*Evan POV*

“Let's Rock and Roll!” I said cockily towards Trish. I can’t tell what face he’s making due to the helmet covering his head, but he seemed angry with all the lightning he was using.

He brandished his sword and ran straight at me, I didn’t feel the least bit threatened as my reflex skill kicked in and all his movements slowed down. I couldn’t help but grin as I used parry again like last time.

When he got close, he jumped and swung his Silver Sword down on me. I retaliated by quickly sliding the wooden sword in position towards my Front. I felt the recoil of his strike go through my palms before parrying his blade upwards and kicking him off the ground into the air.

He was still in the air, but both of our swords were pointing away from each other. I jumped behind me and saw a -2 pop up above his body. As soon as he landed, I activated my Cross-Slash skill which strengthened my arm muscles and accelerated my swing towards him in an x formation. My blazing sword scorching his armor, but barely nicking it.

-5

-4

The damage numbers are too low and that’s definitely because of his armor.

I raised the boomstick that I had in my off-hand and aimed it at him. Before I could even start blasting, he raised his hand and summoned a yellow coloured translucent body shield in front of me. The shield covered his whole body but I still took the chance to blast him at him.

It was completely ineffective as the bullets evaporated the second they hit his shield. The shield went away and a yellow magic circle formed above me.

Sensing danger, I shot my Grappling hook behind me and zoomed away from where I was standing. As soon as I got away, the place I was standing at before was hit by three massive crackling Thunder strikes. Each strike was loud with a crackle and boom, scarring the terrain before leaving the red carpet torched and the stone floor Shattered.

“What the hell was that thing?” He asked. I should note that everyone else in this room was shocked, not literally, just figuratively, aside from Lucy and Oswald who looked more excited than anything else.

“What was what thing?” I asked back knowing he was asking about the Grappling hook.

He shook his head before pointing his sword at me. “Doesn’t matter, I don’t need your demi-humans’ tricks! I’ll beat you with my strength alone!” As soon as he said that, The Silver sword he was holding started crackling with lightning sparks.

This Mad Lad imbued his sword with thunder just like how I’ve imbued my wooden sword with fire.

"I don’t need your demi-humans tricks" my ass! That’s just my skill with thunder imbuement!

When I used the grappling hook to get away, I moved away a bit too much, so now there was a lot of distance between us, making my boomstick ineffective. I could charge in and whack him away with my blazing wooden sword, but he has too much armor, and I doubt his lightning is going to let me do that in peace.

So I took out my Silver bow and applied the Siege skill.

My legs spread as they were planted down on the carpeted floor. I aimed my bow at Trish. Sensing danger, he put up the Yellow shield in front of him again before he started to slowly walk towards me. Kinda menacingly too, I might add.

Let me explain how siege works. Siege plants me down on the ground and allows me to fire my bow in three separate firing modes.

1) I shoot multiple Arrows with one shot. Kind of like a boomstick but with arrows.

2) I shoot arrows in a burst form. It's quite fast and accurate at the same time with decent damage.

3) And lastly, I shoot a single powerful spinning arrow. It takes time to charge but after firing, the arrow is imbued with Wind magic and it will spin so much that it will transform into a mini tornado. Honestly, it’s an overkill.

Obviously, this guy needs to be taught a lesson, so first off, I used the ‘Skill Imbuement’ I got before that imbues certain skills with magic, and I imbued my siege skill with spark magic. As soon as I did that, sparks of fire flared from my bow and the ground I was standing on.

Imbued Siege with spark magic is overpowered as hell, and sparks started to lift from the ground i stood on, as well as flickering off the bow. After it looked like it was working, I started to charge up the sniping arrow and fire sparks started to burst out of the arrow. I couldn’t see Trish’s face but it looked like he figured out something’s wrong since he started to rush towards me.

“Let’s see how your shields holds up to my arrow jimbo.” I smiled as I released the flaming arrow from the nock of my bow. As soon as I let go of the arrow, a fiery tornado formed on the tip of the arrow as it spun around at Mach speed.

I don’t know about you, but shooting out fiery tornados from your bow feels absolutely fantastic.

gg Trish. Ez, Get clapped nerd. I thought to myself as the arrow ravaged everything near and in front of its path, including the red carpet we were standing on.

