Roger struggled hard, his body long drained of strength, standing now only on sheer willpower forged through countless life-and-death battles.
He kept telling himself, "I can't give up, I won't give in, even if it costs me my life, I won't be crushed like this."
I looked on approvingly at the swordsman opposite me; his determination was indeed as steadfast as I had imagined.
The reason I intervened was simply seeing the regret in his eyes moments ago. Just by approaching him, I could roughly gauge his strength and knew he was trapped in green battle qi, unable to break through. That's why I wanted to help him.
So I first ignited his fighting spirit completely, then used subtle swordsmanship to compress his resolve. After that, I continued to oppress him with my formidable momentum. You see, I'm not just using the power of cyan crystal battle qi right now; this momentum also includes the aura of a grand swordsman I'm currently wielding, supplemented by the dragon's dragon power technique. It's definitely not something a mere swordsman can withstand.
The longer he endures, the greater the benefit to him. It's even possible for him to directly break through the green battle qi that has been suppressing him.
Roger's willpower had already burned to its limit. At this moment, he could barely maintain consciousness, only knowing to continuously gather the battle qi throughout his body. The green battle qi suppressed within him was being washed away time and again through each impact, once, twice, thrice...
Finally, the bottleneck that had never been successfully broken through before began to loosen under relentless assault, until it ultimately crumbled.
The suppressed battle qi also erupted all at once. A faint blue light soared into the sky, and his previously tottering figure finally stood firm.
I had stopped exerting pressure on him when his battle qi erupted, only watching him calmly.
Roger stood in pleasant surprise, his face filled with excitement and gratitude, his fascinated eyes tightly fixed on the beautiful blue glow of battle qi in his hands.
"A swordsman isn't just someone who wields a heavy sword and purely relies on battle qi to overwhelm others, relying on strength to win. Even for a heavy swordsman, it's the same. The swordsman as I understand it should rely on agile footwork, attacking where the enemy must defend and defending where the enemy must attack, allowing the battle to proceed entirely at their own pace. What do you think?" I said calmly.
Roger, still immersed in the joy of upgrading his battle qi, brightened at my words. I knew he would surely gain some insights. In fact, I myself didn't know why I suddenly wanted to help him. It's just that now I feel that one should do things as one pleases. I just thought of doing this, so I did.
"I should have passed the swordsman test, right? Can you give me the swordsman badge?" I smiled at Roger, who had already come back to his senses.
With a "thump," Roger knelt down to me, excitedly saying:
"Thank you so much for your guidance. Ever since I reached the peak of green battle qi ten years ago, I've been hoping for a breakthrough every day. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't succeed. For this, I've put myself on the edge of life and death countless times, but all I got was a body full of scars. I even once felt despair. Today, with your help, I can finally fulfill my wish, and in this life, I have no regrets. I only ask that you accept me as your servant, so that I can follow you and give my utmost."
I was greatly surprised and said:
"You get up first and then speak. With your current strength as a grand swordsman, you will be well treated wherever you go, not to mention you are already a member of the Swordsman Guild. Why follow me?"
Roger firmly said:
"I've been traveling on the mainland for more than twenty years, but I've never seen a master with such exquisite swordsmanship. Even when I met Sword Saints in the past, I could resist a few moves. But you can make me completely defenseless with just your momentum. Strength has always been respected on the mainland. I hope the master will accept me. It would be Roger's greatest honor to follow the master."
After careful consideration, I finally nodded and said:
"I can promise you, but I still have something very important to do. Before I finish my business, you should stay here. I will return here within a year at the latest, and then you can travel the mainland with me."
I remembered that I had promised Anna that I would return within a year at the latest. To return to Dragon Island, this place is indeed a good place to stay.
When I go out of the island again, I will take him away.
After all, with the help of a grand swordsman, no matter what, it would be nice to have a good thing.
Roger heard my promise and immediately stood up in surprise and joy, saying happily, "Thank you, master, for your hospitality."
I took out the purple crystal card and said to him: "Do you have a purple crystal card?"
