NOVEL NEXT Chapter 105: Claire vs Hayden
Claire's rapier became faster, and it started appearing like a flash of light…
It was a perfect sword for the Solaris Piercing Strike!
She honed this technique through countless hours of training, and it was the technique she used to reach the top squire of the Academy!
Whoosh~
The tip of her blade aimed straight for Hayden's throat, and it was definitely a deadly move! However, inside the cage, the rules were simple. They had to incapacitate or kill their opponent unless they decided to surrender.
Hayden barely shifted his body in time and felt the sharp wind on his skin...
"You…"
Seeing that Hayden was still fast enough to follow her movement, she knew that she had to be tricky and unpredictable.
She then flowed into her next attack seamlessly, using her footwork to get closer and use her sword again.
As she did this, she was indeed able to hit Hayden, but all of her attacks did no damage to his defensive Aura!
'What's with this guy? Is he an Aura Knight in disguise?' Claire frowned as she continued to attack.
Thankfully, she could still hit Hayden from time to time whenever she used her Moonlight Steps….
"You're slower than I expected," She taunted Hayden to disrupt his momentum before feinting left. As soon as Hayden took the bait, she immediately slashed right.
This time, however, Hayden blocked, but the force of her strike pushed him back.
'Tsk… I can't get a hit without using Moonlight Steps… What if he gets used to it?' Claire thought. She was actually starting to get worried.
After all, almost all of her attacks were being blocked. Without the support of his Moonlight Steps, she felt that she would be completely at his mercy.
***
Hayden actually had the same reaction after seeing Claire's Moonlight Steps… It actually uses a bit of her Aura, and it reinforces her feet and legs to do some maneuvers that make her difficult to target. It must be said that it was also perfectly made for rapier users.
In short, even if he was able to copy the technique with his Ocularis Lens, he wouldn't be able to use it as well as her…
But more than that—her technique was flawless.
'She's strong.' Hayden thought as he couldn't help but think that she had also used Aura Crystals in order to strengthen her Aura.
Hayden was fascinated.
'Still… I have to study her movements and swordsmanship first. I can't let this opportunity pass.' Hayden thought as it wasn't every day that he could see high-level swordsmanship. He might get some inspiration from it.
"Show me more!" Shane shouted as he decided to be in defensive mode until he fully understood Claire's battle style.
Indeed, instead of countering immediately, Hayden allowed Claire to press her assault while his Ocularis Lens recorded every detail of her swordsmanship.
Claire obliged as she moved once again…
She favored a linear advance-and-retreat style, perfect for rapiers… But with subtle adjustments that made her unpredictable, she knew that Hayden wouldn't be able to read her patterns and slowly deplete his Aura…
Indeed, she believed that since Hayden was protecting his whole body with his Aura, he must be using a lot of it and would soon deplete his energy.
She believed that as long as she held on, she would win in the end.
After all, she was older than Hayden for several years, and it meant that she had accumulated more Aura in her body!
On the other hand, Hayden noted the way she shifted her weight just before striking… She noticed the slight tension in her lead foot before her thrust...
"Hmm?"
After 20 or more sword exchanges, Hayden noticed something.
Claire's off-hand wasn't idle. She was just waiting for a perfect opportunity as he got used to her attacks!
Between rapier thrusts, she took a slender dagger!
'Ahh…'
Hayden realized that it could be dangerous, so he adjusted his attacks and made it faster.
Clank! Clank!
Just like that, he increased the pressure on her side.
Instead of using the dagger to attack him, she had to use it to deflect Hayden's counters or slash at her wrists!
'Ohh… So it's like that…' Hayden mused as his Lens noticed something.
Every time Clair committed to a heavy strike or thrust, her Aura pulsed in her sword arm a split second before the attack landed. A tell.
This would help him know what was a feint or not… Once he learned what her feint attack was, the mystery of the Moonlight Steps would greatly lessen.
Hayden smiled as he realized that if he copied this technique, he would have to fix this problem as well.
After a few more strikes, Hayden confirmed that all of his discoveries were right…
'Let's end this…'
Now that he understood her rhythm, Hayden stopped holding back, at least in terms of using his secret technique.
He decided to use his Mind Sword, allowing him to attack her with an untraceable move! However, the Mind Sword might've been used, but not in full force, afraid that she might die from it…
Claire's eyes flickered with surprise as she felt that she had been hit on her head... Thankfully, she had trained hard to the point that even if she closed her eyes, she would still feel the presence of her opponent!
Clank! Clank!
Claire had indeed blocked his sword despite being disoriented by the Mind Sword.
"Y-you… What did you do?!" Claire couldn't understand what had happened but she couldn't just stop or she might really lose!
She continued launching a series of thrusts, hoping that Hayden's Aura was already depleted.
However, Hayden parried the first, dodged the second, then—
CRACK!
He rammed his palm into her dagger hand, hitting an Acupuncture point that almost paralyzed her hand if not for her instinctive use of Aura…
However, Hayden didn't stop and hit another Acupuncture point on her belly!
Claire gasped as her muscles locked up and her dagger clattered to the ground.
However, she recovered fast, spinning away before Hayden could take advantage of her situation..
"N-not bad," She said weakly…