Jaku knew that the only way that he could win was if he stopped being lazy. He had to suppress that desire of his to sleep through this arduous ordeal and let the ti pass in his dreams.
By letting go of his desire for just a mont, for just this tournant, he would bring victory to himself, Michael, and the whole of the Reborn company.
He had no care for what other people thought of him. He was too lazy to do that. However, he could see in the eyes of everyone in the tournant that it wasn’t just him they were underestimating. It was the Reborn company as well, and by extension, Michael.
"Jaku wouldn’t have to fight four opponents at the sa ti if his company had other swordsn to spare."
"Does anyone even know who they are? It says here they’re called the Reborn company. Never heard of them."
"If they don’t even have a single Maugnetic swordsman, then they must be a small, low-ti company. All they have is a demi-human."
Jaku couldn’t let them think that—not when he knew that his Boss was the greatest person to ever be in his and everyone’s life.
I’ll stop being lazy. I’ll stop being myself for this tournant.
That was a small sacrifice for everything that Michael did for him and his siblings.
Jaku started to stand up.
He was going to stop being lazy.
Just as he was undergoing this switch, there was a subtle difference happening in his body.
If Michael was here and he saw Jaku’s heart, then he would see that the fire in his GodForge pieces were starting to dim. Jaku’s Aubility Power, which was on the verge of awakening, was slowly receding back into its dormant state.
Even that strange power, one that was located near his throat, was slowly losing its power as the threads in Jaku’s GodForge pieces started to unravel and retreat.
Sohow, if he continued down this route of thinking, he was on course to delay his awakening.
But he didn’t know.
Jaku stood up and began walking towards Mauricio. His hand was on the hilt of his sword—what could only be described as a declaration for a duel.
"Oh? Finally decided to straighten yourself up, have you?" Mauricio asked, his greatsword hanging on his shoulder.
The crowd parted, letting Jaku and Mauricio have the arena all to themself.
One of the Werewolf judges took out a single strand of fur, lighting it up with a snap. This signalled the official start of their fight.
Jaku uncharacteristically unsheathed his sword first and swung it towards Mauricio, his scales buzzing with electricity. But strangely, no blue lightning arced across his body.
Mauricio let down his greatsword with a thud on the ground, casually blocking Jaku’s attack.
Then, he kicked his own greatsword, breaking Jaku’s stance and making him retreat a few steps.
Jaku bit his lips and charged forwards, forcing himself to move faster than he had ever been before.
His body soon began to blur as he unleashed a multitude of slashes aid towards Mauricio’s weak point. Finally, blue lightning emanated out of his scales.
Mauricio’s face changed, his posture beca one full of guard.
Even the spectators around them couldn’t help but gasp at the natural speed that Jaku showed them.
He was even faster than Mauricio!
This was unexpected coming from a demi-human.
They finally understood that Jaku didn’t get here through pure luck. His insane speed is what allowed him to defeat the other swordsn and reach the final round.
anwhile, Jaku was deaf to all the surprise around him. He kept on swinging his sword, hoping that his speed could break through Mauricio’s defense.
But Mauricio skillfully maneuvered his greatsword to block any of his attacks.
Even though Jaku was faster than Mauricio, a big blade like his allowed for a much greater degree of freedom for blocking.
And after a few seconds from the initial shock, people realized that nothing was happening.
Jaku couldn’t break through Mauricio’s defense.
Mauricio smiled. "I was a little bit shocked that you were fast. But you just have a little speed, that’s all. You don’t even have a proper stance."
Then, Mauricio finally picked up his greatsword in one hand and tid his swing perfectly. He redirected Jaku’s sword and locked it in with his, before eventually pushing him back all the way to the end of the arena.
Jaku was outclassed.
...
...
...
While the crowd were starting to feel as if Mauricio’s victory was all but confird, there was soone in the crowd who thought differently.
A bald elderly woman, with a hunched back, with a cloth wrapped around her eyes and ears, smiled as she ’looked’ at Jaku.
She was dressed simply, with nothing but a yellow robe that was loose around her body, allowing for versatility in her movents.
Just then, one of the fully-armored younger won next to her gently grabbed onto her hands.
"Swordmistress, we should leave. We have confird Mauricio’s talent in the sword. There’s nothing else to see here."
The bald woman didn’t speak and simply pointed at Jaku, who was just standing up and recovering after Mauricio’s recent counter-attack.
"Him?" her attendant asked. "He’s fast, I’ll give him that. But his skill in the sword is quite average compared to Mauricio. His movents are in disarray, with no complexity or harmony at all.
Whoever taught him must not be a decent swordsman."
The attendant couldn’t understand why she of all people would be interested in the demi-human. But her ’swordmistress’ seed to disagree.
The old woman shook her head.
This confused the attendant. "What do you an?"
"No one taught him yet," the old woman said. "What you’re seeing right there is pure, unfiltered talent. It’s an unpolished stone buried underground."
Her attendant took a good look at Jaku again, but still couldn’t see the talent that the swordmistress was talking about.
"This is not his natural state," the old woman explained. Sohow, even though her eyes were fully covered with a cloth, she could see everything much more clearly than others.
"The sword feels chaotic simply because its wielder is in a state of confusion. He’s doing sothing he’s not used to. He is betraying his own nature, causing such a disharmonized state in his swings."
Finally, the attendant understood. It would be like using a sword with your foot. Certainly, soone could beco competent in swordfighting using the lower limbs, but that is not where the sword could display its full potential.
"Then my original assessnt of him was correct, swordmistress. He is not worthy of our ti," the attendant said. "If he continues in a state of contrast with his own nature, then his ’talent’ will be lost—whatever it may be."
The old woman stayed silent before she eventually turned around and left with her attendants.
But even as they exited the Werewolf Forest, the attendant still couldn’t get Jaku off her mind.
"I still can’t believe that that demi-human’s sword talent was good enough to impress even that of the swordmistress."
At that mont, the old lady stopped in her tracks.
"He was a demi-human?" she asked, in complete shock.
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