Delusion?

Stewart blinked, his gaze retracting little by little as the young man approached - the other man did not draw his sword, but his waist, his pace, and that bright and sharp look all indicated one thing.

This is a formidable opponent.

The two-handed broadsword slowly lifted along the shoulder, the rusty armor pieces rubbed against each other in the moving parts of the joint, making some unpleasant "squeak" sounds, he took a step, the horizontal sword blade pointed obliquely, and a textbook bull position rose -

This is a type of swordsmanship that is commonly used in two-handed swords.

"Stewart, come on, kill this kid!"

The mercenaries waved their fists behind him and shouted, cheering him on, and also to boost the momentum of their own side-

The mission in Lorenz seemed like a child's play at this point, and the credibility of the bandits was always questionable. But they don't care anymore, after many battles in a row, although the first few losers lost their lives, but these mercenaries are full of blood, as long as the two sides of the battle use any wonderful move, they will involuntarily applaud it.

Gross never imagined that in order to improve the strength of his companions, his whimsical "KOF" format would create such an unexpected situation-

He remembered the gladiatorial arena in the games of his previous life, the kind of bloody entertainment that fascinated and immersed countless personable gentlemen, wealthy businessmen with fat brains, and delicate ladies.

Most of these gladiators who fought fiercely were from slaves - the slave trade in the Elantra Kingdom was not very frequent, but in the Rekat Empire, south of the Ten Thousand Realms Mountains, it was just a very common thing.

Gross's fingers landed on the gauntlet of the Frost Sword, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Down-and-out farmer," Stewart adjusted his breathing, and as he took a step forward, his sword in both hands and his head down—

Shun Chop.

Gross draws his sword.

Thin lines of blue that shimmer with metallic brilliance burst out in the icy winter air.

Bang –

The sword that Gross had started with was not very powerful, and it could even be said that it was quite hidden - the dark-skinned middle-aged man suddenly stopped, and he reversed the blade of the sword, and the broad blade was like a shield, just enough to block the stab.

Sparks fly.

Eyes intertwined.

Gross's strength, or rather his skill in using it, was able to suppress Stewart with a one-handed sword - the mercenaries stopped shouting, staring at the scene for fear of missing the slightest change.

The three-finger-wide blade of the Frost Longsword slid down the blade of the greatsword, accompanied by a tooth-aching grinding sound, and it was about to sink to the position of the protector - the middle-aged man suddenly lowered his body and rushed straight towards Gross's arms.

Close-fitting charge!

Without warning, Gross took two steps sideways, and using the technique of unloading, the middle-aged man passed by him - in Gross's sight, Stewart's two-handed broadsword seemed to flash against the sunlight in the sky.

Charge the second stage of the slash!

The Frosty Sword slashed through a curtain of light.

Boom –

Two crisp hits in a row.

Swordplay.

A smile tugged at the corners of Gross's mouth, and he found the opponent interesting—his footsteps followed the middle-aged man's swift turn, his twin swords slashing in two bright arcs in mid-air.

There are no flaws.

Stewart's offensive was fruitless, and Gross couldn't find a suitable counter-attack.

The charge opened up the distance between the two again, and the two exchanged places, turned, and looked at each other again.

Gross had just heard the name "Stewart", and at first he didn't care about it - it was not uncommon in the Elantra Kingdom, but the good swordsmanship displayed by his opponent, and the age of his appearance, reminded him of an amazing figure in his memory.

"Stewart?"

Gross asked suddenly.

"Hmm."

The man replied in a deep voice.

"You have a twelve-year-old daughter named Rhona?"

As if to ascertain a fact, Gross asked again—and when he saw a faint flash of affection in the man's eyes, he added:

"Your wife is from the plains of Dohertis in Lazis, she was the daughter of a nobleman, and she eloped with you to Tarun? Let me think about it, her name ......"

"Who the hell are you?"

