Bitter Determination
Hina’s slight gasp rang through my ears.
I threw furtive glance her way. The girl who crouched down besides me, who was leaning against a Oaken shelf of books had her eyes solely fixed on the group in front of us. Her breath quickened while I could see a slight tremble in her lip.
Reading human expressions isn’t really all that hard, but it isn’t so easy either. But even someone like me understood the significance of the face Hina was currently making.
After throwing another glance behind me, to see what the other two members in our party were currently doing, I cautiously placed a free hand on Hina’s shoulder. I could feel her light trembling shaking her body like a autumn leaf. I added more force into my grip, as if to call her back from whatever delusion she was heading into.
With a small shake, Hina finally noticed, and broke her gaze. She turned to look at me. Her expression showed a bit of longing, one I couldn’t directly look at.
“Hina, don’t be reckless…” I warned with a whisper.
“Yes… I-I know.” She replied back, somewhat half heartedly. “Don’t worry Hide, I’m not an idiot.”
Although such a response was uttered, her overall demeanor didn’t serve to convince me in the slightest.
Brushing away my lingering worries though, I refocused in on the group in front of us. By now, they had gotten very close to our current location. At most, they were less than 30 feet from where we were.
With such proximity, the vague, blurry outlines turned a bit more detailed.
The group consisted of 5 people, 2 girls and 3 guys. Two of them were most likely foreigners, transfer students from a western country like England or France, going by their golden blonde hair color. These two were respectively both guy and girl, and looked similar enough to be siblings. They were situated at the back of the group, and were unarmed, although given the fact that they both had one hand constantly behind them, a hidden weapon wasn’t out of the question.
The rest were most likely Japanese. One guy had an aged face and a somewhat broad shouldered body. He was considerably older than the rest of the party. Appearance wise, he was probably a teacher or a staff member, that would explain why I felt an odd sort of familiarity upon looking at his somewhat sunken in cheeks. A dark brown haired girl was next to him. This person was probably pretty, I mean, even I could tell her sharp eyes and “sculpted’ face held some charm, despite the dirt and grime that covered it.
Both of them each held a wooden bat in their hands.
And finally, their was their leader, or at least, what looked like their leader. He was of average height, and had a pair of rectangular spectacles adorning his face. His short hair was a bit messy looking, and his right cheek had a bandage on it, but it was clear he was good looking. Another one of those archetype pretty boys.
He was the only one with an actual weapon. An all black clad short sword, one that resembled the item I acquired from my earlier encounter.
The group all held vigilant expressions, one dyed every inch with caution and experience. Without an exchange of words, the bespectacled youth motioned with his free hand, and in response, the rest of the group all began surveying their surroundings, each of the four inspecting a different direction.
They all surveyed the 2nd floor library vigilantly and with obvious purpose. From how I interpreted it, it wasn’t just an action spurred by caution, but rather one made with expectation. It was as if the group knew something was amiss.
As if to further confirm with my rambling thoughts, the spectacled youth’s voice abruptly rang out. A voice with a hint of masculinity and pubescent vigor reverberated in this silent sanctuary.
“I know you’re in here. There’s no use hiding.”
Although that was what he said, he didn’t particularly direct his words towards a specific location. More so, despite how close he was to us, it wasn’t like he was looking directly at us. In fact, he was more or less turned away from us.
-He knows someone’s here, but he’s not sure where?
It was that sort of situation. He was certain that they were not alone, but nonetheless, he still remained unaware as to our existence. Ideas and various reasons began to sprang forth in my mind.
Could it be a weird detection skill? If so, then it’s a severely lacking type of detection skill?
I remained calm, forcing myself to swallow down the slight anxiety that his sudden declaration caused.
I threw a quick glance towards the rest of my party, a bit worried as to how they would react.
