Mystical Journey

“What… was that?” Yuria replayed the earlier scene in his head.

He dashed forward again swiftly and struck the wooden blade on Garen’s thigh.

He felt the wooden blade struck empty air, and he was tossed up high and cast a few meters away.

“Again,” Yuria patted the dust off his body and dashed over.

“Forewind!!” He yelled. His wooden blade drew a streak of round arch heading at full speed towards Garen’s waist. That was also the spot where the slanting wooden blade held by Garen was undefended.

Wham!

An odd noise was heard. Yuria saw a blur in front of his eyes, was thrown into the air and felt his world spinning. His butt hurt, and coming to his senses, he once again crashed onto the ground not far away.

“Again!”

He shouted before making charging forward.

Wham!

“Again!”

Wham… Wham! Wham! Wham!!

Rounds and rounds of tossing and crashing noises were heard. Without feeling weary, Yuria charged at Garen in the pit again and again yet each time he was thrown away peculiarly.

Every time he got up, he tried to charge at different angles but unfortunately, he has not been able to get close to Garen within a two-meter range. He would only be able to stride into the area before he was hit and tossed up again.

“What the hell… is this?!” Yuria played back the entire process of him being thrown up over and over in his head.

He was bruised all over and was pained all over. Beads of perspiration dripped down from his forehead and temples, sliding down his face with an itchy feeling. A few drops almost seeped into his eyes.

“Damn it!”

He was flustered.

“Don’t tell me I can’t even see his moves clearly?”

Flashes of newly realized energy slowly released from his body. It was ripples of boundless soul power.

Yuria crouched down and arched his body like a predator about to strike his prey, sharp yet calm.

“Brother Saber… Better be careful. I’m about to get serious. I can’t really grasp this newfound power.”

Garen did not speak. He smiled, and with one hand, held the wooden blade horizontally in front of him. He looked like an unmovable mountain.

“Hydra!”

This word instinctively flashed before Yuria’s eye. His soul power released by his body became bug-like crawly lines, sticking onto Garen’s body. It seemed to absorb something out of him.

Yuria felt his body becoming a lot lighter.

It was useful!

His heart flashed with glee.

He charged forward and struck with his wooden blade.

Swoosh… Clang!!!

The wooden blade drew an arc and stabbed at a speed doubled from before. It was then pushed upwards and struck in its body by Garen’s blade tip.

A large force flowed from the body of the blade through its handle and into Yuria’s body.

Fu…

He was thrown away again without any sense of control.

Wham!

His body crashed heavily on the ground. It was still the same area he had crashed multiple times earlier. Pressures of pain surged into his brain.

“Why?…” Yuria’s vision became blurry.

“Why…” He struggled to lie on the ground and stared at Garen’s direction. He could not hear anything. He has overexerted his willpower and could not handle it any longer.

“Why… did I still fail…?”

Hydra’s ability had allowed him to see clearly how he was tossed away.

It was just that once the tip of his blade hit the body, he was prised and thrown away.

“What’s going on?” Head Minister’s voice was heard. “Can’t do it anymore? It’s only been an hour.”

“Brother…!!” His sister’s voice was heard coming from far away.

By the pit.

Yurijie covered her mouth and looked at Yuria with worry as he struggled to get up.

“Brother… How could it be?” He was the person who fought off the half Cyborg T-Rex!! For someone who could slaughter a cyborg, how could he end up here…?

Nine-Tailed Fox was fixated at Garen who was in the pit. Her eyes flashed interest and seriousness.

“I told you, you underestimated Kong Xiaofei.”

Kong Xinxue gasped in admiration but was quickly suppressed by her strong pride.

“That’s all he can do, bullying a young child!” She snorted coldly with disdain.

“Relax, he’s fine. Your Brother Saber knows when to stop,” Nine-Tailed Fox comforted when she saw the worry in Yurijie’s eyes.

“Mm…” Yurijie could tell that although her brother was tossed away multiple times, he did not actually suffer any wounds. Her worries eased up a little.

******

In the pit.

“Based on the opponent you described,” Garen spoke, “the opponent you want to defeat trumps on speed during attacking. In other words, he’s good at instant eruption of power.”

He drew his wooden sword gently, making a light swishing sound.

“So I will use a simple, hastened eruption of attack against you. Channel your energy well, observe my movements clearly, try to avoid them and hit me. This is what you should be doing.” Garen’s voice transmitted into Yuria’s ears. He was still crouching on the ground.

He lowered his head, no expression could be seen.

