Monster Soul Online Chapter 32

Note: This chapter is not yet to be edited by my editor.
Chapter 32: Farewell Beginning Island - Last Part

Sila waited for a saber coming at him with a smile. The saber striking with prudence and the saber striking with fury are far different. Although this saber was filled with "Mental Oppression," causing the blade to be shaken heavily; the saber was striking in straight line without holding back.
 
Sila circulated "Qi of Little Fish." His left hand used "Worlds Crossing Bridge" empowering by "Qi of Little Tiger" to parry this sword. Sila was using his full power from the start since he was fully aware that he would be no match for skilled experienced player.
 
Sila's left hand stroke at the side of the blade. The saber was s.h.i.+fted a little although Sila had stroke it with full force. This could tell Sila how terrifying of the power imbuing in a saber striking at him. Anyway, s.h.i.+fting just a little was enough for Sila; he evaded the blade to the right while moving the power of "Qi of Little Tiger" into his right fist. He also changed the power of "Worlds Crossing Bridge" into "Tortured Soul."
 
Now, Sila's right fist shone mysteriously. The qi was so strong that even a person who stood in distance of the battle still could tell that it was scary. It was a fist that Sila quickly launched at Shueria.
 
Shueria was shocked that Sila's movement was quick to this extent. His saber was even deflected by Sila's attack. He wasn't ready to cope with this fist of Sila.
 
He was aware that he wouldn't be able to dodge this fist, so he fused "Slamming Psychic" into his body to increase his defense. It was a basic skill of psychic-type player that could be used both in offense and defense.
 
The sound of a punch connecting to a body was thunderously loud. Sila was knocked back three steps by the impact while Shueria had to take several steps back. Shueria was looking at Sila with the eyes of disbelief. There is no way a new player could be this strong.
 
Sila was also wounded by "Slamming Psychic." This was a first time he was injured from the fight against players. It was a good thing that Shueria was furious. Sila would be in tight spot if this guy calmed down.
 
Sila circulated "Recovering Qi" to reduce the pain he felt. The "Recovering Qi" is a useful qi that players tend to ignore. They think that its ability is to reduce the pain. But the painfulness in this game is only tenth of the real life so it wasn't too hard to endure. However, the true benefit of this skill is the ability to get better sooner. In a fight, the guy who recovers faster will has an upper hand against the guy who doesn't.
 
Shueria felt some adulterated powers within his body. One was hot and one was cold. In a heat of the battle, he wasn't sure how he should effectively deal with them.

In that moment, Sila was rus.h.i.+ng at him.
 
Shueria was surprised that Sila could recover faster than him since he was higher in level. Anyway, he had to stop thinking for now and countered Sila by thrusting his sword.
 
In fact, Sila hadn't fully recovered yet but he forced himself to be on offensive. That was because he couldn't afford to give Shueria a time to think and calm down. He had to attack continuously.
 
A thrusting sword was indeed fast but the area of impact was narrower than a slas.h.i.+ng sword. As soon as Sila circulated both "Qi of Little Fish" and "Qi of Little Bird," his body disappeared from the spot and reappeared again behind Shueria's back. Then, Sila's hand chopped at the back of Shueria's head.
 
Shueria saw that Sila had disappeared from his line of sight. But he could sense the killing intent from behind so he was quick to evade. Resulting in Sila's knife-hand missing his head but hit his shoulder instead. The pain was immediately coursing through Shueria's body. His feet sank into the ground by two inches.
 
Although Sila's attack had successfully connected, Shueria endured the pain and thrusted the saber under his armpit. Sila who was caught off guard had to hurriedly dodge. But the blade still slashed at his side, causing his blood to splash.
 
Sila jumped away to keep the distance between himself and Shueria. Both of them were staring at each other. Up to this point, even the witnesses were all looking at them while holding their breath in excitement.
 
Sila circulated "Recovery Qi" again. He was watchful for the opportunity to strike. If he had a chance, he would attack instantly regardless of whether his injury being fully healed or not.
 
"If the ability of vice-leader is only this much, I can measure the level of Royal Armament guild now. It's pathetic." Sila was provoking Shueria again. He didn't want his opponent to realize the change in the body he just attacked.
 
"Arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I'll kill you right here." Shueria stood up. He was now serious. He activated his skill, "Blasting Psychic!"
 
Shueria's body emitted out the psychic aura that could be seen even with naked eyes. His eyes turned into silver-color. His blade was shaken all the time. It was acc.u.mulating power to the extent that it could slash an air even without any movement.
 
Sila smiled, 'it's time.'
 
Sila circulated full power of "Qi of Little Tiger." His body was emitting red qi aura. Then, he focused the power of "Ray a.s.semble" into his knife hidden in his sleeve. With that, the aura from his body moved into the knife. The hidden knife now shook heavily.
 
"Die!" shouted Shueria. He was jumping at Sila with his saber lifting up into the sky.
 
Sila remained standing motionlessly. He risked waiting for a perfect moment - a moment of an explosion.
 
And that moment came. Shueria who was coming at Sila suddenly cried out in pain. His psychic power was diminis.h.i.+ng. His body was halted.
 
Everybody here except Sila couldn't imagine what had just happened, even Shueria himself. He was about to strike. But suddenly, the hot and cold powers, which he had been able to suppress all the time, suddenly intensified. His body was halted like it was frozen but he himself felt like he was in the sea of flame.
 
"Goodbye," said Sila while moving his left hand forward, "Light of Forest."
 
Once Sila had activated a skill, the ring shone brightly. The entire area was engulfed in white light. Everyone closed their eyes. This was a moment that Sila had aimed for. He didn't need to see since he clearly remembered what he had seen before closing his eyes. He used his right hand to throw a knife away with full power.
 
The shaking red knife flew at high speed. It pinned down at Shueria's forehead. The knife couldn't maintain the qi fusing in it anymore so it was broken into pieces as soon as it hit a target.
 
Shueria's body turned into white light and dispersed. He had died without showing his real skill yet.
 
Sila had to plan this fight thoroughly. His abilities were lower in Shueria in all aspects.
 
He had started his attack since they were still having a conservation. He used "G.o.d's Cathedral" fusing with "Qi of Little Tiger" to decrease Shueria's health point without letting him know. He had prolonged their conversation for this reason.
 
He had grasped that Shueria is a calm fighter who attacks and defenses carefully, based on the way he talked. Thus, Sila had taunted Shueria to step into his game, forcing Shueria to abandon his composure. That was why Shueria couldn't show his real strength. Sila was well aware that if he had to fight Shueria in normal state, there would be no way for him to win.
 
Moreover, Sila had realized that the power of "Tortured Soul" was still left in Shueria's body. His enemy isn't a qi-type player and didn't possess "Recovering Qi." So, Shueria shouldn't be able to drive an adulterated power out as fast as him. That meant Shueria had to suppress it for now and plan to eject it later.
 
With that in mind, the hand that Sila had chopped Shueria was fused with "Recovering Qi" together with "Qi of Little Tiger." The reason he had included "Recovering Qi" into his attack was to prevent his opponent to sense his "Qi of Little Tiger" that he had added. This was the first time Sila adapted "Recovering Qi" to use offensively.
 
Afterward, his newly added "Qi of Little Tiger" had accelerated the power of "Tortured Soul" and caused it to explode inside Shueria's body, making him halted.
 
Next, Sila had used "Light of Forest" to prevent everyone to see him firing hidden weapon that he wasn't at the level of being able to fire it without being notice yet. This hidden weapon was his trump card. He had concentrated all of his qi into the knife as "Qi of Little Tiger." That was why it could have killed Shueria in one shot.
 
When the light faded away, Sila was standing there alone. Many witnesses were surprised as they opened their eyes. Shueria's subordinates were confused. They opened their guild window to check Shueria's status only to find that he had died. They soon come to panic.
 
"The vice-leader has died!?"
 
A commotion was spread around the harbor. People began to talk about what had just happened. The news of Sila being able to win against Silver Knight Shueria was quickly shared in the game's forum.
 
A new player is able to defeat vice-leader of a Royal Armament guild of Sword Emperor in a one-on-one battle!
 
Sila released Lookhin to fly around him. He then sat down and tore a bag of bird food to feed to Lookhin. His action was like his previous fight was not worth mentioning.
 
