Syèl jumped back to increase the space between him and his assailant. He glared at the swordswoman and jokingly complained, "If you're going to attack me, least you could do is introduce yourself."

"I have no obligation to give my name to scum." Blondie got into a basic kendo stance, sword held in front of her.

Syèl’s gaze turned serious. That was a perfect sword stance. He could not see any openings to attack her.

As if annoyed they had been ignored, two cockatrices ceased their attack on the other Blondie and bore down on Syèl and the duplicate.

Syèl noticed the approaching creatures from the corner of his eyes, but he did not dare take his eyes of the swordswoman in front of him. A lapse in concentration might spell death for him. 'Wait a minute! I'm a mage.' Syèl chuckled as he recalled this mundane fact. The woman’s strong aura had caused him to forget he was in a game.

The halben cynically grinned as he shot two fireballs in quick succession at the swordswoman, then dashed toward her, using the fireballs as cover. He intended to use the chance when she dodged the projectiles to launch a swift follow-up attack.

Unfortunately, the swordswoman had no intention of following the halben’s script.

Blondie swung her sword and cut through the fireballs with chilling precision. She proceeded to swiftly slash down at the stunned halben that had unwittingly entered her strike range.

Unfortunately, the cockatrices did not dance to either’s fiddles. The cockatrices stabbed at Blondie and Syèl with their beaks just as her sword sliced down to cut the halben in half.

Syèl, besieged by the cockatrices at one end, and Blondie at the other, manipulated his blood to form a shield in his left hand, which he raised above his head.

Blondie was left unguarded from the beasts’ attack and would have suffered a critical hit, were it not for her magnificent swordsmanship. The swordswoman grit her teeth and pooled her strength to guide her sword upwards in a smooth arc. The maneuver successfully blocked the cockatrice’s beak and pushed the birds back to the other Shokō, while she was sent sliding backward, sword arm high in the air.

Syèl was not the kind of person to let this opportunity slip away. Mana exploded beneath his feet, and he burst toward the swordswoman with blinding speed. Syèl grinned as he closed the distance and stabbed at her with his sword. However, the vision he had failed to come to reality.

The swordswoman kicked against the earth, taking advantage of the inertia from the initial blow to propel herself off the ground and several meters away from the range of Syèl’s sword.

Syèl snarled, and a cold, white stream shot out from his hand and iced the ground where the swordswoman’s trajectory would take her to throw her off balance.

Unfortunately, Blondie, once again, saw through his play. She somersaulted and stabbed her sword through the ice, then landed on the hilt of the weapon. The smug grin on her face as she balanced with one foot on the tiny pommel evoked thoughts of a majestic prince.

Syèl snorted. Regrettably, he could tell he would not be able to defeat the swordswoman in a swordfight. She was obviously different than most Summoned in this game. She’d undergone meticulous training. Far more than he had - not that he ever had any formal swords training.

Syèl grinned, and two fireballs formed on his palms as he teased the princely figure, "You going to tell me your name now?"

"I suppose I could,” the swordswoman accented as she hopped down from her sword and drew her sword from the frozen ground. “You have proved yourself to be slightly above scum. You can call me Shokō, worm."

"Shokō?” Syèl questioned with piqued interest. Shokō, in Japanese, was a gender-neutral term that could either mean Prince of Princess. The halben chuckled as he gave the swordswoman a once-over. “That name. That outfit. Could it be? Are you having a gender-identity crisis?"

Boom!

Shokō suddenly appeared next to Syèl with her sword placed squarely next to his neck. "Do you wish to lose your head, elf?"

Sweat poured down Syèl’s forehead as he realized he had encroached on a sensitive topic. "Hey, hey relax! I was just joking okay!? Of course, there’s nothing wrong if you swing this way and that.” Syèl laughed and pumped his fists in the air as he cheered, "Free sex! Whoo Whoo!”

The sword slightly pierced Syèl’s throat and drew blood.

Down the moonlit blade, a pair of blue eyes burned fiercely. "It would do you good to watch your tongue, trash,” Shokō spat, then withdrew her blade and sheathed it in a single, swift motion. "I like men, thank you very much. I simply find male clothing to be more comfortable and befitting my tastes."

A loud cry rang out, interrupting the duo’s conversation.

