Chapter 308 - Slaying a Dragon with a Single Sword Strike
“The repurchase price will be half of the selling price. Trust me, with my rate of progression, this will only be a profitable deal for you.” Mag smiled nonchalantly as he said, “You have to realize that we have an arms shop next door. I can order a custom-made longsword high in quality for 1,000 gold coins there, and it won’t be very difficult for me to sell it for 500 later on.”
In the arms market, supply exceeded demand, so buyers held the ascendency. He was using that against the system, which allowed him to gain the upper hand in their negotiation. From his past experience, that was quite an effective bartering method.
“Deal!
“Ding! 1,000 gold coins have been successfully deducted! The longsword is complete, and can be delivered at any time.”
The system was still a little indignant, but it had no choice but to comply.
“Deliver it now. Place the sword by the door to the balcony.” A faint smile appeared on Mag’s face as he changed into a set of loose clothes from his wardrobe before making his way to the balcony.
Opening the door, he discovered that there was a longsword waiting for him on the balcony. It was identical to the one that he had used on that mission in the Valley of Thorns.
After he was almost impaled by the sword falling from the sky, Mag had completely lost confidence in the system’s postage and handling. As such, he decided to be more careful this time in order to avoid repeating that harrowing ordeal.
Mag picked up the sword, and found that the hilt was slightly cool to the touch. It weighed about 2.5 kilograms, and felt a little heavy, but it wasn’t cumbersome in any way. He twirled the sword in his hand, and its blade shimmered with a cold gleam under the moonlight.
He gently closed the balcony door, and took a deep breath. His mind became extremely serene, and he adopted a very serious expression.
The days of constant cooking in recent times had brought about many changes for Mag. The most prominent of those was that he had learned how to concentrate on one thing, as well as how to get in the zone in a short period of time.
After experiencing death, he began to understand what was truly important to him.
His black longsword blended into the darkness of the night. He abruptly stepped forward and thrust his sword out.
It was a very simple sword strike. There were no embellishments or fancy tricks; it was just a plain and simple thrust.
However, his sword traveled in an extremely straight trajectory.
The tip, blade, and hilt of the sword, as well as his wrist and forearm, were all on the same parallel line, without even the slightest discrepancy. It was as if everything had been measured using the most accurate ruler.
The thrust was invariably straight, and unavoidably quick.
Mag withdrew his sword before repeating the same motion expressionlessly. It was still the exact same sword strike that was unleashed previously. The angle, speed, and even his hand’s position were all completely identical.
On the balcony of the third floor, Mag stood under the moonlight, and unleashed one sword thrust after another. Each strike seemed to be completely identical, but also somehow different at the same time.
The bland and boring motion appeared to be effortless, but Mag’s clothes were soon drenched with sweat. Despite that, every single thrust was still straight and true, with impeccable speed and trajectory.
“98, 99, 100…” After unleashing the final strike, Mag retracted his hand, which was slightly numb by that point. He exhaled; the numbing sensation crept along his fingers, all the way up to his right shoulder. However, his eyes were particularly bright, and he seemed to be reminiscing about something as he fixed his gaze on the sword in his hand.
“Thirteen Swordplay Forms, all of which are plain yet effective killing techniques. First form — straight thrust. When completely mastered, its unchanging form can combat anything that the enemy throws my way. This is the true way of the sword,” Mag murmured to himself.
That was a sword technique that Mag Alex had practiced for over ten years. The first five forms were the most basic sword strikes, consisting of a thrust, jab, swipe, slam, and slash. Each of those motions had been practiced tens of thousands of times by Mag Alex, and they were all deeply ingrained in his muscle memory.
A portion of Mag’s body had already recovered, so what he had to do was to redevelop himself, and tap into the maximal extent of his current potential, thereby completely mastering his body’s abilities.
Progression in power was a slow and steady process. If Mag wanted to become stronger, he would have to train differently from everyone else. The system had given him a body that had once reached the pinnacle of human ability, offering him strength points afterward so he could slowly tap into his body’s latent potential. Furthermore, there were powerful sword techniques and combat tactics in his memory.
Those factors gave Mag a very high starting point as well as limitless potential. However, he was still Mag, and not Alex.
It was just like how the system had prepared the best kitchen and ingredients for Mag, then injected the most premium recipes and experience bag into his mind—if he wanted to cook the most perfect dish, he still had to practice countless times in the test field for the God of Cookery. In doing so, he would convert someone else’s experience into something that he fully mastered, thereby allowing him to use the best ingredients to cook the best dishes.
He was facing the same problem in his quest to get stronger. He had the most powerful body as well as the most applicable cultivation methods and experience in his mind, but he had to make all of that his own.
Of course, that was something that Mag had become very proficient at.
Something that could be achieved through relentless hard work was not difficult to him. He didn’t back down when he trained night and day without any sleep in the test field for the God of Cookery, so practicing sword techniques for one to two hours every night was nothing to him.
He transferred his sword over to his left hand, and continued to practice the same thrusting motion. His movements were impeccable and fast, even more so than when he was performing them with his right hand.
Everyone on the Norland Continent knew that Mag Alex’s sword strikes were very fast when using his right hand, but there were also many who knew that his left hand was even faster. However, most of those who knew about the latter were already dead.
On that night three years ago, Mag Alex had been ambushed by six 10th-tier powerhouses. He had managed to kill three of them, and he used his left hand during that battle.
Mag practiced his sword technique diligently as he thought to himself, It’s a pity that I can’t use essential energy before reaching the 5th-tier.
He flicked through the powerful sword techniques in his mind, and was very eager to give them a try.
Essential energy was similar in nature to the internal energy that was often mentioned in wuxia 1 novels.
Humans were the weakest among all species when first born, but they were able to rank among the eight species that ruled over the continent. The key lay in their ability to awaken essential energy, and invent ways to cultivate. Thus, the frail humans were able to combat the likes of the giant dragons and demons.
Essential energy cultivation elevated the upper limit of the human body’s capabilities, allowing both speed and power to be enhanced as essential energy increased.
After reaching the 5th-tier, essential energy could be used in conjunction with battle techniques, thereby drastically improving one’s combat prowess.
A fifty-meter-long saber projection was perhaps a little far-fetched, but a sword projection that was three to five meters in length was certainly not an exaggeration.
Once upon a time, when Mag Alex was at the pinnacle of the 10th-tier, he had unleashed a sword projection that was twelve meters in length, and slain a dragon with a single strike!
Just imagining being able to vanquish a fireball with a sword strike instilled him with a sense of excitement.
That was the true world of swords and magic that Mag had envisioned.