The lights in the warehouse were on full

  blast. The lack of windows made it seem almost as though it was the

  middle of the day rather than midnight. Sebastian wasn’t prone to

  sweating—especially not at his current level—but the beads of sweat

  forming on Sebastian’s skin glistened under the bright lights.

  It wasn’t so much because of the lights but because of

  the pressure that radiated from Raphael Bronte, combined with the

  implications of his words.

  Sebastian’s mind reeled. It worked at a speed far beyond anything he had been capable of in his past life.

  He knows my name. Does he have some

  Identification Skill? NO! He said people talked about me. Who? People

  who obviously knows about me. “Why is the interim commander so desperate

  to catch you,” that’s what he said. Shit! The city guard knows I’m

  here. The commander wouldn’t ask a criminal to help him catch a draft

  dodger either; he said as much. This is bigger! The capital— no, Lyra,

  told the city guard I’m here. This was a trap, just a much bigger trap

  than I expected. I need to—

  BAM

  Boss Raph stomped his foot on the ground hard enough to shake the foundation of the building. Cracks formed in the concrete.

  “I can practically hear the gears grinding in your head

  from here! I need you to focus, Sebastian. There is only one reason why

  you’re still alive, and it isn’t because the guards want you alive. They

  insisted you be caught, and for whatever reason they couldn’t be the

  ones to do it. They needed me to lure you out.” Boss Raph slowly shook

  his head. “That doesn’t happen, they don’t do that. When the guards want

  someone, they simply take them. And to be very clear, Sebastian, I do

  not work for them. As far as they know, this meeting isn’t taking place

  for another hour. That gives you and me some time to get to know each

  other. More specifically, it gives me some time to figure out how I can

  make use of you. So I ask you again, who are you, and while you’re at

  it, why are they so desperate to catch you?”

  Sebastian took a breath. “I’m just someone who didn’t

  want to die just because they decided that I was of no use to them.

  Because I’m not. Of use, that is. Not to them, at least, but maybe I can

  be to you. I would really rather not be captured by the guards so if

  there something you want, and it’s something I can help with, I will

  gladly do so.”

  Boss Raph shifted on his chair and propped his right

  ankle over the opposite knee. His face relaxed, devoid of expressions,

  and it was cast in shadow as he tilted his head ever so slightly

  forward.

  Sebastian couldn’t suppress the shudder that ran down his spine.

  “The only thing I would

  want your help with, is to answer my questions. Information, Sebastian.

  That is your only purpose here. I’m not surprised that you would be…

  resistant, to spill your secrets, but I do not care enough to indulge

  your efforts to stall for time or make attempts at winning me over.”

  “I— ”

  Sebastian tried to speak, but Raphael raised his hand to interrupt him.

  “I would walk over there to rip you apart myself—limb by

  limb—until you squealed out whatever it is you’re hiding, but I am

  nothing if not fair. And that wouldn’t

  be fair. You have not betrayed me, or acted against me, or even insulted

  me. Although your defiance is frustrating, it is understandable and

  does not warrant me to take action personally. I did anticipate this,

  however. It is why I brought Cadmar here.” He gestured with his left

  hand toward the formally dressed man to his side. “He’s recently reached

  level 40, you see, and as is customary within our Group, he must prove

  himself to me before he moves up.”

  Sebastian tried, and to some extent succeeded, to

  suppress the fear. Even with all his cultivation and experience since he

  arrived in this world, to stand face to face with Raphael Bronte was

  terrifying. His mentality may have had a shift from his life back home,

  but simply standing in front of a crime boss was still something that

  triggered a deep fear in him. Fear made worse by the knowledge that the

  man in front of him could truly rip him apart with his bare hands if he

  wanted to.

  Cadmar slowly stepped up and drew his

  sword. Behind him, his boss spoke gently yet clearly enough that it

  resonated throughout the warehouse.

  “Remember, you may remove his limbs, but keep him alive.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  Sebastian quickly drew his own sword and took a few steps

  back before drawing upon his [Swordsmanship] Skill to settle into a

  stance from his [Intergalactic Sword Art].

  He already had his [Mind’s Eye] up, but he had never

  properly used it in combat before, outside of sparring. He took a deep

  breath and focused on the man in front of him. Cadmar, a level 40

  swordsman, who was fully intent on cutting him down.

