I don't use a martial skill or a basic attack. I use something I've been neglecting.

I smack with my hand and use [Donkey Punch]. The swordsman put all his attention on my sword and lower body and didn't expect my empty hand to come at him like that.

-888

[Donkey Punch B lv2 > Donkey Punch B lv3

Also known as a sucker punch, this abrupt attack can cause immense damage to those unprepared. Critical Hits Ignore Armor

DMG = Might + Agility

Cool Down: 15 minutes ⬆]

The crisp sound of an open palm rings across the arena. Teeth and blood fly out of the swordsman's mouth. Half his jaw dislocated and one side hangs lower than the other.

Master Wang has taught me many things about fighting a 'swordsman.'

1: If your guts fall out, strangle them with it.

2: Don't be a pussy.

3: A 'swordsman' isn't the same as a person who uses a sword.

4: Swordsman can't stand getting slapped in the face.

It's good advice. I press my advantage and uppercut the Ken member's solar plexus. His last meal bursts from his mouth as my fist raises him off the ground. His sword drops to the ground moments before he does.

A twitching finger proves that he isn't dead. It's a deliberate movement. Even while critically injured, he tries to reclaim his blade. I hear him coughing blood as he fails to recover.

I look at my masters. Master Wang, like an emperor watching a gladiatorial fight, gives me a thumbs down. He wants me to execute the foe in front of me. Master Giles pushes his hand down and starts childing him.

*gurgle gurgle*

If he won't surrender, I guess the fight will continue. I place my sword where the spine meets the neck, and before I can sever anything, a different Ken family member walks into the arena.

"He's down. You showed your skills. Why must you kill him?"

The swordsman is thin and sinewy. Spikey blade hair with green beads woven within the stands barely peeks from behind the fox mask. His gait is confident, and his voice is smooth.

"Don't you warrior types yearn for a glorious death? Dying in combat should be an honor. Yada yada."

"Not much of a glorious death from being slapped, then made to vomit, then pity executed."

"...fair."

"I am not from the branch family but a true-blooded Ken. It seems that our *more distant* relatives are no match for you, regardless of the level difference. I wield the A-rank [Venomous Claw] and the [Dancing Serpent] fighting style. I am level 200."

"I'll interpret the reason you stressed *more distant* is to imply inbreeding. Why are you also level 200?"

"...The Ken family determines generation by level increments. Age doesn't matter, skill does."

"Oh. That sounds inconvenient."

The swordsman unsheathes his blade and takes a stance I haven't seen before. His sword is thin and long, sharp on both sides. He raises one leg like a flamingo and sticks his non-sword hand at me. His fingers are scrunched together at their tips and pointed downwards. His sword is slightly pulled back parallel to his other hand. He looks like he's pretending he has a bow and is using his blade as an arrow.

He can see my confusion.

"This is the starting stance of the [Dancing Serpent]. The [Coiled Serpent Prepared to Burst]!"

"You look like a crippled archer." I think I hear Val snicker from the sidelines.

"No. The legs represent the coiled energy prepared to be released. The empty hand is the snake's head, closed and waiting. The sword is the fang, hidden behind the lips but ready to pierce."

"Snakes don't have lips. Also, isn't your sword the [Venomous Claw]? Shouldn't it be the [Venomous Fang] if you are going for the serpent motif?"

"Shut up and take my attack!"

He jumps at me using his grounded leg and thrusts his sword at me.

-0

It bounces off my pectoral. Even if the snake boy pierced my flesh, he would've missed by heart by a hair since my circulatory system's all wack.

"I mean, technically, snakes have 'lips' in the form of flesh and scales around their mouth, but they aren't lips in that sense. It's like saying they have ears like a human because they have holes in their head. It's wrong and redundant."

"...what are you made of?"

"Animal facts. I'm a tamer after all."

I go to smack his head off his shoulders, but the snake boy dodges under my arm and makes distance. He starts using weird footwork. He moves around me, circling once, circling twice, circling three times before he goes to attack.

"HA, [Three Rotation Snake Bite]!"

-999

-0

"YA, taste venom, challenger."

"...That's it? I drink stronger toxins for breakfast. Unfortunately, I'm being literal."

"Surrender. You're hemorrhaging blood. It won't be long now."

I look down at my side and notice the blood dripping to the arena's floor. It's mixing with the sand and the other guy's blood. The guy I slapped is still there. No one went to get him.

I flex my muscles there, and more blood squirts out before trickling to a stop. My passive healing will fix that in a few seconds, and the wound will disappear in less than twenty seconds.

"..."

"I'm going to walk over there and beat you now, okay?"

The snakeboy retreats to make more distance, slinging out attacks that don't do anything. Eventually, snakeboy tries the rotation skill again, and I get a [Cross Counter] in.

-999

-1733

Snakeboy slumps over dead. I'm assuming he had roughly 1,500 health based on how squishy he was. With his weird attack, his entire side was open. My arm broke through his ribcage, through both lungs and his heart, and out the other side. He made me bleed again and didn't raise my resistance. What an ass.