Shokō and Syèl looked in the direction of the shout and saw the cockatrices that had been attacking the other Shokō disperse, revealing the petrified victim.

"Damn. I was distracted for too long," Shokō cursed then turned to Syèl. "You. Assist me. I'll fight with you once these beasts are dealt with."

"Sure, why not,” Syèl agreed with a light shrug. “I've got some new spells I want to test out anyway." The halben lips parted to reveal a dangerous grin as he shot massive fireballs at the oversized meal entrees.

The cockatrices charged through the flames, seemingly unfazed by the attack. "Ho… Then, how about this!" Syèl challenged and shot out a stream of electricity from his hands. The electric arc shocked the closest beast, then using it as a conduit, chained to four other cockatrices around it.

Other cockatrices rushed around their electrified kin and spat green venom at the halben.

In response, Syel raised an ice shield from the ground, which the poisons struck with the force of a 100mph baseball. Syèl’s brows locked as he called out, "Anytime now, Prince."

Shokō crouched low, with her right hand hovering over the hilt of her sheathed sword. "Shokō Style: Second Form…" Her sword's scabbard glowed with a blue light as she instantly drew then sheathed her sword in a blink of an eye. “ [Splitting Sky] ."

Boom!

A massive shockwave burst out from Shokō’s draw and struck the approaching cockatrices with the force of a pissed-off hurricane. The beasts suffered the impact and were sent tumbling back the way they came. "Your move," She said to Syèl.

"Nice," Syèl praised then dashed to the center of the disgruntled cockatrices. Blood seeped out of his body and gathered above him to form a meter-wide sphere. Spikes of blood slowly formed on the surface of the sphere. “ [Blood Shower]" On the halben’s signal, spikes shot out of the sphere and stabbed through the cockatrices who cried out in pain.

The enraged birds rolled into balls, spun in place to gather momentum then launched themselves at Syèl with frightening speed.

Syèl cursed as he struggled to dodge the irritatingly quick monsters. He barely avoided their charges but then realized too late it was a trap. While in the middle of evading three simultaneous attacks, a fourth came up from his blind spot.

Syèl coughed up blood as the cockatrice struck him with the momentum of a speeding truck. The impact sent the halben hurtling across the field. He crashed to the ground a dozen meters from the impact point then rolled to a painful stop.

The cockatrices turned out to be vengeful creatures, as they didn’t even give Syèl a chance to recover before resuming their attack. While Syèl struggled to get to his feet, a mass of blue and gold blurred to the front of his vision.

Shokō dashed in front of Syèl and adopted a new stance with the scabbard held vertically, hilt facing down. "Shokō Style, Third form: Scythe !" Shokō rapidly drew the sword and carved a rising arc with her blade. The ki this time was thinner and refined, forming the edge of a scythe.

The blade ki split a cockatrice into two clean pieces.

Remaining beasts: 20

Normally, Shokō would have to return the sword to its sheath after using an Iai skill, but she smartly chained the end of [Scythe] to the beginning of another skill to create a combo. She curved the sword’s path when it reached the apex of its track and redirected it to strike the ground.

Boom!

Shokō’s concentrated ki seeped into the earth as her sword struck the earth, causing cracks to run along the land to the injured cockatrices, where the ground erupted, causing the cockatrices to lose their footing.

"Shokō Style, First Form: [Hammer] ." Shokō heavily panted as sweat ran down her face.

"Thanks for the help. Let me return the favor," Syèl called as he dashed past her. "[Dawn Pelmut]" Without waiting for his health to fully regenerate, he resummoned [Blades of Blood]. This time, however, in addition to the sword in his hand, two curved scythes grew out of his arms.

Far from done, Syèl summoned [Bullet]. Blood rose from the downed cockatrice and formed several spheres the size of table-tennis balls around him. Syèl pointed, and the blood bullets slammed into the cockatrices with the force of a magnum bullet. The halben snarled as he sliced his way through the birds, using the scythes on his arms to block and counter their blows.

Remaining Enemies: 18

The enraged cockatrices formed a circle around Syèl, to block all paths of retreat, then shot him with their petrifying beams.

Syèl leaped to the sky immediately he saw the tell-tale green tint in their eyes but the cockatrices were prepared for this tactic, and their gazes followed him. Syèl cursed as he squeezed out all but the last drop of his Health Points to form a bloody sphere around him. The blood sphere turned to stone and crashed to the earth, kicking up a dense dust cloud which the beasts could not see through.

