Chapter 83: Double Swords

“Name? Age? Job? Expertise? Goal?”

“Aaron, 16, Iron-rank Warrior. My Swordsmanship isn’t bad. I want to earn money and become a hero that saves the world!”

Looking at the foolishly-smiling young fellow in front of me, I nod my head in response to his words. That plain-looking tanned young man reminds me of the Adam of the past.

“Next.”

16 year old Iron-rank, why are you even still training? Can you reach Gold-rank within 3 years? We aren’t a group of nannies, you better look for a rookie party to grind your way up.

“Kavan, around 30 plus I guess, Silver-rank Shaman. My goal is to earn enough money to buy the Fire Dragon Circus.”

“Dixu, 40 plus, I am his big brother and a proud Warrior. My goal is to be a good big brother.”

“I am the big brother! Dixu, you fool who can’t even count properly. We were born together, how can you be 10 years older than me?”

Okay, this is a rarely seen Ogre Shaman. It is said that they were once the pillar propping up a circus. After the circus disbanded, they came out to work as mercenaries for a living, hoping to earn enough money to bring back the circus.

“I am the elder brother!”

“I am, don’t think that I would be afraid of you just because you can do a few light tricks with your hands. I am strong, you know.”

“Fine, then let’s play scissors paper stone. The one who wins will be the elder brother.”

“Fine, one, two, three. Hah, stone.”

“Paper, I won. I am the elder brother.”

“Kavan, you were slow. That is not counted! Again, or I will beat you up.”

“Come on then, today I will show you the dignity of an elder brother, you fool who can’t even count to 9.”

But now, this rare double-headed Ogre Kavan and Dixu is actually brawling to determine which head is the elder brother. While beating each other up, they were both screaming in pain. It is just that it is hard to tell whether they were feeling pain from beating up the other or from getting beaten up.

I nod my head solemnly. This double-headed Ogre is indeed quite powerful, being naturally talented in magic and martial arts from birth. Their combined fighting power definitely matches up to the strength of a Gold-rank human. Even more importantly, different from the rookie just now, they would contribute to our fighting power as soon as they join our team.

“Next.”

However, what I lack now is not fighting power but normal people. We already have enough perverts and weirdos in our band. If we were to add in a person whose left and right is brawling with one another, we would be going down the road of making our opponents laugh to their death.

That day, after realising that the ‘Gentlemen Alliance’ is lacking in decency and common sense, considering the need to pull up the bottom limit of our decency, I decided to recruit 2 normal people.

Of course, another one of the reason is that in this human country, there were too many foreign races in the Gentlemen Alliance. If we use a non-human as a front to communicate with our clients, it would be hard to prevent others from overthinking things. Thus, even if it is just for show, I decided to recruit a few human mercenaries. Of course, it would be best if they were knowledgeable about this city.

Even if they can’t be of help, they would be useful as a cover. The situation of our band now, a bunch of foreign races moving together, is too striking. In comparison, it would be much better if it was a group of human mercenaries with a few foreign races in its mix.

Thus, so as to not delay the matter, I immediately got down to it. Thus, I set up a stand in front of the Mercenary Guild early in the morning to recruit people. With the ‘friendly sponsor’ from the Count with broken eggs, the starting salary is one that makes eyes widen.

However, it is a pity that as a foreigner, my background and identity couldn’t be checked. Furthermore, with the tense atmosphere in the city due to the inauguration ceremony, the experienced mercenaries are all lying in wait to judge the situation. Those who responded to the recruitment are either rookies or oddities that other bands are unwilling to accept.

Looking at Kavan and Dixu who were still brawling with each other, I shaked my head helplessly. I start to pack up my stand to leave. It looks like I have wasted an entire morning today.

However, passing by the mission board, I stopped.

“A-rank reward mission: Look for the true culprit who destroyed the northwest underground sewage in Pearl District. Dead or alive, 200000 gold coins will be awarded.”

This is really quite a significant sum. An A-rank reward mission can make a small mercenary band without any rank to climb several ranks at one go. 200000 gold coin is sufficient for one to buy a luxurious mansion in the Pearl District where land is worth gold itself. It seems like the occurrence of the mysterious vandalism just before the inauguration ceremony has struck the nerves of the officials of Auland Empire.

I hesitated for a moment. Considering that I have earnt quite a sum recently, I am not in urgent need of money. It would feel great to betray the explosion maniac who is getting more and more dangerous in exchange for the reward money. But, considering that it would most probably end up implicating me as well, I can only regretfully give up on this opportunity to thoroughly rid me of a trouble.

