Their differences couldn't be any more obvious, despite both coming from Earth. One was the 2nd in command of the crown princess' battle harem Starfall, the other a transmigrator covered head to toe in shit and piss with the moniker trash swordsman.
Hoping that he could at least reason with the man as a fellow earthling, Hiro tried to ask for help.
"Artorius, you know I never tried to take advantage of Rhyne! I remember being at the binding ceremony to enter Starfall before I lost consciousness!
"Let me talk to her. I understand her being angry since I couldn't join her harem. But creating lies to slander and accuse me of crimes I didn't commit is going too far!"
The white knight started laughing uncontrollably after Hiro finished speaking. He then asked in a tone mired with disgust.
"Are you done? You are insane trash swordsman! What binding ceremony? That never happened! Our princess took you in when you arbitrarily came into this world for your own selfish reasons.
"After all she did for you, you repaid her by lusting after her body! You disgust me! I am ashamed to share the trait of being a transmigrator with you! Yet in her infinite mercy, my lady chose to save you from punishment due to her kind heart.
"Can't you understand she doesn't want to see the man that assaulted her? Have some pride as a man you trash! Live an upright life as payment for her compassion."
Hiro who heard the seemingly delusional words of the blood-drunk saint could only say in anger.
"HAAH? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING ABOUT YOU ASSHOLE! YOU WERE THERE! WE SHOOK HANDS AND ALL THAT! THE DEVOTED, MAX, GIL, AND VERGIL WERE ALL THERE! I DIDN'T TRY TO RAPE HER!
"I EVEN CHOSE TO BE ENSLAVED WHEN I MADE MY OFFERING! AND WHAT BULLSHIT ARE YOU SAYING ABOUT FALLING IN MY OWN! SHE SELFISHLY PULLED ME HERE TO HELP HER TAKE THE THRONE YOU DELUSIONAL PIECE OF SHIT!"
As Hiro rampaged in front of the guards, Artorius walked out of the gate and confronted the trash swordsman. The blood-drunk saint made the guards fall back; he then armed himself with the sheathed rapier from his waist and got into a combat stance.
Wrinkling his nose at the stench with disgust the white knight then announced. "It seems you require psychological help as well criminal. I will now exercise my right to enforce the law as you are both a hindrance and an eyesore."
Before Hiro could activate his skills Artorius moved. During the moment the knight charged forward. System alerts rang out one after another and appeared in front of the Trash Swordsman's vision without his consent.
- Alert: The host has entered battle with a target bearing the [Mark of Vengeance]. [Wrath of the Vengeful] has been activated. 30% increase in combat-related skills for the duration of the battle. -
- Alert: [Skill Prediction] has now been set to automatic, skill will continue to trigger so long as enough AP remains. -
- Alert: [Legacy of Vengeance] activated, Stat legacy calculated: 25 STR | 15 AGI | 10 INT will be awarded upon enacting vengeance on Artorius Moretti.
- Alert: [Sight Beyond Vision] mutation has been activated. The host is in combat with a [Sword Grandmaster], 300% increased learning for sword-based masteries due to differences in host and opponents' skill levels. -
Hiro then saw a transparent shadow of Arthur that moved to perform the same thrusting skill he executed in their first duel. But the shadow moved much earlier than the actual body of the blood-drunk saint.
'Ah so this is [Skill Prediction], I can see ahead of time where he would move. Great! Bring it on you bastard! You are the only person I will never accept losing to Artorius!'
- Alert: Reality Defined: Never lose to Artorius Moretti, Skill [Strength Derived from Pride] has been activated. -
-Warning: Stat difference between host and target exceeds 150%. Skill [Strength Derived from Pride] maximum boost invoked. Please prepare for mode [Over the Limit]-
- Alert: STR over-boosted, stat increased 10 -> 500 -
- Alert: AGI over-boosted, stat increased 10 -> 500 -
- Alert: INT over-boosted, stat increased 10 -> 500 -
Hiro, who felt power filling him up embraced the effect of his skills for the first time. While a bit overwhelming they were exactly what he needed at this moment. With over 2000 in AGI, Artorius moved like a blur and despite [Over the Limit] and Skill prediction Hiro still couldn't stop Artorius' assault.
Just like in the first duel, he couldn't evade any of the strikes. But with his new increased speed; however, he now could shift his body in last-second movements to protect his vitals.
While the blows still broke bone and bruised his flesh, his evasion could be considered sort of successful. Out of six blows, five of them only grazed their targets and only his left wrist got taken out of commission.
- Alert: Toughness [D] Lvl 1 has leveled up to Lvl 2 -
- Alert: Masochism [C] Lvl 1 has suppressed the shock response of the host's autonomic nervous system -
Artorius who noticed the sudden increase in Hiro's speed felt both alarm and amazement. His skill [Six Gales] allowed him to perform a thrusting strike to six targets on the opponent's body within the same breath. His targets just now were the chin, throat, heart, Abdomen, and both wrists.
However, due to last-second erratic maneuvers from Hiro, five of the blows weren't able to connect and instead struck the cheek, shoulder, chest, thighs, and arm. For a [Sword Grandmaster], grazing blows were the equivalent of missing.
'What is going on? How did I miss almost all of them? He is moving way faster than he should be. How the hell is he doing this? Didn't he just have the [Sword Novice]?'
Upon checking Hiro's status screens, Artorius trembled. 'Impossible! It's only been a day! How did he gain this many secondary skills in such a period?! Three of them are mutations! Just how powerful is this fucker's will to manifest such skills?'
The skills granted by the battle harem system were divided into three groups.
Main skills, which are the person calling and the predicted area of expertise.
Passive skills, which are abilities gained by the body due to training or experience.
And the last and most mysterious of the three, the secondary skills or also known as Limit skills.
Limit skills are unique in that they are based on the person's mindset and strength of will. One may train a group and most if not all would gain the same passive skills, however, the Limit skills are only gained when a person undergoes severe trauma or psychological development.
These drive the power of an individual based on emotions, beliefs, and convictions. Righteousness, rage, regret, love, jealousy, the desire to protect, and even vengeance. There were as many drivers for Limit skills as there are stars in the sky.
Thus a rule of thumb between the Dominants was to treasure positive limit skills holders and abandon those with negative based skills. Negative emotions-driven skills were unpredictable, chaotic, and usually cause drastic changes to the personality of those affected.
