Chapter 11: Harsh Battle
I still wasn't used to my enhanced senses and stronger physique. They hadn't normalised yet.
Nor would they anytime soon.
Even so, there was this feeling of lightness in my heart as if I'd broken a chain restraining my heart.
Freeing my sense of spirituality.
I could feel a sort of magnetism towards the elements. Feeling like I could call upon them.
And also an affinity for 'Miliv' in front of me.
As if our souls were on the same wavelength.
It let me pull a greater amount of Haki from the wretch, but couldn't do much anywhere else.
Maybe I wasn't at the level of being able to manipulate Ether, but I felt attuned to their natures.
Worldly phenomena…
Similar to how Dad Farhon said the Elemental Sword God Style users comprehended their skills.
They simply mimicked the elements.
Although… I had yet to be taught any specific technique. What I was doing was simply adapting.
Seeing Dad's swordsmanship inspired me.
Even though I was in pain and barely managed to hold on, this inspiration sparked my adrenaline.
'Time to get to it!' The melancholic anxieties that had grasped my heart were exorcised away.
A reckless courage spurred my crazy actions.
I taunted Miliv to come at me, but he was a lot more cautious and by-the-book than expected.
Not charging at me thoughtlessly…
His predatory stare and powerful stature made me feel small. Like one clean hit would likely kill me.
And that wasn't exactly wrong.
Seeing how I had initially shown speed faster than him and unreal accuracy, he didn't make distance.
Instead believing he could overpower me up close.
He raised his arms like a zombie, then dropped them onto me. Trying to simply use brute force.
In the face of danger… I sharpened my skills.
The reason I was faster than him despite having no Haki was through trying to replicate Nature Styles.
Not the recorded techniques, but the philosophy that Farhon had shared and demonstrated to me.
'Wind Style Nature Concept— Sharp!' My body moved at a speed unconstrained by my cognition.
The basis of Wind Swordsmanship taught to powerless Humans was to induce 'sharpness'.
Not in their sword, but in their movements.
It was one of the hardest to master out of the five style concepts. Only fools could master this.
That, or those innately born with fast reflexes.
Because being 'unconstrained' by cognition meant that I had to throw caution into the wind while moving. Even if it sped up my reaction time to an impossible extent, there was a danger looming.
Which was the lack of adaptability in movements.
To move 'sharply' meant I had to forgo thinking and attack purely on reflexes. Relying solely on that.
Who could manage that?
Who would be stupid enough to try this?
Me. That's who… This crazy guy over here.
Who else?
I used 'sharpness' to take flight. Allowing my body to leave the ground and work through acrobatics.
Something beyond what my past life could do.
Not because it wasn't physically possible for me with my health, but due to the mindset required.
'Woah…' I felt awed by my own movements that slipped through his grasp and balanced on him.
I was barely keeping up with my own movements.
Doing a one-handed handstand on Miliv's head was a way for me to quickly figure my next action.
But also something else.
Through our physical touch, I was constantly draining Haki from him like it was my own.
Regardless of the consequences.
The negative emotions laced into Miliv's Haki didn't affect me one bit. I already stopped worrying now.
Problems and insecurities couldn't stop my spirit!
Miliv seemed to have noticed this and tried to grab me again. Aiming for any place I was leveraging.
Our cat and mouse game had began.
From the top of his head, I switched gears and decided to use the water concept of Sword Arts.
Known as 'Water Style Nature Concept— Gentle'!
Compared to the daredevil 'Sharpness', trying to use 'Gentleness' was easier due to its nature.
All I had to do was to calmly connect my actions.
Going from one move to another adaptively.
Ironically, Sharpness and Gentleness started to fuse together. I acrobatically escaped his grasp.
Jumping off Miliv's body and flexibly bending my body to avoid his attacks. Twisting away from him.
And mixing in roundhouse kicks.
BANG. A loud thud resounded, but the power was nothing like Graid. My legs weren't strong enough.
This bastard smiled mockingly.
…So what?
Before I hit the ground, I continued to throw kicks at him to keep myself suspended in the air.
Wearing down his defences.
He crossed his arms and watched me calmly from down below. Not taking any reckless actions.
And finally found an opening.
One of my many kicks slid down the guard he subtly tilted, giving room to grab my ankle tight.
"Aaaaargh!" A loud groan left my mouth at once.
I realised my failure in considering that the Gentle concept was easy to learn, but hard to master.
One accidental flaw put me in a bad position…
This bastard snapped my ankle instantly, and was ready to do the same with the rest of my body.
Like hell I'd let him!
The stolen Haki I took in was sent to my broken ankle, and the rest of my body twisted itself.
I couldn't escape his grasp, but I could do something else to force him to let go of me.
Using the tightly grasped ankle as leverage, I moved my leg at an uncontrollable acceleration.
After dropping, I twisted my whole body to give enough momentum to a set an uppercutting kick.
Showing the true worth of my sharpness.
The insane speed my shoe went at made it 'sharp'.
Almost cutting Miliv's face.
However… it was a failure. My retaliation did nothing more than cause him to become annoyed.
He dodged, and I was left in the palm of his hand.
Ready to be turned into paste by his next action. It made my hairs stand on end by the sheer horror.
"Help!" I called out immediately, which made the wretch look at me derisively. He tightening his grip.
My ankle was about to be torn off my body…!
But just before it succeeded, a bullet came from behind me and injured the arm that captured me.
It was the person I'd called out to specifically.
