BANG!


    Shang exploded forward with his sword.


    This time, he would be on the offensive!


    He hadn''t done that before since he hade here to learn. Yet, in his eagerness to learn from his


    opponent''s attacks, he had learned nearly nothing since the fight had ended in basically one swing.


    The power of the first swing had been used in the second swing, which could technically make it count


    as the first swing.


    ''I have to get rid of the mindset that I need to go easy on Astor to learn from him,'' he thought.


    Astor had barely finished half of his wind-up when Shang arrived with his sword. Shang had the speed


    advantage due to his more powerful body as long as Astor couldn''t build his momentum.


    At the moment, Astor''s sword was far behind him, and hecked the speed to block Shang''s attack.


    Additionally, since Shang had the speed advantage, Astor wouldn''t be able to easily evade, and if he


    did, the evasion would be sloppy and would mess with his bnce.


    Because of all of these reasons, Shang didn''t sh but stabbed forward. That would reach his


    opponent the fastest.


    Shang had no idea how Astor could escape.


    If he were in Astor''s shoes, he also wouldn''t find a method to get out of this one.


    And then, Astor stopped.


    A split-secondter, Astor''s left foot gathered nearly all the umted power of the swing and


    unleashed it in a stomp.


    BANG!


    The ground cracked as an incredible amount of power was pushed into it from one point.


    Shang hadn''t expected the ground to shake and crack in front of him, which meant that he wasn''t able


    to react properly.


    The ground shook, and Shang''s sword barely missed Astor''s torso.


    However, even if it was barely, it still missed.


    Shang''s eyes widened as he realized the new dynamic in the fight.


    Initially, Shang had caught Astor in an indefensible position. Shang had all the momentum, and Astor


    had nothing.


    But now, Shang hadpletely lost his bnce as his sword didn''t hit anything, while Astor stood as


    firm and stable as a rock in front of him.


    However, Shang still knew that he had the speed and power advantage thanks to his body, and he


    would make full use of it. From his offset position, Shang quickly used all his power and made his


    extended sword swing towards Astor''s torso.


    The wind-up was tiny, and Shang couldn''t put a lot of power into such an awkward swing, but his sword


    was sharp, and Shang had a more powerful body.


    This should be enough to, at least, injure Astor. Additionally, Shang could use that swing to gain some


    space to rebnce.


    As Shang''s sword went towards Astor''s torso, Astor''s body lowered as he gathered power in his left


    foot.


    And then, Shang''s sword hit.


    Clink!


    Shang''s eyes widened as his sword bounced off Astor''s uniform!


    This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org.


    He hadn''t expected that!


    BANG!


    Astor finished gathering his power, and he shot forward with his shoulder, hitting Shang in the chest.


    Shang had a more powerful body, but that charge had so much weight being it that he still got shot into


    the distance by several meters.


    Shang lost his breath for an instant, and an incredible pressure built up in his chest. A normal warrior


    would be stunned for at least two seconds under such an attack.


    However, Shang had dealt with such injuries many, many times.


    CRRRK!


    Shang''s feet hit the ground and created a ditch as they stopped his momentum.


    BANG!


    Then, Shang shot forward before Astor could ready his strike.


    For an instant, Astor''s eyes showed a bit of surprise, but they quickly returned to their cold selves


    again.


    Shang reached Astor again before he could build up his momentum.


    This time, Astor canceled his swing early. The swing wasn''t as insanely powerful as the first one in the


    last fight, but it still had a lot of weight behind it.


    Shang noticed that Astor wasn''t using a block. Astor was using a wide swing, which was mostly for


    attacking purposes.


    However, the sheer size of his sword automatically transformed the aggressive attack into a secondary


    block. Shang couldn''t possibly take Astor''s heart or head before he got hit.


    But Shang didn''t stop.


    He continued running.


    And then, Astor''s swing arrived.


    CRRRR!


    Shang suddenly slid on the ground. The swing would pass over him, and Shang would have an


    opportunity to take Astor''s heart.


