I'm The Only One With Cancer-Chapter 175: Wager

The reason for the current situation was quite simple, yet arduous.

This was none other than because of the side effects of the Sun Sword Art.

At first, after discovering that the energy from the Moon Shield Art could perfectly counteract the harmful energies of the Sun Sword Art, Sera immediately let her master know.

Helena, in turn, was ecstatic since she knew how hard it was to find a permanent solution for the side effects of the Sun Sword Art.

And thus, as the master, she reminded her disciple to keep the matter of her circulating moon energy a secret since it would cause chaos.

This was when Sera went against her master’s wishes.

She told her that she wanted to practice the Moon Shield Art along with the Sun Sword Art, as she felt that she could create something new with these two powerful skills.

But even though this sounded nice, Helena knew the implications behind it.

The Sun Bow Art was a Natural Weapon Art of the Apollo Familia, while the Luna Familia had the Moon Shield Art.

Although her Sun Sword Art differed a little from the Apollo Familia’s heirloom skill, the nature was still the same.

The sun energy of the Apollos and the moon energy of the Lunas.

Together, the two duchal families of the Pendragon Kingdom created a strange harmony, as even though they were allies, they were also competitors.

Aside from the royal family, the two duchal families were the two super forces of the entire kingdom.

This then led to strong undercurrents behind the peaceful relationship of the two.

And thus, what would happen if the Apollo Familia were to acquire the heirloom skill of the Luna Familia?

War was not impossible.

Even as the outcast of her family, Helena was still knowledgeable regarding this matter.

What made the situation even worse was the fact that Sera seemed to take the situation too lightly, saying that learning both skills was not really that big of a thing.

And thus, the situation escalated into the current scenario.

Helena wanted Sera to prove her resolve, to which the latter readily agreed.

It was then that she challenged her disciple to take down these two elite monsters, called the ogre chieftain, simultaneously while using a sword and a shield.

If that were only the case, Sera would not have taken this long to fight them.

However, Helena added one more condition: For her to defeat the monsters without using any of the skills that she taught her.

And thus, this led to a wager between the master and disciple.

If Sera was able to kill the two ogre chieftains without using any skills that Helena taught, her master promised to support her with all her heart.

And if not, Sera was to follow her master wholeheartedly.

...

’That girl really is too stubborn. I wanted her to realize the importance of skills, but she’s really not listening!’

Helena grunted unconsciously, feeling frustrated, ’Still, if she wants to disobey me, she must prove that she has the right to. Every single skill of hers has been taught by me; let’s see if she can last without them.’

"..."

’If only I could make her replicate the suffering I went through to mitigate the side effects of the Sun Sword Art... Alas, it’s too inhumane. I wouldn’t want another person to go through it the way I did...’

Even though Helena’s expression was firm, her heart was anything but that.

Despite her punishment of her disciple, she was ready to intervene at the moment her life looked to be in danger.

Meanwhile, below the tree branch where Helena was sitting...

Sera had just successfully dodged the joint attacks of the two ogre chieftains as she made some distance between them.

’This is crazy...’

She could already feel her arms trembling violently as exhaustion permeated her entire body.

Sera gritted her teeth as she glanced at her master’s cold expression through the corner of her eyes.

’It’s just a skill— Wait...’

It was at this moment that she seemed to realize something.

(The Free World is not an ordinary game.)

(No, it’s more like another world of its own)

(The people in there shouldn’t be treated like NPCs in normal games that have a set amount of behavior, dialogue, and routine. They are real people.)

(Before doing anything in the game, you must first think twice.)

...

Zen’s words seemed to pass through Sera’s mind at this very moment of life and death.

"Brother..."

The now-exhausted Sera muttered under her breath as she strengthened the grip she had on her weapons.

’I may have taken his words too lightly...’

Even though Zen had talked about the uniqueness of this game many times, it was only now that she realized the implications behind it.

