Chapter 87: Volume 4 Chapter 86 – Take Down Alisa! (2)
Alisa Betzer.
Along with a massive physique, she had a knife scar on her left eye. She was also Tikan's Chief of Defense and Ghostblade Kashimir's wife.
'Take that person down in six months?'
At first glance, she already looked stronger than the criminals in Mamit. Her bulky build made her two times bigger than Kashimir—anything but normal.
But was she really that strong?
Jin had swordsmanship, magic, and spiritual energy. Would it really take six months?
He had seen her every day for a month after he arrived in Tikan. They ate breakfast at the same table and also bantered every now and then.
He didn't truly feel that she was strong.
'I know that she's a unique person… but will fighting her really be hard when I have magic and spiritual energy? I even defeated a 7-star knight with the use of all my skills. I'm sure Sir Kashimir knows that she's at my level.'
Despite the doubt, he knew it was going to be fun after seeing Kashimir's confidence in his wife.
"Lady Alisa, you say… If you say so, there must be a reason. Alright, I will try sparring her. As long as she agrees."
"She most certainly will. She was getting bored from the lack of fights after becoming the chief of defense. A duel against you will be a great gift for her."
As Kashimir said, Alisa showed a refreshed expression as soon as they asked her. She excitedly accepted.
"Me? With Young Master Jin? Haha! Sounds fun. Fighting shriveled criminals was getting boring. Well, I don't see any anymore, since I caught all of them…"
"Mommy and Mister Jin fighting?"
Euria, who was in Alisa's arms, trembled with tears of worry rolling down her face.
"No, we're not fighting. We're… strengthening our friendship."
"But everyone who fought mommy lost…"
"Well… Anyway, if we strengthened our friendship, who would you cheer for?"
"Uhmm… I want Mister Jin to win."
"They said that teaching children would be futile… You little brat. Good 5-year-olds would cheer for their mother."
Alisa jokingly spoke and bit her child's cheek, and Euria's next words temporarily made Jin forget how to speak.
"But, but! Mister Jin is much weaker. I will always be on the weak people's side! For people who are weak and suffering!"
"Pfffffffffffahahahaha."
Murakan—who was reading an erotic novel on a nearby sofa—sat himself up and burst into laughter.
"'Weak and… suffering Mister Jin.' Hehehehe. Ice cream runt, you already know how to judge people! As expected from Az Mil's contractor."
With an awkward smile, Jin silently walked over to Murakan and tried to dig his heel into the dragon's foot. Murakan managed to slip his foot out in time, but that didn't stop Jin from snatching his book.
"You fu—I mean, bad dragon. Didn't I say not to read this kind of stuff in front of a child?"
"I purposefully chose the one with small text and archaic dialect and have been reading it secretly ever since. Put it down, while I'm asking nicely."
"Where do you keep getting these things? I'm sure you didn't have anything like this when we first left the Garden of Swords."
Kashimir cleared his throat in guilt.
He had been sourcing five erotic novels every week for Murakan. The great black dragon requested it, so as a mere mortal, he could not refuse.
"Ehem! Anyways, how about you start sparring the day after tomorrow, Young Master Jin?"
"For the next six months, let's spar every day after I return from work and eat dinner. I should show you why I am Tikan's Chief of Defense."
"Every day? That's fine with me, but I think I would be taking too much of your time."
Alisa smiled and shook her head.
"No worries. For the time being, it will end quickly."
Two days later at the underground sparring room in Kashimir's mansion.
In order to improve his body's condition, he had taken a two-day break from his personal training. And since he was in his best condition for their first spar, he planned to compare and inspect his subsequent results.
Alisa stood in front of Jin as she loosened her body and spoke.
"Young Master Jin. Before we begin, I would like to mention something."
"Please go on, Lady Alisa."
"I was in the Vermont Special Forces. Before Kashimir became the Fallen Prince, I was his bodyguard. We left together when he was banished from the Vermont Imperial Family."
Hearing that, Jin instantly understood why he could feel her radiating strength.
Unlike the Vermont Empire Imperial Guards, the Vermont Special Forces needed to operate in the shadows. Thus, the first thing they learned was how to conceal their strength.
'I expected something like this, but a former Special Forces knight… Kashimir didn't say six months for nothing.'
Jin knew that the Vermont Special Forces' units were at least 6-stars.
However, that was merely a minimum. If she had guarded 'Prince' Kashimir, she was definitely at least a 7-star.
"On that topic, please don't feel down from losing too much. Also, I don't plan on going easy on you. So, shall we begin?"
The instant Jin nodded…
Whoooosh!
