Return of the Woodcutter

This time, he opted for a diagonal slash that, of course, was deflected. Knowing that it would happen, Aito tried to accompany the blow, then make a comeback, but the stick was somehow faster than him. 

Without his helmet, he felt the full power of the blow that sent him flying again. As he rose up… again…, he touched his cheek, only to find a tiny stingy area where Gwen's weapon had hit him. 

'Hum, so she's just using the tip to hit me. Focusing her power on a single point to enhance its efficiency.' Aito thought, 'Something most people do when wielding a weapon but…, the area is smaller. Gotta feel it more.' 

After five more flights and more bruises.

'I'm now certain she is using the exact same area of the stick to hit me. Also, it feels unnaturally hard for a stick. Meaning the stick is either special or she's hardening it. But I can't see a yellow glow on the tip, which could only mean that she's activating it on this tiny area at the very last moment. What a monstrous control. Gotta feel it more.' 

This time, he tried to strike from different angles every time with no changes in the outcome: a free direct flight ticket to the ground. 

'She seems to be able to predict where I'll strike next, as if she could read my every move. According to my bruises, she is striking me there in precise areas on purpose. Probably because she determined those were more efficient to counter my attacks. I'm a damn open book to her.' 

And so, he tried to use a feint but…

BAM! 

'A feint doesn't work either.' Aito thought, standing up with a swelled-up face full of bruises on both sides of his cheeks. 

It made him look like a hamster. 

'Let's review my options. Feints do not work. She can read my every move and deflect them with ease no matter what angle I choose to attack from.' He thought, staring at his ax. 'I'm certain now that no matter what I do, I will never be able to touch her at my current level. The gap between our fighting experience is too huge. It's not even a matter of level or physical prowess since she's restraining herself right now. It's just that… experience. The cumulation of everything she has seen, heard, touched, felt, been through until now.' 

Aito reached into his pants pocket and grabbed something he had prepared in advance just in case he was out of option. 

'Fortunately, no one can experience everything.' He thought, preparing his next attack. 'I certainly cannot touch her, and she might just counter my next attack through incomprehensible means to me. However, forcing her to move is another story.' 

Aito tightened his grip on the boom ball in his left hand. Compared to the a-frags, those simply required mana infusion. Ainar had rapidly explained that a-frags' explosive—the minerian actually liked that name—worked better with Durability. 

In short, it used the ability of ainium to reject aura to explode. There was supposed to be a small spring mechanism inside that would move the layers of metal inside, but turned out that the vibration a.k.a small shock it created seemed to be enough to trigger the whole a-frag to explode. Particularly when Aito had overloaded it. 

Ainar had been quite happy to know about this small detail, motivating him to continue to explore the myriads of possibilities the curious metal that was the ainium offered. 

Ready to use his trump card, he took one step toward the unsurmountable mountain in front of him. 

"Oh, I like that gaze," Gwen said, noticing Aito's determined expression. "Looks like you still have something up your sleeve. Come, show me what you got." 

Aito stomped the ground as a reply, dashing towards Gwen with all the speed he could muster, overloading his morpho ax with Durability while putting an extra dose of aura in the hammer side that started vibrating. Midway, he used Pneuma to replenish a slight amount of stamina and relax his mind. 

He almost reached Gwen's effective range of action, not his own. He nonetheless attacked with a side hammer blow. 

The moderator thought he had gone insane from being hit too many times on the head but soon realized that something wasn't quite right when Aito's morpho ax lengthened, increasing the weapon's attack range just enough to reach her. 

Gwen rapidly used her stick to deflect the blow, infusing her aura at the tip as per usual, but the wood exploded upon contact with the hammer as a powerful shock wave burst out, pushing back Aito's weapon. 

The moderator eyed the phenomenon with a "what the fuck is happening" expression, intrigued by what just occurred, seemingly not worried about what a mere Lv1 challenger could do to her.

Meanwhile, Aito took this opportunity to surf the momentum of the aftermath. Activating Whirlwind, he put every iota of strength behind this one blow while increasing his weapon's weight by 3.5 times. 

