Chapter 9 : Speed Versus Defense

"By the way, I regularly see you at the hospital. Do you offend someone and get beaten up everyday?"

'Also, do you regularly get lost?'

Insig mockingly thought asked while he looked at Richie worriedly with a hint of speechlessness and understanding.

'It must be because of his energy. He's too optimistic to the point of speechlessness and irritation. But it also feels forced. Why is he even doing this? Well, whatever it is. I don't want anything in it.'

"Hahaha, this wound is nothing. You don't have to worry about me. I just like to train really hard. You know, like what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"

Richie smiles brightly and assures him.

'I'm not worried about you! With your optimism, I'm sure that you can still smile brightly after passing through 9 layers of hell. I just fear that you will bring me down to the underworld with you. Also, weren't you crying just now?'

Insig shows a look of worry, but with a hint of fear and speechlessness.

"Hahaha, that's good then! Ahh, look! Someone needs a healer, I have to go now! Take care!"

Insig looked for an excuse and went away without looking back.

Richie looked at his back. He was reminded of the back of the person who received an enemy attack just for him.

He shook the thought out of his head and smiled like a kid.

'It's a success! I finally made a good friend.... just as he wished....'

Richie thought of his past experience. He offended someone with a strong backing, so other people immediately steered away from him in fear of getting into trouble. He was saddened by this thought. After all, this would make it hard for him to make friends.

'Its okay, I won't blame him even if he leaves once he finds out about my enemy. It's a normal reaction anyway.'

Richie convinced himself but he can almost feel the disappointment in his heart. He once made a promise to someone. To change for the better. But… What's the use of a better life without you?

Richie fell out of trance as he heard a sound.

"Sir, here's a set of fresh clothes for you. This is also the water to wash your body."

Richie looked at the helper who delivered clothes and water to him. He smiles and says.

"Hahaha, It's okay. Thank you."

"You can always call us if you need help."

The helper bows and leaves to give him room.

After 8 hours of working, Insig ate lunch and went to report back to the staff. After finishing all the formalities, he exited the [Hospital].

While standing outside, he sorted out all of his current needs.

'I need to get stronger to protect myself! I already have a technique to purify and exfoliate the impurities in my body, but I can't use it because I'm not level 5 yet. Currently, the only safest and fastest way to get stronger is through the use of potions, formations, artifacts, battle techniques and experiences. But I need information to learn those. I should go to the [Library].'

They have a [Library] where they store all the battle techniques, formation, potion recipes, and such. You can borrow the books as long as you pay with contribution points.

Contribution points is the currency in the military, you can buy many things with it as long as you have enough points and your position in the military is high enough. You can get contribution points as long as you do tasks, this includes mandatory missions.

Insig currently has 940 points as he has been here for 3 months. He hasn't sent much as he doesn't need many items. Everyday, you can get 10 contribution points for doing the mandatory missions.

*Clang!*

Insig was walking through the buildings, when he suddenly heard the rhythmic sound of metal clashing.

'Hmm? What's that?'

Insig looked to his right where he saw a stage surrounded by cheering soldiers. Inside the stage were 2 knights fighting. They were wearing armor radiating with dense magic auras.

These armor are made up of magic metal equipped with a mana heart of a similar affinity of the user. This maximizes the defensive ability of the armor.

The knight who was suppressing the other wore yellow armor. He looked fierce and unstoppable as his body build was bulky and there was a dense heavy aura radiating from him. When you look at him, it was like looking at a giant boulder.

His body was covered with rocks and dirt. He was pushing through the enemy attacks with ease and he was swinging a heavy hammer.

The war hammer was attached to his rock-covered hands. The hammer was so large that it could reach his head from his toes and the head of the hammer had a spike on it.

When he swung the hammer, the sound of splitting air was so loud that you could hear the swoosh sound from meters away. The debris and dust were flying around as the ground cracked from his attacks.

Meanwhile, the enemy being suppressed has a rather thin build. He was wearing light green colored armor. It's not obvious but, you can slightly see the dust spinning around his feet. He was rather fast and was circling around the edge of the stage through his nimble footwork.

Every time the giant knight swings his hammer down, he always jumps aside it. After the enemy swung his hammer down, he would then jump at the back of the giant knight. This guy was using a rapier and it was flexible but sharp. Every time he pierces, the sound of wind would also be heard.

Imbued with wind magic, the rapier was able to attack the knight with high speed. He aimed precisely at the nape, where his armor reveals an opening every time he slightly crouches.

