TBATE-The Lost Hero

BANDITS

Immediately after hearing these words from my father, I saw Ash go to my mother and lay his head on her lap while yawning and saying, "Mom, I'm very tired." This brat was going to leave me to face Adam alone while pretending to be exhausted.

As I approached Adam, I didn't know if his goal was to knock some sense into the child he assumed was arrogant because he had heard that I was some kind of prodigy or if he was sincerely trying to gauge my strength. But, from the smug smile on his face as he looked down at me, I assumed it was likely the former.

Retrieving the wooden sword I had received as a gift from my father, I walked to the edge of the camp where Adam waited near a small clearing.

"You know how to enhance your weapon, right, genius?" he asked, emphasizing the last word.

By this time, my father already felt that Adam was just trying to assert dominance over his little boy, but he just watched, knowing he wouldn't hurt me much.

Thanks a lot, dear father.

My mother seemed a bit more worried as she kept glancing back and forth between me and Adam and my father, maintaining her strong facade while Ash sat in her lap.

Well, at least Mom was here to heal me if I got hurt, right?

I focused my gaze on Adam, who was about five meters away from me. Images of my past life, dueling other kings with my country and loved ones at stake, flashed in my head. I narrowed my eyes, limiting my vision to only the man in front of me. He was the opponent now.

I willed mana into my legs and dashed forward, both hands gripping the wooden sword on my right side...

His smug look still present, Adam prepared to block a horizontal swing when I feinted and used a special move I developed in my old world for dueling. Almost instantly, I blinked diagonally to his right. Damn this body! I couldn't execute the skill perfectly due to the difference in height and weight compared to my old body. I wasn't used to this 40-pound, 110-centimeter body. While I didn't reach the area I aimed for, unfortunately for Adam, he had already prepared his wooden stick to block a swing from the other direction, leaving his right side unprotected.

His smug look vanished completely and was replaced with a look of surprise, his eyes wide open as he realized what was about to happen.

My wooden sword swung at his exposed ribcage, enhancing my wooden sword with mana at the last moment to conserve mana, knowing I was definitely at a disadvantage against a veteran warrior like him.

The look of surprise remained on Adam's face, but it lasted only a fraction of a second before he pivoted on his right foot with almost inhuman speed. I crouched just in time to avoid his upward swing and shifted my stance from thrust to sweep, landing a blow on his left ankle with all my momentum. His ankle gave way at that moment, causing Adam to lose his balance.

Or so I thought.

He actually did a full split, followed by a sweeping roundhouse kick with his legs once he was on the ground.

This body wouldn't be able to take a hit like that, so I jumped to avoid his legs when, from my peripheral vision, I saw the brown flash of his wooden stick.

With no time to use the blade to block the swing, I pushed the hilt of my sword, timing it to collide with Adam's wooden stick and the end of my hilt.

Newton's third law of motion suddenly appeared.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

And boy, the opposite reaction was painful. While I successfully blocked the strike, my four-year-old body couldn't withstand the force of the blow, and I flew before skimming gracefully on the ground like a flat rock on a lake.