After registering, the participants applying to become part of the Lethal Bite Clan totaled around twenty, including both Raze and Anna.
After learning of the strict requirements, many had turned around or simply hadn’t shown up, not going forward with the small test that would follow.
Being a Pagna Warrior was never an easy task to do, and many, at the last moment, knowing that their lives could be on the line, had backed away.
It was true for the opposite as well; knowing this might be the only thing they could do, they had stayed.
All of the participants were lined up in a row, standing on the sandy field.
On the field itself, it was filled with a number of items, weapon racks at the back of the place filled with real weapons rather than wooden ones like the academy would have.
Then there were also giant boulders that had been placed on the field, two of them in total.
‘These Pagna warriors sure do love their tests wherever they go,’ Raze thought. ‘But I guess it would make sense for them to do something like this. They need to filter out those who aren’t worth their time.’
On the other side of the participants were members of the Lethal Bite Clan. There were ten of them standing on the other side, with the leader of the group wearing a pointed helmet made out of metal, standing slightly in front of the others.
There was also one more who stood out because he was the only person who was sitting down. A short, rather plump man with his arms folded and a large grin on his face.
“What is this!” The leader of the group was slapping a piece of paper in his hand as he looked at the results that had appeared. “Why do we have three no-names that have applied for us? Who did this!”
Immediately, one of the guards from behind came forward and placed his fist on the ground while kneeling on the floor with one knee.
“That was me, sir. The orders from the base were to try to get as many applicants as possible, as you know what type of situation we are in,” the man answered with his head down.
The leader’s face was shaking with anger. “Is this what the Lethal Bite Clan has come to? We are one of the top clans there is, and we are now accepting no-names to even take part. Do you know what that would do if a no-name was part of our group?”
“We would become a laughingstock of the other clans. Our reputation would fall, saying we have to rely on these animals! The three no-names on this list, come forward now!”
Raze and Anna stepped forward; the two of them had only placed their first name. Honestly, Raze didn’t think it would be a problem, and perhaps he was being too naive.
It had been a while since someone brought up or tried to use the fact that he had no name against him since he had already proven himself with the skills of his blade.
When turning his head to the right, he could see another frail man, his long hair nearly covering his entire face, and his clothing with holes and covered in dirt.
“You over there!” the captain pointed as he hit the sheet of paper several times. “I’m guessing this is you. Did you not even have the decency to give yourself a first name? You just called yourself Man! Mr. Man, all three of you get out of my sight; we won’t be accepting any no-names into this group.”
There was a sour taste left in Raze’s mouth. Perhaps his blood was still boiling slightly due to the comments Anna had made, but the man in front of him was reminding Raze a lot of how the mages acted to those that didn’t know magic.
To take it a step even further, there were then those who lived on the surface and how they would act to the Dwellers underneath.
Although Raze was sure joining the Lethal Bite Clan wasn’t too important for the goal of trying to find out the killer, to be rejected before even doing anything…
“Don’t you think your view is short-sighted?” Anna said.
Out of all the people to say something, Raze was surprised that Anna spoke up. Shouldn’t their number one thing be to stay out of sight, blend in? There were other ways they could finish the mission.
“Recently, I heard that there is a rising star in the Dark Faction, the hope of the Dark Faction, and that is the White Dragon,” Anna claimed.
Raze’s legs slightly wobbled hearing the name. The nickname that had been given to him, here of all places. Lifting up his hand, he ran it through his hair.
‘Maybe I should use some magic to change my hair color… otherwise, this could cause serious problems in the future,’ Raze thought.
“The White Dragon. I also believe that they are a no-name as well. The Pagna Academy, the rising star who managed to show greater strength than the five main families.”
“I believe times are changing. The academy accepted the White Dragon, so you should at least test us before you say anything.”
The man who was berating them just a moment ago was biting his lip. He had opened his mouth trying to say a few things, but no words came out.
Everyone knew the tale of the White Dragon in the Dark Faction. It had spread even further out to the other factions about what had occurred.
However, there was one detail that was hardly reported on, or wasn’t the focus, and that was that the White Dragon was a no-name.
