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Ch 55 First Kill Part 2
🕑 Added 2024-03-05 13:30:12 +0000 UTC"Hmm... seems the target training was useful..." Jon commented casually as he finally stood up from his seat while picking a sword with his left hand, but instead of the usual bastard sword, he decided to use another weapon this time. This new weapon was also technically a sword but it was much thinner with a pointed tip making it much more suited for stabbing rather than slashing.
The sellswords were still shell-shocked by the sudden death of their leader and it was only when he fell, headfirst into the ground like a puppet without his strings, did they managed to come out of their shock and react.
"Y-You Bastard!!"
"How dare you!!"
"I'll kill you!!"
Jon smoothly shifted his stance sideways making his body as small of a target as possible with his head facing the sellswords, he then beckoned the incensed mercenaries mockingly, "Come then, let us get this over with..."
"Argh!!"
All three of them attacked Jon simultaneously in their anger and instead of backing away like a normal person, he plunged straight into their midst giving them very little room to attack. Jon was weaving between the slashes of the sellswords, like a fish in water, he was constantly making them run into each other and leaving them disoriented as they tried not to attack their comrades.
And while Jon could easily handle the three of them on his own and even kill them. That wasn't his intention, otherwise, he would have bought out the bow instead of this new weapon.
"Sam! What are you waiting for!!"
"Y-Yes!!" Sam stammered a reply and after taking a deep breath, rushed straight for the youngest sellswords Jon had pointed towards with his axe raised to strike, "Ahh!!"
"Tsk!" Salov clicked his tongue irritatedly at the disruption but nonetheless backed away from Jon to take on Sam, "It doesn't matter I'll deal with you after I kill the fatso... if you're still alive by then—"
"I AM NOT FAT!!!" Sam roared as he attacked the young sellsword with a surprising amount of ferocity that almost took Salov off-guard before he managed to gather himself and started taking the boy seriously.
The initial exchanges were somewhat dangerous but before long Sam began to fall into the familiar rhythm that he had practised countless times every single day since he met Jon. His combat instincts took over and he began to attack and defend against the sellswords' attacks like a well-oiled machine, much to Salov's frustration.
"Argh! Just die already!"
On the other side, Jon was having a much easier time handling his opponents than Sam even though he was dealing with two much more older and experienced sellswords. Mostly because, while the two sellswords had good battle instincts and were overall good at coordinating with each other, their attack reeked of someone who's never had any kind of systematic training.
Their stances were all over the place and their attacks had a lack of intricacy and forethought put into them. Every single slash of theirs was straightforward and aimed to either kill or maim and while it could take down most amateurs, anyone who had trained under a good master at arms could easily neutralise them.
That is also why he decided to try the newest addition to his arsenal, the Braavosi sword in this fight. He wanted to try out the new techniques of water dance, that he had been trying to learn (steal) ever since he had set foot in Braavos, in a real battle. And what better place to practise a new technique than in front of two sellswords
Jon already considered himself quite a fast hand with the sword, of course, he was not quite yet at the level of the likes of Ser Barristan and Jamie Lannister, but he could definitely call his speed first tier. But it was only now, when he actually used the light thin sword of Braavos, that he comprehended how fast he could be.
He was swaying in and out of the attacks like a lithe cat. His right hand was always primed like a coiled snake and when he found an opening his sword sprung like a snake to poke holes in the bodies of his enemies. Only a few seconds into the battle, Jon could say with absolute certainty that the water dance was a far better style for him when dealing with lightly armed enemies than his usual Westersoi style of hacking and slashing.
Now, normally he wouldn't have been able to easily learn the water dance as it requires you not only to spend countless hours practising it like the other styles, but it also has very stringent requirements for the user's body.
Their body needs to be thin but strong, they need to be able to wield their sword as though it is part of the arm and to see with all their senses. And instead of the usual power muscles, they need an entirely different set that focuses more on speed, balance and grace, muscles that would improve their flexibility and allow them to move and react like a cat.
