C124: Against an Apprentice Stage Deceiver

Arnold paused and looked around at his surroundings, his gaze sweeping across the secluded edge of the village. The houses had thinned out here, replaced by patches of uneven ground, sparse fences, and trees that marked the boundary between settlement and forest.

Before coming here, Izzy had placed Arnold on what she considered “autopilot,” wandering aimlessly.

There was a reason for that.

‘There they are.’

Once he had reached the isolated part of the village, where the sounds of children and farmers were muffled by the dense foliage, four distinct figures emerged

They stepped out from behind tree trunks, surrounding Arnold in a loose circle. They wore filthy rags patched with mismatched fabric. Their hair was unkempt and greasy, some tied with strings.

‘They really came, did they?’ Arnold thought, standing his ground as the wind picked up, billowing his white frock coat.

Two of them held crude weapons: a rusty knife in one man’s trembling grip, a worn sickle in another’s hand, its blade dulled from improper use. The third man, a massive, barrel-chested brute, stood with empty hands, his knuckles scarred and thick as walnuts.

And then there was the fourth, the one who stepped forward, clearly the leader of this small group.

He approached Arnold with an oddly polite demeanor. He was a thin man with brown hair tied loosely behind his head. His sunken eyes studied Arnold’s figure.

When he stopped a short distance away, he even bowed slightly.

“Good afternoon to you, sir. It is a fine day for a walk, though perhaps a bit lonely. May I—”

“Mr. Davis, I presume?” Arnold cut him off calmly.

“Uh, yes?” Davis froze for a moment, visibly taken aback. His brows furrowed, confusion flashing across his face. He clearly hadn’t expected to be recognized, certainly not by Arnold.

Arnold walked toward Davis, the sound of his boots hitting the ground in a slow, rhythmic thud. He didn’t even spare a glance at the three men surrounding him, treating them as if they were nothing more than bothersome gnats

The others exchanged confused looks.

“Wait a minute, sir. How do you—” Davis instinctively stepped back.

“Bring me to Danz,” Arnold said flatly.

“!”

“How dare you!” the large man exploded with fury, his voice booming through the clearing. “You dare to address the boss so casually, you bandaged freak!”

Without hesitation, he charged forward with surprising speed for his bulk, his heavy footsteps vibrating through the ground.

Arnold offered a brief, sidelong glance at the charging giant.

‘Hmm… what to do?’ In that fraction of a second, Izzy found herself in a dilemma.

‘This must be Rudo.’ He was the brute described in the black monument. ‘Warrior Path, Entry Stage.’

He was weaker than Glen. That much was obvious. His movements lacked refinement, relying more on raw strength. Izzy did not consider him a big threat.

‘Deceiver Path, Apprentice Stage…’ Izzy’s focus shifted to Davis. ‘He’s the one I need to watch out for.’

The other two were mere mundane thugs. Not worth a glance.

‘They are all attacking now.’ In a coordinated movement, the three surrounding thugs launched themselves at Arnold, weapons raised to strike.

From Izzy’s perspective, the situation was trivial. To her, these men were nothing more than amateurs who didn't even know the proper way to wield their weapons, only knew how to swing them.

She could easily evade every strike. With Isa’s Psychokinesis, she could disarm them in an instant, break their stance, and end the fight cleanly without taking a single hit.

But…

‘That’s too… dull.’

If she handled it that way, then in Davis’s eyes, Arnold would be nothing more than a “skilled, mysterious boy” who happened to defeat them. He would see Arnold as a threat to be managed or avoided, not a power to be feared. Izzy felt that was not enough for her long-term goals.

‘Let’s destroy them, Izzy! Make them beg for their lives!’ Isa suddenly shouted in their shared mind. Her tone was bright and upbeat, yet the content of her speech was anything but.

Izzy frowned slightly. Was it just her imagination, or had Isa changed? Why was her young mind suddenly becoming so much more aggressive?

‘Fight, Izzy! Fight, Izzy!’ Isa shouted enthusiastically.