“Is that true, is the White Dragon really a no-name?”
“Come to think of it, I did hear about that as well, but I guess everyone was just focused on finding a new star!”
“That can’t be right, can it?”
The people who were taking part in the assessment were talking, but those that were part of the five major clans knew more details of the story.
They knew it was more true than anyone because it had been a greater shock for them, since their main disciples had been the ones to lose. freewebnoveℓ.com
‘Those damned useless main disciples, they have ruined everything for our clan!’ The man thought.
Just as he was about to say something, another clan member from behind had run up and started to whisper in one’s ear.
The man looked back for a moment before turning back around.
“Very well, you make a good point. Let’s start the assessment and prove yourselves here!” The man said, waving his hand to the two large rocks.
“To join the Lethal Bite Clan, every one of our warriors must know at least how to use Qi, but not just use it—use it in a way where one can show its destructive powers!”
While the examiner was explaining, Anna started to walk forward towards the rock. The details of what one had to do hadn’t even been explained yet.
She had quickly made a fist and, throwing it out, it smashed right onto the large rock. Cracks appeared all over, and the rock shattered and fell to pieces.
The eyes of the warriors nearly popped out of their heads the moment they saw this.
‘Hey, hey, you’re showing too much power!’ Raze thought as soon as he saw this. ‘Crap… I guess she was right, this woman is trouble.’
Chapter 497 A Crack In the Rock
The test was a simple one. The rocks in question, that were placed, were special rocks that had a unique property allowing them to absorb Qi.
There was a limit to how much Qi they could absorb, so the test was for those taking the assessment to make a simple mark on the rock.
If they were to hit the rock with their Qi and it was too weak, then the rock would absorb all the Qi and only their strength would be used, resulting in no mark being made.
If a person was able to condense their Qi to a single point, then a marking could be made, or if one just had a large enough amount of Qi, due to the limit of what the rock could absorb, a mark would be made.
In Anna’s case, though, she didn’t know how to use Qi. Her body was more advanced than most, and when she went to throw her fist, she had done so with pure strength.
The rock had crumbled, and she turned to the leader.
“I analyzed what the assessment was going to be. I have damaged the rock, so therefore I have passed, correct?” Anna asked.
The assessor’s jaw was ready to hit the floor. Destroying a rock like so, it was something probably only a peak initial stage warrior or a middle stage warrior could do.
He soon moved up to the rock and looked at it.
‘It must be a dud, something must have been wrong with the rock, right, right?’ He told himself.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Bargo, the plump man, said, sitting down. “But even if they are lucky, they have still passed. So let them through. Besides, I’m sure you have more than this planned.”
The man was at a loss for words, and if it were anyone else but a no name, he would have been jumping to the moon, stating that they had discovered someone so strong willing to join the clan. It was just unbelievable to him.
“You are right. Stand to the side for now while we continue the assessment,” the man ordered.
Anna did as was explained, while the head warrior continued to explain the rules to everyone. There was only one stone left, so they would have to take the assessment slowly.
‘That went better than I thought. I guess she has survived this long for a reason,’ Raze thought. ‘She wasn’t lying when she said she takes one task at a time and only looks ahead rather than trying to think of the consequences after.’
‘I wonder what the outcome of this whole thing will be.’
The non-wanderers and just the local people were failing as they hit the stone one after the other. Some of them knew how to use Qi, but it was at the very basic level.
As for other wanderers who seemed to be around the second stage and third stage level, when hitting the stone, they were leaving small marks and passing, allowing them to go through to the next assessment.
Then it was the person known as ‘Man.’ It was his turn. He approached the rock, lifted up his hand, and shifted his feet, throwing a fist full force into it.
The Qi was powerful, it was good, and when he lifted his fist off the stone, an imprint of his knuckles could be seen on the rock.
‘That was quite good. What was he, at least a stage three warrior?’ Raze noticed. ‘But then why is he dressed like that and in that current state.’
The other wanderers that were at the same stage were well-equipped. They could make money entering dimensions, fighting beasts, and selling the crystals. It should have been the same for this no name as well.
