Heckle seemed to realize that he had spoken out of turn, but it was too late to regret it. He had been on the brink of life and death just a moment ago, yet Leonel suddenly pulled a reverse that saved his life. How could he not be excited?
A moment later, Heckle's expression had tensed once more.
Leonel frowned and entered his stance, not forgetting to pick up the dagger on the ground first.
Another three slowly moved toward Leonel, their eyes flickering with hints of caution. This caution was not only for Leonel who was before them, but also toward one another. It wasn't as though they had suddenly begun to trust each other just because they tacitly understood they needed to work together.
Seemingly understanding this, Leonel no longer hesitated as he dashed forward. He completely ignored the young man with a broken arm, deeming him less of a threat. With the strengthening on his Internal Sight, Leonel knew that this young man had only formed a single Force Node and it was in the very arm Leonel had already broken. He was practically a cripple.
When Leonel entered a five meter radius of the three before him, he shot out the dagger in his hand. It whistled through the air, piercing one of them through the throat.
In what felt like a flash, he appeared before the remaining two, his eyes flickering with a cold, calculative light.
His speed was simply too fast.
His palm appeared on one of their chests. As though being met by an unstoppable force, the young man was sent flying through the air, crashing into a few that were taking the opportunity to surround Leonel.
Leonel's fist jabbed forward. Under the influence of [Call of the Wind], it felt as though hurricane force winds were ripping the young man apart, leaving his face distorted even before Leonel's strike landed.
Another rain of blood shot into the skies as another corpse fell beneath Leonel's fist. However, Leonel himself was still frowning.
It looked impressive that their heads were exploding like this. But, the truth was that this simply displayed Leonel's lack of control.
[Call of the Wind] was initially a long range attacking technique meant to be applied to arrows, darts and similar weapons. Leonel had modified it to be used with a spear, but the essence of the technique remained the same. Both allowed him to focus his Force into a point.
However, his fists seemed completely incapable of doing this. It made Leonel realize that maybe his mastery over this technique wasn't as great as he initially thought. If he could apply better control, he felt [Call of the Wind] could be maybe even 10 times more powerful than it was now.
As Leonel thought, his body flickered amidst the four and five star talents. His steps held the shadow of Heckle's skill within them, mixed in with a hint of the primitive spearwoman.
There seemed to be a mysterious rhythm to his steps as though he wasted not a single movement. It was as though he could plan several movements ahead, deftly escaping encirclements — advancing on a whim, retreating with a thought…
Leonel came to realize in that moment that there was more to fighting than just launching the strongest attack. All this time, he had been using his ability to think of ways land his blows. He always felt that as long as he landed a good hit, with his strength, the battle would be all but over.
But, what would happen when his opponent was several times more powerful than him? Or, more appropriate to the current situation, what if he was simply outnumbered and moving to take down one person would cause him to be vulnerable to another?
He suddenly understood now…
His body felt lighter, his steps grew softer, and even a mysterious aura began to emanate from his body.
'This is it… this is what I felt when I was watching the primitive woman battle…'
Leonel could have long since taken another spear from the Spear Domain ring, but he hadn't all this time because he felt he still hadn't fully understood.
When he watched the primitive woman battle, he remembered being in awe. She had faced so many enemies, yet, not only did she defeat them, but even when they wanted to escape, all of their paths of retreat were cut off.
The more Leonel thought about that scene, the more incredulous he found it. How could one person stop several from running away? If it was just a matter of her speed being several times greater, that would be fine. But, Leonel knew that though she was faster than those men, it hadn't been exaggerated to that point.
That only left one explanation… there was something mysterious about her movement… Not only was she faster than them, but it also felt like they couldn't take even a step forward without her permission…. Complete control…
All this time, Leonel had been so focused on his flexibility and imitating her lightness and quickness. But, this was all superficial. The truth behind the mystery of her footwork was her mind and the way she manipulated her opponents…
Leonel sank into a trance. The entire battlefield reflected in his mind as though he could see it all from above.
His hair fluttered in the wind as he walked through the youths that attacked him, yet, they couldn't even touch the hemp of his clothes.
The knight's eyes narrowed. He had been observing the entire battlefield and there really were four youths who had caught his attention before, which was why he set the requirement to just four. But, he had never expected a fifth to appear.
And not only that but…
At that moment, the knight's narrowed gaze widened as a wave of shock overwhelmed him.
'General Star!'
"Stop! Stop! STOP!"
The sudden roars of the knight caught them all off guard. How was it so easy for a group of people who had just been hell bent on killing one another to suddenly come to a grinding halt like this? However, who really dared to ignore the words of a knight?
"You, you, you, you and you. The rest of you can scram back to the one to three star talents."
Everyone was stunned. Weren't they supposed to be fighting to the death? What was happening?
As for the young men who were called forward, they too were stunned. Including Leonel. He didn't think that the knight would suddenly grow soft hearted, so what was happening exactly?
Leonel and the other four youths looked at one another. Not a single one of them wasn't covered in blood, but it was obvious at a glance that none of it was their own.
One of them was wearing standard issue leather armor like Leonel, but the other three had patches of metal armor here and there, making them look like real warriors. It was clear their standard was better in comparison to Leonel.
"You five and those hoping to become Mage Apprentices follow me."
The knight turned and walked toward the first gates of Camelot, not explaining anything to anyone. But, no one dared to question him… least of all the bribed captains who just got a new lease on life.. It was safe to say they wouldn't dare take such payment again in the future.