Cielle, who was positioned the furthest back was her usual quiet self. I couldn’t make out the expression on her face thanks to her typical cascade of black hair, but from the time I’ve spent with her, I’ve began to be able to somewhat interpret her body language. For instance, her raised shoulders, and the biting of her lip indicated she interpreted a similar tension from the surroundings. Fortunately, her reaction was ideal, The pack in her hands had already been opened, and a small portion of [Black Gemini] had already began flowing out.
Hina, who was positioned closest to me, showed a blank expression, although the expression of familiarity never left her face. In fact, she had on a wry smile as if to say, “As expected of him”. Really, this type of childhood familiarity was something I was unaccustomed to.
Although what strikes me as odd was the lack of reaction from Cielle’s part. If my assumption is correct, and this spectacled youth was indeed the student council president whom Hina shared a “childhood friend” type of relationship with, then shouldn’t Cielle also be acquainted with him? Maybe it was the sort of relationship where Hina met him in secret or something. I’m not sure.
Despite the gnawing worry I had from seeing Hina’s current expression, seeing as how she made no move to act, I sighed in relief.
What was worrying though, was the last member of our group.
For a while now, I’ve heard a constant rattling of teeth from behind me. The noise was slight enough that it was even hard for my enhanced hearing to pick up, so their was no possible way the bespectacled youth could have heard it, but nevertheless it was quite a worrying sound.
I turned to face our past hostage, and the sight before me was just as I expected.
A nervous wreck of a girl who had bulging wide eyes that swerved frantically in all directions. At this point, she now gnawed on her fingernails instead of gnashing her teeth, all the while a constant stream of cold sweat trickled down her face.
It was understandable, her nervousness that is. After all, she did steal from them not to long ago, and probably caused some unneeded animosity between both parties. I could imagine that the feeling was something similar to a criminal who's been put on trial.
I stared at her fixedly, not willing to speak out loud in fear of them hearing us. My enhanced hearing has made me extra cautious about making any unnecessary noise, after all I’ve lost my reference point for what a person’s regular hearing is. I hoped that my rigid stare was enough to calm her down, although usually, things don’t work that well for me.
She ignored my stare, or rather, she stared past me and towards the still vigilant group in front. Cielle, who noticed my distress after a single glance, put a somewhat reassuring (?) hand on top of Cher. I’m not sure whether it was enough, but for now, I’ll leave her in Cielle's care.
I focused my attention back onto the other party just in time, as their leader once again spoke. This time his voice was a noticeable octave higher. “Oi! I already know you’re in there! If you’re planning some sort of surprise attack, then forget about it!”
-Rather vigilant, are we?
I floated a wry smile. Seeing another person’s caution to this extent, reminded me of myself. From the guy’s perspective, he guessed that we knew about his current location, which all the more put his part in a disadvantageous situation, since they knew we were here, but not where our exact location was.
“Come out already!” He screamed again.
In an attempt to even the playing field, he’s trying to coax us out.
But still, this leaves the question of how exactly did he figure out we were here? As I thought, was it really a detection skill?
Well, despite his intentions, I remained stoic and stood at my current position. I internally debated whether to confront him, or further wait, when something unexpected happened.
“Hii!”
With a shout, a figure that originated from behind me bolted forward. In her wake she knocked down a couple hardcover textbooks which warranted a pain filled “Uuuu...” to groan out of Cielle.
This person, this person whose face was twisted into an ugly expression, whose cheeks were smeared with blood and tears, whose trembling figure shook like an autumn leaf… This person was obviously Cher.
I internally sighed while placing a frustrated hand in front of my face. It seems like even Cielle wasn’t capable of calming down this type of half broken crazy. I shot a glance behind to see Cielle, rubbing her head pitifully as she locked eyes with me. Her normally covered hair was partitioned due to the impact of the books. She showed me a rare expression, one that seemed to say, “Sorry.”
Since I’ve already made sure she was okay, I turned my attention back towards the commotion, and threw a slit between my fingers, I quietly observed.
“O-oi, this girl!” One of the blonde students, the male one instantly cautioned as one of his arms grabbed onto something behind his student blazer. His eyes instantly flashed in recognition, and his face twisted into a scowl.
