I was about to walk inside the workshop when I suddenly felt a deep and heavy bloodlust aimed at me which made me jump back and pull out my sword
I wasn’t able to see properly because of the low lighting in my surroundings but thanks to my other senses still working I was somewhat able to guess the position of my enemy,
An assassin? I thought but I soon discarded the thought
I can’t be worrying about anything else right now
So I got ready and covered my sword in mana
Suddenly the wind behind me started howling,
So that’s his plan, hah?
I tightly gripped my sword in my right hand and then turned halfway around(almost 90 degrees from my initial position) to my left side but that was just a feint as I almost instantaneously turned back and swung my sword horizontally at my opponent, this technique of mine was very similar to Battōjutsu (quick sword drawing technique to increase the destructive potential of an attack). In this move of mine I used the very air as a sheath for my sword and then I quickly drew it back and attacked thereby increasing the destructive power of my attack
The mana swirling around my sword made a churning sound as it cut through the air and my attack connected with my opponent’s sword eventually cutting it down in two,
But my sword didn’t stop there as it continued to move ahead and finally stopped after it scratched my opponent’s chest before he finally retreated enough to save himself
“Ugh…!!!”
He let out a pained grunt,
To be honest, I was really surprised by this development. I mean I used a very powerful move just now and no one until now has been able to get through this attack without severe injuries then how did this guy escape his death?
What kind of blade was he using or could it be that he was wearing armor? I thought for sure that I would at least severely cut him across the chest
I felt the bloodlust in the air drop down a little and my opponent’s silhouette became visible to me, it belonged to a male and his body size was very similar to mine.
I again raised my sword to attack him but this time the assassin was already ready as he parried my blow with his broken sword but little did he know that this attack of mine was just a feint, I took out the second sword at my waist and thrust its hilt directly into his gut.
“Guhhh!!!”
The man got thrown a fair distance away and collided with one of the cemented walls of the rundown workshop
That shoulda put him out for good but I guess I should check on him to be sure plus I have to see if he’s okay
Actually it was only after my attack failed that this thought crossed my mind,
The thing is, this place is in a very solitary location and right now only Arielle and her group are staying here, so if I am not wrong then the one who attacked me is probably a part of Arielle’s group and if the remaining people in the group happen to be as strong as these two then I might end up dying here
Ugh… I want to go back home! Why the hell did I agree to come here with her!?
I put my second sword back in its place and then proceed to check on the man’s condition when suddenly a loud voice called me from behind,
“Alex, stop!”
It belonged to Arielle
When I turned back I saw Arielle standing beside Cerise and one other woman,
Cerise’s eyes were full of tears and she was being embraced by the other woman,
‘Is she her mother?’ I thought
The two of them look very similar, I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually were mother and daughter
At that moment I heard several footsteps arriving quickly at the place where I had sent the man flying,
I put my other sword back in its sheath, any thoughts of resisting escaped my mind
I didn’t do anything wrong so I don’t think I have anything to fear
I approached Arielle
She joined her hands to apologize
I knew that it wasn't her fault so I didn't say anything and just followed her to the spot where the man who had sneaked up on me had ended up being after he was hit by my attack
Several people were already standing there, 1 woman and 2 men to be precise.
All of them looked at Cerise,
The woman came running towards her and bound Cerise in a tight hug, the other two men also did the same thing
The touching reunion continued for some time when suddenly one of the men noticed me
He probably wanted to say something but before he could, a man emerged out of the debris of trash bags like a dirty dog,
“Cough, cough, cough!!!”
