Testing the Sword

The Knight Marshall shouted, filling his entire body with Battle Qi. His greatsword didn't flash with Battle Qi, as he was afraid of shaking Abel.

"Try again!"

The Knight Marshall felt a trace of unwillingness regarding the previous clash, as he hadn't used any Battle Qi. Or rather, it was the fervent confidence of an Intermediate Knight in their Battle Qi.

Abel glanced at the Knight Marshall whose body was flashing with Battle Qi. He considered whether he would be repelled by the impact if he swung his sword. His body was still very weak at the moment, but seeing the Knight Marshall's determined eyes, Abel also took a deep breath and raised his greatsword over his head once more.

This time, Abel didn't use his body's strength to chop down. He was genuinely uneasy about the Knight Marshall's Battle Qi. He knew very well that the Professionals in this world were not like the martial artists on Earth who emphasized stopping at a touch. Here, stopping at a touch meant knocking someone down with a wooden sword; injuries were unavoidable.

The greatsword, acting under its own gravity, lightly chopped down at the Knight Marshall's greatsword. Even the Knight Marshall could feel Abel's perfunctory effort.

The Knight Marshall's greatsword collided with Abel's greatsword. This time, because Abel didn't exert any force, his greatsword didn't even rebound after the collision. It simply rested lightly on the Knight Marshall's greatsword. Just as the Knight Marshall was about to say something, that immense, unstoppable force appeared once again.

Although the Knight Marshall wanted to resist this force with Battle Qi, how could human Battle Qi withstand a mountain? That's how the Knight Marshall felt at this moment.

One step, two steps, three steps... ten steps.

This time, the Knight Marshall was once again pushed back ten steps, almost exactly like the previous situation. Even though the Knight Marshall had circulated his Battle Qi, and Abel hadn't exerted any effort, it didn't change the fact that he was pushed back.

"Abel, actually, I'm very good at using dual swords," the Knight Marshall said, his eyes red as he looked at the magic greatsword in Abel's hand, speaking in a tone that tried to coax candy from a child.

This magic greatsword was too important for the Knight Marshall's strength improvement. Imagine, when the Knight Marshall fought an opponent, if he knew in advance that the opponent would be repelled, he could make a judgment beforehand and deliver the killing blow. As for the opponent, they would have a very high chance of being hit unexpectedly.

Or there could be another scenario: the Knight Marshall encountered an opponent he couldn't defeat. As long as he could repel the opponent ten steps, the Knight Marshall could escape to safety.

This magic greatsword was a knight's lifeline. He wouldn't use it normally, but carrying it with him could save his life or secure victory at a critical moment. In any case, the weight of a greatsword was nothing to an Intermediate Knight.

"Uncle Marshall, here you go." Abel, without a word, directly threw the magic greatsword to the Knight Marshal. The runes on this magic greatsword were provided by the Knight Marshal. The knight had helped him so much; a magic greatsword was nothing. Abel continued, "The runes on this greatsword are the same as the ones on the Rune Card you gave me a few days ago. I modified it onto the magic greatsword, and the effect is good."

The Knight Marshall's mind went blank. That Rune Card had been lying in the secret chamber for over ten years. He had just given it to Abel a few days ago, and Abel had already created a magic greatsword with the same effect.

But could a magic greatsword be the same as a Rune Card? A Rune Card was activated by crushing it, but it was gone afterward. A magic greatsword, however, would exert its effect with every swing.

Furthermore, the ability of this magic greatsword was so powerful. While the Knight Marshall had heard of magic weapons with various effects before, they were basically limited to ice, fire, lightning, and poison. He had never heard of a magic weapon that could forcibly repel opponents in his decades-long knight career.

The Knight Marshall looked at Abel. To be able to create such a powerful magic weapon based solely on a rune card, such a person could no longer be called a genius. The Knight Marshall didn't know how to describe Abel anymore. He just kept telling himself that he must send Abel to a wizard. Such an unparalleled genius should not be left in the mortal world.

