In accepting the duel proposed by Aggi's brother, surprisingly, everyone present showed some trace of anticipation of what was to come.
Then they simply left that room, and were guided by Aggro through those luxurious hallways full of rustic furniture made with materials from the Elvareth forest itself.
Nulambart always felt that this castle was very well decorated, and the person behind this should be a great, skilled craftsman with great style.
"Mrs. Aggar, your home is truly wonderful… Every single piece of furniture and ornamentation is beautifully done and of excellent quality," Nulambart said casually as she looked around.
As the whole family and Nulambart walked together, Gus, who was at the front of the group walking with his hands clasped, curiously raised his head slightly upon hearing Nulambart's words while touching his nose with his finger.
However, this action could not be perceived by Nulambart, who was looking at Aggar, waiting for the response to his compliment.
"Hahaha, the truth is that we had a much more modest style a few years ago, but since 1 year ago, we discovered a master craftsman who does a decent job," replied Aggar, laughing for some reason, who suddenly changed his gaze to his daughter.
Aggi, who was about to open her mouth to say something, seemed to understand her mother, so she nodded slightly before saying:
"Of course, I have to admit that that stinking craftsman does a very good job," said Aggi with a higher tone of voice than usual, so Nulambart found her friend's attitude somewhat unusual, however, it was what was expected of her.
Well, she's pretty unusual anyway, to say the least.
Hearing Aggi, Gus turned around, staring at his sister, and opened his mouth to try to say something, however, Aggro subtly stopped him.
"Gus, since you asked for a duel, then focus, son," the leader said calmly as he opened the doors to leave the palace.
The rays of light hit Nulambart's face, as well as the light wind that made her hair flutter. Feeling the energy of the environment in all his pores and his soul, he wondered how long it would take to get used to this change.
"With this ambient energy so concentrated, surely everyone could be a genius in martial cultivation if they trained with it daily," Nulambart said casually, looking towards the 20-meter terrace where a group of guards were waiting for them with a chariot of tamed wild beasts, which were like the wolves that Nulambart had encountered in the training area.
Why aren't royal guards martial cultivators? Nulambart did not understand why there were no martial cultivators within the elite of the tribe.
Aggi's entire family stared at him, frowning slightly. Even Aggi herself rolled her eyes at Nulambart's statement.
"Brat, the truth is that 3 generations ago, the leader of the village at that time became obsessed with absolutely dominating our tribe, so he eradicated all the martial cultivators and masters that existed at that time, to make only his family the owners of the power of the village for generations," Aggro calmly explained to Nulambart.
"However, due to karma, that leader ended up being unable to produce offspring, so once the time of his death arrived, he had no one to inherit his martial talent."
"Unfortunately, that fool also deleted all records about cultivation from our ancestors' texts, so martial cultivators never appeared in the village again," explained Aggro, who kept a clenched fist and slightly frowned.
It was undoubtedly a great loss for the village, and Aggro, as a native of his village, wanted the best for all the people he was currently leading.
"Senior, then why are the four of you martial cultivators?" Nulambart asked curiously.
"The four of us are somewhat special, as we have never had any kind of guidance for our cultivation, it is likely because of our talent, since no one in the village has ever been able to transform into a martial cultivator before after what I told you before," the village leader said more calmly.
"Major, in that case, I can help you, even though I'm not an expert…" said Nulambart, trying to offer some kind of assistance to the tribe's situation.
"Hmmp… You have to show what you're made of first to see if you're capable of teaching our people how to farm," Gus said with a hint of annoyance.
No one present said another word, as many were somewhat disbelieving in their hearts of Nulambart's ability. However, there was one person who defended him:
"Hahaha, don't be overconfident, my sturdy brother… My friend Nulambart is extremely powerful," Aggi said, sticking out his chest proudly, giving Nulambart a thumbs up.
"Come, Nulambart, let's get on the chariot and go to the dueling arena," said Aggi, who simply ran to sit inside, while inviting Nulambart to sit next to her.
Nulambart sat next to her friend, and then the other members of Aggi's family entered. The car was so spacious that even with the burly Aggro and Gus, it could still seat a couple more people without a problem.
The chariot pulled by tied wild wolves left the terrace and headed straight for the wide stone stairs that extended along the walls of the waterfall, making Nulambart feel a slight fear in his heart.
This is very high, and we will also go down this staircase in a car. This makes no sense.
Feeling the breeze of the wind as he watched the stairs approach, Nulambart's hands were a little trembling, so Aggar, who had been silently watching him, smiled and reassured him.
"Don't worry, son, the car is made for this," Aggar said calmly.
Then Nulambart simply saw the cart tilt down slightly, because they started going down the stairs, but contrary to what Nulambart expected to happen, the cart simply felt similar to when they were on a straight road.
"The magic of that stupid Nulambart craftsman, you wouldn't understand," said Aggi happily, who examined Nulambart's face in surprise.
