Chapter 26 - Swift Trial
21 June 2023
???, 32nd Floor
30, 29, 28...
The distance between me and my opponent seemed to shorten bit by bit as the timer counted down its second half of the minute. I could've dismissed my observation as some kind of optical illusion, but if I did that I would be calling myself paranoid. My legs never moved an inch, and neither did those of the ninja, Hakuro, who was eyeing on me, seemingly eager to pounce at me at the given chance.
21, 20, 19...
Observing my opponent silently, I started thinking of a way to start off my assault. My spear, Crystal Poleshard+7, glimmered effortlessly even in the limited sunlight pouring in due to the bamboo shades above. My mind shifted momentarily to appreciate the blade on its end, but I shook myself off mentally, reminding myself to focus on the obstacle ahead.
12, 11, 10....
As if I had any time to form a solid strategy to fight. The stress that was pinned down on me became heavier as the timer counted down its last 10 seconds. Both of my hands were gripping hard, as if my crystal spear was willing to slip off my reach at anytime.
A simple but conflicting question rang in my head in those seconds:
"What should I do next...?"
2, 1, START
My right leg moved immediately a step at the signal, but I never had time to take another. I saw another blur that the ninja made, this time with his dagger-holding arm. Something flew straight through the air, and then.....
CHKK...!
I felt a painful shock in my left side, just above my waist. I turned to look in reflex, and my eyes widened. There embedded the black dagger, stuck into my abdomen, half-length deep. Red pixels burst out of the wound instantaneously.
"What the F--"
I didn't realize fast enough that I had already been caught off-guard by a thrown dagger that had struck me at my body. I thought to grab and pull out the dagger, but that had given me a second downfall.
Hakuro sprinted at me in a split second, and as I looked back in front, I could spot his right arm spread out, with its palm open. The next half-second saw a weapon instantly appearing out of thin air, at the ninja's right palm. A sword, no...a katana.
I tried to shift my thoughts away from that impossible occurrence as I held out my spear horizontally to block a sure-hit attack coming at me. The split second ended with the katana blade colliding with the centre pole of my spear after a smooth and fast two-handed swing from Hakuro.
PINSHKK...!
The colliding sound half-resembled that of a bell being hit once, and I fell backwards from the impact. Crashing onto the ground with my back first, I gave a heavy pant in pain, still holding my spear like it was a split second ago.
I willed my left hand to pull out the black dagger from my wound. More red pixels erupted out as it was raised up, and I quickly threw the dagger somewhere far from my left side. Still lying on the ground in that moment, I saw the katana swinging down on me again.
I rolled my body to my right in reflex, and my spear was raised up, blade facing front. With that sudden move, Hakuro hesitated to continue his swing, but his katana still went forth. The two blades made their first clash, metal to metal.
CHINK...!
That stopped my roll halfway, sending me several metres back to the ground due to the force from the collision. Hakuro also wasn't prepared for the reaction force of the clash, as he got pushed back the same distance, but still stood on his feet.
Quickly getting up, using my spear as a support, I then spun my spear a few times, like a Ferris wheel, to adjust both of my hand grips of my spear. Hakuro was already closing the distance between us at full speed.
"Shit...!" I gritted my teeth as I crossed blades with my opponent again, this time without any sudden elements. Hakuro swung his katana effortlessly with speed, striking at my spear at a very fast rate. I could barely keep up, trying to follow his swings and blocking every single one of them with as much accuracy as I could.
The clashing sounds overlap one another, forcing me to believe that Hakuro's attack speed with his katana was abnormally fast, even though katana users weren't usually known for swift consecutive hits. That niche only belonged to dagger users.
The countless hits stopped abruptly, and Hakuro raised his katana up high. It glowed with a light green effect, signalling the start of a weapon skill.
I obviously didn't have time to try and recognize that skill, but since the names of katana skills were usually in Japanese (in romaji), I didn't bother to remember them all. And I definitely didn't want such a skill to land its mark onto me.
The katana skill that had activated was, to me, a silver lining. Something to take advantage of. If he'd continued with the barrage of slashes I might have lost due to the lack of stamina to keep up blocking his attacks, but....
Hakuro must've thought to finish me using his katana skill as a final blow. I knew it the instant he did it, because no matter how strong a NPC may be, their fighting style always differs (and maybe more straightforward) from us players.
My instincts guided me to my next move. As the katana went down, my right leg propelled itself to my right, and with it my entire body bent down, directed at the ground, and experienced a boost in speed. In just a millisecond before the katana had done its full swing, I had side-stepped and dodged to my opponent's immediate left, ending up in a half-squatting position with my right leg in front and my left leg stretched out behind.
This was an evading technique I had learnt of and constantly used in the times when I hunted enemy mobs solo. Even when hunting in a party, using it was necessary to avoid getting hit by especially powerful attacks. While this dodge doesn't work in boss fights, where AOE attacks are common, it still proved to be a useful tool for me and the players who knew how to execute it. No one knew how or when it was discovered, so it didn't even earn an unofficial name for itself. But since players just use it without any questions, and the move was pretty awkward to start off, no one bothered to name it.
