He didn't have to wait long. One of the men remained next to Tirf, while the second, already familiar to Ray, moved a meter forward with a green glare, and the sword, taken out of the scabbard right in the process, was steadily approaching his neck. Perhaps if the guy was in human form, this skill would be dangerous, but the reflexes of the forest were so developed that even the movements created by the skill were clearly visible to him.

As it turned out, this skill was similar to Dash. The body did not move forward immediately, similar to the Retreat effect. It was just that the movement accelerated so much that it was almost impossible to see it, however, this only concerned human eyes.

With exactly the same green flash, Rey disappeared, only to reappear a meter behind in the same instant.

He still hasn't drawn his weapon. The thing was that the guy was confident in the ability to cope with the swordsman standing in front of him. It was not even the advantage of the player, and hence the number of skills. It was just that the body of the forest, strengthened by souls, was too superior to the human. And disarmament could force the enemy to use some kind of trump card, which would be useful to know now, because the skills were most likely the same for the same type of weapon.

“Although, there are many types of swords, as well as techniques and fighting schools. We need to check it out somehow." - Ray's thoughts were interrupted by another skill, which, it should be noted, disappointed him very much, because it was the same blow from above, which was used by the now dead guard of the estate.

The guy was able to get away from him without the support of the game system - the physical abilities of the body were more than enough for a quick step to the side.

The bodyguard made a few more swings, but those, not being accelerated and enhanced by skills, were clearly unable to hit Ray. He simply broke the distance, and so quickly that the man even hesitated.

Once about seven meters from the opponent, the guy took a moment to look around. The two bodyguards clearly understood that the situation was not the most pleasant, because the fact that using two skills one of them could not only kill, but even injure the opponent already said something.

- Tessa. Horses.

With just two words, Rey didn't give his opponents a chance to change their minds, and he deviated from his original plan, which was to finish everything quickly. He took out his daggers and, raising his weapon in front of him, walked towards the first bodyguard at a fairly fast pace. The man's skills, most likely, did not have time to recharge yet, however, the guy did not worry too much, if only because he had already seen a couple, and the rest, it seemed, like his were passive.

"Acceleration."

A small green trail appeared behind Ray. The bodyguard visibly tensed, and the next moment the boy's body blurred. Only the dust kicked up by his foot and the residual green light reminded him that someone had been standing there a moment ago.

The movements of the forest were already faster than those of a person, and accelerated three times and even more so. The man, to his credit, still managed to block one of the daggers. Even the attacking guy was a little surprised by this, but only attributed it to the lack of his own combat technique and experience in fighting people. However, it did not matter, because the second blade, at the same moment when the weapon collided, also shone with the green light of the applied skill.

"Dissection."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

With a splash of blood, the hand, with the sword still tightly gripped in it, flew up almost two meters into the air. The bodyguard didn't even have time to scream when another dagger slammed into his throat.

The guy did not look at the man's body that began to fall to the ground. Only two seconds had passed since the activation of the Haste, but he was not going to waste the remaining three either.

With a flash of light, his body moved five meters forward, directly in front of the second bodyguard who was already ready. At that moment, Rey saw with his own eyes another new skill, because in front of the man, or rather in front of his sword, a translucent green barrier with a diameter of about a meter appeared. It was he who stopped the dagger rushing forward.

We have to admit that this made the guy freeze in place. The time he spent trying to smash through the barrier with his blade was just long enough for the Haste effect to wear off. Realizing this, Rei immediately jumped back.

The thing was that this skill accelerated only the body, but not the brain. If you couldn't control your three times faster movement, then you couldn't use the skill to its full potential. Fortunately, the reflexes of the forest were high enough to control the body at such speeds, but even the five seconds that the skill worked gave some kind of load on the brain. A small but momentary disorientation was present.

"Every time it gets better and better." Ray mentally noted, remembering how the first time he used this skill, he almost broke his leg.

He just waited, carefully studying the barrier. He was not so big, but, crouching, the man could hide behind him completely, which, given his strength, which the guy managed to verify, made him extremely useful.

The shield didn't last long. In less than three seconds, he melted into a haze. Mentally, Rei noted for himself that, like the skill of the fifth level of Dagger Mastery, Acceleration, it lasted for about five seconds, which means that, most likely, it was also quite difficult to master for the inhabitants of this world.

“So the structure of specialization development is similar for all types of weapons? Although it is impossible to say this with certainty, it is still only a single example.

The boy's thoughts were interrupted by the neighing of a horse.

At that moment, Ray was struck by lightning.

“Boy…” - turning his head, he noticed Tirf, who was already climbing onto the back of the steed.

Without wasting even a second, the guy moved towards him. Except with a flash of his already familiar movement skill, a bodyguard appeared in front of him. Blocking the swing of his sword, Rei noticed out of the corner of his eye that the son of the Marquis was already on horseback.

- Tessa! Stop it! - the guy managed to shout, dodging another attack from a man who, it seems, really didn’t care about his life, because he completely went on the attack, forgetting about protection. The faithful servant really wanted to win more time for his young master.

The guy tried his best to finish him quickly, but this bodyguard seemed to be stronger than the previous one. At the very least, his swordsmanship was at a higher level, because to break the distance as before, Ray was not given a constant onslaught. Movement skills were also not yet available. He won’t be able to use the dash for almost a minute, and the Retreat, even if it will be available after a few seconds, but this time will be enough for the boy to hide, especially on horseback.

The guy fought off attack after attack. He saw many holes in the enemy's defense, but none of them opened the vital points of the body, which means that there was not much point in attacking them, because it was fraught with actual injury. Nevertheless, he was significantly inferior to the bodyguard in terms of technology, and, as it turned out, this advantage was enough for an experienced warrior to level the difference in physical parameters.

As he dodged another sweeping blow, Rei realized he could still hear the horse's hooves. And that sound continued to fade away. He tightened his grip on the daggers, realizing that Tessa had not listened to him, but the next moment he saw the silhouette of a girl emerge from behind the warrior ready to make the next attack.

The blow was clean and deadly. The man only opened his eyes in disbelief when he felt cold metal piercing his neck. In a moment, his eyes went out and the dead body fell down, forming a pool of blood next to it, repeating the fate of his comrade.

Ray didn't appreciate the irony that both bodyguards died from identical wounds. Without giving Tessa even a glance, he turned his head to the side. Tirf was no longer visible, but the lad stood like that for some time.

Only after a few seconds did he turn his head to look at the girl who was still clutching the bloody dagger in her hand.