Blade-Drawing Is Orthodox Martial Arts
"The martial world is capitalism."
At the heart of the Frenzied Tavern, the Three-Sword Style Madman and Arm-Maxed Jason had already settled into perfect combat stances, each hunting the other for the faintest opening.
Three-Sword Style held a dual-handed blade-drawing posture. Arm-Maxed Jason set both of his arms into a ready form and waited for the moment.
And then—
Srrrng…
A whisper of steel seemed to stir from Three-Sword Style's scabbards—
KWAANG!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the next instant he was already there, slamming into Jason at a speed that defied belief.
That was blade-drawing. Its monstrous speed alone was first-rate.
For the record, as the ages turned, the blade-drawing meta had steadily tilted toward mixing the technique with shrinking-earth footwork. The result was not merely a sword shot free of its sheath at blistering pace—it came with a full-body charge built in.
"Tsk!"
But Three-Sword Style's face was far from pleased.
Both katanas had left their scabbards and streaked for the armless left side of Jason's body—only for Jason to thrust both arms out and catch one blade with each fist. Inner energy wreathed the knuckles that stopped the steel. This was no ordinary protective qi.
A defensive art that projects the principle of Diamond Body into the hands in a single instant—built for stopping blades bare-handed.
The crowd erupted.
"Ooooh!!! That unfilial brat can actually fight!!!"
"Three-Sword Style's blade-draw should've been solid!!!"
"First exchange goes against blade-drawing! The whole point of that art is to land a killing blow on the opening stroke."
Un-rang chimed in as well.
"Diamond Hand is a stripped-down version of Shaolin's ultimate technique, Diamond Body. It's specialized for stopping blades. Hard to find sellers for, but it isn't actually that expensive an art."
"How did I not know about that? Looks incredible—where do they sell it?"
"You have to go in person to a temple run by a lay branch under Shaolin's direct authority. There isn't one on this planet. You have to travel to the capital world of Daylaskos to obtain it."
"Hmm. A shame. But that means Arm-Maxed over there has at least set foot on a capital world looking like that. With that kind of money he could've sent his mother on a trip…"
"Incidentally, Three-Sword Style's blade-drawing isn't finished."
"What do you mean?"
"Three-Sword Style has three blades, does he not?"
That was right. Three-Sword Style carried three swords.
Three was, after all, the most perfect number.
While they stood locked blade-to-arm in a deadlock, the sword sheathed across Three-Sword Style's back wrapped itself in inner energy—at an angle Jason could not see.
Srrrng…
The eerie steel-cry unique to blade-drawing rang out, and then—
Whoooosh!!!
The blade drew itself. It cut the air with a whistling rush.
Blade-drawing. The sword alone, hanging in empty air, had performed the technique as if some ghost had taken hold of it.
A blade steeped in the principle of blade-drawing streaked for Jason's shoulder.
Sword Control Art.
Plus blade-drawing.
Chwaak!!!!!
A long gash opened across Arm-Maxed Jason's shoulder.
"KRAAAAAAGH!!!"
But it was shallow. Jason's left shoulder was wrapped in a pauldron of special alloy that could project inner energy, and its protective power was excellent. The edge punched through the armor and drew blood, yet the pauldron kept the wound to little more than a vicious scratch.
The spectators stirred.
"Sword Control Art!!! He used blade-drawing through Sword Control!!!"
"Inefficient—but that makes it impossible to read!!"
"Don't tell me that's why he carries three swords!!!"
Plenty of people could use Sword Control Art itself.
The problem was that the control was nightmarishly difficult and the inner-energy consumption ruinously inefficient, so at the level of ordinary mercenaries almost no one bothered. More often than not, not using it was the stronger choice.
Sword Control was nothing special—just the next step after remote object manipulation. Even a point-and-click convenience app could manage the basic version.
Un-rang himself could spin his staff through the air the same way. The power was simply so weak that not doing it was better. You couldn't even kill a mole with that kind of force.
"But people like the Three-Sword Style Madman, who drill Sword Control Art until it breaks, can improve both power and control through training," Un-rang offered by way of commentary. "At Three-Sword Style's level of mastery, that 'third sword' is barely any different from a blade swung by hand. It's as good as having an extra arm."
"Khrrrk!"
Wounded, Jason took a short backstep and gave ground.
Three-Sword Style pressed the advantage with a chain of strikes. The twin blades in his hands and the free-floating third sword whirled together as if dancing. The instant one sword finished a cut, another followed hard on its heels. All three blades spun like the blades of a fan.
Clang!!!
Clang!!!
Clang!!!
Clang!!!
Clang!!!
"Not a chance!!"
Jason used the forearm guards on both arms and Diamond Hand without restraint, and he held. Two arms against three swords—and he was defending remarkably well.