Moments later, the dust cleared to reveal seven strange-looking ice spears floating around the grinning halben. Flames burned at the back of the spears, which were cloaked in electric sparks. All of which was then surrounded by a swirling wind that was concentrated at the spears’ tips.

"[Elemental Judgment] ” Syèl raised his arm and the spears shot forward, receiving extra propulsion from the flames. The drill-like wind bore holes through the cockatrices, giving the rest of the weapon an entrance to the beasts’ bodies. The spear pierced through the cockatrices, then wreaked havoc within their bodies.

The elements simultaneously shocked and froze the cockatrices’ inner organs, then exploded. Seven cockatrices instantly collapsed as giant holes were blasted open around their bodies.

Remaining Beasts: 14

[Elemental Judment] drained every drop of Syèl’s mana and froze him in place, making it so he could only watch as the surviving cockatrices shrieked in rage and charged at him.

Whoosh!

Syèl smiled as Shokō jumped down in front of him. From her usual crouching position, she drew her weapon and cut an arc around her as she rose from the ground. "Shokō Style, Fifth Form: [Tornado] ." A column of wind infused with her ki shot up around them and spread out, then blasted the onrushing cockatrices into the air.

The chaos bought Syèl the precious second he needed to regain mobility. As expected, he immediately cast [Dawn Pelmut] on the dead cockatrices to restore his mana and health. The corpses’ blood chased after him as he leaped into the air. He landed on a skyborne cockatrice, then used it to jump even higher, above the entire flock.

Syèl peaked above the cockatrices, and the chasing blood congealed into a massive, two-meter-wide blood sphere. "[Blood Shower!] ” Syèl shouted and spikes the size of javelins shot out of the sphere. The projectiles shot out of the blood sphere and stabbed the cockatrices toward the ground with the force of a piledriver.

On the ground, Shokō entered her crouching stance as she observed the falling cockatrices. She swung her sword above her and to the ground forming creating a ki-infused shockwave that zoomed to the air. Instead of stopping, she followed the momentum and spun around, firing off another shockwave, then another and another. The speed increased with each revolution and soon the sky was filled with a net of ki shockwaves that did not allow any cockatrice to fall through.

BOOM!

Shokō dropped to her knee and sheathed her sword, golden hair wildly fluttering from the explosion above. Opening her eyes slowly, she whispered, "Shokō Style, Tenth Form: [Spider's Net] ."

Remaining Enemies: 0

Syèl landed softly amidst the falling body parts, having protected himself from the attack with an ice shield. "You could have hit me!"

"Oh? You're still alive, maggot.” Shokō regarded Syèl with mirth in her eyes. “Impressive; I suppose you might not be as useless as you look." Shokō stood up, holding her sword in her right hand. She cast a rather handsome picture. The lone Prince stood in a field of his enemies' bodies, while the wind played with his hair.

Syèl revealed a cheeky grin as he teased, "You know, if it wasn't for your humongous rack, you might actually make the girls go googly-eyed over their newest bishounen hero." Syèl raised his hands in surrender when her hand hovered over the hilt of her sword.

“Not worth it,” Shokō remarked as she relaxed her stance and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I will not respond to your mindless taunts. I ha-" Shokō suddenly paused. Her brows furrowed and she gripped her sword’s hilt, eyes darting left and right in search of something.

"O-oi, I thought you said I wasn’t worth the effort?" Syèl teased as he slowly backed away.

"Silence!" Shokō admonished as she descended into a low stance.

Syèl’s brows shot up. He looked at the swordswoman with wonder as he looked around. "Seriously. What's -"

"Speak again, and I will cut you where you stand,” Shokō warned and closed her eyes. She let out a breath through her mouth to calm herself, then went perfectly still. "It's coming… Duck!"

Only at this point did Syèl feel the close tinge of death. His body ran into overdrive as he did exactly as she said. His yellow eyes went wide in shock as he watched Shokō’s sword clash against an ax at the spot his head had been a moment ago.

Syèl quickly rolled out of the way then turned around to see his attacker. “What the fuck?”

