The Challenge in Progress
Looking at the aggressive silver mercenary charging towards him with his sword, Laurist's mind flashed with dozens of ways he could defeat his opponent in an instant. However, he couldn't. Ayer and Fatty Shi's pleas from last night were still ringing in his ears. "Sir, can I call you Sir Locke? You have to give others a chance to display their skills! Don't make the challenger kneel the moment they meet, alright? You should at least give your opponent a few perfunctory moves. Even if you win, you have to win by a hair's breadth. You have to make it seem like your opponent was just a little bit away from winning, and you were just lucky to win. That way, more and more people will place their bets, and not like now where almost no one is betting on you losing. It's not easy for us brothers to set up a bet. You have to understand! "
Alright, I'll just treat it as acting. But I really don't know how to act. Although the silver mercenary's attacks were fierce, he also left many openings. Not only did Laurist have to suppress his urge to defeat his opponent, but he also had to cooperate with his opponent and pretend that he was being forced to dodge. This … this was too difficult …
His seven years as a soldier in his previous life had left a deep impression on Laurist. He wasn't a mechanical soldier or a logistician. He had seen blood and taken countless lives. Although those seven years were peaceful and harmonious on the surface, there were many skirmishes at the border, such as the arrest of terrorists, and the encirclement and annihilation of drug dealers. The experience of blood and fire was to kill the enemy with one strike. Eliminating the enemy as quickly and effortlessly as possible was the best way to protect oneself and comrades on the battlefield. Even if the enemy died, one had to kill him to confirm if he was faking his death. That was why Laurist now believed that defeating his opponent as quickly as possible was the best choice.
From the perspective of the spectators, the silver mercenary had successfully suppressed Laurist with a series of rapid attacks. Didn't they see that Laurist was a little flustered in dodging? That was rare. Usually, he would be defeated with one strike. This meant that Instructor Locke seemed to be caught off guard by the ferocious attack and was having a hard time dealing with it. Many people in the stands took note of this point. As long as they confirmed it in the next duel, they would know if this would become Instructor Locke's weakness.
When this Silver Mercenary exposed his chin again, Laurist couldn't hold it in any longer. His right foot stepped on the air, and his left foot followed. His figure flashed, and his right shoulder shrunk. His entire figure was as agile as a fish, and he instantly closed the distance between him and his opponent. The silver mercenary's longsword brushed past his shoulder. Lollister flipped his wrist, and the hilt of his sword pointed upwards, lightly slashing his opponent's chin. As if struck by lightning, the silver mercenary staggered a few steps forward, swayed a few times, and then fell to the ground.
Fatty Shi rushed to the ring in a hurry. He bent down to check the situation as if he was used to it. Then, he announced loudly, "Chin hit, unconscious. The next challenger is ready. "
Fatty Shi called for the medical staff to come up and lift the person up. At the same time, he quickly whispered to Lollister, "Well done. Persevere like this, and let the next challenger see the hope of winning. However, you have to be careful not to hit the chin all the time. Otherwise, the people in the stands will find out that you're actually dealing with it easily … "
Alright, there would be twenty challengers per day, and each challenger would be five minutes long. That would be a hundred minutes. Then, he would make do with another twenty minutes, which would make it two hours. That should be enough for the spectators to feel that it was worth the price of a small silver coin. Lollister sighed. If this continued, the duel would become a performance.
Ever since the first duel with the Violet Academy, Lollister heard from Fatty Shi that there were only twenty opponents on the day of the duel. He requested to change it to fifty so that he could get rid of these challengers as soon as possible and have some peace. However, this request was rejected by the academy. The reason was simple. The day of the duel was open to the public. Just the spectators in the stands would allow the academy to earn more than ten gold coins at a time. Including the income from lottery tickets, snacks, and drinks, they would have more than forty to fifty gold coins a day. Right now, the academy's finance department wished that the day of the duel would last until the end of time. They were only worried that there would not be enough challengers. Why would they agree to Lollister's request to increase the number of opponents and shorten the duel schedule?
