Chapter 117: Too Much Strength, Dead Again
Wilhelm's current mood was somewhat complicated.
A few days ago, it had all been one-sided beatings, and even just now, it was still one-sided. But this time, when Subaru Natsuki stood up, the situation became a bit different.
It was strenuous, even threatening.
Whether it was the aura from Subaru or his movements, there was a strong sense of disconnection from before he fell.
By common sense, a person's strength wouldn't suddenly become much stronger.
Even awakening a blessing wouldn't increase power by that much. But Subaru in front of him was different—his combat power had basically doubled.
Maybe even more than doubled. And Subaru's strength wasn't just physical; it showed in his moves too.
Whether it was offense or defense, the way Wilhelm might swing his sword next, or defend, or move his steps—all of it was being seen through by Subaru, as if everything was under Subaru's control.
However, this was still understandable.
After all, their training had been going on for quite a while, and even though the earlier sessions had been one-sided beatings, Subaru had been steadily improving.
Wilhelm gripped his sword tighter, his aura slowly rising. He was happy about Subaru's progress, but as a strong warrior, he didn't want to lose to him.
Who said that when he decided to use only half his strength, he already considered himself defeated? This was training—if it didn't work as training, then everything they had done until now would have been a joke.
Wilhelm's wooden sword blocked a strike from the right, then he stepped towards Subaru, while his free hand attacked fiercely at Subaru's chest.
Facing Wilhelm's rapid strike, Subaru's pupils contracted, his heartbeat sped up, and the world in his eyes slowed down.
It was already too late to pull back the wooden sword in his hand. Retreating or dodging sideways would only give up the precious offensive advantage he had just gained.
He was no match for Wilhelm to begin with, and if he gave up offensive control, the outcome was almost certain.
Subaru caught Wilhelm's strike with his free hand, the strong force pushing his body sliding backward some distance.
Though he caught Wilhelm's fierce strike, Subaru couldn't feel happy—this distance was enough for Wilhelm to retake the initiative.
Sure enough, before Subaru could even adjust his posture and balance, Wilhelm's attack arrived again the next second.
Losing the initiative, Subaru had to awkwardly use the newly mastered agility advancement skills to block Wilhelm's attacks.
In this brief moment, Subaru understood how "Bullet Time" and "Reaction Speed" were activated.
The activation condition for Bullet Time was simple: it automatically triggered when the heartbeat accelerated, while Reaction Speed was active all the time.
The other skills—Battle Continuation and Status Resistance—seemed passive with unclear activation conditions, and so they didn't activate in this "simple" training.
After all, it wasn't realistic to expect Wilhelm to poison him or weaken him and beat him half to death.
As for the two other active skills, Overdraft Burst and All-Out Attack, Subaru still had no idea how to activate them.
"Ahhh! What a broken system!"
Subaru silently wailed in his heart.
Under Wilhelm's furious assault, he was barely hanging on. It was the first time he faced such a wild, demonic Wilhelm.
Though in the previous reload, seeing Wilhelm fight the White Whale had already made Subaru realize how powerful Wilhelm was, facing a possibly not even fully unleashed Wilhelm in person brought a pressure beyond words.
Even with Reaction Speed and Bullet Time, he couldn't face Wilhelm's high-intensity attacks.
At this moment, Subaru realized the flaws of these two abilities: Bullet Time activates with a rapidly beating heart but consumes stamina; Reaction Speed seemed flawless for now.
But against a physically absurdly strong opponent like Wilhelm, these two abilities only allowed Subaru to barely survive for a while.
His stamina quickly drained under Wilhelm's attacks. When his body couldn't keep up with Wilhelm's speed, Wilhelm kicked Subaru hard in the side, sending him flying.
Subaru rolled several times on the ground, almost completely unwilling to get up again. But now was not the time to fall—there were still two abilities he hadn't tested.
With that thought, Subaru climbed up from the grass, breathing heavily, and looked at Wilhelm standing not far away.
"How do I activate Overdraft Burst… It can't be by shouting it out, right? That'd be so embarrassing! Ah, screw embarrassment!"
With that mental preparation, Subaru deliberately lowered his voice and shouted:
"Overdraft Burst~"
His body didn't feel any stronger. Subaru stood there with a head full of black lines, wanting to say so many things.
He adjusted his mindset, completely dropping his shame, and shouted loudly:
"Overdraft Burst!"
As the words fell, both Subaru and Wilhelm noticed something was off.
Though the skill activated, Subaru wasn't happy at all. He adjusted his stance and charged toward Wilhelm.
With Wilhelm's surprised expression, Subaru reached his side in about a second.
Using his wooden sword to block Subaru's strike caused Wilhelm to lose balance momentarily.
The force was beyond his expectations, and Wilhelm lost the initiative.
Wilhelm didn't have time to think about what had happened to Subaru's body. He boosted his strength to 80% and managed to fully block Subaru's attack.
Both recovered and instinctively stood their ground, swinging their wooden swords continuously.
To an observer, their strikes created afterimages, generating a strong pressure around them. The grass beneath was pressed down, unable to rise.
The endless clashing sounded like a symphony, overwhelming to hear. After three seconds, both wooden swords shattered instantly.
Losing their weapons, the two fought barehanded as if blinded by rage.
"Almost! Just a little more!"
Subaru shouted in his heart, trying with all his might to land a hit on Wilhelm. But he suddenly felt intense pain in his chest.
His reflexes and strength dropped significantly. Wilhelm, noticing this, couldn't pull back his force in time.
Subaru was punched hard in the chest and flew backward, landing on the ground.
He felt Overdraft Burst's effect fade away. His body was wracked with sharp pain, mostly centered in his chest.
"Ah… I overdid it…"
His consciousness plunged into darkness at that moment.