Nothing But Battle

The single-edged knife was clearly no longer suitable as Lu Mingfei's weapon.

After looking through his spoils, Lu Mingfei reluctantly picked out a relatively well-preserved straight sword. He also took off the tattered robe he had worn for so long and changed into the chainmail he had bought from Galena.

He had not used them before because his physical condition simply did not meet the requirements to equip them. After swinging a longsword a few times, his arms would go weak and sore, while the chainmail made him far too sluggish once he put it on.

But now, reborn anew, he could hold a sword steadily and wield it as naturally as an extension of his arm.

Then it was time to set out.

Morning mist shrouded Limgrave's coastline.

Lu Mingfei's chainmail rang crisply with metal-on-metal clinks as he moved. Accompanied by the Demi-Humans' hoarse howls, he swung his first sword—

He missed.

The instant the blade caught in a gap in the wooden shield, the Demi-Human on his right smashed its club toward Lu Mingfei without hesitation.

The shriek of the wind carried the scent of the sea.

Recalling the precious memories from his close-combat classes at Cassel College, Lu Mingfei rolled away in a miserable scramble.

I should've paid attention in class...

Using the momentum of his roll, he forcibly pried the longsword free from the shield's crack, sending wood chips flying.

"You're cheating!"

Panting heavily, Lu Mingfei leaped backward, grinding his teeth in fury.

He gripped the straight sword's hilt with both hands and focused his gaze.

His dark brown pupils quietly turned gold.

That was not the radiance of a Site of Grace, but the Golden Eyes unique to dragons—to creatures with dragon blood flowing through them...

As if possessed, he imitated a stance he had once seen in class, drawing the blade upward in a crescent arc.

An odd sensation ran through the sword, like cutting through a stack of damp paper. The scrawny Demi-Human's head and neck were cleanly severed in a single stroke.

Lu Mingfei felt no joy at defeating an enemy. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned the blade and swiftly shifted his body, driving his sword into the second Demi-Human's chest.

He did not know swordsmanship.

But he knew how to kill.

His moves were crude, yet lethal. Wherever his blade pointed, it sought a fatal weak point.

Lu Mingfei wiped the drops of blood splashed across his face. His golden vertical pupils flickered in the morning mist.

Several days later, when the morning mist finally dispersed, Lu Mingfei was sitting atop the church's ruined walls, wiping his longsword with the soldiers' cloaks.

By then, his hunting grounds had long extended beyond the woods.

The ruins before the gate had become his new training ground.

Using a shortbow and beast-bone throwing knives, Lu Mingfei lured out lone soldiers and even knights, honing his swordsmanship in desperate battles and seizing Runes.

Godrick Knights were indeed formidable, but they were not invincible.

Their heavy armor limited their agility. As long as he seized a fleeting opening, the blade in Lu Mingfei's hand could still pierce their flesh.

Among more than twenty deaths, there had been one time—

Lu Mingfei's sword had pierced through a knight's visor.

Only afterward did he realize:

So he really was... different now.

The blade reflected his calm brows and eyes. That delicate face had lost some of its cowardice.

Then it was time.

Time to move forward.

The Beastman of Farum Azula.

This time, you would die by my sword, Lu Mingfei's sword.

His small leather shield had been replaced by a brass shield taken from a soldier's corpse. Even wielding his sword one-handed, Lu Mingfei was now as steady as a rock.

The chainmail helmet had already been damaged. The one he wore now had probably belonged to some unfortunate soldier.

He silently placed a hand upon the Site of Grace and murmured the name "Groveside Cave" in his heart. Then he closed his eyes, and in the next instant, arrived at the place that had once driven him to despair.

He had challenged it several times before, but every attempt had ended in failure.

But this time was different. Lu Mingfei believed he had the ability to fight it.

He wagered his sword and his life. Victory meant life; failure meant death.

He skillfully pulled out a torch, dealt with the gray wolves hidden in the darkness, then turned right and headed straight toward the rocky cave where the Beastman rested.

