Thud.
A cloud of sand rose as Zarik stomped his foot into the ground.
Step.
He pushed himself off the ground, closing the distance, sword lifted.
Shing.
The blade cut through the air as it descended toward me.
He was fast.
Much faster than before.
I raised my sword, placed it horizontally in front of me, and supported it with my free hand.
CLANG.
His sword crashed into mine, swinging down.
My feet slid through the sand, pushed back under the weight of his strike.
The strike was far stronger now.
Step.
I took a step back, and our swords loosened. Then I raised my sword into position again.
The first strike had already decided it.
He really wants to kill me? And he said it so confidently after not even being able to touch a single hair on my head?
I almost chuckled at the absurdity of his arrogance.
Enough holding back.
Zarik had already pulled his sword back and stepped forward again, changing his grip, he stabbed. Sword aimed straight at my chest.
Swoosh.
I moved in as well.
Step.
My body twisted to the side, evading his stab, while my own sword shot forward.
Swoosh.
His right side was completely open.
But—
Thud.
Instead of flesh being pierced, I heard the dull sound of steel hitting stone before my sword slid over his shoulder and past him.
At the place where I had hit him, there was now a hole in his black shirt, and beneath it shone the surface of one of the dark blue scales which had formed on his skin.
They were hard.
It felt like striking stone.
A faint ache spread through my wrist as I moved again, pulling my sword back.
Step.
Distance opened between us again.
In return, Zarik slowly raised his sword while a faint smirk settled on his lips.
Then his mocking voice rang out.
"Good. Give it your all, slave. Try everything and despair."
A chuckle escaped him before vanishing as he attacked again.
Shing.
I bent my knees slightly and twisted my hips, angling my sword diagonally toward his strike.
Clang.
His horizontal slash met my blade, and I twisted my hips again, lifting my sword upward against his and letting it slide over my head. Using the momentum of the parry, I stepped forward with my left foot and turned my wrist, slashing toward his torso.
Shing.
He didn't even try to block.
Thud.
My strike landed with another dull sound as it hit one of his scales. But I didn't let the failure stop me. I pushed even more mana into my arm and dragged the sword further, over the scale and—
Slrrsh.
Cut a thin line through his shirt and into his skin before another scale blocked my sword's path.
"Argh!"
Shing.
He cried out, and I stepped back, evading the backhanded slash aimed at my head.
"Bastard!"
He spat the curse while readying his stance again.
That was the moment I fully understood what had changed through his transformation.
'Pearl necklace around a pig's neck.'
That was the best description for him.
His body had grown stronger.
He had become faster.
His scales worked like armor.
But—
That was all.
In the end, he was still the same person.
Someone with no real fighting experience.
I had been wary at first. But that caution had faded after those first few exchanges.
I can win.
That was all I needed to know.
Seeing him ready his next attack, I took the initiative and went in first.
Step.
Closing the distance, I bent down, twisted my hips outward almost into a lunge, and aimed a slash at his thighs.
Shing.
He reacted.
But too fast and without thinking.
Seeing me close in, he made a poor attempt of an horizontal slash and aimed it where my head had been.
Swoosh.
His blade passed over my head, leaving only a breeze behind, while my sword cut his thigh open.
Slrrsh.
Blood began to flow down his leg.
But I wasn't done.
Step.
He stepped back with another cry of pain, but seeing me continue forward, he shifted his grip and swung a diagonal slash at me.
But—
Step.
To his surprise, I didn't move straight at him. Instead, I stepped to the side, toward his sword and, with another shift of my sword, let his strike slide off my blade and over my head.
Now standing at his side, I stabbed toward his unguarded waist.
Swoosh.
Thud.
But the dull sound came again as he used the scales on his left hand like a shield to block my strike and shift it aside.
Step.
I retreated again.
He regained his footing and lunged at me once more.
From there, our exchange continued.
He attempted every slash and stab that came to mind.
I blocked, evaded, or parried them all, landing occasional strikes whenever his left hand—the one he used like a shield—was too slow to react.
