Rogue Villain-Chapter 206: Fighting Dala Again

Ackster and Dala continued to fight without caring about the rest of the world. At first, the crowd stuck around and spectated their hot-blooded battle. It even grew. But it didn’t take long before people got bored of Dala trouncing Ackster, who didn’t seem to know what was best for himself.

Ackster also stopped thinking and caring about useless things while fighting. Dala’s future identity as The Hero’s party member was irrelevant. Even getting his hands on the trident was no longer of any import to Ackster. He gradually stopped caring about winning, at least directly.

Winning had turned into a secondary objective. The primary one being to grab this opportunity by the balls and learn as much as possible.

Dala was flooding Ackster with much-needed combat experience, and the more he took in, the more Dala had to give.

Ackster even stopped thinking while fighting. He didn’t waste time trying to analyze Dala’s movements or strategize. He let his body and instincts do the fighting as he surrendered himself to his body’s talents.

However, during their breaks to eat and sleep, Ackster’s mind didn’t stop racing. He stuffed himself absent-mindedly with the food prepared by Dala’s family. His eyes were vacant, and he was stuck inside his mind, replaying all their fights from both perspectives, trying to find out what he could have done differently, what he could do better next time, and what he shouldn’t do again.

Ackster was so snowed in on Dala and their fight that he only had half a thought to notice his own progress and the fact that he had started touching the foot of the mountain that was the intricacy of the Unimportant Whatever Arts. He could, however, conclude that rather than a mountain, it was more like an endless ocean.

Ackster didn’t know what the difference in feeling the martial art gave him meant, and he didn’t care. It helped him fend off more and more of Dala’s attacks. Surprisingly enough, the Unimportant Whatever Arts were very useful when dispelling the force of her attacks.

Gradually, after more rounds than Ackster or Dala had bothered keeping count of, Ackster went from not only blocking or parrying her attacks. He started getting in attacks of his own, even when Dala had stopped holding back. The attacks weren’t like the ones he had landed during their first few fights. They weren’t weak or thrown from an awkward position where he couldn’t gather any power. Dala didn’t block them.

The attacks landed, and they hit with enough power to leave bruises. The bruises faded as soon as they came and were nowhere near the damage Ackster took to land those blows. But he started catching up to Dala.

Once he managed to get one toe through the door, Ackster found the leverage to keep going. He scaled the wall between himself and Dala faster than Dala could build it.

At that point, people started gathering in the stands again. But it wasn’t the ordinary people of Diaga or the spectators from before. Nor was it the other challengers and champions of the island.

The people who had come to spectate Ackster’s and Dala’s fights were Hoga and the other champions of the other eleven main islands. The other challengers, who were honing their skills in anticipation of a fight with Dala, the Diaga Island’s champion, accompanied them.

They were the only ones who could tell what was going on and decide whether they wanted to stick around and spectate to learn something that way or take what they had learned and go and train.

There were also a few who were forced to realize their limits as they couldn’t see through or even guess Ackster’s and Dala’s moves. They had to accept that they had hit a wall, and it would either take an impossible effort to break through it or a miracle. They left the arena dejected, no longer wanting the constant reminder of their weakness. A couple left the arena, though, with smoldering determination instead.

Ackster’s fiery spirit of ambition had only grown during the fight, and it surged when he made leaps in advancement, such as when he realized that Dala reacted so quickly to his attacks because she could see what he was planning before he even started moving.

At first, Ackster considered the possibility that she had a skill that could read the future like his Battlesight, but he discarded that idea, at least the idea of Dala using her skill if she had one. It was highly likely she did, considering her habits, abilities, talent, and experience fighting.

But Ackster didn’t think she would use such a skill or any skill for that matter.

Their fights were purely a debate of martial arts. They compared their training, both physical and technical. Who had the stronger, faster, more agile body? And who had the better moves?

Skills had no place in such a comparison, and neither did mana. Well, mana had no place in their fight yet.

Their mana was also one of the fruits of their labor, efforts, and training. It was only fair to compare it. Using mana would also elevate their fight to a whole new level, as it would allow them to bring out and amplify even more strength, speed, and technique.

But at the moment, the gap between Ackster and Dala was slightly too large. If both of them started using their mana, Dala would shoot away from Ackster, and it would be back to one-sided pummeling instead of the now almost equal exchange of fisticuffs.

Only when the two were equal in each exchange of strikes, jabs, kicks, thrusts, and slashes would the two consider upping the level of the fight even further.

However, with the rate Ackster was progressing, it wouldn’t be long until then.

Dala was talented enough to accompany The Hero in his quest to save the world, which only a few were in the whole world. But she wasn’t as talented as The Hero.

Ackster, on the other hand, possessed the body of a character whose talent the author of the original story had guaranteed and held high hopes for.

Thanks to Bo’s training, that talent had started sprouting, and with the nourishment of the experience from fighting Dala, the sprout of Ackster’s martial talent started budding.

The more they fought, the more and faster Ackster would grow.