Jon's body was filled with a set of perfectly sculpted muscles rippling with power, they were the result of almost a decade of hard exercise and a regulated diet to compress the maximum power and speed possible. It would be astronomically foolish of him to discard all that to train anew for this water dance.
Thankfully even without a compatible body, Jon was still able to find a workaround and adequately use the Water Dance by relying on the one skill that he had been perfecting since he was three years old. The skill to use his mind to predict, to have foresight into the opponent's attack before they execute them.
The water dance required you to be as fast as the wind and intuitively move your body unnaturally to dodge enemy weapons and poke holes in your opponent's vulnerabilities. Jon could simply circumvent this by shifting his body preemptively into a proper stance before the opponent even makes a move.
The benefits of the Water Dance were clearly visible only a minute into the battle as the two sellswords were already bleeding all over from small holes made by the slender sword. Jon specially targeted joints like their elbows and their hands, making them all the more sluggish and close to death.
The sellswords were deeply regretting their decision to fight and were cursing their now-dead leader for getting them into this decision. They were not even trying to put on a fight now and were just looking for a chance to back off and run away. But, unfortunately for them, Jon didn't have any intention to let them run away and was forcefully keeping them locked in a battle with him.
From the very beginning of the fight, Jon had kept more than half of his attention on Sam's side of the battle to make sure that nothing went wrong there. And while he himself may not be quick enough to help him in case Sam is in any kind of danger. His friend, Forst, flying up in the sky could easily help him in a pinch with her swiftness.
But what really surprised Jon was how well Sam was actually holding on, in fact, he was doing more than just holding on, he was defending when he needed to and even attacking whenever there was a chance.
The young sellsword named Salov was sporting an ugly look on his face and already had a few deep gashes over his body courtesy of the axe in Sam's hand. And it wasn't like the sellsword didn't have a chance to cut the boy back, because he did but it's just that unlike him, the boy had armour and a shield in his hands, which was too unfair.
And while Jon could see that Sam was doing good, he could also notice that he wasn't landing a decisive strike even though he already had few chances to. Which was annoying but understandable considering his age and inexperience.
Jon knew that Sam would eventually win the bout, either due to the stamina or the injuries, but he wasn't satisfied with a pyrrhic victory like that as it would make this unnecessarily prolonged fight useless. So Jon decided to...meddle.
The next time Jon saw Sam about to falter and waste an opening to end the battle, he immediately intervened.
"Sam!! Downwards Slash! NOW!!" Jon's thunderous voice was like an unquestionable command and Sam whose body had been heavily conditioned to follow Jon's voice during their bouts, executed it instinctively.
His hand didn't even hesitate and the axe flicked across the familiar trajectory to deposit itself straight into the jugular of the surprised sellsword. Both the sellsword and Sam had an equal amount of disbelief in their eyes at the sudden end of their fight before Salov gurgled something like, "M-My Father—Ugh" and fell to the ground with deep regrets in his eyes.
Seeing Salov getting killed, the two sellswords knew that they were next and tried to plead.
"Wait!! Don't—"
But Jon didn't care to listen to their begging and killed both of them without wasting any more time. A simple quick stab to an eye and the neck did the trick. Jon was sheathing his sword and moving towards Sam before their bodies even fell.
"Are you fine, Sam,"
"Hoooh, Hoooh..." Sam nodded and then shook his head as an answer. He was kneeling on the ground and breathing and heaving as if he was about to vomit. His eyes were wide with panic as they stared towards the face of the sellsword he killed. It was easy to see that he was in shock over the first human life he had taken.
"It's fine, Sam. He wasn't a good person. You did nothing wrong..." Jon murmured while obstructing the boy's view of the body so that it wouldn't give him nightmares. Jon knew it was a cruel and unpleasant thing to do especially considering his age but it was an unpleasant world so it would have happened sooner or later. And it was far better for it to have happened in a controlled environment with him nearby than with him alone during a dangerous battle.
A few minutes later, after Sam had calmed down enough to drink some water, Jon finally stood up and turned towards the last member of the group. He caught the blonde teen trying to slowly sneak away while they were distracted.
"Now, Now. don't be scared. I just want to know, who you are and Where you are from?"
