Hidden Attacker

[Halvargg] was the sword she got as a reward from the dungeon quest.

[Halvargg]

- [+20 ATK]

- [The Protector]

[Halvargg] was blessed by a master craftsman. The sword was given to a Knight along with a task to protect his master with all his might. The Knight died whilst protecting his honor. To continue his task, he asked the craftsman to inject his soul into the sword and left it as a family heirloom for his future successors. The sword will respond to those who have a will to protect.

Sizing up the blade carefully, Aria was quite satisfied with the design.

It was a longsword. Thankfully, Aria was great at handling a longsword. She didn't know what she would do if she got a greatsword or a dagger of some sort. She would have to alter her usual fighting style.

Aria grabbed the handle tightly and went into her usual stance. Immediately, the sword's blade glimmered with a golden luster.

[You have successfully imbued <Halvargg > with your mana.]

[Skill [Mana Blade] obtained.]

Aria blinked. She didn't expect to obtain a skill so suddenly.

'This is bullshit.'

"Dumbass System, is it trying to force me to become a Swordsman?" Aria grumbled. It was so easy to gain the skills necessary to prevail in swordsmanship, why can't it be the same with summoning skills?

Come to think of it, Summoners were very scarce. The one who taught her the arts of summoning was her revered teacher and parent figure, Hel.

After he disappeared, Aria continued to learn from what he left and took over his research.

Reminiscing about the past, she wielded the sword and felt the urge to test it. Unfortunately, there were no open targets.

Even though she was experienced in the past, a millennium, or more, had passed. She would require a whole lot of training before she could get back to her prime state.

"[Halvargg].. huh. It's definitely an upgrade from the previous weapon. Please don't break that easily?" Aria stored the sword back into her inventory. She was able to take things in and out of the inventory box just by thinking about it.

She lamented that it would be better if the sword was stored in a sheath, where she could just draw it with ease whenever there was an attack. Her reflexes would be delayed if she had to draw the sword out of the inventory first.

Then again, she got a glimpse of the world and saw that nobody wore protective armor or displayed their weapons in blind sight.

Monsters did not appear outside of the gates.

'..Must be the change in time.' Aria had to adapt to the new environment without revealing the fact that she was an ancient human.

"Let's go back to Yoo Jin.." Aria turned around and wanted to go back.

But then, a presence disrupted her calmness.

An ominous presence.

Coming out of nowhere.

"Who's there?" Aria asked loudly, but received no answer in return.

She narrowed her eyes and heightened her senses.

Even after doing that, she still couldn't spot the other party's exact location.

"It's bad manners to spy on people. Come out and state your wish." Aria exclaimed.

She didn't know if the other party was an enemy, and whether they were stronger than her or otherwise.

She gulped her saliva. If they were stronger, what would she do?

"Shouldn't it be the opposite?"  Instead of complying with Aria's order, the foreign voice asked a question back.

A male voice.

'The opposite?' Was he telling her that she was the one in the wrong?

"What do you mean?!" Aria inquired.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Actually, you know what? There's another way we can solve this matter in."

The voice disappeared for a few seconds.

Then, a projectile was shot.

Aria had strong battle reflexes, so she immediately jumped out of the shot's trajectory and evaded taking the hit.

'What the...'

It was a pebble. A mere pebble managed to crack the ground. The hole it created was at least a foot deep.

Even the Red Ogre wouldn't be able to do such a feat.

Upon further inspection, Aria found traces of golden mana on the pebble.

The mana was potent. She didn't know the origins, but it was way more potent than normal. It reinforced the pebble, which created such an impact upon being thrown.

"...So you're attacking me without a proper reason now?" Aria glared and drew her new sword [Halvargg] out of the inventory. "Very well. It shall be done according to your desire."

If he wanted a fight, she would gladly entertain him.

"Dianthe! Spread your presence!" Aria commanded.

Dianthe appeared out of thin air and floated upwards. She went just high enough to not go past the tallest tree and dispersed.

This was a convenient technique that made use of a water spirit's liquid state.

By converting mana into certain conditions, you could change the spirit's form.

In this case, Dianthe was turning into a mist.

Each and every single particle of water she manipulated was connected to her and Aria.

The mist traveled through the forest.

In no time, Aria found her target.

"Water Blade!" Aiming at the position she found, Aria slashed at the air and created a wide slicer that flew at a high velocity towards the coordinate.

The opponent started to move.

Aria clicked her tongue and asked Dianthe to keep tracking the man. By sharing her senses with the spirit, she was still able to locate the other party, although he moved very fast.

Aria kept casting the Water Blade spell, whilst simultaneously closing in to the attacker.

The distance between them grew nearer and nearer with each try.

Aria maintained her attacks, cornering the enemy into repeatedly avoiding her blows.

She didn't give him a chance to retaliate.

Being too focused, she forgot where she was fighting in.

They were originally inside the forest, but they had exited the area.