The Immortal Player

A cut appeared in Roval's face—right below his eyes. Talia actually aimed for Roval's eye through the opening on his helm but thanks to Roval's unusual reaction speed, he was able to look slightly upwards—allowing Talia to miss his right eye.

That said, because of Talia's wiggly sword technique, the cut on Roval's face even reached up to his nose—consequently increasing the amount of blood that burst in his face, which, in turn, momentarily blinded Roval's right eye.

That said, Roval did not stand idly anymore. He dashed to his left—away from where Talia went pass through him. This way, even if Talia has a follow up attack, he would have a sufficient space to defend or counter attack.

Well… At this moment, Talia simply stood on guard after miraculously dodging Aldo's follow up attack—that came after Roval's first strike earlier.

Talia can't chase after Roval because the gap between them was within the striking distance of Aldo. If she was not careful and carelessly went after Roval, then her head would have been struck by Aldo's sword.

That said, she can't also go straight after Aldo because, at this moment, Lony was able to caught up to them. Even if she took the risk to eliminate Aldo, Aldo could still have a chance to restrict her movements before he gets commissioned out of the spar and allow Lony to deal a critical strike.

Aldo charged forward with a strike to keep Talia busy and give her no chance to formulate her new pattern or ways of attack. Unfortunately, Aldo obviously lacks more training compared to Talia, so, Aldo's attacks were easily countered. If not for Lony's interference, Aldo would have been considered eliminated in the spar already.

After retreating a couple of times, Talia felt another murderous stare coming behind her. Thus, she decided to dash backwards as low as she can. Fortunately, her anticipation was correct. A blade of a sword sliced horizontally—just an inch, above her.

Since Aldo was chasing after Talia, Roval's full force attack was now heading towards Aldo.

And, inches before Roval's sword hits Aldo's hands—that was gripping his sword, another sword slammed and stopped Roval's sword. It was Loren's sword that came at the right time.

That said, even though Talia was able to stop Roval, Aldo, and Loren from chasing her, Lony was not restricted of her previous maneuver, allowing Lony to go after her.

Talia tried to use the wiggly sword technique a couple of more times, but Lony and Roval were strong enough to defend her attacks.

In the end, Loren and Aldo got removed from the spar after they fell into the trap of Talia's wiggly sword and, later on, was immobilized by Talia through taking advantage of their center of gravity.

Talia only need to deal a slight push using the wiggly sword technique at the right part of their body to make Loren and Aldo fall into the ground—which was considered as an immediate loss in a spar. (Unless falling into the ground was on purpose, like to dodge.)

But all in all, the spar was a draw.

Lony and Roval became strong enough to be able to even face Talia together. That said, there was still obvious lapses on Roval's side, namely his uncontrollable release of murderous intent when attacking.

His attacks were quite straight forward to the point that the slightest of hunch of Talia can easily predict his attacks. That said, Roval has an astounding reaction speed that allows him to defend properly, conduct counterattacks instantly, and make decisive decisions in a short matter of time.

On the other hand, Lony lacks the motive and decisiveness to deal a murderous or critical attack to his enemies—making him a careful attacker. He often waits for a 'one hundred percent' chance before he strikes his killing blow.

It was a trait of a hunter more than that of a warrior or a knight, thus spar with him often leads to either a draw, an immediate defeat, or a long fight of win. It won't be a bad thing when he is fighting one-on-one battles or when he is against a weaker opponent. However, it might become his weakness when he is participating on huge scale battles or when he is against a more experienced and stronger opponent.

As for Loren, although she got eliminated from the spar, it is safe to assume that she has a great perception of the situation during a heated fight. She was even able to stop Roval's sword and stop a potential 'friendly' attack. Unfortunately, her combat ability and experience were lacking the most amongst them, else she could have been a great support or a commander type of player.

As for Aldo, his attacks were straightforward like Roval, thus, giving him a lot of opening during his attacks. Paired with his lack of experience compared to Talia, he was rather an easy opponent or target.

If Aldo would be able to increase his experience and would be able to resist or counter his enemies' attacks effectively, he is best describe to be someone who is a berserker in other games—who are often known for their persistence and being 'attack first' type warriors that neglects any draw backs that their body would obtain along the process.

His wit—that came from playing role playing games, has somehow compensated for his lack of experience in combat. However, it would not be enough when he would be against one of the "One Man Army" players.

Pedro, Sabrina, Arvedar, Mathew, and Talia might have some weaknesses of their own. But… All of them are also hardworking, well-engaged in battles, are smart, motivated and dedicated, and has abnormally strong physical bodies in the game.

So, it was natural that it would be difficult or 'close to impossible' for them to be defeated.

Truth be told… The spar was a little bit difficult for Talia. She needed to devise a plan to make her opponents surrender, or knock them out of the battle in order to win.

It was not because she was lacking the ability to do so, but rather because her strength relies on the quickness of her attacks. Often times, her attacks were aimed to deal a critical attack at her target and consequently eliminated them on a single attack at the very start.

Trying to hold back while being against Lony and Roval—who improve a lot lately because of their desire to catch up to the five, had given her a lot of difficulty, especially that Lony and Roval did not want to surrender up to the bitter end.

Well… There was nothing much to worry about after knowing the result of the spar. Because in the end, even Loren could easily fight the best swordsman that was produced by the Adventurer's Guild's training program—what much more everyone else.

Besides… They obtained the goal or purpose of the spar. It was to see their lapses and know at which part should they look into and improve. After all, it was better to know them now, rather than after they got killed for whatever reason in the game. It was an opportunity to learn and improve without the cost of dying in the game and consequently getting their characters deleted.

"You all did good in the spar today. I am now assured that everyone here is stronger than an average adventurer at the least." Pedro said as he glanced to everyone else. "Obviously, we still have a lot to work on and improve. So… Don't hesitate to approach each one, exchange pointers, or ask advices on how to correct your mistakes! That's the only way that we'd become stronger and stronger!"

"Dream on, human!" Faunia interjected in an annoyed tone. "You and your friends might be able to swing a toy or 'tickle' each other with your fists, but… in the presence of a divine being, all of you are nothing but a mere ant who's trying to bite. All of you, obviously, need to do 'more' than just swinging toys every single day!"

Then, she sighed and said, "Even the wyvern and the predecessor of the human-hero needs to work harder and stop slacking off. Well… That's if you want to survive longer in this world. It's not like its bad to dream and live on a 'simple' life like the ones that you all are having nowadays."

Pedro could only sigh in response and said, "Don't worry. We'll take things up to another level, soon. There are just some things that I needed to handle lately. So, I hope that you would understand."

Faunia simply shook her head in response and said, "Do as you wish, human! I am only here to guide you, not to decide the paths and decisions that you would make in your life, for you… Whether you chose to be weak, or you choose to be someone strong, it's not my decision. But if you ask me… I won't just swing toys and even hope to become strong."

"Don't worry! We would definitely follow your advice." Pedro said whilst forcing out a smile.

Faunia—who had her eyes closed since the start, did not respond and simply went back to her rest. This made Pedro to nod towards everyone else as if saying to proceed with their rest as usual.