บท 72: Hidden Shadow Guards
Clang!
Asher clashed with her. He ground his teeth, took a step back and saw another sword coming down on his head. Asher inhaled and swung his sword upward. The swords clashed but he wasn't free yet.
His eyes went down, following the second sword that approached his abdomen.
Asher thought hard on what to do. Left with no other choice, he chose to go back but Ariel followed up with another powerful horizontal slash.
Left with a small space, Asher bent inward, narrowly evading the sword. All of a sudden, he felt a throb in his heart and that disorganized his internal flow.
It seemed like the world turned upside down and by the time he opened his eyes, Ariel's sword was before his neck.
"You are a lord with a great mind, one fit to rule but you forget that strength doesn't belong to your men alone. Without a strong body, you won't survive poisons and assassinations, and don't tell me you have the vanguards, the most elite troop Ashbournes had ever trained, because there are assassins that can evade them."
Ariel sheathed her swords and leaned closer.
"How do your men stop an assassin with the talent to move through shadows? They won't even see him coming but they will see your corpse."
Asher looked into her eyes.
"Again."
He brandished his sword.
Ariel smiled, unsheathed her swords, and they began another round. Sparks flew as they clashed, each time Asher failed but got back to his feet.
He could see that Ariel wasn't even serious and that pushed him to his limits with every round.
Clang!
They clashed.
Asher pushed her back only for her to spin and her sword stopped before his abdomen. Looking at it, he ground his teeth harder.
Ariel chuckled.
"Do you know the problem?"
Asher shook his head.
Ariel touched his sword and looked at his face. "It's your weapon. You don't have the same talent as me so you can never wield two swords like I do. Your physique leans more toward a longsword. This sword is too long and two big. You don't feel the weight but it affects your battles outside your knowledge."
Asher looked at the blade of his sword with furrowed brows.
"Sometimes, size doesn't mean power."
Ariel sheathed her swords.
"I see."
All it meant was that the sword the system fused was necessarily meant for him. The system was focused on his territory and the people but paid little attention to the lord. To compensate for this, the system allowed him to awaken a talent that connected him to his ancestors.
They would help him in ways the system could not.
"Secondly, you are too strong for a casual diamond-ranked knight. The strength of an average diamond-ranked knight is 8000 catties but your strength might be over 20,000 catties.
One must know that 8000 catties was about 4800 kilograms and 20,000 catties was a stunning 12000 kilograms!
"All that strength is wasted in one swing. While powerful, it's useless if the target is not hit. That should be enough for now."
Knowing she was about to leave, Asher quickly spoke up.
"Lord Atticus spoke to me about synergy. How do you think I can attain it?"
Ariel shook her head.
"A battle skill must first be born before you'll be able to master synergy."
"How is a battle skill born then?"
"By training and training and training until it becomes you. For example, I mastered mine at 31 and it was during meditation. I gained understanding of the blood and could control others, forcing them to either fight on my behalf or kill them from within."
Seeing the light in Asher's eyes, Ariel chuckled.
"This is nothing compared to uncle Toras battle skill, which allows him to move much faster than other knights in the same rank. He could move faster than the eye could see and was able to launch a thousand javelins before you could take ten steps."
Hearing this, Asher was once again reminded how lofty his goal was. When would he be able to beat these legendary figures?
It looked so far away.
"What about our first ancestor?"
Ariel looked straight into his eyes. "His battle skill has the simplest name. Stab. However, he had stabbed through an entire stronghold and disintegrated a hundred thousand strong abyssal army, of which there were 1000 imperial-ranked knights leading them."
Asher's breath ceased. His eyes narrowed till they became slits.
"That's why we don't even dare to breathe loud before his presence."
...
His spirit returned back into his body, and his eyes opened.
Fire burned brightly within his eyes. His competitive spirit was fired up.
With the strength the Ashbournes had, they should have built a strong kingdom for themselves, but their loyalty to the imperial family restrained them.
Yet, that same family betrayed them during the rebellion.
After taking a deep breath, Asher sat cross-legged, inhaling and exhaling at well-timed intervals.
.....
"Where is his Lordship?" Katarina asked Cynthia as they walked through the hallway.
"I think he should be in his room. He asked not to be disturbed."
Katarina frowned. She looked around, and the entire place was desolate; only the flickering candles gave life to the hallway.
"It's too silent."
Unbeknownst to both women, there were more than two shadows depicted by the lights from the candles!
Both women kept talking as they walked until they reached Asher's room. Cynthia pushed open the door, peeked and saw Asher meditating.
"We can't disturb him. We should return tomorrow morning."
Katarina nodded.
As they left, the shadows separated from them and entered through the gaps under the door.
The cool night breeze flowed into the room, and all of a sudden, Asher's sword, which was by the bedside, was grabbed by a black fur covered hand, and it vanished.
Creases formed on Asher's forehead. Though subtle, he could hear footsteps that almost seemed illusionary.
Was this his mind?
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and, behold, ten figures clad in black were around him, all wielding daggers.
Jackal Clan's Shadow Guards!
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