Cthulhu Gonfalon

The wind was howling and the shield was as big as a mountain.

The middle-aged man with graying hair moved with clear precision. With years of intensive training and trials, his every skill and every move were so refined and accurate that they could be deemed textbook perfection. He could have been a role model for younger adventurers.

He was like an ancient dragon. Despite his age, had not grown weaker. The years of experience had made him wiser and stronger.

He was not moving fast, but every step he took was steady and solid, like a giant tree rooted deeply in the ground. He would not be swayed by strong winds or heavy rain. Anyone who was at the bottom of the tree would only see the giant tree trunk that soared up into the sky. When they looked above, they would see its crown of jade green leaves, shaped like a cloud that could support the weight of the sky.

“Nicholas’s martial arts skills can be described in one word: steady!” Leon praised profusely. “He is definitely a senior expert that deserves the title of “the Reliable Nicholas.” I heard that he has been an adventurer for over twenty years. Even though he has been through lots of failure and setbacks, his adventure team has never lost any member during battle. Whenever a member passed away, it was due to some other reason.”

Sui Xiong was surprised. He looked at the middle-aged man carefully and saw that he was full of spirit and energy. It was like his vigor was constrained with a giant lock, and there was no leakage at all, even when he was engaged in fierce battle. With such a battle bearing, he could keep fighting for an entire day and night without feeling tired.

“He must be good in endurance battles,” he could not help but say.

“Yes. It is said that the longest battle Nicholas ever fought lasted for a week, with only minimal rest time,” Leon said. “That happened when the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs was resisting the intrusion from Kingdom of the Blue Moon. He joined the side of Kingdom of Thousands of Springs and helped them defend a small city. He was able to withhold attacks from the Kingdom of Blue Moon for almost three months. Especially during the final battles, the Kingdom of Blue Moon grew stronger and attacked more fiercely. The Kingdom almost completely depended on Nicholas to run around the city walls, support the battles, and to boost the royal army. It held out against the attack.”

“Wow! That must have been really great!” Sui Xiong marveled. He asked again, “So, did he get any rewards for what he did?”

“After the war, the Earl of that land summoned him and asked if he was interested in becoming one of his underlings. The Earl expressed that he would grant him the Baron title straightaway, skipping the two titles of ‘Quasi-knight’ and ‘Knight.’ He would even grant him a parcel of land.”

“… Any adventurers who chose to serve a lord would need to start from the “Quasi-knight” or “Knight” titles, right?”

Leon shook his head. “Only famous adventurers can get this type of treatment. Common adventurers would never get this. A “Quasi-knight” is still a noble ranking after all!”

Sui Xiong nodded faintly. He was looking forward to hearing more about Nicholas’ ability.

In comparison to Nicholas, his opponent was a little pitiful. He was a mage who was good at defense and control. He continuously cast different spells to strengthen himself and weaken his enemies. He also turned the entire battlefield into a huge trap. Under such circumstances, even a giant dragon would have difficulty moving forward if it had not dismissed the spells. And yet, Nicholas was slowly inching towards the mage in a very calm manner.

The renowned adventure leader was not immune to magical spells, but he was always quick to break free from disadvantaged situations. He was like a slow but tough behemoth. No spell could really tie him down.

On the other side of the battle ring, the situation was the complete opposite.

Both of the contestants moved with great speed, like two clouds of a whirlwind that tangled together. Audiences who were slightly weaker could not even see all their movements clearly. They had to rely on the lines that the commentator, which was Sui Xiong’s clone, said. Then they could understand slightly better how great these two contestants were.

“Oh God! Contestant Night Rain just continuously stabbed six times in a beat! Anyone who can continuously stab twice in a beat is good, and those who can do thrice are experts; he did six continuous stabs! This is a sword skill with Godly speed! If his opponent in front of him were to be weaker or have slower reflexes, they would have suffered from multiple wounds and been carried off the ring for resuscitation!

“Contestant Blake has not even drawn his blade! This is unimaginable! How can he not draw his blade when he is facing a top-notch assassin such as Contestant Night Rain? He has only been dodging to defend… Oh, God! He dodged another one! That strike by Contestant Night Rain did not have any warning, and that angle was the trickiest, yet he still dodged it!

“Everybody, look! Contestant Night Rain has actually attacked his opponent while facing away from him! He stretched his body and stabbed him from there – it was impossible for Contestant Blake to see that sword coming for him because his body blocked it! Can he dodge this time? Can he? I cannot believe my own eyes: he really can dodge such a sneak attack!

“There is a saying amongst the fighting experts that goes like this: ‘Pure defense will never last long. Attacking your opponents is the best way of defense.’ Yet today, Contestant Blake is clearly challenging this saying! It has been over ten minutes! He has completely dodged all the attacks for over ten minutes! His right hand is still holding firmly onto the handle on his sheathed long blade! We can only imagine what will happen when he finally decides to pull his blade out. His powers will be sure to shock us all!

