Chapter 37 - LOT - Second Draft (Patreon)

Chapter 37 - LOT

The first technique of the Sundering Sword Style, the Sunder the Earth technique, focused on creating a solid foundation for one’s blade strike. A fighter concentrated the energy of his Spirit in a pattern that folded back and forth repeatedly, for a total of thirteen times, transforming the color of the Spirit energy coating one’s blade from blue to dark green.

This energy was incredibly potent and sharp, greatly enhancing the cutting power and impact of his attack. In addition, it could be launched off the blade, used as a midrange strike to ward off foes.

Jack had mastered the technique in a years time. At the time when he fully mastered the sword strike, his blade, Wyrmblight, had glowed warmly in his hand. Immediately after, knowledge flooded into his mind, the inheritance of the Sundering Sword Monarch becoming a little clearer.

The second technique of the Sundering Sword Style was something the Sundering Sword Monarch had created when the sword he used to practice broke.

The warrior had been trapped on a deserted island for several years. Without any way to repair his blade, he had been forced to use makeshift weapons to practice.

This made the future Swordmaster think. What would he do if he was in a battle, without a weapon? The first technique he created, the Sunder the Earth technique, was indeed powerful. but it required a durable weapon that could handle the concentrated strength. Further, while it was a powerful technique, there were undoubtedly other techniques of the same level used by other warriors or Clans.

If he tried to use that attack with, say, a branch, instead of being a powerful strike, the branch would simply shatter as he tried to swing it.

Thus, the Sundering Sword Monarch went about practicing and spent several years developing a technique called “Unceasing Strike.” It was entirely focused on the concept of cutting something, in a purely unceasing manner.

The technique was built upon the foundation of the Sunder the Earth technique, something the Monarch discovered due to experimentation.

First, he would exercise the same Spirit concentration pattern to create the green blade strike of the Sunder the Earth technique. Then, the Monarch took that concentrated energy, and poured an enormous amount of Spirit into it. This would cause the densely folded energy to fluctuate.

In the original experiment when the Monarch first discovered the Unceasing Strike, he had been trying to see if he could force the energy in the Sunder the Earth technique to explode outward.

However, when the Monarch felt the energy reach the very peak of its breaking point, he discovered something strange.

If, instead of letting the energy explode outward, he forced the energy to fold in on itself, the densely colored energy would change to a deep, dark black, devouring the light and everything around it.

Maintaining this state required a huge amount of Spirit energy. However, when the practice blade the Monarch used was in this state, it gained an extremely powerful ability.

It was able to cut through almost anything.

Using a simple wooden practice blade, the Monarch was able to cut through solid rock and stone like a knife through hot butter, cutting through trees as if they were nothing.

The technique had no long range capabilities, and could only damage directly what it came into contact with. However, if used correctly, it put very little strain on the weapon used, and had incredible penetrating power. The only way to block it was to use an enormous amount of Spirit to lessen the blow, or to have a weapon or blade that was of extremely high quality.

Jack felt his Spirit Pool in his soul tremble as he performed the technique, urgently pulling his blade his now black sword downward, intent on slicking into the neck of the unsightly Void Shocker.

At the last instant, the creature seemed to become aware of the danger it was in, the deathly aura the black blade giving off becoming apparent. Unable to retreat in time, the crude being reacted in the only way it instinctively could.

It threw itself forward, towards Jack.

SHHK

THUD

Jack grunted as he sailed through the air, the weight of the Void Shocker blasting him backwards. He somersaulted twice before crashing down hard in the rubble of one of the destroyed wagons. The entire left side of his body ached, the impact of the Void Shocker extremely strong despite its hurried attack. A few small cuts and bruises decorated the rest of his body, most of the damage mitigated by the layer of Spirit energy surrounding him, as well as his body’s increased durability due to constant training.

He got to his feet in an instant, however, ignoring the pain in his side as he turned to face off against the Void Shocker once more.

The huge humanoid monster stood shivering in the center of the crater, staring at the right side of its body.

Black fog and stained red blood was leaking out of the side Void Shocker’s body where its left arm used to be. On the ground next to it lay one of its misshapen, massive arms, completely severed.

Jack smiled, the rage and hatred in his eyes unabating.

“Doesn’t feel so good now, does it, Void scum?”

..

“What a powerful sword technique for one so young…” The bronze skinned Captain Orin muttered as he watched Jack’s blade sever the arm of the Void Shocker.

