Only I Am A Reader
chapter-78

Grrrrrrr…

"Hey."

The 'animal' giving Leo a murderous glare looked like a wolf, but it was the farthest it could be from being a wolf.

Boasting a height that rivaled the current Leo, its line of sight almost matched that of Leo, the coldness in its eyes made the muscles on its body look more terrifying than ever. The 'things' protruding out of its rested paws looked nothing like claws, rather, the closest object one could think of when looking at them was a 'Sword'! This was none other than a bonafide 'Sword Beast'!

Although the Sword Beast's death stare made Leo feel like running away, he calmly stood in his position, making use of this battle of intimidation to analyze his opponent.

As the first thing to check when it came to a 'Sword' battle, Leo had already started sensing the beast's Sword Breath. However, despite him confirming it to be at the same level as him, Leo's expression only grew grimmer.

'This will be tough…'

The way that Sword Beasts came to be was far more simple than Swordsmen came to be. As long as an animal was 'chosen' by it, Sword Breath would do the work for it and slowly accumulate in its body, allowing it to ascend without any trouble. Unfortunately, that wasn't the extent of its effect…

Shishss…

Slowly drawing a sword out from the 'Infinity Sword Wheel', Leo couldn't help but stare at the beast's 'claws', just from looking at it he could tell that the battle would be imbalanced.

Unlike humans who could only use their bodies as a vessel to contain Sword Breath, being barely capable of using it as a tool, Sword Beasts were like the beloveds of the ambient Sword Breath. Other than having to spend no effort, Sword Breath would even go as far as to mutate their body, they would not only look more like huge monsters, but they would also obtain natural 'Swords' that would give them a great advantage.

Grroar! Swish!

Klang!

Seeing the sword in Leo's hand, the beast no longer restrained itself as it swiped its claws covered in Sword Breath at him. In response, Leo quickly used his sword technique not to parry but deflect the attack!

'As expected…'

The beast's enhanced 'claws' weren't sharper nor heavier, but from this one exchange, Leo had already confirmed his doubts, the advantage these Sword Claws had was none other than toughness.

According to the novel, the one that would end up encountering this beast in the future would be lucky enough to find it injured, but even then, it gave him trouble before it really died. Despite just using grade-2 Sword Breath to cover its claws, Leo guessed that it was probably as tough as a grade-3 Sword Breath cover thanks to the mutant claws being used as the base.

Klang! Klang! Klang! Klang…

Naturally, the beast didn't give Leo the time to think, swiping its claws left and right. Leo could barely deflect each attack thanks to his superior 'Swordsmanship', but his mind grew frosty with each attack. The beast wasn't something a normal grade-2 Swordsman could deal with, but Leo didn't come unprepared.

"Let's do this."

The thrill of fighting a Sword Beast wasn't something Leo could experience back on Earth, the sword in his hand was close to breaking down, but Leo was unfazed.

One simply couldn't be careless when it came to fighting Sword Beasts, one attack from them was enough to rip the life out of any Swordsman they encountered, and the same couldn't be said for the opposite.

If one wasn't fast or strong enough to finish off their opponent before they managed to land an attack, then there was only one path, disarming them! This was not only Leo's choice for this battle but also many other specialized Beast Hunters' methodology, collectively known as Swordbreaker Style!

Crackkk!

The beast's eyes lit up as Leo's sword shattered into pieces after deflecting its claws for one last time, prompting it to quickly follow up with another attack. Regrettably, Leo had already let go of the broken sword before quickly reaching to his back and using his sword draw to directly deflect the attack without fail!

Grrrrroaar!

The beast howled in anger and threw another attack, but Leo stood his ground and repeated the whole process. Every single mistake could lead to death. However, Leo's technique only grew more refined as he got familiar with the beast's attack pattern.

Crackkk!

Crackkk!

Crackkk!

Leo's steel swords broke in succession before some chips started to take shape on the beast's Sword Claws. Still, Leo was confident in his plan. Even though the beast had a pair of tough claws, he would intentionally make sure his deflection struck the whole 'bundle' to ensure the success of his method. He couldn't beat the beast in quality, but he could beat it in quantity!

'Now!'

Before the last sword he had broke down, Leo pretended to deflect the coming claw only to bend down and break the beast's balance, using the window he just opened to run away with all his might. The Sword Beast was shocked as the 'routine' they practiced for the last half hour was broken, springing up to chase after the annoying human who intruded on its territory.

The Sword Beast's large body gave him the advantage in speed, but Leo didn't go deep in its territory for a reason.

Swoosh!

The Sword Beast quickly caught up to Leo, but as the scenery around him went back to normal after miraculously avoiding its claw swipe, the wolf-like beast suddenly stopped in its tracks!

'It worked!'

It wasn't like the Sword Beast was chained by something, but it could only stare at Leo in contempt. This was naturally part of Leo's plan.

To begin with, the beast simply couldn't leave its territory for the same reason Leo chose this mission. It didn't want to leave any chance for someone or something to approach its 'opportunity'!

"Here you are."

After running for a while, Leo stopped before a tree that had a bag laid on it. Removing the 'Revolving Backpack' from his back, Leo reached into the back to pull out a sword 'magazine'.

Opening the wooden box to exchange the empty sheathes with the new belt of swords that he had intentionally left here, Leo retrieved his water jug from the bag before laying down to rest…

'This should do.'

Only ten minutes had passed, but Leo didn't indulge himself any further. It was good to restore his stamina, but that would only give the beast a chance to recover his 'swords', he simply couldn't afford to let that happen.

Upon getting up, he put the 'Infinity Sword Wheel' back on before tying a normal sword belt around his waist, bringing the number of swords on his body up to 8.

"Hello again."

Walking back up the Sword Beast's territory, Leo smiled at his adversary with more confidence in his eyes, this battle was already decided!

Grrrrroaar!

While Sword Breath had promoted the beast's strength, it didn't promote its intelligence. Seeing the annoying human once again, it resumed its battle once again regardless of its damaged claws.

Crackkk! Crackkk…

Breaking one sword after another, the Sword Claws no longer had their natural luster as it had chips all over. The resounding noise of sword breaking resounded again, but this time…

Crack.

Leo's sword wasn't the one to break! Holding his second to last sword, Leo couldn't help but smile, he had succeeded in his 'nail clipping' session!

Being finally able to change the use of his sword technique's forms from deflection to attack, he consecutively struck the Sword Beast's neck!

Awoooo…

Helplessly letting out a wolf-like howl for the first time before its neck flew away from its neck, the Sword Beast's body collapsed to the ground, announcing the winner of this battle.

"Phew…"

Similarly collapsing in front of the beast's corpse, Leo let out a breath of relief. Everything was meticulously planned, but this one 'wolf' was harder to fight than the 12 'Fanged Wolves' that came knocking on his door a few years ago. After all, he lacked the advantage of 'territory' this time…

'Let's see.''

Although Leo's body protested that it wanted to rest after the taxing battle, Leo quickly stood up, dragging his exhausted body deeper into the Sword Beast's territory. His advancement only stopped when his eyes laid on a small waterfall, the voice in his mind coinciding with the glow in his eyes.

[ Hidden Event occurrence has been detected… ]