Alisa closed the gap between them—her fist right in front of Jin's face. Her movement's speed wasn't one that a regular 5-star knight could react to.
She planned on finishing the first battle with one strike.
Even though it was just a spar, fighting as if it was the real thing was her ideology.
'For the past two days, I've asked Sir Murakan and Miss Gilly about Young Master Jin's past. And from what they said, all he needs is a humiliating failure and the process of standing up against it. For at least ten days, you won't be able to dodge the first strike.'
From what she heard, there was always an 'opportunity' and a 'variable' in all the dangerous situations that Jin got in.
When he fought Alu, he had a variable called Myulta's Rune.
When he fought Quikantel, he was able to cut her wing when she least expected it.
And very recently, when he fought Andrei, he was only able to swing his sword because Murakan and Luna were there.
As for his fight against Quazito Truka of the White Wolf Tribe, if he knew that Jin had spiritual energy, then he wouldn't have lost.
Hence, all of Jin's opponents either let their guard down or did not have enough information on him.
On the other hand, Alisa knew all about Jin's abilities. Swordsmanship, magic, and spiritual energy, and also the fact that he had Myulta's Rune.
Therefore, Alisa decided to show him the reality of being exposed to 'true danger'. For a knight to become stronger, the best way was to simulate danger.
And so, Alisa aimed her fist at Jin's face.
However, it met the surface of a scabbard instead.
'He blocked it?!'
Alisa's eyes widened.
It wasn't completely blocked, though. Through the scabbard, the shockwave traveled to Jin's body and instinctively made him back off.
The staggering made him lose the ability to defend or dodge. There was nothing worse than losing your balance in a battle. Alisa could easily take him out with one more blow.
Although, she could only be surprised after being denied a direct attack.
'I'm sure it was at a speed that he couldn't react to—even accounting for his blessed Runcandel physique. Did I get slower? I think I felt like my punches got minisculely slower.'
Jin was still defenseless. He hadn't even drawn his sword, yet Alisa's second fist was already about to make contact with his ribs.
Then, he activated Myulta's Rune and wore the helmet.
Along with it, he unleashed a spell that he prepared before coming to the underground training area.
'Photon Cannon!'
Flash…!
Even for a trained knight, closing one's eyes due to a blinding flash of light was inevitable. Even in a moment before defeating the opponent.
"Erk!"
Pow!
Because of the bright light, her stance faltered, causing her punch to not go as expected.
Still, it was enough for one of Jin's ribs to be blown. The light couldn't change the fact that the punch was enough to end the battle.
Before following up with a third strike, Alisa felt admiration for her opponent.
'All of those opportunities and variables weren't from luck. He purposely created all of them! I would've never expected him to prepare a spell.'
It was the same this time.
Simply put, Alisa lost in the battle of strategy.
'I get it now. Blocking my first attack… and using magic to decrease the density of the ground. Because of that, I couldn't harness my true speed.'
When she looked behind her, she found a deep hole at the spot where she stood beforehand. It was a microscopic difference.
If Jin had tampered more with the floor, she would've noticed before the approach. A knight like her would notice such subtleties.
'It's alright. It'll all be over soon.'
Jin knew that, when he faced Alisa, the fight would be over in seconds.
Before the battle began, he constantly thought of the different variables that could affect their fight. Ultimately, all of the variables he tweaked worked to some extent.
But not enough to take down the chief of defense.
Crack!
The third punch was sent straight into his hip. Jin flew about three meters and lay on the floor, and a shock went through Alisa's body.
Not because of her sweet victory, but because she was amazed at how much Jin surprised her on the first day.
"Damn… Little clever tricks weren't enough."
'Tricks?'
Alisa was about to correct his word choice. This wasn't some trick but an actual, elaborate plan.
"Remarkable, Young Master Jin. I would've never thought I needed to attack thrice."
Jin fell back to the ground, struggling to stand up.
Just like Alisa, he was also in shock.
'As expected from a former Vermont Special Forces knight. All of my variables worked, but I couldn't even draw my sword.'
He was disappointed and upset, but his heart was still pumping.
It was the first time he completely failed, even with his little gimmicks.
And as Kashimir mentioned, his mind cooled off.
"So, uh, Lady Alisa."
"Yes, Young Master Jin?"
"Aren't you going to call… a doctor?"
"Oh my, what am I doing? You must be severely injured. Please wait a moment!"
Alisa frantically ran out, and Jin smirked.
'I will take her down in less than six months' time.'
Compared to learning and mastering Mind's Blade, defeating Alisa before the aforementioned time was a very attainable goal. In Jin's heart, a great fervor for achievement roared.
—————
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