The longer the exchange went on, the more mistakes he made.
A stab at the wrong time.
A slip in his footing.
A sword arc too wide.
Anger consumed him until he became almost blind, wildly swinging his sword at me.
A downward strike aimed at my left shoulder was shifted aside as I tilted my sword through the block.
Shing.
His sword cut into empty air. I moved immediately. Changing the grip on my sword, I pulled it back, preparing a stab—then pushed forward.
Swoosh.
Zarik shifted his left hand, ready to block, while his own sword turned into a stab aimed at my stomach.
Swoosh.
But—
My blade halted mid-stab. Instead of committing to the attack, I stepped half a pace aside and let his stab graze the fabric of my shirt.
Sktch.
Just as his arm stretched completely, sword sliding past my side, it stopped. I pulled my right arm back and clamped it down, locking his blade firmly between my bicep and ribs. At the same time, I shot my left hand forward and grabbed the blade of his sword.
His eyes widened.
Gripping the blade tightly, I shifted my right foot back and began to turn, spinning around myself and ripping the sword out of his grasp. Sand shifted beneath my feet as I completed the turn until my right shoulder faced him again.
His left arm reached out, claws trying to rip my face open.
I let go of the blade and raised my left arm, pushing it upward.
Thud.
His claws struck the shackle around my wrist and bounced aside.
Step.
I created distance again and lifted my right arm, letting his sword fall, but before it even hit the ground, my left hand reached out and caught it.
Swoosh.
Spinning it once in my wrist, I raised both swords into position.
Dual-wielding.
I had never tried it in a real battle, but I had practiced it a few times out of boredom.
Enraged after losing his sword, he spat another curse and lunged at me with both claws raised.
"You dare—"
Step.
I stepped aside, letting one claw cut through nothing while blocking the other with my right sword and driving my left sword forward.
Shuk.
Deep into his abdomen.
As if no longer feeling pain, he stepped forward, pushing my sword deeper while slashing at me again with his left claw and trying to grip and trap my right sword in place.
But I was faster.
Step.
With a short jump backward, I created distance again.
Without caring about the blood pouring from his wound, he lunged once more with both claws, trying to push me down through brute force.
Step.
I stepped toward him and bent low. Raising my left sword into a horizontal block, and stopped both claws at once. As if that had been his intention from the beginning, he grabbed the blade tightly with his scaled hands.
Slrrsh.
But my right sword slipped beneath his arms, cutting deeply into his upper body. He didn't even wince as I cut across his chest and just gripped my sword tighter.
More mana flowed into my left arm as I straightened, pushing upward, shoving his claws away before letting go of the sword.
Step.
I pulled my sword back while stepping beneath his arms and to his left side before driving it forward again, toward his exposed throat.
Swoosh.
He released the trapped sword and immediately tried to slam his claws down—but he was too slow. My sword would reach him first. Instead, he stepped backward, trying to dodge.
Step.
It didn't matter.
I was close enough.
My sword still reached his throat.
Then, just as my blade was about to pierce his neck—
Tap.
A palm touched my chest.
It felt light at first, but it was fast enough so that I couldn't even react.
Then—
As if it weren't a palm but a truck slamming against my chest, an enormous force exploded through my body and hurled me backward.
Thud.
After landing and rolling several times, I planted a hand on the ground and raised my head. But my arm gave out at once, and I collapsed again as pain spread through my body.
"Argh!"
The first thing I noticed was my wrist. My right hand still gripped my sword even after that hit, but my palm was bleeding. An ache spread through it as if it had snapped.
Then came the pain in my chest.
Every breath hurt. It felt as if that palm strike had crushed my entire ribcage. Something dug into my lungs every time I inhaled.
And lastly, there was the spinning in my head from smashing into the ground and rolling across it. I felt something wet run down the back of my head and across my neck.
But before focusing on the pain any longer, I forced my head up and looked forward.
Where I had stood just a moment ago, there were now not only Zarik, but two more figures.
It only took me a second to realize who they were.
Guards.