Transmigrated with my corruption system-Chapter 84: The Art of Combat

"Hmph! You got lucky the first time!" Aelira snorted as the wind screeched behind her. The massive hammer missing Ulric’s face within barely a few inches.

"Luck has no part in this," Ulric breathed, watching Aelira charge at him as a battle cry tore from her lips.

Bringing her hammer crashing down toward his head, but just like the last time, his figure vanished, her hammer smashing to the ground, burrowing fissures for tens of metres.

When the dust settled, it revealed an enraged expression plastered across her face as her eyes settled on the black-robed youth, a blank expression on his face.

Why wasn’t he fighting back!? she screamed mentally as her eyes narrowed, lifting her hammer as she charged again, the frustration welling up inside her.

At the side, Ulric exhaled softly as his eyes darted all across the makeshift battlefield. If he wanted, he could supposedly easily end this fight by brute-forcing his way out of it.

Just as he had in almost all the battles he had fought, as most of his opponents had been weaker than him.

But he wanted to try a different approach as multiple thoughts raced at the back of his head. With his growing strength, he understood fully well he would soon face opponents that would far outstrip him in strength.

What would he do then when he couldn’t fight his way out of it with strength alone? What if they were too fast and he couldn’t anticipate their next attacks with his spiritual field? What if they were just beyond him and could land multiple attacks before he even reacted?

As the thoughts clawed at the back of his head, a realization suddenly dawned on him. His combat power was mainly focused on raw power; he didn’t have a battle style he could channel it all toward or even refine it to compound it and make it stronger.

As the thought crossed his mind, his brows furrowed before coming up with a plan. He could enter seclusion and come up with his own battle style, or even better, he could thrust himself into battle and steal that of others, combining them until he had the ultimate battle style.

If this worked, he could one day rival true battle grandmasters! All of these made sense to him, causing the grin on his face to widen, but to the crowd around, their faces couldn’t help but furrow as worry spread across them. Before faint murmurs broke out.

"The lord keeps on dodging... and the mistress of Moonstar Residence seems to be dominating the battle... will the lord really lose to her?"

"I agree... he doesn’t seem to be doing very well. But I wouldn’t blame him. It’s wondrous that he has managed to even keep this up for long. After all, it’s a D-rank against an E-rank!"

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. What nonsense do I hear you spouting!? You think the young lord is losing? Then think again! Clearly you don’t know enough about him and his ways yet?"

"Quit acting mysterious and spit it out already. What do you know that we don’t?"

"Having expressed your disbelief... you wouldn’t believe even if I told you. Besides, your minds are too simple to wrap around the profoundness of the lord!"

"Are you calling us stupid?!"

"Are you?"

At another edge of the residence within the crowd, a young man clad in a simple robe, clutching a bow, stared at the battle unfold. His eyes narrowing slightly as the figures vanished into streaks before appearing.

But each time they did, the dark-robed youth was either defending or dodging.

"What are you doing?" Kaiden muttered, his brows furrowed slightly. He understood a portion of Ulric’s abilities, and from what he knew, even if he was vastly overwhelmed, he should have been able to at least counterattack once.

He had seen how impressive his ability to anticipate attacks was. Why wasn’t he using it?

It was almost as if he was willingly suppressing all his abilities to the minimum just to dodge and observe.

And as he heard the murmurs, he would have also nodded in agreement. Maybe this time the lord had finally bitten more than he could chew.

But that didn’t seem right. The only other time he had seen him doing something illogical that all the others had questioned was back in the Wolf Den dungeon when he clashed repeatedly with the Sanguine Blood Wolf.

His actions had soon made sense later, and seeing the confident glint in his eyes, he was almost sure this would also be the case. Only this time, he was determined to find out before the rest did.

"What am I missing?" Kaiden muttered, his eyes narrowing as he leaned further, analysing the battle repeatedly. But finding nothing. Before he suddenly stopped, his eyes lighting up.

"I see!"

He understood what the lord was doing! Or had an inkling of it... and the sheer thought of it alone was terrifying.

Just as the words parted from her lips, Aelira couldn’t take it anymore, as the frustration that had been welling up imploded!

However fast she moved, he would always be faster, even if just a little bit more so that her attacks missed slightly.

But as that continued, her hopes died down as it seemed like he was leading her on, which caused her to extinguish the thought before it fully formed.

No... he wouldn’t be dominating the fight by just dodging.

And as if to prove it to herself, the golden armour suddenly lit up in a resplendent light as energy drilled into her and the hammer.

As she swung again mid-motion, not giving him a moment to process what was even happening, for the first time since the battle began, she landed a hit as the hammer smashed into his chest.

Sending dust and rubble flying as she gloated.

"Are you ready to finally admit defeat?" she muttered, walking through the rubble as a worried glint flashed across her eyes for a moment.

She had been fully absorbed in the battle that she had unleashed a fully charged attack with a boost from her art. The attack ought to have injured him badly, but with a couple weeks’ time and dozens of health potions, he ought to be fine.

She mused before suddenly pausing, her eyes widening as the dust stilled. Burrow marks stretched across the ground for a few metres where now the dark-robed youth stood.

Apart from a slight tear in his robe, he looked relatively unharmed, far beyond her wildest thoughts.

And as he walked forward, her confusion only seemed to grow. Her attack had only torn a part of his robe, which was now rapidly mending itself, and sent him a few metres back? Why did his muscles look like refined steel?

She didn’t have to wonder for long as the air suddenly chilled, her danger senses screaming wildly as the youth walked up to her.

What is happening? Aelira muttered to herself, brows furrowing in consternation. All that Ulric ignored as a look of enlightenment flashed across his eyes.

He had observed, analysed her battle style, and now he had assimilated it. And more than that, he had deduced the weak points.

All of them.

Walking to the dazed figure, he pressed two fingers beneath her ribs, where all her most glaring weaknesses converged.

Barely applying any force. But instantly after, almost like he drained all her energy from her, she collapsed to the ground.

Looking down, Ulric breathed,

"You lose."