Knocking Back the Enemy

At the very peak of Knight Marshall's slash, his powerful aura locked onto Abel, completely suppressing Abel's intention to dodge. Then the greatsword carved a perfect arc through the air. Only then did Abel realize that he had just two choices: block or retreat.

In Abel's mind, the figure simulated by his mental power raised its sword horizontally and attempted a block. Knight Marshall's tremendous strength struck the figure apart with a single blow.

Abel came to his senses from the simulation. It seemed he had finally realized how this world's martial power differed from that of his previous life. Years of cold-weapon warfare had refined the use of such weapons to a state of simplifying complexity and achieving greatness through simplicity.

Of course, this was inseparable from humanity's greatest enemy, the orcs. If humans did not swing their weapons with all their strength, they might not even be able to cut through an orc's skin. Orcs were more agile and faster than humans, so for the sake of survival, humans had simplified their martial techniques to the extreme.

Only now did Abel discover that although he had reached the level of a Level 5 Rookie Knight, his understanding of swordsmanship was still severely lacking. Watching Knight Marshall train had given Abel an entirely new perspective on knight training.

"Abel, what brings you here?" Knight Marshall had stopped his greatsword by then. Seeing Abel arrive, he could not help asking.

"Oh." Knight Marshall's voice brought Abel back from his thoughts. He said, "I'm here to test a sword."

Knight Marshall's eyes lit up as he stared at the greatsword Abel was carrying. "Test this sword? What does it do?"

Knight Marshall knew about the two types of Magic Greatswords Abel had created. He still favored the Ice Magic Greatsword in his hand. Although the Fire Magic Greatsword had slightly greater offensive power, its ability to slow enemies was far more useful against powerful foes than a small increase in fire damage.

Since Abel had come to test a Magic Greatsword, it should be neither of those two. The thought of an entirely new Magic Greatsword made Knight Marshall extremely excited. After all, the Ice Magic Greatsword and Hari Bow had already multiplied his combat power several times over.

Abel was wondering whether the rune's ability to knock back enemies failed to work on wood because wood was not technically an enemy, and whether its true function would only appear when used against living creatures. That was why he had sought out Knight Marshall.

"Uncle Marshall, I'll slash at you once. Try defending with your sword."

"No problem." Knight Marshall had great confidence in his own strength. Helping Abel test the sword's power would be no issue.

"Be careful." Abel raised the greatsword. He had just watched Knight Marshall's slashing motion, and the moment he lifted the sword, the process he had simulated with his mental power appeared before his eyes. His mental power revolved at high speed, and his aura began to change. It seemed that the greatsword had already fused with his body.

Knight Marshall's expression changed. In his perception, he was facing a colossal sword. This was Sword Intent—the Sword Intent possessed only by swordsmanship masters who had trained for many years?

Knight Marshall recalled that he had acquired Sword Intent through a breakthrough in swordsmanship five years ago. He knew Abel had not been practicing with a sword for long. Before taking over Abel's knight training, he and Knight Bennett had already formally transferred responsibility for Abel's instruction.

Abel seemed to have entered the same state as when he had first forged the Hundred Refinements Blank. The immature fighting spirit throughout his body slowly gathered, and its radiance flashed across him. In that instant, Abel seemed to transform into an indestructible blade. As his accumulated power reached its peak, all the fighting spirit in his body surged into the greatsword. Although his level was too low for his fighting spirit to enter the sword, it accelerated the weapon as it came slashing down. The air split beneath the blow as if a thin sheet of parchment had been torn, producing a ripping sound.

Knight Marshall muttered under his breath. No one would take that blow head-on. As an Intermediate Knight, he could block it, but he would have to use his fighting spirit to clash with it directly. For an Intermediate Knight who had trained for many years, using fighting spirit meant launching an all-out attack, and it would be difficult to stop without injuring Abel.

Knight Marshall jumped backward and dodged Abel's slash. After missing, Abel seemed to have exhausted all the strength in his body. He could no longer hold the greatsword, which fell to the ground with a clang. Abel also dropped onto the ground and began gasping heavily.

A Rookie Knight could use fighting spirit only once. Although doing so would not damage the knight's foundation, recovering from the expenditure would still take several days.

Abel had inexplicably grasped an immature Sword Intent just now. Driven by that Sword Intent, all the fighting spirit in his body had been ignited and erupted in an instant.

"What happened?" By the time Abel sat on the ground, he had already come out of his recent insight. Still somewhat dazed, he asked the question.

Knight Marshall felt as if he were as stupid as a pig. The thirteen-year-old boy before him had learned Sword Intent through a single epiphany. As for himself, he had practiced swordsmanship day after day for decades and had not learned it until he was over thirty.

And he had never experienced an epiphany in his entire life. Yet this boy had apparently experienced two, as Knight Marshall had personally witnessed. Why was the difference between people so enormous?

Thoughts churned in Knight Marshall's mind, but in the end, they were overwhelmed by happiness and excitement. The boy before him was his successor—a genius of the Hari Family.

"You had another epiphany!" Knight Marshall said through clenched teeth.

"No wonder I'm so exhausted. It's like this every time." Abel's voice carried a trace of helplessness, as if experiencing an epiphany had brought him terrible misfortune.

Cold light flickered in Knight Marshall's eyes from time to time. He clenched his fists and considered going over to beat the boy senseless. This was a classic case of being blessed without realizing it.

"Why did you retreat? Were you knocked back by my sword just now?" Abel noticed that Knight Marshall's position had changed and asked excitedly.

"You went crazy. I wasn't going to go crazy with you, so I retreated on my own." Knight Marshall failed to notice where the excitement in Abel's voice came from and answered directly.

Deeply disappointed, Abel stood up. He found that some of his strength had returned. He could forget about using fighting spirit—the Qi Vein in his body had become an empty shell—but as long as he had strength, that was enough.

"Let's do it again. This time I'll just slash, and you only need to block." Abel raised the greatsword once more. Since his strength had not recovered, the sword looked feeble as he lifted it above his head.

Knight Marshall assumed a defensive stance, holding his sword horizontally before his chest. He gave Abel a glance to indicate that he could begin.

The greatsword came chopping down. This time, its speed was extremely slow. Knight Marshall felt that blocking it would take no effort at all; he could stop it simply by remaining still.

The two greatswords met. Abel's greatsword struck Knight Marshall's horizontally held blade with little sound, since Abel had almost no strength left.

Knight Marshall easily blocked Abel's greatsword. The force transmitted through the blade was extremely weak, and he was just about to mock Abel when an irresistible power surged from Abel's greatsword. It carried no destructive force, yet it exerted pressure like a mountain, compelling him to retreat. One step, two steps, three steps—Knight Marshall retreated ten steps before finally stopping.

The relaxed expression vanished from Knight Marshall's face, replaced by indescribable astonishment. He was absolutely certain that the force just now had not come from Abel. He also knew that Abel's body had no strength left. That force made Knight Marshall feel insignificant, a sensation he had not experienced in a very long time. The last time had been when he faced a Knight Commander, but this time the feeling was even stronger than what that Knight Commander had given him.

The indescribable force was actually the Power of Rules within the greatsword. The rune's ability to knock back enemies was a forced knockback. No matter how powerful the enemy was, the rules themselves required that the enemy be repelled. This power was far too advanced for both Abel and Knight Marshall.

"What does this sword do?" Knight Marshall stared fixedly at the greatsword in Abel's hand, almost overcome by the urge to snatch it away.

"It should knock back enemies, right? You seemed to have been knocked back just now." Abel happily looked at the greatsword in his hand. This time, he was certain that he had succeeded.