Graid's injury prevented him from moving, but he was able to steadily aim his gun and shoot Miliv.
Maybe not to kill, but this was enough.
That suppressive fire helped me escape his hold.
If he hadn't let go of me, then I would've died…
…but this new experience gave me more ideas.
I steadied my mentality and looked around our environment for things I could use to turn the tide.
Then thought a perfect scheme.
My first step was to lull him into a sense of superiority. Make him let his guard down nicely.
The only way to do that was to show my worth.
"Alright. Time to get serious." I got into a basic karate inspired stance and got ready for war.
'Universal Style— Five Concepts.' I combined all that I'd learnt from watching Farhon into a rush.
Sharpness. Gentleness. Power. Stability. And the last concept that only worked when secretive.
'Stability' was another easier concept to learn among the Nature Styles. It just needed rigidity.
A keen sense of body positioning and weight distribution. Allowing the body to act coordinated.
But the most crucial difference Miliv probably felt the most was 'power'. The applied use of strength.
If strength was simply muscle density itself, then power was harnessing strength to go beyond that.
By breaking away from the speed of my cognitive mind, I was able to gain near superhuman speed.
But my average attack force was still a problem.
This was remedied by the concept of 'power'.
I threw myself at Miliv. Making use of the speed, acceleration, body rotation, and attack posture.
Not only throwing the weight of my body with stability, but also tightening my muscles and actively flexing them for greater impact. There was a look of shock on his face when experiencing it.
I kept on ambushing him. Running around at a breakneck speed while healing myself with Haki.
My heart felt like it was dying…!
BOOM. My fist smashed into his Haki armoured skin and tore flesh from my knuckles again.
When he tried catching me, I strained and burdened my heart to move at breakneck speeds.
Fighting like this felt like falling into hell…!
But I was managing to do significant damage by attacking the same areas purified by holy bullets.
It was a contest to see who would fall first.
I once again charged at him. Giving a flying knee kick before launching off his body similar to before.
But…
BANG.
Before I realised it, a rock struck me out of the air.
Throwing me off my game.
Making me descend to the ground and injure myself from the fall. My eyes were dizzy.
'What happened to me?' I thought. Something had hit me in the window of opportunity I moved 'sharp'.
While my body was launched beyond my cognition.
That small opening just before I grasped my position after throwing my body with 'sharpness'.
I realised that I'd been tricked at that point.
Miliv had grabbed the bloodied rock that hit my head earlier, then threw it where I had launched.
Swatting me out of the air ruthlessly.
Graid tried to help me by aiming at his limbs, but a clanging sound was heard from the heavy impact.
This scheming wretch gave up everything but the legs. Not caring about damage everywhere else.
This fuck…
He was well-aware his father would never try to kill him. That's why his torso and head were left alone.
I barely dodged the stomp towards my head.
Miliv switched to a kicking style fighting. He started to mock me openly about my ruined scheme.
"Was that all you got?" He switched the Haki enhancement from his legs to arms after lunging.
Trying to bear hug me to death.
I managed to roll out of the way again and turned my back to flee. Showing no pride in battle.
It infuriated the kid.
"Stop being so annoying!" Miliv was finally livid and charged at me without caring of consequences.
His speed fast enough that I couldn't run away.
A fist focusing his Haki into the lethal point of impact scared me enough to make me want to beg.
This wretch chased after me.
Not looking like he'd forgive me if I'd apologised.
"Fight like a man!" Ironically, Miliv shouted this while being too slow. His attack was fading.
But his negativity made his Haki more intense.
He chased after me with a violent glare strong enough to kill someone, and almost did just that.
…Until I jumped into a certain place.
The corn field with large, unharvested plants was tall enough to hide my figure when I jumped in.
Each crop raised close enough to be in the way.
Miliv tried to find me in the crops, but couldn't even see my shadow in the dark and poky environment.
He started to calm down.
But it was too late. Now I was the 'Predator'.
Smack. The back of his head was hit, but it wasn't by a bullet. Graid couldn't aim while Miliv hid away.
The wretch looked down to see a stick of sweet corn hit the floor, but found his vision blurred.
That exact moment he looked down was when I swung an uprooted plant at him. The leaves and dirt going into his eyes. Making him swing around aimlessly while trying to luck out at my position.
He was calm and calculated, but was still a kid.
Under the cover of the corn crops, I kept on attacking him from different angles with full force.
Mixing distractions with actual attacks.
Breaking my wrist and fixing it with stolen Haki.
"Checkmate." I punched the back of his leg joint before using the last nature concept I'd learnt.
It was called 'Hidden'.
A secretive form that focused on weapons and environmental factors. Having no set techniques.
I had picked up an old farming sickle that had been dropped nearby, and held it to Miliv's neck.
It was old and rusty. The edge wasn't good enough to cut plants, let alone Haki reinforced human skin.
But I made it work.
Swinging it with such force that it entered his shoulder. Giving him no choice but to face me.
My hairs stood up again.
Miliv wasn't going down easy. He had focused all the Haki from his entire body into one punch.
Ready to tear a hole through my stomach.
"Sleep already!" With perfect speed, accuracy, power, and physical coordination… I hit his chin.
Knocking out this berserk bastard.
After seeing him fall, the relief that washed over me made my consciousness wane. My head hurt bad.
Even with the temporary enhancements from just unlocking my potential. I had overdrawn my vitality.
This battle ended with me falling unconscious…
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone