Chapter 195: Long Spear Technique Contest, One to One, A Draw

Jier was not telling Aoni anything else; he was terrified that this might be an invitation like a trap at a banquet, so he had Aoni notify his subordinates that if they heard his loud command from the barracks later, the Warriors were to rush in directly and take control of the situation.

Try to take control, at least.

After all, with a team of fewer than thirty people facing the two or three hundred Soldiers in the barracks, even if there was a gap in individual strength, the difference in numbers was too great.

He strode into the barracks he had visited just that afternoon. Because it was dark, most of the Soldiers who did not come out during the day had emerged from their tents and houses. The barracks had also set up some brazier stands in various places, providing partial lighting for the entire camp.

Although it was enough for people to perform simple drills or activities, Jier still felt it was not bright enough.

He took out the simple, ancient stone Short Staff with a Gem embedded in its tip from his waist and fired three Lighting Orbs in quick succession, which stuck to the second-floor wall of the wooden watchtower, illuminating the open space in front of the wooden tower exceptionally brightly.

"Come, everyone come over and take a look."

Jier shouted, letting the Soldiers scattered throughout the barracks gather around, while Captain Gulisiman also led his men down from the barracks wall: "How convenient. But it is just a simple contest; to have you go to the trouble of using such a magical method, it really is..."

Although he said that, Captain Gulisiman could see that this was a method of the Sun God Church, and the expression on his face was actually not happy.

"Let's skip that nonsense, Captain Gulisiman. How shall we compete? Still like the Caravan guards just now? Then you will have to send more Soldiers; I am very fast."

Jier stood in the open space in front of the watchtower illuminated by the light orbs, loosening his wrists, eager to try.

Unexpectedly, Captain Gulisiman waved his hands: "That won't do. To tell you the truth, although I am not a Knight Rank powerhouse myself, I deal with the Knight Lords in the territory quite often. How could a mortal possibly fight against Knights? It cannot be done."

He pointed to the Long Spear in a Soldier's hand and said: "I don't really intend to let my subordinates suffer; after all, the cost of asking Priests for healing is not low, and letting the Soldiers heal their own injuries is too much of a hassle."

Jier's originally eager expression cooled slightly: "So?"

Captain Gulisiman took the Long Spear from the Soldier next to him and performed a few short-range thrusts with sharp movements. The movements looked very standard, and the lethality was not low: "How about you and I use the Soldiers' Long Spears to have a contest that focuses more on technique than fundamentals? It would be a good chance for my Soldiers to see how this thing is used to kill enemies and how to fight?"

Hearing Captain Gulisiman's words, the Soldiers began to clamor: "Captain, you underestimate us too much!"

"Exactly, it's just poking with a Long Spear, who doesn't know how to do that!"

"Doesn't it just take hands to do? There's no need for you and Knight Jier to have a special contest."

But facing the complaints of his subordinates, Captain Gulisiman did not stop or refute them. He did not care what his subordinates said; he only looked at Jier with burning eyes.

Jier smiled. He knew the other party's thoughts. Ordinary people and Knights differ too much in physical fitness. If they were to compete in a way that approximated actual combat, Captain Gulisiman would have no chance of winning at all. After all, as the Captain of an entire team, Captain Gulisiman's greatest role was not to go into battle to kill enemies, but to command and manage this Border Patrol Defense Team.

In terms of martial arts, this Captain Gulisiman should not be bad, but his skill was just so-so.

Therefore, to avoid losing face, this man changed the contest from the free-for-all Jier had expected into a contest of Long Spear technique.

Although they were still using weapons to compete, it could already be called a civil contest rather than a martial one.

A cautious fellow, wanting to help that Priest of the God of Wealth regain face while not losing his own face and status. That was why he chose such a pretext and method.

"Alright, let's do as you say."

Jier beckoned, letting a Soldier watching from the side throw the Long Spear in his hand to him.

As the wooden Long Spear shaft landed in his hand, Jier felt a bit dazed; it had been a long time since he had used this kind of 'light' wooden-shafted Long Spear.

He had used this kind of wooden Long Spear for a while when he started adventuring last year, but after the spring this year, he had often used all-metal steel Long Spears. Since he defeated those Dwarf Soldiers in Torito Village and seized the Dwarf Soldier Spears they held, he had been using Dwarf Soldier Spears for these past few days.

Holding the weightless wooden Long Spear again, Jier even felt a bit unaccustomed to it.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Jier dazed after getting the weapon, Captain Gulisiman asked specifically. He thought there was a problem with his subordinate's weapon, but after Jier came back to his senses, a single sentence—"It's just too light"—made Captain Gulisiman roll his eyes.