In the Mindscape, she was now holding a bright green light-stick, waving it around. A thin white cloth wrapped around her head like a traditional martial arts headband, cheering as if she were at a sporting event.

‘…That’s one way to look at it,’ Izzy thought.

Instead of appearing merely “skilled,” perhaps it was better to engrave the concept of "dominance" into their brains.

She needed to display overwhelming strength and crushing superiority, making resistance unthinkable and ensuring they had no choice but to submit.

‘They are from the Warrior Path, so they naturally respect strength, right?’ Isa tilted her head innocently, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

A path that revered strength above all else.

‘That makes sense,’ Izzy admitted, nodding.

Her focus returned to Arnold’s perspective.

Arnold’s head snapped toward Rudo the moment the large man charged. Instead of retreating, he lunged forward, directly into Rudo’s reach.

Rudo’s eyes widened in shock. He clearly hadn’t anticipated that the boy would close the distance on his own. Instinctively, he pulled his arm back and swung it in a wide, sweeping arc, aiming to knock Arnold aside with sheer force.

Arnold lowered his posture at the last moment, his body dipping just enough for the heavy arm to pass over him by a hair’s breadth. He stepped in closer, and drove his palm upward into Rudo’s jaw.

Rudo’s head snapped slightly to the side, his pupils dilating instantly. His massive frame slumped forward, his body hitting the ground with a dull, heavy thud. He was out cold.

‘Concussion strike.’

A horizontal blow to the jaw could create a violent jolt through the skull, forcing the brain to collide with the interior bone and causing an immediate shutdown of the nervous system.

Although their Vessel lacked the strength of a Stagefarer, Izzy’s perfect timing allowed her to harness the brute’s own momentum. Even without great physical strength, timing and angle could compensate.

“W-What?!” Davis shouted, genuine shock breaking through his composure.

As Rudo fell, the remaining two men moved in, flanking Arnold from either side. The knife wielder stepped forward quickly, while the one with the sickle adjusted his grip, preparing to strike. Davis raised his hand slightly.

Arnold’s gaze drifted downward.

At his feet lay a small stone.

‘What a round rock.’ Inside his mind, Izzy thought.

It was an oddly pristine gray, far smoother and more beautiful than any common cobble should be. It stood out in a way that felt… unnecessary. Beautiful, even.

Izzy briefly wondered what others might say if she picked it up and showed it to them.

At that exact moment, Isa took control over Arnold's body and tilted just slightly to the side.

A knife sliced past him.

The knife man had thrown it.

“!”

Without hesitation, the attacker drew a second knife and lunged forward, aiming straight for Arnold’s chest.

Arnold skillfully dodged the lethal point with a step to the side. Before the thug could recover his balance, he drove a fist into the man's chin.

The man’s body wobbled, his legs turning to jelly as he stumbled. His body hit the dirt with a heavy thud and lay motionless.

‘She learned it already?’ Izzy thought, observing from within their shared mind.

Just from watching once, Isa had replicated the technique.

‘So that is a Deceiver’s misleading ability,’

Izzy thought, reflecting on the bizarrely beautiful rock that had captured her focus. Fortunately, they had anticipated interference like this and switched control at the right time.

‘Eheehee,’ Isa giggled.

It was somewhat eerie. Izzy felt a slight pang of regret. Teaching Isa how to fight… was that really the right decision?

Through the Field Vision, Isa noticed Davis raising his hand again.

At the same time, the sickle-wielder raised his rusted blade high over his head, ready to split Arnold’s skull.

‘Whoa… a big tree.’ I sa’s thoughts drifted.

It was tall, full of life. Its bark was textured and rich, its branches stretching outward. It expressed everything that nature was meant to be: vibrant, full of life, and overflowing with an overwhelming joy.

As the sickle man brought the curved blade down toward Arnold’s head, Izzy immediately switched back in.

Arnold lunged aside, evading the man's strike. He slammed his fist into the man’s side, then grabbed him by the head and drove him downward.

The man’s skull struck the ground with a loud thud.

