Chapter 25 | Paladin Class: Awakening the Strongest Demon System

"Then I wish for Miss Anya to reach the superlative level soon!"

Jiang Lin said.

At the same time, he was somewhat curious:

"I wonder, Miss Anya, how long did it take you to push this combat technique to perfect?"

Anya rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment:

"It probably took about two months. That's twice as slow as a certain senior I knew, who could reach the superlative level with any skill within a month."

Jiang Lin nodded:

"But that is still very impressive—to be able to train a high-level skill to the superlative level in such a short amount of time."

If that was the case, he would need to control how much of his own proficiency he exposed.

After all, if a genius like Anya needed two months to reach perfect, the fact that he reached the peak of superlative within three days would be somewhat terrifying.

Unless there was a convincing reason, many people would likely start suspecting he had made a deal with an evil god.

Currently, among the skills Jiang Lin had mastered, only 【Low-level Healing】, 【Basic Punching】, and 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】 had not reached the maximum level.

Regardless, he could push all of these to max level within three days.

However, he felt like these skills still weren't quite enough...

Jiang Lin imagined his state a few days from now. Facing all kinds of geniuses from various classes in that kind of battle would still be quite taxing.

'If only I could copy a few more skills...'

Thinking of this, Jiang Lin had a sudden inspiration.

Previously, every time the system triggered a temporary quest, it was because someone challenged him or fought him.

So, if he went looking for people to fight, would it also trigger temporary quests?

With this thought in mind, Jiang Lin prepared to experiment later.

At that moment, Anya shook her head and replied:

"You're joking. My talent for swordsmanship is not as good as yours."

Jiang Lin was stunned and confused:

"Why would you say that, Miss Anya?"

"It took me three whole days to become initiated in this skill, even with the guidance of a swordsmanship teacher. Yet you became initiated within a single day just by yourself. It's clear your talent for swordsmanship is far above mine."

Hearing this, Jiang Lin fell silent.

'You might not believe it if I said it, but my cat can't just do backflips; he can even teach me high-level combat techniques...'

As the beneficiary, he naturally knew that Little Black deserved all the credit for him being able to learn this skill in such a short time.

After all, Little Black could point out errors even in the flow speed of magic essence immediately.

It seemed making a deal with Little Black was quite worth it!

As for those ten human souls, he would just have to sacrifice a few evil secret cultists...

"You flatter me. I was only able to become initiated so quickly thanks to your notes, Miss Anya."

"I know exactly how much help my notes can provide to a beginner. It's only natural for talent to differ, but this makes my reputation as a genius seem a bit undeserved."

Anya shook her head, but within those golden eyes, a thick battle intent was ignited once again.

"However, isn't it a blessing to be able to fight someone even more outstanding than oneself?"

Seeing Anya's battle intent flare up yet again, Jiang Lin couldn't help but marvel at how strong her fighting spirit was.

Who would have thought that such a beautiful blonde girl would be a battle maniac...?

But since she assumed his talent was better than hers, it shouldn't be much of a problem if he sped up his progress slightly, right?

Hmm... he would reveal his superlative level in about a month.

As for the next skill Anya promised him, he would learn the skills he could get for free from the Temple first.

"Come, Miss Anya, let's continue our swordsmanship sparring."

Having organized his thoughts, Jiang Lin raised his wooden sword again.

A blue light appeared in Anya's eyes as she activated 【Super-speed Thinking】.

...

The two of them clashed once more.

Anya, who had suppressed her level to Level 3, was shocked to discover something.

Her strength was already starting to fall behind Jiang Lin's?!

What was going on? Was this guy a monster? Why did his physical attributes improve so noticeably every single day?!

At the same time, while facing Jiang Lin's wooden sword today, Anya kept having the illusion that he was disappearing from her perception.

Previously, she could rely on intuition to judge Jiang Lin's next move, but now she could only predict his actions through sight.

As a result, the pressure Anya felt from Jiang Lin increased drastically.

Clearly, this was the feedback brought to Jiang Lin by the peak superlative level of 【Breath Concealment】.

However, Jiang Lin was unaware of this.

Under the fierce assault of the enhanced Jiang Lin, Anya's swordsmanship was also rapidly improving.

