Evil Samurai In Cultivation World

Whoosh!

Two figures shot down from the sky and landed gracefully without making any noise right near the large iron walls that surrounded the Royal Academy. 

The Royal Academy Campus had an incredible amount of area under its name, and the place where the two figures had landed was the Grevanny Forest, which was a small forest within the campus where the students could get a first hand experience on how to fight within a forest, without worrying about actually fighting a beast animal. 

The Grevanny forest did not contain any wild beasts, but was used as a training ground for students. Disciples are encouraged to battle against each other in a friendly match while making use of the terrain, in order to gain more experience. Although the Grevanny forest had no wild animals, it was an extremely large training ground, which was spread all around the campus. 

"Finally, we've found a place to enter," One of the figures whispered softly as he quickly hid behind a tree. The unknown figure slowly popped his head out from behind the tree and looked at his surroundings. He could see a guard near the giant wall, walking towards them, and the figure immediately turned around and signalled the other figure before disappearing up into the tree. 

The other unknown figure also caught a glimpse of the guard approaching their vicinity, and climbed up into another tree within seconds.

The guard reached the spot where the two mysterious men were standing previously, looked around for a few seconds, before turning around and walking back in the direction he came from.

"Goddamn security guards!" Up above the tree, on one of the tree branches, sat one of the mysterious men, who cursed the guard under his breath. The two men were, of course, Gaston, and his accomplice, Barris, who were after the White Dragon's teeth and Claude, the one who took it.

Once they made sure that the guard had left the spot, the two men appeared under the tree and began moving towards the inner disciple division.

"Gaston…" Barris whispered softly as they were in the middle of dashing. "Is this.. good idea?"

Tsk! Gaston clicked his tongue, annoyed by Barris's words. Good idea? What does this dumb fool know about what's good and what's bad?

"It's a good idea, Barris. Trust me." He turned his head and said with an annoyed expression on his face.

"But Gaston… security strict. Might get caught!" Barris said. 

"Yeah, I know, Barris." Gaston shook his head. As if he didn't know that already, he thought to himself. Of course he knew that the Royal Academy would be heavily guarded.

"But you see Barris. Today, there is a sparring contest happening within the training grounds." Gaston was trying to explain the situation to Barris, who looked at him with a confused expression on his face. Gaston continued, "We might not be able to get the thief who was responsible for taking the White Dragon's teeth, but using this opportunity, we just might get back the teeth itself!" 

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"You want to place a bet on yourself?" Senior Beldon asked. Claude nodded his head. "How on earth did you know?" He asked. "Because…" Senior Beldon shrugged. "That's exactly what I was planning to do as well."

"Confident that I'll win?" Claude raised his eyebrows. "No," Senior Beldon shook his head. "I'm not confident. But I do like gambling." Claude chuckled. "Well then…" His eyes turned towards Senior Russell Davies, who was walking towards the infirmary in order to tend to his wounds. He had turned around just as Claude was looking at him, and the two locked eyes. "Don't forget to go all in." He said with a confident expression as he nodded his head for Russell Davies to see. Russell Davies smirked in response, and nodded his head as well.

"Next match…" Elder Kenneth's voice echoed throughout the arena, and everyone's eyes were on him as he announced the final round. "Claude Rayforth vs Russell Davies!"

"It's happening, Headmaster!" The Elder who was standing next to the Headmaster spoke softly, and the Headmaster nodded his head, but didn't reply. His eyes were fixated on the arena.

This was the moment that he had been waiting for. This was why he had created this friendly competition in the first place. 

To most disciples, this was just an opportunity for them to make their presence known to the Headmaster, or to get famous and to appear cool. But to Claude and the Headmaster, the competition was so much more. 

This entire competition was a chance for Claude Rayforth to showcase his strength to the martial world. If he wins this fight against Russell Davies, his senior, then he'll definitely become someone who'd be revered by almost everyone who has respect for the art of cultivation.

