Metal sliced through a pressured gust of gale, parting it like sea.
'I have to be careful.'
The blade of gale split and lost its shape, dissipating into vortices in the wind.
Quies had found that, by slicing through these sharp arcs of pressured air, he could disrupt its flow and break its shape, thus negating the attack.
However, he still had to be cautious. He had to be careful for many reasons, in fact.
For one… he was a single man fighting against two. A single, somewhat inexperienced in combat person against two middle rank Etrean guards. Because of this, he would obviously be at a disadvantage.
First, he would have to play more defensively. Instead of focusing on one target and one set of possibilities, he would have to train his mind on two targets and an exponentially greater number of possible combinations and attacks. If he lost track of a single one of the aggressors for just one second, the fight would be over. The mental strain he experienced was unlike anything he had ever felt before.
It demanded an unnaturally superb sense of surroundings.
'Just so happens that I know a skill or two that helps with that…'
At that moment, one of the guards thrust his spear forward, while the other slashed from the left.
'Ssssssss…'
Metal clashed with metal. The weight of Quies' Zweihander pushed the spear left as he dodged right. Their songs fell quieter again.
Despite playing defensively, Quies made sure that his movements would always pit the guards against each other, or at least make it difficult for them to hit Quies without accidentally slicing one another.
In this case, He parried the spear left, putting it in the way of the other guard.
'Pace yourself.'
That was another thing he had to be careful of. Quies had to manage his exhaustion. He wasn't using blood enhancement, since that required a taxing amount of focus to maintain.
This fight was not a matter of overwhelming one another through physical prowess, it was a matter of endurance. Quies could not expend all of his energy on one movement, unless it could guarantee him a significant edge over the guards.
It was like a marathon. A runner can't spend all of their energy exploding through the first mile without regard for the 25.2 miles remaining. If they did, they wouldn't finish.
Along with attacking as one, the guards could take turns fighting in the action, letting one recuperate while the other fought. Instead of the two attacking Quies at once, one lingered in the back while the other was up front, and they would switch when the front got tired. If they used this method properly, then they could practically fight forever, never getting overexhausted.
That was why Quies had to keep them both busy. He kept in mind which guard stayed behind and focused on him. That was the tired one.
The sword guard, caught off guard by the unexpected trajectory of the spear, backed off. The spear guard turned and recovered his posture.
However, he was a hair too slow.
Using the momentum from his parry, Quies swung the blade around his head…
Lunging forward, he swung the entire weight of the blade down on the sword man. Feeding some of his focus into his back muscles, he felt a swell of strength. The man tried to dodge backwards, but-
Slice
The blade cut open the fabric on his unprotected upper arm. Immediately, blood seeped out of the wound.
Blood…
This was one of the many minor wounds Quies had afflicted to the guards. He knew he had no chance of penetrating or denting the armor protecting their vitals. He didn't wield a mace, after all.
Sweat dripped down his face, then down his neck, absorbing into the soft fabric of his light armor. The impervious leather was actually stronger than he expected, allowing him to take hits in exchange for a slight edge over the guards. It gave him flexibility in his movement and positioning.
Thanks to that and his skills, Quies hadn't been wounded at all throughout the entire altercation.
And he hoped he wouldn't receive any soon. It was bound to happen, but still…
If he got hit, that would make things much more complicated for him.
He never forgot the fact that he has hemophilia. If he received a wound, especially one inflicted by a sword or spear, it would bleed profusely. Even after his nascent mastery over blood enhancement, he still had to focus somewhat on a wounded area to mitigate his hemophilia. And currently, his mental capacity was near its limit.
And also, he was saving his ether for later…
Quies created distance between him and the two guards. With the sword guard injured worse than before, he could focus more on tiring the spear guard, the one that had been the one leading for the past few exchanges. With the spear guard, Quies couldn't bank on the reach that his Zweihander gave him, so he had to focus.
Closing his eyes momentarily, but still paying attention, he heard the song of the sword guard quiver slightly. Then, the song of the spear guard peaked. He forced Quies further away from the sword guard, allowing him time away from the fight.
Blocking and diverting a strike, Quies could feel his muscles strain.
They burned like red hot fire. First, it was just a slight soreness. He could feel his heart beat quicken, pounding with ferocity. Beads of sweat formed. He fluttered his eyelids in an attempt to clear them from his eyes.
How long had he been fighting for. Five minutes? Ten minutes? Thirty? He was starting to get tired…
However, he didn't worry.
All he had to do was make them bleed…