"Uncle Marshall, you continue your practice. I'll be going now." Abel saw that the Knight Marshall seemed to be lost in thought and didn't want to disturb him, so he turned and took his leave.

"Abel, get some good rest for a few days. You absolutely cannot use Battle Qi during these days," the Knight Marshall said, coming back to his senses, warning Abel.

For a Rookie Knight to use Battle Qi for the first time, all the Battle Qi in their Qi Veins would be stimulated and released. After this stimulation, the Qi Veins would be left empty. As long as they rested for a few days, the Qi Veins would naturally recover. However, if Battle Qi was used a second time during this period, it would consume the Qi Veins themselves. At that point, there wouldn't even be an empty shell left. Without a foundation, there could be no recovery; they would have to start cultivating from scratch.

Abel naturally knew this. He was planning to do nothing for now and use this time to return to his room to draw runes and train his spiritual power.

After Abel left, the Knight Marshall held the Attribute-less Magic Greatsword, his heart filled with heroic spirit. He felt an urge to rush to Harvest City and spar with Viscount Dickens, the city lord.

Of course, that was just a beautiful fantasy of the Knight Marshall. The gap of two major levels was absolute. The city lord, Viscount Dickens, who was a Knight Commander, could definitely beat the Knight Marshall to a pulp. Even the most powerful weapon was useless in the face of an absolute difference in strength.

Starting from the Knight Commander rank, knights could form a set of Battle Qi armor outside their bodies. Various powerful attacks would be weakened, and ordinary attacks couldn't shake the Battle Qi armor at all. The Hari Bow, for example, was a nightmare for low-level Professionals, but for high-level Professionals, the danger was much smaller.

The Knight Marshall took the Attribute-less Magic Greatsword and experimented with it in the training room for a while longer. He initially grasped the sword's performance and discovered that its repelling ability could only be unleashed when fighting an enemy. This concealed method made the Knight Marshall extremely happy. He slung the two magic greatswords across his back, crossed, and at this moment, the Knight Marshall couldn't wait for the orc attack to end soon so he could go to Bennett Castle and spar with Knight Bennett.

Meanwhile, Abel had returned to his room and sat on a recliner, contemplating whether to forge a super magic weapon. He could now upgrade his Rune Ink to a high-level Rune Ink. As for the gem for energy, he still had a perfect sapphire. Theoretically, he should be able to make a super Ice Magic Greatsword that used a perfect sapphire as its power source and drew runes with high-level Rune Ink.

Abel thought about these things, wishing he could try them immediately. However, a wave of weakness washed over him, making him dismiss the idea. He still needed to recover before continuing his research.

He took out his Rune Brush, dipped it in Rune Ink, and began drawing runes on a rectangular piece of wood. This was the method he could think of to train his spiritual power. Only by using Rune Ink could his spiritual power be stimulated more perfectly; ordinary ink wouldn't achieve the training effect. It was a waste, but so be it. The steward, Linsey, had already retrieved a pile of materials from the mercenary guild. Abel also saw his five-digit gold coin balance in the Horadric Cube and couldn't help but curl his lips. He had plenty of gold coins; his little treasury was quite full.

The Rune Brush moved across the wood, sometimes like a soaring dragon, sometimes like flowing water. This was the fire rune that Abel was very familiar with. His spiritual power was also continuously being consumed. Upon completing the drawing, Abel felt as if something in the air was being attracted to the rune written on the wood. Then, the wood slowly turned black from the rune lines, as if it had been burned by fire, and finally, the entire piece of wood turned into charcoal.

Runes could automatically absorb energy from the air. This was the first time Abel had drawn runes on something other than metal, and he hadn't expected such a result.

Runes were actually very unstable magical symbols. If it weren't for the materials in the Rune Ink forming a stable balance with the surface of the steel, the runes would gradually accumulate energy over time. Eventually, either the material would be damaged, or there would be a massive energy explosion.

Abel only had Rune Ink that could be used on steel and not on other materials. Abel didn't know this, but he didn't care. He simply treated this practice as a means of training his spiritual power and didn't need to create anything.