Chapter 5

"AAAAAA!"

The knight in light armor let out a rough, manly cry as he swung his sword at me.

The greatest weapon of the knight was the high-speed sword strikes he unleashed from his agile body.

His sword slashes were sharp, and at a speed that a single-digit level adventurer would hardly be able to dodge.

But—

"Too slow."

Without losing my composure, I easily avoided all of them with simple steps.

"---?!"

The knight let out a voice of surprise.

He probably couldn't understand why his attacks were being dodged so easily.

"---GAAAAAA!"

The knight continued to attack without giving up.

I focused on dodging and building up the enemy's frustration.

After repeating this exchange about five times, the knight's movements suddenly stopped.

Then, he raised his longsword to a high guard position.

(---Here it comes)

The moment I tightened my focus, the knight's body and longsword were enveloped in a bluish-white light.

That light was a sign of a skill activation.

And the only skill the knight possessed was [Sword Boost], a technique that increases sword speed for a few seconds by consuming MP.

"GAAAAAA!"

The knight let out a manly cry and approached me with a powerful step.

Seeing this, I smiled.

"I was waiting for you to use that!"

So far, everything was as expected.

[Sword Boost] has a drawback of causing a slight僵直 (stiffness) after activation.

I had planned from the beginning to exploit this gap and deal damage.

(However, I need to deal with this attack first)

The speed and power were incomparably greater than before.

Dodging was certainly difficult, and given the current status difference, I couldn't block it either.

"Then—"

I made a move as if to parry the knight's longsword with my sword, but skillfully deflected his blade with a subtle force.

"!? AAAA!"

The knight let out a voice of shock and attacked again with two, three swings.

However,

"No matter how many times you try, it's the same."

I dodged all of them without even grazing my body.

The moment the fourth swing ended, the bluish-white light dissipated, and the knight's movements stopped.

"Here it is!"

Aiming for a gap in his armor, my sword struck the knight perfectly.

"AAAAAA!"

A scream echoed throughout the boss room.

The knight, as soon as the stiffness wore off, turned around and tried to counterattack in anger.

—But, he was too slow.

By the time he turned around, I had already delivered the second strike.

My blade hit the knight's right elbow, severing it from the elbow down.

"!?!"

The knight, now with one arm, glared at me with eyes full of anger.

I dismissed it with a light smile.

"Using a skill was a mistake. Given the original status difference, being overwhelmed by speed alone would have been much more troublesome."

Well, he probably used the skill because it didn't work—

In any case, this guy never had a chance to win from the beginning.

"No matter how fast you are, I can handle you with one arm."

"---!"

The knight, in a panic, swung his straight sword with his left hand.

However, his power and speed were far inferior to before.

I deflected his attack head-on and gripped my short sword firmly.

"This is the end!"

My full-force swing hit the knight, splitting his torso in two.

The knight, leaving only a death cry, slowly collapsed to the ground.

Thus, I won my first boss battle without a scratch.

[Experience gained, level up by 3]

[6 stat points gained]

---

Zeros Sylphied

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Crest: [Crest of Nothingness]

Level: 12

HP: 120/120 MP: 60/60

Strength: 20

Endurance: 12

Speed: 20

Intelligence: 12

Luck: 12

Stat Points: 6

Skills: None

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