Trish had less than a second to react but instead of tanking the blow with his yellow magic shield. He opted to side step instead. The fiery tornado-arrow broke through his shield, demolishing it mercilessly. After which, the arrow whistled past his face before striking the Stone wall with a deafening crash. The resulting shockwave left a giant fissure in the wall.

Everyone had their jaw drop. I looked, and Trish did not come out unscathed. Firstly, his helmet shattered and fell to the ground.

I finally saw his face. Black short hair, a bit of tanned skin, sharp brown eyes. He looked mature and above 20 of age. From the part where his helmet cracked open, there was a small burn and a small cut left by my arrow. Blood trickled down the injury too.

He was shocked by the destruction of just one of my arrow, and how his shield didn’t stand a chance. He looked back at the arrow that had left fissures on the wall.

I nodded, understanding why Trish couldn't block my tornado arrow. So before he got the chance to fight back again, I readied another arrow.

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“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!!!” Surprisingly, The kid Queen stopped us this time.

“What?” I said as I nocked another arrow into my bow, “Our fight is still going.”

The kid Queen stood up from her throne as she complained. “This is just a one-sided battle!”

I looked at her unimpressed. “So?”

“What?” She said quietly and confused.

I sighed, “He's the one who wanted to fight me. It's his choice if he still wants to keep fighting me or not.” I looked towards Trish, “Though my conditions still stand.”

“What?” He said with confusion and anger mixed in.

I raised an eyebrow. “What? Did you already forgot what I said before? Take a break from the knight's duty. It's all getting to your head, and you need to let it all go.”

He clenched his teeth angrily and threw his sword at me. His attack completely caught me off guard and his sword hit me.

-5

Well, at least it didn't do that much damage. I thought as Trish ran up to a nearby soldier and took his spear.

“Come and let's settle this like a real man! Without bows!”

I sighed. He can’t figure out how to counter me with my bow, so he just opted to make me not use my bow. Well, I’m not bitch made, so why not?

“Fine, whatever you say.” I said as I put my bow in my inventory and it vanished from my hand. It was then that I noticed my mistake. I used my inventory in front of everyone. I already deduced that these guys don’t have a system or inventory so the things I do would be unexplainable. I was correct since everyone was looking at me confused. besides Lucy.

Before I get to explain myself, Lucy started talking excitedly, “Wow! Shishou! You also know how to cast Inventory magic!”

I didn’t know there was magic associated with my system’s inventory but it saves me from any explanation that might make me fall in trouble, so I just answered with a nod. After I nodded, everyone seemed to have understood something as they didn’t seem confused anymore.

Oh boi, I’m so glad my luck saved me here.

I walked forward and picked up the silver sword that Trish threw at me.

“Well, since you want a fight with me mano a mano. Let’s get it over with quickly!”

Trish remained in place. He kept the spear’s blade part pointed downwards.

Afraid of charging now?

It looks like he had learned his lesson and was waiting for me to make my move. I ran forward a bit before using Lunge.

He side-stepped and dodged my attack. He counter-attacked but I rolled forward to dodge his counter.

The spear has more range than the sword so it’s a pain in the ass to keep a distance large enough to not get hit. Also, because of our armor, we both can take tons of hits but I'd rather not.

“What’s up? Scared to strike first?” I tried to taunt him but it didn’t work. He clenched his teeth but didn't charge ahead like before.

Damn, I want him to attack me so I can parry and land some hits. That's basically how I've handled any kind of close-quarters fight until now. I started contemplating, but if that doesn't work then what can I do?

I shook my head to rid myself of my doubts. I'm the Hero of Skill in the end. If some of my skills aren’t working, then I’ll fight back with other skills!

I charged in and Trish Readied himself. reflex activated and I could see his every move. I flicked the Silver sword at him diagonally but he blocked it. The recoil from the strike threw me off a bit, giving him enough chance to get a hit in, but, lucky for me, I could see his every move.

He pointed his spear at me and knocked me off balance. I could see that he was aiming for my left shoulder so I tilted myself just enough to counter him. He missed, and I finally struck him in the end.

-15

YES! Finally, some Damage!

I wasn't going to risk getting more hits in, since his spear has more range, so I chose the next best option. My shotgun! I quickly equipped my Boomstick on my offhand and fired at his stomach at nearly point blank range.