"Do you guys intend to keep staring at me or what? Are you guys going to fight or escape? Choose." Sila said.
 
The rest of members of Royal Armament guild seemed to confuse of what to do next. The guy in front of them was a guy who could defeat their vice-leader. They were surely no match for him. However, it would leave them a bad taste in their mouth if they were to let Sila, their target, goes easily.
 
The sound of a s.h.i.+p docking could be heard. Sila didn't wait for them to answer his question. He stood up and walked toward the s.h.i.+p.
 
"Are you going to flee from us?" said one guy from Royal Armament guild. Even he himself wasn't confident in what he just had said.
 
Sila stopped his feet, "I just don't want to fight against an incompetence enemy. But if you're confident that you're stronger than your vice-leader, feel free to come at me. Hurry up, though. I want to go now."
 
Members of Royal Armament guild could only swallow their saliva into their parched throat. They realized they were too incompetence to stop Sila. But for them to turn around and go back, it would further damage the reputation of their guild. Thus, they had no choice but to stand still.
 
"Well, I would like to take my leave. Farewell," said Sila as he entered the s.h.i.+p.
 
People began to gradually enter the s.h.i.+p, leaving members of Royal Armament guild behind. The news of the new star, the promising newcomer who would soon shake the world of Monster Soul, began to spread out widely.
 
***
 
As soon as Sila had gone into the s.h.i.+p, he quickly rented a private room. Once he was in the room, he splitted out blood and lay down on the floor.
 
His face was deathly pale. A previous fight had forced him to overuse his power. He had spent all of his qi into the last knife, leaving his body fragile. The true reason that he had walked away without killing the rest of them was because he didn't have power left anymore.
 
That was why the last knife was so strong. It was fused with all his remaining qi. And the reason he released Lookhin wasn't because he wanted to show his composure to scare them. It was for the case that they still want to attack him, he would have no choice but to rely on Lookhin to defense himself.
 
Sila took two qi-recovering pills and swallowed them. Then, he circulated "Recovering Qi" for more than an hour to regain his strength. However, the harmful psychic within his body was superior than his power. Thus, even with his body fully recovered, he could feel that there was some virus keep erupting in his body. It was like he had a time bomb within his body, ready to blow up any time.
 
With his thought of wanting to get rid of this adulterated power, he soon activated "Unblemished Aqua" qi technique to banish this power. Then, although the psychic was thinned, it still left its origin in his body. And when Sila stopped circulating his qi, this core of psychic would begin to acc.u.mulate itself up little by little. That mean Sila circulating his qi was just an action to delay his death.
 
This psychic is called "Bomb Lurking Psychic," a high-tier skill of Shueria that had invaded Sila's body since their first clash. Shueria wasn't a vice-leader only in name, he could perform this counterattack even when defensing. Meanwhile, Sila didn't excel in defense so the psychic power could invade his body easily.
 
Sila opened his system window to contact nameless teacher. He told the story to him and asked his teacher for solution.
 
His teacher told Sila that there were two choices for Sila to make.
 
"For the first method, you have to die once, then "Bomb Lurking Psychic" will naturally be gone from your body."
 
As his teacher finished the first method, Sila instantly asked for the second one. He considered that the first method wasn't a way to solve the problem; It was just a way to run away from problem.
 
"Alternatively, you have to keep circulating "Unblemished Aqua" to prevent the psychic to become stronger and damage your body," said the old man.
 
"And how long do I have to keep circulating it?"
 
"It would be until you gain "Qi of Little Turtle," I a.s.sume. "Qi of Little Turtle" is a strong defensive qi. If you possess it, it will protect your internal organ. Use it together with "Unblemished Aqua" will result in getting rid of "Bomb Lurking Psychic."" The old man answered, "it seems you are scheduled to visit the Underwater Palace faster than I thought."
 
As the call ended, Sila was sitting cross-leg on the bed. His body was glowing in semi-transparent blue color of the power of "Unblemished Aqua" all the time. He needed to circulate both "Unblemished Aqua" and "Intermediate Qi" to replenish the qi he lost.
 
"Underwater Palace," said softly Sila. It seemed the first destination of his journey in Main Continent had been decided.
 
Sila closed his eyes and logged out.