With her intelligence that was not inferior to her brother’s, aside from the Intelligence Stat, she rapidly uncovered the reason behind her master’s actions.

’So... skills in this world have that nuance to them, huh?’

Despite realizing that she indeed was in the wrong, Sera smirked, "What a fun game!"

She seemed to have been refreshed at this very moment, as every ounce of exhaustion seemed to have left her body.

’Master’s condition was for me not to use any skill that she taught me.’

A gleam of determination spread like fire in Sera’s eyes, "So I just need to use the skills I learned on my own!"

Her shout was heard by Helena, who was still sitting on the tree branch with a relaxed expression on her face.

Of course, her calmness was merely a facade to hide her worry.

However, at her disciple’s words, Helena could not help but perk up, "Wait, don’t tell me..."

Despite her blindfold, shock could still be obviously seen from the way her mouth was ajar.

’She didn’t tell me that she already mastered the Moon Shield Art to this degree!’

Her heart was filled with worry, pride, and shock as she witnessed her one and only disciple’s next move, along with her chant that echoed in the surroundings.

[Moon Shielf Art, Second Style: Sturdy Moon]

The mirage of the moon overlapped with the shield on Sera’s hand as she faced the joint attacks of the two ogre chieftains once again.

BANG—-!!!

A loud boom echoed in a radius spanning around ten kilometers.

It was so loud to the point that other lower-level monsters in the vicinity were directly knocked out by the sound alone.

Fortunately, the current forest where they were was far away from any settlements.

Unlike before, Sera was able to block both of the elite monsters’ joint attacks with ease.

’Skills are really something!’

Sera’s smirk widened into a sharp smile as she immediately followed with another skill.

[Moon Shield Art, First Style: Moon Bash]

The moon’s mirage overlapped with her shield once again as she leaped up and used it to strike one of the ogre chieftain’s heads with full force.

BANG! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

A bang sounded as one of the two heads of the ogre chieftain exploded into a mist of blood.

Using the momentum, Sera brandished her sword and drove it towards the neck of the other head.

Thud—!

Just like that, one of the two ogre chieftains collapsed.

Grrr—-

Seeing its brethren dying beside it, the remaining eogre chieftain let out a growl as it seemed to enter a berserk state.

’Ogres are a troublesome type of monsters as they have a sense of kinship. They build communities and have the tradition of loyalty and vengeance. This is why instead of fleeing when they see their kin die, they enter a state of rage.’

Recalling the general information about ogres, Sera immediately readied her weapons.

And sure enough, the remaining ogre chieftain threw its wooden club towards her with all its force the moment it saw her land beside its kin’s corpse.

Swoosh—

Seeing the wooden club rapidly cut through the air, Sera raised her shield and chanted.

[Moon Shield Art, Second Style: Sturdy Moon]

THUD!

The force behind the throw was from a level 70 elite monster, an ogre chieftain, who was also in a berserk state.

Thus, Sera could not help but wince as she felt the impact through the shield.

’Shit...’

Muttering a curse inwardly, she threw the now broken shield on the ground while dashing towards her opponent.

Woosh— Woosh— Woosh—

Sera dodged the punches of the ogre chieftain smoothly as she freely maneuvered her body with astonishing footwork, unlike before, when she had difficulty moving.

The reason for this was none other than the shield she was holding.

Helena’s teachings revolved around the way of the sword.

Swordsmanship, footwork, and everything else that Sera knew were centered around the sword.

After all, Helena’s main skill was the Sun Sword Art.

Thus, it was only natural for her to train in the fighting style that suited her the most.

In turn, Sera, as her disciple, was the same as her.

In simple terms, the shield in Sera’s hand earlier restricted her more than it benefited her.

And now, with only a single opponent left and no shield that hindered her movement, Sera swiftly decapitated the ogre chieftain after a few minutes of exchange.

After all, they were still an elite monster at level 70.

Still, Sera defeating one with purely her techniques was not something that anyone could just do.