The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Then, for the 3rd time today, someone tried to slam the door in Isaac's face. And for the 3rd time today, he didn't let them. He quickly stuck his foot in the door, preventing Eva from closing it. Then he pulled the door open slightly and spoke in a calm tone,

"Eva, I have a way for you to quickly earn resources and–

"Did you not hear me tell you to piss off? Stop knocking on my door and get out of here."

Eva tried to slam the door again, but Isaac's foot was still in the way. He completely ignored the pain of his foot being crushed and continued speaking,

"You're a 3rd class talent, aren't you? But you haven't joined a team, so you lack the resources you need to cultivate. I know how it feels because I'm in the same boat. The need for an abundance of resources... which can only be acquired by taking higher difficulty missions. But you can't take them by yourself – that would be suicide. That's why I'm forming a team: so we can take better missions, earn more rewards, and not risk our lives while doing so."

Isaac's words intrigued Eva. She already knew the advantages of joining a team and she had been offered a spot by several teams led by 2nd class talents. However, she hadn't joined any of them. Why? Because she disliked 2nd class talents. As a 3rd class talent, she had used her blood and sweat to reach the point she was currently at. She respected those who could put in the same effort and dedication she did, but she resented the 2nd class talents who gave minimal effort yet did just as well as her. She saw most of them as lazy bastards who just got lucky but didn't work hard enough to make the most of their gods-given gifts.

Since she didn't like them, she wouldn't join a team with them. She also wouldn't join a team filled with 3rd class talents, since most teams like that were incompetent. However, Isaac's ambition had grabbed her attention. If he was truly a 3rd class talent who still dreamed of accepting higher difficulty missions, he was either delusional or extremely strong. This time she didn't try to slam the door. Instead, she wanted to know more,

"You just turn up at my door and ask me to join your team... who the hell are you and how did you find me? And why would I join? If you're a 3rd class talent dreaming of completing higher grade missions, you'll just be throwing your life away."

"If I planned on throwing my life away, there are much better ways to do it than this. I only say something if I'm confident I can do it – and I'm extremely confident the 4-person team I'm assembling will be able to take medium difficulty missions at first, and then high difficulty missions after a few weeks. As for who I am... my name is Isaac Dahl. I gathered information about all the new disciples to find team members and that was how I found you. I've only picked the absolute best of the newcomers, so I can assure you this will be a highly skilled team."

Eva vaguely recognised his name as the guy who was good with swords, so she spoke again,

"I don't think the team's as good as you say it is, and I don't know whether you have the qualities of a leader. I'd rather keep taking missions or hunting by myself instead of joining you."

"How much do you make from doing easy difficulty missions? 1 or 2 reward points? Whatever it is, it's hardly enough. I'm in middle stage and so is one of my teammates. Furthermore, the two of us finished 4th and 12th in the trials respectively, so we have good combat talent as well as our high cultivation bases. Taking medium difficulty missions won't be too difficult or dangerous, but your cut of the rewards will be significantly higher than taking easy-grade missions by yourself."

"If you put it that way, of course it sounds great – but whether it will actually work is another matter. If you want me to join your team, you'll have to show me something first – I want to meet your team members and judge them with my own eyes."

"So you want to see it for yourself... that's not a problem. But you might have to wait a few days, since I still need to recruit one more person. If you're not sure about the team, why don't I convince you myself?"

"Stop beating around the bush. What do you mean?"

"Let's spar."

As soon as she heard the word 'spar', Eva's eyes lit up. She was cold, aloof and unapproachable in most aspects. But when it came to combat, she was always ready for a fight.

"Right now? Sure, let's find a back alley."

Isaac was the one who suggested the spar, so he wouldn't back down. He followed Eva as she quickly found a secluded alleyway where they could fight.

She led him into a narrow, dingy alley with houses on both sides. When they were both in the alleyway, she stopped,

"If you leave the alleyway or get hit, you lose. Those are the rules."

She spoke those words, then turned around and sprang towards Isaac like a tiger. Isaac didn't expect the attack, but he reacted quickly anyway. He stepped back to avoid her palm strike, then quickly created a spirit sword and slashed horizontally in front of him.

Eva didn't retreat. She ducked under Isaac's sword and continued advancing, attempting another palm strike. This time he couldn't defend with his sword, so he activated the Snowshoe Anima and slid back a couple of metres.

Eva's palm strike hit thin air, but she kept coming. She tried to close the distance between them again, but Isaac's sword jabbed towards her. She couldn't slip past it this time, so she stopped on a dime and moved back slightly. She narrowly avoided the thrust and the sword tip stopped just in front of her. Then she hit the flat part of the blade, knocking it down. Isaac nearly dropped the sword, but he managed to hold on. However, he his sword was out of position and he couldn't launch a follow-up attack on Eva.

She took a quick step forward and aimed a strike at Isaac's sword arm. At the last second, she saw an uppercut heading towards her stomach. She'd been too focused on Isaac's sword, so his left-handed punch slipped through her guard. She tried to twist and dodge the strike, but she saw it too late. Isaac's fist connected firmly with her stomach and she released a pained, gasping breath.

As the punch hit, Eva was knocked off-balance and her attack missed its target. Isaac took advantage of the opening she'd left and raised his sword to her throat,

"It seems I've won."

Eva's eyes burnt with a competitive flame which couldn't be extinguished. She clearly wanted to keep fighting, but she was forced to accept her loss in this spar. She deactivated the Palms of Northern Frost Anima and the thin layer of ice covering her palms began to melt. Then she spoke in an icy tone,

"Indeed. You do seem quite capable, and I imagine your team is as well. Tell me when you find a 3rd member. As I promised, I'll judge the rest of the team with my own eyes and then decide whether to join."

It was hard to tell since Eva wasn't very open with her emotions, but she'd gained a certain level of respect for Isaac after the fight. It wasn't just because he was strong. If he was truly a 3rd class talent but he was still stronger than her, that meant he had worked harder than her – and that was a quality she truly admired.

To be honest, Isaac's success wasn't just a consequence of his hard work – it was also down to his intelligence, schemes, and talent with the sword – but she didn't need to know that. Isaac felt he'd done enough to give Eva a favourable impression of his team; now all he needed to do was secure a final good teammate. Hopefully that teammate would be Hayden, but that was a project which might take a week or two. He'd need to visit Hayden again in 2 days, but his team-related tasks for today were done.

Isaac was about to head to the training ground and practice with the Snowshoe Anima, but then his stomach growled. It was already 2 pm and he still hadn't eaten lunch, so he took a quick trip home and grabbed some food. Then he ate it as he walked to the training grounds to get some practice in.

He trained with the Snowshoe Anima for the rest of the day. The next day, he came back and did the exact same thing, but he mixed in a bit more swordsmanship practice.

Then, the day after that, he went to visit Hayden – it was time to see if that seed of doubt had truly sprouted and blossomed.