Second World

"Ugh…!" Jack felt a sharp pain on his side where the slingshot bullet hit.

Jack couldn't afford to succumb to the pain, though, because the old elf was coming again with his drunken fist. His movements were all weird and unpredictable.

Jack had been taken aback when the old elf suddenly changed his fighting style. However, he was ready for it now. His wrench slashed and repelled all the assaults.

It was the old elf who was surprised. "You… You know my moves…?"

"Hehe," Jack just grinned for a reply.

He had seen this martial art in the past when he studied at his grandfather's martial school. Domon knew this art but he was not proficient in it. Jack begged Domon to use this martial art when sparring with him because he just watched a movie showcasing this style and was fascinated by it. Domon instead invited a friend who was an expert with this style and had him play with Jack for some time.

It was a long time ago but all the moves came back to Jack now. With his current level of martial art, he had no trouble dealing with this style. That was, of course, if he was allowed to focus on it.

After getting hit one time, Jack had tasked Peniel to pay attention to the ethereal woman with the slingshot. She warned Jack when the ethereal woman took a shot. Jack ducked just as another slingshot bullet zipped by.

The old elf didn't let the chance go. He resumed attacking. But this time, his style changed again. His two hands were up high while his index fingers were stretched out forming hooks. These hook-like fingers attacked as if whips. His assaults turned even more aggressive in this manner.

"The heck, man… You can also do praying mantis style?" Jack uttered in surprise.

Jack's slashes were faster, but the mantis-style fingers blocked the slashes by diverting them away before whipping back with nasty counterattacks. Jack was having trouble keeping up.

He also kept on moving around to not become an easy target for the slingshot lady.

All of a sudden, he found himself surrounded. Three more opponents blocked his sides and rear. All the ones from the first enemy team had either died or fled.

"Give it up, kid. It's over," the old elf said. "I admit you are something, but you won't win against us all."

"I still have two shields, geezer," Jack talked back.

"Hmph! So be it! Attack!" All of them attacked at the same time.

Jack saw the ethereal woman pull her slingshot again. The situation was indeed not good, but he somehow felt calm instead. All his friends had fled, he no longer had to worry about them. He had been thinking about escaping himself, but maybe he shouldn't.

The calm brought clarity into his mind. Somehow, a part of the mantra from the sword's heart Arthur taught him echoed in his thought.

*

…Everything I see, I cut,

Everything I hear, I cut,

Everything I smell, I cut,

Everything I taste, I cut,

Everything I feel, I cut,

I am a sword, as pure and clear as a shining light,

Cutting across all existence, there is nothing that I cannot cut…

*

The slingshot's bullet which had been traveling with incredible speed, crashed into the wrench that was suddenly in its way.

This shocked the old elf. Jack wasn't even looking at the bullet. His hand just went in a precise way that hit the speeding bullet.

'Does this kid sense mana?' He thought.

He didn't stop his movements though. His two mantis-like hooks whipped at Jack, while his other three partners attacked from the other three directions. Yet, his mana sense suddenly blared intensively.

At the same time, the wrench in Jack's hand moved. It was a series of flashes, and all four that surrounded Jack fell backward.

The three who had attacked from Jack's flanks all lost a single shield. Somehow, Jack's slashes accurately struck their heads before their attacks hit Jack. They were reeling back with massive headaches without knowing what exactly had happened.

The old elf was also forced back. His mana sense had saved him at the last instant. He had blocked the slash with his arms, thus he didn't lose any shield. But he did feel as if his arms had been cut clean. If what Jack held was a real sword, perhaps that would have happened.

The ethereal woman fired again, but it was again stopped by Jack's slash. Jack didn't even move.

The old elf understood then. Jack wasn't using mana sense. Instead, his hand that held the wrench reacted in a way that followed his instinct. Any motion caught by his sight, any noise by his hearing, any smell, or vibration, or even the sense of danger he felt, his hand reacted accordingly, cutting all that were considered as menaces.

"You… How can your swordsmanship reach such a level…?" The old elf asked. "It's not possible for someone as young as you to attain such a mastery…"

In his mind, the old elf added, 'No, not even old practitioners reached such a level… In all my life, I have only met one person with this kind of swordplay…'

"Hehe, give it up, geezer. It's over. You won't win against me," Jack said.

The old elf was fuming. Jack was returning his words to him.

"Forget it, use it!" the old elf shouted.

"Huh? Use what?" Jack asked.

It was the old elf's comrades who answered, "Why didn't you use yours?"

"Fool! He is not someone we can defeat in a normal way," the old elf scolded. "Fine, I will use mine!"

The old elf took out a small black ball. Jack wasn't sure what it was but he didn't think he wanted to find out, so he was planning to lunge at the old elf.

But before Jack did that, a series of loud honks drew his attention. He still had the time to think that he hadn't heard such a sound for a quite long while.

Everyone turned in the direction of the honks. Out of the street, a speeding car came hurtling into the park. This car was coming straight at them.