Chương 289

Down below, the heavy wooden doors of the gate creaked open. A man walked out. He wore practical, sturdy clothes suited for field work. He held a hand plow in his left hand and a long-handled hoe in his right. And a dark red sword was sheathed in his waist. The Dual Legend. Piaro. Red leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Here we go. Dinner and a show." Hurent stopped walking. He was twenty yards from the gate. He had expected elite guards to challenge him. He expected a magical barrier or a strict interrogation. Instead, a man holding farming tools was walking straight toward him. The man didn't look like a soldier. But his footsteps were completely silent. Piaro stopped ten feet away. His eyes locked onto Hurent.

"Who are you?," Piaro said. His voice was calm, but it carried a strange weight. Hurent frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"Your Aura is very dense," Piaro continued. He tilted his head, inspecting Hurent like a piece of timber.

"It boils right under your skin. Unusually active. Very strong." Hurent felt a spike of surprise. A local laborer could see his aura control?

"I have trained extensively," Hurent said carefully.

"I am here to find the Sword—""Show it to me," Piaro interrupted. The calm demeanor vanished. A deep, intense battle lust flared in Piaro's eyes. It was the look of a man who loved nothing more than clashing with the strong. Piaro didn't wait for an answer. He closed the distance in a single step. Swish. The hoe swung directly at Hurent's chest. It was impossibly fast. The air screamed as the metal cut through it. Hurent barely had time to react. He leaped backward.

The blade of the hoe missed his breastplate by a hair. The wind pressure alone stung his face.

"What are you doing?" Hurent yelled. Piaro didn't answer. He stepped forward again. He swung the hand plow toward Hurent's ribs. Hurent was deeply annoyed. He had come here to be acknowledged by the Sword Saint, not to be ambushed by a crazy farmer at the front door.

"If you want to get hurt, I'll oblige," Hurent said. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He triggered his skill. [Aura Impact has been activated.] A brilliant red light erupted from Hurent's hands. He didn't draw a sword. His aura formed into a solid, glowing blade extending from his wrist. It hummed with condensed power. Hurent swung his arm. The aura blade slashed toward Piaro's neck. Clang! A sharp metallic ring echoed across the valley. Hurent stared.

Piaro had raised his hand plow. The small farming tool had perfectly intercepted the aura blade. The metal didn't even. Piaro didn't take a single step back. He absorbed the impact effortlessly.

"Such density," Piaro said. He looked at the red blade pressing against his plow.

"How did you block that?" Hurent asked. Piaro didn't answer the question. He was evaluating the aura.

"It bends well," Piaro observed.

"You shape it into a weapon. But if you spread it thin and curved the edge... it would be exactly like a scythe." Hurent blinked.

"What?"

"Yes," Piaro nodded to himself.

"If you applied this energy to a field, you could harvest a hundred rows of wheat in a single swing. It is incredibly efficient." Hurent's face flushed with anger. Was this NPC mocking him? He was the Aura Master. His power was meant to crush armies, and this man was talking about wheat.

"You don't know what you are looking at," Hurent said. He manipulated the aura. The solid blade melted instantly. It stretched out, turning into a long, flexible whip of red energy. Crackle. The aura whip snapped in the air. Hurent flicked his wrist. The aura whip snapped toward Piaro's legs. It was meant to wrap around his ankles and crush his bones. Piaro stepped over the whip casually. He moved his hoe, catching the red energy on the wooden handle.

"Highly malleable," Piaro said. He sounded genuinely impressed.

"You waste this on fighting? It could till a rocky field in seconds. You are not bringing out the full potential of a great talent."

"I'll show you what wasting is!" Hurent shouted. He pulled the aura back. He poured more mana into it. The red light intensified until it was blinding. He formed a massive, heavy broadsword out of pure aura. Hurent stepped forward. He put his entire body weight behind the swing. The red broadsword crashed down. Piaro didn't dodge. He brought both tools up in a cross block. Kaaang! The impact kicked up a cloud of dust and loose gravel. Hurent pushed down. He expected the farming tools to shatter.

Instead, a terrifying physical force traveled up Hurent's arms. It felt like trying to push down a mountain. Piaro looked at him through the dust. The battle lust in his eyes was burning bright.

"Your foundation is solid, but your application is narrow," Piaro said.

"You rely entirely on the shape of your energy. You forget the earth under your feet." Piaro shifted his grip.

"Free Farming 4th Style." Hurent felt a chill. Free farming?

"Plowing the Field." Piaro slammed his hoe into the ground. Kwang! The earth erupted. A massive wave of dirt, rocks, and soil rose up like a tidal wave. It didn't just hit Hurent. It completely terraformed the terrain in front of the gate, reshaping the ground itself. The physical force was staggering. [You have suffered 14, 200 damage.] Hurent was thrown backward. He crashed into the dirt, tumbling head over heels. He tasted blood and salt.

"What is this damage?" Hurent coughed. He scrambled to his feet. His silver armor was dented. His health bar had taken a massive chunk. Piaro was already moving. He glided over the uneven, plowed earth as if it were a flat stone floor.

"Free Farming 1st Style," Piaro said calmly. He reached into a small pouch on his belt. He pulled out a handful of seeds.

"Sowing."