??The mantis king hissed in pain, but Liam didn''t let it falter.


    He immediately put his hand on Barduk''s back and used his own mana to extinguish the after-effects of Rio''s sword intent.


    Beads of sweat appeared on Liam''s forehead.


    ''Even with Ellie''s help, it''s still really difficult to counter this guy''s speed-''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: Horizontal Shift!]


    Rio didn''t give Liam the time to think properly, and he arrived right beside him in the very next second.


    This time, he aimed his sword at Liam.


    ''Sh*t, I will get hit!''


    [Barduk: Perfect Counter!]


    *ng!*


    Rio earlier severed one of the mantis king''s pair of sickle-like hands, but even with just one hand, the mantis king easily countered Rio''s technique without suffering any injuries.


    Even Rio was surprised by how easily his technique was countered.


    [Gamel: Fire breath!]


    The wyvern flying in the air immediately fired a massive fire breath attack at Rio, but Rio didn''t even budge.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water Type: Inverted Waterfall!]


    Rio swung his sword upward, and the water elements that condensed around his sword quickly split the whole fire breath in two!


    Rio''s sword swing created air pressure that pushed back even the wyvern.


    But all of that was enough for Liam to make some distance from Rio with Barduk.


    Liam got down from Barduk''s back and ced his hand on the ground.


    [Summon: Demonic Chimera!]


    Rio immediately came rushing towards Liam, but Barduk defended Liam during the summoning process.


    "How many of them can you counter?"


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Thousand Thunder Flow!]


    In the span of three seconds, Rio hit Barduk with a thousand attacks that were enhanced by a little bit of ''Sword intent.


    Furthermore, Rio was already using ''concentration'' and other skills to improve himself.


    Therefore, the damage he inflicted with each strike was incredible.


    Even the air pressure created by each swing of his sword made Liam feel tense as he summoned.


    In response to Rio''s attack, Liam also gave the order.


    [Barduk: Max output: perfect counter!]


    But even with the maximum output, the mantis lord simply couldn''t match Rio''s speed.


    Despite perfectly countering all of the thousand attacks, the final one still struck Barduk''s stomach.


    Even that single attack was strong enough to nearly split Barduk''s body into two!


    If not for the fact that Liam had put a binding on his summons that they would automatically get de-summoned when heavily injured, Rio''s attack would have killed Barduk right there!


    Upon witnessing the de-summoning of the mantis lord, Rio gently rubbed his cheek and spoke.


    "I see… I understand it now… That mantis had a skill that could counter any closebat weapon ''technique'' but…" "When I infused my technique with 50 percent sword intent''s power, then he couldn''t counter it at all… Thanks a lot, Liam. I have learned something new from you today…"


    Using only ''sword intent'' is like swinging a sword in a simple manner; there''s no technique behind it, and it bes easier to dodge.


    Until now, Rio wasn''t able to perfectly bnce his sword intent with his technique''s power, as he didn''t have a proper dummy to test it all.


    But Liam''s summoned beast, Barduk, was the perfect test subject for Rio, and with Rio''s amazing battle IQ, he easily figured out how to defeat that mantis lord.


    Rio figured out the perfect sword intent infusion method mid-attack when he was carrying out those thousand swings.


    Hearing Rio''s words, Liam couldn''t help butugh helplessly in his mind.


    ''What kind of joke is that… This guy adapts so fast, it''s like he''s trying to hone his swordsmanship with this battle and isn''t taking this duel into consideration at all.


    Even Liam felt a bit angry when he figured out that Rio was using his summons to hone his own skills.


    He has a deep connection with his summons and can hear their cries of pain, so Rio''s nonchnt act of using them like practice dummies seemed quite infuriating to Liam.


    [Kazto: Space Warp: Spatial Lock!]


    Kazto waved his gori-like hands, and the space around Rio''s feet solidified instantly.


    Causing Rio to be unable to move.


    ''Although it consumes a lot of mana, I have no other choice but to use this spatial technique!''


    [Kazto: Space Warp: Spatial st!]


    Kazto waved its hand, and a shockwave appeared in the space-time fabric, causing a st to ur. (It''s like an extremely weak version of what Ashtel does.)


    Rio immediately swatted down to avoid that attack, and he barely dodged it.


    When he squatted down, that spatial shockwave passed from above his head, but it still caught a few of his hairs.


    "Hoh… That was a killing attack… You are finally getting serious..."


    Indeed, that attack was one of Liam''s killing moves; he uses it to kill monsters that have high defense.


    Rio made Liam angry by using Barduk as a practice dummy, and Liam was now hell-bent on getting revenge for that.


    "Of course… After all, you won''t die to something of this level, right?"


    A smirk appeared on Liam and Rio''s faces at the same time. Both of them felt excited to fight more.


