Van Dale was having a great day. His mood was so good he felt like whistling. Then he frowned just the tiniest bit.

Not good. If I relax, that boy might escape. Mages are as slippery as eels when you try to finish them off. Do I even have a way of making him stay here? The report said he’s really greedy for money and contribution points at that academy of his… But is he greedy enough to risk his neck for some coins?

As he asked himself that question, Van Dale eased up. His frown melted away and he smirked. Well, I risk my life, if there are enough coins at stake. Why wouldn’t a greedy kid be the same?

Suddenly five spectral darts came flying towards Van Dale. The Sword-Sage snorted. With a rapid succession of thrusts and slashes he dispelled four darts. The final one made it through his parries.

The missile was about to hit Van Dale’s face when it disintegrated on contact with a white sheet of protective light.

“Kid! Are you looking down on me? Using a Second Order spell, even if it was at maximum power, is still looking down on me.” Van Dale pretended to be angry, while charging at full speed in the direction from which the darts came.

It took only a couple of seconds to cover the distance from which he estimated the attack was made. However, there was nobody there.

Dammit kid, are you playing hide and seek with me? That invisibility of yours won’t do you any good. Van Dale closed his eye and scanned his surroundings through the monocle. After making sure to check in all directions, including up and down Van Dale saw no sign of Wolf. Finally, he opened his other eye.

“Where the hell is that brat?” Van Dale mumbled in confusion. A Sword-Sage is faster than a Mage when burning Internal Energy to run, so he didn’t have time to run away too far. And why did he use a Magic Dart to attack?

As Van Dale tried to figure out what was going on, Wolf observed the whole scene through a Detached Eye.

He wasn’t too far away, however there were plenty of trees and bushes between the two.

It’s got to be that monocle, Wolf thought. Otherwise he wouldn’t have done something as odd as twirling around slowly with one eye closed. So, when he scans for invisible creatures he has to look through the monocle and apparently it takes a moment to find my trail. Still, best to assume the detection is instantaneous.

Hmmm… It’s not an enchantment from the Detect line. The range at which he made the shot was too great for it to be one of those. What the hell is he using?

Wolf naturally didn’t use Magic Dart to damage Van Dale. He wanted to lure Van Dale someplace where he could observe him search for “invisible” Wolf.

Still, parrying four missiles, Wolf thought admiring the Sword-Sage’s skill. I’m not sure I could do that. Even though I can see things clearly, like that arrow he shot, I’m lacking in speed. His Sword-Sage Order is lower than mine, yet his movements are nimbler. Why? Is it because of the way my body is? Does he have more experience? Or maybe it’s because I’m not getting enough practice?

The last thought hit the nail on the head. Wolf didn’t have much experience fighting challenging opponents, nor did he practice swordplay nearly enough.

Ever since he got to Silver City he completely stopped practicing swordplay, while his Sword-Sage Order kept rising. What little sword-fights Wolf had while hunting down bandits were butchery, rather than a challenge.

Also, Van Dale was some eighty years older than Wolf. He came from an environment where only the best got the resources they needed, and he had to fight for every bit of Internal Energy he had. It was natural for his battle sense to be superior to Wolf’s, even if his perception was lower.

Well, it’s about time I got some practice, Wolf thought and then rustled the bush he was hiding in.

Wolf intentionally revealed his position, and the Sword-Sage didn’t disappoint. As soon as he’d heard the noise Van Dale dashed over, saber in hand as he flashed an excited grin.

“Kid, Uncle Van’s gonna get a new pair of shinies from your cold dead body.” Just as he said those haughty words a blur exploded out of the bushes, heading straight at him.

You’ve got some balls, kid. Unfortunately, you don’t have a brain. Van Dale slashed his saber with all his might, infusing the weapon with Internal Energy.

The two blades met with the resounding sound of metal clashing. For a split second Van Dale thought he’d already crushed the fool, but then realized he was the foolish one.

Wolf’s blow sent him flying before he smashed back first into a tree. If he hadn’t shielded his body with Internal Energy, his spine would’ve broken from the impact.

Even with Internal Energy reinforcing him, Van Dale had his breath knocked out of him. Blood oozed out of his mouth. He’d suffered internal trauma.

What the hells, the man silently cursed, his head and stomach churning from the blow.

Van Dale didn’t really go all out. He could’ve used a maneuver, but didn’t. He thought it too much of a waste. Recovering Internal Energy in this barren area was a pain unless you used potions, which amounted to throwing money for no good reason. Normally, he would’ve been right. Today that wasn’t the case.

Van Dale’s face revealed terror as he realized the bones of his arm were cracked and his wrist was broken. Wolf, however, wasn’t surprised one bit by the result.

