Forbidden Knowledge

Ivan, attempting to clear his mind, opted to land on the ground first to conserve his strength.

"Open Skill List," he commanded.

Following his words, a new light blue holographic screen appeared in front of him. "Under the skill [Sword Mastery], activate [Swordsman Path] and [Will of the Dragon], please."

[Level is insufficient. Please try again later.] The system responded.

"Right… I'm only level 5. Tch."

Ivan scrolled through the list of skills available under [Sword Mastery (Trial)], his face growing solemn.

Having not even unlocked [Sword Mastery (Basic)] yet, he possessed minimal sword skills.

"Since my [Sword Mastery] is only on trial, I only have access to grade F skills like [Thrust], [Slash], and [Parry]. Great, just what I need to beat a higher being," grunted the young child.

He began formulating different combos involving all his current skills.

Meanwhile, as Ivan strategized, the giant hand remained motionless in the sky. The owner of the colossal hand believed no preparation was necessary, considering he was facing a mortal child.

10 minutes later…

Ivan stood firmly on the ground, wielding an iron sword in each hand. He took a deep breath, his gaze hardening as he called out to the higher being in the sky.

"Are you ready?" 

'Always have been.' The higher being replied through telepathy.

"Then let's get started." Positioning himself with his body leaning forward, Ivan activated his [Jump] skill before he leaped towards the sky where the giant hand resided. 

With a flick of his arms, Ivan threw one of his iron swords at the giant hand with incredible force.

But before he could deal any damage to the giant hand, the higher being had already anticipated his attack.

With a snap of his fingers, the sky grew dark with countless lightning bolts flashing by.

Soon, a flock of winged drakes descended from the dark clouds and headed straight for the young boy. 

Ivan on the other hand, saw what had happened and remained calm.

Now that he was flying through the air, moving to dodge the winged drakes was impossible now.

So now what?

Ivan pondered for a moment before raising his iron sword at the winged drakes approaching him.

Activating his [Slash] skill, he did his best to stabilize himself to strike at any given moment.

In response, the flying drakes emitted soul-shaking roars and carelessly charged towards Ivan.

As a result, four of the winged drakes were cleaved into pieces, while three managed to slip through the opening created by their companions and flew straight back into Ivan's attack range.

"Haiz, what a bunch of dumb snakes you guys are." Ivan sighed to himself as he activated his 2nd sword skill, [Thrust].

Ivan gathered his remaining energy into his right arm before he thrusted his sword at the winged drakes.

The blade glowed for a second time, but instead of being swift and light, the [Thrust] skill increased the blade's penetration power by a considerable amount, elongating the blade into that of a lance. 

Shunk!

Three winged drakes were pierced together in a straight line with ease.

"Winged Drake Kebab is ready to be served!" Ivan called out with a smile. In his han

Thus, the 10-year-old swiftly dispatched seven flying drakes using only a pair of iron swords.

Headmaster Na along with the higher being, both couldn't help but be surprised by Ivan's skillful maneuvers while still in the air. 

'Not bad. Try taking on this Wind Hawk then. Its speed is as fast as the wind.' With a flick of the giant hand, a tornado as tall as the sky appeared before the young boy and his headmaster.

"When a tornado as tall as the sky appears, the king of the wind appears… Shit, Ivan, a Wind Hawk is about to appear! Quickly escape now before it's too late!" 

Just as the headmaster realized the meaning behind the tornado's appearance, a hoarse, screaming "kee-eeeee-arr" could be heard from within the tornado. 

Following that, a pair of scarlet eyes could be seen from within the tornado. 

"I can't react fast enough!" Headmaster Na panicked, his hands still shaking from the higher being's pressure.

But just as the Wind Hawk was about to appear, Ivan activated his [Slash] skill and sent out several sword slashes at the tornado, cutting the Wind Hawk into minced meat easily.

After doing so, the young boy smiled smugly at the giant hand while conveying his message to the higher being through his thoughts. 

'So what if the Wind Hawk is as fast as the wind? My reflexes are as fast as lightning. And according to science, light is always faster than the wind.' 

'But according to the laws of my plane, us higher beings are always faster than light. Therefore, even if you're faster than light, you still won't be able to one up me. Given up yet?' [Higher Being]

"In your dreams. I'd rather die gallantly than beg for my life." Upon landing on the ground, Ivan used [Jump] to leap towards the giant hand in the sky again. 

This time though, the young boy decided to use [Thrust] as he soared through the sky. 

'Using [Thrust] as an attempt to pierce through whatever I summon next? Heh, you're quite smart.'

"And your hand is about to get punctured. Eat my iron sword thrust!" 

'Haiz, you didn't let me finish. So what if you're smart? Don't forget that I'm a higher being. I can easily nullify the effects of your skill with just my aura.' 

Following that, the aura suppression that had previously lessened up on Ivan and Headmaster Na suddenly increased by tenfold, pinning the headmaster to the ground while also slowing down the speed of Ivan's attack.

"Tch, like that's going to work on me–!" Before he could finish, however, Ivan had his [Thrust] skill canceled before he found himself crashing into the ground. 

Upon landing on the wet ground, the 10 year old child coughed out some blood before he finally passed out due to the intense pressure.

"Ivan!" When the headmaster saw the young boy falling from the sky, he was incredibly frightened as he tried to resist the intense pressure to save him. 

Alas, the higher being increased the aura suppression again, knocking the headmaster out along with the child.

{Phew! Now that the mortal child has passed out, I can finally retrieve the forbidden knowledge from the child and complete my mission.} 

With a thought from the higher being, a ball of light slowly emerged from Ivan's bleeding forehead before finally landing in the palm of the giant hand. 

And just like that, the giant hand along with the stormy clouds disappeared as though there was never a thunderstorm in the first place.