Sword Among Us
chapter-96

Chapter 96: Practicing Martial Arts in the Ancient Tomb

Once he witnessed Happy’s lightness skill and ability with the throwing knives, Thunderous Battle no longer treated him like a normal Gate Realm player. He knew that a normal Gate Realm player would not be able to do this. In fact, they would not even dare to enter the ancient tomb. With the Stone Giant’s brutal combat abilities, it would only take three hits to kill a Gate Realm player. If their vitals were hit, there was even a possibility that they would be killed in one hit.

“You usually need a party of at least three people to take care of a Stone Giant, and we take turns to tank its attacks. Every one can last for five minutes, and we kill it once each of us tanks its attacks for two rounds.

“But if I have to tank him alone, three minutes… will be very tough for me. I will only be able to do it for two minutes before I have to search for a place to take medication, circulate my qi, and treat my injuries.”

“I’ll try my best to work with you to attack the Stone Giant’s joints and reduce its attack speed,” Happy said while nodding slowly. His relaxed words and understanding tone shocked Thunderous Battle. He also felt a strange sense of ease. It was as if the companion by his side was not just in Gate Realm.

Once he relaxed, Thunderous Battle nodded.

“Alright!”

As he spoke, he brought out a broadsword as wide as a palm from his Universe Bag. The body of the blade was golden, thick, and made without any sort of flourish. There were two blurry words on the hilt, and at first glance, Happy could tell the weapon came from a famous swordsmith.

“This is Square Palace Sword. It adds 200 attack and 50 weapon defense,” Thunderous Battle said proudly. “You can only use masterpieces against Stone Giants. Weapons that are slightly inferior in quality will become blunt after you train against them for a long time, and you’ll have to repair them when you go back. You’re training… with an axe? Not bad, it’s also a masterpiece!”

Before he finished speaking, Happy brought out a shiny silver axe from his Universe Bag.

He raised his eyebrows and said with surprise and delight, “Axe techniques have the highest attack, and their chances of success in blocking attacks is also the highest. I was just about to suggest you to practice your axe techniques now. It’s really great to work with people who know their way in the game! No need to talk more. I’m going up against it!”

Once he finished speaking, he turned and rushed toward the Stone Giant in the furthest corner.

Happy held the axe with both his hands. His elegant appearance was a bizarre match with such a weapon.

He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath in a relaxed manner. Then, he sensed qi surge out of his Dantian Region, and it swiftly enveloped his entire body. Then, he opened his eyes and stomped on the ground.

Whoosh!

He activated his Cloud Treading Steps and charged forward at full speed. He caught up to Thunderous Battle, who had attracted the Stone Giant’s attention and had stopped not too far away to fight.

The Stone Giant seemed to have springs on its feet and to not be able to sense its own weight. It moved like the wind, and with quick steps, it was seven feet away from Thunderous Battle.

Whoosh!

A violent gust of wind roared, and its huge grayish-white fist charged straight at Thunderous Battle with a force that brought huge pressure to all those who faced it.

Shing! Clang!

Thunderous Battle moved like a phantom. He bent down, and at the same time he avoided the fist, he swung his Square Palace Sword at the Stone Giant’s waist and left behind a white mark. It let out a sound that resembled a metallic clang.

Thunderous Battle might seem to have gained the advantage, but in truth, the Stone Giant did not sense that it had been injured and felt no pain. As if it had not been injured, it swiftly turned around, and as if it had eyes on its back, it punched Thunderous Battle’s left arm.

Clang!

Thunderous Battle was forced back several feet. A strange bloody-red mark appeared on his face, which made it clear that he had suffered an internal injury.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Stone Giant strode forward with big strides, chasing after Thunderous Battle like a shadow.

At that moment…

Clang!

A loud clang rose, and the Stone Giant’s gigantic body trembled slightly. Bits of stone were scraped off its heel. It turned around with a glare, and a teenager with a shiny axe appeared in its sight.

Happy had attracted the Stone Giant’s hate[1] at the critical moment!

This was what was good about the puppet traps. Even though their damage was astonishing, their intelligence was low, and they did not know how to exploit their strength. Hence, many people used them as practice targets later in the game.

“Good job!”

Breathing hard, Thunderous Battle regulated the injuries in his body. He rushed forward with his sword, and taking advantage of the Stone Giant’s injury, his broadsword sliced through the wind and cut into stone. It also struck the Stone Giant’s heel.