-4 -5 -4 -6

And to finish everything off, I imbued spark magic on the skill "High Rise". Fire sparks flickered onto the silver sword I was wielding before I did a vertical slash upwards. Sparks spewed everywhere as Trish screamed as he was launched back by the knockback.

-22

Trish crashed onto the stone wall before falling down on the hard ground face first.

Score!

“Alright! looks like we have a winner!” I said as I put the Silver sword in my inventory.

Trish tried to stand up but one of the guards came up to him and apprehended him. Trish spat out some blood. he didn’t have enough energy to even fight back. “Get your hands off me!” He screamed, but couldn’t do anything.

I didn't notice when, but both Oswald and Lucy who had gotten me into this mess had surrounded me. While I felt grumpy about it, Lucy and Oswald both looked excited as Oswald screamed out like a fangirl meeting her idol, “Sensei! You Were Amazing!”

I didn't even get to say anything as Lucy followed with, “I never thought of mixing magic with equipment and weapons could be so devastating! That arrow shot Was amazing! It’s as expected of my Shishou!” She seemed proud of herself even though I was the one who just won.

She then looked to the Queen With pride in her eyes. “See! I told you he was good!”

The queen was a little stumped but still nodded, “Yes, He is quite amazing.”

Oi Oi! Hold on for a second, what the hell did Lucy tell you about me?

I looked towards Trish, and despite his injuries, he was still trying to fight back.

I guess I should talk to Trish about his hate on the Demi-humans.

“Oi, Trish!” I called him out as he looked at me. “Listen, I don't know what happened with you, and I'm not saying that you should stop hating the demi-humans, but was I the one who did it?”

“What?” Trish said confused.

Damn how do I do this? I’m not exactly good with words.

“What I'm trying to say is that there may be bad Demi-Humans, but that does not mean everyone is bad.”

He clicked his tongue as He looked away.

Ugh, How do I get to him?

“How about I put it in this? Is a new-born Demi-human baby also bad enough that you would just kill it?”

“I...”

Oh, I’m getting a reaction.

I continued, “Or how about those Demi-Humans who have lost their families? They never sought out revenge.”

He suddenly got angry, “That's because they're weak!”

I nodded understandingly before I pointed at myself, “But I lost everything too, And I never held it against you or anyone else.”

He looked like he was going to say something, but he kept his mouth shut. I'll admit I’m not that good with words, but I’m still going to try and convince him to think otherwise.

“I captured the Cultists who killed my race, but that's it. My revenge is done”

Trish suddenly lashed out “YOU CALL THAT REVENGE!?!” The Guard was doing his best to hold him back but even he was having trouble, and let's not forgot, this is after Trish took a trashing from me.

"TELL ME!" Trish lashed out again, "HAVE YOU REALLY AVENGED YOUR PEOPLE!"

“Maybe not..." I paused as I thought hard about my next words, "But that's not what my people would've wanted.”

“Wha-?”

“I’m betting my people would have wanted me to live on instead of sulking in revenge.”

I sincerely hope they wanted Reid to live on.

“So I'm going to honor their wishes, and not do something petty like revenge. Since, in the end, their wishes matter to me more than my selfish need for revenge.”

It was at that moment that I saw Trish shocked. It was as if his world turned upside down; I don't know why he's acting like that but it seems like I finally got through that thick skull of his. His shocked face persisted for a few moments as if he was trying to remember something, another few moments later, he looked down and stared at the ground, probably contemplating all his decisions until now.

And then, as if a ghost had possessed him, Trish started crying.

WoahWoahWoah! That was fast! I didn't touch his soft spot or anything did I? How much were you letting it in for such a manly man like you to cry?

I looked at the guard who had him apprehended and said. “Hey, leave him to me.”

The guard looked at the queen before looking at me and nodding. He let go of Trish and fell down like a puppet whose strings were cut. I walked up to him, and I heard him quietly sobbing on the ground, I didn't know what to so I kneeled down and tried to help him sincerely.

“Hey, Trish. Need a shoulder to cry on?”

he punched me in the leg and sobbed quietly down on the ground. I'm guessing he misunderstood my words but I can't blame him.

“Just...” Trish started talking in between sobs. “J-Just give me a minute.”

"Gotcha, Take your time." I said before I stood back up.