The Sword Saint’s Second Life As a Fox Girl

The Undead that was once William, was two levels below Nivia but in spite of the odds, Erin was feeling less confident with her chances against the Undead. Unlike the many Ghouls she had fell, Erin could perceive traces of intelligence lingering in the eyes of this particular Undead. Perhaps it was the result of its strong attachment to the time when it was still a human, Erin surmised. Adventurers were known to be some of the most stubborn individuals after all.

Appraising the undead adventurer again, Erin realized it was no simple Undead like a Ghoul. It was a Wight, essentially a Ghoul with faint amounts of intelligence and sentience. In addition, they were stronger and faster; and from what she had heard, it was possible for Wights to learn magic as long as its former human-self was well-versed with magic.

“Please don’t be that kind of Wight,” Erin prayed in her heart. From a single glance at the Wight’s gears, it was more oriented to physical means rather than magical. But still, her chances weren’t any better at that assessment.

It wasn’t just the level difference that created the gap in strength nor was it just the racial difference but also the difference in their weapon of choice. Erin had crossed swords with almost every type of arms but the one weapon she had the most difficulty against was blunt weapons and axes.

Erin’s form relied heavily on parry and up against an axe, it was the worst opponent for a sword-wielder like her. It wouldn’t have been a problem if she was still the Sword Saint but at her current level, it was simply foolish to even entertain the thought. What’s more, the Wight wasn’t her only concern. The surrounding Ghouls weren’t just going to sit around and watch the fight play out.

Erin tried to appeal to the undead adventurer’s conscience. “William… are you still—”

But the Wight charged straight at Erin with a deathly cry.

“Guess not.”

Predicting the result of their clash, Erin coated one of her tails in Arcane Armor and blocked the dual axe strike. She quickly pushed the Wight away and dealt with the Ghouls who lunged at her defenseless state. She dodged low from their claws and swiftly cleaved off three heads of the Ghouls.

[Experience gained +6% - Level Progression: 48%]

She immediately went back into her stance and guarded against another blow from the Wight with her Arcane Armored tail. Erin knew not of William’s strength while his heart was still beating but in his death, his swings were enough to land cracks on her Arcane Armor.

Erin spun to the side and lunged a strike but the Wight evaded her blade without so much as a glance.

“Damn,” Erin uttered. She reeled back her sword and prepared for another strike.

The Wight retaliated with a flurry of swings before Erin could. She cast aside blocking and parrying and focused on distancing herself from the attacks that could easily carve through her flesh and bones.

“Fuck!” she cried when one of the swings grazed her left forearm. She had many opportunities to riposte but before she could think about reciprocating the Wight’s attacks, she would need to take care of the hindrances that were the Ghouls.

Erin held back a one-armed Ghoul with her tail and decapitated another one which pounced at her from a roof nearby. The one-armed Ghoul tried to bite her tail but she cast Arcane Armor just in time. She brought the Ghoul close to her reach and lopped its head off.

[Experience gained +4% - Level Progression: 52%]

Erin shifted her attention back to the Wight just as a heavy swing came for her head. She evaded the blow by lowering her posture. She slashed up but the Wight had already retreated its steps, out of Erin’s reach. It lunged again but Erin spun out of the way and aimed for its exposed back. She drew a shallow but long cut. Had it been a living being, it would be crying in pain. As it was a Wight, it naturally felt no pain. The Wight turned around sluggishly and growled with a smirk plastered on its face.

Never did Erin expect to be insulted by an undead of all things. She clenched tightly on her saber. She cast Arcane Edge on her blade. Given the sheer quantity of the Ghouls, she was hoping to conserve her Mana as much as possible but that smug from the Wight snapped her string of patience.

Her foot dug into the ground as she aligned herself at the Wight. She poured Mana into Fleet Foot and launched herself towards the Wight.

The Wight merely snarled as a sign of its confidence. Out of a sudden, the Wight shrouded itself in crimson lightning.

Erin’s eyes widened. “Crimson lightning...”

Her deeply buried suspicions were confirmed. The perpetrator was one and the same that had caused all the aberrations around Green Scar. She had every opportunity to cease her reckless attack at the very moment but remembering its grin, Erin persisted with her attack.

The two swung their weapons. Their blades clashed and the space between them rippled. The Wight’s grin widened and Erin grimaced. Erin felt that she had lost in the clash as she lost her posture. The Wight pressed forward with his assault. Erin parried away the axes with much difficulty, numbing her hands with every attempt. Even though her blade was coated with Arcane Edge and chipping away the axes’ edge, she was losing the exchange of blows.

