Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !

Chapter 56 End of the duel

Hearing Maxime's words, Killian didn't hesitate and attacked directly.

The silence broke as he charged, his sword coming down with a metallic hiss. The young mercenary deftly dodged, taking a quick step back, letting his opponent's blade strike the ground with force.

The impact echoed across the field, raising a spray of earth.

The mercenary took advantage of the opening and countered with a swift attack aimed at the apprentice knight's flanks. His blade met the steel of the armor with a thud, but without piercing the thick protection.

"What strength!" murmured Killian with surprise and dread as he felt the pain in his body from the shock absorbed.

Maxime was not only agile, the power that accompanied his sword was impressive.

Whether mercenary or soldier, everyone began to stop looking at the duel as a game they thought they'd easily win.

The apprentice knight pivoted, his heaviness offset by the brute strength he displayed with every blow. He raised his two-handed sword again and struck another powerful blow, seeking to crush his opponent by force.

Maxime barely parried, but the shock made his arm tremble. He stepped back again, seeking to tire the knight and exploit the relative slowness of his armor.

The duel became a balancing act between agility and power. The apprentice knight, though heavily equipped, had the experience of a noble fighter and was well trained.

Every attack was precise, every move calculated.

Maxime, who had not yet gained much combat experience, was defeated in this respect.

Fortunately, his physique far surpassed Killan's, otherwise in a match of equal strength he might lose.

After several exchanges, the mercenary's sword whistled through the air and struck the apprentice knight's arm with precision, just below the shoulder where the protection was thinner.

Killian grunted in pain, but didn't waver.

Sensing the tipping moment, the mercenary redoubled his speed, his blade searching for loopholes. But with every blow, the knight struck back with titanic force.

In a fluid movement, the apprentice knight made a feint, suggesting he was about to bring down his sword, but deflected at the last moment to strike the mercenary on the flank.

Maxime was unable to avoid the blow entirely; the blade bit into his reinforced leather, throwing him to the ground. Lying breathless for a moment, he sensed imminent danger and immediately rolled onto his side.

The next second, Killian's coup de grâce arrived, finally shattering the ground he'd just been on.

Killian was panting now, his heavy, cumbersome armor beginning to weigh on him despite his impressive physique.

In contrast, Maxime, though wounded, could still move easily. He circled the knight, striking and dodging, taking advantage of every opening with surgical precision.

Then came the decisive moment. In a calculated dash, the mercenary ducked under the knight's broad attack and, with lightning speed, planted his blade directly into the apprentice knight's armor, level with the heart, before withdrawing it.

The armor was easily pierced before the shocked eyes of Henry, Ultia and the soldiers.

The mercenaries were much calmer.

Killian stood still for a moment, as if surprised by the speed of the assault.

The apprentice knight, sword still raised, staggered slightly before falling to his knees.

Maxime, still holding his breath, stood a few steps away, bloody sword in hand, ready to parry any last gasp. But there was no more fighting.

Killian laid his sword on the ground with a heavy thud, acknowledging his defeat in a final gesture of honor. Maxime, covered in dust, slowly nodded his head in respect. The fight was over, and everyone had played their part to the end.

"Don't worry, you won't die."

Killian looked up at the blond-haired young man.

He never thought he'd one day be defeated in a duel by a lowly mercenary. They had always despised them.

He was firmly convinced that no matter how talented a person might be, it was impossible to compete with people who possessed the talent of a knight and practiced hard for decades.

Yet on this day, he was defeated by a young man who had never practiced breathing methods and had relied solely on his talent and chaotic training methods.

Of course, he couldn't have known that Maxime's strength depended not so much on his talent as on his financial wealth, but it was a unique talent in itself to be able to grow stronger this way.

That was also the miracle of watches.

On the surface, anyone could reach the top of their world with this unique talent.

Of course, in reality, over 90% of watch owners will never achieve strength similar to or greater than that of knights.