Even though he believed that his experience in dealing with Stone Giants was greater than Happy’s, Thunderous Battle was not an obstinate person. When he saw that the spot where Happy attacked could freeze up the Stone Giant’s swift counterattacks, he naturally knew how to adopt and use the technique.

The Stone Giant had raised its hand by that time, but once it was hit by Thunderous Battle’s sword, it did indeed show signs of freezing for a moment.

Even though it was a brief pause, it was enough for Happy to retreat safely, and his threat level was reduced to its lowest.

After Happy retreated, Thunderous Battle attracted the Stone’s Giant hate again!

It turned around swiftly.

Whoosh…

Thunderous Battle switched from attack to defense and started withstanding the Stone Giant’s attacks headon.

As he defended, he could not help but reveal some of his weaknesses. At one point, he wanted to use his advantage in experience to avoid a few of the Stone Giant’s attacks and lengthen the training time, but he was nearly forced into retreat. Once Happy turned the tables around, he had to be realistic and put on a defensive stance to practice his martial arts.

Happy did not say anything. Once Thunderous Battle decided to behave, he returned to the back of the Stone Giant again. His qi surged in his Dantian region, and he struck with his Five Continuous Axe Strikes at full strength. He chased after the Stone Giant’s footsteps in a rhythmic manner and poured out all of his power on the puppet

It was clear that Thunderous Battle was practicing a high-tier martial art.

Happy had seen it before. It was Kunlun Sect’s Infinite Sword Technique. It had fewer defensive techniques compared to other martial arts, so if it were not for Thunderous Battle’s masterpiece weapon and his extraordinary defensive martial art, it would have been very difficult for him to deal with the Stone Giant’s attacks.

Even so, Thunderous Battle was still forced to retreat as he fought. He stalled for time while he tried to avoid the attacks as best as he could.

Happy’s heart was as calm as water. He had all of Thunderous Battle and the Stone Giant’s actions registered in his mind. With Five Continuous Axe Strikes and his Eight Trigrams Steps, which he separated from Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Sword, he followed them closely. His axe strikes never missed, even if he faced a Stone Giant in the middle stage of Blessed Realm, and most of them landed on the joints to reduce the pressure on Thunderous Battle’s shoulders.

As time passed, the system continuously showed that his low-tier martial art, Five Continuous Axe Strikes, received experience. Its level increased very quickly, and soon, in less than three minutes, it jumped from Level 80 to Level 84.

This showed just how effective it was to train against an NPC in Blessed Realm!

It was the same for Thunderous Battle.

Even though this was the first time he worked with Happy, he felt that quite a lot of the pressure on him had been removed. In a few minutes, the level of his Infinite Sword Technique rose a little, and he was incredibly excited.

However, he needed to use a lot of qi to keep his realm and his body fortification technique activated.

In the fourth minute, Thunderous Battle felt that his qi was about to run out. He gave Happy a signal and prepared to jump out of the battlefield when—

“Take a medicinal tablet and tank it!”

Thunderous Battle was struck dumb. Then, he rolled his eyes.

“Take a medicinal tablet to continue tanking? You’re mad! One medicinal tablet is worth two hundred taels of silver crumbs, and at most, it will only allow me to last for two minutes. Just who did you go with to an ancient tomb in the past? Why is he such a spendthrift?!”

Happy did not say a word, because he instantly came to a realization and cursed himself for being careless.

They were still in the early stages of the game, and it was difficult for players to earn money. Very few people were willing to spend large sums of money to use medicinal tablets to continue fighting against the monsters. After all, they would need three thousand taels of silver crumbs for an hour, and at most, they could only kill two Stone Giants in that time. And one puppet had only one vessel which was not even worth two hundred taels of silver crumbs.

To Thunderous Battle, not only would activating his qi cultivation technique multiple times not slow down his training speed, he could also get the vessel in the Stone Giant’s body, which was a rather good source of income.

Happy might find it a slight pity, but he did not go up and withstand the blows from the Stone Giant himself. Instead, he ran about with the Stone Giant in tow. After all, with the level of Thunderous Battle’s qi cultivation technique, it would only take a few minutes before he recovered.

Soon, the roaring sounds of wind from the Stone Giant’s fist and the heavy swings of the axe rose in the main hall of the ancient tomb again…