Pick Me Up!

Let’s see how far I can reach with my current self.

“Let’s Go.”

I stepped with my foot.

In an instant, my body shot out like an arrow.

There’s no need to hold back. I don’t have any intention of hiding. Aim for his throat. Attack to kill. With a ton of force that is purely mass, the sword swung.

Ridgion’s sword moved.

I didn’t care. I added more force to my right hand. The plan is to hit it head-on and crash it.

Swish.

My blade flowed over the surface of his sword.

Ridgion doesn’t even flinch. He effortlessly blocked the blade that contained several times the strength of his.

‘This is about it.’

I expected it.

I adjusted my sword. What was a swing became a thrust. At the same time, I struck his side with my shield. A single blow wouldn’t be enough. So, I overwhelmed him with the difference in ability.

Strength. Speed. Stamina.

Everything except skill was in my favor.

The sword bounced off. The shield slipped.

I swung the sword for the third time. I thrust it down for the fourth time. This was something I didn’t show against the members of Townia. I poured out everything I had without any reservations.

That.

Ridgion effortlessly received it all.

“…”

There was no clang when metal clashed.

It was a soft sound like silk brushing against silk. Ridgion stood still, not moving an inch, letting my attacks flow past him.

I’m much stronger and faster.

When I move three times, he moves once. But his sword was already there where I tried to swing, and it appeared where I tried to thrust.

The law of action and reaction seemed to have been thrown out the window. Ridgion didn’t even let a single hair move.

Except for his right arm and shoulder, he didn’t use any other part of his body. He didn’t dodge or block any of my attacks.

The sword drew an arc.

The trajectory was visible. I raised my shield.

Swish. The diagonally cut shield fell to the ground.

‘I discarded my shield.’

I knew I couldn’t block.

I shifted my body to the side and prepared to thrust with the sword.

At that moment, the blade of the sword was already against my throat.

I let out a bitter laugh. Ridgion, who had put away his sword, knelt before me.

“I apologize for pointing my sword at you, Master, please forgive me.”

“Don’t bother with the formalities. It’s annoying.”

Ridgion stood up.

I lowered my head. I thought I would lose, but not to this extent.

‘I couldn’t do anything.’

It wasn’t even a fight.

I felt like I understood how Valkyrist felt when we first fought.

‘But I knew.’

It’s not just Anytng that needs to learn from defeat.

As Han Israt, I have never experienced a proper defeat in Townia. Not Jenna, not Aaron, not even Velkirst or Neryssa. Not even advanced heroes like Edis or Roderick. None of them were able to defeat me so perfectly.

I’ve always fought from a position of superiority.

But now it’s different.

‘An overwhelmingly powerful adversary.’

As I am now, there’s a monster I can’t even touch.

This guy didn’t use even a tenth of his strength. He reversed the enormous gap in ability as if turning his hand over. This is…

“This is my full power. Isn’t it funny?”

“I couldn’t be more impressed.”

Ridgion lowered his head.

“If I were at the same level as the master, it would have been a tough fight.”

“You sure have a way with words.”

Objectively, I belong to the top 1% or less of the extraordinary class.

I have 10 skills. Moreover, I have a variety of cost-effective skills. The synergy skills between Composure, Frenzy, and Invincible were especially highly rated. My weapon skill level was also outstanding.

As a master, if I were to acquire a hero like me, I would easily invest more than 5,000 gems.

But this guy…

‘He was a talent on an unprecedented level.’

When Ridgion was only Level 7 he achieved a lower swordsmanship level of 10.

The reason he couldn’t raise it further wasn’t due to a lack of skill. Lower weapon skill 10 was the maximum limit a novice class could achieve. It was because he hadn’t advanced.

“At first, I suspected you were a bug character.”

“It’s an honor to be highly regarded by you.”

Ridgion interrupted my words.

“If talent was everything, the hero who should have been closest to the master…”

“Well, that’s true.”

Ridgion broke through the limits by realizing the extreme nature in all weapon skills.

But in the end, he couldn’t surpass Seris in overall terms.

Well, even so, the difference isn’t significant when it comes to the five of them.

With just one variable, the outcome could be reversed.

I picked up the shield.

The shattered shield had been fully restored. It seemed that the healing power was at work here as well. I adjusted my posture and looked at Ridgion, who had returned expressionless.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Let’s move on.”

Ridgion corrected his sword.

His unique presence returned once again. I adjusted my breath. One side of my body was trembling. It was a feeling I hadn’t even felt when I fought with the rampaging Black Dragon.

‘I’ll keep fighting until I understand it.’

Frenzy still hadn’t subsided.

I gathered the power writhing inside me into my right arm. Thud.

Then, I raised the sword again.

Clang!

Ridgion blocked my downward strike.

This time, there was a proper friction sound. Of course, it wasn’t because my skills had improved. It was because this guy had changed the style of his sword. I relentlessly attacked Ridgion.

“It was for a short time, but it’s a great achievement.”

Ridgion said.

The tone was praising, but his voice was emotionless.

“If you cross the wall just once, you can enter the intermediate swordsmanship realm.”

Ridgion swung his sword to the side.

He blocked my slashing with the sword. Thud. A strange sound came from his right shoulder, and then the sword was knocked out of my hand. My right-hand grip tore, and blood flowed. I let out a frustrated sigh.

“…Hmph.”

My right arm’s joint had dislocated.

I lost again.

After enduring the numbing pain for a while, my arm returned to normal.

Is this Strong Sword?

The one he showed me last time was Gentle Sword.

It seems that physical abilities are not penalized at all by the reduction of the stats. 

I picked up the fallen sword. Ridgion changed his posture again.

“Still, not yet.”

I charged again.

I still had plenty of stamina left.

I poured out everything I had learned in the past four months against Ridgion.

“…”

Ridgion blocked my strikes without changing his expression.

His gaze wasn’t on me. He was probably focused on the effect of my entire swordsmanship, the sum total of it. It was the effect of the special skill, Sword Mind’s Eye.

The clashes continued.

When the weapon broke, Ridgion handed me a new sword. We clashed again. We repeated this process several times. And as time passed…

“…That’s enough.”

I dropped the sword.

I couldn’t tell how long we had fought. But one thing was clear: during that long time, I couldn’t land a single scratch on Ridgion, whose total stats were barely 40.

I’m sure of one thing now.

I need to get stronger.contemporary romance

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

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