302 - - Hideyoshi no qualifications.

With a sound that cuts through the air, the axe blade approaches.

But Thor only gazes blankly at the approaching threat.

His gaze is fixed and his body is completely drained of power.

You could be forgiven for thinking that he has given up on everything.

But just before the axe reaches his face, a raised blade blocks his way just in time.

The axe is bounced off Thor's sword and goes off in the direction of the day after tomorrow.

But Kikiriri, the axe's wielder, seems to have known that this would happen.

Without killing the momentum of the deflection, he spins his body like a spinning top.

The warrior accelerates with his back to Thor.

The axe in his other hand rips through the air and strikes again.

This backhanded slap is not the only hidden gem of the Kikiriri.

Just as he flipped his body, the other lurking behind him appeared.

Nenemimi, who had been hiding back to back with her sister, naturally had two axes hanging from her hands.

The three axe blades, with the addition of centrifugal force, were brought out one after the other with a slight time lag.

Thor, on the other hand, had his body open and his flank completely unprotected as he slashed up his blades.

In addition, his eyes were still fixed on the approaching weapon.

As everyone watched with bated breath, there was only one hard sound that echoed through the air.

And the next moment, the twins, who had been nearly knocked out of their positions, slid away from Thor as if skidding on the ground.

Thor's blade swung down, hitting the first axe blade with precision.

Nenemimi's arm is now exposed to the other axe.

In order to avoid this, he forcibly moved his remaining arm, and it hit his sister's hand behind him.

The twins, who had quickly decided that they could not achieve the expected result due to the entanglement of their arms, gracefully terminated the attack by themselves.

The audience was all excited to see Thor who had managed to pull off a perfect surprise attack with a single blow.

Moreover, the twins casually avoided Kikiriri's leg kick while moving away from him by switching their legs.

"You're good!"

Kikiriri licks his lips and suddenly throws both axes into the air.

She spins around, grabs the falling axe with her crossed hands, and runs toward Thor again.

Nenemimi follows behind him like a shadow.

The three continued to exchange blows for nearly twenty minutes.

"It seems you haven't lost your will to challenge me yet.

Dadaan, who had been watching the battle, quietly calls out to Thor, who has come down from the playing field after a break in the fight.

The discovery of the fourth level and the painful defeat there had already reached the director's ears.

However, the sight of the three of them in the training area, earnestly competing with each other, is far from the situation they had feared.

At Dadaan's words, which contained a hint of relief, Thor nodded his head firmly as he placed his sword back on his waistband.

Although it was just after a violent movement, his forehead was only slightly sweaty.

In fact, Thor was simply parrying the twins' slashes and was not actively trying to attack them himself.

"But what a troublesome labyrinth master in a troublesome room!

"Yes, when I finally got there, I found an unexpected opponent waiting for me.

The decisive factor in most adventurers' battles is their long-trained magical and martial arts skills.

Thor himself does not possess any skills with powerful destructive power, but he has relied on the magic of Yuril and Sora for most of his stopping power.

That is why it is difficult for him to cope easily with the situation where he is blocked.

"And you have such a hard time with them. If I were a little younger, I would like to have a little time with him.

"I can help you if you wish, Master."

"Oh, come on, I'm kidding. Don't make this old man work for you now. So what do you think?　Do you think you can win?"

I don't know. I'm not sure. I've had them try to make it look like it.

In Thor's view, the strength of those black bones lies in their body, which looks like a man but is not a man.

The fact that they are somewhat the same as human bones may lead one to misunderstand, but it is natural that a body with flesh and a body with only bones would move in different ways.

Particularly remarkable was the range of motion of the joints.

The range of motion is not impeded by tendons or muscles, so the range of motion is extremely wide.

This is probably the reason why he can wield a sword like a dancer.

Another advantage of the lack of flesh is that the area exposed to the air is reduced.

With less resistance, the blade can be accelerated more easily.

And there is no need to worry about tearing the muscles in a reckless move.