Seiki didn't know if it was an illusion, but he saw that the rapier moved slightly like a snake. It slightly bent mid-air and attacked at the small opening of the armor precisely.

*Clang*

His attacks only caused a small scratch because the knight covered his nape with earth mana.

The giant knight then tried to catch the agile knight, but the agile knight used the enemy as a springboard and kicked him to jump out of his reach.

He spun mid air and went back on a stance. Just like that, they went on a stalemate again. It was a classic example of weak speed versus slow defense.

'Wow! They exchanged blows so fast! It was intense but you'll notice that they only went on for a minute!'

Insig looked amazed and asked a soldier nearby what was happening.

"You don't know man, the green knight, James, suddenly challenged the giant knight into a life and death duel! I don't know either of them but it seems they're popular as one of the fastest and toughest knights."

Seeing as he can't crack the enemy's defense, the agile knight changed target and was planning to attack the enemy's eye if opportunity showed.

But the giant knight just stood there. Seeing this, Insig can't help but nod.

'He may look like a muscle-head, but he's actually quite intelligent.'

Seeing this, the agile knight can't help but get frustrated. He was the challenger in this fight and knew that time was not on his side. In addition, if he attacked first, there's a high chance for him to get hit.

Imagine it, if he jumped in and attacked, the enemy would just counter him. And he might not even get to damage the brawny man even if he just stood still.

The brawny man took advantage of his strength and dominated the fight completely.

He opened his palm and produced a whirlwind. He threw it in the ground below the giant to produce a smoke effect.

Seeing this, there was a scheming glint in the giant's eye. The giant knight crouched and touched the ground.

There was a slight tremor as a wall made of rocks rose up to create a barrier. The barrier was made as an emergency so it was rather thin, but it was enough to shield himself from the smokescreen.

The agile knight smiled mockingly and conjured a wind arrow with a size measuring close to a meter.

'Hah! The smokescreen was to blind your eyes, making a wall is the same as not seeing. You think a measly wall can stop me?'

The agile knight poured 3/4 of his magic energy to the wind arrow. It's not obvious but you can feel the dense aura blowing from it.

'This.... I got a weird feeling about this.... looks like one of them is gonna die or get heavily injured or something.'

Insig thought as he looked at the rock barrier. Insig knew that the giant was planning something. He didn't know why, but it must be instinct. It's like how a genius knows that the other party is a genius once they meet. Or maybe, it's just his imagination acting up.

After a while, the magic on the wind arrow has stabilized, and the agile knight shoots the arrow at the barrier. What followed was a loud explosion as pieces of rocks and stones flew out from the explosion.

Seeing this, many soldiers cheered for the green knight. But some of the soldiers at the edge smirked.

There were clouds of dust blocking the view as they swirled on the stage. Seconds later, after the dust settled, what was left from the explosion was a small crater with a hole in the middle as a result of the explosion.

Seeing this, the agile knight was baffled because he didn't see the enemy. He saw the hole in the middle and he got nervous as his intuition kept sending out danger signs.

There was a slight tremor under his feet. He was about to jump when the ground beneath his feet turned into sand and caught his feet.

He conjured small wind arrows and attacked the hands made of sand. But it was all for naught as the surrounding earth also turned into sand and crawled up his legs.

There was an opening in the ground where the giant knight climbed up. He was able to accurately identify the enemy's location because of the large fluctuation of wind aura.

He curiously looked behind to see the remains of his rock barrier. Seeing this, he frowned and looked grim.

"Ha! With an explosion like that, it seems like you were trying to kill me. You need to learn a lesson to respect your seniors."

Hearing this, the agile knight panicked and made an excuse. He was sweating bullets and was shaking in fear. He felt a chill in his spine and knees that he was in danger

"No!! It was an accident, I wasn't able to control my powers properly! Please forgive me!"

The giant ignored all his pleas and reached out for the enemy's abdomen.

"No! Wait! Stop! I give up! I said I gave up!"

The green knight screamed his lungs out. He tried to pour magic powers to his feet to escape but to no avail.

As the giant knight's hand made contact with the agile knight's abdomen, there was suddenly a spike coming out of his hand that pierced the enemy, precisely where his mana heart was located.

The agile knight suddenly made an ear-piercing scream as he showed a look of despair. His mana heart was crushed.

The surrounding sand let go of the green knight as he collapsed on the ground, crying.

The green knight suddenly felt that all hope was lost, he felt suffocated and helpless. Even lying on the ground was hard for him.

The green knight, James, has lost.