A flurry of kicks follows me wherever I go. Fighting Navi when she actually tries is horrific. No wonder Shin acts like a scared rabbit in front of her.
I once again retreat in order to open up some distance between us. Navi immediately follows up with a roundhouse kick aimed at my head. Since I can't keep retreating forever I activate my tail whip skill and launch a counter kick.
The phantom image of a sanguine tail shatters upon impact and my kick is blown away by hers. The only good news, I didn't have to retreat since my kick blocked most of the force behind Navi's kick.
"Finally using skills? Let's keep going then!"
I feel like Navi's next kick has more power behind it. She must be letting loose a little more than before. Some foolish part deep within me wonders what would happen if she used her full power.
"You shouldn't be thinking about that right now."
She's right. I kick out with the tail whip skill again and counter another kick.
"Nice reflexes you got there. As for your question about my full power, you'd be reduced to a splatter of blood on the floor."
That says nothing! Even I could have done that before I died. Give me a number 100, 150, 200?
"Why should I tell you? If you want to know you'll have to grow strong enough to find out."
Her answer frustrates me but what am I to do? I can't even talk to her. This whole conversation is only possible because she can read my mind. My ragged breaths make it impossible for me to talk, dodging or countering her kicks takes all I have.
Suddenly, Navi stops and catches my counter kick in midair. Her grip is like a vice and the phantom of the sanguine tail dissipates immediately.
"Well, you seem to have calmed down. Now it's time for your VR training to be tested."
Already?
"Yes. Come along."
Navi grabs my hand and I'm once again dragged through the building by a beauty. So what will Navi turn out to be? A werewolf lusting after my flesh?
"Come now, not everyone wants to take a bite out of you. Also, do I look like one of those dogs to you? I'm much cuter!"
A wolf cub then?
"I'm not an animal! And before you say it, I'm not an angel either!"
We enter a room where multiple monitors are displaying a valley just like in my dreams. A bowl of murder and blood shone upon by a cruel, crimson sun.
"Phew, looks like we made it just in time. Kent should enter any moment now."
And like Navi said, at the edge of the valley a red swirl appears and ejects a human form. It's a pale young man with an aura of nobility. He looks nothing like master Oden. I can't detect any trace of the intimidating air that is common for sanguine swordsmen.
"Hmm, look at his status. He looks like a paper tiger."
"We can look at his status?!!"
"Of course, how else would we be able to replicate all his stat parameters and skills?"
And indeed, on one of the monitors, a status window is displayed.
Status Kent Bloodborne Lv. 60 sanguine swordsman
Mp 10+59
Strength 10+118
Constitution 10+118
Speed 10+118
Magic ability 0+59
Skills:
Fine arts lv. 4; sword dance lv.2; Energy sword lv. 8; premonition lv.1; sanguine boost lv. 1
"How is he a sanguine swordsman?!!"
I can't believe it! This guy literally has the worst qualifications to call himself a sanguine swordsman. His class may say that he is one but he doesn't have a single supplementary skill!
His sanguine boost is only level one. An increase of ten percent is nothing without the other skills. Just looking at his status makes me angry.
And what's with his other skills anyway. Energy sword level 8! How did he get it so high when he hasn't even gotten the basic skills of his class yet?
"What build is he going for?"
Navi's question isn't unfounded but I don't think there's an actual build behind this mess. At least not one I can think of.
"What now? Is he just going to stand there?"
"Jade, you are the organizer of this training so that's your responsibility. See that microphone there with the red button? Press it and you can directly talk to him. Then you can tell him what he's supposed to do."
Well, it's true that I'm technically the organizer of all this but all I really did was come up with the idea and let you scan my brain.
...
Fine.
I walk to the microphone and press the button.
"Welcome to the sanguine VR program. This is a trial program that focuses on leveling the sanguine boost skill of the sanguine swordsmen. Your objective is to defeat all the monsters in the bowl- ahem, basin. For optimal effect, you should take on the bear last. While doing this you should attempt to keep sanguine boost active at all times."
I release the button and see Kent nod on one of the screens. He draws his sword and closes his eyes. A familiar air of when someone uses sanguine boost rises around him but it feels kind of off.
As if reacting to the skill being used, one of the monsters nearby disengages and sprints over towards him. When the monster enters a distance of three meters to Kent he suddenly begins to move. The tip of his sword moves like water and his body moves along with the flow. Behind the moving sword, eight energy projections appear as he activates his energy sword skill.
The beauty of his sword is unmissable but what is missable is his target. His sword passes right in front of the monster, a wolf, and he keeps moving on with the flow.
"Not quite, look behind him."
After Navi's prompt, I look behind him and see that the row of swords that has been following the original blade hasn't missed. The wolf must have moved forward after seeing the swing miss him. That, in turn, placed him right where the following eight would arrive moments later.