Super Card System - Chapter 241

Chapter 241: Seeking a Breakthrough

Vista was also a mature old man. He has been in the New World with the Whitebeard for more than 20 years.

However, this uncle has a unique look. He often wears a dark blue top hat, a suit and a cape, a crooked and neat gentleman’s mustache, and all the times, he keeps on twisting it with his white-gloved fingers.

He maintained his usual smile, stood opposite of Ian, lifted his cloak, revealing the two long swords slung around his left waist.

Vista’s weapon was actually a bit strange. He wields a pair of sabers with purple hilts that are visibly distinguishable from another by their different sheaths attached to his waist. However, his blade is not slender and sharp. On the contrary, it has the same blade as a single-edged katana…

Such a unique shape was a combination of several styles of weapons, so after Vista pulled out his swords, Ian has been paying attention to his weapon and couldn’t help but ask: “Your sword, Isn’t it one of the Meito, the Legendary Swords?”

“Of course! These two were from the 21 Supreme Grade Swords! (Ō Wazamono!)” Vista smiled and said: “They are known as the ‘Flower Burial’! What about yours?”

“Mine?” Ian looked at the Zanpakuto in front of him and said, “This is the Senbonzakura… Thousand Cherry Blossoms!”

“Sure enough!” Vista said with a smile. “I saw the battle between you and Kizaru. I have seen the petals of the Cherry Blossoms flying all over the sky, and that made me feel a bit excited!”

“Uh…” Ian didn’t know what to say. When Vista mentioned it, Ian suddenly realized that when Vista attacks, the same petals start dancing around him too, right?

Wait a minute, the competition between him and Vista won’t turn into a kind of aesthetic art piece…

“Be careful!” Seeing him a little distracted, Vista reminded him aloud that he was already holding swords in both hands at the moment, ready to fight.

Ian came back to his senses, holding the scabbard in his left hand, grasping the hilt with his right hand, squatting slightly, ready to take action at any time.

According to Ian’s estimation, Vista should also be an opponent with great swordsmanship level. How to say it, since Ian went out to the sea, Vista was for sure the mightiest swordsman among all the people he faced. None of the previous opponents were as skilled as him, which was probably the reason why Ian’s swordsmanship has not improved for a long time.

At this time, the duel between the two looked like a professional spar of two great swordsmen. Ian adjusted his breathing according to the method taught by Rayleigh, and the muscles all over his body swelled. He was on guard against Vista with the easiest gesture taught by Koshiro, and Vista did the same. His two swords were slightly crossed in front of his chest, which was the posture he would put forward when facing an important enemy.

Although they haven’t started yet, in fact, the two men’s Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), have been launched, they were fully aware of the opponent’s every move, at this time, the scene was silent, the crowd, all the onlookers didn’t dare to make a sound, for fear of disturbing their focus… absolute silence…

At this moment, the whitebeard who had been watching was a little reluctant, and suddenly sneezed.

With this sound, Ian and Vista moved at the same time! When Ian jumped forward, his right hand waved the Senbonzakura, and with unparalleled speed, he slashed at the front of Vista.

However, Vista used one sword to withstand the blow with a clanging sound, stood beside Ian, and then with the sword in the other hand, he stabbed Ian’s shoulder with the speed of light.

With the swing of his sword, flying red petals appeared in the air. Ian didn’t know whether this was a special sword skill or an illusion. At this time, he couldn’t think about such a thing. After sensing the direction of Vista’s attack, Ian immediately made a wrong step, swaying his shoulders, avoiding the upcoming strike.

Then he gave up dodging and tried to make a counter-attack by swinging his katana upward and slashing towards Vista. Vista reacted fast and changed the direction of his strike, knocking open Ian’s blade with tremendous strength, and then he launched a super-fast continuous stabbing with the other saber.

Vista just used a “Nitoryu” technique (Two Swords Style). However, the most important thing Ian needs is to gain more experience in this fighting Technique. When he was in Frost moon Village, Zoro used the Two Swords Style often while training with Ian.

The Nitoryu techniques have a feature, that is, the victory comes in the attacks. After all, he wields one more weapon than his opponent. It can counterattack at any time while parrying. However, the strength of holding a sword with one hand is less than that of holding it with two hands. Therefore, Nitoryu techniques rely on skills and speed to win.

