[Aaron Side Story Episode 8]
2. The sword waiting to be pulled out (2)
Lars opened his eyes wide.
I didn’t see it wrong.
His battered blade was blocking the well-forged steel axe.
‘What!’
There was definitely a feeling.
An intense vibration that spreads when force and power collide head-on.
If so, it is normal for the weak side to break.
But the guy didn’t even move with his sword raised at an angle.
‘It must be a coincidence!’
Thinking deeply during an intense workshop is a luxury.
If the 17th consecutive attack was supposed to end once it was blocked, I wouldn’t even call it a special move.
“Uraa!”
An oblique cut with proper strength and weight hit the man’s body.
“four!”
Cagan!
Blue sparks flew.
It bounced off this time too.
‘How stupid!’
Let’s say we got lucky once.
But how long can you be lucky?
The difference in strength is clear.
The quality of weapons is also incomparable.
Then there was only one ending left.
Being completely crushed together with an old iron sword.
“five!”
Kaga River!
Sparks flew with a refreshing sound.
The cheers of the audience began to grow.
A head-on clash between weapons was one of the scenes they most wanted.
The next thing they wanted was, of course, defeat and death on one side.
“Eulachacha!”
“six!”
Kang!
Huge muscles twitch whenever Lars swings his axe.
Sweat mixed with sand splattered vigorously.
Whoo!
The sound of swinging is brutal.
Such a sense of intimidation even gave rise to the illusion that the air in front of the man was being torn apart.
“seven!”
Kang!
A man blocks such a fatal blow.
Ralls swung his ax over and over again, saying that this was the last time, but nothing had changed.
“eight!”
“Whoa!”
Whoa!
Eighth attack.
It was a whirlwind slash that was quite powerful among the blows that a man could deliver.
Even that…
Kang!
The guy blocks.
with a casual expression.
Only then did Lars notice the strange change.
‘What the fuck! what!’
At this point, it should be normal.
But the guy is fine.
Rather, compared to Lars, who was sweating profusely, he seemed calm.
“You bastard!”
Are you kidding me!
Lars’ face turned red.
‘OK! It wasn’t a coincidence!’
The gnome uses a special technique.
Even Lars had experienced a few opponents using such a technique.
‘That’s why I was able to use the shedding!’
It is a method of dispersing the impact by sliding the blade at an angle at the moment the weapon collides.
A skill that is difficult to imitate without much training and innate sense.
Even though he was rotten, he was an advanced gladiator.
It seems that there is a secret trick.
“Let’s see!”
“nine!”
bang!
Lars struck the ax with all his might.
When the impact of the clashing weapon exceeds a certain level, there is no refreshing sound.
Now there was the sound of something exploding.
“Remnant skills do not work in front of force!”
“heat!”
bang!
knocked down once again
“Get lost!”
“eleven!”
bang!
yet again.
“Ha ha ha ha!”
“twelve!”
bang!
Senior Gladiator Ralls’s 17th consecutive special attack gradually increases in power as the attack continues.
By the 10th attack, the simple strike continued.
Its strike has the same monstrous power as a mountain.
“You hold up quite a bit!”
“Hahaha! Cut it up! Kill them!”
“Rals! I believe!”
The audience cheered.
The man’s bold strike and the man’s match against him were enough entertainment to enjoy and pay a lot of money.
However, the ending was decided in their heads.
Sooner or later, that ax would break the man’s head.
bang!
“thirteen!”
“Isn’t that the limit now!”
Lars grinned, dripping with sweat.
Shedding is not invincible.
If you continue to give it more shock than that, it will break.
“fourteen!”
“You must not have the strength to speak!”
bang!
Muscles scream.
The body sent pain through Lars’ neural circuits, telling him to stop.
But it doesn’t stop.
“Uhhhh!”
“I opened it!”
this is the last
It’s 17 consecutive hits, but I’ve never gone all the way to the 17th.
There was no opponent who could withstand this technique for 15 consecutive hits.
In the meantime, I’ve been dodging or running away, but in the end, I was caught within 15 times and my head was split.
bang!
a sharp axe.
Sand mixed with blood and sweat splattered in all directions.
In it, Rals had a premonition.
The body of a dead man cut in half.
“Heo-euk… heo-eok… I’ll praise you for holding on this far. Still… Huh?”
Lars rubbed his eyes.
It’s not fantasy.
The man who should have died stood there.
“Aren’t there two more left?”
The man said in a low voice.
“I will accept it.”
Lars’ mouth fell open.
Facing a reality outside of common sense, the brain began to malfunction.
‘Am I looking at something?’
no.
The giant shook his head.
The guy stood firm.
with blood all over the body.
“how?”
One by one, the facts that I had forgotten because I was so absorbed in the attack came to mind.
‘Why is the weapon intact?’
Let’s say that for once.
Two or three times can be considered lucky.
But when coincidences repeat themselves, they are no longer coincidences.
‘shedding! That’s right, he uses spilling…!’
Was it really shedding?
The cold reason pushed the reality.
