Chapter 238

Neo stood ready as Sa took a deep breath. In front of him a sword materialized out of nothing. The blade built up slowly at first, then faster, glowing with a bright yellow light until it formed fully. Sa pulled the finished sword in front of her, inspected the edge with a sharp glance, and held it steady. Without another word she blitzed toward him.

Neo did not wait a second. He activated his Astrid swordsmanship skill and met her in the middle of the air. Steel rang against steel as their blades locked for the first time. One clear desire drove him in that moment: the need to make his own decisions. The stubbornness that always haunted him rose up at the same time. He wanted autonomy, yet he knew some people who offered guidance truly cared. The conflict sat in the back of his mind while he forced his body to move.

He managed to push her away with a hard shove of his shoulder and a twist of his wrist. Sa landed lightly, grinned, and said, "Since it’s like this I shouldn’t hold back." She settled into a low stance. Neo cursed under his breath as countless yellow swings filled his vision. The air itself seemed to split under the speed of her blade.

He called on Astrid swordsmanship again and blocked a three-meter circle of hits around his body. His heart raced. This was real swordsmanship. Compared to Nara swordsmanship it felt like a bicycle next to a Ferrari. Nara had been human, smart, nothing more. No racial edge, no extra power. Sa had both talent and training that put her in another league.

Neo snapped his focus back to the woman in front of him and tried his best to block every attack. Soon he was left only on defense. Each time he tried to shift into offense he found no gap. Sa left him nothing. Her strikes stayed constant, never wild, always closing the space he needed.

His mind raced. An idea formed. He took a new stance and fused Nara swordsmanship with Astrid swordsmanship on the spot. The result was a stronger form he named Frozen Rose swordsmanship. He pressed forward with it at once. Petals of cold energy trailed each cut. Sa’s eyes widened when she felt the change.

"Who’s disciple are you?" she asked, still moving. "How were you able to do such a feat this easily? People spend months trying to fuse swordsmanships. You did it on the fly."

Neo answered while their blades crossed again. "Is it really a big deal?"

She nodded hard. "Yes it was."

"I did it myself," he said. "I don’t have a master."

Her attacks grew heavier. She aimed for his joints and blind spots without mercy. Between swings she called out the new terms. "How about this? If I win you become my disciple."

Neo grinned through the pressure. "Since you were able to change your winning condition then I will change mine too. If I win you become my disciple."

Sa laughed and nodded. There was no way he would win. She was the most talented woman who had entered the Sword God realm at her age. Except for that one new prodigy she did not see herself losing to anyone.

Neo grinned wider and looked at his system. He used every mana stone he had and bought every cheap foundation sword skill available. He fused them together into one strong foundation skill called Master of Beginning, ranked S. The description appeared clear: your grasp on the foundation is so profound a normal Sword God would not be able to shake it.

He fused that new skill with Frozen Rose. The result was a skill named Cold Storm, ranked SS+. In that moment another desire rose inside him: the need to understand himself. The flaw that always followed was his tendency to overthink every emotion. He wanted self-knowledge yet kept analyzing his feelings instead of simply living them. The conflict stayed present even as power flooded his arms.

Cold Storm carried the same style as Frozen Rose but refined every weak point. More important, it expanded the reach of the swordsmanship to a full three-mile radius. Neo grinned and unleashed it on Sa. The storm of cold blades pushed her backward step by step. He pressed from every angle. She wiped sweat from her brow and cursed.

"Boy, how were you able to make your swordsmanship that advanced in literal seconds?"

Neo kept the pressure on. "No telling."

He drove her toward a corner of the clearing. Trees cracked under the force of their exchange. He almost ended the fight right there. Then Sa’s eyes flashed red with anger. She murmured, "Secret style: Devil Steps."

Her sword turned deep red. On the ground Neo saw a rapid trail of red footprints. They passed him before he could fully react. Pain exploded. His arm was cut clean off. Blood sprayed. The limb hit the dirt. Almost at once it regenerated. He already carried many regeneration skills. Flesh knit, bone reformed, skin closed. He lifted his sword again with a whole arm and took a deep breath.

Sa appeared once more and launched the same movement. Neo closed his eyes. He activated his sensing location skill and concentrated with everything he had. Faintly he predicted her next step. He lifted his blade already knowing where the red footprints would form and swung with all the power Cold Storm could give.

Sa was caught off guard. The impact shot her body like a cannonball. She slammed through tree after tree, leaving a broken path. Blood marked every trunk. She rose slowly, walked back to Neo, and said she had lost. Then she grinned through the pain and told him that as much as she wanted sex now and meant to keep the deal, her body could not handle it yet.

Neo looked at the damage covering her and answered at once. "Don’t worry." He hurried up, brought many healing potions, and gave them to her to drink. Sa grabbed them and drank them all. After she finished the last one her body wounds began healing up.