They went down all the stairs until they could reach the normal height of the village, and then headed towards a building exquisitely made of silvery petrified wood, which formed a coliseum that seemed to give off a mystical air with its height of 20 meters.
The coliseum, although it looked similar to the style of the other buildings in the village, Nulambart felt a much older vibe than the other buildings, as if it didn't belong to this era, making it shine with its light in the tribe.
"Wow, this construction is impressive, but I feel that this building is different from the others, although I don't know how to explain it," Nulambart said to Aggi when they got out of the car that was transporting them.
"Hohoho… That's right, Nulambart, this is the oldest building in my village, and it was the first building built by our ancestors when they arrived here," Aggi replied, his hands crossed on his chest with pride.
As the other members of the family group got out of the car, Aggro also commented on something about the coliseum.
"The reason we made this coliseum our tribe's first building was to decide who would be the future leader of the village for the next 10 years, through victories in the dueling arena. The younger generations then copied this practice, and in this way, we elect our leaders through battle every 10 years," Aggro explained casually.
The next moment, a delegation of guards dressed in gladiatorial robes appeared before them. They had seen the leader's family approaching from inside the compound.
"Leader Aggro, it is a pleasure that you come to visit us today," said the leader of the guards, bowing respectfully to Aggro in an extremely diligent manner.
Aggro is respected and loved in the village. I understand why he should, since not only is he a leading martial cultivator in a place where there were none before, but he also has a high regard, and I don't think he uses his power in an authoritarian way.
Nulambart, looking at the expression of pride and respect of all the guards, was able to understand a little more what Aggro's figure as the leader of the village meant.
"It's a pleasure to see you guys. Listen, I would like to be able to prepare a duel between Gus and the young man you see here. Is it possible that you can organize everything to start immediately?" Aggro said with a slight smile on his serene face.
"There is no problem with holding the leading battle, but do you want us to play the duel tune to attract the audience?" the guard replied.
"I don't think it's…." Aggro wanted to answer that there was no need to do so, but someone interrupted him.
"Play the mourning tune," Gus said hastily, hoping the guards would accept the decision.
The guards stared at Aggro's face, wondering what decision he would make. However, Aggro, in turn, stared at his wife, who nodded slightly, so he didn't hesitate any longer and gave the order.
"The town will hear the mourning melody once again, guards, please proceed," Aggro ordered when he saw that he had Aggar's approval, so the guards immediately left to prepare everything.
The family then followed the guards into the coliseum, but they went their separate ways.
Aggro and his wife went to the VIP seats intended for the village leaders, while Gus and Nulambart entered rooms on opposite sides of the building.
Aggi led Nulambart into the room to prepare for combat.
"Nulambart, you know…I saw you when we entered the forest, touch your chest and lose your senses for a while… You probably have your soul damaged, so this fight won't be very fair for you," Aggi said with an uncomfortable expression, moving his hands slightly with a frown.
"Don't worry, Aggi, I'll be fine," Nulambart replied with a slight frown, remembering that he wouldn't be able to use his trump card.
"You know, I forgot to warn you about one important thing about my brother… My brother is a genius martial cultivator at the natural path stage, level 5. I know you are at the same stage, but at level 1," Aggi said, scratching his head.
"That's right, Aggi, and now that you tell me, I feel calmer, since I thought your brother was some kind of monster with more advanced cultivation, but I see that we are not that far away," he responded, smiling.
Nulambart felt his heart calm even more, knowing his opponent's cultivation level.
However, Aggi did not look calm at all, and then said the following:
"Well, Nulambart, in terms of pure power, the difference in levels is not that much, so theoretically you could defend yourself and aspire to win this battle tactically…"
"However, my brother is also an expert in tricks, due to being the Master Craftsman of our village," Aggi finished what was on his mind, so his anxious expression finally calmed down, revealing a certain trembling in his eyes.
Nulambart rolled his eyes at that statement, remembering all the compliments he had said to Gus. Not only because of that, but because he had seen with his own eyes the level of perfection in their clothing.
"Can you give me more details about…" Nulambart did not finish asking for the details of Gus's abilities when he heard a loud crash.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
The sound lengthened like a giant's sigh, trembling in the air before breaking into an echo that made the ground vibrate.
"Holy shit, I feel my heart vibrate with the sound," said Nulambart, as he placed a hand on his chest, feeling his breathing become increasingly dull.
"Nulambart, is the battle melody of our coliseum, which is made through the black horn of a powerful spiritual beast that was defeated by our ancestors. The first melody is to summon the audience," said Aggi, who jumped from one side to the other, giving flying kicks to the walls.
As the minutes passed, it was heard again.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
A deep, ancient sound resounded through the coliseum, emanating from the spirit beast's black horn. It wasn't a simple melody, but an invocation that rattled through the bones and ignited the blood. Each note resonated like distant thunder, carrying with it echoes of past battles, whispers of fallen warriors who seemed to answer the call.
