Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Kimaris (2)
The training between Rudian and Kimaris began.
THUD!
With one vertical slash from Kimaris, Rudian lost his grip on Diablo again and went tumbling.
-Your endurance time has certainly increased.
They had already crossed swords for over 250 exchanges.
In particular, although he had become battered and bruised, the fact that he had kept his body intact until now was a great harvest.
Kimaris looked down at the panting Rudian and sternly pointed out:
-Your physical abilities are among the highest class even among humans. However, your technique is still greatly lacking and your real combat experience is also insufficient - this is too clearly visible.
"...You're hitting where it hurts."
-Heh, but if you keep dying continuously, you'll be able to compensate for those shortcomings considerably and advance much further.
"What thoughtful words... Hey!"
Rudian jumped up and charged at Kimaris.
"I was sitting down to gain momentum!"
-What nonsense are you spouting?
The black sword he was holding seemed to be pushed back slightly, but Kimaris smoothly deflected Rudian's attack.
And as he swung his sword toward the neck of Rudian who had lost his balance, he said:
-There's one thing I'd like you to know.
"What is it?"
-I don't have much experience teaching anyone.
"...What?"
In the moment he hesitated briefly in bewilderment, a small line of blood was drawn across Rudian's neck.
Fortunately, he avoided the ending of having his neck cut off, but he couldn't prevent the blood from flowing.
-My lord sent me because among his retainers, I'm the one who fights least dependent on supernatural powers.
Rudian covered his neck with his hand and spat out a word filled with disbelief.
"...I feel like I'm going crazy with anxiety right now. Is that just my imagination?"
-Don't worry. I'm fully capable of passing on the secrets I've learned through countless battles in the demon realm over long years.
Methods of controlling magic, ways to respond in real combat, methods to deal with various types of enemies, and so on.
Kimaris intended to generously bestow his experience upon Rudian.
It's just that his method of bestowing was a little rough!
Kimaris declared to Rudian with a solemn expression:
-You have already faced death more than ten times and become accustomed to pain and fear. Your will has overcome fear.
"...Huh?"
For some reason, the feeling was ominous.
And that ominous feeling was invariably correct.
-If you've become accustomed to ten deaths, then your spirit won't break even with more deaths than that.
"Hey?"
-First, I'll kill you about a hundred times and beat it into your body.
"AAAAAH! You crazy bastard!"
-I am extremely rational.
Rudian screamed and tried to resist, but he couldn't block Kimaris's sword strikes when he was going all out.
CLANG!
About 10 seconds later, Rudian's head from the neck up once again flew sadly through the air.
***
Rudian had certainly escaped from the fear of death to some degree.
However, since his anger toward Kimaris in front of him was greater, his fear was merely painted over with rage.
Kimaris continued to mercilessly push Rudian after that.
The surprising thing was that at some point, every time he came back to life and charged again, Kimaris's movements gradually showed different patterns.
'Amazing!'
If the previous Kimaris had fought in a defensive, counter-attacking style, now he was like a berserker charging fiercely.
Sometimes he used techniques focused on thrusting.
Other times he would come out wielding twin swords.
'It's like facing a completely different person each time!'
As time passed, the duration of Rudian and Kimaris crossing swords only grew longer.
Sometimes they would exchange offense and defense all day long before he was defeated due to exhaustion.
Each time he revived and charged again, Kimaris became a completely different being in terms of patterns and flow to face Rudian.
This was impossible unless one's skill as a swordsman was dozens of levels above!
What was even more amazing was that every time he fought Kimaris in this way, Rudian was experiencing in real-time that he was improving.
-That swordsmanship is quite useful.
Kimaris gave a fairly high evaluation of Rudian's swordsmanship.
-It's aggressive yet has good responsiveness to irregular attacks. Even among the human masters who handle swords, there was no one who used such systematic swordsmanship. Who did you learn from?
"...There is, some guy with only one eye."
Although he said it to be evasive, Kimaris showed unexpected interest in those words.
-Hmm, it's not swordsmanship created by humans? Well, that could be possible. There's no law saying gods or transcendent beings can't create swordsmanship.
"Why are you curious about such things?"
Rudian felt like he had been hit by a hammer at Kimaris's following words.
-Your swordsmanship is useful, but what's useful is only the swordsmanship.
"What?"
-Magic manipulation methods... Was it called? Unlike us demons who are clumsy at handling energy, humans have developed artificial methods to manipulate magic. Most humans I've faced manipulate magic in such ways, but you have none of that.
"But I am fighting while manipulating magic?"
Kimaris answered negatively.
-No. Except for simple physical activation, you only move magic when imbuing your sword with magic, don't you? Why don't you infuse magic into each attack, each movement?
"Well..."
Because it's difficult.
Rudian couldn't bring himself to say those words and swallowed them inside.
He understood what Kimaris was trying to say.
However, paying attention to magic control while concentrating on the opponent during exchanges with them was nearly impossible.
Unless his left and right brain could operate completely separately, or he learned some legendary dual-mind technique from martial arts novels...
