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n“So that’s why they wear helmets….”

nIt is possible to train your head to withstand some blows by either hardening the skull or building up a strong layer of thing muscle around your skull… but even then, that usually comes with some consequences.

nTraining your skull like that will have an inevitable result of concussions and, most likely, brain damage.

n“Okay, now I know where to aim,” I muttered before sidestepping one of the spartans’ swords and stepping on another’s foot.

nThey were trapped for a split second, causing them to trip when they tried to move away and swing at me again.

nSHING

nI instantly felt a splash of blood coat my face as the spartan coughed up a mouthful of blood which exited the large hole in the center of the helmet.

n“Two…”

nI dashed away, making sure to conserve as much stamina as possible, but from what I could see right now, I wasn’t going to have much of a problem on that end of the spectrum.

nSHING

nI jumped up, spun around, and blocked the large swing with the tail of my spear before using that momentum to flip me again and allow me to break my spear into the spartan’s helmet.

nBut, this guy was sturdier than the rest as he wasn’t knocked unconscious and instead grabbed my ankle and threw me to the ground.

nThe two others who were perfectly fine did a large, wide swing, expecting me to probably be in a bit of shock from the hit… but I had broken my fall perfectly.

nI used my shoulders and knees to break most of the impact, and even though it felt like they were fractured, at least my head wasn’t leaking brains.

n“Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff… Three,” I muttered as I jabbed the end of my spear into the abyssal floor, sending me flying upwards, allowing me to dodge one attack, but get hit by another.

nA stinging sensation ran all the way down my shoulder to just about where my waist was… while a large laceration opened up on my body.

nEverything hurt so damn bad that it felt like I was about to die.

nThe wound was so deep and painful that it felt like the spartans’ sword had seemingly ripped through my spine and ribs.

n“Huff… Huff… Huff…”

nInjured, my stamina began to decrease rapidly as my breathing was now sporadic, and without the help of my skills, I felt like I was panicking a bit.

n“This is the problem with people like you. On a battlefield where the enemy doesn’t care about your status, your rank, or skill… Do you think they’ll wait for you to recover your mana? Your stamina? Huh?”

nThe eye taunted me, but his words went in one ear, jumbled in my brain, and then exited out the other ear.

nWhat rank would these guys be? Low C-Rank? Their raw skill definitely seems like that… No, that wouldn’t make sense as I’m actually keeping up with them… Yeah, high D-rank sounds good as individually, I could take them down, but as a team, they’re a pain in the ass.

nTheir damn teamwork is what was messing me up.

nAs I shook off the indescribable pain, a spartan had appeared next to me, so I ducked out of the way of his sword but was then forced to block two more swings from above.

nOne of my thumbs broke in the process, while the others were just barely hanging onto the joint.

nI knew dragging this stupid fight on would result in my death, but if I didn’t… I would also die, so what is the point?

nBut then… as I breathed in, I felt my lips moisten the air, and my tongue mold it as it was swallowed down my esophagus.

nThe world around me slowed as I rolled out of the way of three large and open attacks, which I saw so clearly that I couldn’t help but take the chance to swing.

nSHING

nIt hit… Did it hit?

nMy swing without momentum only did a slight cut on the monster-like human… but I was somehow able to hit it?

nBefore, my swings would be so slow that they would easily block them, deflect them, or just dodge them entirely… but now it was different?

nMy brain flowed endlessly like a stream of cold spring water, bringing ideas and theories as to why this happened.

n“Ah, it was that simple… Kukuku… HAHAHAHAHA! I’m such an idiot! So that’s why my swings felt so slow!” I shouted into the void and heard it strangely echo back at me.

nAs I dodged out of the way of one of the spartan’s attacks, I already began to my swing and eventually… I stabbed my spear straight through the man’s face.

nHe didn’t even have enough time to react as he fell to the abyssal floor and was soaked back into it like he was fertilizer being absorbed by the ground.

n“Three…” I muttered as my eyes grew colder and my inner self began to jump with excitement.

nI had finally reached a new level in spearsmanship, and the perfect test subjects were right in front of me.

nThis breathing technique that Simo had taught me helped me reach an epiphany in my stale and very normal fighting technique.

nThe two spartans ran towards me again, but this time, everything was different, and as my excitement began to peak, I tried to pull off a familiar move.

nI ducked while both stood beside me, swinging their swords at my neck… but it didn’t work as their swords stopped just before they hit each other.

nI clicked my tongue before rolling out of the way of another attack and slashing the back of the spartan’s head, causing it to get knocked unconscious.

nFinally, I had a one-on-one, and… it was… completely one-sided.

nWithout their teamwork, I completely overwhelmed the single spartan, even causing it to run away as I deflected most of its attacks and then built up more and more momentum.

nAnd finally…

nSHING… Tuk

nThe spartan fell to the ground, his helmet cut in half, and his head split open by the cranium.

n“You leveled up your spearsmanship… Interesting… So tell me, what did you discover?”

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