Chương 70: [BL] 69. Spell Blade [2]

[The Halo blessed you] [100% Attribute to the Guard] Through her body, power surged as overwhelming heat made her head clear and her next attack form in her mind. Willow's spell blade slashed forth with a brimming heat that surged through the Treant's trunk, carving with her arc, burning through the Riftborn's body, and slicing the Treant's right arm as her sword passed through. Despite losing one arm, the Treant barely hesitated, its other arm already descending upon Willow's neck, but she moved fast.

So fast that she shifted her speed, pivoted, and repositioned her blade for another slash that cut the treant's last arm right across its blade. The remainder of its blade, however, still sliced into Willow's tabard and her brigandine, drawing a thin line of blood down her chest. She winced at the pain. She decided to fight it, so she did not unconsciously trigger Beacon. [Weaponwrought Treant—Level 18] Willow slammed the pommel of her sword to its side, staggering it.

She shifted her sword again and lunged, stabbing through the Treant's thin neck. Her fiery spell blade gored deep, and with a wrist flick, Willow slid her sword up and kicked the Treant as well in the same motion—slamming its dead body down. She stumbled backward, left hand on her chest, on the thin cut. It was painful, but manageable. Still, though, could she have done better back there? Willow shook her head and turned her attention to the Bramble Treant. The tier-two Treant had been taken down.

Head caved in by Krywen's mace. Splintered wood surrounded the girl's weapon, and Krywen appeared dazed as she propped herself on the ground with one arm. Rudo was by her side in his [Warrior] leather armor. The boy got his arm twisted, a telltale sign of a bramble attack. As much as she wanted to go to them and check on them, Willow prioritized the battle first. She did a quick glance around and propped her sword up for another three of the thin Treants coming at her. Willow immediately recognized why.

She stood separated from her main unit. What was she thinking? She was not a tier-three, let alone two. Quickly, Willow stepped back to safety, and the Olympya Executioner charged, clad in his bulky golden armor. His axe cleaved through one of the Treants in a single cruel swing.

The other two stopped their charge and turned to the Olympya when a thunderbolt cut across one treant's head, then another, splitting its bark with blinding light and a booming sound that kept repeating three more times, killing one of the Treants swiftly. Willow strode onward to meet the last Treant, who still shook from its brethren's death; it barely raised a hastily formed axe-head to block Willow's spell blade. She telepathically told all her Olympya to back off, and this one would be hers.

The Treant shuffled back, forming a bladed, toxin-infused hand and sent a slash downward, meant to carve Willow's head. She pulled back and twisted her arm to bat away the attack, cutting the toxic wooden blade in two with her Sword of Light. The Treant used the chance to step inside and swung his axe; then Willow slid her footwork to the left and arced her sword tip to meet the falling axe head.

She meant to cut it apart again, but the Treant ducked, escaping Willow's sword motion, then lunged at her shoulder first. The wind was knocked out of her as she rolled backward with the Treant. Her hand let go of her spell blade, and her hip was pressed by her sheathed swords, both stabbing against her hip and making a loud clang as she hit the ground. With its new height advantage, the Treant was about to slam its axe into Willow's body, which glowed orange. A warmth spread through her whole being.

She ordered one of the fireflies to charge right at its eyes, and it flew above her. The tiny fireflies burned into the Treant, and it let out a deep growl. Not only that, the motes of ember around her, due to the Halo's effect, spread their glow and burned through its wooden body, and it thrashed around. Willow seized the moment to shove the Treant off her, hurling it to her right. The creature tumbled away, rolling across the ground. She clawed across the earth and unsheathed her sword, chasing after it.

The Treant pushed itself against a pool it fell into—the pool helped the Riftborn to banish the fires Willow imposed upon it. Its last arm sharpened into a bladed wood, brimming with toxic bubbles around its edge, and it met Willow's charge. Wet plop followed its steps, as water ran down its body. The Treant bellowed, a ragged, deep voice. Willow killed her charge and raised her sword to block the flurry of attacks.

