NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: (2)
The sword truly pierced through the monster, even through the head of the supposedly tough Giant Ent.
“Kieeak!”
“…It’s not dead?”
But what was even more surprising was the creature’s tenacious vitality.
Despite its head being shattered and its green body fluid reluctantly oozing out, it swung its elongated lower jaw, not knowing if an attack was coming, but Kaiyan’s senses warned him and he moved his body backward.
Swish!
The creature’s attack narrowly missed, as if to say it won’t let it go if it manages to catch him.
“If it doesn’t die in one hit, then two…!”
Calming his startled heart, Kaiyan exerted strength in his hind legs, lowered his upper body, and swung his sword forward.
Boom!
Thunk!
“Kii…e….”
It was only after the follow-up strike of the downward cleave completely shattered the Giant Ent’s head that it finally stopped breathing.
No matter how much of an insect monster it was, it had an astonishingly tough vitality. It continued to attack even though its head was smashed.
If the creature had possessed recovery power as remarkable as a troll…
“It would have been truly horrifying.”
Setting aside his terrified feelings, Kaiyan withdrew the sword from the head of the Giant Ent, the soldiers who had belatedly followed him exclaimed with astonished expressions.
“No…how did you deal with the Giant Ent?”
“It’s a monster that’s difficult to handle unless you’re a knight…”
“Did I stand out that much?”
Well, I understand. It would be an impossible story according to their common sense for a lone soldier to defeat it.
If I didn’t have Aura and the sword, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat it either.
“….I was lucky. It had wounds on its exterior from someone else’s attack. I aimed for that spot, and as you can see…”
With a calm expression, Kaiyan made an excuse before the soldiers’ expressions changed even more strangely.
As someone in a position that requires killing many monsters, it’s inevitable to attract attention, but it would be troublesome if the soldiers saw him as a strange person. And above all…
“I mustn’t let them know that I can use Aura.”
A normal 15-year-old boy suddenly becoming an Aura user?
Moreover, a boy who was struggling against goblins just a while ago?
“It’s an unbelievable story.”
It’s obvious that I would find it strange if someone other than me said that.
If the fact that I’m an Aura user became known, I might be immediately drawn to the nobles. They’re fond of extraordinary things.
“Ah…hahaha! That’s right!
It broke easily for some reason!”
“But still, it’s amazing, right? You’re truly a great leader! If it were someone else, they would have been too scared to do anything!”
The atmosphere was filled with a momentary silence as the soldiers awkwardly chuckled and passed by.
Some people still had expressions that seemed to indicate they didn’t understand, but it wasn’t a significant issue.
Unless they were at least of knight rank, they wouldn’t have noticed that Kaiyan just used Aura.
“We’re done here. Let’s move to the other side.”
**** ****
Kaiyan patrolled the entrance area with the soldiers, continuously hunting down monsters.
Since they couldn’t immediately enter the central battlefield, they tried to gain as much advantage as possible from the entrance.
“Die!”
He delivered a fierce downward strike relying on strength.
Swoosh!
It was a simple downward strike without any skills, but the sword cut through the monster’s skin and flesh.
As Kaiyan became more adept at hunting monsters, he used skills only for the initial attack, relying on basic swordsmanship afterward.
“At this rate, My swordsmanship grade will rise.”
He aimed for an increase in the grade of his swordsmanship skills.
To become stronger than the knights right away, Kaiyan needed to raise the grade of both Aura and swordsmanship.
The swordsmanship he witnessed up close yesterday was not only magnificent but also dazzling. Even if he accumulated Aura, it would be impossible to defeat them if he didn’t acquire such swordsmanship.
“The only thing he can trust is the player system.”
Honestly, he didn’t know what changes would occur as his swordsmanship skills improved.
However, the player system had never disappointed him so far.
That’s what he believed in right now.
“Kyaah!”
“Hey…! Be careful!”
When the soldiers urgently shouted, Kaiyan turned his head to see the agile Saber tooth tiger rushing towards him.
It felt like his senses were alerting him. However, he seemed to have missed it momentarily due to being lost in thought.
The distance between him and the creature was too close to step back now.
With the thought of needing to stop it, he instinctively swung the pummel attached to the hilt of the sword.
Swish!
“Kyaeng!”
The Sabertooth tiger stumbled back, blood streaming from what seemed to be its broken nose, after being hit by the pummel.
“…This wasn’t a technique I learned.”
It was used somewhat reflexively and surprised him a little, but Kaiyan was currently receiving adjustments to his swordsmanship skill.
So, it should be interpreted that the swordsmanship skill judged that using the pommel was more effective in this situation than swinging the sword.
The strange thing is that he had never learned such a technique.
“Was it just a reflex? Or did my swordsmanship skill experience increase?”
Lost in thought, he almost forgot about the danger while watching the soldiers hunt down the Saber tooth tiger.
This was an important matter.
“Since I’ve been consistently using swordsmanship skills, My experience should have increased to some extent…”
The assumption is that he learned a new technique as his swordsmanship skill experience increased.
Even if the experience didn’t fill up completely, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the grade didn’t rise and he couldn’t learn a new technique.
Of course, it’s a speculation and not a certainty.
“If my assumption is correct, it would be great.”
If his assumption is correct, by simply raising his swordsmanship skill, he can eventually reach the advanced swordsmanship used by the knights.
“But… what will happen if I learn advanced swordsmanship now, before the grade of my current swordsmanship (D) skill goes up?”