Deep in the cave, the Beastman was tearing into the remains of some creature.

Beastmen were vicious by nature and possessed enormous appetites. Perhaps it was the slaughter it had committed along the way that had drawn the pursuit of Godrick's soldiers.

Mingfei watched it quietly, his Golden Eyes burning brighter in the shadows.

At that moment, his mind was empty.

There was only his sword, and the intent to kill.

The fire's shadows swayed.

The figure covered in blackish-gray fur slowly turned around.

Lu Mingfei drew a deep breath. In an instant, he switched a spear out of his inventory, raised his hand, bent his body, and threw it. Then he switched back to his sword, every motion smooth and seamless.

Whoosh!

Before the gray figure even noticed, the spear from Godrick's Warband had already arrived, piercing straight through the Beastman's left shoulder while its shaft still trembled.

"Awooo!!!"

The piercing howl echoed through the entire cave. The spear had dealt the Beastman considerable damage, but it also thoroughly roused its savagery.

The Beastman actually retained some intelligence. It snapped off the exposed shaft with its bare hands, leaving only the spearhead lodged in its shoulder, yet did not rashly pull it out.

Its murky gray vertical pupils locked onto Lu Mingfei. It raised its greatsword, and a crushing pressure bore down on him.

So it really did retain its intelligence...

In the Lands Between at this moment, anyone capable of retaining their sanity possessed some measure of strength.

Lu Mingfei was not surprised that the strike had landed. Instead, he found it a pity that the spear had not hit a vital spot.

A Beastman was still a Beastman. Such a wound did not slow it down in the slightest. Without hesitation or doubt, it charged Lu Mingfei with its greatsword.

Lu Mingfei stared intently at its movements.

That opening stance, that angle—it was a thrust!

Lu Mingfei slid to the right, barely evading the blade. Yet he did not attack immediately, because the Beastman's assault was not over.

A second horizontal slash followed close behind. He spun around and moved into the Beastman's blind spot on its left.

Thrust!

Without hesitation, Lu Mingfei drove his sword toward the Beastman's lower back.

Squelch!

Foul-smelling blood splattered across his breastplate.

The Beastman let out a pained roar, then instantly turned and slashed back. The wind from its blade swept up the loose strands before Lu Mingfei's forehead.

Even after dealing two wounds, Lu Mingfei understood that he was still far from defeating it.

Perhaps it was a racial trait, but the Beastmen of Farum Azula possessed extremely strong defenses and endurance. Wounds that would have been fatal to an ordinary human only made them more savage.

The Beastman's attacks seemed frenzied and unstructured, but they actually followed a pattern. Each series of swings contained three to five strikes. When there were three, it usually ended with a vertical chop. Five was more dangerous: on the fifth strike, the Beastman would leap high into the air with astonishing jumping power and bring its blade down in a crushing overhead slash.

When the distance widened, it would attack with a thrust followed by a spinning slash.

Those patterns seemed simple, but Lu Mingfei had learned them through ten, even twenty deaths.

When the third strike came chopping straight down, Lu Mingfei suddenly rushed forward. The greatsword buried itself deep in the rock, and he took the chance to sweep his own sword at the Beastman's throat.

A sudden change erupted!

The Beastman abruptly abandoned its weapon, seized Lu Mingfei's lower leg with its claws, and hurled him toward the rock wall!

Just before impact, Lu Mingfei reacted quickly. He curled up at once and used his brass shield to protect himself and absorb the blow.

Bang!

The shield instantly warped. He rolled to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.

This unexpected turn directly shattered Lu Mingfei's rhythm.

...What was that?

So it could change its moves?

Of course. It has a mind. How could it fight as rigidly as some ordinary grunt?

I was careless.

Covered in dust and grime, Lu Mingfei took a large gulp of Crimson Tears, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his Golden Eyes blazed even more fiercely in the shadows.