Evan D. Sherden, Meets the Legend (5)
The protagonist of Yo-Ma Great War 2, the King of Swords, Leo Arpeta, changed his combat method depending on the sword he wielded.
It was the same in reality.
'The balance between attack and defence, speed, accuracy, and power are exquisitely balanced… He can grab the perfect sword by testing the opponent's ability while not even knowing about his detailed characteristics.'
At that moment, he had chosen a classic sword that was so lightweight that he could swiftly attack with it.
No matter how strong Evan was, Leo overpowered him. All of his attacks were eerily accurate. Evan couldn't afford to let down his guard even a little, or he would have been hurt in no time.
"You dodge well! Then, shall we try to go a little faster?"
"What the…Ugh!"
Leo was constantly using his sword and talking as Evan moved without hesitation, making a breathless sound whenever he got attacked.
Evan wanted to compliment himself for taking Leo's full momentum head-on, and for moving and twisting his body continually, which was even more amazing than he had expected of himself originally.
'How is this guy able to dodge me…?'
At first, Leo used his sword lightly enough to try Evan, but now he was becoming even more and more excited. Every time Evan dodged or blocked his sword, Leo increased the speed of the attacks. It was getting more and more difficult for Evan to respond to such velocity!
And surprisingly to everyone around him and himself too, he was regularly avoiding them!
'How many slimes could he have crushed at this young age? No, it's not just his movements that seem fast. His vision combined with his speed of reaction has an outstanding sense of harmony … I can't even guess the source of the techniques he is using. What is it? Where on earth did this guy come up with such a funny technique?'
Leo Arpeta threw his sword in the utmost excitement. Everyone screamed.
"Well….!"
But what was even more unbelievable was Evan's response.
Everyone thought the flying sword would inflict a deep wound without fail, but Evan's purple eyes were shining brightly, and his body twisted strangely. He was able to dodge the trajectory of the sword successfully.
"What… !"
"How!"
Eventually, Leo's black sword passed right above Evan's head. Several strands of his hair fluttered in the air as he triumphantly avoided the sword.
"It looks like the battle is good enough. Keep going!"
"No, stop!"
The legendary warrior didn't listen to any of the shouts coming from the others. Leo, who had fallen in love with Evan's movements, increased his attacking speed to the next level. He was now fiercely pushing Evan to the edge of his abilities.
However, even more, surprising was the fact that Evan was equally responding somehow.
"I don't know for sure, but isn't that dangerous?"
"Huh, Leo might be feeling very excited. It's been a while since he has moved that much himself."
When it was finally becoming hard to even find the shadow of Leo's sword, Bernard started to get worried and tried to ask Aria. However, she was busy laughing at the whole scene.
They were a good couple in general, but that didn't help in the current situation. Bernard looked at Illoin this time with a disgusted expression. The woman in question was deeply focused on the battle between the two.
"The way he is using his fists… It is assisting his movements by shaking the atmosphere with magical power. It looks like he has also achieved some strength in the realm of martial arts. He also has a unique power born in the dungeon, presented by God, that only humans can achieve after they have ventured there… It's awesome how has he been able to grow so strong at that age…"
This commentary didn't help at all. Bernard was sceptical of his former colleagues, and now his disciple was about to die!
"Let's go faster. Faster!"
"I'm going to die!"
Evan was screaming by now.
Using the mana dominance and the power of the weight of his mana, he could somehow put weight on Leo's sword to slow it down or push his body with the power of mana to force himself to avoid the sword. He had to employ various movements to keep himself from getting killed!
"Ooh!"
"Shit!"
Even Leo, who was enjoying the battle, found a gap and pierced his fist through without being bored, ensuring Evan wouldn't be able to relax even for a bit.
It was a little scary when he thought about how far Evan would be able to achieve later, but right now, he was enjoying the battle.
"Wow… !"
"Ha! This guy's physical strength is amazing. He has enough guts, very good! Nothing is lacking!"
The battle, supposed to end in less than a minute, had already exceeded the 5 minutes mark and was getting closer to 10 minutes. Evan was fighting by pushing the limits of his physical strength against a super legend like Leo.
"It's impossible now!"
"No, I think you're still fine as long as you're struggling!"
'I hate you all!'
However, Grandpa's judgment was correct. Evan was able to endure Leo for one more minute only.
Even though Leo tried to go a step further with every passing second, Evan never let himself be attacked in any way.
"Huh, look at him!"
Rather, Evan gathered energy in his left fist at the last moment, which formed the shape of a sharp knife blade, even scrambling for Leo's neck.
Leo's basic defence was so high that there were no scars that got left behind, but Evan was the winner in terms of the number of effective hits alone.
