Both men use weapons against each other. The man who can control metals wields a large metal axe, which he swings horizontally and vertically. He has a huge mustache and strong, beefy arms full of tattoos. The other man is slender in comparison.
What’s surprising is that the metal man can bend and change the shape of his weapon at will. At first, it was an axe. When he noticed this could injure his friend, he changed the shape into a long metal rod. His speed and strength are no joke. He fights on equal footing with his opponent, who can fly.
The more Axel observed, the more he wanted to have that skill. Axel approached them and observed with the other patients.
“You idiot! Come down here and fight me, Nelson!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So immature, Leroy. How are you going to kill monsters with wings if you dumbly ask them to come down?” Nelson used his sword and swung it three times; three wind blades immediately appeared to attack Leroy.
But Leroy seemed unfazed. He deflected all three wind blades with his metal rod.
“Oooohhhh!” The crowd murmured in amazement. Nelson was flying in midair. Most typical wind abilities have floating properties, but they vary. Axel remembered seeing one of his classmates create a miniature tornado in his palm and then struggle to let it grow bigger.
Leroy was not satisfied with being left alone on the ground, susceptible to Nelson’s wind blades. He groaned, slamming his metal rod into the ground. He bent his knees and assumed the stance of a runner. His feet explosively made a dent in the ground, and he used his metal rod as a pole to jump. He reached Nelson in no time and slammed the metal rod at him.
Nelson was unprepared for this attack. The wind blade he conjured was not strong enough to parry Leroy’s strike. Overwhelmed by Leroy’s strength, Nelson was forced to land on the ground. Then they parried.
The sound of the metal rod slamming and colliding with the wind blade echoed sharply in Axel’s ears. It was like a fight between sword users. Although Nelson was a sword user, Leroy did not give him a chance to use it.
The moment they were in midair, Leroy took hold of Nelson’s sword and smacked it away, leaving Nelson weaponless. It was obvious that Leroy was much stronger and fiercer than Nelson. Now that his opponent was on the ground, he did not give him the chance to fly. Attack after attack came strongly at Nelson. Leroy was too fast for him to conjure wind blades and defend himself.
In the end, Nelson lost momentum, and Leroy hit him in the abdomen, forcing him to roll on the ground. Leroy changed the properties of his metal rod. Soon, Nelson could not move, not with the tip of the sharpest axe centimeters away from his neck. It was Leroy’s victory. The crowd cheered for Leroy.
“Man, you are brutal.” Nelson’s voice became hoarse as he clasped his aching abdomen.
“Sorry, man. I was not able to control my strength.” Leroy helped him to his knees.
A woman with long violet hair approached them and smacked Nelson on the shoulder.
“Want my services? Pay up.” She had dark gothic makeup that matched well with her black aviator jacket and skinny jeans.
“Lady, are you trying to take advantage of your wounded teammate? I just got my stitch for my left leg this morning. Aren’t you going to pity me?” Nelson showed her his left leg. Indeed, Nelson’s pajama had a deep incision on the side, exposing his left leg with stitches running from his thigh down to his calf.
No wonder he was having a hard time fighting Leroy in close range. He had chosen to fly and keep his distance.
“Tsk, pity you? Have you taken a look at Leroy’s injury?” The woman sneered. She unceremoniously lifted Leroy’s shirt and showed his deep claw wounds on his chest. There were three long claw wounds that obviously ran deep.
“Miss, are you a healer?” One of the curious patients approached and asked.
“Oh, yes, I am.” Sensing a customer, the woman smiled.
“Your comrade’s wounds are very severe. Aren’t you going to heal them?”
The woman’s smile stiffened. Leroy noticed something was off with her, so he answered.
“She can’t. Actually, we just got back from a dungeon fighting against a Level 5 monster.”
The curious patient showed his understanding and apologized to the woman. He went back to his friends. It was known that injuries from a Level 5 monster and above cannot be healed by special healing abilities. That’s why most Challengers are helpless against these wounds and have to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.