As expected, the next few challengers all adopted the strategy of attacking fiercely right from the start. However, in Lollister's eyes, these sword moves that were as fast as the wind, as heavy as the rain, and as fast as lightning were very clear to him. If this was a duel of life and death, he could break through the sword moves and pierce his opponent's heart at any time. However, right now, he could only parry.
There was already more than one opponent who wanted to use the difference in rank between Silver and Iron-ranked impetus to suppress Lollister. At the very least, there were many Silver mercenaries who wanted to use the sword rays from their longswords to break Lollister's sword. Without his sword, Lollister would become a toothless tiger and would naturally admit defeat. No matter how sturdy Lollister's sword was, as long as Lollister's impetus was still at Iron-ranked, he wouldn't be able to release sword rays. He wouldn't be able to fight against the swords of the Silver mercenaries. He wouldn't be able to slash with a single strike, and his sword would eventually break after a few more strikes.
However, how could Lollister let them do as they wished? Every time the two swords clashed, Lollister's sword would swipe and follow the momentum, but it would always land on the back of the sword, cleverly dodging the sword rays. This made his opponent flustered and exasperated, yet helpless.
Sighs could be heard from the stands. Instructor Locke had won several times today, and all of them had been thrilling. It was a pity that his opponents had failed at the last moment every time. Many of the mistakes were caused by themselves, and Instructor Locke had seized the opportunity to clinch victory. If these Silver mercenaries were a little more careful and had a little more luck, it would be hard to say who would emerge victorious. It seemed like Instructor Locke wasn't good at dealing with fierce attacks at the beginning of the match.
Until a 1-star Silver mercenary launched a fierce attack as soon as he entered the arena, Lollister was so angry that he laughed. Come on, Bro, you have earth element impetus, and you're holding a heavy sword and shield. You should be walking the path of a Shield Guardian. Why are you attacking so quickly? You're hiding behind your shield and charging straight at me. Do you really see where I'm standing?
Lollister took a few steps forward, moved horizontally, and hooked with his leg. The Silver mercenary holding the heavy sword and shield tripped and fell to the ground. Lollister stepped on his back, pulled out his sword, and placed it on the mercenary's shoulder. He patted it twice. Hearing the laughter from the stands, the Silver mercenary got up from the ground with a red face. He picked up his shield and ran off the arena with his sword.
Clang, clang, clang, clang … The rapid sounds of swords clashing resounded in the arena like a rainstorm.
This was the last challenger of the day, a middle-aged mercenary in his forties with the strength of a 3-star Silver. Unlike the previous challengers, he didn't attack fiercely after he entered the arena. Instead, he prepared his defense and waited for Lollister to come up.
This was also the most decent challenger of the day. Lollister had already attacked three times, but he couldn't break through the middle-aged mercenary's defense. Lollister was excited. He circled around the middle-aged mercenary while carefully sizing up his opponent.
The middle-aged mercenary had a face that was as calm as an ancient well. His breathing was long and calm. His feet were one in front of the other, and the distance between each step was extremely small. He was calm and composed, not anxious or impatient. Every time Lollister was about to move to his side, his feet would slip slightly, and he would face him head-on.
This was a true expert, and he was probably not far from advancing to the Gold rank. Moreover, he must have experienced many life and death situations. He was calm in the face of danger, and his swordsmanship foundation was very solid. Just now, Lollister had attacked three times, and a few of his attacks had posed a fatal threat to the middle-aged mercenary. However, the middle-aged mercenary had relied on his body's instinctive reactions to block those attacks. Just like what Lollister had said before, this opponent had already practiced the eight basic movements of swordsmanship to the point that they had become his body's instinctive reactions. Only then could he block those fatal attacks.
Lollister stood still and solemnly greeted the middle-aged mercenary, "Hello, I'm Norton Lollister. It's my honor to spar with you. "
This was the first time Lollister had announced his opponent's name in the arena. There was no other reason than that the middle-aged mercenary was an opponent worthy of respect. No matter who it was, anyone who could practice the basic movements of swordsmanship to this level was worthy of respect.