    And Shang was right. The swing did pass over him.


    However, it didn''t directly pass over him, but quite a bit above him.


    Astor had changed the trajectory of his swing to not be horizontal but diagonal in a curved line. It


    essentially traveled in a hyperb.


    Astor''s sword was now right above his head, fully extended to the sky. Both of his arms bulged as an


    insane amount of power gathered in them.


    Shang felt the pressure from above him, but instead of despairing, he saw a chance!


    Shang was currently right in front of Astor''s waist, and he could stab Astor''s heart before Astor could


    reach him.


    Shang would kill Astor before Astor could kill him.


    Shang''s sword shot forward as it stabbed right towards Astor''s chest.


    When Astor saw that, his eyes seemingly began to burn. It was like he was suddenly unleashing all the


    power inside his being as an incredible amount of rage and brutality exploded forward.


    Shang''s sword hit.


    CRACK!


    Shang''s eyes widened.


    ''What?!''


    Shang''s sword had hit Astor''s chest, but when it did, several Magic Runes appeared on the uniform,


    converging in some sort of barrier.


    The barrier broke apart, and the uniform lost its luster. However, Shang''s sword had been stopped.


    What had just happened!?


    And then, Shang felt it.


    Pressure.


    Incredible pressure.


    It was like Shang was in front of a monster that wanted to do nothing but kill him.


    The sword above Astor shot down with an insane amount of power and speed.


    Shang was still half on the ground, and his attack had just been stopped.


    He couldn''t evade.


    The sword came right for Shang''s head, exploding with the storming sounds of wind being cut.


    Clink!


    "Alright, that should be it," teacher Loran said as he stopped Astor''s sword with two fingers.


    For a moment, Shang couldn''t breathe.


    In the first fight, Shang had believed he would survive by blocking, but in this fight, he had looked death


    in the eye.


    It was just like that time when that Pest Cat had jumped him when Shang hadn''t had his weapon yet.


    It was the image of death.


    The entire fight reyed in Shang''s head.


    Shang had the advantage in power and speed.


    Yet, why hadn''t it felt that way?


    Because of technique!


    Astor was slower than Shang, but he had always managed topletely stop Shang''s momentum in


    some way. On top of that, Astor had probably nned his moves in advance. After all, it was very, very


    difficult to change the trajectory of such a heavy sword on the fly.


    In essence, Astor had beaten Shang with surprise, intelligence, and technique.


    Astor pulled his sword back as he took a deep breath.


    And then, he smiled!


    "I didn''t expect for you to wake the warrior inside of me," he said with a smile as he offered Shang a


    hand. "For a second there, I went all in."


    Shang was still a bit shaken by the close encounter with death, but he epted the hand


    absentmindedly.


    He only had one question.


    "What happened with my attack earlier? I thought I got you," he said in a bit of confusion.


    "Your uniforms have an Enchantment that grants them the ability to block one Soldier Stage attack that


    would hit your heart," teacher Loran exined. "The remaining parts of the uniform also have defensive


    powers, but not nearly as strong as the ones guarding your heart."


    That exined how Shang''s attack had been blocked.


    ''I should have gone for his head,'' Shang thought, but an instantter, Shang realized something.


    Yes, both of Astor''s arms had been above his head…


    But his left upper arm had been between Shang and his head!


    With the added mass between the head, the blockage of vision, and the small defense of the uniform,


    Shang''s chances of injuring Astor''s brain before Astor''s attack hit him were tiny!


    Even more, Astor had probably been prepared to move his left arm to the side if Shang''s sword


    stabbed it. At that point, Astor would have already put basically all of his power into the swing.


    ''What could I have done to win?''


    …


    ''The only way to win would have been to anticipate the earlier feint. As soon as I fell for the feint, the


    fight was already over.''


    Shang took a deep breath and closed his eyes.


    Then, they opened again, and fiery ambition could be seen in them.


    ''This is exactly what I need!''


    ''Experience!''


    ''This is exactly why I havee to this ce!''