Yesterday, after communicating with the Count with broken eggs, it was as I expected. The reason why he seeked foreign faces to settle his tasks is so that he could get rid of them afterwards. When he saw that there were only 3 of us and that two were women, he was prepared to expose his true intentions but Diana immediately used her great Sin-Splitting Strike to chop up a dozen of his men while Krose destroyed the roof and everything else remaining. Then, I took out the Devil Contract.

That fat Count was still quite knowledgeable at identifying objects. When he saw a Holy Knight expertly changing the terms of the evil contract using the Devil Language, he was so surprised that his jaws almost dropped off, as though he had seen an angel and devil dancing together.

What happens afterwards was even more simple. After the contract was signed, seeing how he was scared out of his wits and considering the need to maintain a long-term relationship with him, it wouldn’t be wise to push him too far. He might retaliate with all he got without any consideration about the cost if forced to a corner. Thus, I didn’t come up with any unreasonable demands. I only extorted a large sum of money from him, a luxurious mansion to serve as our temporary base and made him our eye to provide us with intelligence.

Of course, Devil Contracts mainly work by raising the stake bit by bit, pulling people bit by bit up the hook. If we were to play big from the very start, the tasty piece of flesh would be frightened away.

I am still quite satisfied with our mansion, which is in the Pearl District. It doesn’t feel right to be living in a hostel all the time. The mansion might be a little old, but the renovations and the garden could still be considered high-class. Now, our entire band is currently cleaning up our temporary base and as the human leader of the band, I made use of the opportunity to sneak out to recruit personnel.

If it’s just me doing the recruiting, it won’t be that be so striking. Without those decency-lacking fellows pulling me back, I should be able to get some normal people on the band.

Un, I definitely did not do it to avoid the responsibility of cleaning up. Finding excuses to slack off, is it something an upright Holy Knight like me will do?

“Looks like without any reputation, it would be hard for us to recruit decent people. Why don’t we try the legendary technique of Transcenders, recruiting the future heroes who still aren’t faring well. Un, it is about time for that plot to happen, they should be born already. Sigh, when I received the walk through, I thought that I could get many powerful little brothers under my command. But, I didn’t expect that even their ancestors were still in their sperm and egg form. At that moment, I 囧-ed. This is even more depressing than when I put in so much effort to create glass back then, only to realise that the toy has been long created. Heh, digging talents from Auland Empire, I don’t feel any guilt at all.”

Thinking about how cool I would be, leading a bunch of Epic heroes in the future, I couldn’t help but daydream.

“I still remember that the ‘Rain Swallow Sword’ and ‘Master of Magic Machinery’ are still in the Auland Capital. If so, should I look for them tomorrow? Un, I should first head to the Count with broken eggs to obtain some intelligence first. Alright, the recruitment mission is done. So, where should I head to spend my time next.”

“Hey hey! This big brother here.”

“You haven’t told us whether you will be recruiting us. We need money to revive the circus, we will listen obediently to you.”

I was looking at the bounty list, thinking about how long it would take for the cleaning to conclude and where I should go to waste my time when the sight in front of me turns dark suddenly. Then, 2 ugly faces suddenly appear in front me, their bad breath hitting me squarely in my face.

“GHOSTS!”

Alright, what is faster than my scream is my reflex action. Before I came to, my fist has already been struck out. Based on the sensation on my hand, it feels like I hit something physical.

“He hit him! He actually made a move against them.”

“Hah, to actually dare to taunt this silly Ogre who doesn’t distinguish between allies and enemies, looks like there’s a show to watch.”

“3:1 for the man dead, 1:10 for the man getting heavily injured.”

“That pitiful Fire Dragon Circus. They were already troubled by debt due to bad management and now, their members are going to hurt someone again. This time, no one is able to help them anymore.”

The shouts of the onlookers proves that my judgement is correct. From my perspective, Kavan and Dixu’s prowess is already quite decent, so comparatively, to normal mercenaries, their strength would be at a shocking level. However, the reason why no one dared to hire them is because Ogres are easily enraged and would go into Berserk state. Once they start fighting, it is easy for them to go into a state where they wouldn’t be able to distinguish between allies and enemies.

“I’m sorry, but you appeared too suddenly. It was an accident.”

I smile sheepishly as I retrieve my hand from Kavan and Dixu’s stomach. Some kind-hearted people were already shouting warnings at me.

“Lad, escape quickly! Why bother reasoning with Ogres. Just half a month ago, he severely wounded a Berserker from the Southern lands. Hurry up!”

“You actually dare to hit Kavan…” Blood-red veins appear in the 4 eyes of the 3-meter tall double-headed Ogre. Then, they start to roll upwards, showing the whites of their eyes. Saliva starts to flow freely from their mouth, and they were no longer able to complete their sentence.

