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As the sound of their footsteps came closer, I slowed down my already calm breathing, not moving a muscle.
I waited patiently, crouched behind the boulder, until they stopped walking.
“Aaah, fuck. Finally here,” said a rough voice not far from me.
I heard the sound of a backpack falling on the ground.
“I fucking hate this shitty chase. Damned bastard should have just waited inside the fucking carriage,” continued the same voice.
Trying to guess where they were, based on the sounds they made, wasn’t easy. The talking guy should have been at most ten meters away from me, but I wasn't sure.
A few more backpacks hit the ground, more gently than the first.
I almost jumped when one hit on the other side of the boulder I was hiding behind, but I controlled myself at the last moment. The rock should have been enough to cover me unless I stood up.
There was a sound of rustling.
It felt worse than when I waited for a fight in the arena. At least I just had to concentrate for my incoming fight there, instead of trying to guess a good timing for an attack, where failure could drastically lower my winning chances.
And I have no idea what a good opportunity is.
That’s why people need training. And even then, it’s totally different from having actual experience.
It was something that applied to most things, but in combat related matters it was all the more important.
Still, life didn't always wait for you to be ready when throwing shit your way.
“It’s already the tenth time you said that. It’s useless and annoying, so shut up,” said another voice that was coming closer.
“Fuck you and fuck this whole fucking mess. I’m going to take a piss,” the first rough voice responded.
It would have been wonderful if he was pants down when I attacked, but I heard the footsteps of the second guy coming right beside my boulder, and an instant later he appeared just a meter in front of me while looking in the distance.
My breath stilled, as the rush flooded me in energy.
I felt like the world slowed down as I saw the guy's gaze moving down towards me with a, “Hm?”
My sword was already swinging towards his throat as he opened his mouth to warn the others, and he could only let out a gurgle as he fell backward in a vain attempt to dodge.
I was already moving around the boulder before he hit the ground. Someone was taking out things from one of the big backpacks, and I swung my sword down while he was turning my way, splitting his head open.
“Fuck!” I heard looking up.
The other guy taking things out from the giant backpack was looking up horrified, while the one that cursed was already lunging from his sword that he left near his backpack. The one I killed was probably the one with a bow.
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I jumped forward, trying to stop him from reaching his sword, but he lifted a hand towards me.
Instinctively throwing myself to the side, dodging a blast of compressed air, I stood up after a roll a few steps away from the other one, who had just unsheathed his sword.
He swung at me while activating a Skill that made his sword glow.
Instead of parrying, I dodged to the side, feeling the heat scalding my face. Uncomfortable, but not close enough to do damage.
This too was a Skill I recognized, though it was used more frequently by the people of the Duchy.
His hasty swing left him wide open for my sword to slice through both of his eyes, making him drop his sword with a scream.
I then sidestepped as I saw the other guy swing his sword out of the corner of my eye, a wind blade, much bigger and faster than the one I saw the other day, marking the rock behind me.
When I dashed towards him, he used an air blast again, but having seen its range from the previous blow I just jumped back, feeling only a slight push.
That seemed to have been his intention, since he then slashed again with his sword right after. I dodged, moving in front of the screaming guy, but he didn’t seem to care, since he kept swinging.
The one behind me cried out louder as he was hit by the wind blade.
I threw a dagger, trying to take him by surprise, but some sort of windshield made it veer off course.
It didn't seem too strong, so it was probably only useful against ranged attacks.
I then kept pressing him; going closer, then jumping away and dodging his wind blades.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I heard him swear suddenly when one of his swings didn't produce anything.
This time he let me come much closer to him when I dashed, before he raised his hand with a smirk.
Without delay, I lowered my posture, planting my feet wide apart on the ground with my left shoulder in front and an arm raised to cover my face.
The next instant, I felt the hit and the pain, but it wasn’t enough to blow me back or stall me for long.
Looking stunned, probably not expecting me to take his blow head-on, he swung his sword in haste — he was too late. My sword stabbed right through his leather armor, going out of his back. I put enough strength in it that I reached the hilt, taking him off his feet for a moment.
He coughed while kneeling down, looking in disbelief at the sword planted on his chest.
I then kicked his body as I extracted my sword, looking around.
The screaming guy was now whimpering on the ground, in a pool of blood. The hit from the wind blade had made a wide gash on his chest. He didn’t have long to live, so I went there and stabbed his throat to finish him off.
After that, I sat on the ground to catch my breath.
The guy was fast, and he had some swordsmanship training, but it wasn’t on par with opponents I fought in the arena; he was too predictable. He also just stood there without coming closer or moving around.
Such a stupid way to fight.
Even that last attempt at tricking me had been too stupid.
If he had to pull that stunt, he should have at least gone closer to his limits. It was too easy to tell otherwise.
Still, the fight was good enough to let me understand where I stood compared to other people.
I fought only three guys above level thirty before this. Leaving the Monk aside, the other two had just passed the level 30 quest and one of them used almost the same Skills as this bandit.
That time too I took the air blast head-on to get closer, but the result was a broken shoulder, and I was nearly blown off my feet. The guy was also much more composed than this one, since he didn’t waste time attacking me.
It devolved into a close-range fight where I could only use one arm against a guy who was both faster and stronger than me; he was also more skilled with a sword than this one. It was a close win, and he almost completely severed my left leg with his last blow.
If it wasn’t for the healer, I would have croaked.
It took two weeks to recover.
I looked at the dead guy. Judging by the length and speed of his wind blade and air blast, he should have been around the middle thirties in level.
It was much easier this time, though, I thought while feeling my left shoulder. It was painful, and I had some problems moving my arm, but it would soon get better thanks to my attributes.
Really, I am so much stronger.
Strength, speed, toughness, perception, reflexes... everything was leagues better than before my evolution.
In conclusion, I would probably have a decent chance against anyone up to level 40.
After resting for a while, I looked towards the other hillock in the distance. I could see two dots moving towards me.
Well, I’ll check what they had on them while I wait, I thought while I moved to search the first corpse.
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