65 – Freyja, the Duchess 7
Yes, let’s admit it. With a sword, there is no way to match Ascal.
Is it really damaging to one’s pride?
“Absolutely not.”
If I were to defeat Ascal with my swordsmanship, that would be even stranger.
My expertise lies in facing opponents with my face, not a sword.
Ascal glanced at the swordstick in my left hand and the four daggers in my right, as if being cautious.
“So, that was a sword?”
“Oh, caught me.”
“Earlier, you lied to me?”
“Well, it just happened.”
“You want me to swing daggers?”
I shook the daggers in my right hand for Ascal to see.
“Not exactly… Hey!”
And unexpectedly, I threw a dagger.
Swish! Clang!
The dagger I threw swiftly flew towards Ascal, but he parried it with his sword.
“Three more to go.”
Swish. Swish. Swish.
I threw three more daggers consecutively at Ascal.
There was no pride in the sword, but there was pride in throwing daggers.
Three daggers I threw each traced a different trajectory as they flew toward Ascal.
Ascal parried the first dagger that flew at him with his sword. Clang! The dagger, deflected by Ascal’s sword, was struck by another dagger flying in a curve, then fell to the ground.
One more dagger flew from a different angle, but Ascal slightly tilted his head to dodge it.
Throughout all this, Ascal achieved it without moving a single step from his position.
“Is that all?”
Ascal said to me, raising the corner of his mouth provocatively.
If Ascal were to fall from this? I wouldn’t have believed it.
“Oh, come on. No way.”
I extended my right hand forward as if to challenge Ascal, flicking my fingers in succession.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Every time the sound of my fingers flicking echoed in the training ground, a dagger materialized in my hand.
To be precise, I was just summoning the daggers from the void in sync with the sound of my fingers flicking.
From Ascal’s perspective, unaware of this, it would seem as if a dagger appeared in my hand every time my fingers flicked.
“How many daggers do you think I can ‘create’?”
Once again, all four daggers traced different trajectories as they flew toward Ascal, but once again, Ascal either wielded his sword in place or slightly tilted his head to evade them all.
“How many daggers do I have to throw for one to hit?”
Tap.
“If I keep throwing, won’t one eventually hit?”
Clang!
“Do you think I’ll just stand still and face you?”
Ascal deflected the thrown dagger and charged at me, but I widened the distance with shadow steps.
Thud. Swish-clang!
As I widened the distance, I threw a dagger at Ascal.
“Tsk.”
Precisely throwing daggers while moving with shadow steps was one of my many skills.
Earlier, Ascal had dashed with incredible speed, pouring relentless attacks that made it difficult for me to use shadow steps. But now, he couldn’t do that, and I could maintain my speed to throw daggers, while Ascal’s speed decreased as he deflected the dagger.
Thud. Swish-clang!
Thud. Swish-whoosh.
Thud. Swish-clang!
Thud. Swish-clang!
In the training ground, there were only the sounds of fingers flicking, daggers flying, and Ascal deflecting them with his sword. The sound of feet darting in the training ground disappeared, drowned out by the clashing of daggers and swords.
“How long do you think you can keep moving like that?
Clang, clang, clang.
As Ascal charged towards me, he spoke.
“Well, I’m not tired yet, so I think I can keep moving like this for a few more hours. What about you?”
Thud. Swish-
I threw a dagger and said.
If it were me before entering the academy, I wouldn’t have been able to sustain this for long. But thanks to potions and morning training, my stamina had grown remarkably.
Of course, Ascal probably wasn’t tired at this level either.
‘My goal is not stamina, but mental strength.’
I didn’t think Ascal’s rock-solid stamina would crumble at this level.
But it was enough to induce stress.
After the sparring began.
I deliberately made it difficult for him to reach what he should touch with shadowy steps, creating stress.
Although Ascal tried to break through the shadowy steps by rushing, even that became impossible now with dagger throws.
Endless dagger throws.
In reality, the daggers in the pocket dimension were finite, but Ascal didn’t know that I pulled them from the pocket dimension.
Even swinging a sword up close was difficult to evade, and now it became difficult to even get close.
Even if he didn’t realize it, unconsciously, there must be a desire to quickly end this sparring within him.
