Four Split Personalities

"Trivial tricks!"

Sergei sneered coldly and swung two powerful punches, shredding Jadka’s inept Flame Dance. Then he grabbed the blade of Motan’s sword, forcibly pulling him off the self-destructing sheep and, within two seconds, repeatedly struck Motan’s chest with the back of his hand, sending him directly onto the trajectory of the War Goddess Kaytlin while exploding with a shout, "How laughable!"

The recovering Motan suffered a series of heavy strikes and was relentlessly fired upon for several seconds by Ji Xiaoge, who hadn’t managed to lift his gun muzzle up in time. Just as his health points had started to recover, they plummeted to 21%, accompanied by a dangerous new status of "Internal Bleeding."

Honestly, if it weren’t for the talent "Steel Spirit," which granted him additional defenses when his health dropped below 30%, Motan’s health could have reached single digits. Combined with the "Internal Bleeding" status, which couldn’t be resolved by bandages or similar means, he could have been finished off in minutes.

However, he still had 20% of his health left, and considering "Internal Bleeding" wasn’t immediately life-threatening like fainting or paralysis, Motan instantly launched a "Charging Heavy Strike," gripping his sword’s hilt with both hands and thrusting it viciously towards Sergei’s lower abdomen.

"Naive."

However, Sergei coolly slapped at the thrust, channeling his skill to break Motan’s arm, aiming to remove this annoying Half-Dragon from the field early.

Clang!

The Heavy Sword was sent flying, but the powerful Qi Force transferred to it did not harm Motan in the slightest, as he had released the weapon before Sergei’s palm could touch the sword, letting his primary weapon [Heavy Sword•Great Fire] fly away. Simultaneously, he quickly drew two single-handed weapons, the [Static Sword] and [Cold Steel Sword], crossed high above his head, and instantly activated [Glory Jump] and immediately canceled it, crashing down towards Sergei with ferocious force.

If Yi Dong had been present, he might have found this scene strikingly familiar and instantly recalled a Thief named ’Tan Mo’ using the move [Ferocious Assault]in a public arena competition before.

In fact, that was exactly what was happening: Motan was simulating his other character’s skill [Ferocious Assault] using a normal attack combined with [Glory Jump]. Of course, simulation is merely a simulation – this move, while looking similar, had no additional effects and was just a plain attack with a posture 90% similar to [Ferocious Assault], but it was the best option he had at the moment.

As a Knight, Motan had lost most of his skills after being pulled off his horse, and the few skills like [Thorn Burst] and [Shield Block], which depended on dual-handing or shield-bearing, became unusable. However, just being left with normal attacks didn’t mean he couldn’t create variations.

He had always wondered if the Realm of Innocence was a world that adhered to logic, how would NPCs use skills like players? How would they extend Blade Qi when using [Knight Technique: Tiger Spear]? How would they explode with extraordinary speed during [Quick Stab]? How would they materialize the Power of Faith during [Holy Healing Technique]? What makes [Heavy Storm] different from swinging a weapon around?

These were things hardly anyone considered, yet they continuously troubled Motan.

He didn’t believe these could be simply explained away with a ’system setup,’ especially after Double Leaf had briefed him on the concept of "worldview manual: [General Uses of Magic Power]" – even though the content barely elaborated on the concept of ’magic power,’ the logic was undeniable. After gaining new insights from his incognito visit to the Salamuen Library as ’Tan Mo,’ he suddenly speculated wildly...

If the Real World were also a high-magic world like the Innocent Continent, then by training according to various books and guides in the game, people might indeed be able to cast Fireballs, Sword Qi, and Tracking Arrows, among other absurd things.

Of course, this was a hypothetical impossibility to prove, but since Motan could speculate as such, it implied that, at least on a logical level, the power system and skill system of this world still held up so far.

Therefore, leaving aside the magic and talents requiring magic power, at least in terms of physical melee combat, mimicking or ’borrowing’ should still be somewhat effective.

As a Knight, Motan had managed to simulate a Thief skill—[Ferocious Assault]—that was completely unenhanced by skills and not optimized by the system.

Though this move lacked finesse and flair, and wasn’t boosted by profession or specialization bonuses, nor assisted by the system, it was still apt for Motan’s current predicament, certainly stronger than a straightforward normal attack.

In the fleeting moment, as Motan’s swords crossed and crashed down with a whoosh, he actually managed to force Sergei’s charging punch to retreat, causing him to raise both arms and block Motan’s fierce strike defensively.

With a clang, Sergei’s plain gray gloves remained unscathed, not even a scratch evident, while Motan felt a sharp pain in his palms, barely preventing his swords from being knocked out of his hands.