Black String of Fate

In the dark forest, now instead of just a young boy, two people stood under the moonlight with their weapons drawn. One was the young boy who was training on his own earlier, and the other was the girl who interrupted him.

"You're a Crafted Elite, aren't you? You can use your qi, no need to hold back."

Lafia nodded as she drew her saber into a stance.

'I guess he doesn't want to talk much about that. Well, since he's an abnormally skilled swordsman, I'm sure I can learn from him.'

"Since you're so confident, I'll attack first." Lafia said, and without waiting for a reply, she dashed ahead, swinging her saber with full force.

Xavier calmly stood with his sword in his hand and one eye open. He looked at the approaching girl with scrutiny, analyzing her attack thoroughly.

*Clash*

Both the swords collided with a loud noise, with Lafia being halted at her tracks and Xavier not budging an inch. Lafia's eyes widened when she found out her attack did nothing.

"Strong and fast, that's good, but you project your attacks too much. Remember, you're fighting a swordsman, not a monster."

Xavier swung his sword out of the deadlock and pushed her back. He beckoned with his hands to attack again, and that's exactly what she did.

She dashed ahead once again, but this time, she had more to her plan.

'Karak Saber Arts:

Fierce Assault'

Instead of one, Lafia now released a flurry of powerful saber strikes from all directions. Xavier could not stay in one place under this attack, but he did not let a single attack even touch him.

"Karak Saber Arts, a decent art. Unfortunately, you projected this move too. Now, let me show you how to attack."

As soon as he said that, Xavier strongly deflected Lafia's sword and counterattacked with a punch to the gut. Lafia's eyes almost popped out from the strength of the punch, and she folded into half with her spit escaping her mouth. She flew back a few meters and rolled on the ground.

'What… ridiculous… strength…'

She quickly picked herself up and set herself up in a defensive stance. Xavier took that as a cue that she was ready, and rushed in to begin his attack.

"Try not to die."

With such an ominous warning, Xavier slashed downwards with all his strength. Lafia saw her life flash against her eyes as she drew all her qi into her core to defend against that attack.

*CLASH*

A loud sound reverberated, loud enough to even be heard by the party resting some distance away.

"Geez, they're going at it."

"It's a good opportunity for Lafia. Staying among us Advanced Elites must've dulled her senses a bit. Someone like Xavier will be a good stimulus. Although he's an uninitiate, I'm pretty sure no one under the rank of an Expert can defeat him."

"Yeah, she'll learn a lot from him."

Little did they know she was giving her all in simply trying to stay alive. After that first clash, Xavier continued his onslaught with extreme force and speed, and Lafia, despite facing such high-powered attacks, could not find even a single opening.

'He's strong, fast, stable, tricky, intuitive… He simply has no weakness. How can a human… No, how can a being like this exist? Even the greatest swordmasters aren't completely free of any weaknesses…

This is no good. If it continues like this, I'll just be thrashed around. I need to use it…'

Lafia jumped back and decided to use something she reserved only for dire life-or-death situations. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her surroundings, and immediately, blue particles started gathering around her palm.

Xavier smiled with surprise and amusement as he commented,

"You're a mage too, huh? Now this'll be interesting…"

Xavier rushed in once again, but this time Lafia jumped back and launched an orb of pure mana.

'Mana Bullet!'

Xavier raised his sword and bisected the incoming bullet into two, the split orbs exploding on both sides behind him.

"Magic! It's been a while since I faced a magic swordsman, come at me!"

Lafia formed 10 more mana bullets in an instant and launched them towards Xavier. He rushed in, dodging and deflecting the bullets, a flurry of explosions sounding behind him.

"As if I'll let you touch me!"

Lafia created a barrier in hopes of buying even a second of time and began attacking from a distance again. While she had agreed to this spar to improve her sword skills, now she was doing everything she could to win, even keeping herself at a distance, which defeated the purpose of her starting this match in the first place.

But both were enjoying this to their heart's content, so the original purpose didn't matter much now.

Xavier rushed in with his sword overhead, smashing down with his whole body weight and explosive power.

*Crunch*

The barrier crumpled like paper in front of Xavier's strength. It was the strongest strike he had ever performed with his new sword arts, and this one matched the power he usually produced with Supreme Demonic Arts without compromising defense or technique.

*wooosh*

The sword stopped right before Lafia's neck, drawing a single drop of blood.

"See? It's that easy for me to kill you. But since I haven't killed you yet, you can trust me."

Lafia wanted to say something in return, but her words were stuck in her throat. In the end, she just sighed and smiled helplessly.

"You are a strange human, but you're incredible. Alright, let's call it peace now."

"Finally, it took so long to convince you. Now, let's head back. They are probably worried from all those noises now."

Lafia then realized that she made so much noise in such a quiet forest, even going as far as to use magic. She hurried back to reassure her party members, leaving Xavier alone with his own thoughts for a few moments.

'Even Pure Nature Spirits using magic are overpowered by me… Though she's still just a child, I'm also just an uninitiated.

I already have such a high potential for strength, just how powerful will I be able to become when I begin to integrate magic?'