He immediately took out his magic crystal card, and I transferred 200,000 gold coins to his card. Then I said:
"You go to buy a big house in the city now. We can live there temporarily. After I finish my business and return, you can find me there."
He looked gratefully at me and said:
"Thank you, master, for your trust. Because of this monster attack, there are many people in the city who want to sell their homes. I can arrange it quickly."
I said, "Well, that's good. You can find me at the Goblin Bar soon. Now please give me the swordsman badge."
After filling out a form, I quickly received the swordsman badge, directly pinched it in my hand. I don't like to wear this work.
I waved lightly with Roger, and I walked out of the Swordsman Guild easily, and soon Roger also walked out and bought a house.
Returning to the Mercenary Guild, in fact, I had just left for less than half an hour, and many mercenaries who had seen me taking action were still in the mercenary hall.
I easily squeezed to the counter where the pretty girl was, and said to her: "Beauty girl, do you remember me?"
The girl probably didn't expect me to speak to her in this tone, and she was surprised for a moment and couldn't say anything. It must be known that I just gave her the feeling that she was a very domineering person. Suddenly, the change made her very difficult to adapt to.
In fact, before, I would never have talked to a girl who had only seen me twice like this, but just after dealing with Roger, I made a deeper understanding of the word "free" written by the master, and I faintly felt that I had mastered the key to breaking through the seventh level of the heavenly Taoist exercise. I believe that I can break through again soon.
Looking at her not reacting for a long time, I smiled and said, "It seems that you have forgotten me. It's really forgetful! I want to register for the mercenary."
She finally reacted, blushing and saying, "How can I forget so easily! Just show me the badge and fill out this form."
I took the form, showed her the badge in my hand, and then quickly filled out the form because I didn't belong to any country, just like when I was in the Swordsman Guild, I filled out a card.
I quickly got a mercenary card, and according to the girl's instructions, after dropping blood on the mercenary card, I officially became a D-level mercenary.
The girl enthusiastically introduced: "Do you want to take your own tasks now, or do you want to join the mercenary group, or simply form your own mercenary group?"
The mercenaries next to me immediately shouted, "Join our Tiger Mercenary Group! We have the best treatment!"
"Join our Dragon Slayer Mercenary Group! We aim to slay dragons."
"Come to our Sands Mercenary Group! We have many beautiful women in the group."
"..."
I looked displeased at the chaotic mercenaries and was about to show it.
A voice came from the doorway:
"Of course you should join our Brave Mercenary Corps. We're the third-ranked large mercenary group on the continent."
With those words, a group of people entered from the doorway. Among them were several fierce swordsmen and a few mages. Two of the swordsmen were heavy swordsmen clad in full-body armor, and their imposing aura indicated they were no ordinary mercenaries. Leading them was a young golden-haired man cloaked in a cape, his handsome face exuding arrogance. He approached me slowly, smiling as he asked:
"Are you the newly registered mercenary swordsman?"
I replied calmly:
"I did just register as a mercenary, but I'm merely a swordsman."
The young man chuckled and said:
"A swordsman with cyan crystal battle qi? Everyone knows that your battle qi level determines your swordsman rank. The Guild's tests are just a formality. Why be modest?"
I wasn't aware of this perspective, but to me, the Guild's tests existed to encourage low-level battle qi swordsmen to challenge higher levels. Even though I only possess green battle qi, I'm confident I could defeat Roger.
Of course, I wouldn't share my thoughts with this stranger. Despite his polite demeanor towards me now, I felt no fondness towards him, especially seeing his full-faced pride.
Seeing my lack of reaction, the young man clenched his teeth inwardly but continued smiling:
"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. We are the 'Brave' Mercenary Corps. I am Vice Commander Aig. Our mercenary group ranks third among all the mercenary groups on the continent. We have many talented individuals within our ranks, and our leader is the Sword Saint, Chaweid. I believe joining our mercenary corps would be a fitting choice for you."
I simply smiled faintly. With significant responsibilities on my shoulders now, joining the mercenary guild was merely a passing whim. I had no interest in joining any specific mercenary group, let alone being manipulated within someone else's organization.