Chapter 52

In the era of cold weapons, the saying "a thousand pieces of gold are easy to come by, but a capable general is hard to find" was not an exaggeration.

Modern people are accustomed to seeing the gunfire and cannon fire of modern warfare in films and TV shows. However, most movies or TV series related to cold weapon warfare fail to depict the real and brutal scenes of war... Due to limited conditions, a group of extras, even if they are on horseback or holding weapons, cannot truly convey the fierce atmosphere of real battles. What is often seen as "charging in formation" is merely a staggered attempt to maintain formation while marching.

Generals were merely command centers issuing orders—this was once Rody's view.

However, he later realized that such a "great general" who sits at the command center can only truly play a role when they are on the battlefield. When PVP began, the first time Rody faced thousands of galloping warhorses charging like a mountain, he was so frightened that his whole body trembled, and he could not even hold his weapon.

This shock and the ensuing bloodshed are something most players cannot easily adapt to.

And when they see the powerful general at the forefront, mercilessly slaughtering, ordinary people often lack the courage to face them head-on...

Before the year 592 of the Elon calendar, human warfare was extremely primitive. What was called "tactics" had not yet developed as rapidly as it did later. Most of the time, the highest-ranking general would lead his soldiers in a "swarm" charge, and the morale of the troops would collapse and they would eventually flee when they found fewer and fewer comrades around them.

Based on this fact, for a long time, capable generals who could lead charges were highly sought after by various forces—even when "tactics" became prevalent, truly powerful generals remained a crucial guarantee for maintaining army morale.

Rody, who had such a deep understanding of war, naturally understood the "value" of Soderlor. Now, the other party had actually come to him to "learn"!

What reason did he have to reject the "submission" request of such a "world-class general"?

Although he was momentarily excited, Rody quickly calmed down. He was very clear: the other party was not some mindless, indecisive minor character. The deep scheming revealed in Soderlor's words... made him truly cautious.

If he casually agreed, could he really "control" such a character destined to rise to prominence? This was the most important question Rody considered—he knew his path to level 59 as a ranger would be smooth, but he had not yet broken through to level 60 like Soderlor. This subtle psychological barrier made Rody extremely cautious about how to "accept" the other party.

After a moment of thought, Rody finally made a decision. He reached out to remove the cloak from his Hunter's Outfit and said to Soderlor in a solemn voice, "Learning is not something decided by words. How about... we spar?"

"Perhaps, I don't have the qualifications to teach you?"

Rody smiled, his expression very sincere.

Soderlor quickly agreed. In fact, he also had this intention. Previously, when sparring with Ruge and others, his sword skills could be said to completely overwhelm everyone in Nolan Village. After all, Soderlor had only judged Rody's strength from the traces of battle, but he had no clear idea of how strong Rody was in actual combat.

He needed this verification to confirm that his thoughts and intentions were correct.

But Soderlor never imagined that at this moment, Rody was thinking about how to bind him to the war chariot he would soon ride across the continent.

"Wooden swords here, to prevent accidental injuries."

Rody directly fetched the training wooden swords, threw one to Soderlor, and led him outside the courtyard. The sky had not yet completely darkened, and the scouts were enthusiastically putting on the equipment Rody had brought. When they saw the two men with wooden swords, they immediately became excited and gathered around.

"Captain Rody, you must win! Soderlor's sword skills are quite formidable!"

"Shut up, just watch. Put your sword away, you poked my butt just now—"

"Move! Move! Don't crowd!"

A dozen scouts chattered, Ruge and Carter looked at each other, not understanding what was happening, but seeing the calm expressions of Rody and Soderlor, they realized this was not a conflict but a normal "spar."

Rody asked the scouts to stand back, confirmed the venue was clear, and looked up at the sky, saying, "Compared to archery, I am not particularly proficient in swordsmanship, but it should be more than enough to deal with orcs."

"Then, let's decide by three rounds?"

"Agreed."

Soderlor nodded, seemingly appreciating Rody's straightforward style. He raised his wooden sword, ready to attack, but saw Rody pick up another wooden sword, holding two swords, one in front and one behind, in a starting stance.

With a hint of doubt in his eyes, Soderlor stood in a standard military swordsmanship starting stance. Before he could make a probing attack, he saw Rody charge forward—

"Ha!"

Rody took two steps and charged, his long sword, under the burst of his astonishing agility and strength, slashed forward like lightning!

