Chapter 54: You have focus Thadius

"Hey! I'm right in front you!" Thadius declared as pressured the creature, keeping it focused on him. The croaka responded violently, rushing towards Thadius with reckless abandon.

*Ting

Whatever message he received was ignored as he introduced the charging monster to death. With the drawing of his sword, Thadius unleashed another Wind Cutter that was just as effective as the first.

When the corpse of their kin fell, it compelled the others to avenge its death, and they all attacked at once.

Which was exactly what Thadius wanted.

With 9 makeshift spears, Thadius quickly pivoted into the gap created by the slowest one and parried it by turning it aside. A barrage of spears stabbed at empty air, and Thadius rushed for the first croaka.

He focused on the enemy in front of him while he was surrounded by enemies on all sides. It was the same mentality he had in the coliseum, a mentality that almost got him killed.

[-992 hp]

One of the frog-men of to the side had shifted and attacked again faster than expected. Thadius whirled on the monster and smacked its weapon aside with a flick of his blade.

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[-895 hp]

"Argh!" Thadius growled as a stab from behind caught him in the shoulder. He leaned forward and spun around to remove the apart from his armor.

[-654 hp]

This time, the croaka he had intended to rush, stabbed him in the leg. The attack stopped his movement for only a moment, but it was enough for his foes to capitalize.

[-764 hp] Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

[-1212 hp]

[-543 hp]

"Enough!" Thadius yelled furiously. He unleashed Triple Slash in wide, powerful arcs that threatened to sever anything that came too close.

He had done it again. He'd lost himself to the thrills of open melee, and made a fool of himself.

If Corban could see him now...

'He'd be laughing his head off!' Thadius shook his head at his own incompetence. Despite having completed his training, he continued to fall into old habits.

*FLASHBACK*

"Thadius, how long are you going to drool on the floor?" A raspy voice called out.

Thadius opened his eyes to find Corban looking down at him. He was sprawled out on the floor of the grand training hall after being beaten by Yuna for the first time. "Ugh..." He moaned pathetically.

Corban chuckled at the sight of his prized pupil on the floor. "Don't bother getting up. You'll only make it worse."

Thadius grimaced as he moved to wipe up the small puddle of saliva by his face. The back of his head was throbbing painfully. The last thing he remembered was Yuna swinging her sword like a baseball bat.

"What the- was she always that fast?" he said as he touched the tender part of his head.

"Your loss had nothing to do with strength or speed. It's something you picked up ever since you completed your steel weight training..."

Thadius was completely lost, and it showed on his face.

"You have focus Thadius. It's what makes you such a prominent student, but now that focus is working against you. You focused too much on your opponent and lost sight of the fight."

"But she was in my sights the whole time! I had her right up until the end!"

Thadius protested.

"Therein lies your second problem: emotion."

Thadius threw his hands up in exasperation. He remembered being frustrated at some of the moves Yuna had pulled, but it didn't affect his swing.

"Don't believe me?" Corban chuckled again.

"I just don't understand." Thadius sighed.

"Neither did I, at first. And back then, I could only rely on trial and error. Thankfully, I'm here to guide you through this. Now," Corban sat down next to him. "your sight was returned after you passed the steel weight training, and when you're fighting, you rely on it heavily. Stop it. Your presence training is going to waste.

"Not only that, you were getting flustered whenever she landed a hit. You parents are renowned, and it's my belief that the competitive spirit you've inherited from them is causing you to neglect your swordsmanship."

"What!? My form was great! Every swing was exactly like we practiced!"

"Your swings were fine. Yet, your footwork was ruined, your attacks didn't connect, you completely lost sight of the essence of the Dragon Scales form."

Thadius fell silent as he replayed the fight in his head. The moment before his defeat, he had been lured into attacking, and he couldn't even remember whether or not his foot placement was correct. Which basically meant it wasn't.

"Remember this, Thadius. Don't let anything dictate how you move our how you swing your blade. You must be in control at all times, especially with the Dragon's Scales form. It's the most oppressive form of them all."

Thadius slowly picked himself up off the floor. "Be in control at all times..." he said.

"Precisely. Now..."

*FLASHBACK END*

"...Again." Thadius said as he settled into his stance.

The croaka attacked again, and the success of their previous attacks had all of them bloodthirsty.

