Volume 3 - CH 6

“….La Colina really has a bunch of people ready to pick a fight at a moment’s notice. However, if you really want a bout, then I will comply.”

I pulled my sword from its sheath.

“E-Elma-san, isn’t it a bad move to refuse to back down from people of the Howlod Family like this….?”

“The Skill Book is too important. The Lord has no part in this, so they are aware that they can’t justify what they are asking. That’s why they chose this method.”

They are keeping to the fiction that they are only scolding us because they think we are overreaching.

It’s not impolite to take them up on their offer.

In this world, sometimes nobles have their subordinates fight wandering adventurers as entertainment.

Furthermore…..we are talking about the Howlod Family here, a very capable organization responsible for building up La Colina into the City of Adventurers, and with no shortage of dark rumors about them.

There is a chance that Snow, the first child of the family, had something to do with that Mourning Trapezohedron incident as well.

It’s also a welcome chance to assess the capabilities of Izabella, her right hand woman.

“By all means, I welcome your guidance. The chance to exchange pointers with a knight of the Howlod Family does not come often.”

“Hoh, so you draw your sword. Hn, so formal for a brutish adventurer.”

Izabella pointed her sword at me and her lips turned up into a sadistic smile.

She kicked the ground and headed straight for me.

It seems she is planning on simply dealing with me.

I decided to focus on defense first.

I blocked the first and second swings of Izabella’s blade.

Her third swing ended up with us locking swords.

She should be a tad bit higher than me in terms of levels…..I think.

“…..you must be a wandering adventurer. You should be at least B rank with a level like yours. If you were from La Colina, then there is no way I wouldn’t have known about you.”

Izabella kept glaring at me from a point-blank range.

It seems she underestimated me and thought I was at most a C rank adventurer.

“Was the exchange of blows so far sufficient to you?”

“Don’t look down on me…..!”

Izabella used the guard on her sword to push me back.

I lowered my center of gravity to withstand her push, trying to avoid losing my balance.

Izabella opened up some distance between us by using the recoil, changed to a gedan stance, then came at me again.

“[Fortress Breaker]!”

The tip of her sword came at me like a tidal wave, aiming to hit my hand on my sword’s grip.

It was not a Skill, but pure skill with the sword.

It’s a technique where she deliberately made me block with the blade of my sword, pushing it away and creating a gap in my defense.

She must’ve judged that I did not have an advantage in terms of levels, so she decided to handle me with only her sword skills.

It’s a strong technique that’s faithful to the basics, but if I know its aim, then it’s not hard to defend against.

I stepped back half a step to block the hit, while making sure to avoid losing my balance.

Right after I blocked it, I raised my sword again and retook my stance.

“[Helmet Strike]!”

Next, Izabella went for my head.

I also managed to block that one while stepping back once more.

It’s standard practice to try to go for the head once you manage to brush away your opponent’s sword.

“Wha-…..!”

“I do possess some fundamental skills with the sword.”

I am a former Heir of the Edvan Family after all.

The Edvan Family doesn’t have the political power like the Howlod Family does, the Lord of every generation protecting the populace with only their skills with the sword.

Now it was time to counterattack Izabella, since she showed a gap in her defenses.

Izabella only just managed to defend against my sword.

Even though she was out of balance, she made use of her superior speed to put some distance between us.

Snow’s eyes twitched.

She must’ve judged that it was Izabella that came out of that confrontation on the back foot just now.

“That’s impossible! A simple adventurer shouldn’t have been able to turn that kata back on me! However, I must not embarrass ojousama any more than this….”

After Izabella checked Snow’s current expression, she turned to glare at me.

“[Sword Wave]!”

A blade of mana flew from the slash Izabella performed.

I did not think that she would be able to attack me from that distance, so I couldn’t make it in time to dodge, making it necessary to block it with my shield.

I was unable to entirely block the impact, so some damage got through.

“What…! She’s even using Skills?”

We are inside a Dungeon.

Using MP here is a bad idea for both of us.

Our HP goes down and we also get tired.

This should’ve remained at the level of confirming each other’s skills by lightly exchanging some blows.

The moment my sight was obstructed by my large shield, Izabella charged closer to me.

“[Holy Sword of Light]!”

Izabella’s blade was imbued with holy light.

It’s a Skill that covers the blade in Holy attribute mana and aims for a decisive blow.

Its activation speed is fast, so it’s risky to try and attack while it’s happening.

However, it’s also powerful, so simply blocking it would also be dangerous.

I jumped back to put as much distance between us as possible.

I just needed to be far away.

Izabella didn’t want to waste her MP, so she charged after me and swung her sword.

Since she forced herself to chase after me, her swing inevitably became a lot duller than it could’ve been.

Even she should be aware that this was not a fight where she should’ve wasted any MP on, so she became too impatient.

“[Parry]!”

I hit her blade with my own, diverting its trajectory.

It ended up causing Izabella’s sword to impact the floor with great momentum.

“Ugh……!”

Izabella’s expression turned into a scowl.

The [Holy Sword of Light] is a Skill that has some weaknesses after it’s activated.

I pushed out towards Izabella with my large shield.

“[Shield Bash]!”

“Guhh…..!”

Izabella’s body flew into the distance.

However, my opponent was a knight type Class…..

Since it’s also a Defense focused Class, I couldn’t propel her too far.

Since she had the [Holy Radiant Sword], as long as her Skill point distribution wasn’t exceptionally skewed, she must be a Holy Knight.

“….I indeed underestimated you. However, you chose the wrong Skill there. I will take things seriously now……!”

Izabella kept glaring at me.

Snow, who was observing the scene until now, let out a small sigh.

“Izabella, let’s leave it at that.”

“S-Snow-ojousama!”

“In terms of Status you were evenly matched, in terms of sword skills you were behind, and he surpassed you in a fight with Skills too. There should be no reason to try and restrain them anymore.”

“H-however, if they start spreading around the fact that I lost to an adventurer inside a Dungeon, then our reputation would…..!”

“Do you still not understand? He did not make a mistake in choosing his last Skill, he just wanted to avoid inflicting unnecessary damage within a Dungeon. The agreement was that the fight should’ve ended before any damage could be dealt. If you don’t step back now, it will only worsen our situation even more.”

“Uh…….ugh…..”

Izabella lowered her sword.

It seems Snow was a more insightful person than I thought.

“Ah, she….finally spoke….”

Luce whispered quietly.

Until now, Snow never spoke properly, except to call Izabella’s name.