Dual Realm Exchange System

CLANG!

Alfaro’s jaws snapped shut upon dark metallic-blue steel rather than Damian’s throat, the impact ringing through the glade loudly enough to scatter leaves from the nearby branches.

Damian had not moved from the exposed root.

At least, not visibly.

The Longtian Sword had simply disappeared from beside him and entered his right hand, its broad edge turned horizontally between himself and the Great White Wolf. Alfaro’s fangs ground against Dragon Scale while the enormous Beast pushed forward with enough force to tear Damian’s boots several centimeters through the moss.

Yet the blade did not break.

Alfaro growled and clamped down harder, powerful jaws bulging as he apparently decided that if the sword stood between himself and Damian’s throat, then the obvious solution was to bite the damned thing in half!

Grrrrrrrrrr...

A deeper growl answered him.

The Dragon Pearl embedded within Longtian’s guard flashed once before the entire sword released a furious draconic rumble, almost offended that some overgrown dog had dared put its teeth upon it!

GRRRRROOOOAAAR!

BOOM!

Alfaro went flying!

The massive Wolf yowled as an explosive force threw him backward, his paws leaving the ground completely before he crashed through a patch of brush and rolled several times across the clearing.

Damian finally stood.

”Well, well.”

He glanced at Longtian, and the sword growled irritably.

”Yeah, I know. Very disrespectful.”

Ravelhorn laughed from his stump, clearly entertained by the exchange, while Mirelle remained where she had fallen and stared at Alfaro with horror.

The Great White Wolf was already rising again, purple light burning within his eyes as Ravelhorn’s control smothered whatever remained of his resistance.

Damian’s own state changed just as naturally.

awakened beneath his thoughts, joining the enormous field of information already pouring through .

Distance, posture, muscle tension and movement ceased being separate observations and became one continuous understanding of the battlefield.

Then stirred as Damian’s accumulated Battle Aura rose around him, subtle at first, but carrying the weight of repeated victory and the promise that the longer this engagement continued, the worse things would become for his opponent.

Other advantages quietly settled into place as well.

recognized Alfaro immediately.

reinforced the physical technique Damian was about to use, while happily accepted the Longtian Sword held alone within his right hand.

Damian briefly raised two fingers from his left.

”.”

Soft divine light entered his body.

Then...

”.”

Another blessing settled over him.

Fifteen and a half percent more across every Attribute, followed by fifteen and a half percent reduction to incoming damage, both lasting sixteen-point-eight seconds.

All this for free!

Damian rolled his right wrist once, lowering Longtian beside himself before glancing toward Ravelhorn.

”I’ll subdue Alfaro first, then deal with you.” Damian promised coldly.

Ravelhorn blinked, then the Satyr burst out laughing.

”HAHAHA! Please do!” Ravelhorn mocked openly, leaning back upon his stump.

Damian ignored him as Alfaro attacked again.

The White Wolf crossed the clearing again with frightening speed, but this time Damian was already moving.

Longtian came up in a simple forward grip while Alfaro swiped with his right forepaw.

Damian stepped inside the arc and cut upward.

CLANG!

Claws met Dragon Scale.

Instead of stopping after the block, Damian’s wrist rotated as his hips turned, the upward deflection becoming the beginning of a horizontal slash.

Alfaro jerked backward, and the sword missed his muzzle by mere centimeters.

That miss became another movement as Damian continued turning with it.

His right foot pivoted, his shoulders followed, and the horizontal slash curved downward as the sword completed its first transition.

SCHLICK!

A shallow line opened across Alfaro’s shoulder.

The Wolf snarled and twisted around, jaws snapping toward Damian’s exposed side.

Damian’s sword was supposedly facing the wrong direction, but his wrist turned again as Longtian dropped behind his forearm before circling forward, the previous downward cut becoming a rising defensive sweep.

CLANG!

Fangs struck steel.

Damian borrowed the impact and made another turn.