“Contestant Night Rain has started to attack fiercely again. His sword was really too fast! His footsteps are even faster than his sword! If they were to fight against him, most people’s swords might not even be as fast as his feet!

“This time, can Contestant Blake still dodge his attacks? Can he?

“Oh God! Contestant Blake is unsheathing his blade! He has unsheathed his blade!”

Just as the commentator was roaring with a strained voice, a blinding ray from a blade shined through the battle ring. It was as if lightning had cut through the empty sky.

After only a moment—a moment that only superior experts could feel—an explosion followed. That was the sound of the long blade ripping through the air. Because the blade was too fast, it caused an explosion-like sound.

Night Rain suddenly stopped his continuous attacks and slowly raised his head to look at his opponent’s face.

That face had numerous scars that proved his superior battle experiences. Even though he looked a little worn out, he was still calm and reserved.

He chuckled bitterly, realizing that his body had been cut from his left waist to right shoulder and that the wound was spewing lots of fresh blood. If it were not for the golden halo shining down from the sky and covering his body, he might have been cut in two in the next moment.

“That was a deadly cut! Contestant Blake has won this round! And he only struck once!” The commentator excitedly reported as he jumped up and down like a madman. The audiences on the viewing stage were all stunned before they absorbed the news, and they let out a deafening cheer.

“The Drawing Sword Skill of Thousands of Springs: it really is as great as its name!” Jose said to Pan on the viewing stand. “According to the flow of the battles, you will be facing this Contestant Blake during the second round. Are you confident?”

Pan shook her head, her golden ponytail swinging along. “How can I be confident? He is one of the best experts I have ever faced in my entire life. Even if I maintain my state, I only have a fifty-fifty chance of winning against him.”

“Does that mean you’re sure to lose?” Jose was a little worried.

Pan laughed. “When you are in a realm like we are, the moment that defines winning or losing really depends on how we react on the spot. Unless there is a given plot, it is very difficult to tell who is sure to win in a martial arts battle between two people of our levels.”

“Ugh… this is a little too deep for me to understand…” Jose raised his brow. His handsome face looked like he could not believe it.

“Wait ’till you join us in this realm, and you will understand,” Pan said. She did not argue and merely smiled while replying, “From the top of the high level to the legendary realm, there is only one step. You have to work harder, and take this step quickly!”

Despite the fact that she was only a little taller than his chest, her height not even reaching his neck, her abilities and strength were way superior to his. Jose could not disagree with her.

He took a deep breath and groaned, “And how can I take this step?”

“Just battle. Dangerous battles. When you are on the line between life and death, it is much easier to take this step.” Pan lightly shared her experience from the past when she was still Oveila. “Back then I was in a battle when our empire was conquering the South. We were fighting the Eagle Knights to death. That’s when I took my step.”

She frowned and her pretty face looked roused and nostalgic at the same time. “After that war, I was bed-bound for about two months. I spent another six months slowly recovering. That is how I avoided being handicapped. But it was because of the inspiration from that war that I finally took the vital step.

“I originally thought that by training in an orderly and progressive manner that when my abilities faced another bottleneck I could immerse myself into the South expeditionary force again. I wanted to seize the opportunity to enter Legendary Realm by losing myself in blood and fire. In the end… Haha, life is wonderful!”

She extended her hand and pressed it over her left chest unconsciously. That was where the Fish Fork had stabbed and killed her last time.

Her body was not the same body as when she was killed. And there was no scar on her left chest. But she could still feel pain in the same spot whenever she reminisced about that battle.

“Maybe… When I can finally overcome the phobia of being killed, that is the day I can step into the Legendary Realm!” The young lady who changed her job from priest to teacher kept these words to herself, but in her heart, she had finally realized something important.

Jose was solemn for a while, then he patted her shoulder. “Well, don’t need to overthink things now, you have already beaten me. You should have vented your anger. If you are still unsatisfied, maybe I could let you beat me up for one more round? Or I can lend you my fish fork, and you can stab me until you feel better?”

Pan smiled and refused his suggestion as she shook her head.

At the same time, it was comparably glum on the other battle ring. “The Reliable Nicholas” had forced his opponent to the edge of the battle ring and there was no place to run.

Given that his opponent was a high-level mage, he could use his flying skills to escape into the air. But when facing an opponent such as Nicholas, he was not confident in taking to the air, as he was not good at flying after all.

So what if he could fly? Nicholas had six little axes hanging around his waist. It was obvious that they were designed for throwing. When faced with a high-level warrior who was armed with throwing axes during battle, flying off hurriedly would mean welcoming your opponent to use you as a live target!

In the end, the mage sighed and chose to surrender before Nicholas gave him a deadly blow.

“Let’s go,” Jose gently patted Pan’s shoulder. “The most anticipated match this morning has ended. I’ll buy you a drink!”