So when I rushed in as if I were going to deliver a blow that poured everything earlier, Ascal tried to take it instead of avoiding it.
No matter how solid a rock is, the stress I give in the face of countless waves will create small flaws in Ascal’s rock-like mind.
After that, I continued to run with shadowy steps and threw daggers.
‘I guess this should be enough.’
Ascal looked at my hand, or more precisely, at my fingers.
A dagger appeared in my hand whenever I flicked my fingers.
Even though I hadn’t needed to flick my fingers for this so far, I did it now.
To instill the idea in Ascal that a sword would materialize when I flicked my fingers.
“Just one more time.”
Now, there weren’t many daggers left.
Thunk.
I threw the dagger at Ascal while retreating with shadowy steps.
Clang.
Ascal briefly paused, parrying the dagger with his sword, then rushed towards me again. Until now, I had been constantly retreating, but this time, I charged at Ascal.
As I rushed forward, Ascal flinched. He managed to assume a stance promptly, but his reaction was slightly slower than before.
Thunk.
While running, I flicked my fingers, summoning the dagger from the void, catching it with my right hand.
Then, I pulled my right hand back, assuming a posture as if I were about to throw the dagger immediately.
Seeing that, Ascal prepared to deflect the dagger. Instead, I threw the swordstick in my left hand, not the dagger in my right hand.
The swordstick, escaping my hand, tore through the air toward Ascal.
It didn’t trace as fancy a path as a dagger, but it wasn’t as easily deflected as one.
Kraaahhh!!!!!
Unlike when he parried the dagger, Ascal swung his sword widely to the side, deflecting the swordstick.
The clash between Ascal’s sword and my swordstick produced a resounding noise that echoed through the training ground, leaving my ears ringing.
Understood!
When Ascal swung his sword, I increased my speed and charged towards him, swinging my dagger towards his empty body.
Clang!
However, Ascal seemed to have anticipated that and swung his sword in the opposite direction.
To swing his sword in the opposite direction after already swinging it in the middle, it was an incredible force.
The small dagger I held in my right hand couldn’t overcome Ascal’s swinging sword and fell to the ground.
“Well done, Loki.”
From Noble mtl dot com
Ascal’s sword didn’t stop there and descended from above towards me.
“This is the moment.”
When Ascal’s sword would touch me faster than flicking my finger.
That’s why I was confident that Ascal could end the duel.
This time, I didn’t flick my finger.
Immediately, I summoned a dagger in my right hand and aimed for Ascal’s empty face.
Even though I didn’t flick my finger, Ascal looked surprised to see the dagger in my right hand.
I was certain. Ascal’s sword wouldn’t be able to deflect this dagger.
I was certain. Ascal wouldn’t be able to dodge this dagger.
Crack!
However, my sword couldn’t end this duel.
“hahahahaha…”
A hollow laugh escaped from my lips.
Ascal had reinforced his teeth with mana and bit into the flying dagger with his face.
He was insanely quick and tough.
I picked up the fallen swordstick from the ground and widened the distance.
“It doesn’t look appetizing, but just out of curiosity, what does a dagger taste like?”
Despite the joke from my lips, my mind was not at rest.
‘Is the first operation a failure?’
I wanted to end it with this, but that’s not the case.
With this, Ascal will doubt everything about me once again.
Here, it’s better to confuse by showing a new ability than to hide it.
“Now, shall we get serious?”
It was serious from the beginning, but I said it with a bit of a show-off.
There was no need to snap my fingers.
Ascal already knew that snapping fingers was meaningless.
I conjured up an image in my mind and spread the illusion.
In the smoke, nine more of me appeared in combat gear.
“Hmm…”
I looked at the nine doppelgangers I created.
And I pondered.
My mana had increased to a level incomparable to the past, thanks to the elixir.
I’ve never succeeded before, but the feeling right now is amazing.
I don’t like to do things first and think later, but this time, I decided to do it first.
I had already created nine doppelgangers, and now I created an additional ten.
In the training ground, there were twenty of me.
“””””””Now, which one is the real me?”””””””
And then, all twenty of me threw twenty daggers toward Ascal.