บท 22: First Kill
When Dahlia exchanged the first blow with the Fogi knight, she felt her own strength far superior to his. Although she has only recently entered the realm of a Bronze Knight and her strength has doubled to 200 kilos, she has a 4x 20% vital energy boost from the two runes and with the two attribute gems in her equipment set, so her strength has reached around 414 kilos.
On the other hand, Fogi had 210 kilos of strength and with the increase of his two runes by 10% on his 1-star gear, he only had around 266 kilos of strength. However, Fogi's advanced mastery was superior to Dahlia's, who could only keep up with the precise movements of his blows by making use of her agility which was far superior to Fogi's. After all, the higher a knight's vital energy, it is not only his strength that increases, but also his agility and stamina.
A knight's agility is not the same as mastery, but it still enhances the mobility of his body, reaching a great level of speed, and even being able to go unnoticed by his opponent in a charge. Therefore, Dahlia managed to accompany Fogi's blows rudely at first, but gradually adapted and improved until she realized that she could no longer continue to improve against him and would need a more difficult opponent.
Although the duel between them appeared to be quick after it only lasted a little over 30 seconds, they exchanged over 300 blows.
While an Apprentice Knight can exchange 5 blows per second, a Bronze Knight can exchange 10 blows per second and that's a speed at which a single carelessness can be fatal, as happened with Fogi who was terrified of Dhalia's strength and his hands were not steady when he received a sharp spear in your heart.
When Dahlia killed him and still had the spear stuck in Fogi's heart, the system panel appeared before her eyes and left her stunned for a few moments.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations Sworn Knight Dahlia, you completed your first kill and received additional rewards]
[Rewards: 1,000 Eternal Coins and a Portion of Advanced Mastery]
When Dahlia saw these unexpected rewards, although she didn't know the value of eternal coins, she got very excited when she saw that the advanced mastery portion could increase her mastery by 10%, but she didn't show her joy and pulled her spear from Fogi's heart when he fell dead at her feet. Then she looked at the enemies coldly with the thought of getting more rewards.
"Who is next?"
Silence!
Everyone was silent and only the leaves on the trees rustled in the wind.
They were still processing what had happened in the 30-second duel as the heavy atmosphere permeated the air of this narrow path.
Captain Hayler and his knights' desire to kill could not be suppressed after seeing Fogi's corpse and hearing the little Dahlia's scorn before them.
Before Captain Hayler could open his mouth, his vice-captain stepped forward, "Captain, it appears the information was not accurate..."
"If only this 10-year-old girl somehow managed to enter the realm of a Bronze Knight, it is likely that the others are also in the same realm... Also, they are wearing 2-star runic equipment..."
"To avoid unnecessary casualties, it's best that we attack together and quickly end this quest."
Although his vice captain's words sounded reasonable, the captain could still tell that his deputy was actually afraid of being sent into a melee duel, after all, if only this little girl already possesses such terrifying strength, those young men behind her didn't seem to be weaker.
Thinking that he might actually suffer unnecessary casualties, it was better to take advantage of his numbers and his own strength to end it quickly. Then, he was about to give the command for everyone to attack together, but he was interrupted by Makai's next words.
When Dahlia completed the quest, Makai also saw her reward information and he was surprised to see the mastery portion as there was no such portion in his shop. Even in the entire Vita Continent, only the Temple of Wealth sells a few such portions annually in their auctions, and whenever they appear, they cause a great sensation.
Makai wanted to take advantage that the enemy underestimated them so that his knights would eliminate one by one in individual duels until their numbers were reduced while completing their first kill missions and receiving their mastery portions, as he knew that it would not be easy for the group of 8 of them to confront a squad of twenty knights, not when they still they were an inexperienced group against a group used to battles against magical beasts.
Therefore, Makai knew that he would at least need to defeat his toughest enemy first, so that the rest would be easier to tackle later.
Thinking about it, he provoked the captain: "What?"
"Do you want to go back on your words of not intimidating the young? Don't you know that a knight's words are worth his honor?"
"It's okay if your knights are incompetent and don't you dare face my sworn knights in a melee duel..."
"But and you, Captain Harley, dare to face me in a duel?"
When the nineteen knights heard Makai say that they were scared of a small group of 8 sworn knights, they felt ashamed but furious at the same time and could only hope that their captain would regain some honor by beheading this little bastard.