[Arcane Edge: Lv 2 increase to Lv. 3]

It was a cause for joy but since it didn’t help Erin much in the exchange of blows, the joy dissipated before it even came.

The Wight didn’t care if its axes’ blades were chipping against Erin’s Arcane Edge. It just kept on swinging its axes with the intention to kill. This was one of the main differences in fighting against a living being and an undead, the presence of hesitation. Hesitation is an insidious killer, a principle that Erin had taken advantage of more times than she could count. The Wight had no hesitation with its attack as it knew itself well, and the Wight took full advantage of its undying state.

Dissimilar to the bandit from before, the crimson lightning wasn’t harming the Wight as much as it had to the bandit.

Left with no other choice, Erin tumbled out of the way from the swing but she had thrown herself into the reach of the surrounding Ghouls. Dispatching the small fries wasn’t an issue but it took away the time she needed to brace herself for the Wight’s following attacks.

[Experience +8% - Level Progression: 60%]

Immediately after decapitating the last Ghoul within her blade’s reach, she turned around and raised her saber to guard against the Wight’s slash with both of its axes. Her feet caved into the ground a little and some of the lightning was transmitted to her. A sharp pain echoed in both of her hands. The Wight had a Might in the lower twenties but with the crimson lightning and being an undead, it was able to strain itself way above the value without worrying about the accompanying pain and thus, easily overpowering Erin’s strength.

Erin relaxed her guard and let the axes fall towards her. At that moment, she spun in a full circle and slammed her Arcane Armored tails at the Wight. It did as much as she expected. The Wight merely stumbled away but it got her out of the predicament.

The Wight shrugged off the hit as it straightened itself. It gave Erin a stare and chuckled.

Erin wanted to shout back an insult but this time, her instincts dictated her to stay her ground. The Wight might not have its memories when it was still alive, it still retained a degree of its intelligence and an immense amount of its instincts for combat. Erin triumphed in speed and technique but those advantages of hers was near-nugatory without physical strength. Unlike the Ghouls, Erin found out that the Wight’s flesh wasn’t as frail as its peers.

Just as she was about to cross blades with the Wight again, she noticed the absence of the Ghouls which were approaching her from all sides just seconds ago. She gave a quick look around and found the Ghouls were amassing at Lyra and Freed’s position. They were still holding out but with that sheer amount, their high ground could be quickly overturned.

“Damn it,” Erin cursed. “I have to help them.” Looking at the ever so smug Wight, she instantly knew it to be the cause. “So it can even command the Ghouls… That’s just great.”

There was no room for reservations or hesitation. Erin knew she just had to risk it. She released Arcane Edge on her sword and cast Mystic Blade. She felt a faint migraine but she promptly shook it off. She dashed straight at the Wight with her saber brandished.

The Wight stood its ground and fired off red lightning bolts at Erin. She swiftly cut them all down with ease. The Wight was surprised but annoyance wasn’t present on its expression. It was quick to switch to another attack. It fired off a bolt but this one single bolt was tenfold the size of the previous lightning bolts. Erin met that humongous bolt head-on with her saber infused with Mystic Blade. Unlike the time she fell Nivia’s spell, this one was met with a lot of resistance but she knew she could cut it.

However— she managed to cut down the vast lightning bolt but the resistance was too much for her current Might value to handle. Her saber flew from her shivering hand as the spell exploded into nothing.

“Oh fuck.” Erin cursed. She was now empty-handed in a fight.

The Wight laughed. It wasn’t a chuckle but an actual laugh. The laugh was coarse and hollow. It made Erin shuddered from how terrifying it sounded but it also vexed her to no end when she saw the triumphant look the Wight had.

She was being looked down upon.

The Wight charged at the now defenseless Erin. It was easy for her to dodge the slow yet heavy attack but her pride had just been trampled on. Her hands curled into fists.

“I’ll wipe that fucking smug off your face!”

Erin coated her fists and tails in Arcane Armor and once again dashed straight at the Wight. Right after entering the Wight’s reach, she lowered herself with her body leaned back. Her knees grazed across the soil as she slid under the Wight’s attacks.

She got back up once she was behind the Wight. Before it could turn around, Erin wrapped her arms around the Wight’s neck. The crimson lightning was searing her flesh but she didn’t let go. She could feel her skin burning from the crimson lightning but she wasn’t going to throw away this chance. The Wight began to flail and struggle but Erin adamantly held on. She swung her tails sloppily as she got the Wight in a lock. It was a crude cut and it took some tries but she eventually succeeded in dismembering the Wight’s arms.