The air thickened, torches flickered with blue flames, and even the shadows twisted to the beat. Those who listened felt the fighting spirit burn in their chests, as if the coliseum itself were challenging them to battle.
It was the lament of a beast, the song of war... and there was no escape from its call.
"It's time, Nulambart, go to the entrance of the arena, don't worry, my little friend," said Aggi, who this time spoke seriously just like his mother.
Aggi went to sit next to his parents, while Nulambart headed towards the entrance of the arena that Aggi had indicated to him earlier.
Nulambart passed through a dark tunnel in which at the end was the light of the coliseum arena, so without stopping walking Nulambart headed towards his battle.
The next moment, Nulambart could see nearly 500 people cheering and howling wildly in the stands of the coliseum, while he took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.
The coliseum had gone from looking mystically and out of place, to looking simply lush with so many people inside and two combatants ready to fight, so Nulambart now understood the weight of standing in that place.
With his hands shaking, he could see that his opponent had already reached his location, on the opposite side of the arena, while Aggro was standing at the front of his seat, listening to the crowd.
"Look at that boy's face…", "He's a foreigner…", "He looks extremely weak," "Hahaha, even that little rascal Gus can beat him."
Many voices in the crowd were surprised to see Nulambart's arrival, and no wonder, since they had never seen a person from outside the village before in their lives.
"We are all gathered here to watch the duel that is going to take place in the dueling arena, and whose protagonists this day are Gus Elvareth who has challenged Nulambart Soulstone," Aggro explained to the crowd, who let out a bit of his soul power to manifest his voice throughout the coliseum, feeling a solemn presence.
The audience cheered for their leader after hearing about the duel, and continued to listen attentively to the next words of their leader as he began the battle.
"Due to the grace of our ancestors, we have our coliseum. Due to the discord between the companions, we have this duel. I begin this friendly duel between Gus and Nulambart right now," Aggro began the fight, dropping his hand in approval of the duel, ending the ritual of starting this fight.
Nulambart, the next moment, felt that time stopped around him, and he could only hear his heart roaring violently, while his breathing became chaotic.
I was never someone who cared about attention, and now I have to fight with so many people around me… It's suffocating.
Looking at so many people around, Nulambart simply lost focus for a few seconds, so the next moment, when he regained focus and tried to look at his opponent's position, he couldn't find him.
Damn, where's Gus?
Nulambart turned his head to his sides, but he couldn't see anything either, so he could only notice that a shadow with an aura of two colors, light green and dark green, was rushing towards him.
In his hand, there was a whip similar to the one Aggi had, but with the difference that this whip had small runes embedded in the handle of the weapon
"Let's see what you think of this foreign punch," Gus said proudly, preparing to launch his attack in the air
Gus then channeled his two-colored aura, which allowed him to immediately transform the shape of his weapon, turning it into a cannon very similar to the one Aggi had used against the guardian, but with the difference that Gus's weapon had protected half of his torso, appearing as one with his weapon
He's using the same technique as Aggi, but with a much lower cultivation… Plus, it seems his weapon kept its green color and runes. Nulambart couldn't help but compare the two attacks.
Then Gus aimed directly at Nulambart, who could not react in time, so he could see how he would be attacked without doing anything.
Braaaaaaash
Nulambart could only see how a large-scale attack was approaching, to the point that almost all illumination from the sun's rays was gone, because what the cannon had expelled were thousands of videos with an extremely dangerous dark aura.
Then he circulated his aura to its limits, making the double color of his aura visible in the same way, gold and blue. So he concentrated all the power he had at his disposal and placed both arms extended upward, forming a small barrier that barely protected his body from above
I will receive the full impact.
Nulambart simply stood still as thousands of small vines fell on his barrier. However, to his surprise, he was barely able to withstand that attack, with his barrier almost on the verge of breaking.
Holding his breath from the fear that had passed through the previous attack, Nulambart sought the gaze of his opponent, who had already fallen from the sky and was looking at him with complacent eyes, closing his arms.
"Nice attack, Gus, you almost defeated me with your first move. I'm afraid you won't get another chance," said Nulambart, who looked closely at the robust boy.
"Hahaha, foreigner, that was not an attack to defeat you. I prepared the battlefield," Gus replied, laughing.
The next moment, the vines had fallen to the ground and transformed into small bushes. That had fruits that seemed to have a red light inside.
"Wait, Gus, don't tell me they're…" Just before Nulambart could finish, his opponent interrupted him.
"Hahaha, Nulambart, be careful about stepping on the bombs," Gus finished, laughing.
Nulambart looked at the entire battle arena with said bushes full of bombs, and couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
"Now what am I supposed to do?" Nulambart said in shock.