Advantage Strike

Early on the second day.

Linsey woke on time at the call of his internal clock.

Three years ago, he would have spent this day following Red Moon and learning writing, as well as all manner of knowledge from the School of Death.

But that life was now completely different from his current one.

Over three years, Linsey had mastered both languages Red Moon had taught him, raising them to the proficient level.

It was no exaggeration to say that his command of Woodland Language and School of Death Cipher was now on par with Red Moon's, enough to handle any situation. As for the School of Death knowledge she taught daily, that had shifted to learning by following along when the dead were buried.

Linsey no longer needed to study under Red Moon in the mornings.

The original rotation of four instructors had also become a rotation of three.

Linsey got up early and, as usual, practiced the languages he was studying to ensure his Experience Bar increased each day.

Afterward, he prepared breakfast for himself and Red Moon.

Then he bade Red Moon farewell and jogged toward the Lord's Manor as a warm-up.

"..."

"Haah!"

Linsey was already very familiar with the terrain. Rather than entering through the manor's main gate, he took a detour straight to the clearing at the edge of the woods where they trained. Before he even arrived, however, he heard a loud shout from ahead.

"Big Brother Alan's voice?"

"What happened?"

Linsey raised an eyebrow and hurried forward to take a look.

Once he saw what was happening in the woodland clearing, he relaxed.

Nothing unexpected had happened.

It was merely Anrui's apprentice, Alan, wielding a Wooden Sword as he drove back several guards attacking him from all sides.

This was part of their daily martial arts training.

Linsey had intended to step forward and greet Alan, but then he noticed a subtle difference.

The art Alan practiced came from the Advantage Strike school of the War School.

In the First Stage, it first awakened an offensive ability based on Advantage Strike.

The Second Stage greatly strengthened the body, granting strength, speed, and reflexes beyond those of ordinary Awakened.

These two ascended abilities.

Were both plain and unadorned things meant to enhance practical combat ability.

But Alan now exuded a unique air with every movement. It was as though he had brought the entire environment around him under his control. Before every attack reached him, he could foresee it in advance and strike later yet gain the initiative.

Rather than simply relying on War School techniques to knock people back as he had in the past!

"Big Brother Alan, you broke through?"

Only then did Linsey walk over. Seeing him approach, Alan dismissed the guards who had been sparring with him.

"Linsey, you came too."

Alan greeted him first, then nodded, unable to hide his joy.

"That's right. I finally broke through."

"The Third Stage's Martial Heart lets me handle combat and all kinds of unexpected situations with far greater ease. All those years of training weren't wasted after all!"

Yesterday, Ju had finally mastered his first ascended ability.

Today, Alan had broken through the Third Stage bottleneck that had troubled him for so long.

With both of his friends advancing in their arts, Linsey was sincerely happy for them.

"It's the reward for all your hard work, Big Brother Alan."

"It was only to be expected!"

Alan replied modestly:

"Luck, just luck."

"But Linsey, do you want to give it a try? Experiencing the War School's arts earlier will definitely be beneficial."

Linsey thought about it and realized that was true.

"Come on, let's try!"

The two then faced each other in the clearing at the edge of the woods, each holding a Wooden Sword.

"Be careful."

Alan, having just broken through, attacked first. He lunged forward, his Wooden Sword slashing straight toward Linsey's shoulder.

The strike appeared ordinary, but Linsey saw through it at a glance.

Advantage Strike.

In a normal fight, if one person stood on high ground and the other at a lower point, the one above naturally held the advantage of terrain; if the two stood at the boundary between light and dark, with one in the light and the other in shadow, there would likewise be a difference in visibility when they fought.

Advantage Strike cultivated precisely this kind of ability.

After practitioners of this school completed their first skill ascension, even in a fair one-on-one duel, their attacks would automatically carry an advantage, leaving their enemies unable to guard against them and even causing them to lose in an instant.

Linsey had long been familiar with this technique.

So the moment Alan attacked, he immediately retreated to widen the distance.