He was in a terrible state, there was a thin sword cut on his chest from where thin trails of blood were trickling down, his face was somewhat pale, and he was smeared with garbage all over his body
The man had a very angry expression on his face but the moment he saw Cerise his angry expression got washed away by a gentle one, he was about to get up and embrace her in a hug but before he could do that Arielle pointed her sword at him,
“You smell terrible Joey go and take a bath before you even get near to Cerise”
Arielle told him something that could completely break a boy’s soul, even I started feeling a bit bad for him. I remember how depressed I got when my crush told me that I smelled terrible, that memory still haunts me to this date
Coming back to the topic,
The boy, although reluctant at first finally agreed to Arielle and was about to leave the place when he suddenly noticed me and picked up his broken sword agsin
He hatefully looked at me and said,
“I’ll let you go…”
Ugh… don’t tell me he’s going to go with the usual ‘I’ll let you go’ type of thing
“For such a simple looking guy you sure have some massive bloodlust, what are you, a psychopath? Did you get rejected by a girl?” I interrupted him midway before he could continue with all that 'showing mercy' crap
I could see the people around us snigger
The man named Joey got red with anger and said,
“Hah? Me, a psychopath? Are you talking about yourself? For someone with such an innocent face you sure didn’t hold back your attack, did you? Could it be that you are a frustrated teenager who just wanted to vent his anger on someone smart like me? And who the hell told him I got rejected by Daisy!? You piece of shit if I ever come to know about you then trust me I will kill you!!!”
Joey said while taking out a few metal plates from beneath his clothes. I see so that’s how he survived, hah? I knew for sure that I got a clean hit
And did he just admit that he got rejected?
“Little Joey he was just kidding, no one actually told him a thing about you”
It was Cerise’s mother who said this
"Yep no one but you told him about your dark past Joey, so now you've gotta kill yourself, so long, you piece of shit"
The one other woman who came earlier to check the situation alongside others said while she gave me a wink.
Whoa she's beautiful, now that I think about it everyone here is really beautiful
“Shut up, I fell for this guy’s trap this time, it won’t happen ever again, he is nothing but a scheming punk. But I gotta give it to him, that feint really was perfect”
Yep everyone but this green haired guy called Joey, he looks weird to be honest
And did he just call me a scheming punk?
Me?
Wasn't he the one who sneaked up on me in the first place, how ironic. And did he call that feint perfect?
“No, it was flawed”
I said correcting the man named Joey
Everyone but Cerise who was probably confused and Joey who was probably thinking what the fuck is going on looked at me with interested expressions on their faces
“What do you mean by that?” Asked Joey in a grumpy voice
Honestly, is he really that dumb?
Well whatever, I guess I should explain it to him now
“Do you remember my feint? I made a big mistake whilst executing that. You see, I am right-handed then according to logic I should have turned towards my right side when I felt that you were going to sneak up on me from behind but instead of doing that I turned left that’s where I made the biggest mistake”
I explained and looked at the several people standing before me, everyone there apart from Cerise who was looking between her mother and Arielle, and Joey who was scratching his head probably understood me
Is he mentally retarded? How could he not understand what I said?
“But that’s not enough of a reason for you to say that you messed up”
Joey said, still scratching his head with a confused expression on his face
This time I tried to explain it a bit more thoroughly
I showed him my sword and said
“Plus, look at my sword, you notice it’s a katana? It is a single-edged sword, that’s why, you see, even if I had turned left to attack you the only thing that would get in contact with your sword would be the blunt side of my katana. So I cannot have possibly even imagined counterattacking like this”
I said while performing the stances myself
As soon as I completed the stances I was showered with praises and claps
Even Cerise was clapping enthusiastically for me, although I doubt she understood anything I did
“Hmm… it’s a great thing to be able to counterattack like that but it’s even greater to understand the faults in your fighting style. You are good, kid”
The other woman praised me with a big smile on her face
“Yeah, it’s a good thing that you don’t let victories get to your head, your attitude is very admirable”
This time it was one of the men, he had a stoic expression on his face but his words were very encouraging
“Getting cocky because of one victory is equivalent to reducing your chances of survival, remember that and keep up your attitude”
A spectacled guy commented this time, although he spoke in a critical tone I could tell that he was praising me
Then Cerise’s mother came before me and said with a small bow
“Thank you for saving my daughter, I am very grateful”
I returned the bow and said,
“It’s fine I did nothing much…”
Everyone seemed to have ignored the existence of Joey who looked like he was in some sort of a trance
“Come, Alex, let’s go inside, the boss would want to meet you,” Arielle said while gesturing for me to follow her
I really felt like refusing at first but then I decided not to since I would be staying here for the night
I was taken inside the workshop, its interior, as I had imagined was entirely empty. The only things inside the workshop were two three-seater sofas and a bunch of chairs.
