The steel warhammer head flew off in one clean slice. The crowd gasped.
Only then did Leo remember—he was holding the Grand Marshal's longsword. That thing cut like Valyrian steel.
Both men had swung with real power. Even without triggering [Slam], the thick hammer handle couldn't take it.
The sellsword stared at his ruined weapon, then at Leo's full plate, and finally dropped his head in defeat.
The crowd booed.
Leo glanced at the sword in his hand and sighed. This fight he'd actually been looking forward to only gave him under 600 EXP.
So the way you win matters. A clean, decisive beatdown probably paid out more.
He still needed about three thousand points. Time to stop letting this happen.
"Loan me that for a second."
He sheathed the Grand Marshal's sword and tossed it to Varyn, who was cheering from the sidelines, then took Varyn's plain longsword instead.
The move earned him even more respect from the crowd.
Clearly Ser Neo refused to take cheap advantage with a legendary blade. He wanted a fair fight with a normal sword.
That's the honor of a true warrior!
(Of course they conveniently ignored the fact that his ornate plate already gave him a massive edge.)
Maybe they just figured the heavy armor slowed him down.
Either way, in their minds it evened things out.
Leo started breathing a little harder on purpose. A few guys in the crowd saw it and thought, Now's my chance.
Another challenger jumped in, hoping to catch Leo while he was "tired."
Result: another 900-plus EXP. Only a little over two thousand left until level-up.
Leo looked even more wiped out after the fight.
Next victim stepped up.
Another 800-plus EXP.
Just 1,100 to go.
Then more and more challengers who didn't believe the hype showed up. They all saw Leo getting "more and more tired" and figured they had a shot.
Instead they all became walking EXP bags. Leo hit level 7.
EXP: 315/19,200.
New character panel:
Character Name: Leo (Neo Presto)
Level: lv7
Class: Warrior
Four Attributes: Strength 15.2, Agility 12.35, Stamina 15.6, Magic Power 0
Health: 100/100
Mana: 0/0
Skills: [Slam] lv2, [Charge] lv1, [Hamstring] lv1, [Precise Block] lv1, [Victory Rush] lv1, [Shield Bash] lv1, [Punch] lv1, [Taunt] lv1
Magic still zero.
Two new skills: [Punch] and [Taunt].
[Punch]: Swing your fist to shut the target up, interrupt casting, and silence them for 5 seconds.
[Taunt]: For the next few seconds, everything you say will hit their sore spots, making them angrier—maybe even lose control and come straight at you. Effect depends on your words, the situation, and the target's personality, background, and state of mind.
Leo looked at the new skills with a weird feeling.
[Punch] made him feel like he suddenly understood how to "reason" with someone using his fists. [Taunt]… wasn't that just straight-up trash-talking? (Maybe without the actual swearing.)
But hey—level-up was level-up.
The level-up also fully restored his stamina and condition.
The crowd saw Leo suddenly looking fresh and energetic and realized he'd been faking the fatigue the whole time. Pig in a tiger's skin.
Of course he had. Even without the level-up, [Victory Rush] basically made him an immortal meat grinder.
Fatigue? Never heard of it.
Now that everyone knew he was still at full strength, no one was dumb enough to challenge him anymore.
Leo started worrying.
No challengers? How the hell was he supposed to keep farming EXP?
He waited a few minutes. Still nothing. The sellswords and freeriders started drifting off to other rings looking for easier targets.
The spectators, seeing no more action, left too.
"Looks like no one dares challenge you anymore, Ser Neo," the minor noble running the ring said with a respectful smile. "You're the champion of this field. You can wait for the final rounds of the individual melee."
Leo frowned.
Champion? Who gives a shit about that?
I want the EXP!
He left the ring and headed toward the next crowded one.
Same as before—crowd parted like the Red Sea when they saw him coming.
He watched the current fight finish, then stepped in and challenged the winner.
The spectators who had just watched him dominate the last ring cheered wildly. They didn't understand why he'd leave a winning streak to start over, but they were excited to see more.
Some were already asking friends if they wanted to bet on how many more he'd beat or who might finally take him down.
The winner didn't know Leo's record but saw the fancy armor and knew this wasn't some scrub. He took a short breather, then they clashed.
This guy was better—more experienced, cleaner swordwork.
Still nowhere near Leo's level after all those sessions with Barristan.
The fight was intense and flashy. The crowd got their money's worth—raw emotion and excitement. They screamed Leo's name, pumped their fists like the victory was theirs.
Commoner women tossed flowers and blew kisses.
Leo got 1,200 EXP from the win. Bar now at 1,532/19,200.
He thought that would be it—no one would challenge after such a good showing.
But right away, another challenger stepped up.