"It was me." Karn said as he walked in front of the red hooded individual and raised his sword with an unwavering look on his face.
The hooded figure was surprised, as he saw his opponent, not getting intimidated by this sudden burst of his Qi.
"Why don't I feel any hint of Mana or Qi from your body."
"Because I don't use Mana or Qi, I'm a Swordsman, not a Magician or a Martial artist."
Hearing the the hooded figure let out the chuckle
'What the hell, it's just someone of a Warrior Class' he thought inwardly.
It's already a known fact in the entire continent that a warrior class, is the weakest among the other major classes in it's initial stages.
Unlike other classes, it takes one to reach the Rank of a '4 star', and learn to operate aura, but that's a feat easier said than done.
"You look like a young man in his early twenties, Even if you're just a mere Warrior Class Swordsman..."
"Fifteen"
"Huh !"
"I'm Fifteen years old." Karn repeated, as felt irritated of people keep getting his age wrong.
Karn has been training Swordsmanship for three and a half years now, as all those training has turned his body ripped, as all those exposure from heat and turned his skin tan, there's no way anyone would say this person in front of them Is just a mere Fifteen year old kid.
"H..He is just a kid" Martin murmured to himself, as it appears even he had no clue about anything about this person he took in.
"And you must be Solace." Karn said glancing towards the red hooded figure.
"Y..Y..You, How did you know my name ?, who send you here ?" Solace immediately panicked, as he doesn't seem to recall giving his name to anyone, including his own bandit members.
"Relax,I just guessed it from that huge signboard placed outside this cave." Karn said with a mocking tone.
"Y..Y..You" Solace roared angrily, as he early felt embarrased, by falling into such obvious trick, especially from someone who wasn't even half his age.
Solace immediately clenched his hand, as a dense white 'Qi' enveloped his fists, as he threw a punch aiming towards Karn.
'If your facing an opponent stronger than you, try to mess with his focus.' Karn thought inwardly, as he remembered all the teachings he got from Ian Barnes and Rustom, as he finally got to use it in a practical sense.
Karn Immediately jumped sideway, dodging the punch that was thrown straight towards him.
As Solace missed his mark, and hit a large boulder behind Karn, before turning it into a powdered dust.
~Gasp~
The Mercenaries around them who witnessed this scene, and the state of that rock with just a mere single punch from this bandit, gasped as they held their breath, as the fighting spirit in their eyes that was ignited just a few moments ago completely dimmed down.
"He is fine, and he doesn't look scared" Martin murmured, while everyone among his group already accepted the outcome, while he noticed a certain black haired figure, still fighting with an expressionless face.
"Tsk~tsk, is that all, I guess a 'Grandmaster' is not that big of a deal, or maybe you're just one untalented piece of shit."
Hearing such abrupt and constant mockery, Solace felt his all his blood reaching his head out of pure anger, while his eyes turned bloodshot red as he roared.
"You better remember those words, when I skin you alive."
Solace immediately threw series of random punches and kicks on Karn, containing all the strength he could muster as a 'Martial Grandmaster'.
Each punch he threw left a huge meters long crater on the ground, and each kick created a huge surge wind.
But his opponent, seems to dodge his attacks with a mere sidesteps or by ducking just right in time.
"Stop running you fucking insect." Solace growled.
"Is it my fault that you're incompetent to land even a single hit on me." Karn said, while not forgetting to make a mocking gesture, to further aggravate solace's anger.
Although Karn said those word's, but his entire back was sweating, as it turned out he put his entire focus on dodging Solace's attack.
Cause even a single hit from Solace might land him in a critical state, if it wasn't for his constant training, as well as his experience from having daily spars with Barnes and Rustom, he might not not have survived this long.
'compared to both Barnes and Rustom, this guy is weak, and by a lot.' Karn concluded.
Solace took a huge deep breath as he immediately halted his steps, as he seemed to have realised, his opponent playing tricks on him.
"Throwing me off my game by making me angry, and Being a '3 Star' Swordsman at mere age of fifteen, I could tell someone put lot's of effort to cultivate you." Solace said with a grimmaced face.
"I wonder what face that person would make when he see's your shredded body."
Karn had a crack on his expression, as Solace indirectly mentioned Ian.
This finally left an opening on Karn's guard, as Solace didn't fail to capitalise on it, as he darted forwards,clenching his fist emitting a radiant yellow colored Qi, while aiming a punch right toward's Karn's heart.