  Although Sebastian had sparred with Silas quite a bit

  over the past couple of weeks, he still hadn’t even come close to

  winning, not even once.

  Since his increase in levels and the creation of his

  [Intergalactic Sword Art], he had had a few hours of sparring with

  Silas, however, and it had been a world of difference from before.

  9 levels may not seem like much, but the difference

  between Cadmar’s level 40 and Silas’ level 49 was still a massive gap.

  Once you approached level 50, each level was a big leap. Once you

  surpass level 50, even more so.

  Sebastian built up his confidence, step by step.

  There was only an estimated 4 level difference between

  them, and with the explosive power of his liquid essence, his recovery

  speed, and his body cultivation the gap wasn’t quite as big as it

  seemed.

  He thought back on the sparring and training he had done

  with Silas. Among the many pieces of advice Silas had given him thus

  far, the one that stuck with Sebastian the most was definitely that he

  needed to learn not to be afraid to take a hit.

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  Obviously he had to avoid or block serious attacks, but a

  weak poke or glancing stroke would barely cause him any issues, which

  was why they had quickly moved on to spar with real swords after their

  initial test spar.

  When it came to the power of cultivation or levels, and

  the aid of the [System], for any attack to be properly successful you

  needed to get a good clean hit. Not to mention that the warriors of this

  world had reaction times far beyond anything Sebastian was used to, so

  without proper and well executed Techniques, your opponent would simply

  dodge or block every attack.

  Panicking had worked, to some degree, against the

  kobolds. Sebastian had a feeling that this time, however, he needed to

  keep his wits about him.

  Cadmar dashed forward and delivered a diagonal slash so

  fast that without his [Mind’s Eye] Sebastian wouldn’t have had time to

  react.

  His Skill-Technique combination didn’t help him react

  faster, but it did help him react sooner. He started moving the moment

  Cadmar raised his sword. He could see his opponent’s movements with a

  clarity and acuity beyond the limits of the human eye, even in this

  super-powered world. Not only that, but it let him see far more than his

  eyes ever could. The muscles contracting, the skin twitching, and the

  subtle shift in his opponent’s eyes.

  Although Sebastian had slipped away from the first slash, Cadmar followed up with a second, and a third, and a fourth.

  Each attack hit nothing but air. Sebastian twisted,

  ducked, and leaned his way out of the trajectory of the incoming sword,

  and whenever he couldn’t avoid it, he blocked or parried.

  While he managed to avoid being hit, he couldn’t actually deal any attacks of his own.

  The flurry of attacks gradually overwhelmed him, and a few attacks drew blood.

  Fighting monsters was one thing, but facing another

  person who was attacking with the intention to maim was another. It was

  far more intense, more real.

  Sebastian had fought the gnoll with its wild frenzy, and

  the idea of killing it still felt like… just what it was, defending

  himself against a beast. Against a human, however, it felt like murder.

  He had always thought of himself as the kind of man who

  wouldn’t hesitate to do what he had to if the circumstances demanded it,

  and he still felt that to be true, but the reality of it proved to be

  more complicated.

  Sebastian’s opponent didn’t find it complicated at all, however.

  To Cadmar this wasn’t a fight to the death, it was a fight for his future.

  Gradually, Sebastian got a handle on the

  situation. The flustered defense slowly turned to a proper one, and the

  training with Silas kicked in.

  By focusing on his strengths: his [Swordsmanship], his

  [Mind’s Eye], and his intent, he could respond to Cadmar’s attacks and

  shift the momentum of the fight.

  Cadmar’s sword came down toward Sebastian’s head like lightning.

  Sebastian took a step back, parried, and then counterattacked in a smooth flow.

  He missed.

  His opponent leaned back to dodge before launching a thrust.

  Sebastian barely managed to duck, and he almost lost his balance in the process.

  His Skill guided his hand to launch an attack from an awkward angle which finally drew some blood from his opponent.

  The two separated for a moment and stared at each other,

  preparing for the next round. Sebastian’s flustered mind had calmed

  down. His fight or flight response had cleared his mind. This was no

  time for complicated feelings or hesitation. This was kill or be killed,

  or rather kill or be maimed.

  He took a deep breath and quickly sidestepped a thrust and responded with a backhanded slash.

  Cadmar followed up with the same, and the clashing of their swords echoed throughout the warehouse.

