How a Second Life Knight Lives

35. Is this a level-up?

What should I call this?

Until now, if a person had been standing there, now it seemed like something other than a person was standing there.

It felt like a giant carnivorous animal was glaring at me from the front.

An ordinary person would shrink just from receiving that gaze.

Whoosh.

Without any preliminary movement, it suddenly approached as if flying.

If I stay still, I’ll definitely get tangled.

Slowly. Slowly.

Let’s not rush.

The being in front of me is someone who has achieved mastery.

If I act hastily, I’ll get caught.

I took a step back.

And just as I was about to grab Master Johan who had fallen right in front of my nose.

The murderous intent rising towards my chin accelerated my nerves.

Too late.

Too late!

A shock as if hit by a cannonball struck my hands, which were curled up to protect my chin.

I barely avoided a direct hit to the chin from the upward kick, but I couldn’t avoid my feet lifting off the ground.

The price for mitigating the impact by grabbing Master Johan’s foot with both hands.

Taking advantage of the momentum, I lifted my body backward.

But Master Johan was relentless.

He quickly caught up with me and hit me repeatedly with his fists.

Dozens of punches landed on my thighs and calves.

I desperately flailed and tried to fend off the punches, but there wasn’t much I could do in mid-air.

The sound of the continuous punches was like beating a drum.

After a short flight, I landed on the ground, but nothing had changed.

Just like before, I stood face to face with Master Johan, glaring at each other.

No, there was a difference.

My thighs and calves had become numb.

Surely, my movements must have slowed down as well.

If I took off my pants, it would probably look like a mess of bruises, as if I had been cupped.

“You still don’t seem to understand.”

Another punch!

Both fists flew towards my temples, twisting as they came.

What a useless act!

I can see this much.

I caught the fists with my palms and twisted them outward.

And just as I reached out to grab Master Johan again,

Stars flashed before my eyes.

It wasn’t a punch, but an elbow that struck my head.

Stagger!

As I was forced to retreat, Master Johan closed in and threw another punch.

The distance between his fist and my body seemed no more than a finger’s width, yet the punches landed with a thud, one after another.

Not pushing, but striking at this distance?

Even in the midst of the pain, I wondered.

Is this really possible?

Wasn’t this something you only saw in novels?

I kept retreating, protecting my vital points.

But just retreating like this wouldn’t do any good.

I reached out for Master Johan’s upper arm.

Grab and press it down!

At that moment,

A sharp pain hit my side, and my legs gave out, causing me to stagger momentarily.

The knees that struck my sides one after another were like hammers.

No, it felt like being hit by a sledgehammer.

There was no chance to counterattack.

The hand that had grabbed Master Johan’s upper arm was too busy blocking the knees aimed at my sides to launch an attack.

“As expected. Master Johan.”

“It’s one-sided. It’s one-sided.”

“Still, Sir William is quite resilient. He’s still holding on!”

Even in the midst of being beaten senseless, his ears were open, and he could hear the chatter around him.

Damn it.

No matter how overwhelmingly I dominated the knights, if I get beaten this badly by Master Johan, it becomes meaningless.

I would just be another skilled knight A.

A strong and overwhelming knight who could influence the territory’s army and a close aide to the count.

That’s the picture I had in mind!

Whether I stay far or get close, I get hit.

He doesn’t give me a chance to grab him.

If I do grab him, he strikes with his free hand or foot.

What the hell is this guy!

*

This guy. He’s really tough. No, he’s slippery.

Master Johan beat the knight in front of him with a satisfied feeling.

It had been quite a while since he had been able to beat someone so freely.

The techniques he used were not much different from those of a typical knight.

Skilled but not exceptional.

He compensated for it with good eyes, strength, and unbelievably fast speed.

It was true that his movements were free of unnecessary actions and he was adept at improvisation, possibly from long experience in real combat, but it was clear that he was holding back compared to his overwhelming killing intent.

Is he still not confident in his skills?

Nevertheless, he was deflecting most of his attacks.

He twisted his body to minimize the impact of the continuous punches and knee strikes.

The only time a proper hit landed was when he struck his temple with his elbow. Even then, he turned his head to deflect part of the impact.

It was an impressive sense and improvisation.

And his defense was really tough yet smooth.

After teaching knights who would collapse with just one hit, seeing a guy like this made him understand what it meant to enjoy hitting someone.

This guy! This guy!

Master Johan attacked William from various directions, mischievously like a cat playing with a toy it liked.

He punched, pulled with his hands, struck with his elbows, and hit with his knees.

Occasionally, he would kick and strike upwards.

He got so close that their foreheads almost touched, making William stagger by tapping his legs.

The attacks coming from unseen places exhausted William.

The attacks hitting his body before he could properly recognize them from such a close distance caused him pain.

No matter how much he tried to minimize the impact, getting hit was getting hit, and the shock accumulated.

William slowly felt his body becoming numb.

His reaction speed gradually slowed down.

Master Johan finally thought he had this tough and slippery guy under control.

