Weslin could clearly feel the rising murmurs of dissent among the dwindling number of teams.
Survive 30 seconds?
Under Yueying's formidable strength, this number seemed like a joke uttered in passing.
It was filled with the organizers' mockery.
Before the next artificial human warrior stepped up, Weslin took the initiative to announce, "5 seconds! It seems our esteemed lady of the Elf Race believes that only giving her all can bring better progress. All you need to do is survive for 5 seconds against the Elven miss! Successful warriors may make any request of me! Any at all!"
[Side Quest—Duel, information has changed.]
[Duel: Having observed that your opponent's strength is terrifyingly unimaginable, you now only need to survive for a shorter amount of time in order to learn some of her abilities. Quest Requirements: Survive for 0/5 seconds in the duel with the Elf Race's Yueying. Quest Reward: Target Character Ability Extraction Card*1.]
"5 seconds!"
The female warrior with wheat-colored skin stepped forward, her expression transforming from perplexed to excited.
If it's just 5 seconds...
"Swish~"
"Clang~"
The elongated faces of comrades lining up in front of Bai E shimmered with two spots of excitement.
"I've been watching her for a long time, and I have spotted her weakness."
"Swish~"
"Clang~"
...
30 seconds and 5 seconds, there was no fundamental difference.
Just the duration of one move.
Yueying, under her hood, let a contemptuous and calm light flash in her eyes.
These artificial human warriors were indeed mass-produced by humans, great in quality but devoid of creative talent.
In the simple drills, not a single artificial human warrior could master even Level 1 weapon proficiency, not even those who rigorously trained in the most standard manner according to the instructors.
In fact, Yueying had been holding back considerably. If any of these artificial warriors had shown the slightest hint of a move infused with the essence of weapon mastery during their attacks, she would have allowed them that one to two percent chance of performance.
Unfortunately, there were none...
And these were the finest individuals selected by human instructors from a pool of 2,000.
It was somewhat disappointing.
Yueying's veil drooped as she heard another calm and steady voice in front of her.
"Please enlighten me."
...
"It's Bai's turn! It's Bai's turn!"
Dashan was visibly excited.
Song Ying gazed into the distance, trying to discern any trace of a master's aura from Bai E, "Don't tell me he'll be taken down in one move as well?"
"You, do you think Bai can survive two moves?"
The smaller girl responded to the question with an unrelated shake of her head, "He trained very seriously."
But against such a master... it's not enough.
...
Yueying lifted her head slightly to get a clear view of her opponent.
A man of average height with unremarkable features stood not far from her, brandishing a battle saber in greeting.
The guy who had swung 1,011 times?
This was the artificial human warrior who trained the most with standard posture. Previously, Yueying held the greatest expectations for him, and now...
Yueying gently lifted her saber, signaling that she was ready to defend.
Bai E held the blade with his left hand, gripping the hilt with his right, launching a charge.
The blade was too heavy; holding it this way would make it easier to wield.
The first slash...
In Yueying's eyes, she could see the trajectory of the falling blade, simple and direct, without any fancy flourishes.
But... was he holding back strength?
With one hand, Yueying lifted her battle saber to meet the strike.
No matter how the opponent attacked, she would always vanquish them in one move, but that didn't mean she always struck just once.
Executing all moves within a short time frame with a tactical objective constituted one move, also known as an attack routine. This was a combat concept that had long been propagated within the Elf Race.
Facing Bai E's attack, she tentatively seized on the weakest point in his force output, attempting to defeat him.
Many artificial humans had tried to change their moves, but mere change was pointless.
She was faster.
Unless... they could seize the opportunity she intentionally left open.
"Clang!"
The collision of blades rang out clearly.
As Bai E pressed down on the blade with his left hand, pulling away, a harsh grating noise emanated from the friction between the two sword edges.
[Your attack caused a heavy strike, but failed to penetrate the opponent's defense.]
