Ryu and Marie faced each other at the Guild training grounds.

Ryu: "You don't seem to consider the possibility of losing, but you're overly confident. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Marie: "There's no way a noble would lose to a commoner. Alright, if I lose, I'll quit being a noble!"

Sophie and Betty gasped at her words.

Ryu had given her a friendly warning, but it ended up fueling Marie's arrogance.

Ryu: "Are you serious? If you lose, you should just admit your mistake and apologize to the other person."

But Marie misunderstood it as Ryu backing down out of fear.

Marie: "You're scared now, but it's too late. You've been disrespectful to a noble, especially a royal! You think apologizing will make it all go away? Listen, I'm also prepared to give up being a noble. If you lose, you'll become my slave. I'm not talking about words, I'll put a collar on you and make you my real slave for life! I'll work you to the bone!"

The moment she mentioned slavery, a dark emotion surged through Ryu. Memories of his childhood, when he was enslaved by a noble's son and tortured relentlessly, flooded his mind.

Ryu lowered his head slightly and muttered,

"Hmph, this is it… Nobles are the worst, aren't they? They all think they're superior and act recklessly. They use their power to trample on others without a second thought. They think they can do anything as long as they have power, what's the difference between them and bandits? Maybe we don't need nobles."

Ryu, with memories of his past life in Japan, strongly believed in the equality of all humans. He felt deeply uncomfortable with the society where nobles and royals reigned supreme, where a hierarchical system and elitist consciousness were the norm.

Marie: "You dare insult and deny nobles! I'll make you pay for those words when I make you my slave. You'll regret it, you'll cry tears of blood."

Ryu: "You've gone too far now, there's no turning back. Are you ready?"

Ryu raised his head, held his wooden sword, and unleashed a sharp killing intent.

He had originally intended to fight with restraint and teach her a lesson, but now he was ready to unleash his full power.

The killing intent Ryu unleashed was incredibly powerful. Ordinary humans would faint from the pressure, but Marie stood her ground. This was the real deal, Ryu thought.

Marie: "I'll let you attack first. You'd probably finish me off in one blow if I attack, wouldn't you?"

— — — — — —

Marie was actually from a knightly family known for their swordsmanship. Even though she was a woman, she had been training with her brothers since she was a child.

She had focused so much on swordsmanship that she hadn't developed other skills, which caused concern for her family. So she was sent to the palace to work as a maid, but her sword skills were so impressive that she was promoted to escorting maid for the princess.

Marie was confident in her swordsmanship. In fact, she believed she was better than her brothers. She had always assumed that she would be the one to inherit the family, but her father seemed to think that swordsmanship wasn't enough, and that her brothers, who were smarter, were more suitable. That's how she ended up in maid training.

However, she still harbored ambitions of surpassing her brothers and inheriting the family estate.

She couldn't possibly lose to a commoner.

Especially not an F-rank adventurer without any class skills. There was no way she could lose to someone who had the Knight class.

— — — — — —

But the impossible happened.

Ryu, given the first move, charged forward carelessly and slashed at Marie with his wooden sword.

Marie barely managed to block the horizontal swing with her sword.

But…

The sword didn't stop, it continued to advance with an incredible force.

Ryu deliberately swung his sword "slowly". If he swung with all his might, it would be incredibly fast, and even a wooden sword could cut through an opponent's body. Even though this world had healing magic and potions, if someone was cut in half at the neck or torso, they would likely die.

For Ryu, it was slow, but for Marie, it was just barely visible, too fast to react. She thought she had blocked the sword, but Ryu had intentionally swung it to hit her sword, which he had already prepared to be hit.

The clashing swords carried an unbelievable "weight" due to Ryu's Dragonborn strength, far exceeding that of a human, combined with the Gravity magic, which increased his weight.

It was like she had been struck by a bar weighing several tons. Marie blocked the sword, but she couldn't push back against it. Unable to hold her ground, her body was cut off from the ground and flew through the air, crashing into the training ground wall…

— — — — — —

Marie: "G-This is… Power Slash?"

Ryu: "?"

Marie: "I see, so the reason for your strange confidence is that you have a hidden skill… "

Marie wiped the blood dripping from her chin. She got up.

Her legs were trembling slightly from the damage, but she didn't lose her fighting spirit. Impressive, Ryu thought.

Ryu: "Skill? What are you talking about?"

Marie: "That was a pretty powerful skill. It was a good decision to use your ultimate move as a surprise attack, but you failed to finish me off in one blow. You can't use the same move twice against a knight!"

Marie readied herself to fight again.

She thought Ryu had used Power Slash, a skill some swordsmen use to unleash a very heavy slash, a swordsmanship skill that focuses on weight rather than sharpness.

But of course, Ryu didn't have such a skill. He had just increased his weight 100-fold with Gravity magic and swung with pure brute force.

Ryu: "I don't know what you're talking about, but if you surrender, I'll keep my word."

Marie: "How could I ever?"

Marie's eyes flashed as she lunged at him.

Sharp sword strikes.

Every blow was a full-power attack imbued with a fatal intent, but…

Ryu dodged them all.

The sword sliced through the air again and again.

But when Ryu dodged a strike and briefly created distance between them, a hint of a smile appeared on Marie's lips.

She swung her sword sharply, and then something invisible attacked Ryu.

— — — — — — — — — —

To be continued

Marie's secret move strikes Ryu?!

Don't miss the next episode!