The other members of Arielle’s group settled themselves on the sofas, I also sat on one of the chairs. Meanwhile, Cerise and her mother had gone to see their ‘Boss’ whereas Joey had gone to take a shower.
Arielle, in the meantime, brought all of us drinks, it was chilled beer.
Ahhh, nothing’s better than drinking a chilled beer after completing your dinner.
I took a sip from the beer and I felt like I had experienced heaven. It was my first time tasting something so good
There were several big holes in the workshop’s ceiling, I was sipping my beer and looking at the moon hanging in the sky while the cold night breeze blew past me filling me with a wholesome feeling and I didn’t know how or why but these words escaped my lips without me even intending to,
“Ah~ this is life”
Even I was confused by the degree of relaxation in my voice, I don’t remember the last time I had ever felt so relaxed, if it were at all possible I would have liked this moment to not pass at all, but… at the end of the day it was just a moment, nothing more nothing less, it was bound to have passed
This euphoric feeling only stayed for a moment and then vanished as if it had never existed in the first place. I was a bit frustrated and angry at first but then I decided to let go and stopped thinking about it entirely,
I looked beside me and noticed that all the others had the same expression on their faces, they were all looking at the moon through the ceiling and sipping their respective cans of beer, all of them giving different vibes.
I guess drinking with others around you isn’t bad at all
We continued with this until the ‘Boss’ entered the hall,
He was a more-than-a-middle-aged-and-less-than-an-old-man man, he looked to be in his late fifties, he had a clean shaved face, and a black and white mix hair. Although the wrinkles on his face told me that he was past his prime it was still worth noting that he was in a great shape, he stood at least 3-4 cms taller than me.
All in all, he looked like a hunk
I noticed Cerise and her mother following behind him, Cerise’s eyes were red looks like she was crying.
When the boss man came close to us everyone including I got up from our seats,
He looked around, his eyes stopped on me for a moment and then he gestured for everyone to sit back
I sat back on my chair and was in the process of finishing my beer when the boss man looked at me again and then with a smile on his face he said,
“My name is Victor Griffith, may I ask your name, young man?”
I hurriedly put away my can of beer and looked at him,
The boss man was looking at me with eyes full of gratitude, happiness, caution, and fear
“Please forgive my rudeness for not greeting you earlier, my name is Alex Azriel”
I politely introduced myself
The smile on the boss man’s face widened and he looked at me approvingly,
“I wish to thank you for saving Cerise, I am very grateful to you, Sir Azriel”
He thanked me while giving me a small bow
“There’s no need to bow, elder. As for me saving Cerise, that was only a coincidence”
I tried to wave off the matter, right now the only thing I wanted to do was drink some beer and then go to sleep
The boss man seemed to have understood what I wanted but he still insisted on talking,
“I guess you are tired from all the work today, but to be honest, I want to have some serious talks with you”
Serious talks?
I looked around myself, everyone including Arielle had now put away their cans of beer and had serious expressions on their faces
What does he want to talk about?
I looked at the boss man, the previous genial ad happy look on his face was now replaced with a serious one
“Okay, what is it?”
I said looking at him
It was then, he said something so unbelievable that for a moment I thought I had heard wrong. The thing he talked about was something even crazier than trying to hold the sun in your bare hands
The old man moved closer to me and said in a hushed voice,
“All of us are going to the ‘HEAVEN’”
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