Chapter 82: Ero Nick
The next morning, inside Su Xiao’s exclusive room.
Rustle, rustle～
The sound of water came, and when it stopped, Su Xiao walked out of the bathroom with his upper body bare, water droplets dripping from his black hair.
Last night, Su Xiao fought in the arena until around 1 AM, managing to raise his ranking from 1180th to 490th with 106 consecutive wins. At the start, he didn’t encounter any troublesome enemies, but after breaking into the top 500, his opponents grew increasingly stronger. Coupled with his fatigue, he left the arena.
After washing up and dressing neatly, Su Xiao headed to the Trade Market. During his stay in Reincarnation Paradise, he made it a habit to stroll through the Trade Market a few times each day, just to try his luck, since he still had 62,000 Paradise Coins left.
With only a few days of stay time remaining in Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao didn’t intend to waste them. After wandering through the bustling Trade Market for a few rounds, he headed straight to the Trial Grounds.
It had been a long time since he last summoned a mirror image. With sufficient Paradise Coins on hand, he planned to summon the mirror image of a strong individual.
Ten minutes later, Su Xiao arrived at the Trial Grounds.
[Welcome, Hunter, to the Trial Grounds. Please select a mode.]
[Assistance Mode / Combat Mode]
Su Xiao chose Assistance Mode.
[Assistance Mode selected. Please choose the mirror image level.]
[Low-Level Mirror Image] 100 Paradise Coins per hour.
[Mid-Level Mirror Image] 1,000 Paradise Coins per hour.
[High-Level Mirror Image] 10,000 Paradise Coins per hour.
Given Su Xiao’s current strength, Mid-Level or High-Level Mirror Images were more suitable. With ample Paradise Coins, he chose the High-Level Mirror Image.
After selecting the High-Level Mirror Image, two more options appeared. He could summon a previously summoned High-Level Mirror Image, such as the ‘Jorakel Mihawk’ he had summoned before.
Although summoning the Hawk-Eye was a good choice, Su Xiao opted for a random summon. Every strong individual has their unique traits, and it was precisely these traits he sought to learn from by coming to the Trial Grounds.
Having reached LV.30 in Blade Mastery, he needed time to consolidate. Summoning mirror images would undoubtedly accelerate this consolidation process.
[You have chosen to summon a High-Level Mirror Image. Random summoning in progress…]
[Selection successful. Summoning Ero Nick.]
Ero Nick? Su Xiao furrowed his brow. He had never heard of this character in any anime. Was he just ignorant?
That wasn’t the case. Ero Nick wasn’t from any anime at all; he came from the Void.
Name: Ero Nick
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Position: Dragon Blood Legion · Third Regiment Combat Captain, Genglemi Combat Academy Sword Technique Advisor.
Title: Battlefield Maniac.
Life Achievements: Participated in 106 large-scale battles, wounded 106 times, killed 19,843 enemies.
Life Events: Born on Dunk Star (Dunk Star: Sixth Rank Space Battlefield) to a prostitute, father unknown. In his youth, he apprenticed under a drunken captain of the guard. With astonishing sword talent, he surpassed the drunken captain in swordsmanship within half a month. He later joined the Dragon Blood Empire. Due to his fierce performance on the battlefield, he was repeatedly promoted ahead of schedule. He had a dubious relationship with the princess, earning the jealousy of many.
Cause of Death: Surrounded by 65,207 enemy soldiers, he killed 1,296 before dying gloriously in battle. A statue of him now stands in the Hall of Heroes.
…
Su Xiao looked at the information before him. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
Light converged, and a figure gradually took shape. As the figure became clearer, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. Unlike the tall build he had imagined, Ero Nick was about 1.6 meters tall, with white hair tied in a braid, wearing a military uniform Su Xiao had never seen before.
Ero Nick’s eyes opened, and a faint aura of blood seemed to spread.
“Didn’t I die?”
Ero Nick looked at his hands, his gaze dazed for a few seconds before he understood his current situation.
“Reincarnation Paradise? A mirror image?”
Crack, crack, crack…
Ero Nick clenched his fists, and with a snap, cracks appeared in the space around him.
“I really did die. I worked my ass off to woo that princess, and I hadn’t even slept with her that many times, let alone her sister…”
Ero Nick gritted his teeth, seemingly recalling a certain beauty, a look of regret in his eyes.
“The encirclement was too sudden. Sure enough, there were spies in the empire.”
Ero Nick muttered to himself. Su Xiao watched him without speaking.
“Right, my task is to teach you. Make your move, even if I don’t have a weapon now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a heavy sword appeared in Ero Nick’s hand.
“Huh, seems like I’ve ended up in quite a place.”
Ero Nick’s figure suddenly vanished, reappearing behind Su Xiao. Su Xiao swung the Dragon-Slaying Flash behind him.
Clang!
The heavy sword struck the blade of the Dragon-Slaying Flash. A peculiar force transmitted through, and Su Xiao nearly lost his grip on the sword. A dull pain spread through his internal organs—this was vibration.
“You didn’t let go? Not bad, you’ve got backbone.”
Ero Nick launched a side kick. Su Xiao immediately ducked.
Pfft.
Blood splattered. The kick didn’t hit Su Xiao, but several silver ribbons on the leg of Ero Nick’s trousers—actually not ribbons, but a special, extremely sharp metal—caught him.
Su Xiao staggered back a few steps, three nearly half-meter-long wounds on his chest. Looking down, he could see his own organs.
In the Trial Grounds, injuries wouldn’t kill him, but the pain was real—genuine pain.
“You’re not bad. Weak, sure, but you’ve got backbone.”
Ero Nick’s strength was immense. Hailing from a Sixth Rank space battlefield, he was stronger than most Sixth Rank contractors, a BOSS-level figure in that realm.
The previous attacks weren’t Ero Nick’s full power. If he had gone all out to kill Su Xiao, it would have taken no more than five seconds.
“Hey, why aren’t you talking? I’m the one you summoned to teach you combat skills.”
Ero Nick picked his ear, sizing up Su Xiao.
“Alright, let’s begin. By the way, I’m Bai Ye.”
“I’m Ero Nick Priestley Zacharias Trollope. You can call me Ero. Most people can’t remember my full name.”
Su Xiao just nodded.
“Attack me with all your strength. Let me see what level you’re at.”
Ero beckoned Su Xiao with his finger, a provocative gesture. This guy had a somewhat roguish personality, a result of growing up in the slums.
Without a word, Su Xiao charged forward and slashed at Ero several times.
The two clashed. Su Xiao used every means at his disposal, but no matter how he attacked, he couldn’t harm Ero in the slightest.
“That’s enough.”
Ero grabbed the Dragon-Slaying Flash with his bare hand. With a crisp ring, his hand remained unharmed. Su Xiao looked at his palm—from the feel of the strike, there was something wrong with his left hand.
“This? Made from M3 alloy, one of the hardest known alloys. A gift from my princess lover.”
Seeming to read Su Xiao’s thoughts, Ero removed the glove from his left hand.
“Funny story. This arm was cut off by my ‘beloved’ princess. I slept with her sister, and she caught me red-handed. Afterward, she chopped off one of my hands.”
“Is that so? Then she’ll hunt you down.”
Hearing Su Xiao’s words, Ero gave a mysterious smile.
“No. After being caught in bed with the princess, I experienced my first threesome. The arm was the punishment afterward.”
The corner of Su Xiao’s mouth twitched. This summoned guy was strong, but he seemed utterly unreliable.