“To have taken that crucial step on the path of a Swordmaster at such a young age… Just who is his teacher?”

Swordmasters possessed a unique status in this world, one that was inherently tied to Spirit. The reasons for this unique status were oft debated by scholars and sword saints, but the status remained, nevertheless.

By having an extremely powerful Spirit, and an extremely precise and able control of not only one’s will, but also one’s body and technique, extremely powerful masters were able to unleash devastatingly powerful and mysterious attacks.

A technique designed for a sword could also be applied to, say, a branch, a spear, or almost any weapon. The technique itself, however, would usually suffer a loss in strength or cohesion as a result.

The vast majority of Swordmasters wielded a type of sword or blade, using techniques that were passed on and heavily studied and improved by previous masters.

Most people in this world practiced and focused in improving their Natural Ability, using Spirit merely as a means to an end, and fighting with weapons as a means to an end. Those that intensely practiced a weapon to follow the path of a Swordmaster were few and far in-between.

Simply because it was extremely difficult to reach a high level of skill following those paths, requiring brutal amounts of focus and effort. Those that chose to follow these paths were usually either desperate, with a lackluster Natural Ability, or extremely talented and well off.

Jack’s sword technique, his Unceasing Strike, currently displayed a level that was very well known among Swordmasters, and high level masters familiar with them.

A degree of skill known as “Cutting Through Steel,” a weaker version of a Swordmaster’s “Cutting Through Space.”

“Hmm… I can sense the reverberations all the way over here. What a dominating sword art. Is it Raskiel’s Breaking Blade? The Ancient Mire’s Black Blade?” Orin’s eyes glinted as he watched Jack get knocked backward, a light appearing in his eyes.

..

“Tick…tick…”

Jack grinded his teeth as he glared at the Void Shocker, maintaining his distance. He clenched and unclenched his blade, watching it intently.

He hadn’t managed to kill it, but severing one of its arms was enough to slow the beast down, he thought.

Before his eyes, however, he saw the blood and black fog that had been leaking out of its left arm slow to a drizzle, and the flesh where its arm had been begin to writhe. Slowly, flesh began to grow as the humanoid began regrowing its lost arm.

“Damn.” The vitality of a Void Shocker was said to be near limitless. His strike had been perfect, but he didn’t think the creature would lunge at him and sacrifice an arm to avoid his strike. It was his first battle against anything that could regenerate almost infinitely.

He took a deep breath, planning his next move. The Shocker had already recharged its shockwave, and even with one arm, it wasn’t something he could just ignore. Before he could do anything, however, an extremely loud voice shook the air, catching him off guard.

“STAND BACK CITIZEN!” A dashing blonde haired figure slammed down onto the north side of the crater, wielding a pair of thick, gold and white ornamented long sabers. A faint blue light of Spirit surrounded this warrior, giving him a powerful glow. Despite Jack being on the other side of the crater, he could feel a faint feeling of pressure.

Jack recognized him as the ‘bigshot’ Rank A Hunter moving with the caravan, Irone Swift. He saw several blurred figures just a dozen meters away, the teammates that travelled with the noble.

“JUSTICE IS SWIFT! DIE MONSTER!”

Without waiting, however, the saber wielding warrior threw himself forward with abandon, so immediately and without strategy that Jack gaped in shock.

BOOM

The initial result was predictable.

The Shocker immediately unleashed the shockwave it had stored up. Even while missing an arm, it was still able to release a powerful blast that sent waves through the air, knocking everything backwards.

Jack was able to maintain his guard with his Slowed State, using his sword and Spirit to ward off most of the blow. He felt his bones shiver at the wave knocked into him, forcing him back a few steps.

When the shockwave was about to his Irone, however, he slashed downward with his sabers, in a dramatic flourish, as if he was trying to cut through the powerful blast.

And that was exactly what happened.

Jack’s eyes opened wide as a huge explosion of force smashed into the shockwave of the Void Shocker, and subsequently cut through it. An instant later, the Void Shocker was bisected, cut into four pieces, and an extremely deep cross was carved into the ground.

Dust and rocky shrapnel exploded into the air after these attacks settled, obscuring his vision.

“Are you alright, citizen?” A warm, cheery voice cut through the dust as Irone appeared next to Jack, a look of concern on his face.

“Watch out!” Jack moved without thinking, knocking the Rank A Hunter out of the way.