“It’s a pass,” the head warrior was reluctant to say, mumbling the results under his breath.
Raze continued to watch as he joined the three others along with Anna, who had passed the selection so far.
‘It is not my place to worry about others or to try and find out the situation they are in. I just need to enter and find this killer. After that, we can head to Alter and learn of the situation.’
More people took the test one after the other, with only one more person getting through, making it a total of four who had passed the assessment, which meant Raze was the last person to take part.
“Alright, everyone,” the head warrior said, turning to the four who passed. “I’m going to explain the second part of this assessment. After you pass this, you will officially become a guard of the Lethal Bite Clan.”
“Each of you will go up against one of the guards in a friendly match. We have tested your Qi, and now we need to directly test your skill. The person you face will tell you if you’ve passed or not.”
“Erghh, wait a second,” Raze said, with his hand raised. “You’re already explaining the rules to the second assessment. Did you forget about me?”
The head assessor, turning around, did so somewhat for a couple of reasons. No one had passed in a while, and the last person left was a no name.
Two no names had already gone past, which would have been as rare as a red moon. So a third passing, and one that looked as young ashim, he never expected to pass.
“Right, just go ahead and take the assessment then,” the man waved his hand. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
The head warrior almost immediately went back to the others, explaining the rules. It was clear that he didn’t expect much from Raze, but this was perfect because, unlike Anna, Raze didn’t want to stand out.
Although the head warrior and the other clan members seemed to not be paying much attention to Raze, there was one person who was sitting in his chair, with arms folded, Bargo.
Reaching the large rock, Raze placed his hand out, and instantly he could feel the Qi that was coating him being drawn into the rock.
‘I watched the others carefully, so to not stand out, all I need to do is use stage 3 Qi. That should be enough.’
Bracing himself, Raze was ready as he placed the Qi in his fist and then threw it out. He didn’t use all his strength; he held back quite a bit, and his fist had cleanly landed right on the rock.
His knuckles were flush with the surface. Slowly Raze lifted his hand off, and when he did, he saw no mark on the rock whatsoever.
‘Did I hit the rock too weak? Did I hold back too much?’ Raze started to think, shaking his head. At least one of them was in the clan; maybe Raze could go ahead and join up with Himmy and Charlotte if that was the case.
One of the clan members came to look at the rock, and they saw no new markings. Raising his hand, he was ready to call the result of the assessment.
“Fa-“
“Pass!” Bargo said. “That one passed.”
The clan member was wondering why Bargo would say such a thing. He walked over to try and speak with the elder from the other clan.
as him, but he didn’t damage the rock?”
“Didn’t he?” Bargo replied, as he gestured his head towards the rock. Now looking at it from behind, the Clan member could see a large crack and dent made in the back. It was the only one on the other side of the rock.
Chapter 498 The Power Of A System
Looking at the rock in front of him, Raze couldn’t see any visible markings. His Qi didn’t affect where he had hit like the others, so at that point, he thought he had already failed.
It didn’t matter to him though; one person getting through into the Lethal Bite Clan was enough. They could just carry on as they were doing, and Raze could help the investigation in other ways.
Which was why it had come as a surprise to him when he had heard the words pass. “I passed?” Raze asked with a raised eyebrow.
Noticing that the clan members were looking at something from behind the rock, he was ready to go take a peek, but before he could, one of the clan members stopped him.
“You have successfully passed, so please go ahead and join the others before the explanation is over, otherwise the leader will get disappointed.”
It wasn’t too much of a big deal, so Raze went off and joined the others. The head assessor was a little shocked to see someone else come and join, but he had already had several surprises, so he just kept his anger in and explained the last few details.
Back at the rock, one of the clan members moved over and started to inspect the rock more.
“How can something like this occur, were both of the rocks we gathered damaged in some way?”
“If you ask me, I think both of the rocks were in good condition,” Bargo finally got out of his seat and moved over to also have a closer look at the rock.
