Battle Genius

Blake's skill earlier generated a powerful shockwave that shook the ground.

In reflex, Tara uses her own body to protect Audrey from taking damage, and her HP has gone done quite a bit thanks to that. But she was too stunned to care about the pain, she didn't expect someone to come to their rescue.

Since they are in the center of this forest, there shouldn't be anyone around.

Knowing that fact alone makes her pessimistic about having someone to come to their rescue, much less a powerful individual who can take down five mercenaries in a couple of seconds with ease.

"Don't worry, he's on our side" Audrey suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Tara cast her a questioning look before she smiled and added, "I saw him hiding in the bushes earlier and decided to offer him a quest to help us. It seems he accepted it"

Meanwhile, the leader was shocked by Blake's sudden arrival.

Swish!

It was then, a reddish object suddenly flew past his vision in a blue before stabbing the man to his right on the forehead, his shocked state makes him late to react and when he turned to look at the man, he was already dead.

Out of the seven of his underlings, six of them died leaving only him and another mercenary.

Gritting his teeth and glaring at Blake that ambushed them and interfere in their affairs, the leader barked angrily, "Do you know who you are messing with, kid? Didn't your parents teach you to not meddle in others' problems?"

"I saw two women being bullied, so I naturally came to help" Blake replied nonchalantly.

Listening to his answer makes the veins on the leader's neck bulge, his face stiffening as he forced out a smile while trying to hold back his anger, "A white knight, eh? I assure you that it's unwise for you to do that..."

Blake readies his weapon when he saw the leader also unsheathed his sword.

Raising the intricate sword that is surely made by a great blacksmith horizontally to his eye level, the leader places his other hand on the blade. Slowly, he runs his fingers through the entire length of the sword.

As he did that, a fire started to burn the sword, turning it into a flaming sword.

Upon seeing the blazing sword as well as the heat coming from it, Blake becomes even more focused. In addition to the Gladiatorial Focus that increases his physical stats as well as his precision in a duel, his mind also went on an overclock.

"Be careful, he has the Spellsword Class" Salana warned from the side.

Feeling that it would be bad to let the leader attack him first, Blake didn't hesitate and instantly cast his Shadow Step skill, swallowed by the shadow of the forest before reappearing from the leader's shadow.

Standing behind the leader, he quickly swung his sword in a crescent manner.

Even though there was no hesitation in his movement as it was decisive and precise, the leader glanced over his shoulders before a chant escape his mouth. It made Blake's eyes slightly widen in surprise.

"Instant Acceleration"

Clang!

Just before the sword was able to reach the leader, it got parried by the flaming sword.

Not intending to let out his attack as it didn't manage to do anything to the leader, Blake keeps on pressing with his offense, swinging his sword repeatedly while trying his very best to land an attack on the leader.

But despite his attempt, the leader does minimal movement to block all of his attacks.

It was then a kick landed on his stomach.

Bam!

[-700 HP]

"Huaakhh!"

Blake grunted, he got pushed back a couple of steps back due to that kick.

It was quite heavy as it managed to take a huge chunk of his HP away, feels like being hit by a truck, and it was hard for him to breathe for a moment. Needing to gasp a couple of times to steady his breathing again.

Looking at him descendingly, the leader tilts his head in contempt, "Is that it...?"

"I was expecting you to be a harder opponent to deal with, considering you killed most of my men in a few seconds. But it seems without the surprise attack factor, you're nothing. Your skill is clearly at amateur level" he added as he puts his flaming sword on his shoulder.

Upon hearing this, Blake clenched his teeth as his pride was hurt by that remarks.

Despite not wanting to admit it, what the leader said is definitely an objective fact. Blake has never actually seen a sword before now much less hold it, so his swordsman skill will obviously not be impressive.

Crossing her arms in front of her, Salana looks at Blake from the side.

"Lesson one from me. If you get angry during a fight, you fulfill the first recipe to lose. Keep a level head, you don't have the skill, but if you swing your sword with a clear intention in mind then you'll be better. Don't swing aimlessly. Also, don't fix your focus to only his sword. A fighter's whole body is also their weapon"

Albeit his rigid breathing due to the anger, Blake listens attentively and nodded his head.

Salana and he have always been bantering a lot even though it's not even a day of them knowing each other. But Blake knows that Salana is a great fighter considering her title as a duelist, surely her advice is a big help for him.

Each of her instructions is definitely backed by actual experience and intention to help.

'It's not fun to lose when playing a game, might as well listen to her'

Digesting the advice that Salana gave to him, Blake exhales a deep breath to calm his angry nerves before he puts his attention back on the leader again, standing with absolute confidence as he would undoubtedly win this fight.

Considering their exchange earlier, it's natural for him to feel this way.

Just as he was thinking about the advice and the leader, a thought came to mind. Blake straightens his back and also puts on a prideful stance with his sword on his shoulder, "I don't think you have the right to say that to me. Considering you're wary of attacking two injured women, it seems like you're not as good as you though you were either"

Upon hearing this, Salana was taken aback as she didn't expect this.