The captain realized that Makai was provoking him before his knights for a duel and he was in doubt, 'Doesn't this little bastard know that I'm a Silver Knight? Where did your confidence come from?'
Seeing that Makai wasn't kidding and had already put on his helmet as she walked to where there was now a trail of blood after Dahlia dragged Fogi's corpse out of the way, Harley felt he was being underestimated and laughed, "Good, very good..."
"This is the first time I've been despised since I became a Silver Knight. And yet for someone so young."
The captain also donned his silver helm and withdrew his sword from its scabbard as he walked towards Makai and his voice was a little hoarse as he spoke, "I don't know where your confidence comes from, but don't think that just because you're using 3-star runic equipment you can compare yourself to a Silver Knight equipped with 2-star runic equipment..."
"Boy, I'll show you that the difference between a knight's kingdoms is not the same as the difference between the star levels of an equipment."
Makai had an amused smile in his eyes, "Hehe. Captain Harley, you must be proud as you will soon go down in history as the first Silver Knight to be killed by a Bronze Knight. Not only that, but also, you will be marked as the first victim of Makai Collins."
"Hahaha. Boy, you really won't believe it until I show you in person that a Bronze Knight's strength can't compare to a Silver Knight's strength. Come, seeing how you're a swordsman too, before cutting your head off, I'll show you the prowess of an expert."
That said, Harley released his silver aura covering all of his armor and 5-foot-long sword.
Makai also released his bronze aura and Captain Harley's knights laughed at this scene. For a Bronze Knight to dare to face a Silver Knight, he was simply courting death.
Lampard was also unsure, as even he knew that while a Bronze Knight has his mastery at an advanced level, a Silver Knight's mastery has reached the level of an expert and both his accuracy and his speed achieved double the effects of advanced mastery.
This means that, while Makai can deliver 10 blows per second, Harley could deliver 20 blows per second and this is the same that for every 20 blows that Harley lands, Makai could only protect himself from 10 of them.
However, they were unaware that Makai didn't just rely on his equipment like Dahlia and had no idea that Makai has 2 vital palaces, not to mention he still had his King's Aura, but Makai felt it would be a waste to use it here, 'Hehe... I'll play with you a little while I hone my mastery.'
When Captain Harley came within 2 meters in front of Makai, he didn't know why, but he was a little apprehensive as he felt the strong vital energy released by Makai's aura. His own experience told him that Makai's strong aura was not an aura a Bronze Knight could unleash, but he didn't know what was wrong and was still confident in his 1.2-ton strength and in his mastery level.
However, Makai was the first to attack and although the captain could see many openings in his attack, he didn't have time to take advantage of them as Makai's attack speed was a bit abnormal.
'How can his speed be even faster than mine?'
The captain still had this thought until he blocked the black sword with his sword and he felt a tremendous force contained in Makai's attack that made his arm go numb while they both still had their swords crossed measuring strength. He felt this scene was familiar, 'Yes, it's exactly like what happened between the little girl's duel against Fogi...'
'However, this is absurd, how can a Bronze Knight be so strong? Is he using 5-star equipment? No, it shouldn't. 4 and 5-star equipment is not only extremely rare, but also requires a knight's vital energy to be at least silver and a Bronze Knight can at most wear 3-star equipment...'
'Where is this little bastard getting so much strength? The things that are happening here today make no sense. What is Ferdinand hiding from us?'
While many thoughts ran through Harley's mind, Makai noticed that the captain looked surprised, so he quickly delivered a second blow followed by a third, fourth, fifth, sixth... In a split second, hundreds of blows were exchanged and each collision was so loud that the sound produced by the clash of metal colliding resounded much fiercer and louder than the fight between Dahlia and Fogi.
...
In a cave located tens of kilometers in the most central and dense part of this forest, a large pair of glowing green eyes opened from the depths of the dark cave. Soon, he climbed to a height of 2 meters and slowly emerged from the cave allowing the sunlight to reveal his large body covered in green fur with a length of 3 meters and 2 meters in height.
This was a large woodland wolf, and because of its size, not just any woodland wolf. His large mouth had dozens of sharp fangs and his green eyes held no trace of emotion. Its claws were huge and so sharp that they left deep holes in their footprints.
