Building An Empire Starting From The Labor Camp In Exile-Chapter 265: Sword technique

When Thrain saw this, he fell silent. Then he raised his hand to grip the cloak around him, tugging it off and revealing the armor he wore underneath.

Even with no moon, the armor shone with golden light that illuminated the surroundings.

"Wow," Atrox said. It was a powerful and beautifully made artifact. The material used had the look of golden wood made into the shape of armor, the grains on it shining a golden red.

The red that ran like lines on the armor looked suspiciously familiar, and Atrox couldn’t help but look up at his own tower, black with red lines running around its body.

Thrain was pleased with Atrox’s reaction. "You might not know this, but the two artifacts were found together. That tower and this armor. They have the same base ability too. They can amplify magic.

"These two are linked with our Clan’s blood. One was sent to the borderland through my uncle, while this one was worn by Father until he hung it up. See how it fits me? I will be the owner of the two sets after today. I guess that’s when their true power will be shown."

Atrox didn’t reply.

Thrain scowled at him, then he raised his right hand. Faint golden light began to flicker between his fingers before it solidified into a sword taller than him and bulkier. The sword was made of the same material as his armor, and its edges were as dull as a rod.

But Atrox didn’t underestimate it. Since the sword appeared, Thrain’s reaction had changed. His face stilled, and his eyes narrowed, hardening like a metal mask.

The armor he was wearing twisted, shuddering and sending ripples across it as if it was the surface of a pool. A helmet formed and enclosed his head. The face of the helmet was shaped into the hissing visage of a snake.

Thrain’s voice came out distorted behind it as if he were speaking from a long tunnel. "Are you ready, Atrox? Here I come!"

He raised his sword and brought it down. A simple gesture. A simple gesture that shouldn’t have caused more than a few leaves to shake.

But an explosion of wind accompanied the sword movement.

Boom!

The ground cracked, and the trees around them were blown back, bending dangerously. Dust and debris scattered with a shockwave.

It must be remembered that Thrain had the highest potential before Atrox came along. And with the armor amplifying his powers, he was far above the Errant Rank.

Atrox raised his sword and slashed. The sword, made of jagged fire with edges of countless small needle-like points, flashed out in an arc that crossed the distance between them in a blink. The sword curled around at Thrain, who jumped away fast.

"Not a bad reaction," Atrox said.

The two of them hadn’t started the actual fighting yet. They were still testing each other out. Thrain swung his sword again, but this time there wasn’t an explosive release of wind, just a focused one that caused a wind blast to leap out.

Atrox slapped it out of the air as if it were a fly, a mere disturbance. The two of them began to circle each other.

’...This guy... I know his power is light-related, but he’s been using wind since the fighting started... an artifact? ...Can it be that armor...?’

Suddenly, the two of them stopped moving. They stared at each other, and time seemed to slow as they jumped at each other. Their swords clashed, and in the night of the forest, it sounded like two stone giants slamming their shoulders together.

They had both learned the sword technique of the Soryu Clan. They knew its weaknesses and strengths. The two of them were equally skilled at it.

They clashed. Atrox’s sword was lighter, faster than Thrain’s, but that didn’t give him the upper hand because he was trying to deflect every sword slash that was sent his way.

Each of Thrain’s strikes was filled with strength, not only the power of an Errant Knight, but also the inherent otherworldly force within the sword itself.

As they continued, a whirlwind of fire and wind surrounded them, whipping up more dust and debris. They had moved away from their initial place, and the trees around them had been cut down into pieces.

Suddenly, Thrain disengaged and jumped back. "You have shown me the true power of the Soryu sword technique. Unfortunately, we are evenly matched there. Why don’t we get serious and fight with real powers instead of swords?"

Thrain was moving before he finished speaking. He swung his sword again, but this time, he used his power. Wind condensed around the sword and lengthened.

Atrox raised his hand almost too late, his sword meeting the attack, but he had underestimated it because the blow hit like a falling mountain.

A moment of surprise flickered across Atrox’s face, and he was sent jetting to the side. His body flew sideways, and he rammed into a tree, breaking through the wood with a crunch.

Before he could stand, he felt a disturbance in the air and jumped away, just in time as another attack passed through where he had been, destroying what remained of the tree.

"Don’t disappoint me, Atrox. Don’t tell me this is all you can do? Jumping from one place to another like a rabbit? You’re a fire user, right? See, I can use fire too!"

Atrox watched in mild surprise as fire surged out of Thrain’s hand, a wave that fell like the tide, burning everything in front of him into ashes.

The fire ebbed around Atrox, enveloping him and trying to burn him into ashes. But it was useless. He felt the heat as if he were standing close to a cooking pot. He turned his face to Thrain’s. "You can also use fire? So it’s the armor after all. It’s powerful."

Thrain didn’t answer. He twitched. It hadn’t escaped his attention that Atrox hadn’t burned from the fire he used. His left hand stretched forward, and he cupped it in front of him.

A small fireball formed, growing in size rapidly.