BANG!

Shang exploded forward with his sword.

This time, he would be on the offensive!

He hadn't done that before since he had come here to learn. Yet, in his eagerness to learn from his opponent's attacks, he had learned nearly nothing since the fight had ended in basically one swing. The power of the first swing had been used in the second swing, which could technically make it count as the first swing.

'I have to get rid of the mindset that I need to go easy on Astor to learn from him,' he thought.

Astor had barely finished half of his wind-up when Shang arrived with his sword. Shang had the speed advantage due to his more powerful body as long as Astor couldn't build his momentum.

At the moment, Astor's sword was far behind him, and he lacked the speed to block Shang's attack. Additionally, since Shang had the speed advantage, Astor wouldn't be able to easily evade, and if he did, the evasion would be sloppy and would mess with his balance.

Because of all of these reasons, Shang didn't slash but stabbed forward. That would reach his opponent the fastest.

Shang had no idea how Astor could escape.

If he were in Astor's shoes, he also wouldn't find a method to get out of this one.

And then, Astor stopped.

A split-second later, Astor's left foot gathered nearly all the accumulated power of the swing and unleashed it in a stomp.

BANG!

The ground cracked as an incredible amount of power was pushed into it from one point.

Shang hadn't expected the ground to shake and crack in front of him, which meant that he wasn't able to react properly.

The ground shook, and Shang's sword barely missed Astor's torso.

However, even if it was barely, it still missed.

Shang's eyes widened as he realized the new dynamic in the fight.

Initially, Shang had caught Astor in an indefensible position. Shang had all the momentum, and Astor had nothing.

But now, Shang had completely lost his balance as his sword didn't hit anything, while Astor stood as firm and stable as a rock in front of him.

However, Shang still knew that he had the speed and power advantage thanks to his body, and he would make full use of it. From his offset position, Shang quickly used all his power and made his extended sword swing towards Astor's torso.

The wind-up was tiny, and Shang couldn't put a lot of power into such an awkward swing, but his sword was sharp, and Shang had a more powerful body.

This should be enough to, at least, injure Astor. Additionally, Shang could use that swing to gain some space to rebalance.

As Shang's sword went towards Astor's torso, Astor's body lowered as he gathered power in his left foot.

And then, Shang's sword hit.

Clink!

Shang's eyes widened as his sword bounced off Astor's uniform!

He hadn't expected that!

BANG!

Astor finished gathering his power, and he shot forward with his shoulder, hitting Shang in the chest.

Shang had a more powerful body, but that charge had so much weight being it that he still got shot into the distance by several meters.

Shang lost his breath for an instant, and an incredible pressure built up in his chest. A normal warrior would be stunned for at least two seconds under such an attack.

However, Shang had dealt with such injuries many, many times.

CRRRK!

Shang's feet hit the ground and created a ditch as they stopped his momentum.

BANG!

Then, Shang shot forward before Astor could ready his strike.

For an instant, Astor's eyes showed a bit of surprise, but they quickly returned to their cold selves again.

Shang reached Astor again before he could build up his momentum.

This time, Astor canceled his swing early. The swing wasn't as insanely powerful as the first one in the last fight, but it still had a lot of weight behind it.

Shang noticed that Astor wasn't using a block. Astor was using a wide swing, which was mostly for attacking purposes.

However, the sheer size of his sword automatically transformed the aggressive attack into a secondary block. Shang couldn't possibly take Astor's heart or head before he got hit.

But Shang didn't stop.

He continued running.

And then, Astor's swing arrived.

CRRRR!

Shang suddenly slid on the ground. The swing would pass over him, and Shang would have an opportunity to take Astor's heart.

And Shang was right. The swing did pass over him.

However, it didn't directly pass over him, but quite a bit above him.

Astor had changed the trajectory of his swing to not be horizontal but diagonal in a curved line. It essentially traveled in a hyperbola.

Astor's sword was now right above his head, fully extended to the sky. Both of his arms bulged as an insane amount of power gathered in them.

Shang felt the pressure from above him, but instead of despairing, he saw a chance!

Shang was currently right in front of Astor's waist, and he could stab Astor's heart before Astor could reach him.

Shang would kill Astor before Astor could kill him.

Shang's sword shot forward as it stabbed right towards Astor's chest.

When Astor saw that, his eyes seemingly began to burn. It was like he was suddenly unleashing all the power inside his being as an incredible amount of rage and brutality exploded forward.

Shang's sword hit.

CRACK!

Shang's eyes widened.

'What?!'

Shang's sword had hit Astor's chest, but when it did, several Magic Runes appeared on the uniform, converging in some sort of barrier.

The barrier broke apart, and the uniform lost its luster. However, Shang's sword had been stopped.

What had just happened!?

And then, Shang felt it.

Pressure.

Incredible pressure.

It was like Shang was in front of a monster that wanted to do nothing but kill him.

The sword above Astor shot down with an insane amount of power and speed.

Shang was still half on the ground, and his attack had just been stopped.

He couldn't evade.

The sword came right for Shang's head, exploding with the storming sounds of wind being cut.

Clink!

"Alright, that should be it," teacher Loran said as he stopped Astor's sword with two fingers.

For a moment, Shang couldn't breathe.

In the first fight, Shang had believed he would survive by blocking, but in this fight, he had looked death in the eye.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ It was just like that time when that Pest Cat had jumped him when Shang hadn't had his weapon yet.

It was the image of death.

The entire fight replayed in Shang's head.

Shang had the advantage in power and speed.

Yet, why hadn't it felt that way?

Because of technique!

Astor was slower than Shang, but he had always managed to completely stop Shang's momentum in some way. On top of that, Astor had probably planned his moves in advance. After all, it was very, very difficult to change the trajectory of such a heavy sword on the fly.

In essence, Astor had beaten Shang with surprise, intelligence, and technique.

Astor pulled his sword back as he took a deep breath.

And then, he smiled!

"I didn't expect for you to wake the warrior inside of me," he said with a smile as he offered Shang a hand. "For a second there, I went all in."

Shang was still a bit shaken by the close encounter with death, but he accepted the hand absentmindedly.

He only had one question.

"What happened with my attack earlier? I thought I got you," he said in a bit of confusion.

"Your uniforms have an Enchantment that grants them the ability to block one Soldier Stage attack that would hit your heart," teacher Loran explained. "The remaining parts of the uniform also have defensive powers, but not nearly as strong as the ones guarding your heart."

That explained how Shang's attack had been blocked.

'I should have gone for his head,' Shang thought, but an instant later, Shang realized something.

Yes, both of Astor's arms had been above his head…

But his left upper arm had been between Shang and his head!

With the added mass between the head, the blockage of vision, and the small defense of the uniform, Shang's chances of injuring Astor's brain before Astor's attack hit him were tiny!

Even more, Astor had probably been prepared to move his left arm to the side if Shang's sword stabbed it. At that point, Astor would have already put basically all of his power into the swing.

'What could I have done to win?'

…

'The only way to win would have been to anticipate the earlier feint. As soon as I fell for the feint, the fight was already over.'

Shang took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Then, they opened again, and fiery ambition could be seen in them.

'This is exactly what I need!'

'Experience!'

'This is exactly why I have come to this place!'