Shedding is a technique that slides the blade the moment the weapons collide.
But he wasn’t like that at all.
Instead, he pushed out his sword blade and collided head-on with the axe.
‘It’s not spilling.’
different from the sound.
If it spills, it doesn’t make that kind of sound.
So what?
How did you absorb the impact force the ax blade had?
Did you bump into it?
impossible.
Then neither he nor his weapon could be unharmed.
‘…’
I don’t understand.
It defies common sense.
In his world, the law of action and reaction was not known, but as a result of long training, the man instinctively realized the principle of such power.
Transmission of power and action on it.
When weapons collide, there will inevitably be consequences.
Then, where did the power released by the man from the ax disappear?
Lars looked under the man’s feet.
“Nonsense…”
The sand the man was standing on was not disturbed in the slightest.
The man hadn’t moved a bit from his seat since the series of blows started.
The law of power has been violated.
not shedding
What the man used was probably something that shedding could not even be tolerated.
The man received Ralls’ double blows from the front and used some method to numb the shock transmitted to his body.
Without breaking the toothless iron sword.
‘How did you…?’
I do not know.
whether it is technology.
Or is it the ability of the body.
If not, what kind of magic is it?
The only thing that is certain
is that victory and defeat have been decided for a very long time.
Realizing this, Lars’ complexion turned blue.
“What are you doing! Baby! Everyone is dying!”
“Kill! Kill me!”
The audience roared and shouted.
It was because the situation in the arena was a landslide victory for Lars.
While Lars is safe except for sweating, his opponent is completely covered in blood.
Anyone can see that the direction of the match has been decided.
“This… It’s reprehensible…”
But Lars could see.
How meaningless those wounds that seemed dangerous at first glance were.
None of the minor traumas on his body are fatal.
Blood flows.
That’s all.
There were no broken tendons and no broken bones.
Of all the cuts, none of the arteries were damaged.
The only places where blood flows are veins. It was a minor injury that could be recovered with a little treatment and recuperation.
That unnaturalness meant one thing.
Because Lars had done something similar.
If the other person is too insignificant, if you end it right away, the audience will be bored.
That’s why he intentionally gets hurt and directs the minimum game.
However, the fact that such a joke is possible…
means that the gap in skills between the two sides is enormous.
More than an adult can play with a child.
“Keuk!”
Lars stumbled.
That I… was just a toy to him?
“this guy! You bastard!”
Lars glared at him.
There was no emotion visible in his eyes.
“Kill! You can kill me!”
“Are you crazy!”
“Finish it!”
The audience roared and cursed.
Lars clearly ignored the cry.
Perhaps this is the end of his life.
I don’t care what those trash talk about.
“Right.”
chin.
Lars put down his axe.
Fighting spirit had long since disappeared.
As long as all the facts were revealed, it was rather relieved.
“If you tried so hard, then if you’re stronger than me, then there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Lars laughed bitterly.
“Tell me one thing before you go.”
“what.”
“What is the name of that technique?”
One day I will die by someone stronger than me.
It is the destiny of gladiators.
Lars was prepared.
That time came earlier than expected.
“It was a great technique. How long have you been training? How long did you vomit blood while training? Great.”
Lars smiled.
They belonged to the same arena.
I knew roughly what kind of life that man lived.
As a boy, he was sold as a slave to the arena, where he did chores and training, and when he grew up, he became a gladiator and was pushed into the arena.
A life that is not common.
Same with Lars.
Although they hardly interacted with each other, the two had similar childhoods.
“Hehe. Did you practice secretly at night? That must have been part of the strategy.”
Once again, the child felt great.
It looked like he wasn’t training at all.
But you’d be hiding that skill.
‘I’ve been victimized.’
Directed all the matches that were thought to have been won by luck.
It must have been intentional.
‘I couldn’t even sleep.’
I must have trained and trained all night in a place where no one knew while watching the morning stars.
His hands would have been covered in blood, and the scabs on his palms would have had no time to dry.
Because that’s what effort is.
Efforts do not betray
This was the credo of Lars’ life.
If he dies in defeat, he dies to those who put in more effort than him.
I can’t be ashamed of it.
It’s just that Lars’ efforts weren’t enough.
‘It’s not an easy skill to shed.’
Lars knows enough.
Gladiators not so gifted with strength instead hone their skills to the limit.
These are the types commonly referred to as technical groups.
Among those skilled artisans, there are very few people who can handle spilling freely.
But to handle a high-level skill that is far superior to spilling like that.
I couldn’t even guess what kind of bloody training he had been through.
“It’s technology.”
muttered the man.
“This is not technology.”
“what?”
“Isn’t technology something you learn and master?”
“What are you talking about? The technique was… amazing! It’s not something you can learn lightly! Hard to get even after years of hard work…!”
“I didn’t make any effort.”
The man said calmly.
“It was my first time doing it, but it wasn’t too bad. Did you mean spilling? Correct one though. This is not a skill. It is not learned or mastered.”
“…”
“I just did it because I could.”
Lars stood still.
The words he had uttered were echoing.