Had Maxime not possessed the Nox Limit talent, he would simply have become a soldier for a nearby baron and saved up to smoothly progress through the class levels.

This method, though stable, could take years before he had saved enough money to have the strength comparable to an apprentice knight.

After that, it would take a decade to reach the strength of a knight without any special opportunities.

And all that time had to be spent surviving various wars and skirmishes.

Other avenues could be explored.

For example, becoming a merchant and navigating between cities could be a way to earn money quickly, but the risks involved were far greater.

So becoming strong wasn't really an easy thing, so awakened talent became extremely important and could more or less determine a person's upper limit and growth.

Maxime had a complex look on his face as he watched this apprentice knight at the stage of great success.

For him, being able to defeat him was the key to entering a great university.

But above all, through his actions, he was beginning to challenge the authority of the nobles.

To avoid any accidents, he had to start hiding part of his forces, just as he had begun to do by creating a base in the forest.

But above all, he must avoid offending them as much as possible and instead make them his allies.

"I was careful not to stick my sword too deep so it wouldn't reach your heart."

Killian's eyes were grateful.

"Thank you so much."

Having such delicate control over his sword in a fight of such intensity, Killian couldn't help but begin to admire this young mercenary leader.

His body was still tingling after coming so close to death.

Henry watched the scene in total shock.

Like Killian, he was firmly convinced that only the way of knights was supreme, and that those who relied solely on natural talent to grow stronger would eventually reach their limits.

He couldn't be blamed for this since, to a certain extent, this was indeed the case.

99% of the people in the world of Eternity possessed 1 or 2 star talents.

1-star talents had a limit of 1.5 points in physics and could, in their lifetime, hope to reach the level of an elite soldier after years of intense training.

2-star talents had a limit of 2 points in physics, and could hope to compete for some time with an apprentice knight at the entry stage, although they were almost certain to be defeated in the end.

3-star talents, on the other hand, were extremely rare, and could at most compete with an apprentice knight at the peak stage.

But generally speaking, if a mercenary with a 3-star talent managed to reach the level of an apprentice at the peak stage, it was already an achievement.

After all, to reach the limits of one's body required not only potential, but also a firm will to grow stronger.

But to rival a knight was still impossible.

Now, however, Henry had proof before his eyes that Maxime's successful attack on Chevalier Jack was not just luck.

Maxime's strength and talent, which seemed appalling, were worthy of his respect.

Not to mention that he had a group of mercenaries, several of whose members were already very powerful.

Thinking of this, Henry suppressed his arrogance and looked more seriously at Andrew, Ernest but also at other members of the group who seemed to him to be particularly strong.

"Now I understand why the Baron only sent 3 apprentice knights to Plouta and 12 apprentice knights to Henor."

"I've also heard that some mercenaries possess a talent for strengthening the people who follow them."

"Would that be the case with this guy?"

"That might explain why there are so many strong men in a group of unknown mercenaries."

As Henry's thoughts matured, Ultia watched in amazement.

She came from a farming family in a small village in Baron Irut.

One day, the newly-bred Ron knight was given the task of going into the various villages of the territory and detecting whether there were any people with knightly talent.

She was only 15 that day, and eligible to take the test.

Her parents looked at her expectantly as she went to take the test, while she herself was very anxious.

All her life, she'd heard about the exploits of knights and noblemen capable of defying physics and facing monsters with their bare hands.

She idolized, respected and feared this kind of existence.

So when Knight Ron detected this talent in her, she hoped to become such a person.

She wanted to have the power to protect her family if anything ever happened.

So of course she was extremely pleased when Knight Ron announced that she not only had a knightly talent, but that it was not far from average.

She lived up to the expectations of Knights Jack and Ron, as well as Baron Irut, and trained for years before finally succeeding in becoming an apprentice knight.

But now her whole psyche was in question.

"How could this man have become so powerful?"