As if to speak out his thoughts, the blonde girl next to him spoke, “It’s one of Satou’s people! I recognize her face!”
-Well, that pitiful expression of Cher’s is pretty hard to forget…
While such a useless thought popped up into my mind, the opposing group had already entered into a fighting stance.
The spectacled youth stood in front of Cher, his sword raised at the ready. The rest of his team began to expand out, forming a half circle around the still shaking girl.
Knowing that her spur-of-the-moment dash wasn’t going the way she thought it would (whatever way that was), she helplessly raised her arms out in futile effort. If she had a white flag right now, she would surely be waving it.
“I-I-I..!” Although she tried saying something, seeing the weapons all pointed at her, caused her speech to buckle in nervousness, resulting in a series of pitiful stuttering.
“You… what did you come here for?” Amidst Cher’s stuttering, the President initiated conversation. “Satou should already know full well by now that we don’t have any more food!”
“And if you’re here to get the food we “retrieved” from three days ago, then don’t bother!” The brown haired girl added. “You guys stole it in the first place, we were just taking back what’s ours!”
This girl directed a particularly hate filled glare at Cher, which only caused her to shrivel up even more. “”N-no! That’s not why I’m here!”
Cher’s frantic pleading was displayed for all to see. It really wouldn’t be surprising if she started groveling at this instant.
“Then what?” The President continued, ignoring Cher’s current mental stability, “ If you’re not here for that then why are you here? Did Satou send you? Are you alone?”
A barrage of questions, none of which Cher answered. Instead she threw indiscreet glances towards our direction. Seeing her current expression, I could only think that the face of regret really matched her.
“Answer!”
“Hiii!!”
The atmosphere was obviously deteriorating at this point. Cher took several steps back, only to be followed by the encircling group in front of her. It wasn’t long till Cher’s backwards motion stopped, blocked by a brown oak shelf.
From our side, I could see from the corner of my eye, Hina's worrying expression. Although I tried to ignore it, the stabbing glance of hers was quite nerve wracking. As if to say, “You have to do something,” she continuously shifted her gaze between me and the situation in front of her.
This situation was indeed bad, and only worsening as every second passed by. The clear animosity and Cher’s own ineptness at answering only further fueled this situation.
Their leader, while doing a commendable job at restraining the others, was obviously slipping in power. The hate, which I can only imagine has been constantly fueled by bad mouthing and the past events that occurred, only further unhinged the rest of them. This was especially noticeable within the teacher and the brown haired girl’s faces.
Imitating a tightly pulled string finally snapping, the brown haired girl couldn’t take anymore of it, and finally dashed forward. She quickly closed the gap, moving a bit too fast for the rest of her party members to react. The wooden bat in her hand held high and just as it smashed down onto Cher’s already smeared face-
BAM
A crunching noise reverberated throughout the room.
The wooden bat, which should have hit Cher was currently blocked by the hilt of my long sword.
The Brown haired girl’s shocked expression momentarily registered in my mind before I put a bit of force into my arms and pushed her back. The girl in turn staggered backwards, but her expression quickly turned cold as she once again gripped her bat in a battle position.
-This is somewhat troublesome….
I inwardly sighed. This time around, like last time, I cautioned Cielle and Hina not to move into action unless things get seriously bad.
While I thought about what to do, I threw a quick glance towards Cher. Her face was more shocked than the brown haired girl’s.
Really? Was it really that surprising that I’d come and save her? After all, I am human. Even I have a bit of altruism in me, plus I can’t just watch a girl die so casually like that.
While internally sighing once more, I whispered softly at Cher, “Step back. You’ll get in the way.”
After seeing her comply and move away from the corner of my eye, I redirected all my focus on the group in front of me.
I looked over everyone of them first. Almost all the members sported shocked expressions. All of them that is, except the President. He had a bold smile plastered on his pretty boy face. His expression seemed to say, “The unexpected visitor finally showed himself, huh?”