Or unless he reached the realm of a Sword Master where magic responds to his will naturally.
Kimaris saw through Rudian's inner thoughts like a ghost.
-The mindset of 'magic will naturally follow if I train my body and swordsmanship' is terribly outdated and behind the times. It's not a wrong path, but the waste of time is undeniable.
"...Ugh!"
To think he'd hear such words from someone who died ten thousand years ago.
-Handle magic constantly. Make an effort to become familiar with what you're not familiar with. Even if your combat power drops sharply because you have many things to worry about right now, ultimately that method is the royal road.
Rudian somehow felt that Kimaris was smiling.
-Moreover, in this place, you don't need to worry about trivial things like life, do you?
"...Son of a bitch."
Rudian quietly cursed and then began to carefully manipulate magic according to that advice.
And after about 30 exchanges, his neck flew off.
That's not to say Kimaris just chopped off Rudian's neck indiscriminately while emphasizing only real combat.
-Humans and demons have completely different internal body structures. As such, I don't think demon magic manipulation methods would suit humans, but...
"But?"
-At least the common point between humans and the red demons I belong to is that we have heads and limbs attached, and ten fingers and toes each.
"...Wow, what very similar common points?"
Demons basically don't have hearts like humans.
A gem-like substance called a spirit-demon core replaces the heart, but being spiritual beings, demons generally have completely different internal organ structures from humans except for that.
Even at Rudian's sarcastic words, Kimaris continued speaking.
-If the body movements are similar even with different insides, then manipulation and control methods can be similarly improved.
"...!"
-With that level of swordsmanship, magic manipulation methods must naturally exist too. From now on, I'll teach you our race's unique control know-how, so let's think together and prepare improvements.
At the sight of Kimaris showing a truly serious attitude about teaching, Rudian was slightly moved inside.
No matter how much it was due to orders, such an active attitude couldn't be seen as being only because of orders.
"You're quite, quite kind?"
-Keheheh, do I seem that way?
Kimaris placed his hand on the back of Rudian who was sitting cross-legged and laughed ominously.
The moment Rudian heard that laughter, he felt chills rising from his spine.
This was definitely the sensation of fear that he had felt before.
-Improving magic control methods... Is originally a very dangerous and time-consuming task. That's true not just for humans but for demons as well. If you lose control or magic gets tangled in the wrong way, terrible pain is basic, and there are countless cases where the body explodes.
"...Huh?"
-But in this place... You don't need to worry about such trivial things, right? Heheheh, if you can revive infinitely, it would be fine to use somewhat rough methods, so we can dramatically and extremely shorten the time.
Would that 'somewhat' really match the 'somewhat' he was thinking of?
Rudian broke out in cold sweat and tried to get up from his seat.
"W-wait. How about we just have one more sparring match? My magic manipulation is gradually becoming proficient too, and at this rate, we don't need to be so rough, do we?"
GRIP!
However, Rudian's such behavior ended as mere trivial resistance as Kimaris grabbed his shoulder.
-If your goal is the level of the human masters I've killed countless times in the past, then yes. But your opponent is Rigos, who was once equal to me, and the current him is probably stronger than me.
At that moment, Rudian was gripped by the feeling of his heart breaking for the first time.
No matter how accustomed to death he became, he wanted to pass on experiencing his body exploding countless times!
-Euhaha! Let me see your back once!
"Stop it, you crazy bastard!"
-If you don't want to die, it would be good to shut your mouth!
But no matter how he tried to escape, the demonic energy that Kimaris had already released was rushing through his back to his entire body.
Diablo and Adi were watching the spectacle of those two guys while munching popcorn.
-Interesting.
-Fight on, Master!
"KYAAAAAAAK!"
***
Through all kinds of pain and perseverance, Rudian continued his training day by day.
Kimaris didn't spare advice and teachings so that Rudian could develop.
That also meant the number of times Rudian died was increasing astronomically.
According to Adi's clock, nearly 2 years of hardship continued.
When the number of times Rudian had died was gradually exceeding five hundred.
-Now let's gradually change the method.
"Change the method?"
-Until now you've fought using magic that humans commonly handle, but since you've reached a certain level, there's no need to stick to such methods anymore.
At that moment, magic explosively burst out from Kimaris's body.
The complete demon form he had seen during his eleventh death appeared once again.
The appearance of that form meant that Kimaris's power, which had maintained a combat level of 5000 until now, had returned to a state approaching its prime.
"I told you when we first talked that the power you possess isn't just magic."
"You did."
"And I also said there's no need to dig into one power to the very end."
"I remember."
Kimaris pointed his main weapon, a huge greatsword, at Rudian and smiled coldly.
"Then from now on, use all the power you have to face me."
Fusion of power. And harmony.
The moment all of that was achieved and he advanced to the next stage, Rudian could be said to have truly accomplished his purpose for coming to this trial tower.
"Good."
Aura gathered in Rudian's right hand, and magic in his left hand.
He couldn't guarantee how much more he would have to die to reach his goal.
Even so, Rudian charged toward Kimaris with determined eyes.