Chapter 42 Sword Aura

Sword Aura.

I know about that skill. Maybe everyone knows that too. Sword Aura was a formidable skill. The skill could indicate that the user had reached the Master realm.

Apart from using the Mana Core level as a measure of one's strength, there was also the rank of a Warrior.

These levels are divided from the lowest being Beginner, Trainee, Veteran, Master, and then Grandmaster. At least, these are the five general levels known today.

Actually, to be called a Warrior Beginner is something difficult, especially to be able to reach the Master realm.

Honestly, if I got hit by the vice captain's Sword Aura skill, I could die instantly.

Moreover, even though I appear to be underestimating my situation, my body has reached its limit. The breath coming out of my nose is also getting erratic. At this rate, I could collapse at any moment.

In my current state, I couldn't possibly defeat him. For that reason, my mind turned to focus on running away.

And in order for me to run away, I have to keep Vice Knight-Captain in place. In other words, someone must restrain him.

Obviously, that person was Gilbert, my teddy bear.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Gilbert's cornered state. One after another, incisions formed on top of his body.

Although individually he looked great, but against a group of well-trained soldiers, he would be overwhelmed.

Gilbert was under my control, which is why a mere flock of soldiers could easily push him back.

You know, controlling a puppet to fight while myself is fighting is really hard. The easy picture is, you can imagine that my brain is being split in two, where one I use to control my own body, while the other one I use to control my doll.

I used the Skill Hear of Everything to know every single attack the soldiers had so I could make my puppet dodge and attack at the right time. And that's how I control my doll without looking.

[Your skill in controlling Mind's Puppet has increased.]

I just treated the World System notification as a form of momentary consolation. How could I not, when Gilbert's body was getting hurt, somehow my mind also felt the pain. Maybe it's natural since I'm the controller, but still, my head hurts.

Boom!

I made Gilbert kick the ground and ignored the soldiers' attacks. As a result, Gilbert jumped past the soldiers just like that.

Because Gilbert's speed was faster than ordinary soldiers, Gilbert managed to leave the soldiers behind. Eventually, Gilbert was able to arrive beside me on time.

Upon seeing Gilbert's presence in front of me, Knight Vice-Captain Trusty started to let out a mocking voice to Gilbert.

"I don't know who you are, but you will regret having dared to obstruct a knight like me."

Fortunately, it wasn't too late. As soon as Gilbert arrived, Knight Vice-Captain Trusty's Sword Aura attack came as well.

Clang!

Gilbert's rather long ax handle blocked Sword Aura's frontal attack. What happened next was, Gilbert's ax broke just like that. Without a crack, the Vice Knight Captain's sword slashed Gilbert's iron ax in half so smoothly.

[Congratulations! Your skill in controlling Mind's Puppet has increased.]

[Do you want to bring out the full potential of your Mind's Puppet skill?]

It came on time. Seeing the difference in strength between Gilbert and the Knight Vice-Captain, I didn't have to hesitate to agree.

[Note: if you agree to it, you will receive a huge impact on your mind.]

"Unlucky!"

I cursed myself for not reading the system messages to completion.

Maybe it's just my perspective, but I feel that the world is starting to spin randomly. My hands touched the ground to hold my body that wanted to fall.

In the midst of the dizziness in my head, I could vaguely see Gilbert who began to fight back against the Knight Vice-Captain, Trusty

***

On the other side of the battlefield, there was the figure of Daniel trying to find a safe place to hide. And finally, he decided to hide behind a horse-drawn carriage.

"Huuh~ huh."

He still remembered the previous slash of Mesties sword aimed at his neck. Instantly, his whole body began to break out in cold sweat.

"Shit! Is he really the Mesties I've known all along?"

He couldn't help but bite his fingernails.

Until a moment ago, the only figure of Mesties in his mind was a weak young brother, easily bullied, and never fought back when he played with him.

He still remembered Mesties' childhood, where Mesties only ate when it was time to eat, slept when it was time to sleep, and practiced when it was time to practice.