“The first one, the way it was smashed, it was as if it had been hit by a mass amount. Did you see the way it shattered? That means that the attack was almost purely a physical one and didn’t use Qi,” Bargo explained.
“A physical attack that can destroy a boulder, then are they at the middle stage?”
After each stage, one’s body would improve tremendously regardless of Qi, due to the impurities that would come out of one’s body. Longer lifespan, greater strength, greater speed. This was even the case at the lower levels.
To destroy a whole rock, they could only assume this is the case.
“There are some clan techniques that focus on strengthening the outside of the body in different ways,” Bargo explained. “It is possible that they are from one of these clans. Even in our factions, there are hidden sects and clans that decide to hide themselves away from the troubles of factions.
“We see them enter the world once in a while. What I’m more interested in though, was the person that had just passed.”
Bargo moved to take a look at the other side, and as he expected, there was no marking from the fist that was used.
“I’m not even sure if that person themselves knew what they had just done. The Qi was so finely condensed that it shot out through the rock, allowing next to none of it to be absorbed and then exploding upon the exit.
“The Qi, to be condensed to that level, I’m not sure it’s even something that I can do,” Bargo stated. “To do this, one’s Qi control has to be at an extremely high level, and the strangest thing is… I can tell that young man isn’t a middle stage warrior.”
The details of the event had been explained to all of the participants, and Raze had only gotten the tail end of the rules of the assessment.
It didn’t matter since it was fairly simple. Each one of them would just fight against an official clan member, and the member would determine whether or not they had passed.
“I will go first,” Anna volunteered herself.
She stepped into the center of the sand, and when she had done so, the head assessor looked back at the rest of the clan members, looking for someone to step up, but no one seemed keen to.
They were a bit worried about what might happen to their bodies. frёewebηovel.cѳm
“Come on, how can you call yourselves clan members of a top-ranking clan!” The assessor shouted at them. “We know that the rock was damaged. You just need to display your skills.”
Eventually, after hearing those words, one of the clan members went forward, drawing out a sword.
“I will take her on,” the man said, taking a fighting stance.
Anna then went ahead and from the rack toward the back, she also pulled out a sword as well.
The fight was about to start, and Raze couldn’t help feeling nervous himself.
‘Wait a moment, if she is all about completing the task, right now she’s going to think to pass, she needs to win, and to do that, she might just go ahead and kill the guy!’ Raze thought.
With this thought in his head, Raze thought it might be best if he interfered with the fight with a little of his wind magic, just in case things got out of hand.
The fight had begun, and the Lethal Bite Clan member started to swing his sword about. He was using his Qi and using techniques that were known to the clan.
In response to this, Anna swung her sword as well, and was matching the hits, deflecting each of them as they came towards her.
From the outside view, it all looked a bit strange because although she was deflecting each hit, it looked sloppy in the way, as if she was being overwhelmed.
Then finally, the clan member got in close and used a fist technique. He twisted it through the air, and the hit had narrowly missed her head as she moved out of the way.
‘I wonder, although she isn’t showing them up, will they pass her just on these aspects.’
It was at that point though, after the punch was thrown, that things completely changed around. The sword techniques that were continued to be used, she was now stopping them completely, but it wasn’t just that; the clan members started to notice something else as well.
“Is she… using the same techniques… but how is that possible? She wasn’t doing this before, and she’s not a member of the Lethal Bite Clan.”
For the member taking part in the assessment, it was as if he was fighting against a mirror. At that point, she then started to ready her fist, and it was in the same position as the clan member had done before.
Images flashed through his head as he saw the fist of what had happened to the rock, and before it was thrown out, he panicked.
“Pass… you pass, you are an official member of the Lethal Bite Clan,” the Clan member said.
“What!” The head assessor slammed his foot into the ground. He couldn’t believe it. To him, who was watching, sure, it looked like the woman was getting into her stride, but she wasn’t overwhelming the other person.
He was hoping that the Clan member would kick it up a notch and show them the Lethal Bite Clan’s strength, but instead, he had claimed it as a pass.
“The position is just for a guard, and not for an official member,” the Clan member stated. “So, I have assessed that it is enough for a pass.”
