...…
The moment Faker released his Aura Manifestation, Shin suddenly felt an overwhelming threat that was coming from all directions. It was as if death was coming after him and getting near at him bit by bit.
He could tell that Faker was taking this fight seriously. Given this, he also needed to give his all out of respect. So, he took a deep breath and muttered to himself. "So, Brother Faker is really an Ethereal Opening Stage expert. Looks like I have to use all of my reserves this time, huh?"
After that, Shin focused himself and put all of his guards up while waiting for Faker to make his move. And he didn't wait long since Faker suddenly disappeared from his current spot on the very next instant.
The moment Shin saw that, he felt that his nerves suddenly became tense. And since his senses were being messed by intense killing intent coming from every direction, he was unable to clearly detect Faker's direction.
'If I can't sense your movements, then I am going to attack in all directions instead.' But even if that was the case, he still pulled his sword out of its sheath before swinging it powerful. At the same time, he unleashed a powerful sword wave that formed a ring of black flame, which extended up to five meters.
Shing!
'Class Fighting Style: Sunshine Cleaver'
Swoosh!
The blazing sword wave was giving an impression that it could burn everything on its path as it kept moving forward. And since it was covering every direction, it was quite hard to find an opening to attack Shin.
But that didn't mean that Faker couldn't find a place that he could exploit, especially since there were still two remaining places where he could attack from.
Naturally, Shin was also aware of this. So, after sending out the circular sword wave to cover all of his sides, he immediately focused all of his senses on these two directions, which were above him and underneath his feat.
A moment later, Shin suddenly felt through his feet that there were some movements below the ground. And without further ado, he quickly jumped backwards to move away from his current spot.
Bang! Bang!
Then a pair of daggers shot up from the ground and flew upwards. Each of these daggers were tied with a chain at the bottom of their hilts, signifying how they were being controlled.
Shin was watching the chained daggers as he fell back on the ground; he was expecting that these daggers were going to fly at him at any given moment. But his pupils suddenly contracted when his feet touched the floor of the training room, he felt yet other movements underground!
Given that, Shin immediately leaped backwards and did a back-flip while he was midair. Together with his movements, another pair of chained daggers suddenly flew from the ground once again and went straight towards Shin. Fortunately, he flipped backwards in a very timely manner, making him avoid the daggers with a very small margin.
But that didn't end in there, Shin quickly made another backward flip because he saw that the previous pair of chained daggers were now flying down at him. Then the process repeated itself as the pairs of daggers chased after Shin. And after a few more flips Shin finally got enough space to throw his own attack.
The moment Shin landed back on the ground with his two feet, he pulled the [Yamato] a little backwards while accumulating the power of the Moon on it. And on the next instant, he quickly swung his sword forward five times, sending forth a group of five vertical sword waves in a cone direction.
'Slayer Skill: Crescent Cleave'
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The chained daggers were sent backwards after getting hit by the sword waves, which were continuing at moving forward.
Meanwhile, Shin was still maintaining the last posture that he made after throwing those waves. At the same moment, Faker suddenly appeared behind him as if he was a specter that suddenly came out of nowhere.
This this time, Faker was holding a shortsword on his right hand instead of a dagger. And without further ado, he quickly swung that shortsword forward together with a great force.
Feeling the immense threat coming from behind, Shin quickly turned his body around while using the momentum of that spin to powerfully swing his sword in return.
Bang!!!
A deafening sound was created the moment their weapons clashed against each other. But the most surprising thing in this exchange was Shin being at a disadvantage; he slid back for a couple meters after the collision.
'What?' Shin was confused about why that happened. There might be a little difference in between in terms of level, but he was sure that the gap was not that huge; especially that he got the 'Experience Coupons' from the recent special event of the Holy City. In fact, he might even be on the same level as the leading players of the game.
Moreover, he should have a higher start than Faker in terms of strength. And even if the latter had a stat multiplier that was higher than Shin, it should be in terms of AGI and not in STR. With this, he shouldn't be forced to slide backwards.
But Shin didn't have much time to dwell in that confusion because Faker immediately launched towards him right after the collision.
Seeing that, Shin immediately steeled himself and got ready for whatever was about to come. But before his opponent was able to reach him, Faker's figure suddenly blurred from his sight before disappearing completely.
On the next instant, Faker suddenly reappeared behind Shin while getting ready to throw his counterattack.
Even if it was too sudden, Shin was able to clearly feel Faker's movements this time because the latter overstepped a little at the range of Shin's Sensing Circle.