He was not merely taking hits, either.
"Air-Rending Palm!"
Kung!!!
Jason slipped a palm strike into the hairline gap between the flurry of blows.
A fierce shockwave burst from both hands—respectable impact for an instantaneous palm technique.
The blast threw Three-Sword Style's blades wildly out of line. The chain was broken.
"!!!"
Jason did not miss the opening. He shot forward.
Both of his hands punched deep inside the effective range of Three-Sword Style's swords.
Those all-in arms seized Three-Sword Style's left wrist and right forearm. Three-Sword Style tried to wrench free, but the grip was far harder than expected.
Geumna-su.
Jason had used Geumna-su—the joint-locking art that maximized gripping strength.
He moved straight into a joint lock. The orthodox flow of Geumna-su was to seize and chain into a lock; Gong Ryun was the one who used it strangely.
Using his dense muscle and solid core strength, Jason tried to spin his own body—something like a shoulder throw.
A joint lock from a man whose both arms sat on the right side of his body was distinctly unusual. The structure of the arms was different, and the center of gravity sat in an odd place. That oddity was unpredictability. The opponent had no clear way to answer it.
Three-Sword Style sensed the danger in that unpredictability and, before the lock could fully set, poured every scrap of his inner energy into the relatively free third sword.
The floating third blade whipped through the air with murderous intent.
Sssssseeeek!!!!!
Three-Sword Style's controlled sword came screaming in, shearing the air. This was no ordinary cut. It carried a form.
The third blade carved a great arc from high to low, diving for Jason's wounded shoulder.
But Jason dodged. Still locked in the joint-throw posture, he spun his upper body in a flash and slipped the line of attack by a hair's breadth. He tried to drive the joint lock home at last—only for—
Ssssaaaak!!!
The sword path was not finished.
Missing Jason and plunging past beneath him, the blade took that same force and violently reversed its course, surging upward again.
That was Swallow Return. The technique was built as a two-hit sequence. It assumed the first stroke would miss, then came back on the second to land the true cut.
"Damn it!!!"
Jason had no choice but to release both hands from the joint lock and defend against the third sword.
KAAANG!!!!!!
Swallow Return and Jason's two hands collided. He stopped it.
In that same instant, with both arms freed from Geumna-su, Three-Sword Style swept his twin blades in a broad horizontal cut and leapt backward. It was a hurried strike with little inner energy behind it, but a sword cut was still a sword cut. Jason also backstepped and opened the distance.
Both men pulled apart and fell into a brief lull, catching their breath and reading each other's next move.
The first exchange—the probing bout—was over.
In that gap the spectators roared.
"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! This is incredible!!!!"
"Yaaaaaah!!! These guys can actually fight!!!"
"Even for Unorthodox name-ranks, they're solid!!!!"
"That unfilial brat's Geumna-su angles are sharp!!!!"
"The swallow!!!! He used Swallow Return!!!!!"
"It's too close to call—I'm so hyped!!!!!"
Gong Ryun and Un-rang ran their own analysis.
"Hoh… Three-Sword Style seems to have improved."
"That's not how you're supposed to use Geumna-su."
"Khahaha!!! Three-Sword Style, you bastard!! The probing's over!! Come on!!"
Arm-Maxed Jason bellowed with full-throated swagger.
There was a wound on his shoulder, but it barely counted as one yet.
"Loud talk from the man who took the first hit."
Three-Sword Style answered in kind.
As he spoke, he felt the faint throb in both arms where Geumna-su had bitten.
"Not coming? Then I'm coming to you!!!"
With that, Jason shifted into a new stance. Inner energy circulated through his arms.
In moments both arms blazed with crimson inner force, burning like open fire.
A body-strengthening art that floods both arms with yang energy and coats them in searing heat—every swing deals greater damage. One of the cost-efficient techniques favored by the Unorthodox.
His two arms roared like living flame.
"I'm not without a similar card of my own."
Three-Sword Style tightened his grip on his swords.
"Sammaejinha, Intermediate Form."
A famous technique of the Sammai Sect, the youngest of the Nine Great Orthodox Sects. The basic form is sold widely as a mass-market secret manual, but from the Intermediate Form onward the price of the manuals climbs sharply. A weapon-enchanting art—flames bloom along the blades, and the heat can be felt even from a distance.
Fwoosh!
Fire kindled along Three-Sword Style's swords. Sammaejinha, too, was a weapon-enhancement technique. The heat seemed to radiate even from afar.
Both of them had wrapped themselves in flame enchantments.
They settled into ready forms and lowered into charging stances.
"…"
"…"
They stared each other down—and then—
Spat!
Using lightfoot techniques, they charged straight at one another.