Chương 154: B2 Chapter 41: Day Three II

In my eyes, his figure was only a silhouette, with red strings of trajectory cutting towards my neck and lower body. As I adjusted my stance to Tidal Wave, his blade fell towards my lower body. I lunged into the air, half-flipping over his head, as the unnamed blade surged with an aura of sharpness. Translucent blade light flashed towards the dissipating figure in my first attempt at offence.

William almost, almost avoided the blade, but the aura surged forth, smashing into his back and throwing him to the very edge of the duelling ring.

"Two points to number 188," the referee called. The speedster returned, mounting a defensive stance, eyeing the blade in my hand. But noting that I was not charging for more points, he asked, "What class is your blade? It's a prestigious piece, isn't it?"

"Why?" I said, quite taken aback.

"It's merely a common sword."

"I will eat my boot. I don't believe you," William sneered. I was speechless. That was not even my full strength. Was it really so hard to believe that aura could be used as such? Before I could clear his apparent ignorance, William took advantage of the moment, thinking it a lapse in my concentration. I suspected the only way he could rid himself of that ignorance was by meeting my blade. With a surge of aura, I ducked under his sword with Whispering Wind.

The sword steps could have been even swifter, perhaps matching a speedster if I had managed to learn Aura Resonance of Swiftness. That art was lost on me now, as were Aura of Heaviness and the other elemental resonances. For the battle at hand, I only concentrated on sword sense. I was not infallible, and true to his strategy, William did come menacingly close to earning a couple of points. Unfortunately for him, my free hand had been surging with a strand of sharpness aura, ready for the onslaught.

With a flick of my finger, a beam of sword light surged into William's chest. It barely had a tenth of my aura force, lacking the true mastery of Sharpness, but it managed to displace the speedster from the solid ground. A straight line of silver string shot from my blade and connected to William's right shoulder, giving me an absolute chance to strike. Even if he tried to evade, it would fall upon his vital points, calling the strike home, but I was just having fun.

I did not get many chances to push my sword sense to the limit these days. Against Father, I failed to even see through half of his moves. Putting my body under the line, I evaded and deflected all the speedster's swings. Unless I could lock his swing, meeting his strike head-on was pure lunacy, as a speedster could invert his strike off the bat before I could parry. William did move to a more defensive front, fully convinced that the blade would end the duel as soon as he could land a blow.

On one occasion, I had to flare all my aura to deflect as William came dangerously close to striking true.

"How are you doing this?" William was at his wits' end.

"I've never seen any outfit applying aura like that. Aren't your wards getting in the way?" The bout had gone on long enough that William seemed visibly thinner, his face coated with sweat. Even I was seething in it. Unfortunately, it could not go on for much longer, as the referee called out that only two minutes remained in our duel. If a victor was not decided, he would call it a draw. That was when I bludgeoned William with an onslaught of coercive aura.

I shot after the disoriented speedster, landing two swift blows and ending the match in a matter of seconds. William fell on his back. The defensive formation of his armour still held, but a look of utter befuddlement filled his gaze as he looked up at me, still unable to quite believe what had transpired in that second. He opened his mouth to speak, but it stayed open until the referee called my triumph. William ground his jaw and carried himself out with as much swiftness as he could muster.

[Way of Evasion VIII (5005/5000) is complete.] [+6 to Uncommon Reflexes.] [Way of Sword Sense IV (1000/1000) is complete.] [+4 Enhanced Aura.] I returned to my spot and brought out Tera's ward to study. I detested admitting it, but her schematic truly beat me in efficiency. I suppose that was to be expected from someone who came from one of the two long-standing entrepreneurs of craftsmanship. Dragonforce probably had tens of artisans researching runes and schematics at every moment.

While her formation did have me beat in essence efficiency, there were some tiny, minuscule instabilities in her actual rune formation. Eleven of the twelve formations were picture-perfect, but the last one had some unevenness in its form. Still, it fell into the excellent category. Her craft gift allowed her to imprint a script formation all at once, so the only reason such an error could occur was probably due to insufficient Will. There was nothing extraordinary in my next duel.

Despite trying to prolong it to test my sword, I won it within a couple of minutes, six to nil. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The standby referee alerted me that my next duel would commence after the lunch break. There was still time for that when, on the other side of the Colosseum, the common-class fencing competitions began.

I found Eran with his back against the wall, alternating between watching the competition and reading through the documents I had given him last night. Storing the fabricator, I joined him.

"You will get neck pain at this rate."

"Not with a hundred points in fortitude," Eran chuckled, "no."

"Have you had any fights yet? Sorry, I was busy with something."

"Once," he said, lifting his head from the notes.

"I won six to four. My opponent had an uncanny instinct. He saw through all my moves, start to end."

"Then how did you win?" My friend grinned, sparing me a look.

"With a relentless spree, of course."

"So, you swung your blade without rest until his body could not keep up," I stated the obvious.

"Well, that was as good a strategy as any." The fencing competition was supposed to showcase the best of swordsmanship, to demonstrate the pure mastery of the art of fencing. Unfortunately, while external fabricators were disallowed in the competition, Gifts were open for utilisation, meaning the contest still leaned towards those with more advantageous gifts. A speedster would always have the most advantage, even if their fencing capabilities were lacking, merely on the merit of their accelerating pace.

"I watched your duels," Eran said.

