Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

Merlin liked to gamble, and considered herself good at it.

The core of gambling lay in calculation.

From the moment she saw Shugus, she had already envisioned the outcome of the battle. For a professional mage who could count five decks of cards as a starting point, this was not a difficult judgment to make.

Although she didn't know why the heir to Britain would be someone who wasn't even a professional or a mage.

However, the abilities this guy displayed shocked even Merlin, who considered herself well-informed.

From not knowing how to ride a horse to skillfully mastering the ability to ride a warhorse, even elevating it to a combat skill called [Riding].

This guy took less than five minutes.

Suya's only lacking were the basic physical enhancements from a profession and some commonly known knowledge.

As for his combat skills, or rather, his eyesight—

Whether it was when he killed two scout cavalrymen, learned to ride, or traversed through an army of ten thousand, it proved that he possessed the highest level of talent in this most fundamental yet difficult-to-improve ability.

His eyes were even more powerful than the legendary Mystic Eyes!

It was as if he was born for the battlefield, yet for the past fifteen years, he had been hidden away by the royal family and the great mage Merlin.

Therefore,

Merlin judged—

As long as Suya could get his hands on a sword, and she could cast Reinforcement Magic on Suya based on the concept of 'sword,' patching up Suya's last weakness.

Then, the outcome of this battle was predestined.

Just as it was now.

Pfft!

The rogue's dagger sliced into Suya's shoulder. The tip of the dagger seemed to be doing needlework, fluttering under the flesh, apparently trying to cut open muscles and sever tendons.

Seeing blood splatter from the enemy's shoulder, Shugus, however, showed no sign of relief; instead, his expression subtly changed.

The next instant,

The circling sword swept across. Shugus could only abandon this offensive opportunity, retreat with a Swift Step, shift horizontally, and create distance.

And a line of text silently appeared before Suya:

[You have mastered: Swift Step (Basic).]

He had successfully avoided an attack that should have struck his wrist and severed his tendons, using the strange footwork he observed from the red-haired assassin in front of him. After that, he roughly grasped this combat skill.

This footwork was somewhat similar to the ninja footwork Suya had seen in TV shows in his previous life.

That is, a peculiar agile and swift footwork that allowed one to move quickly on creaking, old wooden floors by walking on tiptoe without making any sound.

It had a unique feel, combining techniques like Hiraki-ashi (open-leg walk), Namba-aruki (Namba walk), and Nijū-ibuki (double-breath breathing method).

In his previous life, Suya had practiced according to videos and had mastered several footwork techniques long ago. All he had to do now was combine them and imitate the opponent's movements to find the feeling of connecting the various footwork and breathing methods.

Besides that,

Suya also knew Uki-ashi (floating foot), Inu-aruki (dog walk), Kitsune-aruki (fox walk), Fukakusa-usagi-ho (deep grass rabbit step), Hachi-ho-kan-zen (eight-step catching cicada), Mizu-kami-no-ho (water-walking step), Sankaku-ho (triangle step), Kyūkyū-ho (nine-palace step), Hakkai-ho (Bagua step), Shin-ho (vibrating step), Fiore system footwork, German master counter-footwork...

He had only dabbled in them, not truly mastering them, but he could generally understand the principles and perform simple imitations.

In other words,

Suya wasn't learning one-to-one on the spot like a Uchiha with a Sharingan in Naruto; rather, because of his past life's interests, he possessed a vast and diverse martial arts library, allowing him to quickly find similar techniques and combine them.

It was like how modern people constantly scroll through short videos; everyone, in fact, has acquired a huge amount of fragmented knowledge based on their respective interests.

What truly set Suya apart, what could be called his talent, was his ability to combine these fragments on a physical level.

At this moment,

Due to Merlin's Reinforcement Magic, his physique had been strengthened to a level close to the human limit.

As a result, many techniques Suya had mimicked in the past but couldn't execute, could now be performed fluidly!

Various sword arts and footwork techniques were unleashed by him in a somewhat chaotic but effective manner.

Advancing, lunging, spinning kick into a horizontal slash, straight thrust, returning blade for horizontal parry, swift step forward, upward cut...

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

Sword blade and dagger clashed repeatedly.

Equal forces collided, constantly erupting in sparks mid-air!

Due to the dagger's length, Shugus could only continuously retreat, circle, and seek an opening.

He felt as if the brat in front of him was just wildly slashing with his sword, yet somehow every single strike managed to perfectly neutralize his seemingly guaranteed attacks, and even counter-attack.

This messy swordsmanship lacked a system, a set pattern, and wasn't a combat skill. It also lacked the peculiar power granted by combat skills.

Yet, it somehow proved effective in this desperate life-or-death struggle!

If it weren't for his superior agility and far greater combat experience than the opponent, anyone else at the same level would probably have been cut down by Suya already.

He immediately realized that his two subordinates had been defeated by this very kind of haphazard swordsmanship.

However,

At this moment, after roughly understanding Suya's approach, Shugus's eyes narrowed. He now knew how to deal with Suya's chaotic swordplay.

Even if every sword strike and every footwork Suya unleashed was quite exquisite,

Still,

There was ultimately a difference between martial arts and combat skills!

These martial arts, which were no less exquisite than, or even more exquisite than, his combat skills, might be suitable for another method of self-improvement.

But, in this world, combat skills, as the most basic unit of the power system, were what transformed ordinary techniques, imbuing them with powerful force to bring about qualitative change!

And at the same time,

Suya also realized this point.

