ckbeard needed no crossing ropes to get from his boat to the merchant ship as he effortlessly jumped and covered the over 15 meters gap between the two ships easily.


    "You….." he said, tilting his head from side to side as his almost demonic eyes scanned Rocky with keen interest.


    "You look like you have been to Central Africa. Are you a climber?" ckbeard asked, implying that Rocky had been to the tower of ascension just like him.


    In the days of the old, when the world wasn''t mapped out as well as it is today, people living on the other continents were not as aware about the Tower Of Ascension as they are in the modern day.


    Back then, reaching the tower wasn''t as easy and many humans lived their entire lives simply without ever knowing about the existence of the tower and considered the myriad monster waves that sometimes originated from the tower as nothing more than divine punishment for their sins.


    However, in thete 1500''s as more and more capable ships were started to be produced and the world was starting to be mapped out properly by brave sailors, the news about the tower also began to spread fast.


    The climbers who were revered by people in the old times as ''Demi-Gods'', began to lose their charm when the secret about them being chosen as climbers started to be exposed, however, with such secrets still not being popr knowledge, there were many seafaring men who still did not know about what a climber was.


    "So what if I have? Does that scare you?" Rocky replied arrogantly, as his words made ckbeard chuckle.


    Unsheathing his steel sword which had a wrist cover for a handle, ckbeard pointed it towards Rocky, while assuming a very natural north-paw stance.


    Minimizing his surface area exposure, ckbeard ced one arm behind his back, while he invited Rocky toe take a swing at him.


    "Come at me then…. Climber" ckbeard said with a menacing smile on his face as Rocky lunged at him with his dual fang-swords in hand.


    Up till now, whoever Rocky fought, he butchered easily since all of them were normal humans.


    However, ckbeard was different.


    Effortlessly blocking his dual sword swing with a single hand, ckbeard pushed Rocky off-bnce, as he forced Rocky to stagger backwards.


    Quickly regaining his bnce, Rocky stared at ckbeard in surprise as he reassessed his opponent.


    ckbeard stood still, his menacing smile never wavering, as if he found amusement in Rocky''s attempts.


    With a fierce determination, Rocky lunged again, his dual fang-swords shing through the air in a series of rapid, precise strikes.


    Each swing aimed to exploit a perceived weakness in ckbeard''s defense. However, each time, ckbeard''s sword was there to meet him, parrying with ease and precision that left Rocky astounded.


    It wasn''t that ckbeard was stronger than him, or faster. However, while Rocky maderge unnecessary movements, ckbeard somehow managed to match his attacks with slow, low powered minimal movements that seemed to be second nature to him.


    ''How is he doing this?'' Rocky thought, frustration bubbling up as he swung with all his might.


    Every attack felt like it should have hit, but ckbeard''s effortless counters and minimal movements deflected them all.


    ckbeard stepped forward, his de slicing through the air with a fluid grace that Rocky had never seen before as after a while of feeling bored from blocking Rocky''s attacks, he finally decided to switch things up and go on the offensive.


    *Block*


    Barely managing to block the attack, Rocky felt the force of it sending vibrations up his arms as the sheer power and control in ckbeard''s movements were overwhelming.


    "He''s not even trying," Rocky realized, his heart pounding. "Is this the difference between a real swordsman and me?" He wondered, as although he did not want to think too highly of his opponent, his introduction as the ''Best Swordsman'' in Earth''s history did cast an unwanted psychological pressure on Rocky''s mind.


    As if reading his thoughts, ckbeard spoke, his voice carrying over the shing of steel. "You rely too much on brute force and speed, boy. Swordsmanship is an art of precision and control."


    With a swift, almostzy swipe, ckbeard disarmed Rocky''s left sword, sending it ttering across the deck.


    *Clung*


    Rocky''s eyes widened in disbelief, but there was no time to react. ckbeard followed up with a spinning backhand strike that knocked the remaining sword from Rocky''s grip.


    Staggering back, Rocky felt a mix of fear and awe. ''How can he be so strong? How can he predict my every move?'' he wondered, as without his swords he suddenly felt like a toothless tiger.


    Noticing the weakness, ckbeard advanced, his sword now pointing directly at Rocky''s chest as the pirate captain''s eyes gleamed with a predatory satisfaction.


    "You''re out of your depth, climber." ckbeard said, as he took his time enjoying the shock in Rocky''s eyes.