These words allowed him to get away, as the assessor couldn’t say much.
“Fine, then go ahead with the next fight.”
One of the other wanderers who had passed stepped forward, while Anna had come back to where the others were, and now they were watching the next fight take place.
“I thought you were going to completely overwhelm and beat him,” Raze commented.
“If I did that, there is a chance that they could just deny me due to jealousy. I could read the looks on their faces. Analyzing their facial reactions, the head assessor seems to want to fail us at any chance he can get.
“So I thought it was best not to give them a reason to, and displaying their own skills against them was the best option.”
Anna was simply amazing. Raze, even himself, wouldn’t be able to just copy skills after seeing them. He would have to at least study them in detail.
But out of that sentence, there was something that stuck out.
“You can analyze facial expressions?” He asked. “So you know what they are feeling.”
“That is correct, I can confirm with 98 percent certainty at times how one is feeling, and I can also tell if someone is lying,” Anna said, looking straight at Raze.
Chapter 499 Why Are You Lying?
This little piece of information that Raze had received had just unlocked a whole new relationship between the two people. Something that could tear them completely apart.
Raze didn’t know much about Anna, only that she was from a different world. So he had no clue about the extent of her abilities. Just like the people he had met so far, the powers, the changes in their body and structure, everything was just so different, but he never expected that someone would be able to read the facial expressions of others to determine how they were feeling. freёReadNovelFull.com
It felt so advanced that Raze almost thought that she would be lying.
‘I should calm down for a moment,’ Raze thought as he saw the result of another Wanderer’s fight in front of him.
The clan member had bested him, hitting him onto the ground, but in the end, he still declared the fact that he had passed, and now they were moving onto another Wanderer that was taking part in the test.
‘Why would she tell me this now of all times? Is it to gauge my reaction? Right now, I should just take it as truth because if she is telling the truth, then that means she would have caught on to my lies already.
‘Especially the lie about me not meeting anyone from their world.’
The other thing that was bugging Raze was if she knew he was lying, why not mention it in front of the other members from Alter.
The second match against the Wanderer had ended, and it was the same result as the last. The clan members were just too skilled and strong for them.
In showing their resilience and skills though, the clan had decided to accept them, and now out of all the contestants to come forward, it was the one with no name, who just had written ‘Man’ down.
When the tattered clothing man stood in the center, he had decided not to grab any weapon at all and waited for his opponent.
One of the clan members was about to move forward from the lineup, but that’s when the head assessor who had been complaining the whole time had moved into the center himself.
“It’s not good to stay idle for so long. I also need to get a few swings in,” the head assessor said, pulling out his sword.
“This isn’t good for him,” Anna commented. “I can tell from his facial expression that he is going to do everything he can to fail the other man. Even if he shows decent skill, it’s most likely the head assessor will decline him.”
Seeing what had occurred, Raze was a little disheartened. He was hoping that he would go up against the assessor after his words and treatment to them about no names.
Now, though, he was picking on practically the weakest-looking member out of the group and lineup, which were typical of these types of people.
‘Sometimes, I wonder how these people even manage to rise. I guess the world is always full of bad managers and leaders who seem to have failed upward somehow,’ Raze thought.
The fight had begun, and immediately the head assessor had charged forward and had thrust his sword rather than swing it.
The man took a jump back, as if he was expecting this to happen and avoided the attack, but watching had made nearly everyone flinch.
“Hey, hey, isn’t that Clan member going a bit far?” one of the Wanderers who had passed commented.
“Yeah, I mean, he thrusted the sword, if the man wasn’t quick enough to dodge that, then it would have pierced his stomach. If that was to happen, then he could have easily been killed as well.”
It wasn’t just that; it was the fact that it was the first strike from the Head assessor. He wasn’t treating the life in front of him with any respect at all because in his eyes, it was just a no name.
The same feeling as one would get when killing an ant, it was no different to him.
He then came in again and swung his sword a few times. The other person was only able to narrowly avoid the strike; in doing so, small cuts were appearing all over his body. He was bleeding as the sword continued to strike him in areas one after the other. The man was moving well though, but there was just a smile on the assessor’s face.
