Chapter 118: Phantom Challenge [2]
He looked at his identical-looking phantom walking towards him with apparent wariness and noticed the only difference between them. The swords, to be more precise, not exactly the sword in itself but the engraving on it, pseudo runes on both of the swords, his and his replica were the same, but there was also a profound difference.
He could spot it with his runic eyes. Alternating his gaze between that rune engraved sword and his own, he could pinpoint the core differences and how much lacking his own rune engravement was, but before he could analyze the situation any further on his part, his rune phantom had already reached quite close, it abruptly swiftly rushed towards him and made a gesture of attack.
Axel also responded instinctively with his attack, to which Axel was easily pushed back, then he pushed forward with his own attacks. But on every exchange he lost, even though he used more power and or maybe better speed as well. The phantom had all of that but something better, something which he did not understand initially.
But as time passed, with every exchange he was forced to accept his own flaws, his severe shortcomings that no one else was ever able to see, he could see it, this phantom of his it was basically the most perfect version of himself, in the sense of how great he could be, if he used the runic swordsman skill to the best of his abilities. More than that, the weapon his phantom which it was using was far better engraved.
The phantom was using all of his advantages in the most combat-efficient way possible. A fighting style absolutely impeccable for him as a runic swordsman. So, with every exchange, he learned his own shortcomings, every minor detail that he could improve upon. He also gleamed into the structure of the sword his phantom was using, how it used the power of the rune imbued in it.
Thunder flashed in the entire empty arena all over, as both parties clashed nonstop. The phantom was like a mindless battle machine, flawless in its perfect execution of every possible usage of movement of every facet of its power. While Axel was determination and adaptability in its raw form, developing constantly as the battle progressed but his energy and stamina were running out, he also received countless wounds on him, yet the phantom remained unharmed not even single scratch on it, which spoke volumes about Axel’s inability and lack of expertise compared to it.
But it also showed how far he could improve as a runic swordsman. Eventually, he got stabbed right through the heart of his chest, and a violent pain ran through his body, as he was being scorched alive from the inside out. He roared in pain, tremendous pain, his senses came back as he opened his eyes, seeing his bedroom, he again threw up a mouthful of blood, and again, his eyes became red and blood dropped from his nose, his face, and internal organs felt like it was burning in fire.
But the situation wasn’t as terrible when he was killed by Sin. He washed himself off from all the blood, drank some potions which hastened his recovery, and cleaned up the room from his blood. Axel began to hum thoughtfully, self-analyzing on how and why he lost, in what ways he was lacking.
He again jumped back to his runic chamber, started engraving the same pseudo rune on another raw sword, not making the same mistakes that his previous one had, and a far more complete and capable sword came into existence this time around.
With that in hand, he walked in front of the door in the corner of the runic chamber, as the doorway opened, he walked in without hesitation, the same phantom figure waiting for him, no more words were needed, as they clashed with raging fury, while the phantom fought same as before in its usual sophisticated manner.
Axel’s fighting manner had changed entirely, learning from his mistakes and seeing for the last time how it fought, the best possible way he could fight, and marvelously, the phantom used the power of the rune-engraved weapon. It was breathtaking to see.
After an unknown amount of time, the fight between his phantom and him had ended. And this time, Axel had won, barely that is. But it was a win nonetheless.
The moment Axel stabbed right through its stomach, it slowly turned into fragments of light particles and disappeared. Then a rush of countless pieces of knowledge invaded his mind, his mind spun as he put his hands on his head, unable to make heads or tails of what was happening. Only a few seconds, and the process was over.
He found himself back in his runic chamber, not in the arena anymore. He looked towards the doorway that led to the arena, and it was closed. He reviewed the information that was forcefully shoved into his head while closing his eyes.
Axel hummed thoughtfully and his eyes suddenly lit up, there was more information on how he could slightly improve that particular pseudo rune and more ways to use it, so defeating the phantom results in all his lacking parts in the clash, sent directly to his mind, an expectant smile appeared on his face at that thought.
He smiled. This seemed more of a fortune than a misfortune, but it was also a pretty big chore. From what he could understand is that, he would have to do this for every pseudo rune, and every single one of them. But that thought only excited him even further. Just how much battle expertise he could accumulate as a result of this, just how much he could improve upon when defeating every single phantom of his.
It seems the world Will simply couldn’t put an extra hurdle on his way without adding an extra reward as well, huh. He smiled at that thought. How wonderful, truly.
Then Axel began to think what he should do, for now he had mastered 8 pseudo runes out of the 24, should he continue making weapons to master all 24 runes, or first complete 8 phantoms of the 8 runes he mastered, well, one was already done, so 7 left.
50 Golden Tickets = 1 Extra Chapter
200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1 Magic Castle = 4 Extra Chapter