The two clashed dozens of times in a split second.
Neo held back, making sure his physical ability was at Kane's level.
Kane slashed towards his neck.
Neo raised the sword to block when Kane suddenly twisted the trajectory of his attack.
His blade shot upward at a sharp angle before taking another sharp turn, descending towards Neo's head.
The attacks were abrupt, yet they flowed like water.
There was a harmony in Kane's attack that Neo had never seen before.
Kane's attack was a bluff.
The tip of the sword missed his nose by an inch.
Kane jumped back to create a gap between them.
"Why are you stopping?" Neo questioned.
"This is the first thing I need to teach you," Kane said. "Why didn't you dodge my last attack?"
"Because I could tell the attack was a feint."
"How? Did you do it by instinct?"
"I calculated the trajectory of the sword and the force behind the attack. Since the attack wouldn't land, there was no need to dodge it."
"You know what you are doing. But you can't see what is wrong with that."
"Do you understand you said something absurd just now? You calculated the path of the sword.
"We were exchanging eleven attacks per second. You were thinking at that speed and countering me at the same time."
"What's wrong with that?"
Kane didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.
"I can't do anything like you did. I bet there is barely anyone who could do that.
"When I'm in a battle, my body moves on its own. I fight while being guided by my instincts."
"…Are you boasting right now?"
"No! I'm saying I don't waste time on thinking. You, on the other hand, use your precious time to predict your opponent's attacks.
"You need to stop thinking and just attack. It would increase the speed of your attacks by large margins."
"How am I supposed to fight if I don't predict the opponent's move?"
"Let your body fight. Move as your instincts tell you to move."
Neo gave Kane an amused stare.
"What you said was the same as telling a homeless man to buy a house.
"If I had instincts like that, I would've been using them."
"You are misunderstanding me." Kane shook his head. "It's not a matter of talent. What I'm telling you is to follow the [Flow]. I can tell you are fighting without following the path of your [Flow]."
"Flow? What is that?"
"…You don't know [Flow]?"
Kane blinked, confused.
"No, I don't even know what that is."
Kane covered his face and doubled over.
"Haha... ahahahahah, crazy bastard!"
"I knew you were a monster, but this is beyond my imagination! Hahahahaha, fuck, how is this even possible?!"
"Sorry, sorry. It was quite shocking, so I lost control of my emotions."
Kane looked at Neo with a smirk.
"When you are immersed in battle, you'll see faint lines connecting you and the enemy.
"It's the [Flow of Battle]—Alexander told me the name—and it's the shortest path of attack."
"…It sounds too good to be true."
"You are correct. Alexander and the almost every top combatants of our city can use [Flow]. That's why I thought you could use it too."
Kane scratched his head.
"[Flow] is a bit similar to precognitive abilities. You'll be able to predict the attacks of your opponents with it."
"So, how do I use [Flow]?"
"You just… use it. I don't know how I use it either. Even the others said they could use it instinctively."
Kane found it a bit absurd that Neo was fighting without [Flow] up until now.
'How much combat experience does he have to predict the opponent's attacks without using [Flow]?' Kane thought.
The difference between using the Flow and not using the Flow was the same as automatic gear cars and manual gear cars.
The battles at Neo and Kane's level happened at high speed.
Every split second could become the difference between life and death.
It was mind-boggling to think Neo fought while calculating every move of his opponent.
"Let's focus on the sword techniques for now," Kane said.
Both of them began exchanging attacks.
Every few minutes, they would stop, and Kane would explain to Neo what he had been doing wrong.
'This doesn't seem like it is going to work,' Neo thought as he sat on the ground to rest.
Kane was on the side, exhausted.
"You suck at using Incantations," Kane muttered.
"I have a low Harmony with pure Divine Energy."
While the two were resting, Emma appeared.
She walked towards them and stopped before Neo.
"Watched enough?" Neo questioned. "I could tell you have been looking at us for hours."
"Yeah. It was quite irritating."
Emma looked down on Neo with a slight frown.
"It is irritating to see someone as talented as you wasting their potential. Get up. I'll show you how proper Incantations work."
"I didn't know you liked teaching."
"I don't. The only student I took gave me a headache, and I promised myself I wouldn't take another student. But you…"
The Darkness surrounded her.
"You are wasting your talents. It's frustrating."
"You taught someone before?" Neo questioned.
He could tell he was getting on her nerves since he had yet to get up despite her constant urging.
"I did. He is named Dios. You wouldn't know him."
"Oh, I do. Everyone knows Zeus."
"…You know Zeus's original name?"
"Seems like it, yeah."
"Who are you? You even knew what a Child of Mana is."
"I am Neo Hargraves."
Neo stood up and patted his clothes.
"You can go back. I'll return later after taking care of monsters."
Kane wanted to say he would fight the statue monster that would soon arrive.
But talking back in front of an outsider like Emma would hurt Neo's image.
After Kane left, Neo opened his mouth.
"So what did you mean by talent? That's the first time someone said I'm talented."
"…?" Emma's brows creased. "First time? You are a Myth. How can someone say you are untalented?"
"Well, you know. There are all sorts of monstrous geniuses out there."
"That's true too. Even I was surprised when the kid I taught surpassed me."
Emma walked back, creating some distance between them.
"You've been talking so casually with me."
"What's wrong with that?"
"I'm a Myth, one of the strongest ones even among them. And, I'm a user of Darkness. People hate Darkness users since..."
"Yeah. Because we are evil."
"Quite an extreme way of categorizing Darkness users, no?" Neo spoke as he unsheathed his sword.
"I wouldn't say it's wrong. Every Darkness user I've met was deranged and bloodthirsty."
"You are calling yourself deranged too."
"I never said I'm normal. I doubt you are either."
The Darkness and Death surrounded her after a short chant.
Six giant black hands appeared behind her.
They floated close to her back.
"Am I wrong though? The stronger a Death or Darkness user is, the worse their personality.
"Niles was a megalomaniac. Even the new Necromancer who appeared in Spain is going berserk right now."
Neo reacted to her words.