“The unexpected visitor finally showed himself, huh?” The President worded out my interpretation, as he raised his sword high.
“...”
I continued staring at them while I raised my own sword up in response. Although it looked like I was just staring, in truth, I monopolized on this stalemate, and used [identify] in an attempt to grasp the power of the people in front of me.
-[Identify]!
Virgil Bernard - Level 9
HP: 150/190
Kathy Bernard - Level 9
HP: 167/190
Kikkawa Ieyasu - Level 10
HP: 180/ 200
Kasahara Emiko - Level 12
HP: 140/ 220
Kaibara Hokusei - Level 15
HP: 250/250
-Hoh…
On average, it seems like this party is comparatively stronger than Cher’s previous group.
The two blondies, like I had assumed, were related. The teacher, Kikkawa, was someone whom I’ve met before. His face was familiar, and he definitely taught me once, but I couldn’t quite remember what subject. The brown haired girl was the second strongest, only behind the president.
His level was high. He was actually close to Cielle and Hina’s level, who, after the battle with the werewolves, were now both respectively Level 17 and Level 19.
Kaibara Hokusei was someone I shouldn’t take lightly.
The atmosphere was tense. After my sudden intervention, not a single person had moved, although Hokusei still maintained that bold smirk of his. Honestly, it was quite annoying, but I was a bit more curious than I was irritated.
“How did you know we were here?” I asked, breaking the ensuing silence.
My question only further incited Hokusei, as his smirk grew. “Oh? Are you curious? I don’t know, how exactly did I do it?”
His casual tone seemed out of place with the tension in his body.
“...Was it a skill?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“A skill?” His eyes bulged in surprise. As if thinking for a moment, he squinted them momentarily, before he opened them once more and nodded in understanding. “So, skills like that did exist too, huh? So it wasn’t just limited to magic…”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He smirked again, causing me to inwardly sigh.
“... So you didn’t know?” I dejectedly spat out. My choice of words were a mistake on my part.
“Nope~ Thanks for the information~”
“... It won’t happen a second time.”
“Hahaha!”
His laugh really was quite irritating, but like before I forced myself to endure it. “So then, if it wasn’t a skill then how?”
In response, he raised an eyebrow. “How do you know I don’t just have habit of yelling out loud at random?”
“... I don’t think so.” I coldly responded. His actions, his commands, the group’s vigilance… they were two precise for that sort of reasoning. “Tell me,” I continued to urge.
Hokusei stayed silent for a while, as if mulling it over, before he finally shrugged.
“Fine, since you’ve already told me something interesting, I guess I’ll return a little bit of that information.” He paused, as if to catch his breath, when in reality he only used this slight pause to grin once more. “It’s really simple actually; I set a trap.”
-A trap?
My face contorted into confusion. A trap? If he really did set a trap, I’d have noticed. Exactly what sort of trap…
Seeing my current expression, Hokusei’s grin reached even his eyes.
“Oh, it’s natural that you didn’t notice. After all, it was such a discrete trap that unless one knew before hand, it would be impossible to catch.
Trap was set at the doorway that connected the library with the third floor.” He explained. “ It really was a simple trap, its almost comedic how effective it is, but anyways…. the trap was set before we left the library. I placed a strip of see through tape between the cracks that divided the double doors. Not only was the tape see through, but I specifically placed it near the bottom of the doors, so its only natural that you didn’t see.
When we returned, and I noticed that the tape had been damaged, then it was obvious enough that someone was here, or at the very least, someone had attempted to enter the library. If that was the situation, then it would have just been a case of me randomly yelling in a wide area such as this.”
He motioned with his hands while his grin parted into an abrupt chuckled.
“Truth be told, such traps were placed along all the entrances of the library before hand. It really was luck that you happened to enter through the third floor, and we just so happened to arrive through the third floor.”
“...That’s pretty clever.” I honestly complemented.
“Kukuku, isn’t it?”
Hokusei’s ensuing laugh reverberated throughout the room, further irritating me. After his laugh subsided, his arms once again tensed. His eyes turned sharp, as his mouth pursed in concentration.
