Chapter 25: Complete Domination
A few moments later, Kalon found himself standing across the field from Merchant Fitzgerald Whitewhisker.
The merchant was tall and held his sword in his hand, making him appear confident and even more terrifying.
On the sidelines, Beatrice Whitewhisker and Josinia watched, both nervous for their allies.
Josinia had begged Kalon not to fight him like this. It was likely that the merchant was Mid-Silver, which meant all of his stats and attributes would be much higher than Kalon’s.
Kalon didn’t care. He had faith in his Astral Counter, and this was the best way to gain experience with it in preparation for the mock battles.
But why does my body have to react this way...
Despite having confidence in his skills, he trembled aggressively. Perhaps it was because this wasn’t a simple fight against a bully like Brandon.
This was a battle to the death.
When Fitzgerald saw Kalon shaking, he had the nerve to smile.
"Are you regretting your decision? You should have taken my life when you had the fucking chance."
"You think I don’t know about you humans? Records say you’re weaker than us in all ways except for mana. You should know that mages have been out of fashion for a while now."
"And worst of all, your body is weak. Even as a merchant, I can see that. What are you, 5ft tall? Don’t they feed you humans on Earth?"
Now that he was back in a position of confidence, Fitzgerald’s true character started to show.
No longer was there that scared act from when he was lying in bed. He was confident and proud.
WOOSH!
A sudden burst of white aura surrounded the man’s entire body, making the orange grass blow slightly around him.
Then he charged in without warning.
Every one of the man’s steps seemed like he was taking two steps at once. His agility was clearly decent.
But so was Kalon’s, since he had the Daily Blessing raising his attribute to D+. He felt like he could keep up!
Fitzgerald’s first three slashes were all normal strikes. Nothing that Kalon needed to counter.
His Steel Body and agility allowed him to clumsily dodge the strikes, just barely.
One whizzed past his shirt, and two more went just over his head, taking off a few strands of his dark hair.
Afterwards, Fitzgerald backed away, expecting his opponent to go on the offensive.
"Aren’t you going to strike me? Don’t tell me, you’re actually a fucking mage that can’t fight up close?"
Josinia started biting her nail nervously on the sideline. She began to wonder whether Kalon had gotten himself into something he couldn’t escape from.
She considered joining in. After all, she had some offensive skills that could be used in combat.
But then she glanced over at Beatrice. At some point, the woman had drawn a dagger and was looking at Josinia as if to say, "If you get involved, then I’ll take you down."
Josinia was forced to swallow her plan and watch the battle.
She had to put faith in Kalon!
...
Kalon dodged two more strikes before a third one opened a cut on his arm.
Blood spilled onto the orange grass, sending hot pain through his body.
[-10 Health]
[90/100]
[-1 Health]
[89/100]
His system notified him of his current condition.
A bleed effect had been applied to his body, and he would slowly move closer to death until the wound dried up or was healed.
...
If the fight kept going like this, then Kalon was sure to lose.
This was what Beatrice felt too as she watched her father.
This was the reason she loved tall, strong men who could put her in her place.
This human, though unique, was short and weak.
At first, she found herself slightly attracted to him despite his insignificant body. The way he imposed himself over her father, holding a sword to his forehead, made him seem powerful.
Then he had to ruin it by getting cocky and challenging him to a duel.
It was a foolish choice. Her father was once a Silver Knight of the Oro Empire. His attributes might have deteriorated over time, but his skills were still there.
And now, he was about to put an end to it.
Fitzgerald Whitewhisker used his first skill of the battle.
A ranged sword slice that sent an arc of white energy soaring through the air.
He had fought up close the entire time, making it seem like that was all he could do. This was his plan: to make his opponent think that he lacked range.
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
"It’s over," Beatrice said beneath her breath as she watched the arc fly towards her enemy.
...
As Kalon watched the arc approach him, he finally smiled.
It was what he had been waiting for the entire time.
The arc was roughly two meters in length and came at him vertically. However, all it took to parry it was a wave of his hand.
Astral Counter activated, and at the same time, the arc was completely absorbed into Kalon’s body.
C Skill: Travelling Slash
It was a C Skill. The strongest skill that Kalon had seen in person.
If he had not countered it, he felt certain that the strike would have cut him in half.
As he felt the power being absorbed into his body, Fitzgerald and Beatrice watched with eyes filled with disbelief.
"What—?!" They shouted in unison.
Only Josinia wasn’t surprised. Although she didn’t know exactly what the skill was, she had seen Kalon use something similar against Albert the Servant.
And before Fitzgerald could even process what had happened, Kalon had already slashed his hand in a chopping motion.
That same white arc from before shot diagonally from Kalon’s hand and travelled towards Fitzgerald.
He tried to raise his sword, but he wasn’t quick enough.
The travelling arc struck him directly in the leg, severing it just above the ankle...
...
"AGH!!!!!"
Fitzgerald let out a scream as he fell to the ground, squirting an absurd amount of blood from his missing limb.
The man looked at the severed limb with wide pink eyes, struggling to believe what had just happened.
Beatrice had a hand held over her open mouth, with liquid running down the inside of her thigh. She had wet herself in fear.
Josinia stared blankly at the merchant, not feeling sorry for him in the slightest.
And the system told Kalon that he had completed his quest.
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