Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Rain vs. Master Eleonora (2)
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I believe I trained incredibly hard.
After the church where I spent my childhood was burned down by demons, I was thrown alone into an unfamiliar world in the body of a young girl. The only thing I could trust was my Holy Sword.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before I was taken in by Melissa. Hmm, maybe "picked up" is a better way to put it. In any case, the first companion I met was Melissa.
Starting with Melissa the knight, then meeting Saintess Elena and the dwarf Ain, our party began to fight back against the demons in earnest. And then, in the north, the elf Igraine joined us.
Even as I continued to battle demons alongside them, I trained relentlessly to control the power that had been crammed into me by the Holy Sword.
I would collapse from exhaustion, slumping to the ground and gasping for breath. Melissa would look at my small, blistered hands with a pained expression, but she never lessened the intensity of my training.
"Block, pierce, and slash. A sword aura is the same—it's just a slightly longer slash. You could even see it as a powerful slash."
"What if I face a difficult enemy? Isn't there some kind of flashier sword style that can confuse the opponent?"
"The old-timers in my family used to talk about creating techniques like that. Heh, you've seen me fight, haven't you? Exploiting an opponent's opening is important, of course, but that's all just an extension of piercing and slashing. If you can block their attack cleanly, then quickly pierce and powerfully slash the opening you create, it'll work every time."
"Block cleanly, pierce quickly, and slash powerfully, you mean."
"Yes. Those who learn the sword half-heartedly dismiss this as a basic and try to add their own techniques, but there's no need. In the end, that's the sole purpose of a sword."
Block, pierce, and slash.
"Aah, Melissa! Goodness, you've done this to Rain's hands again today...! Rain, come here. Elena will heal them for you!"
*
Silence fell over the training grounds.
Eleonora's agitation did not last long.
She lowered her sword and took a deep breath.
"Very well, young lady. It is frustrating, but I admit that you are a step above me in the art of the sword itself. I will not ask how you know the fundamentals of swordsmanship taught in my family."
*Vwooom.*
"For now, I will think of nothing else."
A tangible aura began to gather around her body.
*FWOOSH!*
From her raised sword, streams of blue sword aura began to surge forth.
"I will use my full power to defeat you."
Eleonora's final phase.
She had declared she would use her full strength.
I raised my sword, a cold sweat breaking out on my brow.
And then I smiled.
This is where it gets real.
It was a duel of sword auras, just like the one I'd experienced in the 'Ancient Hero' battle.
Why is a Master called a Master? It is the final stage a warrior reaches after endless internal training. The proof of it is that tangible aura radiating from her sword.
*Vwom.*
Starlight began to gather on my own sword, Astaroth. Before that overwhelming aura, it was like a firefly before the sun.
But as I am now, I can cross swords with her.
Eleonora's blue sword aura. It was weaker than the golden aura of the Hero manifested through the Holy Sword, but if I met it incorrectly, my sword and I would be sliced in two all the same.
My past self knew how to use such a thing, too. But not all Masters are the same. I, too, was an incomplete Master, merely able to emit a powerful aura through the power crammed into me by the Holy Sword.
The only true Master, complete in both swordsmanship and internal training, was Melissa. If she had possessed the Holy Sword, she would have been a far more splendid Hero than a timid one like me.
Of course, I can still use it now. The system lends me the power of my past self when I'm on the verge of death.
But.
"I don't need to."
I can win without it.
This world is now a game.
Even without borrowing the Hero's power.
*Fshooo!*
Eleonora's form shot forward like a bolt of lightning, instantly filling my vision.
*CRASH!*
The blue sword aura and the starlight collided.
*
Skada, the leader of Skada's Attack Squad, found it hard to close her mouth.
The fight unfolding before her eyes was far beyond the realm of common sense.
"Wh-what is this?"
*CRASH!*
Flashes of blue and silver erupted from all directions. The two lights clashed repeatedly, moving too fast for the eye to follow. It was like watching a well-made cinematic.
She could understand Eleonora. The appearance of a Named opponent too difficult for players at the current level. A final raid boss-level Named that would take a vanguard of twelve players days, or even weeks, of tries to barely clear. If that was the 'Master Eleonora' before her, it made sense.
But.
"What is Rain, who's fighting something like that one-on-one as an equal?"
Could an ordinary player fight like that?
Could one display such movement and strength with only the stats and skills given to a player?
*CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!*
The faint starlight gathered on the sword, which looked as though it might shatter at any moment, boldly clashed against the powerful blue light, scattering silver sparks.
