Chapter 542 - Victory Or Defeat

John found that for every attack he blocked he could predict the next move easier than before. He had entered a trance-like state were all of his senses were focused on dodging and blocking every attack coming his way.

At first, he was struggling to evade and block the incoming attacks, but now his movement was as smooth as a flowing river. Evade to the side, redirect the orb of mana upward, duck, shift left shoulder to the right. John was growing while fighting, and even though his current level wasn't near Ren's were he could dodge each attack as if he were taking a casual stroll, John was slowly arriving there. 

Xia noticed that after some time that her attacks were no longer hitting. She also noticed that the other heroes were already at their third opponents and she was still at her first. This was a very embarrassing situation for her. A child whose mana supply was not even half of hers was and whose strength and skill was also below hers was actually fighting so well against her. It even looked like he had a chance of winning. 

Xia gritted her teeth but before she was about to rage she quickly stabilized her feelings and calmly inhaled and exhaled. John who was in a trance finally noticed that the attacks suddenly stopped. He saw Xia standing there quietly while her eyes were closed. 

This was a chance for John to attack Xia while she was not on guard. Yet John didn't take that chance and waited for Xia to make a move since he felt like he was about to reach a new height in this battle. He wanted to fight Xia more to gain more experience as this was a great opportunity to fight someone like her in this kind of setting were she was weakened. 

Xia who had finally calmed down opened her eyes and was surprised to see John not attacking her. She looked at John and saw the expectations in his eyes, it was then that she quickly figured out what John was thinking. 

'Damn kid, he actually wants to use me as a whetstone. Heh, fine let's see if I'll be your whetstone or your inner demon.' 

Xia raised her hands and a small portal appeared before her, she summoned her weapons that most people haven't seen before. The weapons she summoned were four circular objects with a sharpened outer edge. These were her chakrams, that she uses for long and mid-range attacks, but Xia was also proficient in close quarters combat with them. 

Except for Ren no one who had battled with Xia has ever survived upon seeing her weapons. Today she wasn't going to try to kill John, but since she summoned her weapons she needed to teach John a lesson. 

This was the first time John had seen such a weapon but he had a few guesses on how it works. Xia started spinning the chakrams on her index fingers. The speed that she spun the chakrams made them look like a shining light spinning around her fingertips. Once they were at their optimal speed Xia threw the chakrams at John. 

John's instincts were screaming at him to back away and raise his wooden sword. John didn't think twice before moving his body. He heard a loud clink as he was pushed back. 

Compared to the orbs of mana she was shooting a while ago, the speed of the chakrams made was barely visible to John, he could no longer follow them with his eyes. If it wasn't for his heightened senses due to his recent enlightenment he would've already lost. 

The chakrams returned to Xia's fingers. Seeing that John had survived her initial strike, she smiled sweetly at him. 

"You're so much better than I anticipated. I now acknowledge that you are worthy to see a bit of my true skill." 

"Bring it!" 

"Heh, do your best to survive child."

Xia once again threw the chakrams. This time John couldn't see the chakram upon release. John felt a chill on his back as he jumped to the side. A chakram passed by behind him nicking his shoulder. He then heard the sound of clinking steel at his side, John raised his wooden sword to the side and he felt something bounce off it. 

John once again heard another clinking sound and this time it came from above him. John quickly jumped backward. He then saw a flashing light falling and another flashing light hitting it from the front. The flashing light was then pushed towards him, John barely dodge the flashing light by swaying his body to the side. 

John then saw that the chakrams had returned to Xia's fingers and their spinning was much faster compared to before. John knew the next time Xia threw those chakrams he might not be able to react on time anymore and get severely injured. As if reading his mind Xia spoke to him. 

"I'm warning you now, this next throw might kill you, if not it will severely injure you. I'm going to give you this one chance to surrender before I make the throw. So what will you do?"

John showed a shocked face before smiling as he gave his response. 

"Heh, you're more kindhearted than I thought. You might be an old hag on the inside, but I guess you are a good person." 

"What is being an old hag have to do with being a good person or not?! Also, who the f*ck are you calling an old hag?! Have you ever seen an old hag that looks like me?" 

John shrugged his shoulders before responding. 

"How old are you exactly?" 

"Didn't your mother tell you to never ask a lady her age?" 

"Sure, whatever you say old hag." 

"... We're getting off-topic here. So will you surrender or not?" 

"The moment I chose to walk the path of a warrior I was always prepared for death. So it's either victory or reincarnation." 

"I see... Then if you're able to survive this move, we can consider it my loss." 

"Thank you," John bowed his head once. John then stopped using the formless sword stance and raised his wooden sword near his face and closed his eyes. Since he could no longer follow the attacks with his eyes, he decided to use his other senses instead. 

"Then receive it well!" Xia threw the chakrams at John.