Seeing his expression… I couldn’t help but sigh.
-Although I wanted to settle this peacefully for the sake of the future, and avoid a situation like last time…
While outwardly sighing I inwardly prepared myself. I deactivated [Sensory Remapping]’s effects. At my current stage with that skill, using it in combat was going to be a bit disorientating, so for now, it would be best to keep it off. After all, I was sure we were about to enter combat.
Despite my wish of peaceful negotiation...
His eyes spoke differently. It was a bit vague, but those eyes were familiar. They held clear bloodlust and intent. Eyes that wanted to kill. The same type of eyes that the monsters I’ve fought possessed. Eyes that wanted to kill. Eyes that were capable of killing.
“Sorry, about this,” He suddenly spoke, the earlier cheery and boasting tone now gone, “While it may be the duty of the student council president to listen and help with all a student’s problems, in this situation…”
He seemingly shrugged, gesturing at nothing in particular. “Well, I can’t lend a helping hand to a would-be raider.”
He threw a glance behind me, towards Cher, who meekly watched from a distance. Although he said that, although he made a point to label me as another “raider”, his tone wasn’t as convincing. As if he himself didn’t believe in such conviction.
He raised his sword high over his head.
The rest of his party, as if reacting, also readied their weapons, preparing to strike.
[Author's Note:From this point onward, I added a few lines, to make everything a bit more clear]
“Hey, hey, if you’re planning to start something dangerous, let me just say first, I’m not here to fight you.” I quickly rebuked, realizing that the situation was taking a less than satisfactory turn.
“Hoh…” Hokusei’s eyebrow arched up in curiosity.
“I’m not a raider or anything.” I continued. “ Actually, I’d like to-”
“Stop” Abruptly cutting me off, the bespectacled youth suddenly held his arm up infront of him, indicating his intention. “I don’t really want to hear it.”
“But-”
“Like, I’ve said before hand, I don’t want to hear it.” His eyes turned cold, and his tone lowered. “If you continued, I might end up being swayed or something, and I can’t have that.”
He held his bated breath, and nonchalantly whispered in a tone not meant for others to hear, “After all, it’s too bad, but I can’t afford to feed another mouth.”
If it weren’t for my enhanced hearing, I would have certainly missed what he had uttered a moment ago.
-Negotiations have failed, I guess….maybe I would have had better luck, had I brought Hina along...-
Although I lamely contemplated such nonsense, by this time, it was already too late.
As those whispered words left his parted lips, and materialized into the stagnant air, his feet had already bolted forward. His blade cut through air as he began his attack. [Edit end]
His strike was faster than I expected. I dodged by a hairsbreadth only because I managed to throw my whole weight to my right side.
I rolled safely out of harm’s way, in a similar fashion to a certain video game character with a giant key.
Before I could recover though, the Brown haired girl had unexpectedly already closed the distance. She entered a batter’s pose before swinging the bat in her hand with all her might.
If I didn’t know any better, I’m sure she was part of the school’s softball club before the countdown ended.
My position, plus the speed of her bat, were too much. I didn’t have time to dodge, or block with my blade, so I ended up taking the brunt of the impact with my left shoulder.
Luckily, I was able to minimize the damage using [Hard Scale], but unexpectedly, I didn’t come off completely unscathed. A slight throbbing pulsated in my shoulder, as I staggered back. Gaining more distance, with a leap back, I narrowly avoided another hit from a baseball, as this time, the teacher in their party swung down at me. His hit was aimed directly at the back of my neck, a blow that would surely kill or incapacitate in normal circumstances, but by the time it came down, I was already well out of reach.
The remaining members of their party, the blonde siblings kept their distance. Instead, their arms, which snaked all the way behind them, each pulled out what resembled a homemade slingshot. In the next instant, their hands dugged deep into their pockets, pulled out something a bit difficult to make out, and then proceeded to shoot at me.
