Chapter 75: Confrontation

"Very well then" Jeoffrey said, preparing to fire his weapon. Before he could though…

"" I said activating my latest skill. Almost immediately I felt a connection with something. It took me a moment to realize that this connection that I was feeling was actually directed towards all metal within my immediate surroundings, including the guns that were pointed at us.

I directed that connection forward. "Come" I said

Three guns were pulled forward by an invisible force. Two M16's and a sniper rifle with a long barrel. Jeoffrey watched with dark eyes as his gun was wretched from his hands with such force that he couldn't even resist. If he hadn't been careful he would have broken a few fingers too. The same couldn't be said for his partner though who gave a shout when he felt his trigger finger snap out of place.

I smiled as the guns hovered over ground around me. But secretly let out a relieved breath. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if that hadn't worked. Luckily it did and it wasn't even taking up a lot of mana. It seemed that Earth's pre-apocalypse metals were considered below rank 1 and if I remembered correctly the [Beginner's manual] had explained that metals were ranked according to how much mana they could naturally absorb from the atmosphere and those that couldn't were rank 0 which included all metals before mana.

Don't get it wrong the fact that was working on rank 0 metal didn't mean that the metals that made up the guns were absorbing mana, no, the skill simply used mana to form a connection with the metallic ions within in order to give me control.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Jeoffrey shouted to his partner. "Arina get reinforcements while we'll hold them off"

The female sniper who had been in the tower didn't dare to linger for long. A split second later she seemed to have disappeared from the watchtower in a blink. I didn't know if it was because of her speed or something else because my eyes couldn't follow how she even moved.

"Don't kill them" I said to Jordan who seemed raring to go. He punched his fist into his open palm before squeezing and popping the joints in his fingers and wrists.

"That will depend on how durable they are" Jordan said and with that he rushed forward in whirlwind of speed.

Jordan's stats may not have been as high as mine but they were certainly high enough to make him five times faster than your average human. With that kind of speed, it was no wonder Jeoffrey was caught somewhat off guard.

Still Jeoffrey didn't just look like a seasoned warrior for nothing. He was experienced with combat and that experience had only grown more with the apocalypse. He reached for the spear to his back. Then he pulled it out of its loop just in time to place the polearm in front of his chest, straight into the path of Jordan's fist.

To be honest it was a perfect counter to the attack. However, he had underestimated Jordan's strength and he knew that a split second later because the moment Jordan's fist crashed into his spear, the force that travelled through his arms was immense and even threatened to break his bones. His body was lifted into the air and he was knocked back ten meters across the air before landing back on the ground.

He hardened his legs as they plunged into the ground, digging and biting through the dirt. Jeoffrey gritted his teeth feeling his internal organs quake. A drop of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth his gaze becoming harder and harder as he looked at Jordan would had not followed up the attack and was merely standing a distance away.

Jeoffrey could tell, Jordan wasn't taking this fight seriously because if he had he would have followed up with another attack and that would have certainly been the end of it.

'He's young but he's strong' Jeoffrey thought as he finally stabilized.

He took a moment to ready himself. If his opponent wasn't going to take this fight seriously then he would. With a thought he activated his own skill. ""

His mana surged from his body causing the air to tremble slightly before it poured into his spear, accumulating at the blade of the spear. The spear gave of a blue glow as a small halo surrounded the blade and the shaft of his polearm.

In the distance Jordan could feel that the atmosphere around Jeoffrey had changed. It felt heavier and if he had to describe it further…sharper? Regardless he didn't have time to ponder further because Jeoffrey spun his spear around his body before giving out a powerful thrust.

Jordan's instincts flared, they were telling him that this attack was dangerous.

Bang!

It was as though a gun had gone off around the area, the mana that had surrounded the spear suddenly accumulated at the tip of it and before it was shot off in a concentrated beam of energy. It flew towards Jordan with the speed of a rocket.

"Crap!" Jordan cursed before crossing his arms before his chest in an 'X' while simultaneously activating a skill.

Boom!

The piercing mana from Jeoffrey's spear thrust slammed into him causing an explosion to ring out. Jordan's figure was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. To the side Jeoffrey's nervous partner had finally come back to his senses. He rushed out with his twin katanas unsheathed and the direction he was heading in was actually Jordan.

Seeing this I moved from my position. It didn't seem as though Conrad was going to do anything as he stood frozen. It seemed as though he himself didn't know what to do. I had somewhat expected this which was why I had Jordan tag along, he was my wingman after all.

With speeds even I never before thought of achieving I intercepted my opponent's path, drawing Black Salamander. My sword crossed against his blades and a sharp ringing sound travelled throughout the area. He had been planning to ambush Jordan as he recovered from Jeoffrey's attack. And I wasn't just going to sit around and watch that happen.

I could see the frustration on the nervous older man's face as he tried to push me away using his strength.

"Sorry but I'm stronger" I said as I added more weight to my attack pushing him back several steps.

The man looked at me with a dubious expression before staring down at his twin katanas. Stretching out my hand-palm upwards, I flicked my fingers in my direction in a gesture that said. 'Come on'

The man came at me in a barrage of steel as he launched attacks at me relentlessly with both blades. One coming at me from the left repeatedly while the other kept attacking at my right side. The atmosphere was oppressive to say the least and I felt slightly suffocated from both sides.

Still, I couldn't help the grin on my face as I felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I felt my blood boiling. I felt alive. My senses heightened, my vision tunneled and zeroed in on the movement of the blades. It was a surreal feeling.

A blade came to my left from above aiming for my shoulder. I spun to the right causing it to miss by a breadth however I wasn't out of the woods yet because I put myself directly in my opponent's other katana's path.

I blocked the attack with Black Salamander as I parried the blow to my right. My opponent brought the other blade forward just as I finished my execution and this time I stepped forward and ducked under his blade and arm before using my free hand to make a fist that I sent into his gut.

I heard him grunt as he stepped back.

I made an upward swing barely missing and placing a minor cut to his chin and drawing just a little bit of blood.

From there we clashed in a dance of steel and blades. We shifted from place to place across the battlefield our blades clashing and singing in a cacophony of metallic sirens. Sometime seemed to pass.

One minute. Two minutes. Three. More?

I lost track of time and somewhere along the lines I found myself laughing as though I was having the time of my life. Because deep down I truly was.

Black salamander seemed to share my sentiments as my opponent and I clashed with nothing but our sword skills.