Rather than directly withstand what appeared to be an ordinary strike but actually contained the force of a leaping downward slash from a second-story floor.

"Too slow!"

At that instant, Alan shouted.

His movements seemed prepared in advance. As Linsey retreated, Alan pressed forward, turning a strike that should have been completely avoidable into one that could hit again! Is this the Martial Heart's ability to predict? Realizing things were going badly, Linsey rolled away on the spot and only then regained his footing.

If this continued, he would definitely lose.

Linsey assessed the situation in an instant.

Then, instead of retreating, he advanced. With a short, sharp step, he rushed toward Alan, his Wooden Sword slashing diagonally upward from below.

Smack! Martial Heart is immune to sneak attacks.

Alan moved after him yet arrived first, and the two Wooden Swords collided and locked together.

But then, Linsey's hand suddenly twitched.

He had never intended to compete in strength with an Awakened of the War School.

Instead, his footwork changed, and his blade followed the momentum of his body, forcing Alan to retreat and evade.

"Your movements are ridiculously agile!"

Alan looked surprised as he was driven back.

Without the support of War School techniques, Linsey's performance had already exceeded the normal range!

If Alan's Martial Heart had not taken effect, he might really have been hit!

"If I didn't know your background, and if this place weren't so isolated from the outside world,"

"I'd genuinely suspect you were from another War School, sent here specifically to steal our techniques!"

Linsey replied with a smile, "Just luck. I got lucky just now."

In truth, Linsey's movements had not been simple. How could a school's techniques be so easily blocked? Just as the archery he had learned from Dan possessed the Quick Shot ability, the swordsmanship and footwork he had learned from Lord's Manor now also carried the suffix (Advantage Strike).

Although he did not possess War School techniques, with the help of the skill panel, Linsey could make subtle adjustments to the details of his movements while attacking.

His posture while attacking or evading, the power and angle of his strikes.

Such fine adjustments could also allow him to gain an advantage in battle, achieving a different kind of Advantage Strike.

The two sparred for a while longer before separating to carry on with their daily training.

Just like that, two hours passed.

At the back gate leading to the manor, a graceful figure in a purple dress emerged, her gaze immediately locking onto Linsey.

"Linsey, you're here!"

It was Anna.

Three years had passed, and the once-childish little girl had grown into a graceful young woman.

She watched Linsey practice martial techniques with obvious delight in her eyes.

But after politely greeting him, the first thing she asked was, "I heard you went hunting in the forest yesterday. Did you gather any new fertilizer?"

Linsey immediately stiffened in the middle of his practice stance.

The fertilizer Anna spoke of was what she used to care for the Beech Tree.

Whenever Linsey went out hunting, he would usually help Anna gather the ingredients, then hand them over to Finn to make.

When Linsey went to the manor, he would bring it to Anna.

This was practically an unspoken understanding between them.

But yesterday, Linsey had been in such a bad mood that he forgot all about it!

"..."

The moment Linsey fell silent, Anna noticed something was off.

She stepped forward, her large, watery purple eyes fixed tightly on Linsey as her pearly teeth gently bit her lip. "What happened? Did something go wrong in the forest? Or did you forget..."

Linsey hurriedly cut her off. "It's not what you think! Yesterday in the forest, I ran into a rather strong wild boar. It took quite a bit of effort to kill it..."

"A wild boar?" Anna immediately forgot about the fertilizer and rushed over to inspect Linsey's body. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

Having grown up in the small town of the Hidden Borderlands, with an Ascendant father besides, Anna was no sheltered young lady.

She knew just how dangerous wild boars could be to people! Linsey quickly waved his hands. "No, I'm fine. I wasn't hurt. The process was just a little nerve-racking."

"..."

The two chatted for a while, and it soon neared noon.

Since it was time for a break, they went to the manor together for lunch.

But as soon as they entered the courtyard, Anrui pushed open a second-floor window of the main manor building and looked down at them.

"Linsey, come up here. There's something you need to know!"

After calling out to Linsey, Anrui noticed Anna as well. He let out a faint sigh, then said, "Anna, you come too."