Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 274: Difficult To Teach

’How can he be this strong at this age? Even geniuses can’t compare...’ Jane thought as she moved, her steps light and precise, every motion as deliberate as the ticking of a clock crafted by gods. Her sabre glided through the air with effortless grace, intercepting each of Asher’s rapid assaults without a flicker of strain.

She had used a rapier a few times in the past, back in the early days of her training when she had studied multiple weapon disciplines to refine her perception of combat. Because of that, she could tell with unmistakable clarity, Asher’s techniques, his transitions, his footwork, even the slight adjustments in his shoulder angle before each strike, were far too refined for someone of his age and realm.

His movements were not those of a student; they were those of a warrior who had shaped his swordsmanship through a few life-and-death moments.

She could not help but wonder, even as she moved, ’what kind of monstrous talent must he possess to reach this point with only a year since awakening?’

Despite her thoughts, nothing about her defense faltered. Her body flowed like water, unbroken in form, flawless in execution. She managed to both defend and analyze, maintaining a measured distance as she quietly observed the Tenth Sun in motion.

’He will be difficult to teach,’ she thought, a faint, almost imperceptible sigh forming in her chest, but never reaching her lips.

Asher continued to move as though nothing else in the world existed, no watching eyes, no mountain, no sky. Only the clash, only the blade, only the next breath of combat. Reality outside that moment blurred into insignificance. But, no matter how he moved, no matter how sharp his rapier carved through the air, it felt as though he was striking against an unbreakable wall. Every time he attempted a feint, Jane did not even bother acknowledging it. She simply ignored it, reacting only to the true danger within his strikes.

But Asher did not falter. He did not frown, nor did frustration breach his calm. He did not grow careless simply because he could not land a single clean strike. Instead, he observed. His Battle Intuition surged, sharpening his perception as he studied Jane’s movements, her breathing rhythm, even the subtle shifts in her guard, but still, he gleaned no opening.

She wasn’t committing to true offense; she was merely reacting, testing him, measuring the extent of his technique. He understood Jane was not unable to counterattack; she simply chose not to. She was assessing, not pressured.

Then, in a burst of speed, their blurring forms cut across the space where the students were gathered. The students, weary and bruised, could not even move out of the path of their approach. Some flinched, others squeezed their eyes shut, mentally bracing for impact, fully expecting Asher and Instructor Jane to crash into them like a destructive wave.

Yet no such pain came.

Both Asher and Jane moved with the agile finesse of apex predators, their footwork threading through microscopic gaps in the formation of bodies sprawled across the earth. Nearly two hundred students lay scattered across the mountain ground, yet the two duelists wove through them like smoke slipping between fingers, not a single heel grazing a stray hand or shoulder. Their control over momentum and space was absolute it boardered on madness.

Even so, the impact of their clash sent waves of force billowing outward, hurling the students backward despite never being touched. They rolled, tumbled, and skidded across the ground, coughing lightly but managing to stabilize themselves. The shock was powerful, but survivable.

Asher’s rapier tore forward again in a downward slash, Virelass falling like a celestial blade meant to cleave the world in two. Jane merely shifted her stance with elegant simplicity and sidestepped, letting the rapier slice through the air where she had stood only heartbeats earlier. But this time, she did not remain passive.

She moved. She attacked.

And when she did, she did so with graceful lethality.

Asher’s Omni Perception instantly flared, picking up the shift in pressure, the faint tightening of her grip, the minute angle change in her wrist, Instructor Jane was no longer testing. She was hunting.

Her sabre cut across the air toward his throat like a guillotine of silver light. Asher could not withdraw his rapier in time; he had over-committed his motion. With no other choice, he ducked, his knees bending sharply. The moment he descended, he felt the cold whisper of her blade slice across the space where his neck had just been.

Her sabre halted for a fraction of a breath, adjusting mid-motion with impossible precision, transitioning from a horizontal slash to a vertical one without losing a shred of momentum. It came down toward his back with lethal accuracy.

Even though his back faced her, Asher saw it in perfect clarity. His mind registered each motion, each shift of her blade, as though time itself slowed to accommodate his perception.

’Was the earlier strike a feint?’ he questioned rapidly.

’No,’ he answered himself just as quickly. ’She simply recalibrated instantly, adapting to my evasion in real time.’

His arm snapped upward like a homing projectile, his rapier streaking toward her incoming sabre in an attempt to deflect. The world seemed to slow, anticipation coiling around the moment like a drawn bow about to be released.

But the expected clang of metal never came.

The spray of sparks did not explode.

Because Jane had already adapted again.

Before his blade could intercept, her sabre flowed from a vertical slash to a forward thrust with fluid grace, the motion so clean that not even wind could catch up to it. The point of her sabre darted toward his thigh like a serpent’s fang.

Just as it was about to pierce flesh, Asher’s Instinctive Adaption roared to life. His body twisted at the last possible moment, moving not from conscious decision but from a raw, primal reflex sharpened by numerous near-fatal encounters. He narrowly evaded the strike.

A thunderous crack echoed through the ground. The space where his leg had been exploded inward, earth caving under the sheer weight of her blow. Shattered rock and splinters of earth flew upward like debris caught in a storm, dust clouds billowing in violent spirals.

Through the swirling haze of dust, a streak of purple burst backward, Asher, retreating to create space and reset his stance.

But Jane did not allow him even a heartbeat to breathe.

She chased, relentless.

Like a predator that had finally bared its fangs, she moved with a ferocity and elegance she had not shown to any other student prior. Her sabre flashed, each strike faster than the last, the air trembling under the speed of her offense. Every movement carried killing intent, controlled, but sharp enough to tear through steel.

Her strikes were lightning given form, sudden, blinding, and merciless.

But Asher did not crumble. His response came with unnerving immediacy, his rapier lashing forward in a blur of silver, intercepting her attack with perfect timing. Their blades collided once more with a thunderous impact that split the air.

Asher’s purple eyes never left her silhouette. He did not dare blink. Missing even a flicker of her movement would spell defeat.

Their weapons locked mid-air for the briefest instant, and Jane moved again. Her wrist twisted clockwise, attempting to redirect his rapier, to disarm him in one swift flourish. But Asher had already seen it. His wrist rotated in the opposite direction, countering the maneuver and halting her motion completely.

Jane’s black eyes lifted, meeting his with chilling clarity. For the first time, something faint flickered in her gaze, not surprise, not anger, but a subtle acknowledgment.

She did not speak.

But she had decided to up the tempo in order to see where the Tenth Sun’s limits truly stood.

The earth beneath her feet shattered in an instant. Wind barriers broke apart around her form as she flickered like a storm preparing to break.

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AUTHOR’S NOTE: I at least deserve a super gift for these peak Chapters. Anybody, please send me any super gift; I’m dying for one.