The First Legendary Beast Master

The rest of the new Immortals in the Clan looked at Karl, and then at the two Lamia bodyguards who hadn't even had to do anything in the last fight.

Who wanted to fight that? Let the seniors teach him a lesson in humility, they were better suited to it.

A man in what looked like a martial arts training outfit stepped forward, and bowed to the Elders.

"If I may, I believe that there is something unique about the physique of this recruit. He may be beyond the abilities of most to handle in a duel, thanks to his unique constitution." He requested.

The Elder frowned, and then nodded. "I suspect that you are right. We failed to ask the Immortals of his mortal world about his status there before we requested that he leave.

However, we do know that he withstood a nine volley tribulation, and made it past the sixth without taking any damage. His power is surely not to be underestimated.

I will grant you permission for this duel."

Karl shrugged, and shifted into [Greater Beast Form], opting for the comfort of the Cat Demon form instead of the massive bulk of the World Dragon.

The challenger smiled. "So, you have multiple transformation spells? That will make things interesting."

Karl nodded. "It does. I have a form for most situations."

Then he took out the Sword of Champions and equipped the Haint Claw.

The challenger drew a pair of short blades and charged at Karl, who barely withstood the force of the attack, and slid backward a few metres before the Lamia bodyguards intervened and attacked the challenger from the sides.

With the three of them all fighting at once, the speed difference was only enough to keep him in the fight, and his momentum was lost.

But he was not a young Immortal, and he knew more than just how to launch a surprise attack.

[Shadow Step] or an equivalent skill brought the attacker right behind Karl, who rolled to mitigate the damage, and came up on the other side of the bodyguards again.

This time a little closer, so they could help defend his back.

[Rend] tore an arc through the air as Karl counterattacked, and the Immortal smoothly dodged under it, twisting in an impossible fashion, only to have his forward motion stopped by a bodyguard.

Again, he spun, dancing through the air and landing a hit on the back of the Lamia that failed to get through the [Eternal Lightning] barrier.

"Oh, he can use that barrier on his teammates. That's a truly nasty skill in a duel." One of the spectators mumbled.

"You have no idea. Duels aren't his specialty, he's more like a mobile artillery battery." Dana replied quietly.

"And you?" The Immortal probed, knowing that she would be tested later, even if it wasn't that day.

"I am a duel specialist." Dana replied simply.

She was also much faster than Karl, thanks to her Class Skills. With her Golems and [Auto Parry], she wouldn't be on the losing side of the blade fight in this match.

Karl backed away again, unable to come out on top of the exchange.

Then, he used [Earth Manipulation] to turn the arena floor into soft sand, causing the challenger to stumble for half a step before he activated a movement skill and began to laugh as he walked on air.

"Oh, I see now. You have some dirty tricks. What is that, quicksand?" He asked, circling warily.

"Just regular sand. But I can do a swamp if you prefer." Karl taunted.

He wanted to keep back the best of his skills, as these Immortals loved to challenge each other and test their skills, from what he could tell.

If he gave everything away on the first day, it would be too easy for them to decipher a way to get past his weaknesses. Once they had the basics of his fighting style figured out, then it would get progressively easier for them to defeat him in a duel.

But this challenger was relentless, and even with the assistance of the bodyguards, he couldn't get a proper hit in.

It was time to change tactics.

A dozen [Hellstorm] vortexes formed in the arena, each with its own suction force that would pull the fighter off balance as he charged, and turned the entire area into a movement hazard.

[Shadow Step] took the attacker clear of the closest vortex, and Karl added a [Firestorm] to the mix, filling the air with burning embers of Ghostfire.

That turned the expression on the Immortal's face serious.

"I see what they mean, you're not a duel specialist." He joked as he darted to one side and decapitated a bodyguard with a skill that left him flushed with exertion.

"Exactly. Forgive my messy techniques, but I couldn't just do nothing."

The Immortal smiled as he surrounded himself in a layer of energy, using pure projected power instead of a defined skill as a barrier.

That was a fascinating technique, and Karl wondered if he could learn to do it as well. It didn't seem to need the System's assistance, but it might take quite a bit of training, if it wasn't as simple as it looked from the outside.

It did do the job, though. The Immortal wasn't being damaged by the storm, and he was agile enough that the vortexes were only a minor nuisance to him.

But Karl knew one thing that the Immortal had not considered when he put up his barrier. He had incredibly high regeneration rates, and this battle wouldn't even strain him at this level.

Unless he changed techniques.

Ten [Chaos Blasts] formed around his hands, and Karl sent them hurling out into the arena, while ten more formed in the hidden spots behind the Vortexes.

Ten from his hands, ten not, and he had some hope that he could surprise the Immortal and force him to take a severe hit.

But the challenger didn't dodge, he exploded with power, wiping away the Firestorm and most of the vortexes, just as the Chaos Blasts exploded.

The one behind him sent his body flying into the arms of a Lamia, who did its best to impale the seemingly helpless attacker, only to find that his attack speed was still too high to succeed, even in this state.

But it did allow her to grab his body once they collided, and that let Karl move in to strike with a [Chaos Blast] imbued blade. The Immortal vanished again, and Karl swept his blade through where the man was, just to be certain it wasn't an invisibility spell, then spotted him on the far side of the arena.

This was not going to be a short fight.