E3 Chapter 9

: Last Spurt

[N POV]

Clang!

The swords clashed with each other, bringing the ring before him. After the clashing swords, he created a fireball and unleashed it on the other person.

Sla~sh

It’s just a slash, and the fireball was sliced in two, and then...

Bam!

Claude moved quickly toward Rudeus and hit him in the head with the handle by using the force of the fireball he had just slashed.

Thuck!

"Argh... my head will split!" Rudeus said, while rolling on the ground.

"I’m disappointed, Rudy," Claude said.

"What the heck… my head is hurting here. Can’t you just stop your bull... " Rudeus stopped whatever he wanted to say. Seeing Claude's expression, Rudeus can somewhat feel his heart clenching.

It’s rare for Claude to talk seriously ever since he knew him, and this is one of those rare occasions.

It’s been 2 days since Claude arrived at Roa. He was here to do something with his friend Mike. They said bottleneck when he came along to help him get himself out of the gutter.

It’s been a while since he felt the wall in front of him. As he sought some way to deal with the current obstacle, Claude remembered Ghyslaine and headed to Roa along with Mike as they needed to deal with some business on the way.

None of his combat techniques can be improved because they have been stagnant for some time.

Every day, Claude can feel the improvement in his skills. No matter how small it is, he can know it. No matter if it’s his production skills or his combat skills.

The bottleneck he felt made him want to understand more about it, knowing that Mike would go to Roa to accompany his teacher. He just tags along after some banter with his father.

"Hey! If you’re bored, help me! " Claude’s father said, while doing all he could do to hammer the trinket in his hand.

"No way, my time is too precious to temper and hit some iron ore! See ya, dad! "

With just that, he left the village and headed towards the Boreas estate.

He took 1 day to search for any necessary information.

He uses the 2nd day to meet with Rudeus and test his ability.

"You are 9 this year, right?" Claude said, after counting something with his fingers.

"Yeah, it’s already great for me to do this at my age, you know. I mean, it’s not like I can use the Saint class spell here, in the estate.. " Rudeus tried to brag, but knowing what Claude can do after having a slower start than him, Rudeus makes excuses.

"of course, I know that, but you need to use more of your imagination. Combat isn’t just about attacking the other person and waiting for your turn. This is not a card game where you need to wait for your enemy to deal with his attack first! Even while creating your spell, you need to think more about what your enemy will do after this. " As Claude tries to teach Rudeus with his battle experience, he can see that Rudeus didn’t really care about his concern.

Ghislaine just stood beside them with arms akimbo, copied by Eris, and it looked smug beside her.

By age, Claude and Eris are the same age.

However, Claude looks much older and more robust because of his training. Although she’s training with swords, Eris still looks petite.

She just stood there as she’s not really that smart at this time, a child. She’s the only child in the area. After all, since Claude and Rudeus can’t be said to be children inside,

Though Rudeus is childish, he’s an old man inside.

Ghislaine nodded at what Claude said.

"Sigh… I’m stuck, but you’re worse than me in development… what can I do, huh?" Claude complained while he’s belittling the young Rudeus.

"What stuck? You’re already this strong, and you still don’t feel satisfied? Heck, you’re still 10...."

He ignored what Rudeus said since he contemplated how he could reach the advanced stage in all his sword mastery.

Not to mention that his mana is still not enough to cast an advanced spell since he’s late in developing his mana and his mana capacity growth became slower as he got older.

His capacity for mana is a third as much as Rudeus's right now, and while he can create an upper intermediate spell, he can’t gather enough mana to release an advance spell.

Since it was so, he focused more on his close-quarter combat ability and expected Rudeus to be a strong foe and increase his understanding of his swords.

"Sigh... "Miss Ghislaine, can I have a spar with you?"

Ghislaine knew this would happen, so she just nodded and headed closer to him.

"I won’t hold myself back, don’t die."

"Please"

His words became the gong as he prepared himself. Ghislaine suddenly appeared before him.

Swish!

Bam!

"Hoo, a barrier, huh… that’s pretty nice actually. "

"Guuh, my magic tool broke because of an opening attack, huh... as expected of the sword king."

"Now, here I go."

Swi~ng

The swords slashed the air and created a ringing sound as Claude readied himself to evade. He realized that he couldn’t.

Then, receiving the attack would mean his defeat. So, the only thing possible is to redirect it.

"Whoa! I succeed "

"Great decision, now try this one."

Another fast but heavy blow came towards Claude. As he can see it, he can think of a way to deal with it.

However, as expected. Claude can’t redirect each attack, and the continuous assault Ghislaine gives him creates more wounds on his body.

The more he evades, the more stamina he spends, and the wound continues to bleed.

"Amazing..." Spectating on the side, Eris can’t help but be amazed at Claude’s ability. She can’t believe the truth that this person who fought against Ghislaine right now is the same age as her.

Even Rudeus, flabbergasted as he watches Claude’s improvement, clenches his fist hard while seeing the progress Claude made all these years. Meanwhile, he’s still stuck in the rank he was at.

Unlike in the anime, where he doesn’t have any reason to increase his strength, his feelings toward power become stronger as he always competes with Claude.

Right now, he’s constantly being helped by Claude. Claude is his friend.

Claude is also his rival.

Seeing Rival's back turn away from him makes Rudeus want to better himself.

Meanwhile, Claude, still enduring Ghislaine’s onslaught, is helter-skelter.

‘D*mn it, D*mn it, D*mn it! I’m this weak, huh, this can’t continue, or I will lose terribly! ’

"Why would you hold yourself? Use every means possible to attack me. All kinds of attacks are allowed in a battle! This isn’t training. It’s a life and death battle! "

‘Every means possible!" That’s right! ’

An epiphany suddenly entered his mind. At that time, he stopped thinking and let his instincts move his body.

"hoo," Ghislaine started to prepare her stance and ready herself to receive his attack.

Bang!

A sudden attack at her side sent her flying.

But even that sudden attack can’t fool a sword king like her, as she already blocks the attack with her sword and diminishes the impact she received from the spell Claude sent her.

"Combination magic, Flash Blade"

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[Edited 25/06/2022]

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