Chapter 4
Mitchell quickly pulled back to dodge the sword thrusting toward him.
But there were two enemies.
Another attack immediately swung toward him.
Thud—
One sword embedded itself in the ground.
At the same time, the other blade slashed across, aiming for his chest. Mitchell hurriedly raised his sword to parry.
Clang—
In that brief moment, the sword stuck in the dirt was ripped out and swung at him again.
Clang— Clang— Clang—
Pushed back continuously, Mitchell grit his teeth and began to circulate his Aura.
Power surged through his entire body, and his mind grew sharp. When Mitchell swung his sword with all his might, the two men jumped back to create distance.
"I see you had a hidden trick up your sleeve. But do you really think a brat who hasn't even learned martial arts can defeat us?"
"Why do you assume I haven't learned martial arts? I might have."
"Hehehe, I can tell just by looking at your feet. You seem to know how to swing a sword, but someone who hasn't even learned basic footwork couldn't possibly have mastered martial arts properly."
"……."
"So why not just surrender quietly? If you're lucky, we might just take the mana carriage and let you live."
Mitchell scowled at those words.
It was obvious these men intended to kill him.
'This is troublesome.'
He had trained hard for a month, but as someone with zero real combat experience, taking on two opponents at once was overwhelming.
'I have to end this quickly, one way or another.'
Fortunately, he had gauged their skill levels roughly when their blades clashed earlier. His own movements were unsatisfying and full of openings, yet they hadn't been able to capitalize on them.
Mitchell raised his sword again.
The enemies lunged in sync. The bearded man’s sword approached rapidly.
Clang!
The scrawny man’s follow-up attack came immediately after, but his clumsy blade actually created a perfect opening for Mitchell to counter. As their swords met, the scrawny man’s balance wavered significantly.
Mitchell’s eyes gleamed.
To survive this crisis, he had to break their coordination.
'I have a recovery potion, so it's okay to take a little damage.'
Winning came first.
Having made his decision, Mitchell deflected the bearded man’s sword and intentionally exposed his side to the scrawny man.
"Haah!"
As expected, the scrawny man didn't miss the opening and swung his sword.
Slash—
Mitchell’s left arm was deeply cut.
Blood spurted out, followed by a searing pain. However, Mitchell didn't panic. He immediately swung the sword in his right hand and slashed the scrawny man’s throat.
Gurgle—
Clutching his neck, the scrawny man made a wet, rattling sound and slowly collapsed.
"Zanko! You son of a bitch!"
Seeing this, the bearded man charged in a fit of rage. Mitchell hurriedly raised his sword to block the onslaught.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Under the bearded man’s fury, Mitchell was pushed back relentlessly.
"I'll kill you!"
With a voice filled with murderous intent, a faint Aura gathered on the man's blade. His skill was at least a level above Mitchell’s. Mitchell was barely holding on now that he wasn't being double-teamed.
He searched for a way to turn the tide.
'That technique I used this morning….'
He had only tried it once, but he had to attempt it now. To do that, he first needed to create distance.
Mitchell pushed the bearded man back with every ounce of strength he had. The force caused both of them to lose their balance and tumble to the ground.
'Now!'
Mitchell scrambled to his feet. While venting energy from his Aura Hole, he began to decompose the souls within his body.
His rapidly depleting Aura Hole was instantly refilled, providing a constant supply of energy. Along with it, energy began to wrap around Mitchell’s body. It looked as if he were evaporating.
As he gained control over the energy, the form of a monster was layered over Mitchell’s body. He raised his sword.
"W-what on earth is that……."
The bearded man, who was about to lunge again after standing up, froze in horror.
A monster had appeared before his eyes.
It looked like something straight out of hell. The monstrous shape, composed of multiple human forms merged together, writhed incessantly. Faces with gaping mouths struggled and screamed within the mass.
Overwhelmed by the grotesque and chilling sight, the bearded man’s legs shook uncontrollably, leaving him unable to even think about running.
The monster lunged at him.
The bearded man instinctively raised his sword to block.
Clang!
Since the swordsmanship itself wasn't superior, the block was easier than expected. However, his strength began to drain rapidly, and his arms grew heavy.
"What the hell are you!"
The bearded man screamed in desperation, but the monster said nothing. Instead, a flurry of attacks followed.
Clang, clang, clang!
Terror began to cloud the man's eyes.
Losing wasn't the problem. He felt like he would be sliced in half and die, but his fear was more primal than that.
His life force was scattering.
A fear that his very existence would be erased surged within him.
Ahhh…….
The bearded man realized it.
The things draining his strength were the writhing souls within the monster's body. They craved life and were nibbling away at his vitality.
But by the time he realized it, it was too late.
His arms, now heavy as waterlogged cotton, failed to properly block the monster's next strike.
Whoosh—
His sword slipped from his grasp and flew into the air.
What happened next was inevitable.
The bearded man took his last breath, his wide eyes fixed on the monster's approaching blade.
Pant, pant—
Confirming the last enemy had fallen, Mitchell collapsed onto the ground.
His Aura Hole throbbed from the massive outflow of energy.
'Even refilling it by decomposing souls, it still feels like this…….'
The technique consumed far more energy than he had anticipated.
Feeling the world spin, Mitchell absorbed the souls of the two dead men. He quickly decomposed them to fill his Aura Hole, which eased the exhaustion. However, his vision remained dizzy.
