The Pirate of Everlasting Flowers

A Flower Merchant (3)

With one swift movement, Kou made a simple gesture with his left hand. A warm red aura glowed on his left palm.

He casted it upon the blade of his sword in his right hand, imbuing it with spiritual energy.

The gesture was a unique hand sign designed to draw power from land spirits, specifically for the purpose of enhancing an object's durability.

The action only took a couple of seconds, roughly the same amount of time for the merchant to cock the gun and pull the trigger.

The merchant, or now it would be more appropriate to refer to him as the undercover mage, didn't need to worry about killing or making a ruckus. He was sent personally by Clan Head Chen Rongguang; anything he does can be overlooked or reasoned. In addition, the thief is considered a rogue, a pirate, which is classified as an outlaw.

Bang!

The sound of the bullet releasing was followed by startled screams from nearby pedestrians.

There weren't many people around them, so they were easily spotted, instantly becoming the center of attention. Seeing the pistol held by the mage, they scrambled to flee the scene, some stood frozen, nervously pointing their hands.

Kou was still grinning, He hadn't flinched at all from the shot. He stood as still as he had been previously, his stance relaxing.

The mage widened his eyes.

There were clattering sounds on the ground behind him. He immediately figured out that the thief standing in front of him had deflected the bullet.

Kou had a smug look on his face, amused.

"Hehe."

A powerful mage trained in combat might have a way to enhance their speed by drawing power from spirits. Even then, it is rare to find one that can surpass the speed of bullets. It shows just how terrifying the experiences of a pirate who has faced stormy seas and armies of trained mages can be.

The mage had no time to reload his pistol, and Kou had made his move to lunge forward with his sword.

Changing his tactics, the mage retreated to evade the attack and pulled out his own sword. Taking a few steps backwards, he made the same hand gestures to imbue the sword with spiritual energy.

His movements weren't as fast as the thief, causing him to barely make it in time defending himself against a powerful swing of his opponent's sword.

Whoosh! Clang!

Whoosh! Clang!

Whoosh! Clang!

With each attack, Kou drove the mage backwards, each hit heavier than the last. The mage, struggling to keep up with his speed, was on the defensive side.

Swoosh!

Kou thrusted his sword forward to throw off the mage. He succeeded as the move had caught him by surprise.

The mage raised his arm to parry, leaving his lower body unprotected. The exposure could have gotten himself killed with a single fatal blow, but the thief's sword never once touched his flesh. Instead, Kou twirled his sword and slashed a large portion of the mage's sleeve cloth.

A few ripped talisman papers, small pouches, and a compass fell out. Kou had torn apart the mage's sleeve pocket, spilling its contents.

Kou took one glance at the scattered items before pointing his sword back at the mage.

He chuckled, "I guess it's in the other one."

The mage glared as he flipped a paper talisman between two fingers in front of his face. He seemed to have caught one of the paper talismans from his sleeve before it was ripped apart.