Infinite Realm

"Im, impossible!"

"What happened?" Silver Wolf asked as he turned his head towards the point of collision between Sato and Chesces.

"How, how come?"

At the spot where the two min characters of the show had clashed, Chesces was the only one left standing as Sato had flown 10 metres back. Even for him, the strength of that attack was something difficult to handle.

"He, he blocked it?" The [Ranger] was astonished.

*Clink*

A piece of metal chipped away from the [Astral Blade] and fell to the ground. Following the metal chip was a sad feeling that engulfed Sato temporarily.

Despite moving at an insane speed, in the end, Chesces was too slow as at the last few moments, the [Stun] effect was already over and Sato was able to move. He had managed to react quickly and place [Astral Blade] in front of the attack, saving himself from that calamity. However, as a result of that, [Astral Blade] had been damaged.

"You're strong; very strong. The trump card we had prepared for the Kobold King was only able to chip off your sword." Chesces said with amazement.

"And your innate reaction speed, it's at least on par with a false King's. You're definitely not a nobody. Who exactly are you?" Chesces narrowed his eyes and stared at Sato in the face, trying to recall any famous player or martial artist that looked like him.

[Centennial One Shot] was an extremely powerful buff spell sealed within a scroll that could raise the rank of a player by one, up till the Practitioner rank, and increase their current level by 5, up till level 20. The rank part might seem confusing but the advantage was incredible; even better than the 5 level increase. 

It should be known that all players are currently within the Beginner rank whereas Sato was in the Apprentice rank after getting past level 10. Just with that alone, his HP had increased to surpass all players in existence. Even a few of his attributes had new multipliers making him much stronger than players under level 10 even if they both had the same attribute points. From this alone, one can see the advantage of ranks. 

The Practitioner rank was one step ahead of Sato's Apprentice rank so that meant that the bonuses received were even more than his. Adding that to the 5 levels worth of attribute points, [Centennial One Shot] was the number 1 buff spell discovered so far. It even put Sato's skill, [Gratitude of Races], to shame. 

It was only by luck that Chesces had chanced upon this skill in an NPC store in town. It was a wandering merchant who looked weird and sneaky. The NPC had opened a stall and began selling strange goods at devilishly cheap and extremely expensive prices, depending on the good. Because of that, most players thought that it was a scam and didn't patronize the character. Some, however, decided to try their luck believing that it was like a mystery box kind of event that happened once in a while. However, most of them ended up buying crappy and useless items or some common goods like a tree branch or some firewood. If not for the anti-fight rule in place, some players might have attacked the NPC in anger.

It was only by luck that Chesces had purchased [Centennial One Shot] and he kept it to himself, hoping to use it to make an impressive achievement in the game. This was because rather than using it now, using it at level 15 was much wiser and he would be able to use the spell to its fullest. Sadly, Chesces had no choice but to use it in hopes of defeating Sato, but who knew that he would have failed in the end. Sato had somehow managed to block that attack, and though he still suffered a loss, he wasn't dead.

'In the end, just who is he?'

Sato didn't reply Chesces but glanced at the damaged part of his sword. Cracks were slowly spreading as more chips began to slowly fall off the blade. Swordsmen(not the game class) generally developed a relationship with their swords as time passes on. [Astral Blade] was the first powerful sword Sato had gotten since the start of the game and it had accompanied him in quite a few adventures already. He had gotten it as the reward for slaying Sygrart and it had accompanied from then on. 

Facing the Kobolds and the [Guardian Golems] for the very first time. Against the Kobold Chief, the [Nightmare Devil], and Blood King [Varg]; even in his loss against the Child of the Titan race, Blessed son of Heaven's might, [Atrit], as well as his battle against the sealed fiend with [Drakken] and finally the Kobold King. [Astral Blade] had accompanied him in many adventures and missions but it was never damaged in any of those, until now.

"That was a really impressive skill there." Sato lifted his head as he faced Chesces and finally spoke up.

"Sadly, it failed to finish me off. And that would be the end of you." 

"Captain, what do we do? He survived." The [Ranger] became anxious and asked Silver Wolf. Unlike the other players in the team, he wasn't a former military personnel but a militant[1]. He had seen Sato fight and he knew they stood no chance. However, he didn't want to die just like that.

'I guess there's no choice. I'll have to use it then.' Silver Wolf ignored the player as he came to a decision.

*Tap*

Suddenly, a hand appeared on his shoulder with a pat.

"Hmm?" Silver Wolf was shocked. 

He hadn't sensed any presence close to him but somehow, someone had been able to come within reach and make physical contact with him despite his training. It should be known that Silver Wolf was a former soldier and also a false king. His senses were something average people couldn't compare to. Even from 30 metres out, he would be able to feel an eye on him but he felt nothing until the hand touched him. That meant that the owner of the arm was definitely someone way above him in terms of strength.

"Don't use it. It's not worth doing so on a player." A voice sounded from behind him.

Turning his head, Silver Wolf was greeted with the sight of a brutish-looking middle-aged man with a chiseled face. He had the aura of a war general but despite him being so close, Silver Wolf wasn't able to notice it until now.

"General Han." Silver Wolf greeted with a salute.

"Dispense the formalities. This isn't the military." Han Otoki waved him off.

"As I was saying, you don't need to use our trump cards on a player. It's just not worth it. We aren't like those guys that just want to show off their prowess. We should keep our cards hidden."

"Okay, sir. Silver Wolf nodded.

"As for the kid…I will handle him myself."