At that moment, Leo, who had finally been hit by Evan, smiled and tried to reach out to his other sword at even faster pacing. Bernard screamed and stopped him.
"That's it! Leo, are you going to kill my disciple!"
"Uh, sorry. After being attacked, I reached out for it instinctively…"
"Ahhhhhh!"
As soon as Bernard broke in and declared the match to end, Evan fell onto the ground. After the battle was over, a great feeling of fatigue overcame him. He couldn't even lift a finger.
"Lord, let me die. My heart might burst any minute."
"You just fought with me, and your skills have improved. You've become faster too."
"Of course, my skills would improve… I just fought a legend like you…"
All skills, including non-skills, grew faster from learning with a stronger person. And the stronger Evan fought, the faster he grew.
Evan had just fought a total of seven minutes with the strongest man in the world. However, it was strange that his skill didn't grow as much as he had expected.
'I don't know, but hasn't the 2nd level risen enough?' Evan thought, still lying in that place.
'Uh, wait a minute. Then, isn't it that if I enter the Bathhouse now, I can get this training effect more properly applied?'
When he thought about it, Evan forgot the pain in his whole body and jumped up. It was unfair that he was forced to fight like this!
"Grandpa, I'll be going to the Bathhouse. I shall be taking my leave."
"What bathhouse?"
"There is a Brotherhood Bathhouse that I made together with Grandpa Bernard. You know, like the ones in Steama, the hot spring village. It is better than those, I bet."
Leo's eyes sparkled at the words that it was better than Steama Hot Springs.
"Oh, how did you make such a thing again? No, do not explain. Oh, do it, I don't know. Anyway, okay, let's go together!"
"Without a doubt, the dungeon city of Sherden has improved to live in, and such facilities have been created! Illoin, are you going to go with us?"
"Yes, I'm willing."
Evan's expression hardened in an instant, but it seemed that the party had already made up their mind to go to the Bathhouse.
Eventually, he had no choice but to resign and head to the Brotherhood Bathhouse with them. The news that they were going to the bathhouse spread through the dungeon city residents in just a few minutes, making them follow in their footsteps…
Fortunately, they were able to enjoy a quiet bath thanks to the Marquis' soldiers and knights, who blocked the rest of the people.
"Okay, then let's start."
"What are you talking about? Do you want to talk about my disciple?"
"Don't think about making Evan your disciple. He's a child who can't learn swordsmanship."
After dissolving fatigue and pain in the Bathhouse's water, the party returned and sat around the table, refreshed and in a light mood once again.
The reason they had gathered here was obvious.
"We need to focus on the Mahwa variant, the Mahwa variant! You came all the way here to tell me about it, didn't you?"
"Oh, yeah. I was so shocked by Evan's performance that I forgot for a moment."
"I understand that, too… "
"No, you don't."
Even though the situation had reached this point, Evan was still insisting on the point that he was weak. But in fact, he had no reason to believe that. Maybe Leo didn't notice, and Bernard seemed to be forgetting too…
'I was wearing the boots before.'
Evan hadn't taken off his boots even amid battle because he was afraid that Leo would tease him wrongly and maybe even kill him.
His stats had dropped in half. He had been able to improve his whole body and didn't die!
'Grandpa Bernard is so proud of me, that I was able to match Grandpa Leo's strength. Or did Grandpa Leo's skills deteriorate a bit after a lot of heyday?'
When Evan fought him, Leo would deliberately move slowly in line with Evan, but even then, Evan thought that the movement was a little slow for the strongest man who had defeated the Demon King.
However, Leo couldn't help it, either. He had gotten way older and thus was past his real prime.
'How great is it to be so strong at the age of 70?'
Evan convinced himself in that way and nodded. He felt more eager to practice now.
"I have to start getting in shape too if I don't want to be left behind by your new student."
On the other hand, Leo did not even know that Evan thought of such cheeky thoughts and was saying such a thing joyfully.
"After fighting him in person, I saw a lot of things I wanted to teach Evan. You can apply the tricks of swordsmanship to your fighting skills, and you can also improve your body movements and combat skills. I will teach you while staying in the dungeon city."
"… Alright, then do whatever you want. If you don't give permission, the story won't start."
"I'll have to go the Church, of course." As expected, Leo climbed up like a veteran protagonist and won the position of Evan's teacher.
"If that's settled then, let's talk about the Mahwa variant. Hmm…"
Leo coughed and made an earnest expression. There was a feeling that it was already too late, but the words flowing from his mouth were shocking enough.
"They started targeting the dungeon, Bernard. If the Mahwa Flower starts to bloom inside it…We might lose everything."
To Evan's ears, it sounded like a new death sign.