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4.22% Sorcerer: I want to be an Academic Prodigy / Chapter 23: Chapter 23 Cave Duel

Chapter 23: Chapter 23 Cave Duel

Hearing this, Rosyth's breathing grew ragged, and he cursed, "Who is it that resorts to sinister plots and schemes? Who is it that employs despicable means? It's none other than you, you shameless bastard. Do you think you could have won against anyone without them!"

Benson, feeling a sense of shared experience painfully, pointed at him and said, "Ivan, I never would have thought you were such a person. You have not a shred of a knight's virtue and yet you're born of nobility."

Their cursing caused echoes to reverberate throughout the cave, a testament to the depth of their previous grievances.

Ivan replied with irony, "Hah, you speak of knightly virtues? Your virtue is to push companions into danger at the first sign of trouble, using their lives to shield yourselves while you flee in panic. Listen to this—such nobility from you gentlemen."

He had actually arrived there before dawn, cautiously waiting near the entrance of the cave for two hours. He witnessed the two men making their way here, their careful movements, and deduced that they had not arranged for any other help.

The reason they hadn't sought help was easy to guess—they feared the events of the past would come to light and tarnish their reputations. After all, their actions during the crisis had been disgraceful, and it was best kept secret unless absolutely necessary.

Rosyth, furious, said, "Enough talk, today we'll definitely teach you a lesson."

Benson chimed in, "Our past camaraderie ends with this strike today. Wherever we are, you shall not be."

Both men knew the other possessed poison dust powder and didn't rush forward recklessly; instead, they prepared themselves for battle, waiting for their opponent to come closer.

The three men stood facing each other in two groups.

"Go."

Rosyth had already secretly gathered his blood energy in his arm and signaled Benson with a glance before lunging forward with his sword first.

Benson followed closely with his sword. As alumni of the 'Mieyan' Swordsmanship Hall, even an impromptu strike demonstrated a certain level of coordination between them.

Two swords, one wide and one narrow, one after the other, thrust toward Ivan.

"Good timing."

Ivan was already familiar with the fact that the Mieyan Swordsmanship Hall had a set of 'Upper Thorn Sword Technique' that excelled at thrusting attacks. He faced the assault with composure, his blood energy in his feet surging with his blood circulation. With a push from his legs, power flowed from bottom to top, and the Quillen Sword swept forward in his arm's arc.

"Clang!"

The Quillen Sword struck the blade of Rosyth's longsword.

In sword clashes, there wasn't a place for fanciful moves; it was a contest of strength and speed.

Under the influence of overwhelming force, Rosyth's longsword veered off course, getting pushed towards Benson's wider sword.

"This is bad."

Seeing Rosyth, along with his sword, veering towards him, Benson inwardly cursed his luck. If he didn't dodge, he'd collide with Rosyth and end up in a heap.

Sadly, the situation didn't allow Benson much time to think.

The next second, the two figures squeezed together, and as the ground of the cave already sloped slightly towards the sea, it became even harder to stand firm.

"Get the hell down there."

Powered by his blood energy, Ivan kicked out nimbly, striking Rosyth at the waist and sending both men tumbling uncontrollably toward the sea surface, rolling into an entangled mess.

In an instant, Rosyth crashed onto a strange rock below, while Benson rolled farther out into the water, splashing up a wavelet.

The cave echoed with the disgraced cries of pain from the two men, and the reverberation within the cave disturbed even the insects on the rotting ship inside, scattering like a black cloud out of the crevices, the swarm chaotically fluttering about.

"You—don't come any closer."

Rosyth leaned against the rock behind him, twisting his body involuntarily a few times from the pain, and with a look of terror on his face, he watched Ivan approach step by step.

Just three steps apart, Ivan stopped walking, slowly lifting his sword and pointing it at Rosyth.

Under Rosyth's gaze, Ivan made a gesture as if to swing his sword down.

"Die."

In a flash, Rosyth raised his arm, and a crossbow bolt shot out from his sleeve, flying straight towards Ivan.

After he had fallen into a disadvantage, he realized that his opponent was no longer what he once was, and his strength had surpassed his own by a margin.

He needed to feign weakness before striking with a hidden arrow.

"Ding."

However, Ivan's footsteps didn't move, and the Quillen sword happened to drop down and send the crossbow bolt flying away.

Rosyth wouldn't give up and shook his arm lightly to fire another bolt, which Ivan easily blocked.

"What---what strength do you actually have!"

As the third bolt missed and flew into the air, Rosyth began to feel an uncontrollable sense of fear rising within him.

Scanning the debris-strewn ship in the distance, Ivan said, "Me? Why should I tell you?"

Strength: 2.8, Agility: 2.2, Constitution: 3.0, Spirit: 1.4

These were his current body stats, and if measured in graduated degrees, his constitution had already reached the standard of a squire, and his strength test was infinitely close to a squire's as well.

