Unexpected Story – Isekai

"Stay focus!"

A knife that was already in front of my face made me immediately dodge backwards with only a split second.

And before I could get back into position, a long spear had already shot straight through my shoulder.

I had a feeling that this attack was not the only one.

In the blink of an eye, I had seen two more flying knives aimed at my stomach and thigh.

At the same time, I still had the steps to dodge his spear and the knives I could still block with my sword before my feet hit the ground.

But I instantly felt that the main attack was on the open side. And sure enough, a huge axe was about to be launched as I made this evasive move.

"Fuck!"

I was sure I would be hit by the entire attack. But my trained soul and body wouldn't let me.

I quickly blocked the blades with my sword and dodged the others while looking for another opening before running for the exit.

And by the time the axe attack was on the ground, I had landed 2 meters away from the starting point after kicking away the spear.

"This isn't safe! It's not safe to stay here!"

I ran with all my might to find a forest area with few trees.

The direction of attack was increasing because the enemy had the advantage of a strategic environment. When my enemy was good at hiding, I had to find an open place.

Running and running but these sharp knives were still attacking me. I had both hands full to fend them off but there seemed to be no end to them, more and more.

CLANK!

I finally managed to fend off the last knife but my energy was immediately drained.

Being too focused on the attack, I forgot my steps.

The sharp thread that was tied tightly across cut the fabric of my pants. Luckily, I noticed it immediately and stopped before anything else happened. Of course, it wasn't just a scratch.

This almost invisible trap was set along the area where I was standing.

The knife and spear attacks started to come back and cornered me again.

"Damn, the ground isn't safe anymore"

Before the follow-up attack appeared, I prepared a crossbow mechanism with a hook tip connected to a strong string. I aimed it at a tree branch that I felt was quite large.

The crossbow shot out quickly but the string was cut off halfway through.

"Sneaky old man!"

A knife cut through it but I had expected that. Immediately after I shot the arrow I had thrown the rope hook in the other direction. And now I could escape again.

Without bothering to wait for his flying knife attack, I jumped from branch to branch, carefully and as fast as I could.

The role of mana is very important here. Every step must use mana control to bind the foothold so as not to fall. Of course, I could understand that easily when I successfully performed the Parry skill.

Now I can apply it to several things.

There was a field in front of me after jumping over many branches while dodging attacks.

"Eh..."

And I was surprised that my footing was instantly lost. Or rather the tree branches were neatly cut off.

"Cheater! He said he didn't use mana!"

Without mana, it would be difficult to cut something like a large branch.

A body trained for martial arts must be accustomed to being able to adapt to various conditions quickly. One of the things I know best besides my body getting better is about my perception.

All the senses inside were forced to give a short and quick judgment in response to something that was about to arrive. Calculating what will happen and what to do about it.

To put it more simply, a frontline fighter must be able to see an attack ahead of time.

I am now trained to be able to see a few milliseconds before something happens. But that's also just an estimate.

I could still use the hook bow to hang on the rest of the way.

Of course, the rope was cut before we arrived. What else can I do?

The attack came back at me but I saw a spear that I could use to jump over the trap below.

But this time I couldn't escape without taking a hit. Two knives were stuck in my back but I was finally able to reach my destination.

I immediately ran to the center to make the range of the throwing attack decrease even more. Which also meant the opponent would appear on its own.

The energy that had been greatly depleted and the breath that was running out made my concentration drop drastically.

This also affected the absorption of mana into my body. And mana is very important for battle.

I prepared my weapon while coating my body with mana, giving the order to 'harden' only. Although I could have made a second layer with 'bouncing' properties but my weapon needs to be sharpened with my remaining mana now.

"You know that fighters aren't too far from mages right. They can control and manage mana power. It's just that it's like a witch who is handicapped and fighters only uses their body's abilities due to lack of control."

"You're cheating old man!"

"Why? I said prepare for all possibilities"

"The agreement wasn't like this"

"That's right, ma'am. But this is also a practice to deal with cunning enemy. They can't be fought by normal means, right?"

"Bullshit"

Grandpa disappeared in an instant and I immediately knew where he was going to attack.

Even though I blocked it, my hand couldn't withstand the impact. His strength cannot be underestimated.

"My body is small but I can still manipulate mana to overcome its shortcomings. I'll tell you another secret. You can use the Parry skill variant to attack if you can reverse the direction of the mana. Like the impact is received but not for the user"

He said that while making me feel the intentional attack.

"Hah!"

"It's like you're doubling your power in an instant. Do you understand?"

Besides being strong, he was also very fast. Despite the huge height difference like fighting a child but he can launch attacks while jumping in the air. And without any foothold he can also parry my attacks.

"Explain to me when you are calm!"

"You seem to be able to withstand it. So we'll continue to the next level"

"Huh... don't you see what a crazy old man this is..."

I was already struggling to withstand this new attack but he was going to make it even harder.

He started to move faster around me and made after images that I could no longer keep up with.

Fighting just one was already very difficult this time he was like four. He used a spear in his right hand, an axe in his left hand and his legs could even throw sharp knives.

'Where did those knives come from? Endlessly!'

With his twisting movements in the air he had become an unavoidable storm.

While my entire body was starting to go numb, this grandpa was getting more and more violent.

"Do you know about the last demon lord I fought? With the power one of his arm it could bring down a city and he had six!"

"How would I know! Damn it, can you stop this?"

"I used this method to compete with him. Even though it's less than a quarter power"

"Am I a demon lord? You want to finish me off that way?!"

Unable to stand this hellish training anymore I used Elene's magic talisman just in case.

BOOM!

Instantly the explosion spell activated after injecting a little mana.

The explosion was quite large but it didn't have enough impact, because the purpose of the talisman wasn't that.

The magic talisman composed by this talented unemployed witch has 4 components, namely explosion for diversion, imitating the wearer's shadow, spreading odor smoke and finally creating a temporary hallucination disorder.

Talismans with 4 levels were rare although this one was only used for escape.

Plus, I broke the mana ring I worked so hard to make to get the spare mana. Just running away might not work while I had run out of mana at first.

I ran with the remaining energy to keep my distance but this old man had followed me from behind.

"I knew it wouldn't work"

"You knew that and still did it"

"Hey, it wasn't for nothing"

His attack was slightly off target which meant the hallucination worked.

I swung the sword at him quickly. He still had the reflexes to parry but my kick managed to send him a few meters away.

"Ho ho ho, I forgot who created that magic"

"Your senior is pretty good too. She had the title of best wizard before becoming a hero despite her weird magic and personality"

‘I am not deaf!’

Elene was now observing us from afar while casting a giant spell that encompassed the entire forest. This was to prevent any intruders or familiars from lurking. 

"You're right. And you've hit me too so I'll end this exercise with this"

He increased his power again until the mana that enveloped his body formed 8 arms that each carried a weapon.

"Oh shit..."

***