He initially thought that after a series of combat exchange, the difference between him and Head Minister wouldn’t be that big but now it seemed as though as Head Minister’s capability was as deep as a bottomless pit.

The figure standing there was an indestructible mountain that he couldn’t go beyond.

Fu… Shh… Fu… Shh…

Every deep breath he took inhaled and exhaled got longer. He rested shortly and regained his energy.

Yuria picked himself up from the ground and placed his wooden blade vertically against him, clenching it tightly with both of his hands.

“I’m in debt of your teaching…”

“Go full force,” Garen responded lightly. “I don’t know where these strange power of yours come from but I only see two outcomes during battle, life and death.”

“Life and death…?” Yuria knew these words were a warning to him. If this was a real combat, he would have died several times already.

“Come forth,” Garen placed his wooden blade horizontally.

Yuria’s hands grasped tightly on his blade’s handle. Finally, the soul power was raging all over him and slight peculiar changes were appearing on his body.

The savior’s power was finally fully activated!!

His muscles started to expand while his skin bruised purple and red.

Puff!

The first step. The first step that was stomped on the ground struck tremors in Yuria.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam…!!

With the continuous footsteps, Yuria was a fearless warrior, unafraid of death. The soul power gathered in his body and was roaring!! His body and mind charged towards Garen without turning back.

Like a hero charging at a giant.

Watching the changes he underwent, especially his eyes, Garen finally smiled. He stood there silently, watching him approaching closer like a roaring, attacking tiger.

“Forewind!” X2!

The two, same yells were heard simultaneously.

The same move was played by both their hands. Using the same technique, the wooden blades drew the same route of arc.

Cling!!

The wooden blades’ tips were held against each other for the very first time.

The blades were touching tip by tip accurately and held against without slanting on either side!!

Yurijie covered her mouth, her eyes widened to its limit.

Nine-Tailed Fox was visibly moved. Her earlier casualness disappeared.

Kong Xinxue clenched her fists lightly and looked at Garen with complicated feelings.

The wind was blowing gently. It was not by Mother Nature but rather a breeze wielded by the two wooden blades.

A saber art that seemed to be as fast as or faster than the wind. The Forewind of the Four Directional Winds was a move that proved to be of an essence of Garen’s created saber art.

And now this move was blocked by a student of his that he had taught for no more than two months.

He did not hold back.

Garen was clear on this.

“Interesting…” Garen’s lips curled wider. He looked at Yuria whose blade was locked against his. This little guy who he thought he could easily torture had surprised him time and time again.

Should he say no wonder he was the main character of this world?

Even he couldn’t help but feel envious.

Although it was a saber art that he casually came up with, to face off his move of unrestrained Forewind would take at least the Thorough Comprehension Realm to achieve the Sword Master state.

Yuria never received any formal saber art training and his Martial Arts Realm wasn’t that high yet he possessed battle instincts and intuition that far exceeded wild beasts. His inhuman instincts enabled him to instantly capture miraculous breakthrough points. And that was the only part he could catch up on, the tip of Garen’s blade.

This was also the only flaw of the Forewind.

There was nothing perfect in the world. No matter how perfect a thing was, perfection itself would present a flaw as perfect meant fulfillment, and fulfillment meant self-sufficient and sealing out any exchange from the outside world without able to advance any further. This was an absolute taboo in any path.

And so Garen placed the only flaw on the tip of the blade that has the fastest speed in the Forewind. This was an area where enemies would find it hard to capture and even experts that shared similar agility as him wouldn’t be able to discover this.

But Yuria was able to achieve it.

Using a series of action that was far slower than his.

Cling!!

The two wooden blades flung away, giving out a crisp sound of colliding metals.

Yuria took a few steps back while Garen remained where he was without moving an inch.

Between the two of them, one of them was gasping for air in desperation and perspiring endlessly, his sweat dripping on to the dirt ground; while the other was standing there quietly like a statue as if he had never moved at all. The two extreme end of situation drew a vivid comparison.

For a moment, the entire field fell silent that even the three spectators did not make a sound. They were afraid to disrupt the duo. Anyone could tell that Yuria was at a crucial moment. If he could grasp that strike more accurately, he would instantly diminish the gap between strength and reach directly to Sword Master state. Even though it was after he activated all his ability that added up to his in-the-moment burst of talent, it was still breathtaking enough.

Even for Garen, he realized this realm at the end of the first world. The Sword Master was in actual fact the equivalent of the King of the Century from the Secret Technique world. Above that would be a stage that could trigger superhuman strength but this world was restrained so the highest level in this world would be the Sword Master state.