[In practical combat, you have delivered a heavy strike, Heavy Weapon Specialization experience +2.]
[Current Heavy Weapon Specialization experience 3/300, upon reaching 300 points, "Level 2 Heavy Weapon Specialization" can be mastered.]
Bai E, stepping back, looked on with a stunned expression.
He landed a critical strike!
The additional attack power from Level 1 Heavy Weapon Mastery wasn't very useful in such a skillful duel, with the only possible advantage for Bai E being the 1% chance of landing critical hits.
A critical strike is a brief confrontation where the attacker strongly overpowers the defender.
Whether it's offense against offense or offense against defense, a critical strike can be triggered, commonly when heavy weapons hit a vital spot or when striking powerfully against a joint.
The critical strike rate granted by mastery isn't just an unreasonable random trigger, but an instinct to find or even induce the opponent's weaknesses during the fight.
The instinct granted by Level 1 mastery isn't very impressive, and Bai E didn't count on exploiting that tiny chance during the short battle.
The observation from below made him realize that the Miss Yue Ying from the Elf Race was unbeatable.
Survive for 5 seconds?
Completing this task was difficult, and his current move was purely about doing his best and leaving the rest to fate.
But as it turned out, was he in luck this moment?
...
"He didn't fall, he didn't fall!"
Dashan was somewhat excited, as if the one who had endured a move without defeat was himself.
The remaining challengers in the synthetic human team were visibly moved.
"He held on!"
"It's that guy again!"
["Lucky Strike" charge +3.]
Regardless, the appearance of the first companion to withstand a move gave the rest who hadn't yet challenged a sliver of renewed confidence.
Perhaps, were those before just too weak?
Standing here, to some extent, they were all elites.
No one doubted themselves.
"Again."
This was the first time everyone heard Yue Ying's voice in this duel.
Cool and crisp.
Like a foggy figure under the obscure moonlight, hard to discern…
Bai E silently pulled away and charged back in.
5 seconds, and showing any sign of fear wouldn't count.
As he drew his sword and left, the countdown on the mission panel accordingly paused.
Nothing but battle!
[Your attack was a critical strike, but it failed to break through the opponent's defense.]
...
[Your attack was a critical strike, but it failed to break through the opponent's defense.]
...
[Your attack was a critical strike, but it failed to break through the opponent's defense.]
...
[You have landed multiple critical strikes consecutively in actual combat, Heavy Weapon Mastery experience +15.] (Accumulated)
[Current Heavy Weapon Mastery experience 18/300, upon reaching 300 points you will master "Level 2 Heavy Weapon Specialization".]
In a brief series of exchanges, each one was a critical hit!
1% chance.
Even as Bai E initially thought it was luck, he now perceived a problem.
This Elf lady seemed to be intentionally guiding him, turning the original 1% chance into some kind of inevitability.
Of course, the prerequisite was that he, as the opponent, could precisely seize every opportunity she provided.
If he failed to grasp the fleeting chance, Miss Yueying's blade would show no mercy.
This was the real essence that a warrior with a certain level of base strength could learn from this duel.
Task duration completed: 4.69/5 seconds.
Just one more move!
Bai E took a deep breath, the excitement of nearly completing the task filled his chest, causing a tremble of excitement throughout his body.
Noticing this, Yue Ying slightly narrowed her eyes.
"The last lesson... always stay calm in battle!"
Control is needed not only over thoughts, but also... hormones.
The body too can betray the truth.
As blades crossed, Bai E felt a sudden crushing blow to his biceps brachii.
His right hand turned numb, and the battle sword slipped from his grasp.
He experienced what those synthetic human warriors who had been defeated felt.
"You had a chance to dodge, but your muscles were too stiff," said Yue Ying as she sheathed her sword.
This was the second thing she said in this duel.
The executive officer urgently stopped the stopwatch.
5.31 seconds!
[Side mission—Duel, completed!]