2nd Form of Mountain Fist Technique :-
MOUNTAIN AVALANCHE
"Fuck"
Marn immediately cussed out as he raised his sword up high, blocking the incoming fist aimed towards him.
~Clank~
~Bang~
As the sword and the fist collided against with each other, before a loud noise, was heard, as all those nearby by rocks shattered and turned to dust.
Solace took a few steps back from the impact, as for his opponent, he was thrown a few meters away from the area of impact.
Karn immediately got up on his feet while he readied his stance, while swallowing his own blood that came out of his mouth, Cause he couldn't afford to appear weak, Especially now of all instance.
Even after he barely managed to block the incoming attack with his Sword, the aftershocks of the attack was devastating enough to injure and mess his entire internal organs, as he could still feel a tingling sensation errupting all over his body.
Solace frowned a bit, as he saw his opponent still standing, despite taking his attack head on.
Before he finally took a glance towards the long black sword Karn's been holding all this time.
"That's not an ordinary sword is it." Solace concluded "That makes sense, managing to take a direct hit from my 'Mountain fist technique', would require something special."
Solace placed a greedy glance towards Karn's sword, as he didn't forget the fact that his opponent was someone a Rank lower than him, and without any ability to use Mana,Qi or Aura.
Despite that, this sword was resilient enough to protect his owner, this fact alone made that sword even more valuable.
What Solace thought was indeed the truth, the biggest reason why Karn managed to survive earlier, is thanks to this 'Heroic' grade sword he has been carrying along with him.
"Hand me that sword and I'll let you and all your people leave."
Karn merely chuckled without giving him any response, as he merely felt amused of this obvious blatant lie that Solace threw at him.
While all the Mercenaries standing in the corner made a sour face, as even they could tell, this person has no intentions of letting any of them leave this place alive.
Seeing that his trick didn't seem to work, Solace grumbled.
"Then die."
As he rushed towards Karn, holding his fist up in the air, as the Yellow Qi surrounded his entire arm.
1st Form of Mountain Fist Technique:-
MOUNTAIN SPLITTING FIST
Looking at his incoming charging opponent, Karn immediately decided to drop all his defences, and go all out on offense.
He clenched his sword, while raising it high up in the sky, as he channelled his force on the sharpened edges of his blade.
Second Heaven of Nine Heaven's Swordsmanship :-
HEAVEN'S VERDICT
A move that looked like a Vertical slash, but not exactly one, descended out of Karn's sword, as the onlookers felt that the entire will of heaven's was enveloped on that sword.
~Swooosh~ Bang ~
As Soon as the fist and the sword collided, a large gust of wind errupted, leaving all the craters and stones nearby, to fly away from the impact.
Soon the dust settled in, as the mercenaries still kept their eyes settled, where this Epic battle that would decide their fate was taking place.
Soon two individual's appeared in their line of sight, with the black haired young man standing on his knees,as he seem completely out of breath, huffing heavily out of exhaustion, while the bandit who appeared to have lost his hood,exposing his bald head and vicious face.
"Just what in the hell was that swordsmanship" Solace murmured as he glanced towards that huge cut mark, that appeared from right side of his chest all the way down to his abdomen.
" If I hadn't backed out in time, I might have gotten cleaved in two."
During the confrontation earlier, he was the who seemed to be on the losing end, as his opponent managed to take advantage of the long range of the sword, as he soon felt a sharp sword cutting through his flesh and skin,before his attack could reach his opponent.
"It seem's you've exhausted everything you got on that move earlier, With those swordsmanship and that sword, as well as that talent, I could tell, you're background must be extraordinary." Solace said as he lieserly walked towards Karn, who has been lifelessly kneeling on the ground.
"But count it as your misfortune to have run into me...." Solace immediately stopped talking, as he saw his opponent murmuring something to himself.
"Huh!, What was that ?, what are you mumbling on about." Solace asked,as he walked towards Karn, to hear what in the hell he was saying.
"O...On..."
"What in the hell is this bastard saying ?" as Solace brought his ears near Karn's face, as he thought he would be hearing a last plea of mercy from this haughty individual infront of him.
"One Focus"
~ Splurt ~
A large body, of a bald man, suddenly fell on the ground, along with a gapingly large hole, quite evident on his chest.
Karn glanced at the dead body of Solace who still had a shocked expression, plastered on his face, as he held his black sword fully drenched with his opponent's blood.
"Now I've exhausted everything I've got." Karn murmured.