Due to this, Shin was able to respond in time and was about to make his counter. But before could even turn his body around, he felt that Faker suddenly disappeared once again before reappearing on a different side.
Because Shin was originally getting ready to turn around and counterattack at Faker earlier, the muscles on his body suddenly turned stiff. And even if his instincts could feel his opponent's moments and urged his body to respond to it, the response was a bit too late due to how fast Faker was.
'Epic Combat Technique: Shadow Waltz'
Shin understood that he couldn't block this attack no matter how hard he tried, but dodging the dagger was not completely impossible. So, he immediately abandoned the idea of throwing a counterattack and tried to dodge for as fast as he could.
Shing!
Shin managed to survive that predicament, but it didn't mean he was already safe; it was just the beginning as Faker started another attack with the same movements. But since Shin already experienced the same move, he was prepared this time.
Clang!
Shin did a horizontal circular slash to cover every direction, making his sword to collide with Faker's shortsword. The slight clash didn't affect Faker much so he did the same time and circled around Shin while preparing to throw yet another strike.
On the other hand, that slight pause at Faker's movement was more than enough for Shin to change the from the sheath on his other hand; it became a straight sword with a narrow blade and sharp edges.
'Legacy Skill: Mondi's Style: Conviction Form'
And right after transforming the form of the sword sheath, Shin immediately swung both of his swords in every direction, creating a net-like wall of sword silhouettes that protected him.
'Epic Combat Technique: (Modified) Infinity Edge'
Clang!
Faker's attack was repelled once again due the sword slashes, but he didn't stop in there and continued moving around Shin while throwing some attacks from every time he saw an opportunity. But Shin remained unmoved as he continued at executing his combat technique.
Cling! Clang! Clang!
Cling! Clang! Cling!
Though, Shin started to feel the pressure from Faker's attacks as the time went by. It was because Faker kept on changing the rhythm of his attacks every time. And even if Shin was a Battle Genius that could improve during battle, he was still having a hard time keeping up with Faker's assaults.
He was having a hard time adjusting at the everchanging rhythm of attacks. Worse, it was even messing up his own rhythm due to his body being unable to react completely at Faker's speed. 'D*mn! This is the first time I've experienced an execution of 'Shadow Waltz' at this level. This is even crazier than the official assassins that I've seen at the mafia's training camp! Sh*t! I can't even find an opening to use a skill.'
'I recalled that Brother Faker said that he came from an assassin family; it is called the Valentine Family from what I can remember. I never heard of it before, but from the looks of it, this family also has a long history since they were able to nurture someone like Brother Faker and Brother Lawless.'
After a few more exchanges, Shin was starting to lose some focus and made him make a choice. 'Tsk! I guess there is no other choice, I need to gamble it.'
Bracing himself, Shin made an intentional opening that Faker could take advantage of. He was currently going to gamble everything this time since it was an opening that could make him lose this battle if he was unable to keep up with Faker's speed the moment this guy grabbed that opportunity.
And just like what he expected, Faker made his move and welcomed the gift that Shin had given; with a quick speed he suddenly broke through that opening and launched himself at Shin.
Swoosh!
Shin was able to know where Faker was coming since he set up the opening. Unfortunately, Faker speed was even faster than what he was expecting. So, immediately ditched out the original plan and did his best to move away from the path of Faker's swordsword for as fast as he could.
Swoosh!
The blade of Faker's shortsword was unable to hit any vital spots, but it was still able to graze the Shin's body and cut off a huge chunk at his HP.
Shin gritted his teeth and grabbed the small window that he got to use the 'Void Steps' and get away from Faker. And to make it even sure, he also used a couple of 'Moonlight Steps' backwards on top of the previous skill.
After making sure that Faker didn't come after him, Shin finally took a sigh of relief before muttering to himself. "D*mn! That was close!"
On the other hand, Faker didn't really chase after Shin since he also needed to regulate his breathing a little. At the same time, he was also shaking off the shock that he got after seeing how strong Shin's mental fortitude was. 'It requires a lot of willpower for him to maintain that kind of concentration!'
Then he looked at Shin with an amazed look on his face and added. 'It is fine by me since I am already at the Middle Phase of the Ethereal Opening Stage, but this guy is still at 'Core Formation Stage'! His willpower is insanely high for someone of his Cultivation Realm!'
After that, he turned a little more serious and muttered. "Looks like I need to put more pressure this time, huh?"
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