An instant later, a huge, enormous fist crashed down where he had been standing, exploding even more stone shrapnel out on the side of the crater.

The Void Shocker had transformed, into a hulking, blood covered mess, its flesh twisted and writhing. The parts of it that had been bisected had been forcefully reattached, and an odd, insane humming noise was coming out of its masked mouth.

Void Shockers had an incredible vitality. They were often used by the Void as suicide troops. Not just for their incredible vitality, but for what happened to them when they were dying.

The creatures would gain, for a very brief period of time, a supernaturally powerful regenerative ability, and go berserk as they expanded their entire life force in a single go.

Jack had been hopping to slice the head off the Shocker at the start, to avoid activating its berserk instincts. Unfortunately, however, he had failed, and the Hunter that had just arrived was unaware that he needed to strike for the head.

“You need to aim for its head!” Jack yelled as he leapt backwards on his own accord. The Rank A Hunter, Irone, also dodged to the side, raising his sabers in front of him.

THUD

BOOM

The Shocker had managed to complete regrow its severed arm in the span of a few seconds, and used that to smash against the other Rank A Hunter, apparently enraged at the damage it had suffered.

The ground beneath the ‘bigshot’ Hunter cracked as he stumbled backwards a single step, and then stopped, somehow managing to absorb the entire force of the enraged creatures attack. His sabers before him were vibrating with a bright golden light, at odds with the dark haze the Shocker was emitting.

“Stop the beast!”

“Kill it!”

The companions of the bigshot Hunter arrived at the scene then, and several of them began launching attacks of their own. A couple even charged forward, trying to help.

Jack saw the muscles of the beast shiver and expand in his Slowed State, feeling faint reverberations in the air.

It was about to release a shockwave. And this one would be a berserk, enraged shockwave using its own life force that would deal an incredible amount of damage. Not only would it kill all the Hunters here, it would likely wipe out everyone within a hundred meters.

‘NO!’ Jack’s mind raced ahead of him as he understood all of this, a feeling of helplessness crashing into him.

..

A couple hundred meters away, the bronze skinned Orin watched the ongoing battle intensely, his spear in his hand, an odd red light covering him. At his side was his lieutenant Coroney, rapier in hand.

“Should we..?” The lieutenant queried,

“Hold. Not yet.” The Captain repeated himself,

“If he’s a student of one of the Swordmasters, he should be able to handle this…”

..

The scar on Jack’s face twinged slightly, but offered him nothing. The feeling of helpless anger in him caused his eyes to turn red, the unfairness and hatred he felt for the Void reaching a crescendo.

‘If only I had cut its head off. If only I had attacked it in an instant!’ As he felt his impending doom, his mind entered into a pure, confused state, where he examined the situation in depth. He shut his eyes, feeling a strange tugging, as if he needed to do this.

As he mind shivered, a single thought began to echo, over and over in that brief second.

‘If only I had attacked it in an instant!’

‘Attacked in an instant.’

‘In an instant.’

‘An instant.’

Jack’s eyes opened wide as he woke from his mire. A strange transformation took place in his soul, happening so quickly it was over in an instant, yet at the same time feeling as if it took a very long time.

The pure, Time Essence energy in his soul began to twist like a whirlpool. It fluctuated, and started transforming, bright lights flashing within it. Jack felt incredibly in-tune with the world around him, especially with the power deep within him. His blood felt as if it was boiling, an incredible feeling filling him.

As all of this washed over him, his Slowed State began to shiver.

1/2nd… 1/3rd… 1/4th… 1/5th… That was the limit Jack could slow the world around him.

As his mind rammed into this limit, he felt the energy in his soul shiver in a way it never had before. The fluctuating Time Essence in his soul abruptly stropped transforming, changing from a pure, white color to a dazzling silver color.

And the world around him began to change once more.

1/6th… 1/7th… 1/8th…

1/10th… 1/20th…

1/24th… At the moment the world around him slowed to 1/24th its normal speed, Jack felt himself hit a wall again, where he couldn’t progress. He also felt himself burning through his Time Essence at an extraordinary pace.

He was only able to maintain this state for approximately 2 normal seconds.

However, 2 seconds extended by 24 times meant he could remain in his Slowed State for roughly 48 of his own seconds.

Jack opened his eyes, a strange light glowing within them.

He looked at the enraged Void Shocker, staring as its arms moved down towards the ground.

And smiled.