Chapter 7 — The Princess and the Duelist [1]
Clang—
…I had blocked it.
I didn't know how I had blocked it, but I had blocked Sara's sword.
'What is this?'
It was a moment shorter than a second.
My body had reacted in that brief instant.
Although I had blocked it, I was flustered.
After all, with my reaction speed, I shouldn't have been able to block such a fast attack.
'How did I do that?'
I looked at the sword that had blocked Sara's rapier.
I didn't know what it was, but my body had instinctively responded to Sara's attack.
And my body wasn't slow.
It had been fairly fast, and at the same time I had felt my muscles were surprisingly well trained.
"…hm."
When her attack was stopped, Sara showed a momentary look of surprise.
But she soon swung her rapier at me again.
An attack that anyone could tell was headed for my right shoulder.
'Huh?'
But for some reason, a red dot appeared near my left waist.
And my body moved instinctively again.
Without my knowing, I had brought the Mistcatcher to my left waist.
Clang—!
Once more my sword blocked Sara's rapier.
The blade that had been aimed at my shoulder had changed direction mid-flight and headed for my waist.
"…What are you?"
Sara looked even more bewildered than before.
Still, she swung her sword again.
This time I saw a red dot in my sight.
And when I brought the sword to that dot...
Clang—!
I was able to block Sara's blade.
By now I could tell what those red dots were.
'Predictive Counter Skill.'
When I had leveled up as a defensive swordsman, I had felt something lacking from defensive sword arts alone.
So the skill I had mastered was precisely the Predictive Counter Skill.
It was a skill that told you in advance where attacks were going to come from.
'A good skill, but surprisingly few users chose it.'
To block you had to do it at a very precise timing, and predicting and then dodging or blocking an enemy's attack wasn't the main tactic in this game.
Bosses and monsters had more area attacks as the game progressed, so the main tactic was to crush enemies with damage during the time you would otherwise spend dodging or blocking.
The so-called "overwhelm-with-damage" playstyle was what players preferred.
So although the skill that predicted an enemy's attack with accuracy was frankly broken, it didn't suit most gamers' tendencies.
'But I had mastered it for the concept.'
Thanks to this skill, I could use defensive sword arts much more effectively.
And because of that, I was somehow holding out against Sara's assault.
"Phew."
I exhaled and looked at Sara.
She gritted her teeth and swung her sword again.
Again a red dot appeared, and I brought the Mistcatcher to that red dot.
---
'Who the hell is this man?'
As her attacks kept getting blocked, Sara couldn't help but be puzzled.
Sara had no intention of killing the man before her.
She had only meant to give a warning by inflicting a small wound.
A warning that causing injury to the princess, even by accident, was a grave crime.
So Sara had attempted a surprise thrust at the man's leg with her rapier, but the man had blocked her attack.
'What on earth is this?'
At first she thought it was a coincidence.
But the man kept blocking her attacks.
As if he could see every one of her strikes all too easily.
'My attacks are being blocked?'
As her strikes continued to be stopped, Sara's pride began to flare.
Her family was the Isrinbloom Ducal Family, one of the three ducal houses of the Arium Empire — one of the three swords that defended the empire.
And the Isrinbloom family's swordsmanship was the most elegant and precise in the empire.
The Isrinbloom family had a style that was said to be unrivaled in one-on-one duels.
That was true, and Sara had never doubted it for a second.
But now, Sara was beginning to doubt that truth, bit by bit.
'…Why does it keep getting blocked?'
She had never lost in a fight to a swordsman of similar caliber.
Especially, Sara had used cunning swordplay that lulled her opponent into complacency or toyed with them, and she had taken pride in that.
Yet her swordplay couldn't pierce Alex's defense.
"…tch."
Sara had aimed her rapier at Alex's throat but changed the blade's trajectory mid-swing toward his wrist.
Alex had, as if it were natural, blocked her attack.
Seeing Alex like that started to crack Sara's pride.
'I don't like this.'
His attitude — as if he could see all her attacks — and the way he nonchalantly blocked them to prove it.
Each detail grated on Sara's nerves.
"…You're annoying."
She took a step back and settled into her stance properly.
In other words, she decided to face Alex seriously.
At the same time, Sara assessed him.
'What kind of stance is that?'
She had faced countless swordsmen.
But she had never seen a stance like Alex's.
The sword and his arm were held as close to his body as possible.
An oddly unfamiliar stance for a swordsman.
It looked extremely defensive.
'I don't care. The important thing is winning. As a member of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family, I can't lose in pure swordsmanship.'
Sara prepared to swing her rapier at Alex again.
But at that moment—
"Sara! That's an order! Stop there!"
At Layla's shout, Sara froze on the spot.
---
'This body… is more capable than I thought.'
I realized it the moment I blocked all of Sara's attacks as if it were nothing.
This body was more than enough to become a knight.
It moved through battle naturally, instinctively—as if it had fought countless times before.
'I think I even know how to fight now.'
At first, I had moved purely on instinct.
Without my will, my body had simply followed its instincts to block Sara's attacks.
But as time went on, I started to grow accustomed to combat.
Soon enough, I could fight not just through instinct, but also with my own will.
'Is this because of the skills?'
Before possessing this body, I hadn't learned a single thing about swordsmanship or fighting.
Yet now, somehow, I knew how to fight.
And more than that—I felt comfortable in a fight.
Those countless sword arts and skills that had seemed to be absorbed into me back in the dormitory…
It felt like I could actually use them all in real combat.
'And above all, these skills are quite powerful.'
I looked at Sara before me
[To be Continued]