Solitary Sword Sovereign Part 2

Truthseeking Eye: The Hunt Begins

Will had not had much orthodox training in his life. But one skill he had practised to no end was the True Strike. From the basics of manifesting Truth by balancing form, Intent and energy and bringing them to their best states, to repetition of Truth according to the same output.

He could not coat objects or reinforce his flesh like Gianluigi, but his sensitivity to Truth and was just as good if not greater.

'I'm not good at controlling form so I can't infuse it, but basics and sensing it are a different story. Attacking me with a True Strike, you might as well telegraph your attack to me.'

Will's mind was already calculating how to respond, and he was excited to carry out his plan.

The moment Hercules said zero, Gianluigi made his move. His giant form burst forward with incredible momentum as he burst forth, charging straight at Will.

The chaotic winds became even more violent as his killing intent streamlined into a focused channel aimed straight at his opponents. The more sensitive ones in the crowd marvelled at this display of concentrating Intent and power, but the well informed focused more on Gianluigi's opponent

Odysseus ,Hercules, Narcissus, Odin, Jingsung Ha, Hou Yi, Modus and Adelda. Only they could sense that this was not a display of power by Gianluigi, but a display of control by Will.

'Will has basically forced him to attack at full strength from the beginning, instead of building up momentum with small blows.' muled Adelda as she observed the spectacle below.

This was the normal method of attack by using the Unrelenting Hunt in a confined space. First one restricts the enemy with a flood of Intent. Then one attacks with a series of blows. Each blow caused damage. With every second that passes an Unrelenting Hunter gains power and speed. Until the Hunter releases the saved-up momentum.

The victims end up like ping pong balls being battered about until they are attacked by a final blow bursting with stored momentum.

But Will had forced the Prince to build up more momentum than usual. Thus he had to find an outlet by ending the match prematurely. This blow would not be as strong as his usual final blow, but he believed it was more than enough to attack a mage like Will with no powerful defence spells.

Gianluigi appeared like a black thunderbolt with traces of gold, crashing into Will's Visage while swiping his claw. Alas, his swipe did not hit solid flesh.

When performing his True Strike, he manifested Intent in a burst while keeping the form of the Truth as a membrane until contact. Since there was no contact, he still had his power and momentum.

'Eh?'

Gianluigi felt his hand contact crystal-like material he was very familiar with. Ice.

'Loki's Substitution! ' A spell that allowed one to switch their location with an ice/water clone. It used water element and space element arts in conjunction.

Gianluigi was stunned, because he assumed he would act faster than Will.

'He should not be able to cast spells this quickly. Even with all four Doors open, this is extreme!'

The fact that Will had performed Loki's Substitution while his Intent was focused on Will was frightening. Loki's Substitution was the mage's version of sleight of hand. It required smooth undetectable movements and extremely fast casting time.

While Gianluigi panicked slightly, Will had already taken action. His Valhalla Path shone with radiant beauty as the ice spell created a trail of mirror-clear ice. Will had already shifted to a position close to the edge of the arena on the opposite end.

Gianluigi had even more momentum built up since he had no outlet and decided to chase. Another weakness of the Unrelenting Hunt was that he could not release the momentum until he hit the locked target. If he tried to release it on the clone, it would result in a painful rebound that could damage his passageways. This was why Unrelenting Hunters choose their targets carefully.

Indomitable lunged at incredible speeds, sprinting straight at Will's Visage. This time he not only focused on defeating his foe but also concentrated on his surroundings.

'Peerless barely leaks any Intent at all. Tracking him with Truth would normally be impossible. But now I've marked him it's different.'

Gianluigi Infused Truth into his eyes, causing a green mist to manifest in his eyes.

A manifestation of Truth in one's eyes. The Truthseeking Eye! One of the most well-known ocular abilities in the universe. It was well known and frightening to cultivators

The Truthseeking Eye manifested different abilities according to how one used Truth. Fortification and infusion were the Prince's specialities and this manifested in his eyes as well. His Kinetic Vision and Peripheral Vision became heightened, allowing him to fight at high speeds and not miss a thing.

He quickly arrived in front of Will and swiped with all the strength he could muster.

Swoosh!

He unfortunately swiped through an ice clone. But he didn't mind. Because he finally saw what Will had done.

Will had extended a hand to the side. A directed concussing blast was then generated from within the hand. A chilling frigid conclusive force tinged with Frozen Asgard Mana.

Using the backlash from the force of the concussive blast, Will had propelled himself sideways while launching Valhalla Path behind the clone. After then he would quickly circumvent the clone from the side and move. The blast sped up his movement with Valhalla Path and gave the enemy little chance to catch his movements. Due to the chaotic winds around Gianluigi the concussive blast was not obvious.

'So that's how he did it. Using the rebound force from the directed blast he moved himself. For a mage to possess such incredible control over their body. Just how unorthodox is he? Could he really be a Specialist with warrior traits?'

Specialists were cultivators who were in the process of fusing qi and mana within themselves. They were typically in two broad categories. Magical warriors and martial mages. Gianluigi was tempted to think Will was the latter, but Will was using pure mana. Not only that but his movements revealed the state of his body.

In front of Truthseeking Eyes, Will could not hide his attributes. His movements gave them away.

'He has an agility-type body that has definitely had plenty of training. His lower body is particularly well-developed. Whatever martial arts he practises placed emphasis on drawing power from the ground. Which means he doesn't fly often. His arms are also well controlled and carry kinetic energy from his back well. Has he practised with a weapon?'

In Gianluigi's view, Will's body had the fluidity of a bowstring, taut and stretched, capable of transferring kinetic energy very well.

' His ability to draw strength from his legs and transfer it from his back to his arms is superb. His entire back is incredibly developed as well. His control over posture is really good. Alas, his muscles have not developed well,. The quality of his flesh and bones is disappointing, the quality of his body is only above average at best. He might be impressive in an ordinary Lower World but compared to my standards...'

After calmly analysing his opponent, the Prince had finally come up with a plan of action. It was now time to properly begin the hunt.