Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve: Defensive Blade

Chapter Twelve: Defensive Blade

Combat was something Valen had always been prepared for throughout his life. Whether he evolved or not, he had always practiced with his sword.

His first coach had been his father, who had taught him the Basic Swordsmanship Art.

Even by 11, he had mastered all its intricacies, and by 11, his father had emphasized it. According to him, learning more techniques would only make him deteriorate rather than improve if Valen couldn’t display 70% of his strength with every swing.

Before undergoing evolution earlier today, Valen had already been able to exhibit 90% of his strength with every swing of his sword. Now, after his evolution and rapid increase in strength, he realized he could only stably output 50% of his true strength, and the realization was incredibly embarrassing.

During his battle with the mirror beast, he hadn’t realized this because the creature had been stronger than him.

Once he clashed with an incoming Amberfiend, he was forced to retreat half a step back, even when his level was already 0.67%.

Although Amberfiends specialized in strength, this sort of display made him look like a newbie.

Night Vanguard and Frost Byte held up their shields to hold back the incoming monsters. However, they were sent sliding backward from the collision—they were only Level 0.10 Evolvers after all.

Night Vanguard unsheathed his longsword and smashed it against his shield, causing a grating sound to echo.

The Amberfiends paused in their tracks for a moment, and grasping this opportunity, Night Vanguard went for the kill. A small gale shot from his boot, propelling him forward.

Placing his shield before him, he smashed into an Amberfiend, halting its advance. Then he stabbed out with his longsword, skewering the beast’s heart. Cleanly and swiftly, a Level 0.33% Amberfiend was struck down.

Witnessing this scene sent fighting spirit gushing through everyone’s veins. Night Vanguard shot Valen a look that seemed to say, ’See that?’

Valen’s eyes flashed as he sped towards Night Vanguard. He activated a basic footwork technique from the Silver King’s memories, causing him to cross the 15-yard distance between him and Night Vanguard in an instant.

Charge!

After appearing before Night Vanguard with the footwork technique, Valen shoved him back with his foot and grasped his sword with both hands, sending a quick slash at the Level 0.33 Amberfiend.

The Amberfiend, which was supposed to be dead, lifted its wooden axe to defend itself. The collision sent the Amberfiend reeling backward.

Valen wanted to pursue the monster, but changed his mind when he heard a sharp wind coming from behind him.

Shifting his stance slightly, he spun around and unleashed a sword technique.

Defensive Blade!

This technique involved the rapid twirling of the sword around the body to defend against all incoming attacks.

To attain basic mastery of the technique, the user would have to twirl the sword four times around the body per second. At its peak, one would have to unleash up to 50 twirls around the body per second.

For a Rank Zero sword technique, it was already impressive enough. During the era of the first Silver King, it was deemed one of the best lifesaving techniques for Swordsmen below Level 100.

Clang!

Clang!

Two rings echoed throughout the battlefield as Valen was forced to retreat by a step. Even so, he had stopped the ambushes from two Amberfiends.

Everyone snapped back to their senses at this scene, staring at Valen as though he were a monster. Initially, they had vague suspicions that Valen wasn’t a Level 0.10 Evolver like them since he had easily dealt with the Level 1 Mirror Beast.

Now, those thoughts were solidified. They wouldn’t believe—even for a moment—that anyone below Level 0.50 could achieve the monstrous feat Valen had just displayed.

Of the two ambushing Amberfiends, one was a Level 0.70, and the other was 0.60. To be capable of stopping their charge and only retreating by a step meant that Valen’s strength almost equaled theirs.

This was like an explosion going off in everyone’s mind—especially Night Vanguard. He hadn’t thought the difference between him and Valen was so huge.

Although Valen had slain a Level 1 Mirror Beast, he had chalked it up to the fact that Mirror Beasts were one of the weakest monsters at Level 1.

In terms of strength, speed, and other aspects, they couldn’t rival many other Level 1 beasts. The only thing they had going for themselves was their innate ability to mirror their surroundings, thus going invisible.

But now, witnessing Valen holding back three Amberfiends—including the one he thought he had slain—he found his earlier thoughts and actions laughable.