I managed to barely dodge, by constantly running. Each “pellet” That they fired was surprisingly accurate. They either invested all their stat points in dexterity, or they had prior experience. Probably both.
As I frantically dodged, I made the conscious decision to further increase the distance between the bat wielding dou. They chased me, all the while, paying no heed to the constant flying pellets that hit barely a foot away from them.
“Damn it,” I cursed while I winced at a pellet that hit me square on the neck. It left a red welt, and diminished a bit of my health, but before i could lament over that, another pellet whizzed past my face.
This was honestly a bad situation. If I focused completely on dodging, then I’d be left open for the duo with the bats to attack, and vice versa, if I focused completely on the people chasing me, then I’d be easy pickings for those pellets.
I tried to recollect my thoughts as I frantically avoided. After deciding that I needed to catch my breath and recollect myself, I swiftly changed directions and ran towards the nearest Book shelf. If it's within a library this large, then getting lost within these shelves is easy, much less escaping from the long range attacks of those siblings.
As I was about to reach my destination, an obstructing body came and blocked my path.
With a swift vertical slash aimed directly at my chest, Hokusei prevented me from escaping. His confident smirk briefly entered my line of sight before I was forced to dive to the side.
I breathed out, and refocused. Just as another slash came down towards me, I easily dodged by kicking out from underneath me. I leaped back a few meters away from Hokusei, who, after seeing me dodge, quickly followed.
Right now, I constantly moved back as Hokusei chased me feverently with his blade. From the corner of my eye, I could see that behind me, the duo with the bats were still persistent, as they too drew ever closer. It was a pincer attack, and to top it off, a constant hail of pellets rained down me.
While I avoided most of the pellets, the few that did land, stung, and constantly shaved off a bit of my experience every time.
-If that’s the case…
I leaped back once more, and this time, landed with both my hands and feet on the ground. Before the rest of the others could catch up, I quickly grabbed one of my expendable daggers which I kept on my back, and underneath my jacket.
With a decisive throw, a bladed edge zoomed past the stale library air, as it quickly approached its target and sunk itself into the male sibling’s foot.
“Agh!” A pained groan escaped from his lips, as he inadvertently dropped his slingshot as a result.
Whether it be shock or surprise that I had such a method of retaliation, the hail of pellets momentarily halted. The one who had his foot pierced crouched down and groaned, as the other stared, wide eyed and in surprise.
I took this opportunity to continue attacking.
Just as Hokusei and the others converged at my location, I bolted forward, directly towards where their long ranged students were.
With short, and rapid trots, my speed was incomparable to any they had displayed before. I quickly closed the gap, making short work of the 15 meters that had separated us.
In my field of vision, I could see the hunched over figure of the male sibling, as he looked up, noticing my approach for the first time. The one next to him, his sister I presumed, frantically tried reloading.
Her flustered movements caused a few of the pellets to slip out of her hands and hit the floor. The raining thuds they produced reverberated in my ears, as not long after, I finally reached them.
The hilt of my sword came zooming forward, and following my initial momentum, it met its target in the form of the girl’s solar plexus. She grunted once, before keeling over, her body now wrapped in a series of restless spasms. As expected from a long distance build, her body strength was weaker than average.
Following that, I sent a quick kick, directed at the still recovering male sibling’s jaw. My foot, which was angled downwards, swiftly met its target, and he slumped down on the floor, a bit of drool streaming down his chin.
Just as I bent over and pulled out the expendable Goblin dagger from the youth’s foot, the remaining three, were quickly approaching.
Using the same tactic as previously, I once again threw the dagger towards my incoming enemies. This time, the dagger was specifically aimed at the exposed calf of the remaining female student.
As the blade quickly met its mark, a disgruntled yelp escaped from her throat, and she stumbled in mid run, before ultimately tripping over herself and falling flat on the floor.
Momentarily, it had become two vs one, and with a steeled resolution, I dashed forward. The sword in my hand blurred, as it made first contact with the weapon of the nearest combatant in front of me; the teacher.