“It is a Complete Berserk state! Everyone, let’s face him together, otherwise we will all die here!”

Alright, looking at this sight, there were already veterans who roared furiously and charged forward.

Complete Berserk state is the ace (race talent) of Beastmen, Berserkers and Ogres. In exchange of their rationality, they burn through their life force for terrifying strength. Perhaps, they would die of exhaustion if they weren’t treated in time after their Berserk ends, but until then, they would be a fearless killing machine.

Kavan and Dixu’s combined fighting prowess is Gold-rank, so they would be minimally be of the strength of a Legend-rank after Complete Berserk. The judgement of the veterans were accurate. If the both of them weren’t killed in time, everyone in their surroundings would probably die.

But…

The next moment, the 4 eyes of the salivating Ogre turn completely white. Then, their heads suddenly slant and they crash to the ground, their gigantic body raising a cloud of dust.

“How is this possible? It isn’t Complete Berserk but rather, they were knocked out? From a blow of this young man?”

Disbelief can be seen on the face of the strongest mercenary of the group who were charging towards the Ogre. He really found it hard to accept such a reality. He was once partners with Kavan and Dixu and he knows how tough that Berserker and Shaman Ogre are physically. In fact, he has even seen the Berserk state Kavan and Dixu tearing a war elephant apart but now, they were knocked out by a single blow?

After the dust settles, the cheerful smiling young man has already disappeared.

At the same time, I, who accidentally used my full strength in the punch, made use of the chaos to escape.

The basic strength of a normal Ogre is 16 points and as a Berserker, Kavan and Dixu should have at least 18 points. It is indeed quite fearsome compared to the 10 points of an average human. However, when placed in comparison with one who have exceeded the limits of mortals, 20 points, there is a difference in terms of quality between the two. Furthermore, I accidentally used a strength exertion technique that I have been practising recently. This is also the main reason why they fell in one blow.

Why did I have to escape?

“Darn it, even if I have to make a reputation for myself, but this kind of striking reputation is really unbearable. If I don’t escape, I wouldn’t be able to escape the title of ‘Ogre Knight’ or some similar nicknames.”

I still roughly get the mercenary industry. For veterans, their titles often spread further than their real name. Furthermore, this title is often related to how they made their name for the first time, it would be hard to change it after it is fixed. It would be great if it was some elegant title like Dragon Slayer. But, imagine ‘Professional Kobold Slayer’, ‘The Destroyer of Gnomes’ and ‘The Ejector of Dogs’ kind of titles, you wouldn’t be able to raise your head for the rest of your life.

As for ‘Holy Knight who is stronger than Ogres’ and ‘Ogre Holy Knight’ kind of bizarre titles, given my Luck stat, it is definitely possible that I would receive such titles. Thus, it would be best for me to escape as far as possible.

Of course, before I left, I conveniently completed one of my objective. Holding the bounty in hand, I found a way to spend my time before the cleaning ends.

“B-rank bounty: Blood Hand Brotherhood Band, an organisation comprising pickpockets and assassins. Dead or alive, 100 gold will be awarded for normal members, a minimum of 1000 for their top brass and 50000 gold for the head of the band, Blood Hand Jim. If the task is completed before the inauguration ceremony, the bounty will be doubled.”

Although the reward is much less than the A-class quest, what I require now is intelligence and a target to train with. When it comes to intelligence, who could compare with the thief bands who deal in intelligence.

Very quickly, from the Count with broken eggs, I received basic intelligence on the Blood Hand Brotherhood Band. A lower mid tier thief band with less than 200 members. They had just carried out a big operation, stealing the tributes that a certain country was going to present to the Emperor, thus causing a bounty to be placed on them. It is said that their old den is by the harbor.

“200 people? Let’s try to complete it before dinner. Un, I will bring back intelligence with me so that no one can say that I am slacking off.”

——————–

【Roland.Mist

Strength: 20

Agility: 19

Stamina: 20

Intelligence: 29

Will: 29

Charm: 19

Race Talent: War Angel Form,Sinful Devil God Form, Sword of Order, Titan Body

LV22 Order Knight/LV22 Chaos Witch King】

In reality, ever since my revival, while being delighted over my high starting point, I have been thinking about what kind of training route I should walk on.

Not talking about Ice Magic and Necromancy first, as an experienced Holy Knight, I am still quite confident in my close combat abilities.

However, for this balanced and powerful physical body, if I were to choose the route of heavy armor and dual blade, then my 19 points in Agility would be wasted. But, if I were to wear light armor and choose the route of an agile Warrior, then it would be a waste of my 20 points Strength which surpasses the limits of mortals.