Only then did he remember what he had forgotten while focused on the fight.
Drip— Drip—
Blood was streaming from his left arm.
Mitchell hurried to the mana carriage and pulled out a recovery potion from his bag.
He poured some directly onto the wound and drank the rest. The wound began to sizzle and bubble as the bleeding stopped. Since a recovery potion only accelerates natural healing, it would still take time to heal completely.
'At least the bleeding stopped. That's a relief.'
This was another item from the training cave. If he hadn't brought it, he might have bled out on the side of the road.
Mitchell started to get back into the carriage but then walked over to the two corpses. They had paid for trying to kill him with their lives, but surely there was "interest" left to collect.
Mitchell threw away his cheap, nicked sword and took the bearded man’s blade. It seemed to be of quite high quality, as it was perfectly intact despite the fierce clash.
After searching their pockets for coins, he finally climbed into the mana carriage and drove off.
It was time to head to his true destination: the North.
Thud!
"Damn it, I'm almost there."
Mitchell kicked the mana carriage and cursed.
The car breaking down was a headache, but because he had intentionally taken secluded roads, he couldn't even call for help.
"Phew…… if I knew this would happen, I would have just hurried instead of training."
It had been a month and fifteen days since he boldly left the inn.
As planned, he rarely stopped at villages, but because he insisted on carving out time for daily sword practice, the journey took much longer than expected.
'Let's keep moving for now.'
The sun sets early in deep mountains; he couldn't just wait around forever.
'I'm glad I bought travel gear at the last village.'
The mana engine had been cutting out occasionally since the day before yesterday.
He had bought a tent and other supplies out of caution, and now he actually had to use them. His prediction was right, but he wasn't exactly happy about it.
By the time he set up the tent and lit a campfire, the sun had completely set, and darkness enveloped the area.
Mitchell sat by the fire and filled his stomach with simple food he had bought in town. Once his hunger was satisfied, he stood up and gripped his sword.
"This sword really is quite good."
Having used the bearded man’s sword for a month and a half, it felt familiar in his hand. Mitchell smiled at the comfortable grip and recalled the contents of his books.
Some think the amount of Aura is everything. However, proficiency with the blade is essential for a swordsman.
Consider a situation where things are so bad you cannot use Aura.
In that case, it will take much more strength to inflict a fatal wound on an enemy.
But those who have trained incessantly can cut through human bone and tough muscle in a single strike using nothing but power control, even without Aura.
Ultimately, it was about the basics.
Building a solid foundation was the key to reaching higher realms.
Whoosh—
He had been training without rest, but he still felt he was lacking. Mitchell knew exactly what was needed in times like this.
'Just like it says in the heroic epics, I just shouldn't give up.'
It took him ten years to research, learn, modify, and use Soul Drain.
Swordsmanship was the same.
Though he had picked up the sword late, Mitchell had advantages that far surpassed others.
A strong physical body and the energy of the Aura Hole.
As long as he had souls, he could fill his Aura Hole indefinitely. This was an incredible ability without question. Hadn't he just defeated the bearded and scrawny men thanks to refilling his Aura with souls rather than his sword skills?
Whooooosh—
After swinging the sword for a long time, Mitchell stared at the trembling tip of his blade and stopped.
Even though he would recover quickly, pushing himself too hard while camping in the middle of nowhere wasn't wise.
So, Mitchell sat down and began to meditate according to the basic Aura circulation method he had learned.
The natural energy in the surroundings tried to move into his body, but it was repelled by the growling energy of his Aura Hole.
'Hmm…… I do need more souls.'
The souls he had kept inside were all exhausted during last night's training. He needed new souls to fill his Aura Hole.
Since he had extra time, Mitchell considered hunting wild animals to harvest their souls.
Soon, the energy flowing through his Aura Roads gathered in his ears, sharpening his hearing.
The sound of insects.
The sound of the wind.
The chirping of unknown birds.
The sound of a flowing stream.
The sound of swords clashing.
'……?'
The last sound was quite close.
He must have missed it while focused on his training. Mitchell blamed his own carelessness and vowed to stay more alert from now on.
Since he had decided to stand on his own, he had to pay extra attention to safety.
But that was one thing.
'I should check the situation.'
Mitchell took his sword and headed toward the source of the sound.
Though he hadn't filled his Aura Hole, his fatigue had completely vanished thanks to the meditation.
He arrived at the source of the noise with a quick pace.
"Why don't you just surrender? Your escape route is blocked, so what do you plan to do?"
"We must break through and deliver word to the main house! Charge!"
Men wearing black headbands had a group of people cornered against a shallow cliff. Mitchell clicked his tongue quietly at the sight.
Even at a glance, the situation of those with their backs to the cliff looked dire.
'I should get out of here first.'
He felt like he would get caught up in the fight if he stayed.
There was no need to get involved in the struggle of strangers. Mitchell intended to hide and perhaps come back later to harvest the souls, but—
"Who are you?"
Several men in black headbands were already approaching from behind him.
Mitchell let out a deep sigh and raised both hands. He had been caught, but since they wouldn't kill him immediately, he intended to offer money and explain the situation.
"I was just passing by and heard a noise……."
"I suppose that campsite next to the mana carriage belongs to you."
Schwing—
Along with Mitchell’s answer came a chilling sound.
The men in black headbands drew their swords in unison.
What that action meant was crystal clear.