The makeshift spears came in from every angle, looking to skewer the foolish human.

Thadius calmed himself before the battle to come. Then as the wild croaks of the frog-men reached his ears, he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

What followed was something entirely different from the haphazard skirmish that took place before. A storm of blood raged in the mists, and Thadius was the eye of it.

Every attack was pulled toward him like a vortex, draining energy from anything caught by his pace. Yet, none of the attacks found their mark, even as they came within inches of touching him. And his sword never stopped, returning every attack with cuts that targeted the croaka's blood flow.

The rest of the squad finished up the first wave of croaka, and Banon watched as Thadius took on the second wave by himself.

Elroy, having just finished the last croaka, came to stand beside the man.

"We have to help him. He's skilled, but he won't last much longer." He said breathlessly.

Banon held out his arm to stop the young noble. "He doesn't need our help..."

"What are you talking about! He's surrounded by croaka!" Elroy protested.

Banon looked down at his squad leader. "His eyes are closed..." He said.

"What?"

"Look." Banon motioned toward Thadius.

Elroy calmed himself and took a closer look, but the whites of the Thadius' eyes couldn't be seen.

"How is that possible?" Elroy whispered.

"Training." Banon replied.

"But...he can't possibly kill them all." Elroy said as he watched in disbelief.

"They're already dead. They just haven't fallen yet." Banon said, turning away from the battle to lot the bodies of the fallen croaka.

All around Thadius, his foes were showing signs of exhaustion from depleted stamina and blood loss. But they still attacked because every strike seemed to get closer and closer to the mark.

What they didn't know, was that the hope they felt was orchestrated by the human in from of them, and the victory they thought was near was merely an illusion.

Thadius slowed down to match the speed of his opponents once they start to wobble from fatigue. Then he gradually released his pressure to bring the battle to a close.

Five of them collapsed at the same time, then three more fell soon after. The sudden change in numbers frightened the last croaka, and it tried to run on shaky legs.

Thadius moved to sheath his sword to reuse Wind Cutter, but he stopped as a thought occurred to him. Remembering his final fight in the coliseum, he ran through the motions for the long range move he traced from Serene. Then he tried it at full speed, and received surprising results.

[You've learned Wind Cutter. ]

[You cannot use Wind Cutter due to your lack of mana; however, as a Sword Scholar, magical sword skills can be converted into unique skills once the skill has been successfully learned and the Intellect requirement has been met.]

[Wind Cutter has been converted to Extended Slash]

[Due to your prior knowledge of the Slash skill series, Extended Slash had been learned at the Intermediate rank.]

[Extended Slash LV. 12 Intermediate

Derived from Wind Cutter by the Sword Scholar Thadius. Uses Holy Fighting Aura to Slash a target at a specified range. Maximum range and damage is increased with level. The percentage of Fighting Aura consumed directly correlates with the target distance and maximum distance.

Max. Distance 6ft.

+Doesn't cut non-targets]

[You have learned Aggravate ]

[Aggravate LV.1 Novice

Pull aggro from nearby monsters with a small amount of pressure a few words. Success increases with level. ]

Not only had he received another unique skill, he found out that the message he had received earlier turned out to be a taunting skill. Thadius didn't think he'd use it as much as Extended Slash. That was the skill he was really interested in.

'Correlates with target distance and maximum distance? Meaning maximum distance consumes all of my Fighting Aura?

Thadius would have tested his new skill, but Banon had moved to finish the crawling croaka, and Elroy was walking toward him with a furious expression.

"I gave you an order to hold the formation! Why didn't you follow it!?" He spat furiously.

"Because I disagreed with your order, sir. Had more than one Croaka jumped, the formation would have been destroyed, and that's if the reinforcements didn't do it first."

"That's what they teach in basic training. If you bothered to learn, maybe you'd know that!"

Thadius looked at Elroy, then glanced over to the pile of corpses he'd just walked out of. "I believe the training I've received is more than sufficient, and if you had retreated instead of allowing us to be surrounded-" he said.

"Every since we set up camp you've been questioning my every decision! What do you know about the burdens of leadership!?" Elroy screamed the words in Thadius' face, but as soon as he said the words, a shadow fell across his face. It was clear from the look on his face that he had just said something he'd never thought he would say.

