384 Chapter 384: Fifth Individual Round (2/2)
\”A summoner trying to be a swordsman? Are you sure about this?\” his eyes gleamed maliciously. \”No matter what stunt you're trying to pull, I have no intention of showing any mercy to you!\”
\”That's fine.\” I shrugged almost nonchalantly. \”That's exactly what I ask for. Give your all against me, and I'll do my best.\”
With that, I drew both Hei Yue and Bai Ri and held them in a defensive stance, preparing myself for the match ahead.
\”Ready, battle start!\”
The commentator shouted, and we moved immediately.
Gripping his sword tightly, Cain charged at me. Kicking off the ground, he cleared the space between us in a single bound. In contrast, I didn't waste my energy lunging at him and instead stood my ground. Drawing a deep breath, I crossed both of my swords and held them up, parrying Cain's fierce strike.
Clang!
\”!!\”
My legs nearly buckled from the force of his blow. The ground cracked beneath my feet as it struggled to endure the tremendous weight of Cain's strike and my steely resistance. Gritting my teeth, I swung both of my swords, inadvertently unleashing black and white waves of energy. Cain's eyes widened briefly and he sprang backward, sparks flying between us as his blade screeched against my twin swords.
\”Those spells…!\” he muttered before he skidded backward. Dropping his sword, he held it parallel to the ground and readied a thrust before shouting. \”HAAA!\”
Surging forward, he stabbed and slashed at me in what seemed to be a chain attack, seamlessly stringing together thirteen sword strikes to confound and pierce through my defenses. Even though I was desperately parrying and blocking with both of my swords, I could barely deflect his strikes away in time.
\”That's the sword technique designed by Adorno Academy over the course of thousands of trials!\” Sheila exclaimed. \”Adorno's Thirteen Chained Strikes!\”
Everyone in our team turned to stare at her, causing her to blush. She glared back, trying to hide her embarrassment.
\”What? It's true!\”
\”No, it's not,\” Harrison told her bluntly. \”You appear to be confusing reality with a webcomic. This is not Battle Frenzy. Adorno Academy never came up with some stupid thirteen strikes! It's true that Cain is unleashing a combo, but it has nothing to do with thirteen strikes, and nothing to do with the academy developing it over countless trials! Cain is just using the sword techniques he learned from the combat magic currirculum developed by Adorno Academy!\”
\”I've been spending too much time reading comics on Webnovel,\” Sheila admitted, her face completely red by now. Craig chuckled and threw a hand over her shoulders.
\”Don't worry about it. We all do. I mean, we have Fast Passes now, which is actually better for comic readers than the previous spirit stone system.\”
While they were discussing the benefits of a reading website, I was fighting for my dear life, trying to block and deflect Cain's consecutive strikes. I was suddenly reminded of Shawn Franklin's sword techniques.
\”This is so familiar…!\”
That was right. Most of the sword techniques we learned in combat magic classes today probably had their origins in the Franklin family's sword magic. Needless to say, the ten Great Families of the Federation gained their current unshakable statsues today because their ancestors, their founding members were the ones who pioneered modern magic. Especially elemental magic – the Porter clan, for example, pioneered fire magic, and the Stuart family innovated the first ever spells for wood magic. All elemental magic could trace their lineage to the founding members of the ten Great Families, and that was also the reason why their positions in the Global Federation were absolute. They were practically the parents of the modern magic world.
\”You can't keep dodging forever!\” Cain yelled as he launched another flurry of sword strikes that grazed my arms and cheek, drawing blood. I staggered back, and just barely managed to deflect the tip of his blade away from the center of my face, between my eyes. Then he reversed the grip on his sword and slashed my shoulder, drawing another geyser of blood.
\”Uh oh! Seems like Richard is being fully suppressed here! It wouldn't be long before he falls!\”
\”Will you surrender?\” Cain asked. He wasn't mocking me, just recognizing that I was at a complete disadvantage. I merely shook my head.
\”You should worry about yourself more.\”
\”Hmph.\”
With a snort, he launched a barrage of three short, sword strikes that sharply grazed my face and neck, but I was fortunate enough to avoid a direct severing of my carotid artery or jugular vein. I floundered as I attempted to knock my opponent back, but he rammed the hilt of his sword against the side of my head. I crashed downward, the floor rushing to meet my face, and Cain seized the opportunity to deliver the finishing blow, his sword arcing to decapitate me.
The blade never reached my neck. Spinning around, my foot came up and I kicked him.
\”!!\”
Cain's incredible reflexes saved him. He hurriedly blocked my powerful kick with his forearm, which forced him to draw his sword away from me. The powerful blow sent him staggering a few steps to the side, and I kicked out again, forcing him to defend his chest. As he caught my foot with his palm, I used his hand as a platform to propel myself away, flipping around in midair to land on my feet. Bringing both my swords up, I adopted yet another aggressive stance.
\”So you do have some tricks up your sleeve, after all.\” Cain exhaled as he dusted off his hand on his uniform, trying to hide a grimace. \”It seems that you are no mere simple summoner.\”
\”As ashamed as I am to admit it, I am still no match for you in terms of swordsmanship.\”
\”No, you are not.\” Cain didn't mince his words, and I winced a little at his bluntness. Wow, dude, I wasn't expecting you to praise me, but you didn't have to be that cruel. \”But it's still impressive that you lasted as long as you did against me. Not many people will still be capable of standing after trading over a few hundred blows with me. However…it's over.\”
Narrowing his eyes, he then kicked off the ground and almost vanished. For a second, I glanced around, trying to track his whereabouts, but he appeared in front of me a second later, his blade screeching as it streaked toward my throat in a deadly, silver blur.