    ''It''s been a while; I nearly forgot this feeling of excitement…''


    A slight smile appeared on Rio''s face as he got up. He put the tip of his sword on his foot and used the sword intent to destroy the spatial lock that Kazto had ced on him.


    ''All summoned beasts are spiritual beings after all; even their attacks can be easily countered by sword intent…''


    Rio''s sword intent isn''t strong enough to cut the space-time fabric yet, but if it''s a spirit being''s skill, Rio can still barely deal with it.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon Type: Absolute Precision Arc!]


    [Kazto: Space Warp: Spatial Loop!]


    Rio''s sword, imbued with 50 percent sword intent, instantly descended toward Liam''s.


    However, as if Liam were in sync with Rio, he also gave his order at the exact same time.


    Kazto created a spatial loop that directly trapped Rio''s sword inside.


    ''Sess!''


    Liam was delighted to confirm that the spatial loop was indeed affecting Rio.


    Although Rio''s sword was covered in sword intent, it still needed to ''hit'' the attack to work.


    However, Kazto''s spatial loopcked a ''hit'' because it was merely a space warping technique.


    Rio''s sword intent proved to be ineffective against this.


    [Gamel: Concentrated fire breath!]


    Liam immediately took advantage of this chance and ordered his wyvern tounch a concentrated breath attack on Rio.


    Rio''s sword was stuck in the spatial loop, and he wasn''t able to take it back, which means that Rio had no choice but to abandon his sword and jump back to dodge that attack.


    ''Now, jump back, and I will summon Markom next…''


    But before Liam could be happy for too long, Rio did the exact opposite of what Liam had predicted.


    Instead, he stomped on the ground and jumped towards the wyvern.


    ncing at Kazto''s spatial barrier, Liam discovered that Rio''s sword had vanished! He didn''t notice that Rio could also de-


    summon and re-summon his sword; thus, it was impossible for Rio''s sword to get stuck.


    If it had been another swordsman, Liam would have defeated them long ago already.


    But Rio has too many tricks up his sleeve, and even Lia doesn''t know about them all.


    [Sword Intent]


    This time, Rio didn''t use any technique; he imbued his sword with pure sword intent and swung it downward!


    *Kraaaggghhhhh!!*


    The wyvern cried in pain as Rio''s sword instantly hit its neck and injured it heavily.


    Rio''s sudden, unpredictable move shocked Liam, dying him by a few seconds. As a result, he couldn''t deliver his order on time, which led to the wyvern''s injury.


    But Liam wasn''t going to stand there and watch the show.


    He took advantage of the wyvern''s sacrifice and stomped the ground to summon his other beast.


    [Summon: Titan Mammoth!]


    Then he raised his hand and cast magic himself.


    [Advanced Fire Magic: Ray of Ascending Fire!]


    Above Liam''s head, a massive magic circle materialized and shot a massive beam of condensed fire towards Rio.


    Rio stopped looking at Gamel, who was getting de-


    summoned, and he swung his sword in a downward arc to counter Liam''s spell.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Water Type: Flow of peaceful rivers!]


    Rio''s sword shot out a massive arc of condensed water, directly countering Liam''s magic.


    If not for the fact that Kazto was protecting Liam with the spatial loop, that water arc would have broken the magic circle in two and hit Liam directly in the face!


    After countering Liam''s attack, Rionded on the ground, and before he could rx, Liam ordered Markom to attack him.


    [Markom: Max output: Instant rush!]


    The giant mammoth stomped the ground and rushed towards Rio at an astonishing speed.


    Rio had justnded on the ground, and he was unable to dodge that attack.


    [Handling!]


    Rio swung his sword and forcefully changed the trajectory of the giant mammoth, causing it to go in a different direction.


    That move even surprised Liam.


    He didn''t expect that Rio had so much strength that he could forcefully change the mammoth''s trajectory at its maximum output level!


    ''Concentration'' had increased Rio''s base stats by twice, so he was much stronger.


    However, a person''s strength depends more on their techniques, skills, and other factors.


    Rio''s base stat might be high whenpared to Link after using ''conentration'', but Link isn''t a skill-less person either!


    He has mana-based skills and techniques that improve his base stats.


    This is actually normal for all awakeners.


    Only their base stats determine their physical fitness, but their skills, techniques, and talents truly set them apart!


    Link''s talents make him much stronger than Rio, even after using ''concentration.''


    …


    …


    Author''s Notes.


    I have finally fixed this plot hole after receiving numerousints. People have been asking, "Why is Rio not stronger than Link after using ''concentration''?"


    The answer is simple:


    Those are just base stats; they get enhanced by skills during battle, and they don''t show everything.


    Never judge an awakener by their base stats alone; talents and other things are equally important.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.