Even so, a sense of respect that had never been there was born for Valen. He had provoked him time and again, yet in a dangerous situation, Valen didn’t hesitate to rush to his aid. This made him realize how fortunate he was to have Valen as his team leader.

It wasn’t only Night Vanguard who had this thought; the others felt the same way as well.

Seeing Valen clash against three Amberfiends made them grit their teeth and fight harder. The speed evolvers, particularly, went all out, leaving black shadows in their wake as they darted from side to side, gradually chipping away at the monsters’ bodies.

While everyone was motivated to fight harder, Valen was currently having a slight headache, dealing with the three Amberfiends.

Whenever he attacked one, the other two would strike from behind, forcing him to alter his attacks midway and defend himself.

Worse still, he could see three other Amberfiends charging towards him from the corner of his eye.

He received a system notification.

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System: [A member of your party has slain a Level 0.50 Amberfiend, rewarding you with 3 points and 1 Exp. No loot gained]

On hearing the system’s message, Valen’s lips twisted into a faint smile. This was exactly how he knew that the monster Night Vanguard had slain wasn’t dead.

When Evolvers linked their Silver Watches together in a party chat, the points and Exp gained from killing monsters would be divided among everyone in the party.

The person who dealt the most damage and landed the final hit gained most of the points and Exp, while the rest were distributed among the others.

Any loot rewarded for slaying the monster would also be announced to everyone in the party.

"I guess it’s time to pick up the pace. I can’t be left behind." Valen murmured to himself as he took in a deep breath.

Charge!

Defensive Blade!

Tornado Assault!

Valen executed three techniques in a row, placing a great burden on his stamina. Evolvers weren’t limited by energy, but stamina, like every other normal human.

Evolution only increased how long an Evolver could last, not eliminate stamina permanently.

With Charge, Valen appeared before the severely wounded Level 0.33 Amberfiend. Then he followed up with Defensive Blade to block out all incoming attacks while also lacerating the Amberfiend before him so it could not take the chance to attack.

"ROOO!" The Amberfiend let out a cry of agony, yet it still raised its wooden axe, intent on smashing Valen’s skull to bits.

Valen smirked and shifted his footwork once more, unleashing Tornado Assault. He executed it so perfectly that the sword strike became the tenth attack of Silver Edge.

As he spun around to deliver the strike, a large green wave shot forth from the blade of Silver Edge, slicing the monster in two while also affecting the other two Amberfiends.

Pained howls came from their mouths as their arms were cleanly severed from their bodies.

Not willing to waste the precious opportunity, Valen used Charge once more and appeared before them. Using Tornado Assault, he sent their heads flying as their lifeless bodies collapsed to the ground.

In a matter of seconds, he had killed all three Amberfiends who had been troubling him. However, this came at a slight cost. His breathing quickened as he leaned on his longsword for support while the system notification rang in his ears.

A warm current spread around his body, dispersing most of the fatigue. He stood up straight while marveling at the sensation.

’The blood path is truly wonderful.’

For now, he chose to ignore the system notification as he glanced at the battlefield around him. His party members were steadily pushing back the monsters, and every few minutes, a system notification would ring in his ear.

Frost Byte—the second endurance path Evolver after Night Vanguard—was doing especially well. There was also Crimson Pulse—a Blood Path Evolver—who valiantly held his ground against a Level 0.50 monster.

The others also excelled in their own ways, continuously killing Amberfiends.

Valen glanced at the corpses around him. He discovered their flesh was slowly turning black, which made him click his tongue.

Monsters had little of value to offer. If it weren’t for the fact that Evolvers could receive points and loot from the system, no one would be willing to slay them.

Of course, there were exceptions, and those exceptions were Evolution Beasts. Not only was their meat extremely useful in advancing one’s level, but even their body parts were like absolute treasures.

Valen shook his head to dispel such thoughts. Then he glanced at his teammates and said, "We don’t need to duke things out with these monsters. Our aim is the Hero Sector."

Everyone tensed up for a brief moment, then gnashed their teeth and nodded as they gradually advanced, for they were well aware of the saying: No pain. No gains.