A nine-feet tall beast with two goat legs, the torso, and arms of a human, and the head of a bull glared at Shokō, with gleaming red eyes. The minotaur flexed its right arm, which increased the power of its swing.

Shokō lost the battle of strength and was sent flying into a nearby building. The wooden wall crumbled under the force.

Gruger the Fallen: Lv:86

"Shokō!" Syel shouted and turned to the beast, eyes burning with rage. "Bastard!" He dashed toward the minotaur, but the beast suddenly disappeared from view. Syèl swiveled in place and frowned as he sought out its presence. "Where did it go?!"

"Behind you, maggot!" Shokō screamed as she emerged from the rubble.

"What?!" Syèl whirled around, and instinctively placing several layers of ice shields between him and… There was nothing there! However, his shock was answered less than a second later when something shattered the ice shields to pieces and cut his chest. The halben grunted and jumped backward as he watched his Health Points instantly fall below half.

Syèl looked up and searched his surroundings, but the minotaur had once again disappeared from view.

Whoosh!

Clang!

Shokō suddenly appeared in front of him and raised her sword and grunted as an invisible force forced her to her knees. The minotaur reappeared and glared at the annoying swordswoman who kept blocking his attack.

Shokō looked over her shoulder and shouted at Syèl, "Maggot! Do you not have the Instinct stat?"

"What?!" Syèl manipulated his blood to form claws that went around Shokō and penetrated the beast's body.

The minotaur ignored the attack and blew smoke out of its nose as it increased the force in its hand, digging Shokō even further into the ground. It suddenly opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of fire at the persistent swordswoman.

"No, you don't!" Syèl shouted as he tossed compressed mana the size of a toothpick it into the beast's mouth. The toothpick burst open in the beast’s mouth to form a block of ice that froze its mouth shut.

The minotaur cried out in pain and reared its head in pain.

Shokō took advantage of the weak force in the monster’s ax-arm to push away the ax and jump into the air, sword drawn. The swordswoman repeatedly sliced the beast’s chest but found the cuts were shallow and barely chipped its health.

Shokō dropped to the ground as Syèl dashed past and cast [Elemental Judgment] .

The spell cleared out the halben’s mana and the spears successfully cut into the monster through the injuries caused by Shokō. However, despite the spell’s devastation, the minotaur’s health only dropped by half, and it smartly disappeared.

"Good work, peasant," Shokō praised as she walked to Syèl’s side. “It seems to have retreated for the time being."

‘I'm promoted?’ Syèl looked at Shokō with confusion in his eyes. "How can you tell?"

"You have never utilized the Instinct Stat have you?” Shokō remarked. “It's a wonder you have survived this long."

Syèl snorted. "Just spit it out already cross-dresser."

Shokō’s brows furrowed, and she looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself at the last moment. "Hmph. Such simple provocation will not work on me. Fine, I shall teach you how to learn it. If only to pass the time until it returns."

"Thank you, Prince-Sensei." Sarcasm was heavy in every single syllable.

Shokō shook her head. "It's different for every class, but the basics are the same. Start with closing your eyes… Good, Now, control your breathing… feel the air enter and leave your lungs… Register each and every smell… Now, listen closely to the flowing of the wind, the song of the crickets, the rustling of leaves… Once you can process all of these, you should get a rough picture of the field… and any discrepancies."

New Passive Skill: Mana Sense

Mana Sense

Every living thing possesses mana. This allows you to sense mana flowing around you.

Effectiveness is dependent on Mana and Instinct Stat.

"Learned it," Syèl announced.

“Really!?” Shokō exclaimed, "That should take an average person days before he can sort out the noise from the relevant sounds." Her eyes sparkled as a smile curled up the edge of her lips.

Syèl shrugged. "I'm not average."

Shokō smiled. "Apparently not… Syèl."

"Ah, I can sense him,” Syèl suddenly stated as a blood javelin formed in his left hand. “He's back," Syèl said as he seemingly flung the javelin at a random direction.

Boom!

Gruger the Fallen was forced to appear as he blocked the javelin strike with his ax.

Syèl grinned as he and Shokō walked toward the beast with unconcealed bloodlust. "Time for round two…"

A few miles away, a man stood on a dragon watching the entire fight. On his left arm was a tattoo of seven broken swords tied together by a sash of blood. His deep voice echoed through the silent clouds "It begins…"