Ian doesn’t lack speed. Unlike the previous fight against Fossa, Fossa’s blows were straightforward at that time, so Ian relied on his strength to fight him, but when standing against Vista, Ian depended on his own speed. Although he only has one sword, Ian’s soft twist of his wrist and pace, which he practiced all the year-round, matched his opponent’s speed, so he was holding his ground against Vista’s two swords style.

Around them were a large number of petals brought by Vista’s strikes. There was also a pleasant fragrance in the air. No wonder why Vista was nicknamed “the Flower Sword”. His swordsmanship was indeed based on elegant steps and beautiful moves.

The two fought in fast steps and kept changing their positions. The onlookers, who were not that powerful, could not see their moves… They were dazzled because they just felt that their weapons had turned into streamers!

In a blink of an eye, their weapons have collided so many times. Vista’s sword skills were very strong, but Ian was also an expert swordsman and was able to deal with his opponent’s various sword moves.

However, when he facing Vista, Ian noticed the difference between Fossa and his current opponent, Vista’s shots often attacked Ian’s most vulnerable position, forcing him to change his moves. Although it seemed to be a draw for the moment, Ian knew that if he continued to fight this way, he may get defeated after a short time.

Vista’s view on swordsmanship was much higher than Ian’s. At any rate, Vista was also much older than Ian, and he has encountered many masters of swordsmanship…

Ian thought about whether to use Senbonzakura Shikai to gain more speed and strength and balance the spar, but he abandoned this idea right away.

He knows very well that the bottleneck of his swordsmanship was not related to speed and strength, but a qualitative understanding of swordsmanship. To break through this barrier, Ian must rely on his own swordsmanship to deal with this challenge.

Therefore, he gritted his teeth, clenched his fist, and engaged. Vista was always looking for the flaws in his attacks, so he would make a perfect counter-attack…

During the match, Vista naturally noticed Ian’s changes and progress, so a smile appeared on his face.

When he watched the match between Ian and Fossa before, he analyzed Ian’s situation. His swordsmanship does not lack foundation, speed, and strength, but his insight requires the accumulation of experience. This was his minor problem… So, the reason why Vista agreed to this duel was to see if he could help him understand the missing piece.

“Heads up!” Vista rushed and screamed.

Ian had been engrossed in the fight against him, and when he was reminded, his concentration was unprecedented.

However, the next second when Vista was moved towards Ian, Ian got a setback!

He found that he wasn’t able to dodge the upcoming strike! Vista’s slash looked ordinary. Normally, Ian can dodge such an attack whenever he wants… However, what he didn’t expect was that the several escape plans flashed in his mind give him a feeling that they won’t work!

He’s about to be slashed! This was the only premonition that Ian’s brain cells gave him. He found that Vista’s blow seemed to completely lock him in place!

It’s troublesome to describe Ian’s feelings, but in fact, it was just a moment, and Ian was able to perceive Vista’s action through the Nen field, but in the end, he seemed to be stuck, and he received Vista’s hit…

Of course, Vista used the back of the blade. It was just a spar, not a life-and-death confrontation. After the back of the sword slashed across Ian’s shoulder, Vista also passed Ian at the same time.

Ian was sweating profusely. It wasn’t because he was tired or exhausted, but the threatening danger he felt by Vista’s strike made him pant…

After hitting Ian, Vista temporarily stopped moving. Ian turned around and asked him, “What was that? Why was I unable to dodge at that moment? What have you done to me?”

Vista twisted his mustache and said, “Actually, I can’t describe it well. But, let me think of an easy explanation… you were locked in by my threatening aura!”

“Aura!? Locked!?” Ian repeated these two words, and then combined his feelings at that moment to the explanation he heard.

He had felt some weird pulse…

He wanted to continue the spar with Vista, but at this time, the Whitebeard laughed cheerfully and said, “Well, that’s it for today. There are still plenty of opportunities in the future!”

The Whitebeard knew that if he went all in, the outcome of this spar may change, but this brat, Ian, was relying only on his swordsmanship, and Oyaji discovered this too… Ian was seeking a breakthrough in swordsmanship by challenging Vista.

Minutes ago, he wanted to take Ian as his son, but he rejected the offer. The Whitebeard was a bit unhappy by such answers, so he took advantage of this to return the embarrassment.

‘If you want to enhance your skill, you have to wait…’