The Iai Slash Shows Its Might
On the dueling platform, Quint saw that Lister still had not moved and thrust his sword at him again.
This time, however, Lister finally moved. He had already leaned forward slightly in preparation, both hands gripping the hilt of his saber.
Whoosh!
The blade left its sheath, and a dazzling flash of white light streaked past.
Quint felt a tremendous force strike, and the sword in his hand suddenly slipped free.
By the time he reacted, his longsword was already flying past him.
At the same time, a faint saber mark appeared across both the breastplate in front of him and his arm guard.
Though he had failed to see Lister's movement clearly, only the signature skill of the Merick Family's inherited saber art could deliver that much power and cover such a range in a single slash.
Merrick Saber Draw Slash!
In fact, as far as the seven great class-user families of Will City were concerned, only someone who had truly mastered the Merrick Saber Draw Slash could be called the Merick Family's heir!
Only now did Will II's expression truly change as he sat in the viewing area. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked quite surprised.
The Merrick Saber Draw Slash was no easy technique to master. As a rare-grade skill, it required genuine talent with the saber to grasp its essence.
Even Lister's father, Mel Merrick, who had inherited the family's saber art from childhood and practiced diligently, had never truly mastered the Iai Slash before his death.
And how old was Lister now?
If Will II remembered correctly, he was only twenty-nine.
The power that Iai Slash had just displayed was far beyond what one would expect from someone who had only just mastered it!
Only Lister himself knew that his Merrick Saber Technique was actually only LV5, and that he had only just learned the basics.
It had achieved that power entirely thanks to the strength boost from his passive skill, though the Merrick Saber Technique's own rare grade, C, also played a part.
F- and E-grade skills required little experience to level up, and no matter how high their levels got, their power was limited.
Rare C-grade skills, on the other hand, required more experience to level up, and their power was naturally extraordinary.
So for class users who could only improve through training, rare skills like these were indeed difficult to raise quickly.
Only Lister could level them up directly with experience, making it easy for him to improve them.
Seeing Lister's unexpected performance, even Count Connor could not help applauding.
"Looks like Lister's talent for his family's saber art is no worse than Kane's!"
Kane Connor, the current Count Connor's eldest son, had shown extraordinary talent from childhood!
He was now forty-one. Lister had just scanned his exact strength: level 27, with an overall strength of grade D.
He was already one of the foremost figures of the next generation in the Duchy of Will.
Everyone present knew what such praise from Count Connor meant.
The Merick Family had an heir worthy of its legacy!
Quint stared blankly at the mark on his breastplate, his face full of disbelief.
According to his earlier investigation, Lister's talent had been anything but outstanding.
He had never trained diligently as a class user or in his family's inheritance, and his class-user rank was a full tier below Quint's.
Quint had inherited his combat techniques from childhood and trained day and night to bring them to their present level.
Yet he still had not awakened his own Will Family's signature ultimate skill, while Lister, standing before him, had actually...!
"That was the Merick Family's Iai Slash, wasn't it?!"
"So that's a class-user family's rare inherited ultimate skill! Incredible!"
"Wasn't the Merick Family supposed to be in decline? And wasn't the new baron just an ordinary second-tier class user?"
"I thought Lord Quint was sure to win as a third-tier class user! Now it's hard to say!"
Most of the city's other nobles were watching the duel from the lower viewing area, where their seats gave them a poorer view!
They were all greatly shocked by the strength Lister had displayed. The various families in the city had seen the Merrick Iai Slash especially clearly.
A clean, fierce, all-out circular slash!
Whenever they saw the Merrick Iai Slash, the city's new nobles would fear families like the Mericks, who had rare skills passed down to them.
"I told you all long ago that Quint is Duke Will's least favorite son. How strong could he possibly be?"
"Lister is the Merick Family's sole heir. He just doesn't show it normally. How could his true strength possibly be as poor as you imagined?!"
Viscount Anbeite was laughing heartily now. He had finally backed the right person!
Truth be told, when he had first chosen Lister over Quint, it had only been because Lister was the sole inheritor of the Merick Family's legacy.
He knew Quint was not valued by the duke, so the family's inherited skills and resources allotted to him would surely be limited.
Though the Merick Family was gradually declining, its inheritance had not been lost, and the viscount had an inkling that Lister was not as weak as everyone thought.
More importantly, Lister was now the only member of the Merrick Family. Once his daughter Anna married into it, there was a chance he could scheme to obtain the Merricks' rare inherited skill someday.
Of course, these were fantasies Viscount Anbeite had buried deep in his heart and had never shared with anyone.
Looking at Lister's short black hair fluttering in the wind and his powerful saber skills, Viscount Anbeite buried his covetous thoughts even deeper for the moment!
He never imagined that his own daughter was currently escaping the city with Ruisi, accompanying his family's merchant caravan.
On the dueling platform, Lister held his saber with its blade pointing downward.
He did not yet know just how much of an impact the Iai Slash he had just revealed had made.
Nor did he know that the many factions in the city watching the duel had withdrawn their shared view that the Merick Family was in decline.
For now, he gave it little thought. He simply watched Quint in silence, considering whether he should hold back a little and spare his opponent too humiliating a defeat, lest the duke target him afterward.
"I admit it. I underestimated you if you were able to master the Iai Slash!"
"But you don't think you've already won, do you?!"
Quint knew his advantage—or rather, the advantage of the Will Family's shield-warrior inheritance!
Going on the offensive was not their strong suit. Defense and counterattacks were the family's true strengths.
But just as Quint finished speaking, Lister suddenly closed in on him. The saber in his hand came at him with incredible speed, its blade heading straight for his face.
Quint's face showed delight rather than alarm. He was not afraid of Lister attacking; he was worried that Lister would not take the initiative.
He naturally raised the greatshield in his left hand in front of him. Just as Lister's saber was about to strike it, a strange light suddenly flashed across the shield, as though some skill had been applied to it.
Unfortunately, the shield counter Quint had expected did not trigger. He did not even feel an impact against his greatshield.
Just as he was wondering why, a burst of intense pain suddenly came from behind him, and his whole body shot into the air.
That was right!
Lister had immediately withdrawn his saber when he saw the light flash across the greatshield.
As a veteran player, though his overall strength in his previous life had been lousy, he had at least been a late-game player and could recognize such a basic shield counter.
He immediately used the momentum to get behind Quint and delivered a simple straight kick.
With the boost from his strength attribute of 27, far exceeding that of a second-tier class user, he sent Quint flying through the air.
Lister immediately crouched slightly, pushed off with one leg, and leaped into the air.
While Quint was still trying to make sense of what had happened to him, Lister struck him hard in the waist and abdomen with the hilt of the saber in his right hand.
Just as Quint was about to hit the ground, Lister appeared in front of him again like a ghost and delivered another straight kick to the wrist of his shield hand.
Pain shot through the hand holding the shield, and he let go. The next moment, the greatshield fell onto the dueling platform, where Lister pinned it beneath his foot.