Kent unleashed his sword intent, qi, and his aura of hatred and resentment.
He had finally unsheathed his sword, and as per the path he was walking, this unsealed his current mastery, making him show all he had to offer.
Kent swung his sword, and 24 strings made from sword qi cut out from his blade. The Saintess also swung her spear, and spear qi surged out in sharp arcs, obliterating the strings.
Kent blinked, appearing several meters away from her, and unleashed the attack again. This time, however, he was much faster and unleashed the [24 String Weaving Strike] multiple times, sending perfect weaves of sword qi surging forward.
“Interesting,” the Saintess remarked.
Saintess Neomi muttered as she destroyed each strike effortlessly.
She was just like Kent… She had spear qi, intent, and a spear body. Of course, these were all similar to sword cultivation.
They shared the three main aspects, like the sword path, and they all went through almost the same process as they progressed. The only difference, however, was the core nature of their aspects.
This was mainly true for the qi and intent.
The sword qi felt sharp, like cuts from a sword. Just being inside the intent and qi of a swordsman felt sharp and cutting if your mastery wasn’t that good.
However, for spear qi and intent… it’s more prickly or, more accurately, more pointed, like being stabbed by countless needles.
This is also true for the bow. The intent and qi are pointed, and as such, strangely, it’s much more difficult to defend against.
Thankfully, there is something called the sword body, and Kent has that, so he is perfectly fine. Saintess Neomi was also doing much better, considering her spear body is at the Bronze stage…
So, strangely, they are evenly matched in this aspect… Kent may be at the Copper Sword Body stage, but he is a dragon. His skin is much more durable…
‘His skin is thick.’
Saintess Neomi kept defending against Kent’s attacks while she closed in slowly.
“36 String Weaving Strike!”
Kent unleashed the next form of the sword skill, and 36 strings appeared. This time, each fashioned into a razor-sharp, deadly cutting string that sped faster toward the Saintess, who was taken aback.
“Hold on,” she said, stopping Kent from unleashing a follow-up strike.
“Did you just unleash 36 strings instead of 24?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes. I upgraded it to a much stronger version since the 24 is just too weak. Don’t worry, I will show you a much stronger version. For now, I want to go through it gradually since you are the first person I’ve been disadvantaged against,” Kent replied with a determined expression.
“Wait… You have a stronger version than this one?” the Saintess asked, showing a shocked expression.
“Of course. I wanted the best form, so I upgraded it,” Kent replied with a raised eyebrow.
“You… who are you?” The Saintess finally seemed to sense something. Kent wasn’t someone simple. She had been mastering her [Heaven Grade] spear technique for many years now, but she couldn’t even upgrade it yet.
And from what she had learned from her sister, Kent had become her disciple less than four months ago… so how could he upgrade his sword technique?
“My name is Kent, and I will advise you to put some effort into the next set of attacks… Even I don’t know how powerful they are.” Kent paused and smiled at the Saintess.
“If you help me understand my strength, I will take you out and buy you a couple of Heaven-grade skills,” Kent said, catching the Saintess off-guard. But he didn’t allow her to recover as he unleashed his next strike.
“48 String Weaving Strike!”
This time, 48 strings cut out from his sword, forcing the saintess to increase her strength and speed, defending and dodging as they resumed their battle.
As Kent had expected, the more strings he unleashed, the stronger it got. This time, the shockwave produced from the attack was stronger than the previous ones.
“56 String Weaving strike”
He unleashed the next form, forcing the saintess to increase her strength further.
BOOM
A powerful shockwave rocked the Arena, shaking the ground violently. Ingrid was forced to go back as she could sense her master and Kent were currently getting much more serious.
“64 String Weaving strike”
Kent went in again, this time with 64 strings. At this moment, he could sense the skill changing, making him realize that perhaps the [24 String Weaving Strike] was a form of a much larger sword technique.
‘The 24 up to 64 was perhaps the first form…’
“Here I come again,” Kent said as he repeated the 64 strings, but this time, he blinked and appeared on the Saintess’s right side, swinging his weapon at her waist.
However, though the Saintess was occupied with his 64 strings, she casually jumped and turned gracefully in the air. Kent was captivated by how easily she dodged the strike.
Yet, before he could focus, a powerful kick landed on his stomach, sending him flying back. The Saintess landed on the ground and glared at Kent.
“Are you looking to cut me in half?” she asked, her eyes filled with indignation.
“What can I say? This is a battle, and I have to win,” Kent replied before unleashing the 64 strings again, this time putting more energy into it.
The Saintess smirked and unleashed her own attack, sending countless arcs made of wind at Kent. She had a wind affinity, so she was using just that to attack. She wasn’t even using any skill—just the wind element.
“72 String Sovereign Strike!”
Kent finally shouted as he unleashed the next form of the skill. However, this time, instead of calling it [String Weaving Strike], it became [String Sovereign Strike].
And the way the attack appeared also changed.
First, it was just strings fashioned into razor-sharp forms that could be weaved into any shape. Now, however, the strings were much thicker, and they were essentially chains, considering their tips were now coated and sharper.
They were thicker than an adult’s finger and also longer than the previous strings, making them much more dangerous.
Immediately after he unleashed the attack, Kent’s expression changed. He could feel it—the skill had become dangerous, and since it was his first time using it, he didn’t know just how dangerous it was.
He didn’t want to kill the Saintess accidentally. But he also didn’t have the means to stop the attack, considering it had already arrived before her.
She also sensed the danger and knew what was coming… so she acted accordingly.
“Wind Spear Vortex!”
She finally unleashed a skill, and as she swung her spear, a vortex made of wind appeared and clashed with the 72 chains coming at her. Both attacks connected instantly, making it just a little too fast for her to think of a way out.
Kent was also on edge.
Then it happened. The chains, instead of getting obliterated, began wrapping around the vortex. It took a few moments, but they coiled around it, and Saintess Neomi and Kent sensed it.
Somehow, the two have created a combined attack that, when mastered, can become a calamity in battle…
Kent blinked and appeared beside the Saintess. He held her by the waist, and they were away from the arena the next second. In fact, a second of delay would have been dangerous.
The two attacks fused and exploded.
BOOM!
The explosion was so loud that the entire Spear Gate felt it. In fact, the shockwave from the two attacks reached as far as the other adjacent gates.
Though it was normal for battles to send shockwaves, this unexpected explosion was shocking. But it wasn’t enough to stop the duel between the two, whose friendship slowly started to evolve through battle.
Kent blinked, and they were back in the arena.
“Here I come again!” Kent laughed.
“Elemental Manipulation!” A flaming lion appeared after he swung his sword.
“_”
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