  They were evenly matched physically. Cadmar was more

  experienced while Sebastian realized that he had the better Technique. A

  fact that Sebastian felt would lead to his victory. He hadn’t trained

  with the sword for long, but having gained a Title, a Skill, and a Sword

  Art of his own due to his advantages as a Blessed One put him slightly

  above his opponent. Based on his experience with Silas, it didn’t seem

  like Cadmar had any complete Sword Style Skill, just a handful of

  regular Sword Skills without the style to bind them together.

  Their swords clashed again and again.

  Both drew blood on occasion but nothing beyond some small cuts.

  Sebastian had been trying to analyze Cadmar’s fighting

  style, to learn his patterns. He felt like his grasp of his opponents

  strengths and weaknesses grew with each exchange.

  He blocked a diagonal strike from above, but immediately

  after he felt a thud and was knocked back. While his balance was off,

  Cadmar pounced, seeking to stab Sebastian through the stomach. Sebastian

  barely managed to donkey roll away.

  It took him a moment to realize what happened. As he had

  focused on blocking the attack from above, Cadmar had simply punched him

  in the face with his other hand.

  It didn’t do much damage, but it reminded Sebastian of

  the difference in experience, and the difference in a spar and a true

  fight.

  Even with his [Mind’s Eye], he learned that he couldn’t

  maintain his focus on everything at once. It was one thing when he was

  standing still and focusing entirely on his senses, but in a fight, he

  also had to focus on himself. How to move, how to attack, how to block,

  how to win. It served as a big enough distraction that he had missed a

  basic fist to the face.

  They continued their stalemate.

  Sebastian focused more on defense. He had learned most of

  his opponent’s patterns, at least as far as the truly dangerous attacks

  were concerned.

  He defended himself: dodging, blocking, parrying, all while he looked for a window to attack.

  Finally he found it.

  As his eyes looked up to block another high attack, his

  [Mind’s Eye] alerted him to the straight kick coming for his stomach. He

  quickly adjusted and sidestepped instead of blocking. Because of that,

  he had the perfect opportunity.

  He swung his sword down like a guillotine.

  Thwap

  He cut right through Cadmar’s leg. And he didn’t stop

  there. As Cadmar screamed in pain, Sebastian pushed off his big toe and

  spun around as fast as he could, and he cut his opponents head clean

  off.

  His momentum nearly made him lose his balance as he

  struggled to stop his spin, but after a few stumbles he stood tall and

  looked over toward Boss Raph.

  Raphael Bronte had done nothing during

  the entire fight. He hadn’t made a noise or even moved a muscle. Even as

  his subordinate’s head rolled on the ground in front of him, he simply

  sat there.

  Boss Raph’s eyes moved down toward Cadmar’s head before slowly moving up to Sebastian.

  Sebastian’s spine shivered, and he instantly turned to rush out of the warehouse.

  He didn’t get more than two steps before the world turned

  upside down. For a moment he imagined that was what being hit by a

  train must feel like.

  One moment he was running, and the next he heard—and

  felt—a sharp thud. The next thing he knew, he was 10 meters in the air,

  tumbling so fast he couldn’t make sense of anything. Somehow he was no

  longer inside the warehouse. During a brief moment as he spun around in

  the air, he saw a massive hole in the side of the warehouse wall.

  He closed his eyes and there was a short lull, a brief moment, where he felt nothing. Then he hit the ground.

  CRACK

  Sebastian bounced and rolled until he hit the wall of the

  neighboring building. There had been a series of cracks and grinds

  along the way. He knew for certain that his left arm was broken, arms

  weren’t meant to bend that way. If not for his extraordinarily durable

  body, he would have broken every bone in his body.

  He was beaten, broken, and bruised. Everything hurt.

  I can’t stay here, move, he thought to himself as he struggled to get back to his feet.

  As soon as he forced himself up, with the help of the

  wall, Sebastian noticed Boss Raph saunter toward him. The crime boss

  walked slowly, as if he was on a casual nature walk. He was halfway to

  Sebastian when a force struck, strong enough to push the crime boss back

  several steps, and covered him in a cloud of dust.

  “I told you this was a trap!” Dolan appeared out of

  nowhere by Sebastian’s side, grabbed a hold of him, and took off like a

  missile.

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