Chapter 166: [166] A New Method

Ark had already dedicated his body into the swing, so the moment Soo-jin shifted her blade out of the way, he was left unbalanced.

And now her sword was coming down, right towards the back of his head—

There was no time to turn around to receive the attack, so Ark bent his elbows, whipping the flat of his sword to his back.

Clang!

By resting the flat side of his sword against his skull, he was able to absorb the attack, but the resulting shock sent a shockwave through his neck and spine.

Ark spun out of the way as Soo-jin struck once more. Her blade clashed against the ground, and he stabbed at her face.

But as usual, she shifted her head slightly, the sword slicing past her cheek, leaving a minor cut.

Blood drifted down.

Ark pushed his attack, closing the distance between them with a heavy horizontal strike. Their weapons collided with a loud metallic shrill, as the blades grinded against each other.

He pushed the blade forward with more force and Soo-jin gritted her teeth, compensating for the strength difference by placing her free hand on the blunt part of the sword.

She smiled. Their faces close enough for Ark to once again perceive that intoxicating fragrance.

He frowned. "You’re cheating."

The reason Soo-jin was able to easily dodge all his attacks, the reason she seemed to always be one step ahead of him, was because of her skill.

She was looking into the future.

Soo-jin had never expressly told him that she could see the future. But there were signs, there had always been signs.

She pouted. "I’m just taking a little peek... you on the other hand are only this powerful because of that ability aren’t you?"

Tzzzz!

Sparks fizzled out of the weapons as Ark shoved her back. She was airborne for a brief second, before her feet slid on the floor.

Soo-jin held her sword to her body, preparing to recieve Ark’s blow, and just as she expected, it was vicious, powerful and unrelenting.

"Now I know how the others must have felt. You’re a monster!" Soo-jin laughed as she darted out of the way.

Ark unleashed an array of strikes, but Soo-jin smoothly dodged every single one of them. Each time, it was just by a hair’s breath, each time, she was out of the way.

’There are ways to counter future prediction...’ Ark mused as he leaned back, the invisible sword speeding past him.

He did not hear a single sound.

He struck from the side, but Soo-jin dropped to her knees, his sword brushing past the tip of her ears as she swept him off his feet using her tail.

Ark landed flat on his back. Soo-jin stabbed at his forehead, but he quickly rolled out of the way, just as the blade dug into the stage.

....Since Soo-jin was likely seeing glimpses, and not the entire future, if he attacked her from her blind spot, then there would be no way to dodge it, since she hadn’t seen it in the past.

Or so he thought...

That proved to be just as useless. Each time his sword came from an area she should have not been able to see, her ears would twitch, and then she would either block, or move out of the way.

The Patient Ear.

It almost felt as if she had eyes at the back of her head!

His speed and strength were rendered completely useless.

If he could not hit her, then what was the use of his strength?

If she always knew what ways he would strike, then what was the point of being faster?

And that was all without considering her speed and skill with the blade. He may have been stronger, but she was just as fast as him.

As for her swordmanship—Ark could feel a tingling in his chest—it was stellar!

Her blade came for his face and he swung his blade to meet her own, but once again, his blade cut through plain air.

"What the—?"

But Ark had seen that trick before. He was ready for it. He immediately leaped back, expecting to be out of range when—

Swish!

The sword sliced right the fabric on his shoulder, digging through his bone before cutting past him.

Ark created distance between them then stared at the injury that was now dripping red dust, before staring back at Soo-jin.

"Are you serious? An Odachi?"

Of all weapons she could have used, she had picked one of the largest of them all...

Soo-jin innocently cocked her head to the side. "Hmm? I don’t know what you are talking about."

They began to walk around in a circle, each person eying their opponent.

’This battle would be much easier if I use my skills.’

An invisible sword was deadly, but it was not something that could not be overcome, especially for someone at his level.

There was only one problem...

If Ark decided to use his skills, he would win, but he would learn nothing which would be a let down.

The Seeing Eyes had already greatly improved his combat ability, if he was able to learn another one of the basics, then its effects would no doubt have tremendous effect.

Still...

"This isn’t working." Ark shook his head. "At this rate, I’ll learn too slowly."

He was meant to be using his ears, but he could not help but rely on his other senses during battle, his eyes especially.

Normally, this was a good habit, but in this situation, it was a bad one.

"Then I have a solution..." Soo-jin smiled. She lowered her weapon and walked up to him, then raised her hand.

"What?"

She frowned. "Give me your hand."

Ark skeptically placed his hand in hers, only to nearly die in shock as she brought it to her waist.

"W-what are you doing?!" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Was this part of the training? How was this training??

She slipped his fingers between her belt, and Ark stared up at the ceiling. He could feel the warmth of her abdomen, the softness of the fabric as it brushed against his bony finger, and the heat of her fingers wrapped around his own.

"S-Soo-jin?" Ark heard himself stutter.

She smiled. "This should work."

She undid the belt holding her shirt to her body, allowing the fabric to settle in his hands. Then her shirt fell over her skirt line an untucked shirt.

"Eh?" Ark stared back down to see her smiling at him.

Her ears twitched, her tail swaying back and forth, then she cocked her head to the side.

"You have such a rotten mind don’t you?"

Ark gave her a dumbfounded stare. "You know what you were doing."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." She clapped her hands. "Alright, you use the blind fold and try to predict where I attack from using sound alone."

Since there was no longer any need to keep her sword invisible, Soo-jin undid the enchantment, and Ark was left to stare in awe.

It was an Odachi for sure, but it was so much larger than the standard weapon. And that was not the only strange thing about it, the sword seemed to have shifting parts, as well as multiple holes lining its surface.

"What are those for?" Ark asked, pointing at the mechanism.

Soo-jin clicked something on the hilt, and the sword noiselessly slid into itself, its length changing.

’So this is why I could not estimate its size...’ Soo-jin had constantly been changing the size of the weapon throughout the fight.

Ark did not know whether to be angry or impressed. Having a contraption like this forces the player to rely on listening for the sound alone, but at the same time...

"This is wickedness."

"It is training." Soo-jin took a few steps back and motioned at him to use the blind fold. "Do you know what I needed to do to borrow this weapon for your sake?"

Ark wrapped the material around his eyes. It was still warm. "Yeah yeah, thank you."

The word around Ark was now a mass of swirling black. There was not a single wisp of light, just a still, disturbing darkness.

Being blindfolded and holding a sword felt weird. Ark had night vision, so even at night he was able to fight quite well. This was the first time he would be fighting without using his eyes.

He took in a deep breath, and then focused on his ears.

He could pick out sounds he normally ignored, he could hear a few crickling sounds from his body, but other than that, it was quiet.

Too quiet.

’Where is Soo-jin?’

Ark suddenly felt the sharp edge of her sword press against his neck, and her warm breath against the side of his face.

"Let’s talk about the guild you opened, and the time you spent..."

"With Olivia."

As the words slipped out of her lips, Ark felt a chill run down his spine.

’Maybe... maybe this was a bad idea.’