unable to evade the residue energy in time and got sent flying the moment the rest of Elyra attack crashed into him.

Once more he rammed into multiple pillars and ricocheted across the ground before coming to a stop after sliding for tens of feet.

"Did she just dispel all three attacks with one of the same type of attack?"

"Damn, she's something else..."

The crowd went bonkers.

Elyra had used just one of the three warrior skills that Zeke activated to dispel them all.

"Her strength…" Zeke muttered while rising to his feet with a stunned expression, "…it's insane."

He gathered energy in his boots and shot into the air.

From above, he came crashing down like a comet with his blade aimed at her head.

Elyra barely moved...

She only lifted her sword and blocked with minimal effort.

The impact rippled through the arena causing it to quake.

The two separated and dashed around the terrain with speed that left afterimages in their wake.

Zeke tried to use his agility and footwork to keep her guessing, but Elyra didn't need to guess... she could see his every move so she didn't bother chasing blindly.

Zeke went for a feint... He flicked his wrist quickly and followed it with a reverse slash but Elyra tilted backwards slightly and delivered a devastating kick to his chest.

He was launched like a cannonball, crashing through a reinforced structure and coughing blood on impact.

Still, he stood again with blood trailing from his lips and his teeth gritted in defiance. "Good… good…" he laughed breathlessly. "That's enough damage. Just what I needed."

He slammed his sword into the ground and roared. A blackish aura erupted around him as he activated a powerful skill.

"Revenant Carve!"

[ Revenant Carve Has Been Activated ]

From the crowd, some of the spectators who recognized this skill were shocked.

"He already has Revenant Carve unlocked?"

"No fair, I'm already at level 20 and I still haven't unlocked it."

"Damn this might just turn the tables!"

Revenant Carve was a warrior skill only usable after suffering a certain threshold of damage.

Zeke's power instantly skyrocketed.

He leapt forward and swung his blade with earth-splitting force.

Elyra narrowly evaded the strike causing the residual impact to carve through a tower behind her and cleave it in half.

However, Zeke didn't stop there.

He whispered an incantation under his breath.

A burst of invisible energy erupted from the attack that Elyra had just evaded.

[ Temporal Cage Is Active ]

Elyra's body froze mid-step. Her eyes widened faintly in surprise while Zeke laughed triumphantly.

"That's right. This is the end. You're strong—but not smart enough. Revenant Carve isn't just a destructive attack... no... It has a special effect that affects the surroundings even if it gets parried or evaded..."

It turned out that the Revenant Carve extra effect was turning everything within a certain radius immobile and Elyra happened to be within it's effect radius.

Zeke lifted his blade which was now crackling with golden veins of stored kinetic force, and unleashed a final skill.

[ Ruinstorm Divider Has Been Activated ]

The blade dragged across the ground, parting stone and space as a colossal wave of destruction was hurled directly at the immobilized Elyra.

The crowd screamed.

A violent explosion followed causing dust and debris to engulf everything.

For a moment, no one could see a thing.

Gasps filled the air. "Did… did he win?"

The dust suddenly rippled… and then cleared in a sudden gust of wind.

Elyra stood in the same place. Unmoved. Unscathed.

Her green skin emitted a faint invisible wall as mana surged from her being.

Her eyes glowed softly and her blade was raised above her head.

Zeke's victorious expression collapsed into one of disbelief.

"Howwwww??!!!"

Elyra took a single step forward and dragged her blade downward in a perfect arc.

A wave of mana swept forward, slashing across the battlefield like a judgment from the heavens.

Zeke was blown off his feet before the wave even reached him.

His body skidded and flipped as if caught in a whirlwind as he crashed through every structure that was still standing.

The instructors had to charge towards the arena instantly to catch him before he was reduced to pulp.

Even then, his armor was shattered, and his body hung limp in their arms.

The ground where Elyra stood was split in half.

Structures had been bisected, and rubble still tumbled from ruined walls. The destructive force was overwhelming.

"That's supposed to be a first-year student?" someone in the crowd said, half-laughing, half-terrified.

"She's stronger than a level 40 Awakened…"

Selene turned toward Victor on the sidelines. "Think you can beat that?"

Victor didn't reply. He simply smirked, brushing a finger across the hilt of his own weapon.

"I guess we'll find out..."

The crowd roared with anticipation as the next match was called.

Victor Revenant versus Reed Harrington.

Victor took a deep breath while rising to his feet as Selene gave him a short, supportive nod.

Danny grinned and said, "Don't go too hard on the poor guy."

Victor smirked. "He's the one who should be worried."

He stepped into the arena with eyes fixed ahead where Reed was already walking up the opposite side of the stage.

The terraformed landscape from Zeke and Elyra's battle had been smoothed out into a broad flat stage again but his time with several mountains scattered across the terrain.

Reed's sword rested across his shoulder as he grinned confidently. "No holding back, Vic. I'm not giving you any special treatment just because we're friends."

Victor raised a brow. "Was just about to say the same thing." He flicked his wrist, and his sword slid into his grip with a light ting of resonance.

The tip of the blade pointed lazily toward the ground.

A loud chime echoed across the arena. The match had begun.

Reed charged without hesitation, activating [Twin Edge Step], a warrior movement skill that allowed him to flash from side to side, creating afterimages.

He was faster than the normal human eye could follow, but Victor remained still with a casual expression.

All of a sudden...

clang!

Their blades collided with a burst of sparks.

Reed's smirk faltered for a moment as he felt the jarring tremor in his arms.

Victor had only used one hand to strike in a bid to parry his attack, yet the force behind the strike rattled his bones.

Before Reed could retreat, Victor spun and brought his sword back around in a low arc.

Reed barely parried the follow-up while stepping back with a grunt.

He activated [Iron Guard] to reinforce his defense as he raised his blade to block another strike from Victor.

Despite his locked his stance, the moment Victor's blade collided with his, he slid over twenty feet backwards as a sharp pain crawled up his forearms.

In the next instant, Victor's relentlessly pressured Reed with multiple strikes.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

Steel rang against steel as the two friends clashed with full force.

Victor's movements were fluid and seemed very casual yet every blow carried bone-crushing weight.

Reed found himself on the back foot.

He used [Stone Wall], a defensive stance that hardened his body and weapon momentarily, but even then, Victor's strikes chipped away at his balance.

"Damn…" Reed muttered under his breath while breaking away for a breath.

Victor adjusted his grip while still holding the blade one-handed.

His face was calm, but there was a flicker of admiration in his gaze. "You're good, Reed. But you're trying to outplay someone who's been dancing with monsters lately."