If I really had to give the move a name though, it would be called 'The Sidestride'.
Now holding my spear solely gripped by my right hand (my left hand was supporting my awkward stance), I caught the sight of the katana ending the skill, the light green effect fading away. My right leg grinded on the ground once again.
That chance!, I thought, pushing my body forward in strides. I knew all too well of the motion delay that occurs after a weapon skill ends. The user would feel a moment of stiffness unable to do anything for a very short window of time.
But that was enough. Enough for me to reach out with my spear, aiming at Hakuro's side. His left arm or his left waist, it doesn't matter. All I needed is to damage him with a first hit.
My Crystal Poleshard+7 dug its blade into the left abdomen of my caught-off opponent.
"Ugh...!" was the reaction I got from Hakuro, whose face clearly stated his shock and confusion at my Sidestride. Hid body started to fall on its side to the right. Not wanting to let the chance slip away, I continued to charge at him without any hesitation.
My left arm was trailing behind me, and I quickly swung it to my front and connected it with a grip on my spear. With both hands gripping my spear once more, I willed the system to activate a spear skill.
"...Haaaaaah...!"
The blade of my spear glowed in light blue effects. I felt my arms move automatically, as if they knew what to do.
I had used this spear skill many times before, but I would never get tried of using it again.
The 4-hit spear skill, Wind Force, shot at my opponent with flurry of 4 swift thrusts, piercing at the speed of a Gatling gun. 4 bursts of light momentarily blinded me as my spear went forth.
BZZZ...!
I suddenly paused, blinking several times as I tried to clear my vision from the brightness of the light blue bursts of light that still lingered for a few more moments. The brightness faded, and when I finally could see what was in front of me...
My spear, with its light effect fading away, was just there, its blade facing my opponent, who had four red holes on his left side. Hakuro was holding his katana in a way to defend, panting heavily. He was standing sideways, his left side facing me.
"That's enough, Z. Yer done enough damage to win the match."
That clear voice broke my trance for being stuck in my current state. Realizing that I could move, I relaxed my body as I looked around for the duel timer. Sure enough, it was still floating exactly where it had materialized, displaying a 'Match End' and a match time in the form of minutes and seconds.
Hakuro also recovered, sliding his katana onto his back. He acted as if he'd first met me, which was a mere 5 minutes ago.
"1 minute and 18 seconds.....Not a bad timin', I would say. But the point is that you won the duel!" Argo gave a few claps as she spoke.
"....Thanks...." I replied, trying not to suffer from hyper-ventilation by breathing real slowly. The duel timer disappeared just as Argo stopped her mini applause.
Hakuro came over to me, gave a short bow, and declared, "Since you have passed the trial, you are permitted to visit our village."
The ninja, along with his female companion, then went and stationed themselves at the starting point of a path that led into the forest. Quest markers popped on top of their heads again.
"Don't worry, they won't go anywhere other than wait for yer." Argo said, noticing me still looking at the duo.
"I know....but there's something I want to clarify." I pondered about the duel that had just ended in my victory. "How can Hakuro equip his katana instantly? And Argo, you did the same thing as well. Isn't equipping supposed to go through the process of opening your menu, which takes time to do! I've never seen you equip your dagger with such speed before!"
Argo gave me a smirk, and raised her hand as if she was reaching for something. A short spark blinked my eyes off course, and a second later her dagger was resting on her hand by the handle.
"This.......is the quest reward of this campaign quest."
I didn't realize that my mouth had opened up in surprise.
"If that's the case......then you had done this campaign quest? So the reason why it took so long to get back to me was..."
Argo sheathed her dagger, and spoke with a tinge of evasiveness.
"Welllllllll.....After I found this quest I figured I do it first to get more information about it. I mean, not every Floor has a campaign quest, you know? I can't just be findin' quests and not do some of 'em, right? Anyways, the quest reward for this one was exceptionally good, so I went through it before finding you."
"I guess that's fair. So what's the name of the quest reward? You said it was a skill, and you just showed me how it worked. A skill that can bypass the normal equipping process? That's seriously powerful." I stared at Argo with curiosity.
Argo looked hesitant at first, and looked at the two ninjas still waiting for me in the distance.
"If yer really want to know, it's fine, I guess. The skill name itself isn't linked to any spoilers in the campaign anyway....."
She cleared her throat and, as she equipped her dagger again with that skill, she spoke.
"...Armament Swap."
Having said those words, Argo turned and waved at me. "Good luck on this campaign quest. If yer finish the whole campaign, I guarantee yer will gain this skill as the final quest reward."
I waved back without a word, still trying to make sense of the name of the skill I'd just been introduced to. But now's not the time, I reminded myself, as I walked towards the ninja duo with seemingly heavy footsteps.
The bamboo trees in the forest shook, due to a giant gust of wind that was probably strong enough to sweep the whole forest. As the wind slammed my face, I felt slightly refreshed. Stopping in front of the 2 NPCs, I started my adventure off with just enough enthusiasm to keep myself excited for the days to come.
"I'm ready. I assume you're bringing me to your village? Just can't wait."
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