The "Berserker" class's dictionary never includes the words "defensive counterattack." Only attack, attack, and more attack! So there was no probing, no steps or rhythm, just a simple and direct slash.

But as Soderlor watched the sword coming at him, only one thought crossed his mind...

"Is that all?"

As a noble descendant who had experienced war since childhood, Soderlor naturally had a deep understanding of swordsmanship. From the simple slash, he could see that Rody seemed to be truly unskilled in swordsmanship—first, Rody's footwork looked a bit unstable, and second, the angle of the attack did not seem to fully utilize the power of the slash.

Seeing this, he relaxed a bit and raised his sword to block, preparing to counter with a backhand lift—just as he raised his hand, this first match... ended.

"Crack!"

A loud noise exploded in front of him. The wooden sword that should have been blocked seemed to penetrate something and stopped above his left shoulder, while the half of the wooden sword that flew past his ear was the part that had been directly cut off!

The scouts were stunned, and the flying sword hit one of them in the chest, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the ground.

Soderlor felt his right hand completely numb, and when he looked down, he saw that the wooden sword in his hand had a perfectly clean break.

"First round, I win."

When Rody's words rang out, Soderlor finally came to his senses from the shock. He looked at the broken wooden sword in his hand, then at Rody's seemingly identical other sword, and a difficult-to-describe emotion gradually spread in his heart.

The same wooden sword, one cut by another, seemed completely unrealistic, but Soderlor, who had experienced war, understood that when strength, speed, and angle reached a certain extreme, achieving this seemingly impossible feat... was not impossible!

He took a deep breath, threw away the broken sword, and picked up another intact wooden sword, his gaze becoming serious.

Seeing Soderlor stand firm, Rody swung his second sword again—Berserker combat techniques originated from the northern barbarians and were different from any traceable sword techniques of the Kalen Kingdom. It seemed reckless and unrooted, but when the sword fell, it always gave the impression of an unstoppable mountain!

Realizing this, Soderlor, with the lesson from the previous round, did not try to block but instead dodged with a large twist of his body. The speed of his step was much faster than when he sparred with Ruge, and the surrounding scouts immediately understood... that this lieutenant had always held back in previous matches.

But although Soderlor's movements were fast, he did not immediately realize the consequences of Rody's dual-wielding. When he noticed, the other sword was almost touching his chest!

Oh no!

He raised his sword to block, and the next moment, his wrist was in excruciating pain. He barely blocked the first strike, but before he could make any more moves, Rody's other long sword struck the same spot!

"Bang!"

With a dull sound, Soderlor flew through the air for two to three meters and fell to the ground. He stared with wide eyes, unable to stand up for a moment, and Rody did not go to help him, allowing him to digest the shock of this absolute power on his own.

After two rounds, Rody had already gauged Soderlor's level: his level did not exceed 8, and his strength, constitution, and agility were less than half of Rody's.

To make the other party submit, Rody had to show him what absolute overwhelming power looked like through this merciless method.

"You lost again."

Watching Soderlor struggle to get up and calm his breathing, Rody threw away the wooden sword in his left hand and stopped using the Berserker combat style. He slightly turned his body and made a military swordsmanship starting stance similar to Soderlor's.

Soderlor, already dazed by Rody's two strikes, tightly pursed his lips. The tall man stood up and cautiously raised his sword, making a probing forward thrust with his most familiar technique—

The long sword stabbed at Rody's chest at an extremely fast speed. Soderlor's sword tip was very steady, and after this strike, he had pre-judged all possible reactions of the enemy. If the enemy's attack was incorporated into his rhythm, everything would be manageable...

But as he thought this, the next moment, he found that Rody dodged and stepped forward to close the distance. Just as he was about to raise his elbow to counter, he suddenly lost sight of Rody!

Cold sweat instantly broke out. He had never seen such terrifying speed and technique. How could someone disappear from his field of vision in close combat? How was this possible?

His mind went blank for a moment, but his combat instincts made him instinctively block with his sword on the left side of his body— "Clang," the vibration in his wrist immediately told him his judgment was correct. Following the direction of the attack, Soderlor twisted his body and fiercely swung his wrist, the sword cutting upward at a tricky angle!

Only Ruge among the scouts could recognize the subtlety and the high level of swordsmanship this move represented. He was about to cheer for Soderlor's strike— but then, the sound stuck in his throat...

The sword... missed again.

Page break for ads starts

Page break for ads ends