The wooden bat splintered in the teacher’s hands, but my attack did not relent there. Following that, my right foot kicked out towards his left knee cap, causing him to lose strength in his legs and shifted his position to kneel in front of me.
Before I could knock him unconscious with another swift kick to the face, an all black short sword, slashed in front of my line of sight, stopping me in my tracks. It slashed in front of me again, causing me to leap back a few paces. The sword, and its owner in question did not stop there though, as they continued charging forward.
Clang Clang Clang
Without the bother of the constant pellets, I met Hokusei’s charge with my own. His vertical slash, was deflected by my horizontal slash, my stab was parried, his thrust was decisively blocked. Like this, we exchanged brief blows before I ultimately pushed him back with my stat advantage.
Hokusei leapt back, increasing our distance as he used this chance to catch his breath. He glared at me, while readying his sword once more. He entered a stance, keeping his blade directly pointed at me. For a brief instant, he remained motionless, still, like the stagnant air of the library.
Of course this moment only lasted for a second, before his figure rocketed forward. It was his feet that moved forward first. Well trained movements, a practiced attack, it was this type of assault that I frantically blocked.
His steps proceeded forward, swinging the sword simultaneously as I was forced to move back. A horizontal slash, a vertical slash, consecutive diagonal slashes. The glare in his eyes constantly fixated on me, all the while that blade of his sword blurred.
Clang, Clang, Clang
A horizontal strike was barely dodged by moving myself back. Although as a result, I lost my footing, and that same horizontal strike instantly morphed into a mid section thrust, one I barely blocked with the base of my sword.
I gritted my teeth as I was inevitably forced further back.
There was an obvious difference. A difference that was more impactful than my own stat advantage. That difference was-
-training.
After exchanging a few blows with him, it was obvious enough that Hokusei took some form of martial arts. Maybe Kendo or something.And going from the weight of each of his strikes, it was also obvious that he was undeniably good at it.
In pure swordsmanship, I was undeniably beat.
Each of his strikes were clearly more refined, more practiced, more decisive than mine. I knew this, I knew this, but… but it wasn’t like I’d keel over just like that though.
Up until this point, I’ve survived with my own power. Up until this point and into the future, I’d continue to do the same. This situation wasn’t any different, I’d make it out, no, I’d triumph.
With such a resolution, I took another leap backwards, this time, increasing our distance by more than double of what it had been. Like expected, Hokusei was quick to approach. Soon, he’d close our gap, but the time interval before then-
-was something I’d take full advantage of.
As he approached, as my vision quickly filled with the black blade of his sword, an expendable dagger flew out of my hands and straight towards Hokusei's approaching figure.
The blade was deflected with a well aimed block, but that wasn’t all I had. Besides Efhermet, I had a total of 4 expendable goblin daggers behind my back at all times. I quickly threw the remaining two at my oncoming enemy.
Both blades flew threw the air, one of them aimed at his right thigh, while the other aimed at his left arm. Hokusei was able to block the one aimed at his thigh, but as a result, the remaining blade sunk deep into his left shoulder. He grunted in frustration as his face morphed into a pain filled scowl.
Although, more than anything, more than that new injury, my real goal was the opening it created.
With such an opportunity present, I instantly moved. I dashed forward, relying on my stat boosted speed. My blade zoomed fiercely behind me. Closing the gap in an instant, I stopped directly in front of him, and swung. Whistling thru the air, just as it landed-
“Stop!”
-A sudden outbursts halted me in my tracks. My blade likewise halted, just mere inches from Hokusei’s body. Just the same, Hokusei, who was preparing his own counterattack, also stopped, his face showed a complex expression, upon hearing that frantic yell. An instant recognition.
We both turned towards the source of the noise, and amidst a pile of crumbled books and torn pages-
“Hina?!”
Was what escaped Hokusei’s cracked lips.
***
Author's Note:I hope you liked this chapter. Please support the author (me)) by rating (or better yet, reviewing) my story, if you haven't already.