But the moment she saw the leader's body tremble and his face contorted savagely, an approving smile appeared on her face, 'I only told him a bit, and he's already applying it like an expert. May not look like it at first, but his battle IQ must be very high, he's a natural'

"Don't be cocky you damn kid! I'm going to butcher you!" the leader shouted.

Boom!

A small explosion happened underneath the leader's feet, propelling him forward.

Charging straight at Blake, he raises his flaming sword with both hands above his head and swung down with a mighty force. The fire that courses on the sword's surface flickered and burns brighter.

"Arcane Fire Blade!"

Swoosh!

Deciding to not confront the attack heads on, Blake rolls to the side to dodge the attack.

Under the sheer might of the attack, the ground was sliced and the fiery properties of the sword shot forward in a straight line and decimated everything in its sight. Even the trees were left with a thin fiery cut on its trunk.

Glancing at Blake with a fierce expression, the leader dashes at him to continue his offense.

Blake keeps a level head and his mind clear of any hindrance.

Parrying the attacks that came to him with his sword, he was immersed in the fight. Since the speed between him and the leader is quite similar, he could react properly. Yet he decided to put 12 attributable points he gained earlier into his agility stat to get the cutting edge against the leader.

Earlier, when he killed six mercenaries, he reached level 17, and he has spare points.

On top of that, through the exchange of swords, he also realizes that he was actually stronger than the leader. It was only due to swordsmanship and experience that the leader can overwhelm him.

Judging from their physical stats alone, Blake is definitely better than the leader.

It was because of that reason that he was motivated to not lose this fight, he has the upper physique, and losing is embarrassing. As the clash continues, Blake started to get burned cuts here and there, grazed by the flaming sword.

But despite his sword skill, he was starting to launch a counterattack.

Even though it was sluggish, the leader was forced to dodge and defend every time he did it.

Meanwhile, Tara and Audrey that is watching from the side wanted to leave and escape fearing that Blake might lose. Safety is still their priority. But their bodies were stunned when they could actually see his improvement clearly.

"Such talent, he's learning rapidly as he fights" Audrey uttered.

On the other hand, Tara squinted her eyes, "Or maybe he was only playing weak earlier"

Tara has the same opinion as the leader earlier, Blake is not that skilled in the sword. It was only due to his shadow and blood skills as well as his superior physique that he was able to take down those mercenaries.

If gauged through his swordsmanship alone, he's no better than an average person.

But as of this moment, his strike has become even more fluid and creative. Not only that, but he was even able to start finding openings to counter-attack, showing his terrifying talent in sword or in fighting in general.

As the battle progresses, Blake is starting to enjoy every bit of this fight.

Swish!

[-600 HP]

The leader managed to cut him on his stomach, leaving a blood mark across his core.

Despite being able to land a couple of attacks and slowly making his way to chip down Blake's HP which is now sitting at 6,000 from the original 9,500, his eyes slightly widened when he felt a painful sting on his chest.

"Hmm...?!"

Looking down at his chest, he finds that he was also cut by Blake.

[-700 HP]

While looking at the leader's surprised expression, Blake cast a maniacal grin at the leader as he felt the thrill of the fight get to him as well as the invitation of the blood that makes his body excited.

[Improvement in body coordination. Body Control Lvl. 1 has been upgraded to Lvl. 2]

[Improvement in Swordsmanship. Acquired Basic Sword Proficiency]

Blake started laughing, his attack is becoming more fiercer and fiercer by the second.

Under his rapid advancement, the leader who was at the other receiving end started to find it harder to defend against Blake's relentless attacks. But this makes him even angrier as he can't believe he was about to lose to a kid.

"Instant Acceleration!"

A sudden burst of speed happened, and the leader managed to reach Blake's back.

Pulling his sword back with the intention to kill, the fire that coated the sword vanishes and was replaced by sparks of blue electricity. "Elemental Infusion, Lightning Cleave!" the leader chanted and swung with the intention of decapitating Blake with one powerful swing.

Thanks to the skill and electricity, his attack speed has become way faster.

Grinning inwardly finding that Blake hasn't got the time to turn his body around, the leader is already confident that he would end the fight with this strike. "Now you're going to regret crossing me in hell, kid. May you be way wiser in your next life"

Blitz!

Just as the sword was about to reach Blake's neck, his body suddenly moved unnaturally.

In an instant, faster than the lightning sword to reach his neck that is about a meter away, Blake throw his body sideways and dodged it perfectly. During the fight, he noticed something through his Nocturnal Blood Sight skill that he possessed.

Every time the leader was about to attack, he can see which blood vessels expanded.

Utilizing that information, he can predict what the leader's next attack will be, he even anticipated the leader moving behind him swiftly and timed a perfect dodge to a wide swing done by the leader.

Glancing at the leader's pale face, Blake cast a Cheshire cat smile.

"I win..."

Splat!