Jonathan shouted at Liens with a face full of rage, "Do you know what you're doing, rookie!"

"You don't think killing me will free you from the family's control, do you? Didn't the instructor explain the constraints of the contract to you?"

Liens's response to this was to step forward and swing his sword.

Since you don't want to attack first, then I'll take the initiative.

Liens currently had no time to chat with Jonathan; he only wanted to fight.

Seeing Liens's longsword strike, Jonathan's eyes narrowed, and he blocked the attack with his sword.

"Clang"

The longswords collided, and a crisp sound echoed through the forest.

Liens wasn't surprised that his attack was blocked. If such a simple chop couldn't be blocked, then he would have to wonder if the previous Training Camp assessments had been lenient.

Liens continued to swiftly swing his longsword at Jonathan, launching an offensive, while Jonathan continuously blocked or dodged Liens's longsword.

"Clang, clang, clang…"

To test Jonathan's defensive capabilities, Liens didn't specifically aim for Jonathan's weak points.

Currently, Jonathan's Sword Tendency seemed to favor parrying, which explained why he didn't proactively attack.

However, even so, with prolonged defense and no counterattack, Liens's rapid slashes still left some small wounds on Jonathan.

These were on his face, arm, and thigh.

Clearly, although very skilled at defense, Jonathan was still somewhat unable to keep up with Liens's reaction speed.

After all, in terms of Sword Tendency, the two were no longer on the same level. Chapter source: My Virtual Library Empire (*).

Through the recent test, Liens had confirmed that Jonathan's Sword Tendency level was still at Sword Tendency and had not, like him, stepped through the grand gate of swordsmanship.

"It seems that Sword Style is quite rare; even Jonathan, a shadow guard who graduated a few years ago, hasn't reached this level."

"Currently, perhaps only the instructor and I are at the same level."

"I hope to encounter a new opponent soon; after all, I can't just go back and 'fight' the instructor, can I?"

Liens thought to himself while swinging his sword.

Perhaps seeing his defensive stance continuously breached, Jonathan realized that prolonged defense without counterattack was unsustainable.

So he began to actively counterattack. After dodging Liens's longsword one more time, he raised his longsword and powerfully chopped down at Liens.

From the previous offensive, Jonathan believed Liens was a fast-paced, speed-oriented enemy, and his strength shouldn't be very great.

Otherwise, those wounds wouldn't have been so small.

And relying on his overall larger physique compared to Liens, Jonathan felt that the other party shouldn't be able to withstand his heavy chop.

On this point, he hadn't misjudged.

In terms of regular strength, Liens truly couldn't compare to him, but if instantaneous explosive power was factored in, it wouldn't necessarily be the case.

In Jonathan's anticipation, Liens should have dodged his heavy chop, and then he would seize the opportunity to connect his offense, freeing himself from the predicament of constant defense.

Unfortunately, Jonathan's anticipation was ultimately limited to his own understanding.

He didn't know that Liens's sword could actually be faster, fast enough to exceed his reaction.

When Jonathan raised his longsword high, Liens, driven by his Sword Tendency instinct, had already completed the body's power generation movement.

Stepping, thrusting.

A silver light faster than Jonathan's reaction appeared, and in an instant, the longsword pierced through his right shoulder.

Liens expressionlessly pulled out his longsword. Blood spurted from the pierced wound on Jonathan's body, staining his black clothes red.

Stunned by this blow, Jonathan's body paused for a moment, then he gritted his teeth, enduring the pain to prepare to bring down his heavy chop.

However, his momentary pause, his endurance, only resulted in Liens's slash across his chest.

"Pfft"

A large amount of blood was squeezed from the large wound on Jonathan's chest, spraying into the air in front of him, directly staining Liens's longsword and his black clothes red.

Trickles of blood slid down Liens's face. Under the night, the image of a cold-faced, blood-splattered killer was reflected.

"Ah…"

That sword slash across his chest directly interrupted Jonathan's intention to launch an offensive.

The intense pain from that sword made him unable to suppress his instinct, letting out a tragic cry.

Jonathan retreated repeatedly, finally half-bent, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He clutched his chest with his left hand, seemingly trying to block the huge wound with one hand.

However, this was clearly just a futile thought.

How could a small stone block the floodgates?

But even so, Jonathan still tightly gripped his longsword with his right hand, looking up at Liens, who was walking towards him unhurriedly.

"Defense is decent, reaction is average, strength is decent, will is good."

"Your strength is not bad, but it's not much higher than that of a normal recent graduate."

"In a few years, is this all the progress you've made? Did you go to the red-light district too much, leaving no time to improve yourself?"

"Or are there other reasons?"

Liens calmly evaluated Jonathan before him.

"Heh… You're quite good at commenting."

"Just like your previous mission summaries, very concise."

Jonathan spat out a mouthful of overflowing blood, sarcastically retorting to Liens somewhat weakly.

"Hmph… Although your strength is very strong, even stronger than I imagined."

"But as long as you are not an Extraordinary One, you cannot resist the family."

"So… spare me, and I will keep today's events a secret."

"My injuries were also from accidentally being wounded by the mission target; it has nothing to do with you."

Jonathan calmly negotiated with Liens.

Even knowing he was about to die, he didn't show weakness or fear towards Liens, nor did he give up hope of living.

And this was what Liens evaluated as 'good will'.

Whether it was his endurance to pain or his character of never giving up hope.

Jonathan was much stronger than the mission target named Frank.

And this ruthlessness is also the standard for most people who survive the Training Camp.

It is precisely because of this ruthlessness, this constant refusal to give up 'the hope of living,' that they are able to survive the extreme training in the Training Camp again and again.

And it was precisely because of such a formidable precedent that Liens looked down on that mission target.

"Extraordinary One? Is that the Extraordinary Knight you mentioned before?"

Liens didn't care about Jonathan's negotiation; instead, he followed up on the term he had spoken, posing a question.

"Not just Extraordinary Knights, but any Extraordinary existence that controls elements. Knights are just one of them."

"Additionally, there are mages, and apostles of God—priests."

"These three are the mainstream Extraordinary professions."

Jonathan readily answered Liens's question.

Because this information could easily be discovered if Liens patiently investigated, he believed it was worth exchanging for a bit of hope now.

"Elements?"

Liens murmured to himself.

The first time he saw the word "elements" was in Marvin's experimental diary.

The record at the time was—Year 4624 of the Elemental Calendar.