After going into the sea, I met the witch.

Chapter 49 One against two, Ryan's professional debut!

Waves surged, and white foam splashed.

On the deck of the Black Rose.

"Swordsman" Il's gaze fell on the young man carrying a greatsword in front of him.

The midday sun shone directly down, making the edges of the young man's body seem to be covered with a layer of golden light.

Compared to the Darkmoon Witch and the Knight Maiden, the Blood Child named "Lyan Reland" is undoubtedly the least threatening.

Il could tell this from the intensity of their spirituality.

Ultimately, the essence of a professional is spirituality.

The stronger one's spirituality, the greater the compatibility between the professional and the profession, and the stronger their professional abilities.

Although "Ryan Reland" gave him a ferocious feeling that was not human but rather somewhat like a monster, it was an undeniable fact that "Ryan Reland" had low spirituality.

The Golden Rule doesn't lie.

When he was marked with the "Bloody Mark," Ryan Reyland was undoubtedly just an ordinary person. A few days later, although it was unknown what had happened to make him a Tier 1 professional, as a newly appointed professional, his spirituality was undoubtedly among the weakest of the Tier 1 professionals. He probably couldn't even use his own professional abilities proficiently, let alone learn "General Arcane Arts" or "Exclusive Arcane Arts."

With the blessing of the War Poems, it's like two against one. No matter how you look at it, there's no way you could lose, right?

A series of thoughts flashed through his mind. "Swordsman" Il suppressed the inexplicable unease in his heart, no longer hesitated, and launched an attack.

A sudden burst of white light shone from his body, and Il's speed increased dramatically, stretching into a long shadow as he arrived in front of Ryan in a very short time.

This is the core class ability of the [Tier 1 Soldier] – [Charge], an ability with a rather unassuming name, yet its effect is extremely powerful. It allows [Soldiers], who lack ranged attack methods, to quickly close the distance between themselves and the enemy, and grants them a boost in power and speed for their next attack.

The black longsword was unleashed, spiritual power swirling and settling on its blade. Il used the [Sword Skill - Charged Slash] once more, slashing horizontally towards Ryan's vital neck.

[Charge] + [Sword Skill - Charged Slash] + [War Poem]!

The combined power of the three forces brought Il's strike to its peak!

Even when facing a newly hired Tier 1 professional, Il, who had the "advantage," did not relax at all and went all out from the start.

Il has managed to climb his way up to where he is today, standing at the threshold of the second tier, thanks to this cautious and meticulous spirit.

The longsword was sharp and menacing; even before it reached him, it caused a slight stinging sensation on Ryan's neck.

Ryan's gaze was calm.

This was his first time fighting against a professional.

In the last battle, the opponent was just a strong, ordinary person skilled in using a scimitar.

Perhaps because he had experienced too many battles in the places he had traveled, he felt no panic at this moment.

Compared to those monsters that are tens or hundreds of meters tall, what are the enemies in front of us?

Although his main body was far weaker than his wandering clone, the enemy before him was no match for even a single claw of a monster.

The rapidly approaching blade was reflected in his light brown pupils. When the longsword was only one meter away from his neck, Ryan drew his sword.

"clang--!"

The clear sound of metal clashing resounded all around, and the spiritual ripples surged violently. The attack hit its mark, but there was no joy on Il's face. On the contrary, his expression changed drastically, turning pale. His body uncontrollably staggered back several steps before he could barely stop his retreat.

At this moment, Il's hands, which were holding the sword, trembled uncontrollably. He looked at the young man in front of him who had drawn a silver-blue greatsword and was blocking him with his sword, his eyes filled with horror.

"Such power...such power...how is this possible?!"

Despite being empowered by three forces, I actually lost in a head-on confrontation?

--monster!

This was the only thought in the mind of "Swordsman" Il at this moment.

He miscalculated.

The young man before them, though not as formidable as the terrifying knight girl, was certainly no ordinary first-tier professional.

Such terrifying power could never be acquired through profession; in other words, is it innate divine strength?!

Il couldn't understand it.

But at this moment, there was no time for him to continue thinking.

Because Ryan made his move.

"kill!!!"

The spiritual sound waves spread, instantly brushing over Il's body, causing him to pause. Moreover, the sound waves of the [Soaring War Cry] greatly interfered with the music, significantly weakening the effect of Lord Slop's [War Poem].

A pale white light shone on Ryan's body; it was the physical attribute bonus brought about by the "morale boost".

He took a step forward, and the ground made a loud "bang." In less than half a second, he was in front of Il, and his greatsword slashed down fiercely.

The mental state brought about by long-term sword practice, along with the help of the remaining [War Poems], caused Il to fall into a state of "shock" for less than half a second before regaining his senses.

The sight of the menacing greatsword rapidly enlarging in his eyes caused his pupils to contract sharply.

By this time, it was too late for him to dodge.

In the moment of crisis, Il could only hold the sword in one hand and support the blade with the other, using the longsword to block the downward slash in an attempt to deflect it.

"Boom-"

The moment the greatsword made contact with the longsword, it utterly shattered the longsword's defensive stance. Even though Il gritted his teeth and desperately tried to resist, he could not stop the greatsword's downward momentum.