Rosyth couldn't care less about losing face and hastily begged for mercy, "Ivan, I was wrong. We shouldn't have harmed you before, we shouldn't have abandoned you---"

A crossbow bolt flew past, cutting off his words abruptly.

Seeing Ivan flick the second bolt back at him with his sword, he shouted in a panic, "Stop, stop, the arrow is poisoned."

Ivan's eyebrows lifted, revealing a meaningful smile.

Terrified, Rosyth quickly explained, "It's just a paralytic toxin, I just wanted to make you lose your fighting ability and then defeat you." He wanted to viciously trample him into the dirt and break his legs, but he dared not speak the second half out loud.

"Candlelight jellyfish toxin."

"Yes, yes, the candlelight jellyfish toxin, it paralyzes---ah."

Although Rosyth wasn't lying, Ivan still let an arrow fly as a response.

"What's the fuss about? It's just a little prick in the flesh." Ivan grumbled as he walked forward. He had intended to give Rosyth's legs a thorough piercing but misjudged the aim slightly, with the arrow veering off quite a bit. "Oops, sorry, I stepped on your foot."

With a 'crack,' someone's foot bone broke, twisting Rosyth's face into a grimace as he forcefully refrained from crying out loud.

Ivan was satisfied, the aim had been spot on.

"Get lost! Keep away from me." At that moment, Benson, who had been still for a while, found himself in trouble.

After taking a few gulps of water, he staggered to his feet, aware that he could not compete. He had intended to slip away across the water's surface, but ended up attracting bugs and inadvertently suffered a bite, walking in the footsteps of Ivan's earlier mishap.

"Splush!"

Benson regained consciousness and dived back into the sea, not daring to surface again.

Only then did the two on the shore realize that the swarm of bugs had spread, occupying a large area.

Seeing the dark mass approaching, Ivan involuntarily shuddered.

"Listen up, where I am, you aren't, got it?"

"Understood, understood."

Thinking it over, Ivan kept an eye on the sea while backing away, soon leaving the cave entrance.

The reason he didn't kill the two was that he feared alarming the parents from both sides, leading to an undying hostility and endless troubles. With only the strength of a squire, he really couldn't afford to be arrogant in front of their parents.

As for some minor injuries, as long as they could be healed, they were considered trivial in the eyes of the parents here, who might not even inquire further—hadn't his father Leider done just that before?

"Hope you have the sense to take a hint."

Leaving the cave and climbing the cliff, Ivan felt refreshed. He glanced down the cliff once more and turned to walk away.


next chapter

Chapter 24: Chapter 24 Dockside Tavern

At the gates of Flying Fish Port.

The sunlight was just right, making the soldiers guarding the gate look somewhat listless.

"Stay alert."

One of the old City Guards spotted some activity and noticed something unusual approaching the gates. He reminded his comrades to heighten their vigilance in case of any incidents.

He looked closely and saw two youths supporting each other, and couldn't help but show a look of disdain: "Never mind."

The younger City Guard recognized them too, his eyes widening as he watched: "Tsk, tsk, they couldn't have been raiding some beast's lair, could they?"

As the two youths slowly approached, the others could see them more clearly. One limped while the other had a fearsome-looking horn, actually just a big lump on his head. Both were soaking wet, a ragged mess to behold.

Seeing them in such a sorry state, several City Guards hesitated to stop them, not wanting to trouble themselves.

The two youths were none other than Rosyth and Benson, returning from outside the city.

They moved forward with difficulty and finally crossed the city gates, arriving at a place behind the city walls where a donkey cart was stationed.

Seeing the two, the person in charge of the donkey cart wasn't at all disdainful and stepped forward to ask, "Gentlemen, how may I assist you?"

Dazed, Benson said, "Home---home."

Rosyth quickly spoke up to stop him, "Take us to the nearest and best medical facility, quick, and don't worry about the fare." His leg was broken, and the pain had been excruciating all the way, sweating profusely by now.

As soon as they boarded the donkey cart, Rosyth clenched his teeth and let out a sigh of relief.

He swore to the merciful Holy Mother that he would find an opportunity to take revenge for both this and the previous wrongs, once he became more powerful.

As for telling his parents, he really didn't want to consider that option. It would be too embarrassing, and he wouldn't be able to hang around these parts if he did.

...

Let's leave the bedraggled pair for the moment.

Elsewhere, after entering the city, Ivan made his way to South City, near the docks, to an explorer tavern.

'Hammerhead Shark.'

He glanced at the strange name above, the place his older brother Beaman had mentioned, and stepped into the noisy tavern.

The smell of alcohol and sweat was overwhelming.

Ivan frowned slightly and looked around as he stood at the entrance, then made his way to the counter.

"One Skull Wine, please."

Behind the counter stood an older, muscular man, a fairly renowned retired explorer in the vicinity of the docks named 'Old John.'

Old John glanced at Ivan, took an oak cup bound with iron wire, and placed it under a barrel on the shelf behind him. He pulled out the barrel's wooden stopper and pale red wine gushed out, filling the oak cup.