After the first sparring session ended, a faint layer of sweat appeared on Anya's forehead:

"I need to adjust my suppressed level to Level 4. Your strength is already above mine at Level 3."

Jiang Lin nodded slightly and then immediately threw himself into his breathing technique training.

Anya fell silent as she watched Jiang Lin continue to seize every second.

At the same time, she also hurried to start reviewing the battle they just had.

"Again..."

...

By the end of the class, a fine layer of sweat had surfaced on Anya's fair skin, and her smooth golden hair clung to her neck.

"I have learned much."

Anya placed her right hand over her heart and gave a knight's salute.

Jiang Lin returned the gesture.

Then, Jiang Lin suddenly asked:

"Are there any other students in your class who are strong in swordsmanship? Or any students willing to fight me at the same level?"

Anya thought for a moment and then shook her head:

"In our class, only Zach and I are truly strong in swordsmanship. The others are definitely not as good as you. Besides, the other top-ranked students are mages, priests, summoners, or archers. They probably wouldn't be interested in sparring with you."

Jiang Lin shook his head:

"They don't have to be top-ranked. Anyone willing to spar is fine. Please pass the word for me, Miss Anya: Jiang Lin from the tail-end class is always happy to spar with anyone."

After a thought, Jiang Lin added:

"There's no reward needed for the first spar. They just need to come find me themselves."

Jiang Lin did this because he wanted to test if the system's temporary quests would trigger as long as someone came looking for him.

At the same time, Jiang Lin spoke loudly to the departing students of the tail-end class:

"Do any of you want to spar with me? The first session is free!"

However, although many in the tail-end class looked toward Jiang Lin, no one wanted to step forward.

After all, everyone present had witnessed his battle with Anya.

Combat at that level was simply not something people of their caliber could interfere with.

Seeing that no one was paying him any mind, Jiang Lin shook his head and sighed:

"Sigh, not a single one of you can fight..."

Hearing Jiang Lin say this, some of the hot-tempered people present couldn't hold back anymore.

A burly male student walked out.

He was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with clear muscle lines bulging through his thin clothes, making his well-developed muscles visible. He looked somewhat like the gym-buffs from Jiang Lin's previous life.

But unlike those gym-buffs with poor neural recruitment, this student didn't just have non-functional muscle; he had pure, natural talent for monstrous strength.

"Matt, Level 5, Warrior."

"I think you're a bit too arrogant, kid. Don't think that just because you can gain the upper hand in a level-restricted house-playing match that you're invincible. If you have the guts, let's not restrict levels or skills and have a fair fight!"

【Temporary Quest】

【Some random nobody dares to question your strength? Use your power to teach him a lesson.】

【Requirement: Defeat the opponent with thunderous means.】

【Reward: Randomly copy one of the opponent's skills.】

It really was like this!

Seeing the system issue a quest, Jiang Lin was certain.

When others initiated a fight with him, it would trigger a temporary quest.

He just didn't know if it would trigger if he initiated the challenge himself...

That was a matter for later. For now, Jiang Lin needed to defeat the opponent in front of him.

"No problem. Let's both go all out."

With that, Jiang Lin raised his practice wooden sword.

However, Matt simply threw his wooden sword aside and faced Jiang Lin bare-handed.

His logic was simple: if he used a wooden sword to attack, he was definitely no match for Jiang Lin.

After all, even Anya, the top student of the year, could be suppressed by him.

So, as long as he got close and used his powerful strength in close-quarters combat, leaving the other party no room to use sword techniques, he would be able to win easily.

While it was true that 'an inch longer is an inch stronger,' that applied to chaotic battlefields.

In a one-on-one, close-range grapple, a long-range melee weapon like a longsword would be limited by its own length.

Therefore, an excellent melee-class adventurer needed to be proficient in both close-quarters combat and long-weapon techniques simultaneously.

Clearly, although Matt was muscular, he hadn't let his muscles control his brain.

"Let's begin!"

Jiang Lin took a parrying stance, while Matt charged forward with large strides, quickly closing the distance with Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin didn't dare to be careless and resisted with his blade.

In a fight under the gaze of so many people, Jiang Lin naturally wouldn't use his self-developed 【Jetting Aura】.

After all, if everyone knew he used such dirty tricks, who would dare to spar with him in the future?

So today, he would defeat Matt fair and square.

