Episode 10: Imperial Swordsmanship

"One more glass?"

I'd emptied it before I noticed, and the wine was so much finer than I'd expected that the urge for another welled up on its own.

"Ugh... no. I have to head out. I can't get drunk. One glass is the line, and I'm not crossing it."

The moment I remembered everything waiting for me after breakfast, I clamped down with something close to superhuman patience, set the wine aside, and finished the meal.

"Ah. That was good."

Lavish, for a morning meal. I pushed back from the table and stood.

"Alright. Let's go see what our hwando can actually do."

I took up the single-edged hwando I'd pulled in yesterday's draw and left the house in high spirits, eager to put Imperial Swordsmanship to the test. My first real opponent wasn't far.

"Grrrrrh..."

My first prey was a pair of zombies loitering in front of a house. Perfect test subjects.

"Then this is the first real fight."

Shing. I drew the blade and charged straight in.

"Kieeeeeek!"

One of them spotted me, shrieked, and came running.

The familiar windows flared, and I swung the sword in both hands at the charging zombie's neck. The blade split the air with a thin, sharp cry. Shhk. Flesh and bone parted, and the head came free of the body. I didn't stop. Still low, I took one more step and cut for the neck of the zombie beside the first, the motion flowing as naturally as water.

"Kieeeeeek!"

Shhk.

The second neck came off just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as clean. The head tumbled through the air and struck the ground, and the headless torso pawed at nothing before it collapsed.

"This is incredible."

The first time Imperial Swordsmanship saw real combat, it performed even better than I'd hoped. My body guided itself, as if it already remembered exactly where to strike to kill an enemy cleanly. The second zombie had died before it could even react. I'd been that fast.

"At this level, a baseball bat doesn't even belong in the same conversation."

The gap in power was so wide that comparing the two felt almost rude. One Shot One Hit! applying to the sword as well accounted for a huge share of the boost.

"Then let's keep going."

Two wasn't going to satisfy me. I set off to find more.

"Glrk... grrrrrh."

Not far off, three zombies were wandering. Back when all I had was a bat, three or more had looked like more than I could handle, and I'd gone around them. Now I had the feeling I could take them without breaking a sweat.

I swept the area fast, confirmed there were no others, and started toward them at an easy pace. I locked my grip on the sword, drew a long breath, and settled my mind. The blade seemed to have become part of me—a light, eager vibration running out to my fingertips, urging me on.

Shhk!

"Kieeeeeek!"

The first zombie never noticed me coming. It was still drifting along, vacant, when I spun and brought the sword down. The head dropped from a cleanly opened neck, and at the sound the second and third wheeled and charged.

"From here on, I don't think I'll be the one taking the long way around."

I hadn't finished them yet, but from the instant the first one fell I understood that three zombies were no threat at all.

Shhk! The sword split the air again and kicked up a wind, and the second neck came away without resistance. The last of them was a little faster, but I was faster still. I cut on a perfect angle and took the third head.

I read the notice that the daily quest was done, flicked the blood off the hwando, and slid it home in the scabbard.

"Could I take that thing on now?"

Real power in my hands at last, I sank into the thought of the strongest monster I had seen: the Lower-Body Collector.

"Still too much."

A fine sword art didn't let me imagine beating a monster that put out strength past anything human.

"Still. Someday I'll be able to kill it."

This much I'd learned. The point shop meant my growth had no ceiling. Gather the points properly, and the day would come when that monster died.

"I'm sick of running because I'm afraid."

I never wanted to shake with terror and flee like that again.

"Then, since I'm already out, why not pick up a few more points?"

I shook the stray thoughts loose and had just started off in search of more zombies.

Bang!!

I would have, if a single gunshot hadn't cracked across the city.

The instant it echoed, I dropped low and ducked behind cover.

Bang!

Bang!

"Wh-what the hell?!"

The shots kept coming, but nothing was kicking up around me. Not aimed at me, then. Someone else was shooting, somewhere else.

"What do I do?"

Sure now that the gunfire wasn't meant for me, I started weighing it—head for the noise, or leave it alone. The spacing told me it wasn't an automatic, not a rifle. It was a single-shot weapon. A pistol. Firing something like that in a world drowning in zombies was suicide, which meant whoever was shooting was in a crisis so tight they had no room to care whether the dead came swarming or not.

Going there was a risk. No question.

"Still. Let's take a look."

The sword had me full of confidence, and there was the main quest telling me to recruit companions. I decided to go.

"Move fast."

Zombies that had heard the shots were already converging on the same place. If I didn't get there before they boxed me in, I wouldn't get there at all. Time was short. I hurried, nerves drawn tight, crossing from rooftop to rooftop so I wouldn't be surrounded in the streets. A neighborhood of low houses, packed close—that was the only reason the route worked.

Flat out, I covered the distance, and from more than two hundred meters off I caught a figure running toward the building I was on.

"Is that them? The one shooting?"

I narrowed my eyes and tried to make the shape out.

"That uniform... a policewoman?"

Short hair. A pistol in one hand. She was running hard, and the dead were so close on her heels she didn't even have the space to fire.

"Mm. Do I save her?"

Now that I knew who had been shooting, I stalled on the actual choice. Nine zombies were chasing her—more than I'd ever faced—but the test I'd just run left me confident I could cut them down without much trouble. The problem was the gun. Save someone holding one, and I could take a bullet in the back of the head for the courtesy. That was what held me.

Not for long. Something arrived to wipe the hesitation out.

A knight? Was this Imperial Swordsmanship bleeding into the system? Hadn't the description said it was the sword art of the forgotten imperial knight order? The question lasted about as long as it took me to read the reward. Then I set my stance and ran.

"This one I am absolutely doing!"

Four days of daily-quest rewards, handed over at once. What reason did I have to refuse?

"Ack—!"

Thud!

"Fuck... I'm actually gonna die..."

I came bursting out in front of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her, and she startled so hard she backpedaled, lost her legs, and sank to the ground muttering.

"What the—? She's not dying on me, is she?"

She must have taken me for a zombie. In case that gun came up, I blew past the policewoman and threw myself at the pack.

Kieeeeeek!

Shhk!

The first zombie reached as it closed, and I cut fast. The edge flashed, keen, and took the neck in a single stroke.

One down. Focus.

My eyes were already on the next target.