"Are you planning on going through the entire competition without showing off shaping?" I immediately shushed him with a finger on my lips. Noting that nobody was paying attention to us, I replied, "As far as I can go without it." Even with my aura growing stronger by the day, I was not vain enough to believe I could win the entire competition with my aura alone. The levitation boots were already an alternative form of shaping.

With my current mastery, it would be quite miraculous if I could reach the top eight with aura and swordsmanship alone. Unless, of course, I became a true swordsman. Collecting my thoughts, I returned to reality, eyeing the notes in Eran's hand.

"Here, I will help you prepare."

"There's no need," Eran argued.

"You have yours to prepare for."

"It's fine, I'm free until lunch break." I practically had to seize the pages from his hand until he relented. Eran scrunched his nose.

"How are you going to help?"

"Quizzing, of course," I said.

"Say, what is your strategy against someone like Grant Fisher?"

"Who's that again?" Eran smiled unabashedly. I glared at him.

"Right, he's with a Strength gift," Eran acquiesced, "so that means his movement will be swift and his blade tyrannical. Mhm, I'd just let him take his course before taking offence when he's running out of steam?" There was nothing wrong with this plan per se, but I asked, "What would you do if Grant saw through your strategy and adjusted to it?" My best friend tilted his head, ruminating.

"I'll try to read his movement and adapt accordingly. If he slows down, I'll charge up to not leave him time to rest."

"What about someone like Oleya Silhorn?"

"The speedster? I have seen her. She's not as fast as Priam at Noble Class, but... I'd hope I do not meet her early. But if I do, I'll try to smash her onto the floor, make her disoriented in any way possible and as early as possible. There's half a chance of it working." Eran let out a forlorn sigh, knowing that even if he managed it once, he would not manage it a second time.

"You should have joined the duels," I muttered. At least there, Eran could have fought to his last breath.

"It would not be much better there," Eran mumbled back, though his palms clasped into fists. We carried on with the quizzing, and I figured there was not much I could give Eran other than moral support. He had good strategies planned against any possible opponent, but as always, without a dependable gift to rely upon, he would falter before someone like Oleya Silhorn. The bell called for a recess for noble-class duels, but I chose to stick around at least to watch Eran fight once, when a familiar figure drifted by.

Melina slowed down upon noticing me. There was a younger boy in her tow, the resemblance in facial features alluding to a close relative, likely a younger sibling.

"What are you doing here?" the girl asked, pulling a clumsy lock of hair behind her ear.

"Why? Nobody said I can't be here?" Her probable brother snickered, which earned him a glare as he promptly shut up. Knowing a bit about her temper, I decided to be truthful.

"I was helping my friend," I said, alluding to Eran and the notes in my hand, "prepare for his fencing duel." The girl nodded, and then her eyes contracted as her gaze fell on the papers. She had a rolled-up set of notes in her hand as well.

"I'm much of the same," she said, before punching her younger sibling on the shoulder.

"Sadly, my brother here does not appreciate it at all. I had spent half of my month's pocket money to buy him information on his competitors, but this blighted fool does not even care to take a glance."

"They are bogus anyway," her brother said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"A real battle is decided on the battlefront." Melina pinched his ears.

"Don't quote something you hardly understand."

"What is there to not understand? A clumsy wind shaper like you will never comprehend what true battle is like." Melina had no qualms about leaking her aura and a bit of her essence, freezing her sibling in place. He could only grumble something about letting him advance to Noble Class.

"Don't worry, when you do, I won't have to hold back so much either." I noted the noble girl carefully, especially the slack control of her aura. It was not as loose the other day when we fought. It was as if... Then it connected.

"You have advanced?"

"Wha..." her mouth hung open, eyes glaring in astonishment.

"How did you know?"

"She had drunk a superior essence tonic after crying all night after her defeat," the boy said, shifting beside me as though changing sides.

"Mother was livid at her recklessness."

"It was completely safe!" Melina claimed. Then her gaze drifted towards me.

"Wait till I meet you in the duel again."

"I hope you do." I nodded.

"Solas help me, you're so infuriating." The boy snickered once again.

"Well, I'm Mirian, by the way, and I hope you'll get to beat my sister once more.

"Arilyn," I introduced before turning to Eran.

"Um, I think my name is called," he said, running towards the duelling ring on the rear flank. I watched as my best friend lunged up into the ring, unsheathing his blade against another boy named Silas Roenar. Swiftly perusing the notes, I found the information on Eran's opponent. Silas Roenar came from a minor noble house, and his gift gave a boost to his wide perception. Nothing too outstanding that Eran could not overcome.

"Your intelligence seems to be the same as I got," Melina said with a frown. I lifted my eyes from Priam's duel to spare her a glance, an odd thought coming to mind.

"Out of curiosity, how much did it cost you?"

"Mine contained information on noble-class categories too," she said, "so the price is a bit steeper. But good thing I knew the broker for some time and he got me a big discount, costing only sixteen gold Leafs."

"Hmh, by any chance, is the broker you mentioned a scrawny youth?"

"Oh, you mean Leaf? Did you buy the intelligence from him as well?" Melina asked brightly, a look of pride exuding from her expression. Black lines appeared on my forehead and I stared at the girl. Looking at her proud and innocent face, I could not bring myself to break the news to her.

"What's with the look on your face?" she asked.

"He did not give you the discount, did he?" I shook my head. Melina giggled, taking it as her win.

"His manner can help some work, and perhaps a little too fixated at money, but Leaf is not bad."

"Let's just watch the fight."