I push his dead body onto the other guy. Then a thought came to me. I grab both their swords and stab them into the ground in front of them. Like a fucked up effigy. A declaration that I'm better than them. These are my trophies. If you want them back, then take them from me.

Am I talking about the swords or the bodies? I'll let the Ken's decide. (I'm talking about the swords.)

The Ken family gets riled up. The elders are fuming, but they don't do anything yet. The family members talk among each other, deciding who's going next as I stand there, trying to look stoic instead of impatient.

I had a slight misunderstanding. The Ken's weren't deliberating on 'who' should go next, but why 'they' should go next. They are hungry for this ass-kicking.

I'm already done regenerating my health by the time my next challenger approaches. Her blade is already unsheathed. Light blue hair trails behind her like her hair is light enough to float on air.

"[Galewind]. [Cloud Hopper], 200."

Her first attack was a simple swing. As it cuts through the air, a blade of air travels towards me. The more distance it travels, the bigger the cut becomes.

I jump over the attack to close the distance, but her movements are floaty. With a light jump, she's already moved out of my path. While swinging her sword for the second time, she keeps using a series of little jumps to float around the battlefield like a fairy.

-0

The second attack didn't have a chance to build up momentum, so it couldn't scratch me. I land on the ground as another slash makes its way to me.

-0

I felt that one more than the other one, but it didn't do anything to me. The swordswoman makes a strange symbol with a free hand and a torrent of air blasts at me. I could dodge, but I don't.

The gust pushes me back a few inches before I ground my stance and ride the ability out. I can feel the air try to lift me off the ground, but it fails. Moving towards the source of the wind is hard, so I'm not going to try.

"Fatass."

"..."

Eventually, the air stops. Whether it's mana-related or the skill has a predetermined duration doesn't matter. I'm advancing on the swordswoman, and now my opponent can't do anything to stop me.

With her floaty nature, it will be hard to close the distance, so I'll have to use my head a little. While she's attacking me with her long-range air slashes, I'm prodding her confidence. I'm seeing how close I can get without her needing to escape.

Roughly twenty feet... Yeah, that's doable. I grip my sword with two hands. It appears that my A-rank blade will see some action for the first time in this showcase. The elders of the Ken family wait in silence to see what sort of sword technique I'm going to do, while the spectators are more verbal.

"I wonder what the challenger's sword's name is."

"[Barbed Blade]. No, [Brutality]."

"I would say [Bloodshed]."

"That's a better description of his fighting style. Speaking of fighting styles, is that really the techniques of the [Broken Body]? Is my skill so lacking that I can't glean insights on his martial arts?"

"Except for the second fight's finisher, he hasn't used proper techniques. He fights like a barbarian."

The crowd loves me. I hold my sword up in a position where I can easily swing downwards. My opponent is uneasy about my actions. I can tell she is calculating if this is a bluff or not. It's hard since I haven't indicated if I can attack from range.

But I can. I throw my blade.

My opponent is shocked. The stands are silent. The elders are fuming again.

"...Did he just?"

"Barbarian."

A sword is the source of a swordsman's life. Tossing it is an act of suicide. It dishonors the blade that kept you alive thus far, dishonors the masters that taught you how to swing the weapon. It dishonors all those who sacrificed for you. But I don't give a shit. I'm no swordsman.

My opponent recovered from the surprise quick enough to block my blade. As soon as my sword left my hands, I used [Battered Bones] to artificially increase the strength behind my jump. My legs snap as I soar through the air.

My blade meets my opponent as she deflects it away. Her hands shake from the impact. She's woefully unprepared for me. Half a second after my blade makes contact with hers, I'm already there. She initially tries to hop away, but I'm already on her.

The weight of my propelled body slamming into her is devastating. With my resistance, I'm basically a human-sized bullet. Two uses of [Battered Bones] make my jump that much more lethal. I can feel her bones break against my body. Blood spurts from her mouth and dribbled out of her mask, soaking her neck.

I'm pinning her. I can tell by her sucking breaths that a rib punctured one of her lungs. I punch down on her while straddling her torso. My fist breaks the mask, revealing a blood-soaked face. Strands of her weightless, blue hair stick to the crimson.

She looks at me with indignation. She's still a warrior, after all. She tries to behead me with her blade, but with her position and my proximity, she has difficulties. She tries to buck me off with her [Might], but I'm stronger than her.

She kicks, throws sand, slashes, stabs my eyes with her nails, she tries to do anything. I'll keep punching until the resistance stops or I hear her surrender. Strands of blood drip off my knuckles and fly around as fists tenderize her face. Eventually, she stops suffering.

There's now a ring of her blood in the arena surrounding her. The sands soak up the blood and turn red. My entire front is covered in her. I drag her by the ankle and toss her on the body. I stab her sword next to the others.

I sit on the pile of corpses and lean on my sword like a cane. The Ken family has a history of killing innocent civilians. They accosted me on the street. I'm attributing the bombing outside the courthouse to them as well. They tried to silence a family willing to speak about their atrocities and fight back. They also exploded the shit out of me.

I'm going to kill any member that is willing to die. If they want to kill me, it's only fair I retaliate. It's not my fault they are so shit at staying alive or surrendering.