*Fzzt! K-K-K-CRASH!*
Their forms blurred as they momentarily created distance. A menacing volley of blue sword aura erupted from Eleonora's sword. Rain lowered her stance, and a starlight aura shot out from her own sword. It flew forward, aimed precisely at the center of the blue aura volley.
*BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!*
A clash between the starlight aura and the blue aura, where an overwhelming difference in power was visible at a glance, yet they were perfectly nullified.
"She's targeting the core of the aura."
"Targeting the core?"
Park Jeong-gwon, the tank from Skada's team who had approached her side at some point, watched the two swordswomen fight with sharp, gleaming eyes.
"Named monsters have strategies to beat them. Same goes for Named NPCs. You can counter unblockable attacks with invincibility skills, but it's hard to resist them when they come one after another. In cases like that, if you aim for the weak point of the force, you can nullify it with less power. Well, in theory, anyway."
"I can't even tell what skills she's using. Is Rain really a Swordsman? That looks more like some game-breaking hidden class."
"No. They're all Swordsman skills. Backward Dodge, then a Charge, Left Counter, Leg Slash, Right Counter, another Backward Dodge... did she reset her cooldowns? Again, Backward Dodge, and then Starlight Sword Aura. Whew, she's fast."
Park Jeong-gwon's eyes were wide as he barely managed to follow Rain's movements. Skada was speechless.
"So, can you do that too?"
"Heh, in a keyboard and mouse game, you could probably manage it by setting up a macro, but what era are we in? Of course I can't do that in a virtual reality game."
"And yet, Rain is pulling off a skill combination that should only be possible in theory, and she's doing it naturally."
"It's the same with her invincibility skills. I fought her, remember? That woman, Eleonora, she tracks your counters with her eyes. But if you use it just before the sword hits, you can exploit the minuscule post-attack delay. Rain is letting the blade get within a centimeter of her neck before she uses her invincibility, holding out until the very last second."
A fighting style that was dizzying just to hear about.
Of course, *Astria Online* was a game. With dozens, or even hundreds, of tries, one could learn the patterns. But this was their first fight.
Skada let out a groan.
"I've been analyzing how Rain fights in the alt character raid squad. Until today... no, until I saw this, I was half in doubt about whether she really cleared a raid dungeon by herself."
"Seeing that, it wouldn't be strange at all if she did clear it alone. A time attack? I bet Rain could break right through a berserk pattern and still win."
Park Jeong-gwon's words didn't sound like a joke to Skada. Even if the system prevented solo play, she would have found a way to break through and clear it.
Skada glanced over at Chris.
The leader of the Red and White Attack Squad. The person closest to Rain. The red-haired beauty. How was she seeing this fight?
"Huh?"
Chris's reaction was also not what Skada had expected.
She had her hands clasped to her chest, watching Rain with an anxious expression.
"Rain, you can't get hurt...!"
Skada tilted her head.
It was just a game, so what was there to be anxious about?
Amidst the shocked gazes of the gathered players and the anxiety of another, the fight reached its climax.
*K-K-K-CRASH!*
The blue sword aura erupting from Eleonora's sword grew in number. Dozens of volleys, too many to nullify, shot toward Rain. Even the magically treated floor of the training grounds cracked into pieces, deep gouges scarring its surface. The stray aftershocks of the aura battered the mana shield erected by the mages. Even the powerful barrier created by several court mages flickered like a candle in the wind.
And then, Rain's form, now a silver blur, closed the distance to Eleonora. Dodging was no longer an option. It was time to make a decisive move.
Eleonora, who had been spraying out sword aura, drew back her weapon. Her sword, now concentrated with immense power, slashed toward Rain's waist like lightning. *K-g-g-gak!* The mighty blue sword clashed against the thin, starlit blade, spun, and was deflected downward.
As a fellow Swordsman, Park Jeong-gwon did his best to analyze Rain's skills.
"A block."
And then the silver sword, now a streak of light, pierced through the shoulder of Eleonora's armor.
*CRACK!*
"A pierce."
Eleonora's face contorted. The pauldron on her shoulder had been shattered. She gritted her teeth and raised her aura-wreathed sword, intending to ignore the impact on her shoulder and cleave Rain in two.
*FLASH!*
Rain became a flash of light, slashing past Eleonora's waist as she raised her sword.
*Clang.*
The sound of the lower half of Eleonora's armor, sliced in two, falling to the floor of the training grounds echoed.
The final word was not from Park Jeong-gwon, but from the girl, her voice echoing across the silent training grounds.
"A slash."