But, what surprises me the most is that despite my primary job being Order Knight, I didn’t have a main stat. My overall fighting power could be increased with the rise of any one of my stats. Thus, I hesitated.

“Don’t tell me I would have the walk the route of dual blades? Or should I learn from barbarians, carrying a heavy weapon in each of my hand? But, that would be starting anew.”

Changing one’s fighting style isn’t an easy task. However, a small unexpected event made me make up my determination.

【Frozen Air】

That treacherous buff that can be enchanted on the blade of one’s weapon, causing one’s opponent to unknowingly fall into a desperate situation. Initially, I planned to use the radiant Holy Light to cover the Frozen Air on my sword, so that it would be even more undetectable and deadly.

However, reality never works as planned. I tried many time but whether it is Holy Light of Power of Law, the moment they come into contact with Frozen Air, one of them would dissipate. It is either because their attributes clash with one another or that I am unable to meld them together in my current state.

Ignore Holy Light and focus on Frozen Air instead? Can a Holy Knight who doesn’t use Holy Light still be considered a Holy Knight? That would be either a pure Warrior or a 2nd rate rookie Warrior who is unable to focus on his swordsmanship.

Naturally, I turned my attention into wielding dual blades. One sword will be enchanted with Holy Light while the other with Frozen Air. Theoretically, using 2 unique powers to strike my enemy concurrently will definitely reduce my enemies to tears.

Furthermore, not only can this bring out the advantage of my high stats which are developing at the same pace, a fighting style that uses two kind of attributes is also quite suited for me, given that I have many different attributes.. This also gives me the advantage of choosing what attribute I should enchant on each of my two sword to counter my opponent.

But when I brought up my intention with the others, the Knights, including Diana in the mix, don’t approve of my thoughts, viewing it as an impossible task and a waste of effort.

“Dual blades don’t simply mean using 2 swords, it is a totally different concept from wielding 2 swords in both hands. The cycle between attack and defense is extremely important. When the left sword strikes, even if the right sword doesn’t go on the offense, it must move or the balance of the body will be shaken. Splitting one’s focus into doing multiple things at the same time is the norm for dual blades. At the same time, it has a very high requirement of one’s balance and agility. It is a style almost unique to Elf Swordsmen and you are a human…”

These are the words Diana said to dissuade to me. She almost directly said ‘Dual blades is a profession for Elf Swordsmen. It is impossible for you to learn it.”

“Dual blades? Or wielding 2 swords? Haha, are you a 3 meter tall Ogre or a 2.5 meter Highland Barbarian. To actually be able to think of such a ridiculous thing. If you can achieve it, tonight, I will…”

Alright, looking at the scene in front her, Momo swallows her remaining words.

At that moment, I was wielding a sword in my left and right hand each. In the start, my motion was still rigid and rusty. But, as I swung about, my motions gradually got more and more fluid. Eventually, my standard got to the level of veterans who have several decades of experience behind them.

“I don’t believe it. It must be just the empty form without any contents inside. Come, let’s spar.”

Alright, Momo personally challenges me. To the astonishment of the crowd, after my initial fluster, I gradually got control of the flow of the battle. The heavy dual swords were so dexterous as though they were part of my body. The coordination of the two swords had a light and swift tempo, dancing a waltz that brings about an image of the rapid flow of a stream.

For Momo who was lacking in strength, she didn’t even hold on for 30 seconds when she was defeated and retreated with numb hands.

“This is almost a miracle!’

The Legend Holy Knight Diana looks at me with surprise and disbelief. Then, she smiles and nods her head, as though that this was the way it should be.

In reality, there was no doubt that I had cheated.

【Ambidextrous: Allows your left hand to be as dexterous as your right hand. Prerequisite: Agility 15+ — System Notice: There is really no difference between left and right hand, please don’t use this skill to do meaningless things】

There was a period when I was roaming in the Elf Kingdom when I was so bored that I started training to be ambidextrous, that’s why that gray-colored option appeared in the skill tree. However, due to the fact that it is the core ability to a dual blade Swordsman, even though my basic stats fits the prerequisite, I still paid 3 skill points for it.

【Giant Wielding: Being blessed by God’s strength, you are able to wield a dual-handed weapon like a one-handed sword. However, due to inexperience, the accuracy and damage will be significantly lowered. Prerequisite: Strength 18+ — System Notice: Even though Giant Wielding is a close-combat skill is an universal talent, but with 18 Strength, you can only learn it. To use the weapon properly, you will need at least 20 Strength. If one isn’t of Giant race, normally only Legend-rank Warriors can fit the criteria. However, by then, their battle style would already be fixed, so how would they change to dual-wielding dual-handed weapons at this point. That’s why this is called the most useless skill.】

After devoting 4 skill points into it, countless battle techniques and experience gushes into my mind and my body recalls those sensations. This saved me a large amount of training time. Under the gazes of disbelief by the crowd, I grasped the basics of dual-wielding dual-handed swords.

