Feeling Pain, Inflicting Pain (Please Keep Reading!)

"If I survive this, most of the money I make will have to go toward suppressants, just like Mister Otto's." The man touched his neck and sighed.

"Well, at least you're still alive. I'll help you take care of Alice from Bell Tavern from now on." The other companion had rushed over as well. His eyes remained fixed on Downs, watching him warily even as he joked with his companion.

It was as though this were not a life-or-death battle at all.

Their carefree demeanor made Downs's anger begin to burn.

He was just about to launch another attack.

But at that moment, there was movement from the other side.

It was the pair of Halflings. They had stopped tangling with the Village Guardian and left him for Aro to handle alone.

Downs's presence was too oppressive. Afraid that Downs might hurt Otto, Aro had called the Halflings over to help after the Village Guardian shook one of them off.

"One against four?" Downs moved his body, feeling nothing but excitement.

His immortal trait was different from the Village Guardian's Tough Skin. It provided all-around defensive power.

As long as their attacks did not exceed the limits of the Black Stone Breed or possess some extraordinary effect, they would basically be incapable of hurting him.

With the great power Lord Naimus had bestowed upon him, victory would surely be his.

Of course, Downs also glanced toward Pur.

Their orders were to crush Otto's forces as thoroughly as possible and display their own strength.

To prepare for Naimus's next move.

Pur had already activated Whale-ification. His entire body was covered in flower-like black markings, and his height had expanded from just over a meter to around three meters.

The Colossus trait brought immense pressure.

Tough Skin likewise granted him extremely powerful defense.

All of this made it difficult for the Dual Swordsman to find an opening.

Fortunately, Otto was nearby, controlling transparent Feather Sky Snakes to interfere with and restrain Pur.

Though they both possessed Whale-ification, Pur and the Village Guardian had completely different fighting styles.

The Village Guardian mostly fought dangerous creatures. Aside from his decent Swordsmanship, the rest of his fighting style was rather rough.

Pur was different. His personal preferences meant that, even as a Colossus, he was still meticulous beneath his brute strength.

His fighting style had a very clear inclination—feel pain, then inflict pain.

And because of Pur's pure faith in Naimus, Naimus favored him greatly as well.

Over the past half month, he had spent the most time with Naimus and thus received guidance from him on several occasions.

It was precisely that guidance that had greatly improved Pur's combat skills.

"Clearly understand your advantages, guard your weaknesses, then use your strengths against the enemy's weaknesses. Use superiority to defeat inferiority." Naimus's teachings still echoed in his ears.

Without someone personally pointing out how these fighting principles applied in real situations, one would never truly grasp them.

Pur himself had a talent for combat. With Naimus's guidance and his own superior stats—

—even though this was his first true face-to-face battle against another person, his performance was not bad.

And he was still absorbing experience, growing rapidly.

A massive hand, as large as a palm-leaf fan, swung out. The wind from the blow made the Dual Swordsman's slender blades tremble slightly.

A Feather Sky Snake shot down from midair, bit Pur's arm, then coiled around it and pulled, restraining the strike.

The creatures Otto had summoned were not only nearly invisible, but could also move through the air.

They could find mediums in the air that they could touch, using them to anchor their bodies.

Their strength was not weak, either.

Even with Pur's stats reaching twelve after Whale-ification, several of them could still work together to restrict his movements.

Pur did not continue relying on brute force. He had already tested it before—the Feather Sky Snakes' bodies were extremely resilient.

Even if he tried to tear them apart, it was difficult to injure them.

Furthermore, their bodies could become exceptionally slippery when needed. Combined with their transparent forms, grabbing their heads and finding their weak points was extremely difficult.

Taking advantage of that, the slender swords in the Dual Swordsman's hands almost danced into flowers.

The blades shifted constantly, searching for every weakness on Pur's body.

However, Pur's three-meter height put his eyes far above the ground. If the Dual Swordsman wanted to target them, he would expose major openings of his own.

As for everywhere else, Pur defended them well.

From Naimus, he had learned to respond to motion with stillness.

Most of his body was protected by Tough Skin.

Under such circumstances, he should not make overly large movements. The bigger his movements, the more exposed his already well-protected weak points would become.

So the first thing he needed to do was remain steady. Carefully feel the pain his enemy inflicted; it would reveal the enemy's movements and allow him to protect himself to the greatest extent possible.

Defense gave him an extremely high margin for error. Especially after Whale-ification, he also possessed a certain degree of self-healing, making that margin even greater.

The greater his margin for error, the less he could rush. Fighting steadily and forcing the other side into mistakes through his own tolerance for error was his current style.

"How is this possible?!" The Dual Swordsman had failed to gain any advantage. Seeing Pur approach once more, he could only retreat to evade Pur's attack.

"Is the gap between Aro and me really that large?" The Dual Swordsman's heart began to waver.

Aro had merely been an ordinary villager from a small place like Dorsal Fin Village. Nothing about him had been particularly outstanding.

Otto had personally uncovered his potential. It was also three years ago that the Dual Swordsman and Aro had fought for the first time.

He had not wanted to join Otto's caravan. Originally, he had simply been a lone wolf who preyed on other criminals.

But he had run into Otto back then. Otto and his men had surrounded him and invited him to join.

At the time, confident in his Swordsmanship, he proposed a duel to decide whether he would join.

He was a Swordsmanship prodigy. He had thought he could use his twin blades to win his freedom, yet he lost to the still-green Aro.

He honored the wager and joined Otto's caravan, though the bigger reason was that he wanted to keep competing with Aro.

After that, he had never won even once.

He had finally become certain that Aro was a combat genius. If he could go somewhere bigger and receive the guidance of a good teacher, then Aro's future would be limitless.

Yet this was what he could not understand: Aro stubbornly remained by Otto's side.

And the image of Aro suppressing the Village Guardian with his blade techniques had yet to fade from his mind.

Yet when facing another Reserve Village Guardian who also possessed Whale-ification Disease, he was the one being suppressed instead.

Yes, Pur's physical transformation exceeded the Village Guardian's, but he also had Otto's summoned Feather Sky Snakes assisting him.

The difference between them left the Dual Swordsman stunned.

"Losing focus in battle is the kind of mistake that gets you killed...!"

Pur seized the opportunity instantly. His steady defense had kept him invincible, and after that came careful observation and decisive attacks whenever he spotted an opening.

Naimus had not taught him any fancy techniques. He had taught him only one punch.

One hand precisely located and swept aside the Feather Sky Snakes on his body. The other rose, clenched into a fist, and punched.

"Aah!"