Extra Pages: The Author's Odyssey

Chapter 342: Battelground [3]

"Argh! Are you even human?!"

Another player fell to the sand, blood flowing from his mouth.

Lucas took a step forward and slashed down with the Sin Of Sword, easily cutting through the opponent's light armor and splitting his body in half. The great sword he wielded... was truly devastating.

As the corpse disappeared, he cleaned the curved blade of the odachi with a swift flourish and answered with a dejected lie:

"Human? I am not, and have never been, a human."

By that time, a small crowd of players had gathered around to spectate the fights and wait for their turn to challenge him. Hearing his words, one of them laughed:

"If you are not human, then what are you?"

Sunny glanced at him, then shrugged.

"A Darkheart."

Internally, though, he was thinking:

'...What the heck?!'

In the past several hours, he had fought twenty-seven people. And out of them, twenty-five — twenty-five! — had been using the same battle style.

Lucas had thought that that it was time for leave the [Battelground] VR game but just as he was about log out, Next player comes and challenge him.

And after that next, Next, and next playe come and continue to challenge him.

By this time, Lucas even forgot that he has to log out since classes are about to start in few hours.

Anyway, Lucas thought about the the challengers sword style that have fought him in [Battelground]>

It was a practical, but rather simplistic art that relied on straightforward, efficient movements and attacks that were optimal in terms of lethality and energy expenditure, but for the same reason very predictable.

Several of the skills and abilities the challengers possessed had thrown him for a loop, but in the end, he had defeated them all one after another, gaining a solid grasp of the essence of their style by the twentieth practitioner he fought.

These people were not exactly untalented, but Lucas felt the difference between them and himself sharply.

Most of these young men and women had probably only experienced a handful of real battles in their entire lives.

But how strong?

'Lets find out.'

He checked the stats of the demonic warrior.

"Darkheart"

"Victories: 31."

"Defeats: 0."

'A newbie... but a talented one! A perfect KDA, what a rarity!'

In any case, that guy was incredibly photogenic. A duel with him was not going to be interesting due to the gap in their skill, but it would definitely look stunning.

Who knows, they might meet again in the professional arena one day...

Looking at the invisible camera, Nero raised an eyebrow and asked:

"What do you say, Guys? Should we challenge that dark and handsome guy other there?"

As the viewers expressed their approval, he approached Darkheart and gave him a friendly smile.

"Hey there, friend. That's a big sword you got there. Do you even know how to use it?"

Teasing the opponent was another sacred tradition of the [Battelground], and Nero was more than happy to play along. He could tell from the way Lucas held himself that he was no ordinary opponent, and he relished the opportunity to test his skills against someone of such obvious talent.

Lucas glanced at Nero, his eyes narrowing behind the dark mask that concealed his identity. He could sense the playful challenge in Nero's words, and he couldn't help but feel a flicker of amusement at the other man's boldness.

With a smirk, Lucas shifted his grip on his sword, the Sin Of Sword gleaming ominously in the illusory sunlight.

"I may not be looked like human, but I know how to handle myself in a fight," he replied, his voice low and confident. "And as for my sword... let's just say it's seen its fair share of action."

As the crowd of spectators murmured in anticipation, Lucas and Nero faced off, their eyes locked in a silent battle of wills. Despite the playful banter, both men knew that this duel would be anything but ordinary.

...

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