This thing was not light; a wooden Long Spear three to three and a half meters long, including the metal spearhead, weighed about one to two kilograms. Especially because of the length, using it skillfully still required a certain amount of technique.

"Those watching, spread out, don't crowd too closely. And you lot, put away the bets; this is not a contest for you to gamble on."

After warning his subordinates, Captain Gulisiman loosened up his body, then put on his steel Helmet, wore his Lobster Plate Armor, lowered his body, and slowly approached Jier.

Jier, on the other hand, held the Long Spear casually with one hand and swung it a few times, making a violent whistling sound that scared the Soldiers at his side into backing away a few meters on their own.

Seeing Captain Gulisiman approaching, Jier instinctively wanted to throw the Long Spear in his hand forward. Even though Captain Gulisiman was wearing the thickest and most flexible Lobster Plate Armor that an ordinary person could equip, in Jier's view, as long as he threw the Long Spear forward with force, this so-called plate armor would not be able to stop the piercing of the Long Spear.

Even if it really blocked the thrown Long Spear because of the sturdiness of the plate armor, the force carried by the Long Spear could easily knock Captain Gulisiman to the ground, and the violent impact would likely leave Captain Gulisiman gasping on the ground for a long time. Jier would only need to walk up, kick away the weapon in the other's hand, and then flip him over and suppress him to easily defeat him.

But Jier, who had subconsciously intended to do so, came to his senses and remembered that this Long Spear contest was about winning through technique, not about a miracle through brute force.

"Really cunning."

Muttering a word, Jier also held the end of the Long Spear with both hands, front and back, lowered his body into a horse stance, and held the Long Spear steadily forward. The two of them were like baring-fanged, claw-waving crabs, each nimbly maneuvering their Long Spears as they slowly approached each other.

Clang—

Ding! Clang—

As the metal spearheads approached, they struck each other crisply. With the keen vision and control of a Knight-rank Warrior, Jier swung his Long Spear precisely, intercepting Captain Gulisiman's probing attacks, and took the opportunity to vibrate his arm slightly, causing his own spearhead to actively deflect Captain Gulisiman's spearhead.

Seeking an opening to launch a fatal surprise attack.

But Captain Gulisiman was experienced in using the Long Spear. Although he could not perform every interception purely by relying on the Long Spear in his hand like Jier, he was experienced and maintained the offensive from the start, occupying the initiative and launching continuous waves of attacks, forcing Jier to mostly intercept and defend.

And whenever Jier took the opportunity to launch an attack, he would quickly move his legs to retreat, trading distance for the opponent's attack, rendering Jier's attack ineffective, and returning to the round of mutual probing.

"Good!"

Jier had been suppressed, and his few limited counterattacks were easily resolved by the opponent, but instead of being discouraged or anxious, his interest was piqued.

Unlike defeating the Caravan guards just now by relying on the superior quality of a Knight-rank Warrior while unarmed, this contest of purely comparing technique and weapon-handling skills actually brought Jier some challenges and allowed him to learn some new ways to use the weapon.

He had never used a Long Spear to fight like this before. In the past, when he used a Long Spear, he mostly used it to finish off some ferocious beasts, and recently, he had simply used the Long Spear as a lance.

The only thing similar to the current situation was when he had a Knight duel with Knight Hartna.

But that was a life-and-death struggle; he and Knight Hartna had basically both brought out twelve percent of their strength, and to win, they would use any means necessary.

But now it was different; purely using Long Spear technique to win made Jier feel like he had strength he couldn't use, but it also brought him a new experience.

Captain Gulisiman's technique for fighting with a Long Spear was still more superb. In the process of the countless spearhead clashes, he intentionally let his own spearhead poke and prod at the end of Jier's Long Spear—the place where the spearhead connected to the wooden shaft—intentionally reducing the strength there.

Seemingly insignificant scratches, a forceful impact, a struggle of the spearheads—all were actually intentionally damaging the strength of this connection.

Therefore, just as the two had been fighting for three minutes, Captain Gulisiman, feeling it was about time, gave a loud shout, moved his body forward steadily with small steps, and exerted force with both hands. The power was amplified at the spearhead along the several-meter-long shaft, and with one strike, he slammed it hard into the connection point of Jier's Long Spear head.

Clang—Snap!

Jier's Long Spear head snapped off entirely and flew away, spinning and sticking into the second-floor exterior wall of the wooden watchtower nearby. Seeing this scene, the watching Soldiers cheered one after another.