“You’re good, good enough to be Wanderer,” the head assessor said, and then he started to shift his feet, adding Qi to his steps as well.
“However, you aren’t good enough to be in the Lethal Bite Clan.”
The assessor had picked up speed as he moved straight from the side; he struck his sword down, and the man had avoided it again leaning back.
At that point though, with the other hand, the assessor had pulled back his long dangling hair. Lifting up his blade, he was ready to strike. That’s when Raze, who was standing from the side, swiped his hand. At the same time, the sand blew from the bottom of the ground and had shifted upward, blocking his sight. At the same time, the shifting of the sand had moved his feet slightly. The man, being held by his hair, then knocked the other hand away and gave a hit to his face. It was a clean hit that caused blood to drip from his nose.
The assessor was getting his foot ready, but then felt a force moving it, shifting it. By chance, it looked like the tattered man stepped on the assessor’s foot, and another large hit had landed right on his face, knocking him to the point where he fell on the floor and dropped his sword to the ground.
‘Helping out another to do the damage that I wished for is not so bad,’ Raze thought.
Honestly, he was quite surprised by the fact that the man had acted upon everything that had happened. Some would be hesitant if they saw an opening that was unexpected, but the man was relentless in delivering his attacks.
While on the floor, the head assessor picked up his sword ready to strike again until another figure behind him said a few words.
“Pass!” Bargo stated. “To be able to knock out the head assessor that can be nothing but a pass. There is no need to continue and have feelings involved in this.”
The head assessor wanted to shout and complain. He turned to the old man watching and decided to let it go. His word was less than the other, and he was an important guest after all.
Taking his sword with him, with a strop in his steps, he walked back to the lineup.
“Have…I been forgotten about again?” Raze said awkwardly.
The head assessor had walked off somewhere, and with those that had passed, they were wondering what they were to do now.
“Don’t worry, young one, I haven’t forgotten about you,” the old man said. “I am happy to complete your last assessment, but please take it easy on me, I am not like the others.”
Chapter 500 The Fear Of Death
Raze strode into the center, drawing one of his swords. Having broken and lost most of his enchanted swords except for the Ghost Blade, he’d bought a new one.
It wasn’t anything special; it didn’t even have an affinity for magic. But with his wealth, he’d purchased the best blade the market offered, ensuring it could at least handle the Qi he could wield.
When he got the chance, he would have to try and make a few more swords to suit his different magic.
Unsheathing his sword, he held it before him and assumed a stance. No particular feelings arose as he faced his opponent.
In his mind, he was just another member of the Lethal Bite Clan, and all he had to do was impress the assessor until he uttered the word “pass.”
‘I won’t be able to use techniques like Descending Steps that are obviously used by the Demonic Faction, nor will I be able to use my magic. But my Qi is still at stage six, and I’ve further refined it as well.’
‘That should be enough for me to pass this assessment.’
Little did Raze know, his opponent wasn’t just anyone; it was the Vice Head of the Moon Shield Clan, one of the top clans in the Dark Faction.
“Start!” Bargo announced.
Raze charged in, performing the classic two-step shift, and struck with his sword from above. He carefully limited the amount of Qi he used, ensuring it was only at the third stage.
‘The other Wanderers were around stage two and three, so if I just perform at that level, then I should pass as well.’
Bargo met Raze’s strike, their swords clashing. When the two made impact, however, an almost invisible force was felt. Bargo’s sword was pushed back slightly before moving forward again, hitting the sword a second time.
It was only a small movement, like a bounce of the blade. Raze didn’t dwell on this and continued to strike, using moves he remembered seeing at the academy.
Each time, Bargo would continue to block the attacks, but the odd occurrence was happening with every hit of the sword; his own would bounce back slightly.
Inwardly, while Bargo remained focused, he had a wide smile.
‘So it wasn’t a fluke. This young kid, with each strike, is using a highly condensed amount of Qi. I’m matching the amount of Qi he’s using, but because his is condensed more, it’s causing an after-strike effect and my sword to bounce.’