The blade revolved around his wrist as he spun beneath Alfaro’s head, the redirected momentum becoming a backhand cut across the Beast’s flank.

SCHLICK!

Blood sprayed!

Mirelle’s eyes widened while Ravelhorn stopped laughing quite so loudly.

This was the essence of the !

Damian had understood the theory when he first learned it.

At Entry, seven transitions linked ordinary attacks together.

At Small Success, he learned how to control their spacing and momentum.

At Great Success, the transitions stopped feeling like separate techniques.

And after forcing the entire Human Rank Martial Art through Mastery and into Perfection?

There were no seven moves anymore, but rather seven roads from every position.

A slash, a block, and a thrust did not merely end as that.

Every motion placed the sword somewhere, and wherever the sword happened to be was merely the starting point of whatever came next.

Alfaro attacked harder.

His left claw swept low enough to uproot moss and dirt while his head came from the opposite direction, forcing Damian between jaws and talons.

Damian made a step-in with the Longtian Sword, sweeping downward and redirecting the claw just enough to miss his leg, then rotated completely with the deflection.

His back faced Alfaro for one tiny instant, which was a ridiculous position in ordinary swordsmanship, but perfect in this one.

The turn built momentum through Damian’s hips, waist and shoulder before the blade whipped around from the opposite side.

BANG!

Damian struck Alfaro across the jaw with the flat of his blade, causing the Wolf’s head to snap sideways.

Before his body could follow, Damian’s sword had already turned again, a vertical slash having become a thrust!

The thrust shortened halfway through when Alfaro twisted away, becoming a draw-cut instead.

That very draw-cut curved into another rotation as Damian spun past the Wolf’s flank and struck with the pommel.

THUD!

Alfaro stumbled, then Damian kicked him.

BOOM!

The enormous Beast slid backward several meters!

Mirelle stared in disbelief.

At first glance, the fight looked equal.

That was the frightening part.

Alfaro was faster than most Humans had any right to deal with, enormously stronger than his size suggested and durable enough that each collision shook the surrounding clearing.

His claws tore through roots, his jaws snapped with enough force to pulverize ordinary steel and every furious movement carried the physical majesty expected of the strongest White Wolf beneath the southern moon.

Given a Challenge Rating, Alfaro would be at least tier 9 or 10.

The problem was that Damian was simply always where Alfaro needed him NOT to be.

Alfaro would chomp down viciously, but Damian would make a half step away and slash his torso.

Alfaro would swipe a gleaming claw that could disembowel even a troll, but Damian would casually parry it with nonsensical strength for a Human, then even have spare power to counterattack.

Alfaro would manage an agile wolf-like dodge, only for the sword to still slash him as if he had dodged into the attack rather than away.

told Damian what the Beast was doing while answered with the most natural continuation, and the combination became increasingly disgusting as warmed throughout the engagement.

The longer they fought, the smoother Damian became.

Alfaro lunged and Damian parried, then performed a turn slash.

Alfaro twisted away, but Damian launched a turn thrust.

The Beast jumped aside, but Damian initiated a turn draw-cut.

Alfaro landed and immediately spun with one rear claw, but Damian’s sword descended to block.

CLANG!

The impact should have broken the sequence.

Instead, Damian smiled, because resistance was still momentum.

His arm gave slightly beneath the force rather than fighting it, letting Alfaro drive Longtian downward before Damian turned his wrist and stepped around the pressure.

The sword vanished beneath the Wolf’s leg, then came upward.

SCHLICK!

Alfaro howled as another wound opened across his chest.

He retaliated instantly, whipping his enormous body around and lunging with both forelegs.

Damian moved with him.

Once, twice, then three turns!

Longtian became a dark-blue arc dancing around the Beast, each rotation carrying more of the previous movement into the next.

The fourth, the fifth, and the sixth!!

Alfaro’s purple eyes tracked the rhythm.

There!

The seventh transition!

The Wolf threw himself sideways, instinctively avoiding where the final line should have carried the sword.