As he handed over the drink, Old John warned, "Kid, don't splash your drink around in here or I'll have to test the hardness of your skull."

Ivan paid a silver coin and took the oak cup without a word.

That was the disadvantage of being young; the other probably thought it was his first time drinking.

He took his cup to an empty table against the wall and sat down, first examining the 'Skull Wine' in his hand.

The tavern only had one size for its cups, the oak cup before him, which stood a notch taller than his palm. Inside the murky, pale red liquid was actually a kind of beer. 'Skull Wine' was the name of a drink from when the tavern first opened, known only to a few local toughs.

Now, it had been renamed 'Hammerhead Wine,' purportedly leaving one feeling as if their head had been struck by a mallet after drinking it.

But using the name 'Skull Wine' could save a lot of trouble, something Beaman had told him.

'Not very strong, probably about 15 degrees, with a strong, strange taste to it.' Ivan sipped and thought it must be a wheat beer, similar to a regular beer, mixed with a strong, numbing flavor.

It didn't quite suit his taste.

He sipped quietly, observing the diverse crowd of the tavern, which included mercenaries dressed as explorers, eloquent traveling bards, more often dock workers and sailors, and a half-drunk nightingale leaning against a corner.

```

This kind of place is the most mixed, there might be a few scammers and thieves inside.

While casually observing for a while, he was drawn in by the words of the traveling bard.

"Remember that gaudily decorated black ship last time? Quite a few young masters and ladies who boarded that ship didn't make it."

"Boastful Beale, the affairs of the nobility are hardly something you could pry into."

"Hehe, I don't need to pry; a lady who loves to hear my roaming tales told me after a few drinks. They say five or six people died."

Hearing the conversation, Ivan's gaze flickered slightly; Donnie had also mentioned this, but the numbers were different.

Another person revealed the traveling bard's exaggeration, laughing heartily as he mocked, "Which lady? You mean a plump cook, ha ha ha."

"That's also a plump cook from a noble's house, ha ha ha."

The traveling bard also started to laugh, not the least bit offended by his companion's teasing.

Ivan's mouth twisted in a smile, almost believing the birdman's words.

"Clang, clang----"

Soon, a low banging sound came from the counter as Old John knocked on a rusty anchor with his fist.

Hearing the sound, many people got up and headed towards the back of the tavern.

Ivan left his barely touched Hammerhead Wine and followed the crowd to the back at an unhurried pace.

Behind the tavern, there was a passageway that led to a warehouse-like place; it was actually a ship that had been brought ashore. Now only its lower deck was left, and it was used as a trading marketplace, with square stalls fixed all around, spaced apart for displaying goods for trade.

This was also Old John's territory, where he only charged the merchants the cost of a cup of Hammerhead Wine for rent.

Ivan was running low on medicinal ingredients. With Beaman not at home, he had to come here himself.

"How much are these?"

"The left one for 30 silver coins, the right one for 50 silver coins, and a bundle of arrows comes with either."

Ivan thought the hand crossbow wasn't bad earlier and regretted not taking any spoils of war from those men. Unexpectedly, he encountered someone selling strong bows and hand crossbows. After carefully comparing, he decisively paid 50 silver coins to get a delicate hand crossbow.

As the name implies, a hand crossbow is one that is strapped to the arm and can be hidden under loose sleeves. The top of the hand crossbow can load three short bolts at once and can be fired by shaking the arm or pumping the qi and blood.

He had learned a trick from Rosyth, the bolts should always be poisoned.

After browsing around for a while, Ivan found one of the vendors displaying some medicinal herbs. He subconsciously glanced at the man's scruffy beard, which was only half there, indeed red.

"Mr. Red Beard, Beaman sent me."

"The money?"

With one hand exchanging money and the other receiving goods, Ivan got a cloth bag, which contained boxes of various sizes.

As he handed over the cloth bag, Red Beard asked nonchalantly, "What about that secret medicine from last time?"

Ivan looked at Red Beard with a surprised expression, "What?"

Beaman had warned him about many things before, including that Red Beard was trustworthy yet somewhat crafty. He naturally wouldn't fall for such a simple trick.

In a low voice, Red Beard said, "I heard that Beaman had a Breathing Secret Medicine; tell him to talk to me, I can help him make an extra five Gold Coins."

After pondering for a moment with a puzzled look, Ivan replied, "No problem, I'll pass on the message."

Seeing that he truly had no knowledge, Red Beard released the cloth bag, allowing him to inspect it.

After completing the trade, he didn't linger in the ship's hold.

He originally wanted to see if there was any other Breathing Method for sale, but this marketplace was too small; it was impossible to find such precious items there.

After leaving the Hammerhead Shark Tavern, Ivan didn't take the alleyway but walked back along the busier streets. A voice made him involuntarily stop and look over.

"Donnie, get your ass over here to this young master."


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