"Dragon Slaying Sword Art"

After reaching Level 3, Harrot put his attribute points into Strength. With 9 points in Agility, his weak point had already been compensated for. Now, he wanted to make his greatest strength—Strength—even stronger.

He put the attribute point into Power Strike. Because of his Agility, Weapon Mastery was capped at Lv. 3 and could not be raised further, so he added it to Power Strike instead. He continued allocating Weapon Proficiency to two-handed weapons.

His Strength had now reached 21, his Agility 9, and Power Strike Lv. 5. His Two-Handed Weapon Proficiency had even broken into triple digits, reaching 105!

After winning more than a dozen matches in a row, no one wanted to challenge Harrot anymore. Feeling tired as well, Harrot returned to his cell to rest, planning to get up at night to read and train.

No one came to disturb him today. Harrot read the Sword Fighting Manual all the way to 75% in one go. The farther he got, the more exquisite the book became, and the slower his reading progress rose.

To his surprise, when Harrot reached 50% reading progress, the system notified him that he had comprehended the special skills Heavy Strike and Light Strike.

Heavy Strike: Reduces attack speed by 10% to charge additional power, increasing attack strength by 10%.

Light Strike: Allows you to strike faster, increasing attack speed by 10% while reducing attack strength by 10%.

These two were active skills. Harrot could freely use either one whenever he wished. It was like finding a priceless treasure, greatly expanding his tactical options.

While reading, he had already discovered that the Sword Fighting Manual was incredibly profound. It was far more than an ordinary item that simply increased skills. Still, he had not expected it to grant him extra skills as well.

Although they were far inferior to system-provided skills such as Power Strike and Weapon Mastery, their effects were still quite good. They allowed him to switch modes flexibly in battle, greatly increasing his overall combat strength.

The Bald Man came to find Harrot for training as promised. Full of confidence, Harrot followed him to the Training Ground.

Harrot had spent the afternoon sparring with all kinds of gladiators in the Training Ground. He had gained far more combat experience, improved his attributes and skill panel, and comprehended the new skills Heavy Strike and Light Strike.

His overall strength had undergone an earthshaking change compared to yesterday. Before The Bald Man noticed how much stronger he had become, Harrot had to give him a good, hard hit!

The Bald Man was so overconfident today that he only brought a one-handed sword and did not even take a shield. He shouted casually at Harrot, "Come on! Yesterday was honestly a little boring. I hope you've improved a bit today, enough for me to feel at least some pressure!"

Harrot thought viciously, Baldy, you said it yourself. Don't regret it later!

Harrot focused completely and swung the greatsword in his hand at The Bald Man with all his strength. He activated Heavy Strike for this attack.

Although his attack speed had been reduced by 10%, his greatly increased Weapon Proficiency and his 9 points of Agility made this attack slightly faster than anything he had shown yesterday.

Although The Bald Man was an experienced Legendary Creature gladiator, he had thoroughly figured out Harrot's strength yesterday. Inevitably, he underestimated him somewhat.

Seeing Harrot's slightly faster attack speed, The Bald Man raised his one-handed sword in his right hand to meet it. He praised him, "Not bad. It's only been one day, yet your sword is already faster. I just wonder whether the power behind your attacks has dropped."

With 21 Strength, Lv. 5 Power Strike's 40% bonus, Heavy Strike's 10% bonus, and over 100 points of Two-Handed Weapon Proficiency, Harrot's actual strength behind this attack exceeded 33 points.

The Bald Man, meanwhile, only had around 25 Strength. Harrot was also using a two-handed greatsword, while The Bald Man was blocking one-handed with a one-handed sword. The outcome spoke for itself.

The Bald Man only felt an overwhelming force transmit through the one-handed sword in his hand, so great that he could not resist it at all. Shock filled his heart.

"How... how is this possible? How did this brat become so much stronger?"

Yesterday, he had been able to block Harrot's attack with one hand not because he could truly compete with Harrot in raw strength using only one arm. It was because of his superb technique and extensive experience, which allowed him to redirect the force behind Harrot's strikes.

Using four ounces to move a thousand pounds was nonsense. Using six hundred pounds to move a thousand pounds, however, was something many highly skilled people could accomplish.

But at this moment, Harrot's full-powered two-handed strike completely overwhelmed The Bald Man's one-handed block in terms of strength. He could not redirect the force at all.

The Bald Man gritted his teeth and gave it everything he had, yet he still failed to block the attack. The one-handed sword in his hand was sent flying, and Harrot's sword struck solidly across his chest.

The Bald Man's Constitution was also far beyond that of an ordinary person. After taking Harrot's blow, he only staggered back several steps and suffered no serious injury. But the mental blow far surpassed the physical one. Ever since becoming an adult, he had never once had his weapon knocked from his hand in battle.

According to the rules of the Kingdom of Lucanir, in a Knight's duel, the side whose weapon was knocked away was immediately declared defeated. There was also a saying throughout the kingdom: "Dropping your weapon in battle is a Knight's shame." Although The Bald Man was not a Knight, his face still reddened slightly as he felt rather embarrassed.

The Bald Man carefully examined the smug Harrot and asked in confusion, "Did you hide your strength yesterday? No, that's not it. Your injuries probably hadn't fully healed last night. Why didn't you make that clear? If you weren't healed, there was no need to rush into training!"

Harrot was somewhat moved. The Bald Man truly cared about gladiators like them.

That was why the gladiators sincerely supported The Bald Man as well. It was something a petty man like Scarface would never understand.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, Boss. I was just mentally exhausted yesterday. My body was fine!" Harrot had genuinely acknowledged this man now, and calling him Boss came naturally.

The Bald Man was still worried that something might be wrong with Harrot's body. Mainly because Harrot had been sent flying such a great distance by a single blow from a troll, an extraordinary creature. The visual impact had been too intense, and even now, he found it unbelievable that Harrot had emerged completely unharmed.

The Bald Man said, "There's no harm in resting for another day. Don't do any practical combat training today. I'll teach you a sword art instead. Your attacks are too monotonous, and learning swordsmanship can make up for that."

The Bald Man picked up a two-handed greatsword and said to Harrot, "Watch my next movements carefully. Remember everything from head to toe. This isn't some common street-fighting technique!"

After saying that, The Bald Man performed a set of sword techniques. It included thrusts, upward cuts, chops, and many other movements, more than a dozen moves in total. Every move seemed to carry invisible Killing Intent, giving off an extraordinary feeling.

After The Bald Man completed the set, Harrot began imitating his movements. At the same time, he asked curiously, "Boss, what kind of moves are these? They look incredibly powerful!"

The Bald Man introduced it somewhat proudly. "I adapted this sword art from Military Sword Art. It's called Dragon Slaying Sword Art. This is a top-tier sword art I created myself. Ordinary people don't get to learn it!"

"Your height, weight, and limb proportions are similar to mine, and your strength isn't much lower either. You should be able to master it well!"

The Bald Man had some bad habits too. He liked showing off. Earlier, he had bragged before the high-level gladiators that he had recognized Harrot's talent and bought him.

Dragon Slaying Sword Art? Could you even withstand a single blast of Dragon Breath? The Bald Man was certainly strong, but compared to Legendary Creatures like dragons, he was merely a slightly sturdier insect. Slay dragons? Stop dreaming, Harrot silently mocked.

Mocking aside, Harrot practiced very seriously. This sword art might not be capable of slaying dragons, but as The Bald Man had said, it truly was a top-tier sword art.

"Raise your hand a little higher! Your legs shouldn't be spread so wide! Can't you move any faster?"

The Bald Man's guidance was extremely serious. He constantly corrected Harrot's mistakes, while Harrot's semi-datafied body possessed exceptional imitation ability.

This allowed Harrot to quickly learn all the movements. Although he had not yet fully grasped their essence, he could already perform them properly.

The world's top-tier sword arts were not as miraculous as the Nine Swords of Dugu or Evil-Warding Swordplay from the martial arts novels of his previous life. At their core, they were merely techniques for exerting force and using momentum. Even so, they were incredibly valuable manuals.

Although he was only practicing moves, after more than an hour, Harrot was exhausted and could no longer hold on. He collapsed onto the ground.

After all, every move of Dragon Slaying Sword Art required him to swing the greatsword with all his strength, consuming both stamina and concentration. Every strike was physically taxing, and this training was nothing like chopping at wooden posts.

The Bald Man did not help Harrot up. Instead, he lay down beside him. Looking at the star-filled sky, The Bald Man took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Harrot could tell that The Bald Man was holding something troubling inside. He felt that The Bald Man was a rare good person, so he asked with concern, "Boss, you don't seem very happy. Is something bothering you?"

"What bothers me is the management of the Gladiatorial Arena and the future of the gladiators. You wouldn't understand even if I told you!"

Harrot replied, "Hark told me quite a lot. He told me plenty about the stewards, Marquis Harlaus, and Count Sarik. Tell me about it. At the very least, I'm a qualified listener."

Perhaps it was because Harrot's build and strength were similar to The Bald Man's, or perhaps The Bald Man truly had a lot bottled up inside. He did not refuse again.

The Bald Man sighed and said worriedly, "I spoke with The One-Armed Man, the steward, and asked him to bring up the dangers of Man-Beast Combat the next time Count Sarik comes."

"Most spectators find it thrilling while they watch, but afterward, they often feel that it is cruel and bloody. There are already many negative opinions about our Gladiatorial Arena among the people."

"Not only that, the rapid loss of gladiators is also a major problem. In the past, only a few high-level and elite gladiators died in battle each year."

"Now, several brothers die every month. Especially a few days ago, when more than a dozen died at once. If this continues, before long, the Gladiatorial Arena will have nothing left but scum and cowards!"

Harrot did not speak and continued listening silently. The scum referred to official gladiators, while the cowards referred to cannon fodder. Although The Bald Man cared about gladiators, he had little sympathy for those people either. Scum deserved to die, while there was nothing to be done for cannon fodder. The strong preyed on the weak. This world was simply that cruel.