By now, the others had come up to them. Marcus had healed everyone except Thadius, and was probably waiting for the opportunity.

"Elroy," Thadius whispered."I know what it means to be a leader of men. It doesn't mean that every decision you make is correct, nor does it mean you have to decide everything." Thadius looked around at the squad, then back Elroy, who had a sickened expression on his face. "What it means is making decisions that benefit the group as a whole, and when you allowed for us to be surrounded, you put Marcus and Thomas in a difficult position."

"I did as I was trained..." Elroy said as he looked at his subordinates. Marcus and Banon had stern expressions, but Thomas couldn't even look him in the eye.

Elroy swallowed hard and straightened his back, then he looked Thadius in the eye. "Very well, I can read the atmosphere. You think you can lead this squad better than I? Then show me!"

[PROMOTION OPPORTUNITY

Despite your pending status, you may now take command of a 5-man group as a Squad Leader. Notify your superiors to receive your new schedule and orders.

PAY: 15S / Month]

"I will." Thadius nodded, then he called out to his squad. "Alright fellas, huddle up." he said.

He motioned for the men to circle around him, then formally addressed them on the situation.

"Elroy has given me command of this squad. With that said, I want to make one thing perfectly clear." He looked every man in the eye in turn. "We are a team. That means that even if the final call is mine to make, I am always open to suggestions that are better than mine.

Any questions or comments before we proceed?" he asked as he looked around.

Marcus stepped forward. "I don't me to pry, but during the battle, you said that Thena wouldn't bless you. Why wouldn't she? I can tell you are a man of faith, so why..." he asked with a confused expression. He had obviously never encountered the situation before.

"The Goddess I worship isn't on very good terms with Thena, so I doubt that anything you try on me will be effective."

Thadius smiled.

"I'd still like to try! The spell I used earlier was given to me for my faith in Thena, so it's not one of the basic skills of a priest."

"I won't stop you." Thadius said.

Marcus nodded and cast Healing immediately. To Thadius' surprise, he felt a warm tingle throughout his body as the wounds from the previous battle closed over.

"I knew it!" Marcus declared happily.

"Thank you. That feels much better" Thadius said as he rubbed his shoulder. There was a tiny hole where the spear pierced through the leather armor. "Does anyone else have a question or something they'd like to share?"

This time Thomas stepped forward. "Like Marcus said, it ain't my business to know, but who do you pray to if you don't pay to Thena?"

"I pray to Tegaia; Goddess of Love, War, and Humility. She's also known as the Mother of All Creation."

"Goddess of War? I never thought there was one..." Thomas said.

"Well, she is. And you'll be hearing about her quite a bit from me. I won't ask that any of you pray to her because I'm in command; however, I want you to accept that she is a major part of my life. Speaking of which," Thadius pulled the pack from his back and pulled out the Book of Tegaia, " I'd like to pray for our safety. You don't have to believe, Tegaia will love you no matter who you worship."

All eyes were drawn to the divine tone in his hands, and as the Hand of Tegaia, Thadius knew his words about his Goddess have greater effect.

"This was given to me by the Goddess herself, and it was written in her own blood. I ask that you bow your heads, and let her love over you." he said.

Everyone closed their eyes. Even Marcus and Elroy, who had their own personal reasons for not following his whim, felt the power within the book, and bowed their heads in respect.

Opening the book to a random page, Thadius began, "Tegaia, there are men here who may do battle this day. As your humble servant, I ask that you watch over us as we walk through this treacherous place, and guide our swords so that we may live and return to those that love us."

'Of course I will...'

Thadius' head snapped up at the sounds of the divine voice, and the others were all looking at him with the same shocked expression.

Then above there heads, the mists parted, and single ray of sunlight fell on them.

[As the Hand of Tegaia, the Goddess has blessed you and all your subordinates

+1000 Attack

+300 Strength

00:23:59:59]

"Amazing..." Marcus whispered in awe.

"Yeah..." Thomas was just as mystified by the sight.

Elroy and Banon remained silent, but their surprise was clear.

When the light died off and the mist returned, everyone looked to Thadius.

Thadius just shook his head. "No one likes a show off." he muttered under his breath. And as he led his squad further into the mists, he could hear the echoing chuckle of his Goddess in his ear.