Family Man System: Taking Care Of My Family Makes Me OP

Chapter 31: Growth

Breathing heavily, still on his knees, Kai stared at the scene before him.

For the past thirty minutes, he had done little more than slash and dodge, his body moving on instinct as he fought to survive.

He had gone through three swords and sustained injuries to his left thigh, shoulder, and cheek.

Yet all that effort, that relentless struggle to keep himself alive and moving forward, had resulted in this.

A graveyard of fallen soldiers.

Numerous breastplates and helmets lay scattered throughout the long gallery, remnants of the warriors that had continued emerging from the darkness with only one purpose: to kill him.

They seemed determined to keep him trapped here, stranded at the very beginning of the stage. Their relentless thirst for blood had given Kai no opportunity to lower his sword, let alone stop and rest.

"System... tell me... this ends here..."

Kai knew he had slain every one of them without suffering any serious wounds. Even so, he could not bring himself to advance any farther.

It was enough for one day.

He could not conquer these ruins on his first attempt.

[Host, you may leave the ruins at any time. There is no requirement to remain and clear a stage. However, if you complete a stage, you will not need to start from the beginning upon your return. You will also receive a complete recovery potion, followed by the rewards you have earned.]

[At this point, the system strongly insist that the host finish the mission.]

[Fallen Knights: 49/50]

Kai exhaled a long breath and steadied himself.

The system was right. He only needed to push himself a little farther. But if he surrendered now and left the ruins at this point, he would have to go through all of this again from the beginning.

No. That would be neither wise nor acceptable. Worse, it would open a path he would rather never step onto.

A path of excuses.

He either needed to raise his game or go home.

He chose the former.

"Alright, let’s see."

Kai pushed himself upright, using the sword as a crutch.

The blade was scraped and chipped in several places, but it would have to do.

He looked ahead.

A knight was approaching him.

Unlike the others, its steps were firm and silent. It did not drag its sword along the floor, nor did it move with the sluggish, mechanical rhythm of the warriors he had already defeated.

Kai narrowed his eyes.

The knight looked different too.

Not by much, but enough to catch his attention.

There was something sharper about it.

And soon, the system confirmed that Kai’s eyes had not deceived him.

[Name: Unnamed Knight]

[Rank: F]

Kai drew in a sharp breath.

The first knight he had encountered with an actual rank.

And it was the same rank as him.

He knew his potential had increased and the pill had given him a considerable boost, but his instincts were still those of an F-rank hunter. Whatever strength he had gained, his combat experience had not magically caught up with it.

’This one will require more than just effort.’

Kai did not wait for the knight to reach him. Instead, he lunged forward, closing the distance on his own terms.

His sword swept forward in a direct, powerful slash. For an instant, he was certain the attack would connect.

Then the knight moved.

It raised its sword at an unusual angle, catching Kai’s blade and subtly redirecting its momentum. The movement was so smooth that Kai’s slash was diverted without resistance, sending his sword harmlessly past the knight’s shoulder before it crashed toward the ground.

Kai was still trying to comprehend how effortlessly his attack had been turned aside when suddenly,

Dhak!

The knight drove its shoulder into his chest.

Kai staggered backward, a cough tearing from his throat as pain erupted through his chest.

His legs throbbed as well. After fighting for so long without rest, every muscle in his body was beginning to protest.

But before he could recover, Kai noticed the knight moving its sword.

It wasn’t preparing to strike him.

"!!!"

His eyes sharpened.

The knight abruptly drove its sword into a fallen breastplate, hooked it with the blade, and hurled the entire piece of armor straight at Kai.

"Tch." Kai clicked his tongue and raised his left hand to swat the armor away, only to find the knight already upon him, its sword descending toward his neck.

"Fuck!"

Kai cursed and raised his sword with one hand.

CLANG!

The heavy impact jolted through his arm, nearly tearing the sword from his grip.

Kai was completely exposed.

Yet rather than exploiting the opening with its blade, the knight did something far more unexpected.

Crack!

It slammed its helmet into Kai’s face.

His vision blurred as pain exploded across his features. Kai staggered backward, his head ringing as he struggled to regain his bearings.

In those brief moments, he understood one thing.

This knight wasn’t merely here to swing a sword and draw blood.

It was here to fight.

Kai drew a deep breath.

He could feel blood trickling from his nose. His chest was still throbbing from the earlier blow, and the hand gripping his sword trembled slightly from exhaustion.

He knew that if he drew either of the weapons gifted to him by the system, defeating this knight would be easy. Not only were those weapons overwhelmingly powerful, but Kai had also gained enough experience to make proper use of them.

But he chose not to.

He took a step forward and brought his other hand to the hilt, gripping the sword with both hands.

His eyes never left the warrior.

The knight had begun walking to the side, almost as if it were giving Kai the opportunity to run through the hallway and leave the battle behind.

The mockery was there.

The pain was there.

But Kai chose something above both.

Something he had learned during all those years of being treated like a punching bag.

Patience.

He changed direction and advanced toward the knight.

The warrior tilted its head before casually swinging its blade at Kai.

Kai watched it carefully, following the trajectory until the very last moment. Only then did he move his sword.

CLANG!

The attack, which had begun as a seemingly casual slash toward his thigh, was blocked inches from his neck.

Screech!

The knight continued to apply pressure.

It confirmed what Kai had already begun to suspect. The knight wasn’t taking him lightly.

It was merely pretending to.

Kai tilted his sword and redirected the attack before immediately slashing toward the gap between the helmet and chest plate.

CLANG!

As expected, the blade was blocked.

But unlike the knight, when Kai pressed against the deadlock,

Screech!

The warrior was forced backward, its sword trembling beneath the pressure.

The knight immediately changed its strategy.

It became aggressive.

Again and again, its blade flashed toward Kai, targeting every opening that could cripple him and leave him helpless, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Yet Kai parried every attack without needing to move an inch.

A diagonal slash toward his head was avoided with nothing more than a slight tilt.

A thrust toward his chest was deflected by the flat of his blade.

A sweeping strike toward his leg was intercepted before it could reach him.

There was no panic in Kai’s movements.

The calmness he displayed did not come from some sudden boost the system had granted him.

No.

It came from a realization.

Something finally clicked in his mind.

Kai was already far stronger than the knight standing before him.

And the knight knew it too.

With that understanding came certainty.

The battle had already been decided.

And with that realization,

SQUELCH!

Kai’s blade pierced through the gap in the knight’s armor.

He had already won.