Damian’s smile widened.

!

His momentum stopped in an almost impossible way, then reversed.

The entire chain of attacks that had been flowing clockwise suddenly snapped backward through the previous transition, Longtian traveling along the exact opposite trajectory Alfaro had moved into to escape.

BANG!

The flat of the sword smashed directly against Alfaro’s skull and the Wolf hit the ground hard enough to shake the clearing.

Ravelhorn’s smile disappeared.

Damian breathed steadily, looking down at his sword with growing satisfaction.

Oh yeah.

This shit was good!

He finally understood why cultivators bothered naming Martial Arts instead of simply saying they knew how to use a sword.

Ordinary swordsmanship taught you how to attack, but the taught every attack how to become another attack using inhuman strength and reflexes as its core.

And at Perfection, the entire concept felt unfair to opponents.

Turn! Turn! Turn!

Is that all you know how to do?! Are you a damn beyblade?

Or are you some anime swordsman?!

Who the hell fights like this?!

Alfaro rose again, but slower this time.

Blood stained large portions of his white fur, although Damian had deliberately avoided deep wounds and used the flat whenever a clean killing strike presented itself.

He had made a promise to Moonfang to rescue this Wolf, and that mattered.

The purple light inside Alfaro’s eyes flared violently as Ravelhorn forced more power through whatever enchantment controlled him.

The Beast howled and rushed again.

”Sorry, old fellow, this is gonna hurt.” Damian muttered apologetically to the charging Wolf.

This time, he decided to end the fight.

Alfaro’s claw descended and Damian turned beneath it as Longtian struck the foreleg sideways.

Turn.

The sword circled upward, its flat side smashing beneath Alfaro’s chin.

Turn.

Damian stepped behind the staggering Beast, rotated through his hips and struck the ribs.

BANG!

Alfaro lurched sideways.

Turn.

One final rotation carried Damian around the Wolf’s flank until Longtian rose above his shoulder, then descended with great force!

BOOOOM!

The flat of the blade crashed into Alfaro’s skull again, and the Great White Wolf collapsed heavily.

For several seconds, his claws weakly scraped against the earth as purple light flickered inside his eyes, then vanished.

Alfaro went still, finally becoming unconscious.

Damian stood over him quietly before exhaling.

”Good fight.”

He had won!

More importantly...

He hadn’t killed him.

Damian immediately crouched beside the battered Beast and placed one hand upon his fur, Divine power answering his call.

”Ira Et Dolor!”

!

Golden light spread beneath Alfaro’s body, tracing a complex sacred symbol across the earth before rising around him in a faint protective boundary.

Damian watched it stabilize.

There we go.

Now whatever happened next, Alfaro would remain protected from anyone attempting to take advantage of his helpless condition.

Damian had promised Moonfang and the other wolves that he would free their leader if possible.

Promise fulfilled.

Well, at least halfway fulfilled.

He rose slowly and turned.

Ravelhorn remained seated upon the stump, but the easy smile was gone.

The two violet moths circled behind him while his black pipes rested loosely within one hand, and for the first time since Damian entered this clearing, the Satyr was not looking at him like entertainment.

He looked surprised, interested, and perhaps even impressed.

Ravelhorn’s gaze briefly moved toward the unconscious Alfaro before returning to Damian.

Then the Great Fey stood, his hooves touching the moss.

The entire atmosphere changed.

Damian tightened his grip around Longtian.

Ravelhorn rolled his neck once and grinned, though none of the earlier playfulness returned to his eyes.

”Better prepare yourself, Human!” Ravelhorn bellowed as purple power erupted from his body.

”Because if that mangy Wolf was a one...”

His aura exploded.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire glade trembled as trees bent outward, leaves tore from their branches and Mirelle flattened herself against the ground as waves of Fey power rolled across the clearing.

Ravelhorn spread his arms with a crazed smile.

”...THEN I AM A HUNDRED!”