The blade whipped against Matt's body rapidly, but Matt ignored it entirely, charging at Jiang Lin with his head down.

Jiang Lin retreated quickly to maintain distance, while simultaneously applying 【Low-level Strengthening】 to his leg muscles to speed up his retreat.

In the next moment, Matt roared, and a layer of gray light appeared on his skin.

Low-level defense skill: 【Stone Skin】!

At the same time, a hint of red light lit up in his eyes. His overall strength surged once more, and his speed also increased by a large margin.

Low-level auxiliary skill: 【Berserk】!

In response, Jiang Lin continued to fight while retreating, feeling the force transmitted through the sword hilt.

Because the sword was wrapped in Jiang Lin's magic essence, he didn't have to worry about the blade snapping.

When the blade whipped against the opponent, it could leave cracks on the petrified skin.

It was just a pity that the school's practice swords weren't sharpened; otherwise, Matt would have been covered in wounds by now.

With his current nerve reflex speed, he could have easily caught the opponent's opening at the start of the clash and held the blade to his throat.

But if he did that, such an absolute crushing victory would discourage many potential challengers, and he wouldn't be able to gauge the true combat power of an ordinary Level 5 adventurer.

So he was currently feeling out the opponent's strength while evaluating the gap between them.

Among Level 5 Warriors, Matt was definitely an existence with exceptional strength. Jiang Lin estimated that if converted to HP, it would be around six thousand, exactly two thousand higher than his current self.

However, the opponent's close-quarters combat techniques, like punching, were not as good as his own, which had already reached proficient.

Furthermore, he had the 【Low-level Strengthening】 skill to boost his own power, so he wasn't without a chance in a head-on clash.

It was just that now that the opponent had used the 【Stone Skin】 defense skill, his attacks were doing slightly less damage.

After a few more brief exchanges, Jiang Lin felt he had completely gauged the opponent's strength and speed. Then, under the shocked gazes of everyone, he tossed the wooden sword into the air!

Following that, he no longer maintained his distance but instead also charged forward with large strides, pushing 【Low-level Strengthening】 to its limit.

Small magic formulas glowing with holy light appeared within his body. Using his right leg as a base, they connected through his waist to his right arm and fist, manifesting the absolute limit that 【Low-level Strengthening】 could achieve.

His proficient 【Basic Punching】 allowed him to use his right leg as the power source. Borrowing the strength of the earth, he threw a near-perfect right straight punch that channeled his entire body's power toward Matt.

Seeing Jiang Lin's whistling punch coming at him, Matt—who had been struggling to catch Jiang Lin for so long—was overjoyed and also threw a punch at Jiang Lin.

Unfortunately, however, he didn't have such high proficiency in 【Basic Punching】. He only had a body of powerful muscles but couldn't fully unleash his own strength.

In the end, the two fists collided. Matt was sent staggering back by Jiang Lin's compact and terrifying power. Even the layer of 【Stone Skin】 used for defense was shattered by Jiang Lin's single punch.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Jiang Lin took another step forward. The strengthening magic formulas inside him shifted, and he threw a perfectly executed left straight punch into the opponent's chest.

This time, Matt only had time to cross his arms in front of his chest to resist Jiang Lin's straight punch.

Another wave of massive, unmatched force struck, causing Matt's body to shake violently. Combined with the residual force from the first punch that he hadn't yet recovered from, his center of gravity became unstable, and he fell backward, landing heavily on the ground.

At this moment, the wooden sword Jiang Lin had tossed into the air earlier spun as it fell.

He reached back and, relying on intuition, caught the spinning hilt.

He followed through by stepping forward and flicking the sword, pointing the tip of the blade at the throat of the fallen Matt!

The winner was decided!!

Defeating an opponent two levels higher in a head-on clash with just two punches!!!

The entire field fell silent.

Even Anya, who was just about to leave, looked on in a daze.

She hadn't expected Jiang Lin to know some punching techniques as well.

Additionally, that move where he threw the sword and then caught it... was a bit cool...

Anya nodded silently in approval.

'Though that move is cool, it isn't worth trying in a real battle. Combat should always prioritize practicality,' Anya evaluated in her heart.

In her golden eyes, there was no admiration for the style of a talented peer of the opposite sex; there was only a rational analysis of combat techniques.