Chapter 218: The First Esports Tournament — Seventh Division (23)
BANG!
To the crowds' excitement, Jake punched the swordsman straight into his face. His strength stat was so high that the man lost his ground and flew behind.
It wasn't enough to distance Hans far away from his team, so Jake teleported to Hans' side and kicked him. He played a football, with Hans being a rough ball.
The man rolled and coughed as Jake battered him with kicks and punches. He couldn't get up no matter what, as Jake was faster and stronger, using the fact that they were in the game world.
Crowd control effects were like magic in this world.
Once someone is stunned, they can either use a skill to cleanse themselves of this effect, use the third party's help, or wait for the stun's duration.
What Jake was doing could be called a reality.
"Ugh! You—ouch!"
Hans' bawling was soon muddled by Jake as he caught the man's occipital and smashed his face into the ground. He threw himself into a skid, drawing the man with himself.
It was such a brutal sight that even the crowd on Jake's side felt terrible for Hans. A few were getting even more excited, including Mary and their father.
Before long, the swordsman was thrown to the forest part of the mountain's spire.
He rolled before straining to stand up.
Hans held his weapon all the time.
It was a commendable feat. His hands, however, were trembling. His face had it the worst, as some of his skin had been pilled and dirt stuck to him like feces. He naturally took a demonic countenance sculpted by his feelings.
"ARCHER!" Hans yelled. "HAS YOUR MOTHER NOT TAUGHT YOU TO SKID PROPERLY?!"
Mary and Edward scoffed at him. The former even raised a middle finger at the screen. Edward didn't stop his daughter or comment on her behavior—his mood was great.
Jake's laughter resounded across the clearing. "Let's not speak about our lovely mothers 'cause it could get really heated up, and I'm sure your mother wouldn't like to hear how I'd do her if I were to have my hands on her. Or maybe she would ask for my number?"
"BASTARD!"
"Haha! It brings back a few great memories of games I had played as a kid! The little me learned a lot of good mom insults at the time! Worry not, I'd rather listen to the melody of my soul now! Let's bring out the organ and violins! I'm going rock!
Been pretty hype on this genre for some time now!" Jake released an arrow from quite a difficult angle.
He'd been waiting for a good wind.
That, however, wasn't enough to surprise Hans.
His perception caught the arrow, allowing him to cut it in half.
Jake emerged from the other side, then.
Zooming at the swordsman, he turned his bow into twin short swords.
Jake's mind spun, 'My swordsmanship is not as good as my archery. It'd take me a lot of effort to win against this man in melee combat, but at the same time, I want to fight him! I want to devour his swordsmanship! I want to make myself stronger! Much stronger! I want to devour the swordsmanship through archery so much!'
He was getting thirsty!
His feelings resulted in his perception sweeping through Hans before the clash began. His Vision put a man in a cradle, which shook each time he moved or breathed.
Jake could feel this man's slightest reaction.
He recorded that reaction, turning it into muscle memory before swinging his swords or making a move.
His left eye cracked open, becoming red.
Jake's wolf tattoo expanded only so sightly, yet it burned even more than during the assimilation.
More of his black streaks turned white.
He was stepping closer to the first-ever race evolution!
[Jake! Jake! Did you know that wolves are very intelligent and good at adaptation?! Excellent! They're excellent! Aye!]
[Yeah! I couldn't have gotten the better first companion!]
[Woof! Woof!]
[Wild!]
[Wild!]
"WILD!" Jake howled, his blade meeting with Hans'.
It took them a second to conjure a tornado of blades as each relentlessly threw slashes at each other. No muscle didn't work during this exchange; each heated up as much as possible. So much adrenaline pumped within them that both didn't feel the weight of their weapons.
What hurt them was quickly forgotten.
What threw them out of pace was replaced really fast.
Whatever they were fighting for no longer mattered; only a victory did.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Both remained in one spot.
Only one was drawing blood—Hans. His style was similar to SWalker's Knight Mode, mainly because both hailed from The Warmonger Empire and were noticed by Asta Sword House. Because Hans was in The Golden Lotus, he'd received more quests from SWalker.
That said, SWalker was natural.
He would have seen much more gaps in Hans' style.
In Jake's eyes, Hans was like a dark silhouette.
He couldn't find any gap in his swordsmanship.
He, however, could adapt to his swordsmanship and devour it! Repeating the same move against him was pointless, as Jake could parry it after feeling it once!
Moreover, his endurance was at its highest! Jake's Blood Wine turned him into a man who could take more than a few blows.
He was far from fragile mages and much closer to tanks regarding endurance stats.
He could stay still and keep going!
Which couldn't be said about Hans.
He was losing against Jake's stats.
The more he fought Jake, the slower he was.
Even if only a minute had passed, these two exchanged so many moves that only much higher-level players could count them all.
All of it translated into what Hans feared the most.
Jake thought, 'I see it…'
In the dark silhouette, a red line appeared. It went from Hans' shoulder down to his chest.
That wasn't what Jake wanted.
He fought more.
More lines have sewn themselves on Hans.
Each line represented an angle.
Suddenly, Jake raised his left sword and lowered it in a fast, clean sweep.
Hans' dominant hand fell down along with his sword, which clobbered on the soil.
"…"
"…"