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Mock Battle
Leaving Oxter, we reached the northern plains.
First, to see how strong I am currently, Leon asked me to have a mock battle with him.
With wooden swords in both of our hands, we were to go all out without wasting any time.
The first one to get three hits first would be the winner, or if one of us were to give up or become incapable of continuing any further.
I don’t think I can win but, I want to get in at least one hit on him.
He was currently stretching his body that was over 2 meters tall, and doing his warm up.
It wasn’t just his muscles, he had a great spring to his body as well.
I need to keep the difference in physique in mind when fighting or else I’ll lose before I can even do anything.
“Now then, let us begin the duel between Leon and Chris! You may begin when I finish the countdown! 3..2..1…….Start!”
With the signal from the Hunter Janet, the mock battle began.
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Leon lunged at me as soon as the battle started, and swung his sword at me with full strength.
Both the speed, and the strength behind his swing was impeccable but——I can turn it to the side.
I matched my blade with his, and made it slide across the steel, completely parrying Leon’s first attack.
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He was probably expecting our swords to clash directly as this seemed to catch him off guard and he lost his balance.
Against his completely open back, I smacked my sword with full strength.
“OWwww!!”
Leon screamed in pain, and feeling confident after landing a clean hit already, I grinned to myself and tried to create a distance between us again but—-
Suddenly, a strong impact hit me from the side.
I had just smacked his back with full strength while he was already leaning forward so I thought for sure, he’d fall to the ground but…….
He balanced himself on his right leg alone, and somehow managed to launch an attack from a completely ridiculous posture.
His sword was in his hands, so this was a bare handed attack yet—–it was strong enough to almost stop my breathing.
I wanted to squat down on the ground from the pain right there and then but, I endured it and frantically pulled away from him.
“Ow ow, no wonder you’re the Leader, that was not bad at all! That was legit, a good strike.”
“I could say the same, only a Mithril rank could launch a ridiculous attack like that.”
“Thanks for the compliment! But……unfortunately, it’s gonna be a lot more one sided from here onwards! [Acceleration][Gale][Ability Unleashed].”
Suddenly activating multiple skills, Leon took a strange forward leaning stance.
And then—-
The next instant, he disappeared from my sights, and then from my back I got hit twice.
“he he he! That’s my win! It’s your loss, Chris!”
“Damn, I didn’t even see anything until I got hit. As expected of a mithril I suppose—-you’re strong.”
“You’re no slouch either. When you parried my firt attack, it was only for a second, but I thought I might lose!”
I shook hands with Leon, and we talked about our little duel.
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To be honest, the last 2 hits were kind of dull and boring since they were mostly dependent on his Skill usage as well as his natural physical ability, but that first one that got me was definitely worthy of a mithril class no doubt.
Regardless, this made it clear that I was still far from Mithril class still.
“Then, next……..how about Ralf and Alyazi have a go? If I recall, Ralf, you only had a mock battle with me last time right?”
“Yes!…….is Alyazi-san strong as well?”
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“Strong? Well, yes he’s certainly strong in a way but can also be weak if you wanna believe that!”
“Precisely. That phrasing is not far from the truth. I am definitely as strong or weak as you’d imagine.”
Even Alyazi agreed to Leon’s odd explanation.
Ralf could only tilt his head in confusion to that.
“I don’t really get it but, well, I’m fine either way! Alyazi-san, I’ll be in your care!”
“Of course. Come, Ralf-kun, let’s have a good match.”
I wonder how strong the others are like.
Ralf only won once in every ten matches against me, but he is by no means weak.
Also, this mock battle will allow me to see Alyazi’s……..A Scout’s abilities as well.
While slowly rubbing my side that got hit hard, I watched over Ralf vs Alyazi.
“Then, I’ll be referee for this one! The signal to start is the same! Here I go, 3..2..1….Start!”
With Leon’s loud voice, the mock battle began but Alyazi stayed where he stood and watched to see how Ralf will move.
Realizing that Alyazi was not going to attack first, Ralf stepped on the ground with vigour and rushed in to launch an attack.
He ran circled around Alyazi as he waited for an opportunity to strike, this was Ralf’s usual style of attacking.
Maybe because of his experiences with a damaged leg, now that he was healed, Ralf really liked running around and using the full length of the area available, and would make all these extra movement before launching an attack.
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Or well, at least it looked like there was excessive movement involved but, in all honesty, it wasn’t easy to deal with when you actually go against him.
I stood to the side of Alyazi, while wondering how he would handle Ralf’s attacks when…….
I realized that his atmosphere suddenly changed for a second there.
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Even when Ralf was behind him, he didn’t bother looking back, so he should only be able to see what’s in front of him but——I just couldn’t see how he’d lose this fight.
Wait, why did I think like that though………?
But just as I thought Ralf who launched attack from right behind him, was unable to even touch him.
As if he had eyes on the back of his head, he dodged Ralf’s attack by simply lowering his head, and in that same movement launched a triple attack, hitting Ralf on his thigh, stomach and head instantly.
“And that’s that! Alyazi wins! Ralf, didn’t I teach you to be more cautious!”
“B-but, I was completely behind him!?”
“but he didn’t lose sight of you though? He knew exactly where you were and what you were doing!”
“Eh, Really!? But how? You weren’t even looking my way, were you?”
“Not with my eyes no, but I felt where you were instead. I assumed that you’d launch a big dull attack the moment you thought I couldn’t see you, and I was right it seems.”
After the battle, Ralf and Alyazi had such a conversation.
…………watching it from the side, I still had no idea what he did right there.
Was it like a much advanced version of my own ability to search for enemies?
His job is Scout after all, so that’s probably the case but…….even still, it felt like he could see too much almost.
While listening to those three talk, I pondered over that but I couldn’t find an answer.
After feeling frustrated, I decided to ask Alyazi directly.
“Um, how did you foresee Ralf’s attack coming in advance? Even if you could sense his presence, this felt like you were seeing far more than that.”
“That is good way of putting it to be honest. I was simply using my skill.”
Skill………? But when did he?
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It didn’t seem like he used a skill during the battle, so maybe before the battle even began?
No that can’t be right, I would have noticed that as well.
Which means, it was a passive skill like my own [Null Poison]………or was it that strange feeling I felt for one second during the battle when I felt his atmosphere change.
“Did you use it mid battle? I did feel like something changed in you for a moment..”
“—–Oh! Chris-kun, you’ve got great instincts it looks like……..you’re correct. I can actively use my skill freely at any time and in different ways.”
I felt shocked hearing something he spoke so nonchalantly.
To be able to freely use skills in different ways was something I’d been hoping to work at and achieve in secret.
And to think I’d run into someone who could already do that so perfectly …….
Now——I have to get Alyazi to teach me this ability no matter what.