The Pathway Of Wisdom-Chapter 34: The Sinister Plan. Part-2.

Everyone who knew Jake personally was shocked after seeing him in such a battered and weakened state.

Even Ethan was deeply shocked.

Alex had asked Ethan to stand guard on his door all night long for the past two nights, and he even kept bringing Ethan around with him everywhere, as he didn’t want Ethan to go home.

If Ethan had gone home, he might have gotten swept by emotions and might have helped Jake, as he couldn’t have seen his son in such a terrible situation.

Thus, Alex kept Ethan close to prevent him from seeing Jake’s condition.

Thus, Ethan was shocked when he saw Jake in such a bad condition, and it took him a lot of restraint to grit his teeth and stay silent.

He himself taught his son the code of honor, and thus he couldn’t possibly get in between Jake’s fight and try to help him.

Ethan was duty-bound and had no other choice but to stand aside and watch the duel happen.

Many were confused, and many were angry at Alex’s sinister conspiracies, but no one dared to raise a single voice of complaint against Alex because, deep down, everyone was afraid.

All of them understood one thing: if even a powerful warrior like Jake could be reduced to such a helpless state, they all were even more vulnerable to Alex’s sinister plans than him!

They stood no chance against Alex! To them, Alex seemed like a demon with human skin!

Freya, who watched the entire scene, couldn’t help but shiver in fear at Alex’s sinister nature.

’Saint?... this man, he’s a living and walking demon!!’

Alex smirked at Ethan and spoke.

"Oi, oi, don’t just stand there, referee; start the duel. Do you want our little Jake to keep standing in this summer heat all day long?"

"Hehe, I don’t mind delaying, but I wonder if little Jake can keep himself stable anymore... keke..."

Ethan shook his head in helplessness at Alex’s words and raised his hand towards the sky.

"Under the watch of the god of wisdom... Let this duel commence!"

According to the usual sacred duel rules, you weren’t supposed to attack or harm your opponent before the duel, but Alex was no warrior, so the rules didn’t technically apply to him.

Thus, Ethan could not say that Alex had used unfair means to set the outcome of the duel before it even began.

Once the duel began, Alex smirked at Jake and spoke in a teasing tone.

"Come little Jake, I don’t mind giving you the first move... look here~ my broad masculine chest is wide open~ If you dare strike me down~"

Jake gritted his teeth in frustration at Alex’s infuriating words and clenched his sword as he shouted with bloodshot eyes,

"No matter what tricks you use!... I will not lose!!"

As a final ditch effort, Jake took a throwing stance, and with sheer determination and grit, he threw his sword at Alex.

Unlike usual, Jake didn’t have much energy today, and he was so weak that he was forcing his eyes to remain open so as not to faint.

Thus, his sword-throw attack didn’t carry much strength either, but even then, it would have been fatal for someone as weak as Alex, but Alex came prepared.

*Crack!* *Shatter!*

The sword collided with Alex’s chest and shattered on the spot, causing Jake’s eyes to open wide in sheer shock!

"What!? H-how can!?"

Seeing that shocked look on Jake’s face, Alex couldn’t stop his laughter anymore.

"AHAHAHAHAH!!! YOU REALLY THREW IT AT MY CHEST!!! YOU FELL FOR MY TRICK AGAIN!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!"

Alex started laughing so loudly that he had to hold his stomach as it started hurting from laughing too much!

"Oh man!! How can someone be such a big idiot!"

Alex opened the first two buttons of his loose robes and revealed the chainmail armor hidden under his clothes!

As Alex was thin and skinny, he took advantage of the fact that he could hide a thin armor under his loose and baggy clothes!

Alex already knew that Jake was mentally and physically very weak at the moment; thus, he was very vulnerable to psychological cues!

And taunting Jake to hit him in the chest was a trick of Alex so that Jake wouldn’t hit him in any other location!

’Well, honestly that one was quite a gamble but without risk it’s impossible to gain something in this world...’

Moreover, Alex already knew that Jake’s sword would shatter and break apart!

It was, after all, not his real sword!

Alex had already bribed that drunk swordsmith to swap Jake’s sword with a weak clay sword, which was very brittle and weak even when dried up!

Freya never held Jake’s sword, so she had no idea what it usually weighed like and what its actual features were; she didn’t even observe it properly before handing it over to Jake!

Jake himself was in a bad condition and didn’t have the mind to properly notice the difference and changes in his sword at the moment!

It was as easy as breathing for Alex to just give a random cheap wine bottle to that drunk blacksmith and make him do his work!

He was completely unreliable!

"You really should rely on better people, little Jake; they all sold their dignity for just a little bit of money and benefits..."

"If It was me, I wouldn’t even be angry at my rival; I would be more concerned about myself and wonder why I was so bad at judging people..."

Alex’s words pierced Jake’s heart like arrows, and with his final bit of energy exhausted from that final sword throw, he fell on his knees and collapsed on the ground instantly!

The physical and mental pressure was too much for him, and he couldn’t withstand it anymore as he fainted on the spot!

"I hereby declare the duel’s end! Saint Alex has won this duel with overwhelming victory!"

With a look of sadness on his face, Ethan announced the end of the duel as he hurriedly ran over to help Jake.

Freya and others also finally managed to snap out of the daze and hurriedly carried Jake on their shoulders and took him away to the infirmary!

Alex shrugged his shoulders and returned the stick he had borrowed from a kid back to him.

"My bad, kid; I actually ended up winning without even needing to use it..."

The poor kid was so terrified of Alex that he nodded his head like a chicken pecking on grain and then ran away with a terrified look on his little face.

Alex didn’t care about that as he looked at the people gathered and shouted in loud voice,

"Everyone! The God of Wisdom welcomes all those who want to become wise and intelligent like me!"

"If you want to succeed in life! Having an amazing brain is the path to success!"

"Devote yourself to our benevolent god of wisdom, and he might grant you immense wisdom like me!"

Obviously Alex was not going to let that rare chance go so easily, so he started his swindler act as he immediately started swindling people to join the church and convert to the faith of the god of wisdom.

’Ahem! What swindling! This is clearly me being humble and benevolent to them!’

’I am a humble and benevolent saint giving them all the opportunity to learn and gain wisdom!’