Chapter 49: Bloodstained Attendant
The mercenary captain crossed the muddy ravine with a fluid sliding footwork technique that defied natural physics.
The green aura coating his rapier was not merely a glowing light. It was a highly condensed corrosive wind that actively sliced through the damp fog.
Leon relied heavily on his one hundred and thirty five points of Agility. He perceived the incoming thrust clearly. He stepped smoothly to the right expecting the linear attack to sail harmlessly past his shoulder.
He vastly underestimated the flexibility of a Tier Four Master’s aura manipulation.
The captain did not overcommit to the thrust. He seamlessly flicked his wrist mid strike. The corrosive green wind violently detached from the steel blade and whipped outward like a jagged magical whip.
Leon’s Danger Intuition flared agonizingly. He instinctively raised his left forearm and thickly layered his invisible Mana Skin to absorb the blow.
The green wind slashed across his arm.
It did not sever his limb thanks to his dense magical armor but the sheer concentrated corrosive energy burned right through his tailored black sleeve. It left a shallow searing cut across his forearm.
The pain was sharp and highly toxic but his Minor Pain Nullification skill instantly dulled the agony to a manageable throbbing ache.
Leon gritted his teeth and aggressively stepped forward. He refused to be pushed on the defensive.
He channeled his kinetic mana and unleashed a powerful Kinetic Repulsion blast aimed directly at the captain’s chest.
The seasoned mercenary merely laughed.
He fluidly twirled his glowing rapier creating a rapidly spinning shield of green wind. The invisible kinetic blast slammed into the swirling aura and was effortlessly deflected harmlessly up into the tree canopy.
"You fight like a brawler possessing stolen power," the captain mocked while unleashing a relentless flurry of blindingly fast thrusts. "You have no foundation. No legacy. You are nothing but a fast brute."
Leon was forced to constantly fall back.
His Aura Step allowed him to narrowly evade the lethal strikes but the corrosive green wind constantly grazed his clothing. His pristine Upper Wing Attendant uniform was rapidly being shredded into bloody ribbons.
The captain was brutally correct.
He had grown arrogant playing with minor guards. Raw physical stats were incredibly powerful but without a high tier martial art to properly channel them he was wasting his potential.
The captain was physically weaker and significantly slower but his masterful aura control allowed him to dominate the engagement.
Leon realized he could not win a prolonged duel. He had to rely on his unpredictable nature. He had to fight dirty.
He mentally opened the system shop while desperately backpedaling through the mud. He spent one hundred Shameless Points to purchase a basic ironwood practice sword identical to the one he used while sparring with Seraphina.
The heavy wooden weapon materialized directly into his right hand.
The captain scoffed at the sight of the wooden stick.
"A practice sword? You have officially lost your mind boy."
The mercenary lunged forward intending to end the fight with a devastating piercing strike aimed directly at Leon’s heart.
Leon did not dodge. He perfectly executed the exact same suicidal maneuver he had used against the Silver Goddess.
He anchored his boots deeply into the mud and swung the ironwood sword with every single ounce of his massive ninety Strength. He did not aim for the mercenary’s body. He aimed directly for the glowing steel rapier.
The heavy ironwood collided violently with the thin enchanted steel.
The captain expected his corrosive aura to instantly slice through the wood. But Leon had actively channeled his dense kinetic mana directly into the weapon using his Basic Aura Circulation skill.
The wood did not break.
The sheer monstrous kinetic force of the impact violently overwhelmed the captain’s refined technique. The rapier was forcefully knocked completely off its trajectory leaving the mercenary’s chest wide open for a fraction of a second.
Leon dropped the wooden sword and lunged forward. He grabbed the captain by the throat with his left hand. His massive fingers clamped down like a hydraulic vice crushing the man’s windpipe.
He did not hesitate. He channeled a highly concentrated pulse of Kinetic Repulsion directly into the palm of his hand holding the mercenary’s neck.
A muffled sickening crack echoed through the ravine.
The captain’s eyes rolled back into his head. The green aura violently sputtered and died as his magical core collapsed. The seasoned killer went completely limp.
Leon released his grip and allowed the lifeless body to drop heavily into the mud. He stood panting in the quiet fog while the adrenaline slowly receded from his veins.
His tailored uniform was heavily torn and multiple shallow bloody cuts decorated his arms and chest.
He had survived his first true battle against a high tier Master but it had been a highly sobering experience.
He was a Tier One Master in physical stats alone. He desperately needed to acquire legitimate aura techniques if he wanted to face the Grandmasters of the Eclipse Syndicate or any enemy that comes his way.
He looted a few gold coins and a map from the captain’s pockets before turning back toward the hidden cave. He needed to check on the Silver Goddess.
Leon slipped back through the narrow rock fissure roughly twenty minutes later.
Seraphina was sitting on the flat stone slab wrapped tightly in his heavy leather cloak. Her chest was still heavily smeared with the dark mud he had applied earlier.
She looked up as he entered and her violet eyes immediately widened in pure unadulterated shock.
Leon was covered in dirt and mercenary blood. His tailored black shirt hung in shredded ruins exposing his heavily muscled chest and the numerous shallow glowing cuts across his arms.
He looked like a rugged untamed warlord stepping out of a battlefield nightmare.
"You killed them," Seraphina whispered softly her voice trembling with a profound heavy realization. Her passive Lie Detector aura wildly flared with an intense blinding mixture of deep respect and a highly dangerous primal attraction.
The common servant had just wiped out a seasoned tracking squad entirely alone to protect her.
"They will not be bothering us anymore Lady Seraphina," Leon replied smoothly projecting a calm magnetic dominance despite his injuries.
He walked over to the small trickling spring in the back of the cave and grabbed a clean piece of cloth. He wet the fabric and walked back to the stunned noblewoman.
He knelt perfectly between her muddy thighs mirroring his position from earlier that morning.
"The hounds are dead," Leon murmured deeply looking up into her dilated violet eyes. "Allow me to help you clean this mud off."
Seraphina did not issue a single threat, her pride seemed to have died alongside the men Leon had killed for her.
She simply let out a soft breathless sigh and allowed the bloodstained attendant to gently wipe the mud from her highly sensitive curves completely surrendering to the overwhelming gravity of his protection.
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