He raised his head and looked in the direction where the sound produced by the clash of metals was coming from and, with his howl a little low, he summoned his pack of a hundred green wolves that were much smaller and quickly camouflaged themselves with the green of the forest and ran towards the sound caused by the clashing metals.
Although the hundred green wolves chasing him were smaller, they were still 1 meter tall and 2 meters long. Their claws were also sharp and the fangs in their mouths made them look fierce.
...
The commoners watching the fight between Makai and Harley were dumbfounded and some covered their ears. They could only see the shadows of both of them moving very fast and the sparks that looked more alluring with each sword collision.
Lionel and the others were in awe of their Young Lord. They had never heard of a Bronze Knight fighting and having the upper hand in a fight against a Silver Knight. They had to admit they weren't as confident of venturing into the Mystic Valley before, now that their Young Lord was already so strong being only in the realm of a Bronze Knight, how strong will he be when he is promoted to higher realms? They were wondering with a glint of expectation in their eyes. At the same time, they thought that the reason Makai is so strong was that he is a Child of Fate.
Captain Harley's riders were in disbelief, especially the vice-captain, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The fact that a 10-year-old girl had entered the realm of a Bronze Knight was shocking enough, but now, the fight between Makai and Harley had moved beyond the concept of the unexplainable.
Captain Harley had long since lost his confident stance and was increasingly apprehensive, he didn't know where Makai's strength came from, but he knew that just like the little girl, Makai was increasingly proficient in his sword skills and, soon, he would end up losing his life in the same way as Fogi.
Come to think of it, the captain no longer cared about a knight's honor and was about to ask his vice-captain and his men to attack together. However, he didn't need to say a word as his vice-captain seemed to be smarter today and had made the decision before him.
"Everyone, we don't know what tricks the enemy is using to fight our captain, but we are here on a mission given by our general and we must fulfill it quickly. Attack together and kill them all."
His voice was high and the commoners were apprehensive. The shyest even wanted to run for their lives, but they were stopped by Lampard and the butler Jonathan.
"What is the reason for the panic? Have you forgotten that the youth behind our Young Lord Makai are our children?"
When the commoners heard Lampard, they finally remembered and looked at their children with concern.
Jonathan continued, "Everyone, don't worry, you've seen the strength of Dahlia and our Young Lord..."
"How can the strength of our children and our Young Lord using 2-star runic equipment be weaker than the strength of some knights using 1-star equipment?"
"Don't worry, get in the carriages and wait that everything is settled."
The commoners could only nod and one by one got into their carriages. Only Lampard, Jonathan, and a few parents who were in a Bronze Knight's realm stayed and waited outside.
When Makai heard that Captain Harley's other knights were going to attack together, he laughed, 'Finally. I've trained enough and it's time to end this.'
Makai didn't need to give the command for Lionel and the others to attack and they were already a few steps behind ready to engage in battle, but before that, Makai no longer held back his strength, and his sword sliced through the air in an arc as his body shot forward at maximum speed. A blowing sound was heard and blood-gushed like a torrent and a wide-eyed, disbelieving head was flung into the air as it spun.
'Hmm? Why is everything spinning? No...'
That was Captain Harley's last thought. His frightened eyes revealed that he could never have imagined that he could die on a mission that should have been easier than facing magical beasts.
As soon as Makai cut off Captain Harley's head, the knights stopped for a few seconds with disbelieving eyes and Makai took advantage of this moment he had been waiting for and quickly cut off the head of a second, a third...
His speed was so fast that when Lionel and the others took advantage of the chaos to kill their own opponent, Makai alone had already eliminated 7 of them.
Although they are all in the realm of a Bronze Knight, the difference in strength between them was too great.
When Makai finished his kill and looked around, he saw that Lionel and the others cooperated to quickly kill their opponents and, with the exception of Dahlia, everyone seemed stunned by the system rewards for completing their first kills.
Strangely, Makai didn't feel uncomfortable at all about his first time killing. He couldn't explain what he was feeling, but there was indifference in his eyes as he looked at the lifeless heads he had severed.
He did not want to delve too deeply into the matter and asked Lionel and the others to remove the enemy's equipment and dump their bodies in the forest, after all, they were still 1-star equipment and each of them cost 10 gold coins if they were well preserved.
Soon, he was attracted to the system panel.
[Congratulations on completing your first kill and completing a triggered quest eliminating an enemy in a knight realm above]
[Rewards...]
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