One by one, all three attackers had fallen. Silence followed.

Only Davis remained.

The thin man stood frozen, completely stunned, his sunken eyes wide and his face drained of color. For the first time since he had stepped out, the confidence in his posture cracked.

Arnold slowly straightened, his gaze fixed on Davis.

“T-there! There is a boar! Look out!” Davis shouted, his voice cracking as he pointed a trembling finger toward the space directly behind Arnold.

Arnold cocked his head and turned to check.

‘Boar?’ Inside the shared mind, Izzy frowned while scanning behind them. ‘There is a boar here?’

At that exact moment, Isa switched with Izzy. She took control of Arnold and moved him one step aside, tilting his body at just the right angle.

Simultaneously, a small throwing knife hissed through the air exactly where his head had been a second before.

“Whoa.”

“How do you—?!” Davis lunged forward, shock and fury twisting his face. He pulled out two fresh knives from hidden sheaths at his waist, one in each hand, and aimed both of them at Arnold.

Arnold stepped back, sidestepping with precise movements and avoiding Davis’s slashes by narrow margins. The knives carved wide arcs through the air, each one aimed to force him off balance. As he moved, a smile spread across his face.

It was a cold, predator smile.

Davis visibly shuddered.

“Die!” he barked, pressing forward. He swung both arms in alternating patterns, one blade slashing low, the other high, trying to overwhelm Arnold through speed and angle. The polished edges caught the afternoon gloom and flashed with each movement, whistling as they sought purchase in Arnold’s flesh.

As Davis extended into a wide slash, Arnold saw an opening and lunged in, driving his fist toward the man’s side.

‘Izzy’s strike!’ Isa shouted triumphantly in the shared mind.

However, her excitement was short-lived. To her shock, the thin man twisted his body and sidestepped the punch. Davis’s pupils darted wildly as if he were running a series of complex calculations in real-time.

In one smooth motion, he dropped the knife from his left hand. His right hand immediately brought the second blade upward in a lightning-fast thrust toward Arnold’s bandaged temple.

Arnold’s gaze flicked, focusing entirely on the fallen knife.

‘That is a brand-new knife,’ a thought drifted through Isa's mind. ‘What a waste….’

‘A-aah!’

'Not good, ' Izzy watched the exchange through their shared mind.

Isa had indeed learned the motions, but at the end of the day, it was still imitation. Without proper training and experience, Isa couldn't hope to win against a shrewd opponent like Davis.

By “training,” Izzy meant experience, trial, and error. Understanding through practice, not memory alone. Izzy could share the memory of fighting, but true fighting sense had to be carved in personally.

Without hesitation, Izzy pushed Isa’s control aside and took over Arnold’s body herself.

Arnold’s arm shot up. His palm caught Davis’s descending knife hand mid-strike.

“!”

Davis’s eyes widened in pure disbelief the moment he realized his attack had been intercepted. He tried to retreat, but it was too late.

Immediately after, Arnold’s fingers tightened around his wrist. He threw his arm in a wide vertical arc, twisting Davis’s right limb to his left.

“AGHH!”

Davis cried out, pain ripping through his voice as the second knife slipped from his grasp and fell.

Arnold didn't give him a second to breathe. He caught the falling knife in mid-air with his free hand and threw his entire weight against the man.

*THUD.*

“UGH.”

The impact slammed Davis onto the dirt. Arnold landed on top of him, pinning him down with his weight and bringing the knife down in a straight line toward his face.

“I SURRENDER!”

Davis threw both hands up immediately, his eyes squeezed shut. The blade stopped a hair’s breadth from his eyes.

“...”

“Good,” Arnold said evenly. “Now bring me to Danz.”

Arnold stood up, detaching himself from the trembling man. He calmly brushed the dust and dry leaves off the lapels of his coat, as though he had merely finished an unpleasant but minor chore.

“And don’t dare try anything stupid. My patience has its limits.”

“Y-yes, yes, right away!” Davis stammered. His whole body shook slightly as he scrambled to his feet and hurried to lead the way.

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