This would explain the unbelievable speed of the sword.

With this in mind, Kikiriri and his team are using as many hands as possible and light axes.

Thor has also been trying to re-train the fundamentals of the art.

"When in doubt, go back to the basics," his master used to say.

"Hmmm, the roots of a tree never betray its trunk or branches."

The foundation of Thor is formed by decades of hunting horned moles in the Ko-oni Forest.

What he has learned in dealing with this monster that ambushes from beneath the ground is not to focus his gaze in one place.

By having a bird's eye view of the entire area, it is possible to catch the slightest behavior of the rising soil.

The other day, I was so caught up in the strange atmosphere, my first opponent, and the tremendous movement of the sword that my vision was narrowed, which was also a major cause of my defeat.

This way of fighting without keeping his eyes fixed on the opponent was Thor's answer to his phantasmagoric swordsmanship.

And although his empty eye sockets were deceiving him, the skeleton was clearly reading the trajectory of our sword.

Perhaps he had guessed this from the movement of Thor's eyes.

Based on this, the bald-headed old man easily got to the point of the practice of ukemi from Thor's indifferent expression.

"But you look as if the twins are not enough. Well, it seems to be a good practice for those two.

It is true that the speed of the twins, who are both Kongo-class, is one of the fastest in this border town.

However, compared to the skeleton, they are still a few steps behind.

Not to mention Razzel, who waits for his turn to play while pretending endlessly.

He does not seem to be bothered by this, but rather waits expectantly for Thor to step onto the playing field.

After defeating the master of the labyrinth in the Purgatory level, the Red Tail Swordsman has been showing his face often.

"Hmmm... Is it a matter of the opponent not being strong enough to train with? On the other hand, I am of no use to you. ......"

"Yes, I appreciate the sentiment, but..."

Dadaan has been out of active service for more than 30 years, but he is still so old and strong that he is no match for a half-breed.

It is no exaggeration to say, however, that his fighting style, in which he does not care about being hit by bullets and strikes his two-handed axe with all his might, is the opposite of a black skeleton.

Of course, he can handle a sword in his own way as well, but Thor has already beaten him in skill by a comfortable margin.

Much of what he learned under Dadaan's tutelage was basic swordsmanship.

Thor knew very well that this was the foundation of who he was today.

"Hmmm, from what I've heard, it sounds a lot like Zuma's sword dance style. If that's the case, then Straccia is the right person for the job, but she is a very bad student.

His younger apprentice, a twin-sword wielder, is currently back home due to a crisis in his home country.

Stratchia is said to be the best swordsman in the border town of Dadaan, but he learned the basics of swordsmanship in his native land of Zuma.

Unlike Thor, who is more of a self-taught swordsman, Stratchia's swordsmanship is graceful and elegant.

"Mm-mm-mm, I know only one person who knows the sword dance style, but I wonder if I can ask him to do it well. No, I owe you a debt I haven't repaid for the restoration of the wall. All right! I'll take care of it!

"That would be a great help, Master."

Thor couldn't help but smile at the old man who dared to bring up the small matter of his debt on the brink of sealing the miasma.

Dadaan, too, smiled, as if he knew what he was talking about, and then suddenly returned to his serious face to continue.

"Your unbreakable spirit is truly admirable. I'm amazed you've trained yourself to that level.

"I'm not a quitter, that's one of my characteristics. I've been told many times that I'm just stubborn.

Let him say it. It's an indomitable will, the most necessary thing to tackle the big noxious hole.

Thor replied to his teacher's words, the edges of his lips lifting.

"Don't give up. It was my master who taught me that.

They looked at each other and nodded strongly.

"By the way, Master. You came all the way to the training ground for something else?

"Oops, I forgot. There's someone who insisted on hearing your story about the demon tribe. He's using me like a fool.

As he said this, Dadan indicated with his chin the building of the Adventurers' Bureau, which is adjacent to the training grounds.