Green liquid swished with every exchange of swords—she was careful not to get any of that on her face. Willow was unwilling to use another Firefly, but she surely wouldn't mind using the motes of ember as they danced around her and attacked the Treant, who ignored the burning pain across its body. Like a crazed barbarian, the Treant kept delivering a flurry of strikes at her. Willow shuffled backward, ensuring she had enough space to parry away every attack properly.

Her sword blocked a powerful strike that left her arm numb; then another hasty, weak attack, which she parried perfectly, knocking it up. The Treant's eyes widened, recognizing it had made a mistake. Willow committed to a full lunge, discarding her defense. Her sword tip bit into the Treant's neck, and its wooden skin gave way as Willow gored through it, pushing it back into the pool and across a small island where she pinned it to a tree. Letting go of her sword, Willow drew a much longer blade.

With a swift, decisive thrust, she pierced the Treant's heart before its arm could strike her again. The Treant thrashed once, then the life in its eyes dimmed. [You grow stronger] Adrenaline still high, Willow sought another enemy until the warm glow inside her reminded her of something—her friend—and she had a sudden desire to check on them. Until she found herself separated, alone, and with a Bramble Treant—a tier-two trudging along the path where she was supposed to return to. She clicked her tongue.

It looked like there was no choice but to switch her class. There was no way she could take down a Tier-two with her [Guard] class. As she was about to do so, the ground quaked. Spear-like roots suddenly erupted from the earth just near her feet. One of them lurched and wrapped around her leg, pulling her off balance. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Her head hit the trunk.

A blinding pain took over her vision then— A blur of blinding flashes followed, and Leynah appeared in front of her as if she had been watching the whole time. When Willow opened her eyes, silver hair billowed above her. Leynah cut the root with her sword. Leynah did not spare a glance. She walked toward the Bramble Treant. More roots shot toward her like spears, but Leynah stood her ground. Her sword flashed, a blur of white light, slicing a cross through every root.

Then, in one fluid motion, she dropped into a crouch, one hand touching the ground. Gust followed her wake as Leynah blitzed through the space between her and the Bramble Treant. Willow barely followed Leynah's sword motion. All she could perceive was a flash of white light, like a lash from the [Rabbit Champion] that split the Bramble Treant in two. With her elongated rabbit leg, Leynah kicked the Treant's head off, sending it smashing against a tree's trunk.

"You all right there?" She asked as she knelt, carving her sword into the Treant's chest.

"I'm fine," Willow said idly.

"Can you teach me that?" Leynah stopped mid-motion, giving Willow a small smirk, then she took the Class Stone and pocketed it.

"Hm? Are you talking about sword style? Well, it's about time. I wouldn't be able to teach you the exact style I'm using since, well… it requires you to have my legs, but I still have the Champion sword style. Get ready tonight." — The battle wrapped up decisively because of Leynah and the First Sword—Derrick's envelopment attack that took the opposing Tier-threes by surprise. The thin Treants who moved with bladed poison were a danger, and apparently Leynah and Drey had faced a Tier-three variant of them.

The Riftborn plan had been to use those mobile Tier-threes to envelop the human right wing, but Leynah and Drey ended up charging right at them and killing any chance of their flank attack. One thing Willow noticed in these past two battles, or well, almost every battle she participated in, was that battles were decided by high-tier individuals.

Against the Griffins, the [Royal Guard]s had trouble because they couldn't fly, but once the Griffins were grounded, it was an easy fight considering the human number advantage. This made it obvious that the best thing Willow could do now was to level up and figure out how to fight properly. When the night fully arrived, the army stopped its march. They stopped overlooking a narrow, deep valley with steep sides that required everyone to slide down. Willow's eyes settled on the small, narrow cave opening.

The cave floor was half submerged by the river that lapped calmly, reflecting the blue leaves above that barely filtered their light down. Some leaves had fallen into the water, bleeding cobalt into the otherwise dark, shadowed stream. Another light source illuminated the calm river, a fluorescent, rippling purple light from the rift which almost touched the river surface. The rift was about half again as large as the Kobold Rifts; its top nearly touching the ceiling of the small cave.

Bodies of Treants littered around it. Parts of their wooden bodies were cut and dumped into the water, and they swished against the earth, a reminder that the Devil had taken them down. Strange strings wrapped around them, thin white strings that reflected the moonlight. Derrick himself slid down, picking up the Treants' part, not caring about the poison that had mixed with the water.