Axel was very interested in these three. A healer, a wind ability user, and a metal ability user. Should he steal their abilities? The three of them talked and laughed. Sensing that it was time for lunch, they headed to the hospital cafeteria. Axel followed them, making sure to keep a distance so they wouldn’t notice he was tailing them. They ate and then left to change their clothes.
In this hospital, there was a gym and a small training center. This was for the rehabilitation of Challengers trying to heal from heavy injuries. Axel followed them for half a day, looking for a chance to steal one of their belongings. It wasn’t until they left the gym and went to change in the lockers that he seized his chance.
Nelson and Leroy left their wet towels on the bench before taking another towel to wipe their sweat. While they weren’t looking, Axel barged in and stole their wet towels. He also went to the women’s locker area and managed to snatch the woman’s towel she had left behind.
Axel’s heart was slamming against his chest. Luckily, there was no one else in the locker room, and no one saw him do the deed. The CCTV in the area was in the lobby, and he managed to avoid being captured.
Axel was happily hopping back toward his room when he suddenly felt dizzy. His world was spinning before everything went black.When Axel opened his eyes, the nurse in charge of him was at his side, checking his vitals.“Oh, you’re awake!” she exclaimed, then called for the doctor.“What happened to me?” Axel asked when the doctor came into his ward with the nurse.“One of the nurses found you collapsed in the hallway outside. How are you feeling?” the doctor asked while checking the monitor at Axel’s side.“I feel fine.”“Do you experience any pain in your head? Or any parts of your body? Do you remember anything that could have caused you to collapse?”“No. I was just walking around, then I suddenly felt dizzy. After that, I was already here.”The doctor nodded in understanding.“Did you feel something inside you that wasn’t there before? Any abnormalities? Like your body suddenly feeling lighter, feeling elated. Strange things that you could do now that were impossible for you befo
Axel spent all night practicing the three skills he had just stolen. The challenging part was finding a small knife. The Wind Slicer skill required a weapon to be held in his hand, or it wouldn’t activate. But Axel could have sworn that this morning, when those two men were sparring, Nelson was able to use his ability even though he had lost his sword.The book from his wrist suddenly appeared in front of him. It opened itself and flipped to the first page. New words appeared at the bottom part.[Everytime you try to steal a skill, the limits or restrictions will be twice as heavy when you use it.]“Oh,” Axel murmured.Axel did not mind that his limitations were twice what they were when the skill was originally used. What he wanted was to master how to use the stolen skills so he could use them against those people.In the morning, Axel requested to be discharged from the hospital. Since he was healthy, there was no need to stay. The doctor once again asked him questions regarding hi
Why did those people who betrayed him not take this bracelet? Because once the owner of the skill died, the skill would be ‘erased’ with him. To those people, this silver bracelet sword was just ordinary jewelry.Axel found the bracelet and put it on his wrist. At once, he felt the bracelet hum to life. It vibrated in his hand, as if it recognized him as its master too. Axel looked at it with soft eyes. The image of his brother proudly showing off this bracelet to him with a mischievous smile could not be erased from his mind.He drew the bracelet close to his lips. “Brother… I swear, I’ll make them pay. I will not let any one of them get away with what they have done to you.”Axel’s finger touched the book tattoo on his wrist, and the magical book materialized in front of him. It turned to the second page where his brother’s skill, [The Legendary Swordsman Skill], was located. He activated the skill, and at once the silver bracelet in his hand transformed into a long silver sword. It
