SPARKS flew from the collision of the sword and the dagger.  The sword was suddenly surrounded with golden flames.  One could see that the owner of the sword wanted to end this unexpected battle as soon as possible.  But would Luo Yan let him?  Of course not.

Luo Yan could feel the tremendous heat from the flame.  If his daggers were made of ordinary materials, it would have probably melted by now.  Black flashes of shadow appeared on the daggers, competing against the golden flame. 

The golden-haired young man seemed to be surprised seeing that.  Luo Yan took advantage of the other's temporary gaffe and used his [8th Movement Dance] skill. 

His body moved on his own to perform the said skill.  His aggressive attacks appeared like he was performing a traditional sword dance.  Except that instead of a sword, he was holding two daggers.  His movements were full of grace and fluidity.  With his long white hair moving along with his every attack, his actions just looked extremely beautiful.

But Xia Lei – the golden dragon – didn't appreciate any of that beauty.  No, it was probably more accurate to say that he had no time to appreciate it.  Because each attack was very heavy.  And it just became heavier and heavier.  It's not just the power, it's also the speed. 

Black flashes also appeared on the daggers with each attack.  He noticed that every time those black flashes appeared, the flame on his sword decreased.  As if it was being devoured. 

He was not really that far off.  The shadow didn't 'devour' his flames, it just simply 'covered' it.  Just like how shadows could cover a lot of things as long as the right amount of light was present. 

It's an inherent attribute of the daggers Yu Jiao made for Luo Yan.  As long as it encountered another element, it would try to 'cover' it with its shadows.  As if it didn't want other weapons to 'overshadow' it.  The daggers were kind of greedy that way.  And Luo Yan absolutely loved it.

On the other hand, the [8th Movement Dance] which he was using right now was a skill that produced eight consecutive attacks in a dance-like manner.  Each attack was stronger than the last, making the eight attack the strongest.  It's attacking power was not that high but it only had one second cooldown.  So, it didn't really matter much as long as one continuously used it. 

Luo Yan didn't really use it for that.  He just used it to find a gap, so he could wound Dragnar.  Once he did, the effect of the Eternal Lotus would activate and the other's time would stop for three seconds.  That was enough to deal considerable damage to the other.

Although he truly wanted for them to have a proper fight at the final tournament, since Dragnar attacked him, then he could only response.  He couldn't just possibly stand here and wait for his attack, right?  He participated in this carnival to win, not to lose.  So, even if it was a waste to eliminate this dragon here, he would do it.

But he knew that it wouldn't be that easy.  After all, the other was a Legendary race.  Not only that, he could back that race with his skills.  Meaning he's not just a dragon in name.

Xia Lei also didn't plan on fighting this white-haired elf - Noctis.  He was confident that he could defeat the other.  But if he did do so, he wouldn't hear the end of it from his sister.

He knew how much of a fan his sister was of this Noctis.  Drawing fan-arts of him with another guy, gushing about him in her Weibo account.  Xia Lei was even sure that in this Rookie Carnival Xia Li was cheering more for Noctis than him, her own brother.

If he eliminated this guy here now, his troublesome elder sister would definitely punish him in some way.  Maybe she would make a fan-art of his game avatar and then pair him with some random guy.  That would be the better outcome.  Worse?  She could post an embarrassing picture of him in his school's forum site.

While he was thinking of that, Luo Yan finally found the opening he was waiting for.             

One of Luo Yan's dagger sneaked pass the sword.  When it was about to hit the side of his neck, he suddenly moved his head to the opposite side.  So, he managed to dodge at the nick of time.  Then his hand not holding the sword turned into dragon claws and it came straight to Luo Yan's face.

Luo Yan had no choice but to jump back, completely cutting off the [8th Movement Dance] skill.  Before he could think of his next move, three slashes of golden flame came flying towards him at a very fast speed.

He didn't have time to dodge so he activated one of his skills.  But not before throwing one of his daggers.  He threw it in between the slashes of golden flames.  And then his whole body was suddenly covered with a black shadowy cloak.

It's a skill called [Shadow Cloak].  It covered the user with this shadow-like cloak that would lessen the opponent's attack by half.  This skill could be maintained for 15 seconds and had a cooldown of a minute. 

He was not planning on using this on the preliminary round.  Because everything here was being broadcasted.  He didn't want his future opponents to see his skills.  That's why he tried not to use that many skills as much as possible.  But now, this Dragnar had managed to force him to use one of his skills that he was not planning to use today.

With the help of his [Shadow Cloak], he managed to rush past the golden flames and then ran forward towards the direction of Dragnar.  Despite halving the attack power of the golden flames, he could still feel the decrease in his HP.  But he didn't care much about that and just continued forward.

He smiled when he saw that Dragnar was now standing still.  He looked at the fresh wound on his cheek and his dagger that was lodged on the sand way passed the other.  It was obvious that the dagger he threw earlier managed to graze him.  Which was enough for the effect of the Eternal Lotus to activate.  He quickly speeded up before that effect vanished.

Once he was in front of Dragnar, he was about to stab the other's chest when golden smoke started to surround Dragnar.  Luo Yan's pupils shook a bit.  Because this golden smoke symbolized the other turning into his beast form. 

He was about to increase his speed when fireworks suddenly appeared above the Winter area.  And then, the voice of the Duke of Hearts filled the place.

[Congratulations to the four players of the Winter area for reaching the quota at the fastest speed!  Noctis, Dragnar, Lovelee, and Pan - you four are now qualified to participate on the final tournament of the Rookie Carnival.  As promised, you will receive a reward for such a feat.  Although I must say, aside from Noctis and Dragnar, the remaining two didn't really entertained me that much.  So, Noctis, Dragnar, please receive this lord's flying hearts!]

Luo Yan and Xia Lei, who both froze the moment the Duke of Hearts spoke, stared at the two flying hearts that appeared out of thin air. 

And these two hearts just flew straight to their chest!

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