Nova proceeded to show William an overall report of the goblin alongside William's stats.
「
GOBLIN
HP: 120/120
Grade: 1
Sex: Male | Height: 4'5" | Weight: 30.5kg
Primary Weapon: Wooden Stick
-General Stats-
Strength: 8 | Speed: 16 | Stamina: 12
Agility: 17 | Dexterity: 18 | Intelligence: 5
Attack: 15 | Defense: 11
-Weapon Stats-
Grade: 0
Type: Melee (Blunt)
Height: 18" | Weight: 1.2kg
Attack Damage: 18
Defense Power: 13
-Skills-
◇ Downward Strike
◇ Side Roll
◇ Sweeper
◇ Nutcracker
◇ Air Maneuver
」
William nodded, "The goblin is faster, more agile, and dexterous. Its strength is almost equal to mine. So Nova, what's the plan?"
In William's eyes, the goblin glitched into existence. It was holding the same heavy wooden stick and looked at William with confusion written all over its face and a red line above its head.
It was William's first time seeing a hologram, even adding his experience from his past life. He was too surprised to speak.
「I have analyzed a total of 135 possible movements the goblin can make and the best possible counter to each movement based on the book of the basics of swordsmanship. In a battle, each movement is weaved in with another to either attack, counter or dodge the opponent's action, creating a combination. As you start, I will reduce the goblin's speed and agility and will also limit the number of movements used to form a combination.」
"So you'll gradually make it better in all those aspects?"
「Yes, master. After you land a critical strike on the goblin, it will disappear and a better goblin shall replace it. As you fight, signs will be given for you to follow. If the goblin lands a critical strike, a 3d virtual image of you will be shown the best way to respond to the action based on the book of basic swordsmanship.」
"Nice. Battle after battle. It should also increase my stamina and endurance. Let's begin…" William declared.
He went out back to the fields. The sky was empty and the moon couldn't be seen yet.
The night winds swept through William's hair as he held his short wooden sword tight and faced the goblin and then the latter charged at him.
The goblin wasn't as fast as Athena's summoned goblin but as it got to William, it jumped into the air and held its heavy bludgeon with its two hands, planning to strike down at William.
Suddenly, the goblin turned extra slow in midair and two blue-lit footsteps appeared on the floor beside William. They were numbered 1 and 2, this was the footwork. Then a blue preimage slightly went out from William's body gently as a guide for him to follow.
William instantly understood. He followed the preimage closely and placed his left leg on the first footstep and then his right on the second.
William smoothly moved to the side, gently evading the goblin's strike following the simple movement and footwork.
…Niiiiiiiice. William thought as he closely followed the blue preimage.
He raised his wooden sword immediately he evaded the goblin's strike and cleanly slit its throat.
This was part of the basics of the Gentle Leaf Sword Style. Simple, gentle, elegant, effective, and precise.
William knew that the real goblin would've flipped midair at the sight of the incoming sword but Nova limited the 3d projection's speed, agility, and movements.
The red line above the goblin's head representing its health bar reduced completely in a second and the projection deconstructed into 1s and 0s.
As quickly as the projection disappeared, another goblin appeared and charged at William.
William smiled widely and thought, "After 10 years, I'm finally making progress."
…
Athena laid leisurely on the couch in Viscount Maxton's room while Selene sat elegantly with her back straight and her hand on the other on her lap. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed with her eyes closed.
The room was so quiet even the slightest sound might echo through.
Athena had her hands behind her head as she was lying on the couch and staring at the ceiling. She finally broke the silence, "I went to the underground market and I smelt something foul."
Selene gently opened her eyes and slightly faced Athena.
Athena continued, "You must understand what I mean, right? There's a sorcerer in Denvern."
Selene's expression remained the same, Athena added, "And I'm sure they signed a contract with an evil spirit creature. You cursed William because he had traces of demonic energy on him, didn't you?"
Selene shook her head slightly and said with her eyes closed, "Whatever you are about to say, Athena, doesn't matter. Even if he wasn't the one that attacked Walter it's still best to keep him in chains. We both know what he will become, don't we?"
Athena took a deep breath to calm herself down and quickly changed the direction of the conversation, "The citizens see 'Count Walter' as their hero. For several months now there have been increasing cases of missing children. Who do you think is strong enough to overpower someone on the level of a cardinal?"
Selene looked at Athena and said, "So you are saying this sorcerer had something to do with the missing children and Walter was becoming a problem for them?"
Athena nodded, "There might be more than one sorcerer. It is almost impossible for one human to successfully force an evil spirit creature into a contract."
"I have sensed the evil power from William twice." Selene spoke firmly.
"It could mean someone William knows has something to do with the sorcerer or is the sorcerer. You can't conclude William is evil."
Selene didn't reply to Athena. For her, Athena's opinion would always remain an opinion.
Athena looked at Selene with sad eyes and asked, "Why didn't you return to Heaven?"
Selene shot Athena a glare before closing her eyes back.
Athena slightly gnashed her teeth then stood up from the couch and walked to the door before stopping and asking, "At least do you have anything that can help me in finding the sorcerer?"
"Ask William." Selene replied.
Athena just sighed and left the room.
❈ ❈ ❈
William was lying down on the grass, facing the pre-early morning sky. His whole body was drenched in sweat.
William watched as the sun rose with a bright smile on his tired face. He has sleep bags under his eyes. In his right hand was the wooden sword.
He got up and went straight to his room to catch some shut-eye.
Gilde knew how much he trained during the night so she let him go have some rest.
…
When the day reached noon, Athena barged into William's room and stomped her feet before stopping in front of William's bed.
"Haaarrrrggghhhh…" William snored like a hibernating grizzly bear.
The vein on Athena's head popped out even more and she screamed, "WHEN WILL YOU WAKE UP?!"
"Huh?!" William jumped up and fell off the bed.
"Ouch…" He held his back as he stood back up and yelled back, "What's wrong with you, you stupid midget?!"
Athena plugged her nose with her hand and countered, "Your breath stinks you disgusting perv!"
"You disturbed my sleep you b*tch!"
"You're supposed to defeat the goblin you a*shole! I pitied you yesterday and see what I get for it!"
William remembered the pain from yesterday then felt grateful to Athena for letting him take the day off and apologized, "Oh, sorry. Y'know how pissed people can get when their sleep is disturbed."
"Hmph!" Athena folded her arms, "You can't keep losing, or else we won't move forward and you're here snoring! You should take your training seriously."
William slouched his back and answered calmly, "I understand."
Athena nodded and said with her eyes closed, "As long as you understand."
Immediately she opened her eyes, she saw William almost naked with only his underwear on. She screamed and covered her eyes with her hands, "Ahhh! My eyes! What are you doing?"
William nonchalantly replied as he walked to the bathroom, "Going to take a shower, what el–"
He abruptly stopped and turned his head to reveal a devilish smile, "Hmm, what am I doing? I wonder…"