Finally, the greatsword's blade embedded itself deeply in Il's shoulder, and crimson blood splattered onto the deck.

The immense force was too much for Il to resist, and he fell heavily to his knees, the right side of his body completely numb.

Because of the excessive force, the whites of Il's eyes were bloodshot, and blood was flowing from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. He stared intently at the young man in front of him, his face contorted.

He couldn't believe that he couldn't even withstand a sword strike from "Lyan Rayland," whose spiritual strength was far inferior to his own.

Ryan remained expressionless, but he was also somewhat surprised.

With just a "half-charged" sword strike, this seemingly powerful enemy was brought to his knees?

After his initial surprise, he quickly understood.

According to the panel's calculations, a first-tier professional's [Physique] is roughly between 2.0 and 2.5, depending on the profession's emphasis. However, his [Physique], even under normal circumstances, is 3.09, and with the "Morale Boost," it reaches around 3.4.

Based on this, the [Storm Sword Technique - Wave Severing] is unleashed, making the power of this slash reach a terrifying 5.1! (With the "half-charge" buff, the coefficient is only 1.5)

A professional's advancement is primarily reflected in their secret techniques and spirituality. As for their physical constitution, unless there is a significant advancement in their cultivation level or special circumstances, there will be very little change.

With various enhancements, Il's [Physique] stat only reached around 3.5, which is 45% lower than Ryan's 5.1!

A 20% gap is already significant, a 30% gap is an undeniable crushing defeat, not to mention a 45% gap.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why Il was defeated with a single sword strike.

Chapter 50 Eat My "True Accumulation" in One Slash!

Of course, the half-second "control time" of the [Soaring War Cry] is also crucial to the fact that the enemy can be defeated so easily.

Il uses a longsword, which is highly agile. If he were to unleash his speed and resort to guerrilla tactics, this battle would not end so quickly.

Ryan looked at the man kneeling in front of him with a cold gaze.

With a flick of the wrist, he pulled.

The sharp blade grazed the man's neck, and as his head fell to the ground, he dragged his blood-stained greatsword and walked step by step toward Lord Slop, who was not far away.

"Tap tap... tap tap..."

The slow, deliberate footsteps sounded to Lord Slop like a countdown to death.

Witnessing Il, whose strength was among the best of the first-tier professionals, being so easily beheaded brought an unprecedented shock to Lord Slop's heart. His face turned pale, and the harp in his hand stopped playing because his fingers were trembling.

As Ryan approached step by step, Lord Slop kept retreating, and finally he was tripped by the navy lying on the ground, his body falling to the ground, and his harp almost slipped from his hand.

Where was the high spirits he had when he first arrived?

"No! It shouldn't be like this!"

—How could someone who is just an ordinary person judged by the [Golden Rule] possibly possess such strength, even if they were lucky enough to become a professional in just a few days?!

"Kill you!"

In his frenzy, Lord Slop suddenly raised his hand, and with a flash of light from the spatial ring on his finger, a uniquely designed flintlock pistol appeared in his hand.

The barrel was silver-white, the stock was deep red, and something resembling a vein extended from the stock, piercing into Lord Slop's palm and wriggling with a "gurgling" sound, sucking his flesh and blood.

The trigger was pulled, and with a loud "bang," a thick smell of gunpowder filled the air.

A bright red bullet burst from the barrel, aimed directly at Ryan's forehead.

This shot was undeniably swift, but unfortunately, Lord Slop, as a support class [Bard], only had a [Physique] of 2.0, the lowest among the first tiers, which was far too much of a gap compared to Ryan.

Admittedly, Ryan's current speed is nowhere near that of a bullet, but he doesn't need to be faster than a bullet; he only needs to be faster than the person firing the shot.

A bright red bullet flew past his cheek, just centimeters away. Ryan leaned forward and stood in front of Lord Slop.

"Pfft..."

The sound of flesh being torn apart rang out. Lord Slop paused, then trembled as he lowered his head to look at the silver-blue greatsword piercing through his chest.

He tried to pull the trigger again, but before he could even touch his finger, a greatsword slashed upwards, slicing his right arm and upper right torso in two.

Large amounts of blood stained the deck red, and Lord Slop's eyes gradually dimmed until they completely lost their light.

he died.

Ryan withdrew his longsword and turned his gaze toward Cecilia, only to see that in that part of the battlefield, the three Shadow Hounds had turned into a pool of viscous black liquid, and the knight girl was hurrying toward his position.

Their eyes met, and a hint of surprise appeared in Cecilia's eyes.

Upon seeing the decapitated swordsman and the nobleman nearly cut in half at the waist, Cecilia's impression of Ryan completely changed—this seemingly "weak" navigator on her ship seemed to fight in an exceptionally wild manner.

Looking at the knight girl, Ryan quickly asked, "Miss Cecilia, what about Lady Freyne?"

Cecilia shook her head, her voice as cold as an iceberg, but the worry in it was clearly visible: "[Black Prison] is the exclusive professional ability of the Black Knight. It is difficult to activate unless a winner is decided internally or the user activates it voluntarily."

"Isn't there any other way?" Ryan's face was grim.

Freyne had always been very good to him, giving him potions, arcane arts, knowledge, money... without reservation.

This is a favor.