Chapter 230: Pressure
Song Junlang dwelled on it for some time, but after so many experiments, he was actually quite confident in Xiao Lin’s tenacious vitality. After thinking about it for a while, he put those brief troubles behind him and continued recording his data.
...
At that moment, Xiao Lin was in a very strange state. His consciousness was still very fuzzy and he was unable to distinguish his own consciousness clearly. Nevertheless, one thought continued to linger in his mind, and that was to defeat the enemy in front of him at all costs.
With this extremely strong impulse, his body began to rely on instinct as it walked over slowly, with everyone looking at him in bewilderment. Xiao Lin walked very slowly and almost staggered even. His Warbear Leather Armor had been completely sc.r.a.pped, but he left his Holy Soul Sword and Peakfire Staff aside even though they were completely fine. The wounds on his exposed abdomen were still clearly visible, but the bleeding had stopped and the wounds healed quickly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The orc commander jumped down directly from the stairs. He attacked with both battle axes, but there was only a blue in front of him. Xiao Lin’s figure had disappeared from his sight and reappeared again close to the orc. There, he made a fist with his right hand and launched it right at the orc’s stomach.
The orc had a contemptuous smile. He admired the human’s agility and ability to avoid his attacks, but the human was only human after all. Strength alone was not enough for them to beat the tough orcs, not to mention that the punch looked weak. With years of combat experience under his belt, he made no effort to evade that punch.
Thump!
The commanding officer’s contemptuous smile instantly froze and his entire body was sent flying like a cannonball. He slammed into the wall behind him and the debris fell in succession. The dusty orc then fell onto the ground with a face full of shock.
Roar!
The orc felt much ashamed by it. He roared at the sky and instantly jumped up from the ground, which began shaking after he quickened his pace. His split-second explosive sprinting power was terrifying and had reached its fullest under his angered state. As long as he was in that state, he firmly believed that it was impossible for the human to escape.
Boom!
The commanding officer slammed into the city wall again. The high sprint speed made him unable to change his direction at the last minute. All Xiao Lin had to do was dodge in advance and let the orc’s attack strike thin air. The orc staggered back a few steps and its gray face was overcome with shock.
Cheng Ming and the others were also taken aback. They could all see from the previous battles that the orc’s strength was higher than that of Xiao Lin, yet Xiao Lin was only using his own body technique to constantly evade the attack instead of changing the unfavorable situation. What was going on? Xiao Lin had actually started to crush the orc commander after standing up again.
“d.a.m.n! Is that guy a Saiyan? His strength is stronger after resurrection!” There were many people who paid attention to Xiao Lin’s battle with the orc commander. They were originally prepared to retreat, but the situation in front of them seemed oddly strange and they hesitated again. If Xiao Lin could really kill the commanding officer, they would naturally be able to seize the fortress in one go, but if Xiao Lin failed again, they would all have to retreat.
“You’ve watched too much anime! What do you think we’re in, right now? Stop joking!” the ponytail woman replied irritably.
Cheng Ming looked uncertain and remarked strangely, “Do you really think Xiao Lin’s strength has improved?”
“Definitely. Both in speed and explosive power!”
“I know, but the increase is not as big as we thought, at least not to the point of crushing the orc commander.” Cheng Ming a.n.a.lyzed carefully. He had a more intuitive understanding of Xiao Lin’s strength, perhaps because he and Xiao Lin had practiced swordsmanship together before as well as battling in the simulated battle.
“I’ve fought with Xiao Lin. I know his strength very well. His sword skills are really good and I admire him greatly too, but don’t forget, he doesn’t have a sword right now!”
Cheng Ming’s reminder finally jolted the other people. The Holy Soul Sword had been tossed aside and Xiao Lin never even picked it up. The improvement of Basic Swordsmanship might increase his own strength attributes, but a swordsman’s strength was vastly different with and without their sword.
That Xiao Lin was able to suppress the orcs with pure strength was an unfathomable thought.
The battle continued and Xiao Lin’s attacks looked very simple. The skills he mastered—that is, Basic Swordsmanship, Phantom Step, or Flame Sword Aura, were not displayed at all. He simply delivered punch after punch to the orcs, but what surprised everyone was how effective those punches were.
The previous explosive speed and power of the orc commander suddenly became useless in front of Xiao Lin and could only be slaughtered like a sandbag.
“No. This isn’t right. Xiao Lin’s strength didn’t increase, but the orc’s strength has decreased!” someone suddenly whispered.
“Don’t you feel it, the battle seems to be easier than before, and I’m talking about us!”
After what he said, everyone who was still in the melee also noticed that the merfolk and orc infantry which they fought against had decreased in speed and strength, albeit very inconspicuously. In fact, the students were under the same influence as well, as if there was the constant feeling of being held back. The strange suppressed feeling from earlier continued to cloud their hearts, but it seemed to have greater influence over their opponents.
It made sense. The overall state of the orc commander must have been affected. It was not that Xiao Lin had become stronger, but that his opponent had become weaker.
Cheng Ming could not figure out why everyone’s strength suddenly received some kind of restriction and was slightly reduced, while Xiao Lin seemed to be the only one that was not affected. Could the source of that pressure be caused by Xiao Lin?
That a.s.sumption was too far-fetched. Cheng Ming placed a lot of trust in Xiao Lin, but even he did not think that any of the freshmen had the ability to master such crazy skills.
In any case, the battle has indeed become much easier, and the stalemate was gradually being broken.
After a few minutes, the swollen muscles on the orc’s body were gradually reverting back. Although it was unknown what skill he used, such a state clearly did not last long. The commanding officer’s strength decreased further to its original state, and although he was still strong, his intimidating might had all but disappeared.
The scars on Xiao Lin’s body were completely gone. In fact, the only reason why the orc was able to inflict injury on Xiao Lin was because those two battle axes had an extremely wide attack range, thus making it difficult to avoid completely.