    ''This won''t do, I have to try to shift the tides else I''ll die right here'' Rocky thought, as desperation fuelled his next move as he tried to tackle ckbeard, hoping to close the distance and use his strength to his advantage.


    But ckbeard sidestepped effortlessly, his kneeing up to meet Rocky''s stomach with a brutal force that knocked the wind out of him.


    Gasping for air, Rocky fell to his knees, clutching his abdomen. ckbeard towered over him, his sword resting lightly on Rocky''s shoulder, the cold steel a stark reminder of his defeat.


    "Remember this lesson, boy," ckbeard said, his voice a low growl.


    "Power alone won''t save you. You''re probably the most freakish and naturally strong human I''ve ever met, however, you''re stupid.


    All that muscle is wasted on you with that trash technique and over reliance on your natural explosive speed.


    True strengthes from mastery and understanding. Until you learn that, you''ll never be more than a child ying with swords." ckbeard said, as he lifted his sword to kill Rocky, however, before he could end Rocky''s life, Rocky retaliated with a [ Fire Wall ] spell, as despite taking burn damage himself, he forced ckbeard to jump backwards and create momentary separation.


    Rocky''s vision blurred as he struggled to stay conscious, ckbeard''s words echoing in his mind.


    This fight had shattered his understanding of swordsmanship, leaving him with a harsh realization of how far he still had to go.


    However, just because he was a weaker swordsman than he thought himself to be, Rocky wasn''t ready to give up on his life.


    If just using the sword was not enough for him to defeat his opponent then Rocky was ready to use spells, curses, numbers game, lie, deceive or basically do anything necessary to win, as he wasn''t ready to kick the bucket and die just yet.


    [ Fire Wall ]


    Using firewall to light up the barrel of gunpowder lying nearby, Rocky caused a massive explosion on the ship''s deck, as the splinters from the exploding barrel caught ckbeard on his arm, leading to the pirate captain picking up a slight injury.


    "Hahaha, a cheeky one" ckbeard said, smiling satisfyingly as he found Rocky''s struggle to provide him with boundless entertainment.


    In his eyes, Rocky was nothing more than a strong child who had no idea how to control his strength as ckbeard did not feel like his life was threatened at all when facing Rocky.


    Assuming a north-paw stance once more, ckbeard allowed Rocky to scramble on the deck trying to find his bnce as he collected both his swords and assumed a fighting stance once again.


    If he wanted to, ckbeard could have attacked Rocky while he was trying to find his swords, however, seeing as to how Rocky had some fight left in him, ckbeard allowed him the luxury to try again, as he wanted to see just how far Rocky could push him.


    With a deep breath, Rocky steadied himself and charged again, this time feinting with his right sword and aiming a powerful strike with his left.


    Unfortunately for him though, ckbeard saw through the feint immediately, effortlessly deflecting the real attack and countering with a sh that Rocky barely dodged.


    ''Fine, if my attack patterns are useless, I''ll shadow the movements of Professor Mae!'' Rocky thought, feeling a growing sense of desperation, as he recalled the attack pattern of Professor Mae during their sparring sessions and replicated her movements precisely.


    However, to his dismay every move that  he made seemed to be anticipated by ckbeard beforehand, and every strategy that he came up with seemed to be countered with minimal effort.


    Rocky tried to focus, recalling everything he had learned about swordsmanship so far from instructor Mae and began to mix his attacks with unpredictable movements, hoping to catch ckbeard off guard. Yet, with each attempt, ckbeard''s defenses held firm, his counters precise and devastating.


    It was almost like, just how his own swordsmanship was useless against ckbeard, so was Professor Mae''s, as seemingly, the swordsmanship instructor was no match for the best in the history of Earth.


    Finally as ckbeard got bored of facing Rocky''s second barrage of attacks, he  swung his sword in a wide arc, forcing  Rocky to block with both swords, however, despite how simple he made it look, the force of impact behind his attack was so devastating that it forced Rocky back several steps.


    After blocking that move, Rocky felt as if his arms were made of lead, the weight of ckbeard''s strength bearing down on him, as he could see the bloodthirst in his eyes.


    Now, as ckbeard gave Rocky all the chance in the world to prove his worth, he no longer felt merciful enough to let him live anymore, as bored of their battle, ckbeard now seemed intent to end it all.


    —-------


    /// A/N - Another milestone reached! The 200 chapter mark! Good job guys! ///