Gwen saw her apprentice's fast-approaching blow, then smirked before flicking her fingers, creating some kind of air bullet that immediately interrupted Aito's movement, violently hurling him backward. 

He crashed against the ground for what felt like the hundredth time, however, this time, he did so with a smirk on his face. 

The purple eyes half giantess looked at him amused when she noticed a small metallic ball on the ground next to her. 

She had seen it in Aito's hand just before sending him flying, but didn't know what it was. Gwen thought it was just a throwing weapon of sorts. It was her first time seeing this. 

Suddenly, the ball cracked then exploded into thousands of pieces, sending shards all over the place. The ten-meter radius explosion enveloped the moderator whole. 

From his spot, Aito covered his eyes, feeling the heatwave brushing against his skin with shards rebounding on his weaved mail and pants, some lodging themselves in his unprotected skin. 

'What the…,' Aito thought, gawking at the cloud of smoke masking the blasted area. 'Ainar could have told me it was that powerful. Wait—' 

"Gwen!!!" Aito shouted, quickly getting on his feet, running towards the crater. "Gwen, are you okay!?" 

From inside the rising grey smoke, a shock wave created a gust of wind that spread the dust particles around, revealing the moderator covered in a black glow at the center of a crater. 

The black glow rapidly disappeared to show her unharmed body.

No wounds. 

No cuts. 

Not even a bruise. 

"Guess I was worried for nothing," Aito said, sighting. 

"Aye, no need for your worries. But, thanks." Gwen said from inside the crater, "Just where did you get that thing, little man? It's too powerful for an item available in the Tower." 

"Ha, that's a secret," he said, winking, his hamster-like cheeks totally unbefitting his cheekiness. "Never mind that, aren't you forgetting something?" 

"What?" The half giantess asked with a poker face. 

Aito pointed downward towards her feet. She looked at him, traced his finger, then looked at him again before realizing she had moved from her initial position. Moved down, to be more exact. 

"GAHAHAHA!" She laughed heartily. Her voice resonating far and wide. 

Aito covered his ears momentarily, more by surprise than actual need. 

It took the moderator a few moments to calm down, then she took out something from her inventory and gave it to him. "Mighty well done! Gahaha! Never thought you'd actually ever pull this one out!" 

Aito looked at the red bead in his hand, and said, "Is that a… memory bead?" 

"Your reward, little man," Gwen said, smiling from ear to ear. "Created it myself. There are a few data on the 4th to the 8th floor on it such as secrets, maps, monsters, and even some privy info on the moderators. I also left a little additional gift. My favorite warrior skill, Impact. It's the common version, but it'll be enough at your level." 

Staring at his reward, Aito felt that something was lacking. He couldn't exactly say what, but if he had to describe it…

"I… I feel like I don't deserve such a valuable reward." Aito said, "I don't know, it doesn't feel right." 

"Are you disappointed you weren't able to touch me even though you knew it was impossible?" Gwen said, summoning hundreds of wooden dummies in front of them. "Take a close look at this. Ah, and cover your ears." 

"What do—"

She tightened her right fist that instantly glowed black, lifted her arms, rotated her pelvis, and made a perfect textbook-like straight punch aimed at the dummies. 

The air blurred, vibrated, undulated, and even seemed to ripple. A powerful shock wave burst out of Gwen's fist in a wide arc, hurling every particle in the air at the dummies with a torrential force akin to a hurricane. No, stronger. 

A thunderous clap resounded on the third floor as the earth trembled when Gwen's skill atomized hundreds of dummies at the same time, leaving none standing. 

Aito, as well as the siblings, covered their ears as they gawked at the ridiculous sight. Feeling small. As small as ants.

Thinking back on his desire to previously touch or hit the moderator even once, Aito felt foolish.

The unnatural phenomenon ceased as Gwen turned towards him, grinning. "This is MY version of the skill that was copied into the memory bead, Peerless Impact. The skill Impact is the foundation for Peerless Impact, so make sure to master it. I just might teach you the skill I created in the future if you prove worthy." 

"Was that your full power?" Aito asked. 

"Nah, that was just a warmup," Gwen said, smirking. "You wouldn't be able to stand next to me if I were to get serious." 

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