His thousands of martial arts could not be transformed into combat skills. They could only serve as a foundation, providing references to help him quickly adapt and master this world's power system.

Even now, what allowed Suya to barely keep up with the enemy's movements was the [Swift Step] he had just mastered.

Combat skills and martial arts had fundamental differences. When using [Swift Step], his body would become lighter, but when using other techniques, there was no such special enhancement.

Moreover, after Suya demonstrated his extremely fast learning speed,

The enemy, this red-haired assassin, no longer demonstrated the combat skills he had mastered to Suya.

He was circling, weaving, waiting, preparing for a killing blow!

At the same time,

Time was not on Suya's side either.

Suya hadn't forgotten that their position was exposed. The assassin in front of them was just a vanguard. If they continued to be stalled like this, their situation would become increasingly dangerous!

And then—

"Suya, use magic!"

"Your magic is Spiritual Evocation based on the Third Law, a magic that can make the caster [Invincible]!"

"Every head of the Pendragon family who inherits this magic is a battlefield rose who never retreats before an army of ten thousand!"

Merlin's voice came from the ground.

Shugus's face turned cold. As Merlin's warning rang out, he stopped circling. His entire body leaped three meters high like a soaring roc, and his form subtly faded in the air.

Like a hawk, he swooped directly towards Suya!

Suya's heart tightened. He immediately spun his sword, raised his knight's sword high above his head, adopted the rooftop guard from German swordsmanship, and chopped down at the enemy, who was flying up like a target!

However,

In Shugus's shadow, which stretched to the ground, a blurry figure coldly stared at the wide-open Suya, revealing a sneer.

With a dagger clenched in his mouth, he moved his hands and feet simultaneously on the ground, launching himself at Suya like a venomous snake!

[Shadow Strike]!

However,

At this moment—

Shugus, who believed he had already succeeded, looked up during his pounce and saw a pair of cold, green eyes staring back at him.

Despite raising his sword to strike at the shadow high above,

Suya's eyes were not even looking in that direction!

As the enemy initiated his attack, based on the insight granted by his "Trickster" class, he keenly perceived the abnormality of the opponent's offensive.

Indeed, Suya did not possess a unique skill like "combat skill."

However, Suya had four classes—

Hyena: Prevents being crushed in strength clashes.

Trickster: Allows him to continuously observe his opponent's movements and expressions.

Fake: This class seemed to grant him the unique ability to perfectly impersonate others and use things that originally belonged to them.

Therefore,

Even with the newly transplanted Magic Crest, once Suya understood what magical energy was, he could use this magic, which originally belonged to someone else, without any hindrance.

"Pathway—"

"Connect!"

"Material, elucidate!"

"Third Law, Spiritual Evocation!"

"Soul Homogenization!"

"Declare!"

Suya slightly opened his mouth, staring coldly at the pouncing enemy, and rapidly chanted to himself:

"My body becomes a single sword!"

"Fallen remains, leading to new birth."

"The light of ideals brings guidance,"

"Reaching the destined destination,"

"This realm is—"

"The far-off, isolated Avalon!"

The entire incantation was completed in half a second.

The moment scarlet magical circuits lit up on Suya's body,

Suya flung the sword in his hand away!

He stared fixedly at the pouncing enemy, took two large running steps, then stomped his foot hard on the ground,

Shifting his center of gravity to the right, his left foot pulled back half a step, both legs bent at the knees into a horse stance.

Bow stance, elbow strike!

Opening Cannon!

"Bang!"

His elbow, like a heavy hammer, smashed into Shugus's face, caving in his eye socket and breaking his nose!

Before Shugus could even recover,

Suya suddenly straightened up, his other arm turning to deliver an upward elbow strike to the side of the opponent's face, forcibly knocking out two bloodied molars.

Then,

He brought his elbow down hard onto the back of the opponent's head!

A full set of Baji Quan, leaving Shugus seeing stars and temporarily incapacitated.

But even so, this professional's aura remained steady. The opponent's health bar was impossibly tough, and he seemed to be regaining consciousness immediately!

And after losing the sword in his hand, Suya felt his stats plummeting rapidly!

Suya gritted his teeth.

He grabbed the opponent's head and slammed it down into the muddy ground!

His five fingers tightly gripped the back of the opponent's head, which was already trying to struggle, as if holding down an elephant that could break free at any moment.

"Circuits, connect!"

"Healing, commence!"

His final class, Quack Doctor—began to take effect!

Scarlet magical energy surged, flowing rapidly into Shugus's brain through the scarlet circuits lighting up on Suya's palm!

After successfully using the magic,

Suya had understood:

The Pendragon family's magic was about shaping one's soul into the form of the Scabbard of Avalon, thereby exploiting a loophole to link to the otherwise un-linkable Ex-rank Noble Phantasm, 'Avalon,' which was the scabbard of the legendary King Arthur's Sword of Promised Victory. This allowed them to seize the conceptual abilities of the scabbard: healing injuries, stopping aging, nullifying all magical and physical attacks, and even reflecting all attacks.

And the ability of the Quack Doctor class was:

[Your ability to treat external injuries increases. When you treat someone, there is a very high probability of causing irreversible, significant harm.]

As the concave indentations on Shugus's forehead, caused by the elbow strike, slowly recovered, his struggles grew weaker.

It was unknown what kind of critical failure the healing had triggered.

Finally,

Twenty seconds later, Shugus stopped struggling.

He was dead.

And at this moment,

Click, click, click!

Suya heard the sound of dice rolling, like a storm!