It had been a long time since he had such a satisfying opponent.

With this feeling, he thought he could tolerate this annoying guy lurking around the Countess for a while.

But then, something changed.

The feeling of hitting changed.

What was hard and slippery became elastic and slippery.

Much more.

Moreover, it felt like the impact wasn’t going through at all.

Master Johan’s face hardened.

*

Heat rose, heat rose, and heat rose again.

It felt like flames were rising inside.

No matter how much he tried to stay calm, he couldn’t.

That damn old man was now seriously toying with him.

He had found a weakness in me that even I didn’t know.

Seeing, dodging, and attacking the opponent were at the same level for both of us.

Facing each other and exchanging punches, I realized that.

Seeing and moving were at the same level, so we only exchanged obvious attacks and defenses.

From the side, it might have looked like a pre-arranged sparring session.

Whether it was someone who had trained for decades to become a local name or someone like me with a status window, it was no different.

However, when we got very close and couldn’t see each other’s attacks,

I could feel what it meant to have a different depth of training.

I couldn’t feel the opponent’s attack.

No, by the time I felt it, the opponent’s fist, foot, elbow, and knee were already just about to hit me.

Thanks to that, I somehow managed to avoid critical hits by wriggling around, but I couldn’t avoid getting hit altogether.

I kept getting hit.

Hit and hit again.

I couldn’t counterattack.

Even when I tried to counterattack, they would ghostly counter me back.

If I didn’t want to get knocked out by a direct hit, I had to focus all my energy on defense rather than counterattacking.

Each attack flying in from my blind spot was a test for me.

If I passed the test, I blocked it.

If I failed the test, I got hit.

I kept getting hit and hit again.

The flames still surged within me,

and I still couldn’t properly feel the opponent’s attacks,

but something was changing.

Something,

this tickling feeling,

a sense flickering from afar,

almost within reach.

That’s right.

Suddenly, I realized the meaning of seeing without seeing.

I could feel the knee rising from below my waist.

I could feel the moment the fist, lightly touching my chest and side, was about to strike.

No, I could see it.

I wasn’t actually seeing it, but it was no different from seeing, so it wasn’t wrong to say I saw it.

It was like opening another eye.

Seeing, catching, pushing away.

The attacks that had been hitting me until now were no longer a threat.

At this level, my body, which had been slowly collapsing, could hold on.

Tatata tatatak!

I deflected the punches that were hitting my body in succession with my hands and quickly stepped back.

I saw Master Johan with a hardened expression.

“You’ve changed.”

I glared at him without saying a word.

The fire was still blazing, and I could see things that I couldn’t see before.

Master Johan’s eyes were flickering with a blue light.

“How is that possible? How can you awaken sensory defense so easily? Are you really human? Could you be a dragon hybrid?”

“I am human. And there are individual differences in enlightenment.”

For example,

Those who have a status window and those who don’t.

Those who possess mystery and those who don’t.

That kind of individual difference.

I must not become such a sinister middle-aged man when I grow older.

He acted like he became strong through diligent martial arts training, but judging by that blue light, it’s clear that he didn’t reach that level through martial arts training alone.

Master Johan also has something else, just like me.

Could it be mystery?

Whatever it is, he and I are now equals.

So, I should give it a proper go.

This time, I approached Master Johan as if I were flying.

A flashy kick flew towards me while I was still in the air,

But I could see everything.

I struck Master Johan’s leg and extended my leg towards his face.

The moment he turned his head to avoid my attack,

I fell straight down and grabbed his upper arm.

Master Johan tried to free my arm, but it was impossible to untangle my tightly wound arms.

Because I am stronger.

I pressed him down with pure strength, without any technique.

Master Johan’s eyes darkened as he desperately resisted.

I looked into his eyes and slowly, very slowly, pressed him down.

Our sweat dripped down our chins and fell to the floor.

Master Johan tried to free his arm from the struggle, but my grip on his upper arm was as firm as a press, not budging an inch.

He must be anticipating the outcome of this standoff.

Seeing himself flattened on the ground like a frog.

If he doesn’t want that, he might end up with a broken leg or a broken back.

I tilted my head, looking into his slowly collapsing eyes.

Why doesn’t this guy give up?

At that moment, someone came and collided with me.

The one who ran at full speed and threw himself was Burke.

After colliding with me, he bounced back and rolled on the floor.

Oh dear. The pain from the bruises must be severe.

My head cooled down.

I remembered where I was and what I was doing.

I released my grip on Master Johan’s arm.

Master Johan slowly stood up from his kneeling position.

His arm was still twitching.

“The sparring is over.”

“Yes.”

“Are you alright?”

“It reminded me of the times when I learned from my master. There were a few times I almost died. But are you alright?”

Am I alright?

I almost got devoured by something.

Could it be the side effects of the status window?

If it weren’t for Sir Burke, I might have caused an accident.

But anyway, now, I am myself.

The flames have completely subsided.

“I think I’m alright.”

Enough to carry out the inspector’s duties without any issues.

Next is the city council.

The place with two red dots.