Chapter 19: Is This Really an E-Rank Basic Swordsman?
Vivian was still stuck in a dazed state after the shock, her mouth slightly open as she stared at Wu You.
Wu You flicked the blood droplets off the tip of his sword and glanced back at her.
Seeing her foolish expression, he raised an eyebrow smugly.
“Hey, rice bucket. Why are you not saying anything now? Scared silly?”
Vivian snapped out of it at his words, her small face instantly turning red.
Half of it was embarrassment, and half was lingering fear.
But she immediately forced her small chest out proudly and retorted in a trembling voice that tried its best to maintain “majesty.”
“N-Nonsense! I am a future Great Archmage. How could I possibly be frightened by a mere rabbit! I was only… only observing your crude swordsmanship. Yes, observing!”
She paused, as if trying to prove she was not afraid, and added, “Besides! I could do it too! Once I untie this cursed rope, a single Flame Storm—”
“Alright, alright. I know you are amazing.”
Wu You impatiently cut off her chuunibyou declaration and turned his attention back to the Gale Rabbits around them, which were beginning to stir again.
“Just take care of yourself first, carrot stand.”
“You are the carrot stand! Villain! Rude scoundrel!”
Vivian twisted angrily on the grass dummy.
Wu You ignored her and narrowed his eyes as he took the initiative to attack again.
His foot moved.
The faint glow of Quick Step flickered as he instantly closed the distance to a Gale Rabbit attempting to circle from the left.
His iron sword rose from below in a clean and decisive Upward Slash.
“Pfft!”
The rabbit was launched into the air.
Before it could even land, Wu You flicked his wrist and followed with a swift Horizontal Slash.
The blade traced a curved arc and struck another rabbit lunging toward him from the side.
The two rabbits died almost simultaneously and fell onto the grass.
However, when Wu You killed the second rabbit, several droplets of warm blood splashed from the wound.
A few of them flew directly toward the corner of his eye, nearly dripping into it.
“Tch!”
Wu You paused slightly.
His brows knitted together tightly as an obvious expression of disgust appeared on his face.
“This blood… is kind of disgusting.”
He stopped moving and roughly wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his free hand.
But the sticky sensation remained.
Seeing this scene, Vivian’s heart tightened.
She was afraid that this small accident would distract him and give the other rabbits a chance to ambush him.
In panic, she shouted, “Hey! Be careful! Stop wiping! Watch the rabbits!”
Wu You seemed not to hear her.
He looked down at his already tattered outer robe.
After a brief moment of thought, he reached down and tore off a long strip of cloth from the ragged hem with a loud rip.
Vivian: “???”
What was he doing?
Bandaging a wound?
But the blood had not even landed on his body.
Under Vivian’s confused gaze, Wu You casually tied the cloth behind his head.
Then he pulled it up and firmly covered his eyes.
“You—what are you doing?!”
Vivian truly panicked now.
Her voice rose sharply.
“Why did you cover your eyes?! Are you insane?! Is this really the time to pretend to be blind?! Take it off quickly! The rabbits are coming!!!”
She could see several Gale Rabbits speeding up their charge, provoked by the death of their companion and the scent of blood.
She twisted desperately against the dummy, wishing she had eight hands to rip the cloth off Wu You’s eyes herself.
Yet Wu You, with his eyes covered, appeared exceptionally calm.
There was even the faintest trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
He tilted his head slightly, as if listening to the wind.
His iron sword hung loosely at his side.
“Too noisy,” he said calmly.
His voice sounded slightly muffled through the cloth.
In the next instant, a Gale Rabbit seized the opportunity presented by his “blindness” and lunged toward his calf from the right rear at incredible speed.
“Right side!” Vivian screamed in warning.
Almost the moment she spoke, Wu You moved.
He did not even fully turn his head.
His footwork shifted at a strange angle and speed.
The light of Quick Step flashed briefly as his body slid half a step to the left, effortlessly avoiding the rabbit’s attack path.
At the same time, the iron sword hanging at his side shot backward like a venomous snake striking.
Straight Thrust.
“Thk!”
The familiar soft sound rang out.
The rabbit that had attacked from the right froze mid-leap and fell stiffly behind the spot where Wu You had just been standing.
A tiny red mark appeared between its brows.
Precise.
Fatal.
“!!!”
Vivian’s scream stuck in her throat.
Her emerald eyes bulged wide, and her mouth opened so wide it could fit an egg.
W-Was that a coincidence?!
He hit it while blindfolded?
And with such accuracy?!
Meanwhile, inside Wu You’s mind, the skills had already begun exchanging smug remarks.
[Enhanced Upward Slash]: Look at that girl, acting so shocked! It is just a blindfold. We rely on “mind’s eye,” perception, and battle instincts forged through countless fights. What does she know?
[Radiant Thrust]: Basic operation. Target aura, wind movement, killing intent—everything is as clear as lines on a palm. Blindfolding actually improves focus.
[Horizontal Slash]: Host! Let me show off too! A blindfolded sweeping slash! It will look incredibly cool!
[Block]: Perception warning normal. Continue.
[Quick Step]: Woohoo~ That dodge just now had eighty percent of my skill! No, ninety percent! Blindfolded parkour is even more exciting! I am about to evolve!
Wu You had no time to listen to the skills boasting and competing with one another.
Even with the cloth covering his eyes, he seemed able to “see” the position and movement of every rabbit around him.
“Afterimage Step…”
He quietly spoke the name of the new skill that Quick Step had just evolved into.
His foot moved.
In an instant, a faint afterimage remained where he had stood.
His real body had already appeared three meters away like a ghost, at the flank of a Gale Rabbit preparing to leap from the front.
The iron sword in his hand thrust forward silently.
Radiant Thrust.
The rabbit died instantly.
Wu You did not stop moving.
Afterimage Step activated repeatedly as he weaved through the rabbit pack, coordinating with Enhanced Upward Slash and Horizontal Slash.
Even with his eyes covered, his movements flowed like water.
There was not the slightest stiffness.
Every movement perfectly avoided incoming attacks.
Every strike of the sword precisely claimed another rabbit’s life.
The Gale Rabbits, which were known for their speed, seemed like clumsy slow-motion targets in front of him.
Blood occasionally splattered through the air.
But none of it ever reached his blindfolded eyes again.
Vivian had already been completely stunned by the sight before her.
She stared blankly at the young swordsman fighting among the rabbits as if strolling through a garden, even while blindfolded.
His movements were so precise they bordered on terrifying, yet they carried a strange sense of elegance.
Her mind went completely blank.
This…
Is this really an E-rank Basic Swordsman?