Faced with such a series of questions, Stolder's expression was a little puzzled, and a little more vigilant, and he asked rhetorically—the other party seemed to know him and his family very well, but when he thought about it for a while, he didn't remember such a young man with outstanding strength.

"Your wife is suffering from a strange illness and can only rely on the holy water of the Holy Radiance Church to keep her alive. Well, although it's the end of December, it's still the year of the new moon, and you still live in the village of White Pigeon in the Tarun region? ”

After asking the other party's name, Stewart didn't say anything more, he stared at Gross, and the two-handed greatsword in his hand was always firmly grasped.

This is a quest chain that Gross's character in his previous life once carried out, and the name of the quest is "Shadows in the Sun"-

In the Taren region, a priest secretly colludes with Diel's necromancer, who secretly spreads a special disease, and the sanctimonious cleric sells holy water in a gentle and benevolent manner.

In the Tarun region, the sales of holy water have not been very good, and people worship the practice of martial arts and physical training, far more than the belief in holy radiance.

The market is based on demand, and if there is no demand, then demand is created - this is the famous saying of the Xhosa merchants in the south of the kingdom, which was carried out by this priest to the letter.

Stewart's wife, on the other hand, happened to be infected with this disease from the realm of the undead in Dir, and the Church of the Holy Radiance, as the natural enemy of the undead, was not helpless about these things, but the priest in the Talon region was unwilling to take action-

Compared with the noble and selfless belief in the Holy Radiance, the priest loves Rael even more.

Stewart's wife, in the Tallon area, is not an isolated case.

This is the "shadow in the sun", to be precise, the shameful deeds of the clergy under the glorious façade - to the point in time at which Stewart is still in the dark.

Again and again, he sent Rael to the priest, expressing his gratitude again and again.

Until......

Gross was very sympathetic to this middle-aged man who did not look amazing, not only that, but he also knew the origin of this man - "Black Barrier" Stewart, a former swordsman of the Boomer Mercenary Guild, it is said that he had touched the swordsmanship of the swordsman long before he met his wife, the noble lady.

Judging from this battle between the two, more than ten years have passed, although this man's combat level has not improved much, the artistic conception of swordsmanship has officially entered the level of a sword hero.

The most important thing is that Gross remembers that after completing the task "Shadows in the Sun", this man will hand over his martial arts inheritance-

This quest was first released in the summer of the Year of the Red Moon, when the "Rebellion of Ambition" had erupted in the Ensada region, the undead of the underworld were making waves, and the Taron region could often be seen sneaky with those skeletons.

Stewart's martial arts inheritance, called [Warrior Steelheart], is exactly the same as Gross - completing this quest has a special meaning for Steelheart's warrior players, because it belongs to one of the several quest lines for [Warrior Steelheart] to step into the first stage of awakening.

Including class transfers, advancements and some plots, the tasks in "Strife" are often not unique, and some tasks are independent and mutually exclusive between them.

Gross didn't move, his expression softened.

These days, as his combat ranks are getting higher and higher, it's not like he's not thinking about the future - right now there's a Stewart, and he's quickly made up his mind.

"My name is Gross, and I am the leader of this gang of bandits in your eyes."

Gross said calmly, "I've heard that you've come here with a bounty for the quest in Lorenz Town, but now you've seen that although this bounty is tempting, you don't have the strength to get it. ”

There was silence all around, Stewart didn't speak, the bandits didn't speak, and the mercenaries didn't speak—the bandit leader Gross was absolutely right, and the strength he showed after his fight with Stewart was too strong for the mercenaries to take on any challenges.

If you rush up, you will probably kill yourself.

At this moment, these mercenaries gathered together, they came from all over the kingdom, and they exchanged glances with each other in groups of three or five, and after thinking about it, they couldn't help but acquiesce to what the bandit leader Gross said.

10,000 raels, you have to have a life to get it.

