Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

          Wrik could see it now and even in the slow-motion view, the sword appeared blurry. Guess he has to be satisfied with that for now. The light sword went straight towards his neck while Wrik did not put up a block, but ducked instead.

        He pulled his sword on the side right high and released some of the momentum he built through his legs. His body shot and in the instant, he moved away, with the slash on the underarm of the glowing figure.

        The speed of his movement was so fast that even the glowing figure with its outrageous speed had not noticed it. Light flickered out of the wound Wrik had pulled and with the highest level of the [Eye of Insights] turned on, he could clearly see the lights were nothing but omega codes.

        This glowing figure was actually similar to the swords he had consumed, though it could be tens of times more complicated. After all, on the edge of the moment, he saw an evident astonishment in the glowing eyes. The person he was battling was not just any program, other than the outrageous skills and agility, he seemed to have an ego as well.

        Wrik rose, the light element in his sword as it glowed with white light along with the white armour. There was not much difference between the two figures from outside, as both were glowing with the glory of light.

        The glowing figure did not rush at Wrik next, but took a stance. He jerked his swords in a twisted fashion as some words appeared in Wrik's mind. [Half Moon]

        In the next moment, a huge light ray, in the shape of the blade of sickle or half-moon to be precise, moved towards him threateningly.

        All the maha points surged with the force in his system. Wrik released a little amount of the moment to dodge again, the slow-motion view was clearly ending. But even with him moving away, something outrageous happened again. The force of light in a half-moon shape curled its way towards him.

        Whoever said light moves linearly clearly lied. At least in this case. Twisting his body sides ways, Wrik barely managed to escape from the half-moon.

        It was not that the light twisted its path. Clearly, the glowing figure perceived his movement even before his dodging and twisted the move in such a way that it would chase after him.

        Wrik felt the cold sweat on his back and forehead. If this person was only a program, then how outrageous the skill of the actual person would be? Sadly, he did have the time to ponder.

        The glowing man shot half-moon at him again and this time it was more than once. Wrik gritted his teeth and released make way to release the steam. He worked in twists and turns all over sides and while a couple of bent angles of the half-moon got him on the thigh and chest.

        And this time also the move seemed to ignore the difference of the white armour to stick him. Only his armament defence was of some use. Wrik was sighing in relief for barely succeeding in dodging them when his heart turned cold and a piercing pain assaulted his brain.

        He saw a light sword struck to his heart while the face of the glowing man was just before him. He even saw the halo of the light behind him, as he died.

        [Challenger Wrik EverKnight has died.]

        Wrik was dropped to the foot of the mountain again, and he laid there for a couple of minutes to get rid of the dizzy feeling of the fake death. For a second, he could not deny it, it was the same as the first. He felt the dread of death again, and with the experience of relieving the moment, he was damn sure he did not like it in the slightest.

        "12 seconds," he muttered. Even with pulling all of his strength, he only managed to stand ten seconds against the glowing man. This was why he was so reluctant to use the ticket so early. There seemed to be no chance for him.

        [You have 10 more lives left in the Sword Abode.]

        Getting over the dizziness in his head, Wrik replayed the twelve seconds in his mind again. Other than playing the only aggressive role where he managed to deal a blow in the underarms or the glowing figure, he was busy on defence the entire time. But this time, it was not his fault like the others.

        The glowing man actually did not give a single chance after the initial blow. All he had to do was dodge and block the half-moons. Though that did not mean he was not at fault either.

        On the hinged side, Wrik has no attacking or defensive moves on his name. All he used were the basic sword moves that he learned in childhood and polished after coming to the tower. Though with the help from the [Eye of Insights] he never actually has to learn anything.

        He had fought against formidable opponents. Be it Arjamith, Ben or Scythe, they all have more formidable strength and techniques, yet he won using underhanded methods. He was really regretting not buying even a single sword art. He clearly had the credits and points, all he had to do was ask Ryat, he would get all the things.

        But he was so busy getting his agility to the level needed for the task that those thoughts escaped his mind. He was really feeling stupid now.

        He sat upright and brought out everything he had with him in the pouch. There was a lot of stuff, from a few dresses to the vials of medicine for different situations to lots of weapons and other useless stuff. There was food too, and he opened one of the food containers, not that he was hungry.

        He was here for more than half a day, yet he felt no hunger, as it was barely a word in his vocabulary. Putting the creamy bread into his mind, he continued to think about the way of light.

        Evidently, just duelling with the glowing figure with the ten lives he got would not be enough. He needed to find a way to consume more swords, and there were two ways to do that. First was far more difficult than he knows, that was to understand the laws behind the Light's Illuminations, and the next was to raise his omega rank. It was ranked at C now.

        Unfortunately, he felt hopeless in both ways.

        The other paths were learning some sword arts or working on his armament, though he was not sure how useful it would be. He did not have the time of his life after all.

        The number of Maha points in his system was reaching the 400 mark, and it was barely at the level of initial success.

        "Wait, wait, wait," Wrik stopped all of his ponderings and screamed out. "Why have I not thought about this? I am really an idiot, aren't I?"

.. .

        "Michelle, where are you going?" Anton yelled, looking at the redhead leaving at her top speed. "You know people are after us." 

        Michelle did not listen to him, ran away out of the fake fountain and water. Though the fake water did wet her clothes, but barely in just a couple of seconds, they turned dry again. She heard the yells from behind, but did not put them to ears until Anton moved before her. 

        "Where are you going?" Anton asked, with an uncomfortable face. using maha mana still had not turned easy for him. 

        "Why do you care?" Michelle barked at him, as evident tears appear in her eyes. "I will only get in the way, right?" 

        She tried to run away again, but Anton caught her arm. 

        "Let go," she said, gnashing her teeth. 

        Anton did not. Clearly, Michelle would not leave the trial ground after going away from here, but ran away from him. He did not know why she was acting this way. Was it because of what he said yesterday and she was still at him, but she looked after him for so long and yet acting this way did not add up. All of this was because he only mentioned her to go back. Hell, he only mention it as an option, yet she took it so courageously. 

        Women are really peculiar creatures, he thought. 

        "You know, I only said that because I'm worried about your safety?" he said slowly. 

        "Who wants your worry?" Michelle burst into her anger. "I will go back and you won't have to worry about a thing about me. After all, I will only get in your way."

        Anton was about to reply but his face darkened instantly as he looked towards his left side. 

        "Someone is here?" he said, knitting his brows. Seeing Michelle turn silent and worried, he pulled her arms in the other direction. "Let's leave quickly."