The middle-aged mercenary was startled, and a trace of warmth flashed in his eyes. He nodded slightly in return, "Hello, I'm Gulley Boddinger. It's my honor to spar with you. "
Lollister waved the sword in his hand, "Be careful, I'm going to attack again."
This time, Lollister did not forcefully attack like the previous three times. Instead, he pressed forward step by step, adopting a steady strategy. He forced the middle-aged mercenary to react accordingly and meet force with force. With his dynamic vision, he could see that there was a gap in the middle-aged mercenary's every parry and counterattack. As long as Lollister changed his moves midway, the other party would definitely not be able to react in time, creating an advantageous opportunity for him to win.
However, this middle-aged mercenary named Gurey Boardfinger was extremely experienced. He retreated step by step and neutralized Lollister's forceful attacks, not leaving any openings for Lollister to exploit. Lollister's sword stance changed, and after a series of rapid attacks, he pounced forward, clearly wanting to close in and attack.
The middle-aged mercenary's expression changed, and with a low grunt, the longsword in his hand swung down diagonally. Lollister's forward momentum did not decrease, and the longsword in his right hand swung diagonally to deflect the incoming sword stance. The middle-aged mercenary let out a long breath. Seeing that Lollister was approaching, he quickly retreated, but he heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed. A cold glint flashed before his eyes, and a short sword was dangerously near his neck. It turned out that Lollister had pulled out the short sword at his waist with his left hand. This move was out of the middle-aged mercenary's expectations.
The middle-aged mercenary's body stiffened, and he put down the longsword in his hand. "I lost. I forgot about the sword at your waist … "
Lollister withdrew his sword. "You're very powerful. So far, you're the only one who has forced me to pull out a second sword."
"A loss is a loss. There's no need to find excuses." The middle-aged mercenary smiled bitterly. "Thank you for showing mercy. I've learned a lot from today's battle. I'll take my leave first."
The middle-aged mercenary walked off the arena without looking back. Sighs of disappointment sounded from the spectator stands. Shredded lottery tickets fell continuously in the air, and the spectators cursed as they left the arena. This was a common scene for the past month.
In reality, if Ambassador Lollister had used the One-Inch Punch, he could have broken through the middle-aged mercenary's defense in two or three moves. However, it would have been difficult to control his strength, and he could have caused serious injuries. Although injuries were inevitable in a duel, Lollister had already entered the realm of negative power. Against a Silver-ranked combat energy expert, it could be said that he could completely suppress them. It was not a difference of one rank. Lollister would try his best to avoid casualties if he could. He would just knock the opponent unconscious. This was also why Lollister liked to hit his opponent's chin.
Fatty Shi went up the arena and looked at Lollister, who seemed to be deep in thought. "What's wrong? What are you thinking about? "
Lollister said, "That middle-aged mercenary just now is a true expert. If it was you or El, you would definitely not have an easy time against him. He's much more skilled than most of the Silver-ranked instructors in our academy. "
Fatty Shi said, "I don't need you to tell me that. Just now when I was down there, I was scared out of my wits. I was afraid that you would accidentally fall. This duel was really exciting. I've never seen you use so many moves in a duel. "
"I won't lose. You guys have to have confidence in me. I only delayed for a while to make it look like I won by a fluke. I'm so tired after the twenty duels today. I shouldn't have listened to you guys and pretended to fight, "Lollister complained.
"Alright, it's all for the sake of money. Brother, since we're all rich, just bear with it. Oh right, today is the academy's payday. You haven't gone to the finance department yet, right? Everyone said they were going to the Red Crow Tavern for a gathering tonight, "Fatty Shi said.
Lollister remembered the last time he paid the bill and said unhappily, "Don't expect me to pay. Last time, there was a fatty who ate and took it. How shameless … "
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