"Rest!" The First-Sword ordered, his voice strong because of the weakening wind.

"Take the night's rest. Those who have Ascension, get it done! We start the Devil purge in first-light." Knowing this was a brief moment of peace before their next fight, the Legionaries were quick to set up tents with sentries overlooking the ravine. Smoke clawed upward as pots simmered with the boiling aroma of pleasant soup, making Willow sniff the air. She raised her eyebrow. For some reason, the legionaries gathered around two tents instead of erecting their own tents.

With a smile, some legionaries pushed their mates inside the tents, separated by gender. Krywen and Evan were cheered as they crossed to separate tents. The lordling looked as if he found this whole thing stupid and just wanted to get it over with, while Krywen stiffly walked into her own tent, only stopping when she saw Willow. Willow gave her a thumbs-up. Ah, this is the ascension time. Krywen beamed at her and gave her a furious bow before entering.

She wanted to join the legionaries and wait for Evan and Krywen's ascension. After all, it looked like they were preparing to celebrate, but a hand poked her shoulder. Willow turned to see Leynah handing her two swords without a word, both gladius with blunted edges. She cocked her head and took both.

"Come on." Leynah motioned, walking away.

"Let's begin your practice." Her mouth opened in protest. She wanted to join the festivity, but… but oh well. Willow sulked and followed the silver-haired woman who, out of nowhere, came to a stop, causing her to headbutt the tier-three's back. Leynah suddenly gave a half-bow toward someone, almost elbowing Willow's nose in the process. She scowled, barely dodging it.

"What is it—" Willow peeked and saw Derrick standing alone on the clear glade, his sword sheathed.

"A sword practice for the Bright One? Do you mind if I join? I believe I can impart some knowledge, especially since the Bright One is a spell-blade user."

"Of course, Lord First-Sword. I meant to teach her the Champion style that would enable her to fight in dual-wield, using both of her Spell-blade and medium-length gladius," Leynah explained.

"Why not your Rabbit Sword Style?"

"That requires her to have the same physique as me, elongated legs designed for pouncing in multiple quick bursts…" Leynah said, her voice sounding uncertain.

"My lady, have you not explained what your Auric Huntress class is capable of to her?" Derrick asked Willow.

"No, not yet," Willow said; mentally, she chided herself for forgetting that. Well, it was not like she had actually forgotten; it was just that learning what Leynah did would probably require her to modify more enhancers. Would that really be worth it? Sure, her swordmanship enhancer was with her [Auric Huntress] class, and she probably should…

"It seems it's better if we show her what kind of sword style she prefers to learn," said Derrick.

"How about this, Champion Leynah? Let's have a bout. I'll fight with this." Willow caught a flicker of a smile on Derrick's face beneath the dark night. Then his smile bloomed to life as a brilliant sword of pure light materialized on his arm—a mighty white claymore, almost as large as Derrick himself. A V-shaped crossguard was not made of steel, but of a shifting, crystal-like white energy that spread to the claymore handle.

"A Spell-blade. I'll show you the strengths and weaknesses of a Spell-blade against real enhanced weapons." Before Willow could answer, Leynah stepped forward. She did not draw her gladius. She dropped those. Instead, she drew her thin Rabbit sword and an obsidian-made gladius, an enhanced weapon from what Willow could see.

"It'll be a pleasure, Lord First," Leynah said. Willow had a feeling, so she shifted her feet and peeked at Leynah's face, and sure enough, she had a small smile that she tried to hide. Willow had, of course, noted every level of the Tier-threes. Leynah was the fourth highest after another two [Royal Guards] and one [Champion]. The First Sword himself was certainly not among the highest levels, but she always had this feeling that if everyone fought for themselves, then the Count First-sword would come out on top.

"Okay," Willow gulped.

"But I would love it if someone could explain stuff for me. I saw how Leynah just burst around, making my eyes strain."

"I'm sure we can arrange for someone," Derrick said.

"Now, please work out how you want your future self to look. And of course, I'm talking for each of your classes separately. Do not limit yourself."