“Yes, sure you do. How about this? Why don’t you try fighting my granddaughter, Luna?” Axel glanced at the girl, who seemed to be the same age as him.“She teaches these students the ways of the sword. I’m old, and my strength is not the same as before. So, the admission of my students has to be meticulously chosen by my successor.”Luna only looked at him. She could be considered a beauty compared to other girls Axel had met. Luna had long, black, inky hair tied in a ponytail. Her eyes were as blue as the deep ocean. She had pale white skin with a small face and wore a black jumpsuit that seemed loose on her.“Luna, give him a wooden sword,” the old man instructed.Axel protested, “You want us to fight with swords, right? But I haven’t held a sword before.”His words sounded like a small child whining. The old man only scoffed and shook his head.“Just fight the best you can. We don’t require you to defeat her anyway. So do your best.”Luna walked to the side and fetched two wooden s
In the end, Ken Masuda decided to teach his granddaughter what he knew about sword fighting. She was as strong and quick-witted as him. Ken could not help but see his younger self in his granddaughter. No matter what anyone said, he would make her his successor.Probably because Luna got much stronger, she rarely met opponents who could fight her equally. She was passionate and still persevered to train every day. Currently, Alice is not allowed to attack the Tower. The Challenger’s Association will only register individuals who are eighteen years old and above.Ken Masuda could not help but worry for his granddaughter. She was strong, yes, and her ice ability was also exceptional. But if she could not find a strong and ideal guild or teammate, she would not survive. The Tower is cruel and ruthless. Once you decide to attack the Tower, there is no turning back. The only option for an individual to quit challenging the Tower is to request the assistance of the Challenger’s Association t
Axel left the Masuda Dojo late at night. He bid goodbye to Luna and Ken Masuda, saying he would come back tomorrow.His eyes still had the gleam of a normal seventeen-year-old. But when he rode the public bus home and started to walk back to his house, he assumed a gloomy, indifferent demeanor.Axel arrived at his house with a small smile on his lips.That was fun.Tomorrow, he would come back.The memories of his brother and how he practiced the sword were deeply integrated into his brain. Axel did not notice that he had applied his brother's techniques in his fight with Luna.He glanced at his hand, and the sensation of parrying against her did not fade.So this was the feeling of fighting an opponent stronger than you? And having the confidence that you have the power to stand up against them.Axel’s heart was beating loudly.He stood up from his bed and stared at his wrist. The silver chain bracelet glowed in his hand. It hummed against his skin, as if it sensed that he wanted to
“An acquaintance maybe. Sorry, this is also the first time we've seen the boy,” the staff answered politely, changing the topic.Axel was brought upstairs and ushered into the kitchen, where Marina’s husband, who is also the owner, worked. Thomas was there, leaning on a long rectangular table, supervising the chefs. He had bushy brown hair that stubbornly stuck out of his chef’s hat. His beard also took up the upper and lower spaces of his mouth, tracing his jawline right up to his ears.“Tom,” Marina left Axel at the door and patted her husband’s shoulder.“Yeah?” Thomas was still buried in paperwork, double-checking the remaining ingredients.“Look who’s here.” She excitedly pulled on his shoulder so he would turn towards the door. When he saw Axel’s face, his eyes brightened with a wide smile.“My dear boy, Axel!” He rushed at Axel with a bear hug and tackled him.Axel almost lost his balance.“Why did you just come now? How are you, little brat? Tsk, you’ve grown taller!” Thomas ha
“Oh, what is it?”If it is these two… maybe I can tell them what happened to Nyx. Maybe they can help me avenge him.“Remember this, human.” The woman’s cold voice echoed in his head.“I chose your brother because I knew he was strong. He was supposed to be my Chosen One. But he failed. He relied on and put his trust in his guildmates, which resulted in his death.”“Remember this, human. I willingly came here and revived your dead soul because I expect you to succeed. So don’t fail me.”The words that Axel wanted to say were stuck in his throat.Right…That woman warned him against trusting humans.Axel hung his head. His brother… Nyx. He also trusted his teammates who had been with him for many years, and they still betrayed him.The truth about Nyx’s death should not be known by anyone… except me.Axel gathered his fingers into a fist. He looked up to see Marina and Uncle Tom looking at him worriedly.“Just a few days ago, I almost died.”“What?!” Both of them shouted before they sto