The victory of Claude Rayforth would be a proclamation; by Claude himself as well as the Royal Academy, that this was the birth of someone who could shake up the martial world! And that person was a student of the Royal Academy!

That was the bold proclamation that the Headmaster and Claude Rayforth were going for!

"Come on, Claude Rayforth." He whispered softly under his breath. "Show everyone in the academy what you are truly capable of.

Although most people would undoubtedly declare Russell Davies as the victor even before the fight, in the eyes of the Headmaster, there was only one winner; and that was Claude Rayforth!

He was the diamond that the Headmaster had accidentally found, and he intended to polish the diamond as much as he could. 

"Looks like it's time for the final fight!" Claude stared at the arena from the spectators stand and let out a long sigh. 

"Nervous?" Senior Beldon turned to look at Claude. "I don't know. Maybe it is," Claude shook his head. "I didn't think I would feel nervous, but I guess I was wrong."

He turned around and continued, "It's not a bad nervousness though. It's a feeling of excited nervousness."

"Good luck." Senior Beldon said as he patted Claude's shoulder. "You've got this."

"Thanks." Claude nodded his head, and then turned back around and began walked towards the arena.

As Claude began walking, everyone's eyes were on him. Some were excited, some seemed unimpressed, and some were even aggressive. But to Claude, it didn't matter. To him, they were nobodies. They could shout all they want, but at the end of the day, they weren't worthy of being on the field on the final round. They weren't people who could challenge him. They were simply… people.

"Well, well, well… I guess it's finally time, huh?" Russell Davies, who was sitting on the sideline bench, had a wide smile appear on his face as he saw Claude Rayforth approaching the arena.

He then got up from the bench and stood up, staring straight at Claude, who nodded his head in response.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Claude stopped right in front of Russell Davies, and the two locked eyes, neither of them looking away even for a split second. 

"I told you, didn't I, junior brother Claude?" Russell Davies said with a wide grin on his face. "That you'll end up facing me."

"I guess you're predictions were correct," Claude said with a smile.

"You did well, junior brother Claude." Russell said as he scratched his chin, and his devilish grin had still not disappeared. "You've successfully reached the finals. I'm impressed."

"I'm impressed as well," Claude replied almost immediately. "You beat Senior Javier Banderas, who was said to be an absolute monster when it comes to cultivation."

"I guess I got lucky this time," Russell shrugged his shoulders, and Claude nodded his head. "You sure did."

Senior Russell Davies raised his eyebrows, but before he could ask more, he was interrupted by the voice of the Elder, "May the contestants please enter the arena?"

Both Claude and Russell Davies turned their heads to see Elder Kenneth standing in the middle of the field with a serious expression on his face, which meant that he was in a bad mood.

The two looked at each other for a brief second before moving to their respective entry sides of the arena, and entered the field to the thundering cheers of an excited audience. 

"Hell yes! The fight is finally starting! I'm so glad I placed a bet on Senior Russell Davies!"

"I didn't even bother with the bet! Why on earth would I place a bet which doesn't even guarantee a good profit?"

"You're missing the point! It's not about the prize, but the feeling of victory! You wouldn't get it until you try betting!"

As people whispered amongst each other, the two contestants had already stepped foot into the arena, and walked towards the centre, until they stood face to face in front of each other, with Elder Kenneth beside them.

"Cutivators, bow your heads!" Elder Kenneth yelled loudly, and the two cultivators, who were glaring at each other until now, immediately lowered their heads as soon as the Elder spoke, after which they headed to the two ends of the arena, as the Elder yelled out, "Warriors, step back!"

The two contestants arrived at the two ends of the arena in a few seconds. Elder Kenneth looked at the two, and after making sure that they were both in the correct spot, he nodded his head, satisfied, and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!"

BZZZZZ!

As soon as Elder Kenneth finished speaking, a long saber appeared in Russell Davies' hand, and Claude summoned his katana.

Elder Kenneth looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!"