Van Dale was running, while Wolf waited like a coiled spring to slam into the man. Van Dale weighed around one hundred kilos, while Wolf was nearly three times his weight. Simply using the brute force of Star Body was enough to crush the cocky Sword-Sage. And unlike Van Dale, Wolf wasn’t pulling his punches. He fully infused his flimsy sword with Internal Energy, otherwise this stunt of his would’ve ended with the blade breaking.

Van Dale blankly stared at Wolf. What kind of magic was that? He felt heavy like he was under Body of Iron, but was nimble and had the strength of someone using Body of War. But Body of War is a Sixth Order spell, while Body of Iron is an Eighth Order one. Besides, there are no obvious signs of those spells about him.

The man carefully examined the youth before him. He looked more like a child than a young man. Most importantly, Wolf didn’t move to attack.

He’s just a soft kid. He didn’t follow through to finish the job. Van Dale thought, and took out a potion to heal his internal injuries.

He drank the thing, but Wolf still didn’t act. He even let me drink a potion? He’s a complete idiot. Like I’ll let you con me the same way twice.

Now that he was healed, Van Dale’s derisive smirk was back on his face. He jumped onto his feet and dismissively looked at Wolf as he took a moment to estimate the terrain and distance between them.

“Behemoth’s Charge!” Van Dale shouted as he initiated a maneuver and shot towards Wolf, his body becoming a blur.

Why shout out the name of the maneuver? It’s like you’re telling me what to expect. Wolf didn’t understand the reasoning, but knew the maneuver. Wait, how can a Seventh Order Sword-Sage use an Eighth Order Maneuver?

Even though his mind wandered, Wolf analyzed the way his enemy moved with his fully awakened senses, and he confirmed this was indeed the Eighth Order maneuver he knew.

Van Dale swung his saber with all his might, not to kill, but to disarm Wolf. However, at the last possible moment, the youth’s sword disappeared and he initiated a maneuver of his own. And unlike Van Dale, Wolf didn’t shout anything.

The young Mage grinned as the saber came sideways towards his chest. His hand slithered unnaturally past the blade, going for the wrist. Van Dale frowned and changed the angle of his slash, but somehow Wolf still locked his hand around his wrist.

The youth pivoted and twisted his body, fully entering the old Sword-Sage’s reach as he slammed his back against Van Dale’s abdomen. Van Dale didn’t know what happened, he lost the ground under his feet and the world spun around him. He reinforced his back and a moment later he crashed into the ground with all the force of his charge.

The ground was softer than a tree, but the momentum Van Dale had now was many times greater than when he struck the tree.

The man let out a pained grunt, the world still spinning before his eyes. However, there was something even more shocking about what had happened just now.

“That— That was Charge Breaker?” he asked with disbelief while struggling for breath.

Charge Breaker was a basic First Order maneuver. Only eccentric rookies learned it because it required you to be passive, unarmed and considerably smaller than your attacker.

The maneuver’s only use was to utilize your opponent’s momentum against them. However, if you were confident enough to meet a man brandishing a weapon barehanded, and if you could read their posture and estimate the angle of the throw correctly to fully transfer the energy into the fall, this simple maneuver was devastating.

“Yup,” Wolf replied flatly as his sword reappeared in his hand.

The high expectations he had for this battle were yet another letdown. This guy was dumb enough to charge at him with brute force for the second time.

Wolf failed to consider that Behemoth’s Charge was a killer move. If that blow connected, Van Dale’s saber would’ve cleaved him in half. As for why Wolf’s attacker was caught by surprise, no sane man expected a fourteen-year-old Mage to use an obscure Sword-Sage maneuver to negate a deadly attack.

“You’re a First Order Sword-Sage as well?” Van Dale couldn’t believe what was happening. The boy was just fourteen. When did he find the time to dabble in Sword-Sage arts?

Wolf apathetically shook his head. This old fox was still trying to buy time to regain his senses. Should I use him for practice? Wolf thought, but immediately dismissed the thought. He’s way too dangerous.

Wolf was about to stab the squirming man through the eye and be done with it, but then changed his mind. He’d learned a lesson today, a couple of them in fact, and he had a feeling he scored some nice items as well, so he might as well send the man off to his next life with style and show him something good.

Wolf circulated Internal Energy and executed Weapon Splitter. It wasn’t the most powerful maneuver he could use, but still a fairly decent farewell for an execution.

As Van Dale gazed into Wolf’s cold, apathetic eyes he felt death was upon him. When Wolf raised his sword for the coup de grace, immobilized Van Dale noticed something. The sword in his hand was familiar.

What’s his connection with… He wanted to say it aloud, but his head was already detached from his body. Colors and scents blended into each other as the old Sword-Sage’s consciousness faded.

That was Weapon Splitter? Van Dale died, not understanding what was going on.