This is the third group of mercenaries, and the first two groups were slaughtered by the wolf bandit group, but at this time, Gross suddenly gave up the idea of killing them all-

On the one hand, he learned that the mercenaries were coming because of the conquest mission in the small town of Lorenz, and on the other hand, it was the "black barrier" Stewart in front of him.

He thought about it, and with his current high-level strength of Lv25, the task of "shadows in the sun" was almost over-

It didn't make much sense for him to be entangled in the good and evil of the priest of the Holy Radiance Church, all he needed was to upgrade his level and obtain the inheritance of [Warrior Steel Heart].

This is also his plan to come to the world of Illuson to improve his strength as soon as possible.

The troubled times of strife began with the rise of the blood-colored red moon.

"Let's go!"

Putting his sword into his sheath, Gross said to the group of mercenaries—

Except for a few unlucky guys who died in the fight, they were unscathed, and when they saw the young bandit leader say this, they were stunned for a moment, and they all turned their eyes to Stewart.

No matter where he is, his strength is always respectable, not to mention, Stewart's temperament is quite gentle and low-key, and after a few days of getting along, the mercenaries gradually develop admiration for this middle-aged man who looks like a down-and-out farmer.

Stewart nodded, withdrew his broadsword, and walked slowly past the gates of the Ampton mines, but his eyes remained fixed on Gross's face.

"I know you have a lot of questions for you, Mr. Stewart."

Gross said, smiling suddenly, "You might as well wait here." ”

Stewart's footsteps stopped.

……

The small town of Lorenz.

The waitress of "The Wolf and the Whistle" arrived at the sheriff's office, and after a hurried report to Sheriff Isaac, the low-ranking official from the Jeffrey family immediately called a few men and ran towards the tavern on the other side of the street.

He had left "The Wolf and the Whistle" more than half an hour earlier, and now he had reappeared—

The noisy mercenaries in the hall of the tavern were startled at first, and quickly closed their mouths, except for the sound of some bits and pieces knocking down tables, chairs, cups and plates, still ringing in their ears.

The two sides that had just had a conflict, the dwarven warrior Tobu and the wild mage Joko, were still sitting at the wooden table, but since Choko revealed a hand of blue high-temperature flames, it seemed that with great fear, the other mercenaries were seated some distance away from them-

Wounded in the wrist, Nathaniel and his fellow mercenaries sat down against a table in the corner, talking in a low voice.

Seeing the appearance of Sheriff Isaac, all these cacophony stopped.

Isaac's eyes looked around, these mercenaries had come for a quest, but if they were deliberately causing trouble, he wouldn't mind sending them to a dark, damp prison -

His gaze swept over the faces of the mercenaries, and he noticed that most of them were looking at the dwarf and his companions.

Tobe & Chocó.

"Mr. Sheriff, the dwarf Tob never causes trouble for no reason, you can go to Anjou and ask."

Crushing at the empty flask, Tob saw the master of the mission standing beside him, and he argued loudly - his voice was loud and full of energy, and it sounded like there was no reason for it.

"I certify that what Mr. Tob said is entirely true."

Wild mage Choco was on the sidelines to help - but such a proof was too unconvincing, and it was obvious in the tavern hall that the two were extremely close.

Isaac glanced at the two odd guys, and his gaze wandered again.

The Assassin Nathaniel, the hapless man who suffered a great loss at the hands of the dwarven Tob - and soon, Isaac's eyes were on him.

"Ah—Mr. Sheriff, this was just a misunderstanding caused by a joke, my companion, who just wanted to invite this Mr. Dwarf to put on a show......"

Nathaniel's companions also began to try to discern that his words came from the processing of the truth, and no one refuted them.

"Quest, you're ready to go."

Surprisingly, after a long silence, Sheriff Isaac did not take any steps to deal with the conflict, he just said lightly, "Also, the town of Lorenz has prepared dry food and maps for you, just over the other side of the station. ”