The clash of weapons echoed through the arena.
The spear in Guinevere's hand swept up and down in rapid succession, forming a dark blur like a frenzied serpent, quickly driving his opponent—a shirtless, muscle-bound fairy warrior—into a desperate situation.
Finally, as Guinevere leapt forward, his spear transformed into a green dragon, thrusting straight toward the fairy's face. To avoid the fatal blow, the fairy lost the balance he had maintained for so long. But that dragon claw strike was a feint—the spear shifted direction at the last moment, sweeping across the fairy's legs and knocking him off the platform.
This time, the cheers from the crowd that had supported the muscular fairy fell silent, like a group of roosters being strangled mid-crow.
So far, this was Guinevere's seventh opponent.
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Ten minutes earlier...
[After knocking the first challenger off the stage with a single strike, the soldiers below began to realize your strength was no fluke.]
[The next to take the stage was a leopard-headed fairy, far stronger than the previous goblin warrior. In fact, his base attributes were even higher than yours.]
[However, in terms of combat experience and technique, you had the clear advantage.]
[Using Windmill Swordsmanship, you easily defeated him with four strikes in one second. Then, you activated Endless Trial to rewind time.]
[Stabbing your sword into the ground once more, you switched to a spear.]
[Thanks to prior training, though your spear skills didn't yet match your swordplay, you still gained the upper hand against the leopard-headed warrior.]
[After thirty intense rounds, you exploited a flaw in his defense and knocked the weapon from his hand.]
[Dissatisfied with the efficiency of that victory, you activated Endless Trial again to restart the battle.]
[After repeating the fight four more times, you finally managed to defeat him within three moves. But instead of moving on, you chose to fight him again with a different strategy.]
"I haven't really become stronger since the first bout. I've just memorized his fighting style and counters. That's why it's easy now, right?"
[Recognizing this, you changed your approach from the outset, refining your spear techniques by exploring different strategies.]
[In the next match, the flow of combat changed completely. After twenty rounds, you barely won and suffered injuries.]
[So, you activated Endless Trial once again.]
[After twelve more fierce battles, you finally reached the point where you could defeat him quickly under any circumstance. Only then did you move on to the next opponent.]
[Because you defeated a foe with higher base attributes using superior skill, your "Momentum" win streak increased by one—now totaling 71 victories.]
[Momentum effect triggered: after prolonged use of the spear and intensive training, you've acquired the skill "Spear Mastery: C."]
[You waited for the next challenger.]
[Using your sword to defeat the new opponent, you restarted the fight, switched to the spear again, and kept repeating until you could defeat them with ease. Only then did you move on.]
[Because your final victories always appeared effortless, weaker fairies didn't dare challenge you. Each new opponent was stronger than the last.]
[As your win streak continued, "Momentum" increased to 75.]
[With continued spear training, your "Spear Mastery" rose to B.]
[Also, your Strength increased by one level.]
[Current base stats: Strength B, Agility B, Endurance B, Mana C, Luck B]
[After defeating your seventh opponent with overwhelming power, your "Spear Mastery: B" was upgraded.]
[Skill acquired: Chinese Martial Arts (Six Harmonies Spear) (Pseudo): A]
Holy crap, finally!
At that moment, Guinevere's pupils dilated, and elation surged in his chest.
After all that grueling training, he had finally unlocked the skill!
While he had many reasons for wanting to train in spear technique, one key goal was to see if "Momentum" could help him acquire this rare skill.
It was just a theory, but since he had managed to brute-force his way into mastering the skill "Supreme Technique" with a few moves of German swordplay, why couldn't he unlock "Chinese Martial Arts (Six Harmonies Spear)" through raw talent and constant battle?
Turns out, he was right.
He did it!
[Skill: Chinese Martial Arts (Six Harmonies Spear) (Pseudo): A]
[The ultimate philosophy of China.]
[A form of martial arts training focused on the harmony between man and nature. This is one of the most difficult skills to master. Unlike other skills, it must reach A rank before being considered "learned."]
[However, because you took a shortcut, relying on talent rather than years of discipline or enlightenment, and without guidance from a master, this version—developed entirely through battle—is still far from the true Six Harmonies Spear.]
[Even so, having grasped its fundamentals, you gain its benefits.]
[When wielding a spear, your attack power greatly increases, and you gain the "Sure Hit" effect.]
Wahoo! Let's go!
Seeing the final line, "Sure Hit," Guinevere's spirits soared.
"Sure Hit" was the bane of "Evasion"!
No more getting toyed with by Fairy Lancelot's seya slashes!
In the game, "Sure Hit" wasn't that impressive—it was a lesser version of "Invincible Pierce," which bypassed both evasion and invincibility, while "Sure Hit" only countered evasion...
But after being granted "Invincible Pierce" by Knocknarea and still failing to land a hit during Lancelot's seya slash, Guinevere realized: in reality, "Evasion" and "Invincibility" must be judged more strictly. "Invincible Pierce" couldn't break through "Evasion."
So now, with "Sure Hit" under his belt, the next time he faced Fairy Lancelot, she was in for a surprise!
All that remained was to keep grinding and upgrade the skill even further!
As Guinevere delighted in his newfound power, something at the bottom of the skill description caught his eye—a line of small text.
"What's this?"
Sensing its importance, Guinevere narrowed his eyes and focused:
[Due to mysterious fate interference, acquiring this skill reduces your Luck stat. The reduction increases with the skill's rank. Current drop: one level.]
[Your Luck has decreased to C.]
[If this skill is upgraded to A+ or loses the (Pseudo) tag, your Luck will decrease further.]
"W—T—F?"
Guinevere froze.
"What's wrong? Tired? Need a break?"
A gentle male voice pulled him back to the present.
He looked up to see a familiar face—Fairy Diarmuid was nodding at him politely:
"Your spear technique is remarkable. Watching from below has left me itching to test myself. May I have the honor of crossing weapons with you? Hm?"
Fairy Diarmuid blinked as Guinevere suddenly tossed aside his spear and picked up the sword that had been lying untouched on the stage.
"Why are you no longer using the spear?" he asked, confused.
Because of Guinevere's constant resets, none of the warriors watching below had ever seen him fight with a sword. They assumed he was a master spearman—his actions were shocking.
"Well... I have my reasons..."
Guinevere scratched his head awkwardly, then quickly thought up a reasonable excuse:
"Uh, truth is, though I've been using a spear, my real specialty is swordsmanship. I can handle weaker foes with a spear, but to fight someone of your caliber, I feel more comfortable with my sword."
"I see," said Fairy Diarmuid, nodding. "You flatter me greatly. Still, from what I've seen, your spear skill rivals mine—no need to downplay it."
It's not about humility—I'm just terrified someone will shout "Kill yourself, Lancer!" one day!
Of course, Guinevere wasn't about to say that out loud.
At this point, he didn't want to waste more words. He drew his sword and lunged.
"Enough talk. Fight me, Xiahoudiarmuid!"
"Uh? But that's not my—"
Fairy Diarmuid tried to speak, but Guinevere's sword wind was already upon him.
He barely managed to raise his spear in time to block the incoming strike.
In the next moment, Guinevere's blade turned into a river of light, engulfing Fairy Diarmuid completely.