Of course, this is only the start which brings about the possibility of trying such a battle style. However, if I were to want to become a grandmaster-class dual-wielding expert like in the past, I would still require countless amount of time to grind my techniques along with actual battle experience and the opponents in front of me were very responsible sparring partners.

“Hah.”

The dual-handed sword in my right hand radiates with golden light, brightening this pitch black underground chamber. The next moment, the thieves who were hiding in the shadows were smacked flying.

Un, smack, not cut. Dual-wielding heavy swords is a classical way of using strength to subdue others. They can use their weight and its size to bully others by smacking, crushing and chopping them.

But, seeing how there was no movement after being sent smashing into the wooden crates, it seems that for the physically weak thieves, being smacked or cut doesn’t really make a difference.

“It is a pity. Just consider it your misfortune then.”

Shaking my head, I continue walking forward. The moment I walked into the next room, an explosion occurs and smoke rises up from the ground. Then, from my front and my back, thieves and assassins come charging out from hidden chambers.

Alright, looking at the green oily daggers, I would be courting death if I were to go easy on them. Thus, using my full strength, it became a one-sided battle.

The moment the battle started, I immediately understood why the Silver-rank Momo would be defeated so easily. Just by changing a battle style which makes full use of the advantage of my basic stats, my fighting prowess immediately multiples by several folds.

Still the same agile, lethal and accurate Monarch Swordsmanship without any tricks or unorthodox moves, but the swords come faster and faster, heavier and heavier, subduing the opponent through speed and strength.

TL: Translated as Sword of the King previously in chp 63, changed both to Monarch Swordsmanship.

For the assassins who depend heavily on agility, losing in a battle of speed is fatal.

The attacking arc for a dual-handed sword is already quite large, not to mention that we are in a narrow underground chamber. Once I start swinging that two pair of dual-handed sword, the space they have left for dodging is reduced significantly.

When the assassins were losing out in the battle of agility which they were proud of, the ones who was on the offense is basically me. Furthermore, if they wanted to close in on me, they would have to tank a heavy sword of mine.

After barely taking a heavy sword of mine, which was enchanted with Holy Light, his balance is already unsteady. As for my left sword, it is like a dangerous viper prowling about. It doesn’t strike easily but the moment it does, it is aimed directly at the vitals, either their waist breaks or their throat would be crushed.

The Silver-rank Shadow Assassin is the strongest of the bunch. Before the effect of my Frozen Air could take effect, he only managed to block 3 hits of mine before he was cut into 2 by my right sword.

In just 10 short seconds, the thieves lost 7 or 8 of their companion.

When their leader, the strongest of them all here, died meaninglessly in battle, the thieves finally recognise that the opponent in front of them is an adversary they cannot overcome. Thus, they scattered and fled without any hesitation.

I didn’t chase them, because the Queen of Banshees was already complaining by my ear.

“If you don’t hurry up, that fellow is going to escape. My clone is about to be taken away. It is difficult for me to split a clone at my current state, so don’t waste it.”

She does have the right to complain. The reason why I am able to find this lair is really thanks to her.

How did we find this well-hidden thief band? I played the role of a profitable target to them and allowed the Blood Hand Brotherhood Band to pickpocket my wallet, in it is an extremely valuable tear-shaped gemstone.

Just like in the intelligence I received, the Brotherhood Band has extremely strict control over their basic members. Very quickly, even though there is some mysterious slime on the corners of the gemstone, the tear-shaped gemstone was quickly passed to the hands of the top brass of the Blood Hand Brotherhood Guild. Afterwards, following the direction of the Child of Greed, I traced them all the way here.

Harloys continues to complain by my ear. If I don’t hurry up, all of my preparatory work would be in vain. If the head of the band were to escape, I would lose out on the bounty rewards and the tributes, not to mention that my primary objective is the intelligence from the thief band.

Despite in position, I couldn’t see any path. There is definitely a secret passage in this underground tunnel. Thus, I hastened my search but very quickly, I realised that I didn’t have any points in Detection and Mechanisms. Despite obviously feeling the presence of the Child of Greed inside, I just cannot find the mechanism.

“Forget it, being skillful really isn’t for me. I am more used to crashing through using brute strength. Sword of Order! Blast me a hole!”

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