[Finesse: 17 increase to 18]

She tossed the armless Wight aside and went for its axes despite the stinging pain she had all over her body from the red lightning. Before the Wight could regain its senses of its current state, Erin turned and swung the axe across the Wight’s neck.

The Wight gasped soundlessly with its eyes agape as the axe flew across its neck.

Its gaze was locked with Erin’s as its head slowly slid off its body. When its head hit the ground, the body followed.

Erin cast Spirit Mend on herself. She couldn’t completely heal the burn but it did alleviate most of the pain. Her attention was then shifted to Lyra and Freed immediately. At a single glance, she could tell they were slowly losing their grounds. She activated Fleet Foot and dash to the roof while using the debris as footholds.

[Warning. Magic Vigor under 25% threshold.]

Erin ignored the warning and leaped from debris to debris swiftly to Lyra’s side.

“Sword!” Erin shouted as she arrived at the roof.

Freed was confused for a moment but he was quick to adjust himself to reality. Despite the Ghouls surrounding him, hungering for his flesh, he tossed the broadsword to Erin who leaped into the air to catch the sword.

Her status was now Severe Exhaustion and Moderate Burn but she paid no heed to it. She couldn’t afford to worry about her own condition if she wanted to save her companions.

“E-Erin… you’re hurt!” Lyra exclaimed but it wasn’t heard by Erin.

She was swiftly and single mindedly dispatching the Ghouls which were pouring onto the roof. Her muscles and nerves were screaming at her to stop but she gritted her teeth and persisted on.

[Experience +2%]

[Experience +2%]

[Experience +2%]

[Experience +2%]

She was accumulating wounds but she ignored the pain and damages. She could worry about all those later when they were safe.

[Experience +2%]

[Experience +2%]

[Experience +2%]

[Experience +2%]

She received injuries from farming tools which some of the Ghouls wielded but she cast aside such afflictions and focused on killing the Ghouls.

[Experience +2%]

[Experience +2% - Level Progression: 80%]

[Sword Art: Lv 6 increase to Lv 7]

Eventually, she managed to cull off the terrifying numbers. There were still a few lurking around but those were just wandering around aimlessly. She noticed the shocked face of Freed who was just beside her the whole time and Lyra who was worried to death.

The sword fell from her grip which was having trouble staying close. Her body felt like it weighed tons. Her hearing and smell was unfocused due to her exhaustion.

“Is it over....?”

Just as she thought about that—

[Sixth Sense activated. Immediate danger detected.]

Realization dawned on Erin. It was her blunder to fail to notice the absence of the experience notification when she decapitated the Wight.

And someone was going to pay the price of her oversight.

In her peripheral vision, an axe was spinning in the air, flying towards her head. She had ample time to dodge the axe but Freed was beside her and he was none the wiser. If she dodged, the axe would bury into Freed’s face instead.

It was his life or hers, and she only had a second to decide. Whose life held more worth in this dire moment, the answer was obvious but it was not the answer she sought. She sought a solution in which the two of them would come out alive.

"I can take the axe," she told herself. "It's going to leave a huge scar on this pretty face but better than the alternative."

Erin made her decision. However, her sentiment and decision was unanimous. Her fate was decided by someone else. A shadow flew into her, tackling her out of the way. Needless to say, the shadow was Lyra.

Erin hit the ground and in her sights, the spinning axe found the unrealizing Freed, cleaving into the side of his head. Blood splattered and flesh burst from the deadly impact. His lifeless body collapsed. When his head hit the ground, Erin's eyes met with his, those eyes that never saw its own death coming.

 

Erinthea - Faerie-kin: Three-Tailed Fox-kin

Level: 11 | Status: Severe Exhaustion | Moderate Burn

Might: 19 | Arcane: 17 | Finesse: 18

Magic Arts
Spirit Magic Lv. 8 | Arcane Edge Lv. 3 | Arcane Armor Lv. 5

Combat Arts
Sword Art Lv. 7 | Fleet Foot Lv. 5 | Brawler Lv. 4

Innate Skills
Appraisal Lv. Ex | Night Vision Lv. Ex | Sixth Sense Lv. Ex | Toxin Resistance Lv. 1 | Lust Deviant Lv. Ex

Unique Talent
Mystic Blade Lv. Ex

 

Level Progression: 80%

Remaining Skill Points: 0

Remaining Ability Points: 0