‘Now that I’ve confirmed you’re quite the talented one, it’s time to step it up a notch.’
When blocking the strikes that came from Raze, Bargo was now scraping his sword rather than directly hitting. It was somewhere halfway between a block and a parry.
Not only that, but he increased the amount of Qi he was using, stopping the bouncing effect immediately. Before Raze knew it, his whole body was being pulled forward with each of these blocks.
It felt like a vortex was sucking him in towards his opponent, and then, with a quick step, Bargo used a foot technique and slammed into Raze’s body with his shoulder.
Raze nearly tumbled but managed to regain his footing and made sure his sword stayed out in front of him.
“You perform your sword techniques perfectly, almost like a textbook. You’re talented in many ways, but that’s all you’re doing. You’re just performing the techniques from your mind and not really thinking about how to use them to fight,” Bargo explained.
Raze already knew that, because he wasn’t able to fully fight his way, but he was impressed.
‘I’m surprised the Lethal Bite Clan has regular members that are talented like this. How he uses his techniques is impressive.’
Raze continued his strikes, and Bargo continued to block them the same way. He was carefully observing what was happening and trying to figure out a way to attack his opponent.
His thoughts led him back to his fight with Feebie. When going up against her, he had lost as well, and the answer to his defeat was that he needed more strength.
Whether that was learning more techniques from the Dark Edge Sword Arts, gaining more Qi by increasing his stage level, or increasing his magic star level, these were his answers. But there was also another option: for him to become a better fighter as well.
It was the first time, as he went head-to-head, that he felt like he was actually learning.
With each strike of his sword now, rather than fully committing, Raze was scraping his sword rather than fully atttacking and following up with another technique. To everyone watching, it felt like the tempo suddenly increased as the swords continued to clash against each other.
“Very good, very good,” Bargo called out, a hint of amusement in his voice. “You’ve learned how to deal with this situation very fast. But this whole time, I’ve been defending. I guess it’s time I attack now!”
Bargo blocked Raze’s next strike, but this time, he poured more Qi into his blade. The force of the impact sent Raze’s sword flying. Before Raze could react, Bargo followed up with a swift thrust, aiming for Raze’s center.
‘This attack, it has full intent behind it! I have to block it!’
With this thought in mind, Raze instinctively channeled more Qi, empowering his body and allowing him to dodge the strike entirely. Bargo, caught off guard by the unexpected maneuver, stood frozen for a moment, his sword outstretched.
‘Did he just… use more Qi?’ Bargo thought, a hidden smile playing on his lips as he looked at the ground. ‘So this whole time, I wasn’t the only one holding back.’
The realization ignited a spark in Bargo’s eyes. He launched back into the attack, swinging his sword with a wider arc and a significantly increased flow of Qi. Raze, determined not to reveal his full strength, defended himself using the same scraping technique Bargo had employed earlier.
‘This guy is powerful,’ Raze thought, his muscles straining with each block. ‘But I can’t use too much more Qi. If I do, they’ll know I’m a higher stage warrior, and I don’t want any questions.’
However, the relentless assault was slowly pushing Raze to his limits. Bargo, sensing Raze’s struggle, wasn’t aiming to win anymore. He was testing Raze’s potential, pushing him to reveal his true capabilities. The earlier attack, where Bargo stopped his strike mid-motion, was a test as well. Most wouldn’t have been able to react and adjust their attack on the fly. But Raze did, proving his adaptability and combat awareness.
As the fight continued, Raze’s body grew numb from the exertion, the limited Qi he was using offering insufficient support. A sliver of fear crept into his mind. ‘I’m worried this guy might kill me if I don’t start fighting back,’ he thought.
Suddenly, a soft voice, almost a whisper, echoed in his head. “That’s not nice,” it spoke. But it wasn’t a physical voice; it resonated directly within his mind. A shiver was sent down his spine.
“If he’s trying to kill you, then I’ll kill him!”
The voice sent a jolt through Raze. He recognized it instantly – the Blooded Hand woman!