Even when Daniel insulted, pushed, and even injured Mesties, Mesties never showed a change of expression. Because Daniel does that so often, bullied Mesties had become a habit.

Eventually, at some point, his constant distractions began to pay off, at least, that's what he thought when Mesties became a drunk and could only be depressed in the room.

He felt, even more, superior because Mesties couldn't use Mana, while he entered Milestone Academy, the most prestigious Magic Academy on the Averus Continent.

But, since when did everything start to change? He didn't know when exactly because he had just come back from Milestone Academy. But since he came home, it feels like a lot has changed.

Now, he had noticed the change in Mesties' character, even though he rarely showed emotion, but Mesties would no longer remain silent when bullied.

While thinking of that, he suddenly became even more irritated. 'How can I, who is a student of Milestone Academy, shudder in fear and went into hiding like this?'

When that thought came, he put up an illusory wall in his mind. Trying to convince himself that he is superior to the Mesties.

Humans are indeed such creatures, when an unbelievable reality comes, they tend to convince themselves by believing in a fake reality made up by their minds.

With a confident face, he looked towards the battlefield.

When Mesties was clashing swords with the vice knight-captain, he couldn't hide his surprised reaction.

'Damn. How did he have that kind of power? Has he been hiding his power all this time? But he definitely can't beat the vice knight-captain, right.'

And sure enough, when the vice knight-captain used Sword Aura, Mesties could only take refuge behind the mysterious man.

What's more, Mesties looked even more pitiful when both of his knees touched the ground with one hand supporting him, while the other hand held his head as if his head was dizzy.

Seeing that, Daniel felt happiness within himself. He felt this was the perfect opportunity to end the Mesties' life. With a loathsome smile, he drew his sword and started to approach the Mesties.

***

I didn't expect that Gilbert would have enough power to fight against Vice Knight-Captain Trusty, where Gilbert was bringing out various skills that he didn't show when against me.

Was it his true strength, he twisted his body while wielding the ax that shortened with a lethal twist. As if he were a walking tornado, he began to successfully withstand the momentum of Vice Knight Captain Trusty's attack.

'I can't let the opportunity he gave me go to waste, right?'

In my mind, I sent a telepathic message to Gilbert, 'Goodbye'. Whether he would survive or not, I didn't think too much about it.

If he still had consciousness, he would have gone berserk because I left him to be a living shield. It was a good thing that he was under the influence of the Mind's Puppet skill.

When I focused on running away, I suddenly jumped to the side.

Maybe you can say that what I do is just a reflex, which means, a movement that I do unconsciously. But what I did just made me dodge the sneak attack.

Slash!

A sword slash passed through the place where my body was previously.

"Huh! You can avoid my attack?"

The person with the stupid expression was Daniel.

I didn't expect that this idiot would still bully me to the end.

Even though I still have a headache, I still have enough power to throw trash in its place. Obviously, the trash I'm referring to is Daniel.

In an instant, I, who was originally in front of Daniel, was immediately behind him.

His eyes widened at how fast my movement was. By reflex, he retreated backward, but it was too late since I had finished attacking him.

"W-what?"

He was still wondering like a fool.

"Look at your hand."

When I pointed at his arm, only then did he realize.

Yes, his hand had been cut off cleanly and neatly. From the tip of his shoulder, his hand disappeared, leaving only blood flowing.

When he saw his severed hand lying on the ground, his eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets.

"H-Hahahaha T-this can't be happening... Aaaahhhh~"

At first, he seemed very hard to believe what was happening. But when the pain receptors in his body started to travel to his brain, he started screaming from the pain.

Holding the base of his arm, he fell while screaming and thrashing like crazy.

While he was feeling pain all over his body, he was probably trying to stop the bleeding in his arm with the Mana he had. I could tell that from every Mana move he made.

Finally, he stopped screaming.

He looked at me with a look that I could not guess. Was that a desperate look? Surprised? Anger? But that's not important. Fate is certain. I will kill him here.