With his lips pressed tight, Jier looked at the Long Spear in his hand without a head and threw the shaft onto the ground fiercely: "You have some skill; you won this round."

The corners of Captain Gulisiman's mouth curled up. He beckoned to his cheering subordinates and then said to Jier: "Shall we go again?"

"Come! Of course I'll come. I've gained quite a lot from sparring with you; opportunities to learn real skills like this don't come often."

Jier shook his head and asked the surrounding Soldiers for an intact Long Spear. He propped the newly acquired Long Spear on the ground and said to Captain Gulisiman, "Do you mind if I use some special methods?"

"What kind of methods?" Captain Gulisiman asked curiously.

Jier gripped the Long Spear and steadied himself; then, his eyes lit up, and his palms ignited with light and flame. He wiped his hand across the Long Spear, and a bright, illusory flame extended along the wooden shaft, covering the entire weapon. The spearhead, in particular, flared with light and heat, looking quite intimidating.

The Soldiers who saw this scene exclaimed in surprise, discussing what kind of Magic this was. The knowledgeable Captain Gulisiman, however, raised an eyebrow and said with dissatisfaction, "Battle Divine Art of the Sun God Church?"

"You have some insight, Captain. This is the 'Radiant Weapon' Battle Divine Art of the Sun God Church; it couldn't be better for imbuing a Long Spear."

Jier gestured with the weapon in his hand, and as he moved, the Long Spear traced bright, glowing trails in the air that left conspicuous afterimages.

"Again?" This time, Jier was the one who became interested. He enthusiastically set his stance and then stepped forward to attack.

Captain Gulisiman hesitated, fearing that this Divine Art might have some peculiar, unknown effects. Because he hesitated in his heart, his hands were slow, and because his hands were slow, he was forced to be suppressed by Jier from the very beginning of this second round of combat.

But after truly engaging with Jier, who had cast 'Radiant Weapon', he realized the real problem wasn't any peculiar effect of the Divine Art-imbued weapon, but that the entire weapon, emitting illusory flames and light, made it truly difficult for him to see the trajectory of Jier's weapon.

Jier's movements were already fast, and Captain Gulisiman had been able to handle them before thanks to his own experience with the Long Spear and his ability to barely see the trajectory of the spear's swings. But after 'Radiant Weapon' was applied, the entire weapon was not only dazzling to the eyes, but once the spearhead began to dance, there were illusory spearheads everywhere, both real and fake. He simply couldn't tell where Jier's weapon was, and naturally, he could not correctly block or defend.

After a few probing attacks, Jier keenly sensed that Captain Gulisiman was struggling to keep up with his offensive rhythm and that there was a major problem with his defense. So, he concentrated his spirit, lunged forward violently, swung his Long Spear with force, and the spearhead whistled as it knocked Captain Gulisiman's Long Spear aside, then thrust forward.

In this instant, Captain Gulisiman only saw a bright mass lunging toward him, while the Long Spear in his hand had been knocked to the side; he had no time to defend at all.

He decisively let go and dropped his Long Spear, using his own arms—covered in thick plate Arm Guards and plate Gauntlets—with the backs of his hands facing outward, crossing his arms in an 'X' shape to defend his vital chest area, protecting his heart, neck, and face.

But the spearhead of Jier's Long Spear, which was sprouting glowing illusory flames, was held steadily right in front of Captain Gulisiman's forehead, exactly in a gap in the Captain's arm defense.

A fatal gap.

"Ha, I won!"

Jier held the entire pose without moving, letting the surrounding Soldiers see—see clearly—the sight of their Captain being defeated.

Then Jier retracted his weapon, turned the Long Spear around, and casually stabbed the spearhead into the solid ground.

When the weapon left his hands, 'Radiant Weapon' automatically dissipated, and the entire weapon, which had been dazzling and cool, returned to its original, ordinary appearance.

Jier then spread his hands and cheered toward the surrounding Soldiers, and the Soldiers echoed with cheers and flattery.

Captain Gulisiman exhaled, knowing that his attempt to regain face for his beloved God of Wealth Church Priest had failed. But he was not annoyed; he did not think he was inferior in skill with the Long Spear, just that he didn't have as many methods as Knight Jier.

Since Knight Jier could master a technique to imbue weapons with Battle Divine Arts, could he also master one or two similar Battle Divine Arts from the Church of the God of Wealth?

He had never thought about it before, but today, he felt that mastering such a method would be quite good—it just had to be changed to the great power of the God of Wealth they revered.

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