Versatile: Alternate World

Although he is a bit of an a*s, I wanted to at least experience him fighting back. It is kind of boring that he is not even fighting back. Also, since he is a swordsman, he should at least be capable of blocking my sword attack. But becoming such a pathetic one that even non-surprise attacks would kill him only meant his character might look like an overgeared one but he lacks the skills to back up the power of his gear.

He stood up again while touching his neck. Every time his head and body separates, the experience will be imprinted on his mind. I experienced it many times that I am already immune to it. For now, it seems he is getting traumatized by the feeling.

"What now? Are you just going to hold your neck and allow me to attack? If it is another player, they wouldn't hesitate to take you down before you can do anything. But I am different as I don't like fighting against spineless people with all talk but no action. Come on, show me that you have the spine to fight back!"

"AH...." he seems going to retreat but I didn't let him retreat. I kicked his abdomen and he flew to the wall of the arena real hard. But since he is wearing armor, the impact is not that strong and not fatal for him. He won't even suffer much damage from that since his armor will surely take all of the brunt of the force of my kick.

[AND HE IS FLYING! THAT KICK EARLIER WAS A VERY BRUTAL ONE THAT EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN'T DIE, IT IS CLEARLY SHOWING HOW HIS OPPONENT IS NOT SHOWING ANY MERCY!]

The other players who were stunned started cheering all of a sudden. Despite being a one-sided battle, as long as one side gets pummeled, players will start cheering no matter who it was.

He stood up from the rubble and grip the sword in his hands, he is still shaking but at least he didn't run away. That is already courage.

"GOOD! Now, fight back! If you want to win, fight back!"

Seems out of his wits, he came charging to me, and with the point of his sword, he started screaming on top of his lungs. However, due to how he is charging, I easily made a step on the side and he missed. I didn't mock him any further and allowed him to stand back up and fight back. But his fighting style is so pathetic.

I am not kind enough to let him score so when his back is open, I sliced him and multiple times and it didn't take a few slices and he died. This is not a matter of level and Equipment strength. It is a rule that if you are a high-level player pitted against a low-level one, your strength and level will drop to the average level of your opponent's maximum strength so that the battle will be fair. All is fair and square in the arena and no one will be able to brag their equipment much as it doesn't much matter at all.

When he got respawned he immediately went to the ground and beg for his life.

"I AM SORRY! PLEASE, I FORFEIT! I MADE A MISTAKE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE ANYMORE!"

He is crying to tears seeing his poor state. As soon as he did, he forfeited the match. It was supposed to be my win but this is pretty much a worthless fight. I didn't even have to move that much of a muscle after our battle. The announcers were about to announce my win when someone appeared carrying a katana. From his getup alone, I can deduce that he is around level 85 or above.

"Wait up, this is a deathmatch, right? Then, can I take the challenger's place and fight against him instead?"

"Yes, it is possible. However, are you sure that it is the right thing to do? He already scored quite an amount and the one you are replacing with still hasn't gained a score."

"That's fine by me, I didn't come here to win but fight against him and see how strong he was."

The announcer looked at me and when I nodded as a confirmation, she announced immediately the change of player.

[Due to the original guy forfeiting the match, another one caught this chance! A samurai who came in from somewhere far away! From the looks of it, he looks like some sort of ronin from the past! Can we catch what is your name, new challenger?]

"Azuma."

"[Azuma! Since you decided to use the remaining chances of the deathmatch, the battle will continue! 3, 2, 1, Resume the battle!]

His footsteps is quick and he dashed towards my direction without any hesitation.

PENG!

Our swords collide and sparks fly as the blades grind themselves as we fight back. I immediately tried to overpower his grip to immediately disarm his katana but it seems like he saw what I was about to do so before he can do something, he retreated a few steps.

He calmed down himself and he made his battle position. I quickly notice his stance is the effects of the Passive, [Stance of the Ronin].

[Stance of the Ronin]

Tier 3

Passive

Info: With a calm mind, become one with the sword, become one with the surroundings become one with everything. Allows the user to manage their nerves and receive less damage from attacks. Lessens the chances to receive fatal damage and reduces getting hit by debuffs.

Notes: When you are multitasking in many things and tasks, it seems you undergo this phenomenon.

I also have that passive so we are on equal grounds. He squints his eyes and dashes forward before pulling his katana out of the scabbard, which means he is using the [Iaido Stance]. Only a few people are capable of executing this stance but if they can, it is going to be someone who specializes in quick and fatal attacks.

SWISH!

That was a pretty close one and he basically slash the air in one technique. He seems to have the same style of movement as my master in the dojo though there is quite a difference he is like using the same technique but incorporated the abilities in the game.

But I can't just let the battle drag on.

"I am sorry but I am not going to just let myself die," I said to him and rush with the sword, burning.

He faced me and was about to take the attack head-on, however, to quickly win a battle, you need to know how to fight back and deal a blind spot to the enemy. Swinging the sword on his neck, he quickly tried to block it. However, when the blade and his katana made contact, he realized that it didn't have any solid thing making contact with his blade.

"What?!"

FWOOSH!

Azuma's eyes went wide before he realized that the one attacking him is just an afterimage.

"Good reflexes! However, you are too late."

SWISH!

His head detach from his body and he died, immediately summoning out the respawn timer.

[DAMN! Did you guys see that! That is clean-cut and it was a very amazing technique! I thought only in the movies and anime did those things happen! But it seems you can also do it!]

The audience went on a hype immediately. I know the battle is still not yet done. But the stadium became really hyped all of a sudden. I can't blame them though. Even I in the past timeline admire players who know how to control their attacks in Arena and quickly make split-seconds decisions. It was a good thing I also mastered that in the past.

Azuma stood back up after 10 seconds and he touched his neck and grinned.

"Heh, that is the first time someone managed to outplay my stance. That only made me feel more thirst to defeat you," he grinned.

"Same here, it's a good change of pace at least. Now, let's dance!"

PENG! PENG! PENG! PENG!

The sound of the flurry of blades echoed in the arena and our figure started to blur in the eyes of the players. It was a battle that I am satisfied to finish from start to finish.

In the end, despite the expertise of Azuma in the katana, he lost to me without winning once. After all, I am not just going to let him win. If I did, it was like I am looking down at him. That is just disrespectful.

"I lost huh... It looks like I still lack in training," Azuma wipe off the dirt on his cheek as he put the katana back to his scabbard.

"Heh, I like the way you fight, you almost managed to catch me off guard in some parts while we are fighting. If I hadn't noticed it, I would be a dead man."

We clasped our hands together, signifying good sportsmanship. Everyone in the audience started clapping. I didn't know that time, that the Arena will start to get more hyped due to the battle between me and Azuma on the internet as our video immediately got posted on video sharing platforms.