Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Dam Bursts (2)
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Professor Navian's sword, leaping up from below.
My sword, falling from above.
*Swoosh.*
At last, the two swords clashed.
*Clang.*
A terrible shock traveled through the sword and into my arm.
Professor Navian's sword pushed mine straight up.
Instead of forcing myself to resist, I relaxed my grip.
A blade of cold light shot toward my wide-open chest.
I tucked my chin to my chest and leaned my upper body back.
*Swoosh.*
The gleam of the sword passed right before me.
*Hwaaak.*
My face stung as if it were about to be ripped away.
My two arms were raised high.
In that state, I leaned back as if I were about to fall.
Just before falling, I stepped forward and rotated my torso.
*Swoosh.*
The sword drew a large circle in the air.
And then shot forward again.
From below to above.
*Clang!*
A sword appeared like an illusion, blocking its path.
I flattened the blade.
My sword slid down Professor Navian's.
Down, down.
It curved around the protruding guard and finally reached the back of her hand.
I intended to slice it then and there.
*Tap.*
Professor Navian pushed my sword away with the back of her hand.
*Tat.*
Brushing past her, I rotated my torso and swung my sword from left to right.
She flicked my sword away with the tip of hers.
With just that, my attack missed in vain.
But I wasn't disappointed.
My assault had only just begun.
*Clang, clang, clang!*
Thrusting, slashing, chopping, and swinging upward.
I swung my sword like a madman.
Professor Navian blocked my attacks without difficulty.
This was the swordsmanship that brought down a star, after all.
“Hah!”
*What does it matter.*
*I'm not Roman.*
I never thought I could do anything to a Black Knight with swordsmanship recreated in a body that wasn't even fully grown.
I didn't dare dream of flukes or miracles.
I simply focused all my senses on the tip of my sword.
*Grit.*
I clenched my teeth.
Otherwise, I felt like I would burst out laughing.
*Swoosh.*
The sword grew even faster.
At some point, I even forgot about the trajectory that repeatedly appeared and disappeared like an illusion.
***
In truth, Cadet Yan's peers held a rather harsh opinion of him.
Before his admission, he had gained considerable attention among the cadets for his feat of defeating a mage as a squire, but that attention turned negative after the entrance exam.
The reason was that he was cunning and preferred shortcuts, unbecoming of someone who dreamed of being a knight.
Another reason was his lack of any outstanding skills in swordsmanship, the virtue most prized by the cadets.
'A character who would do anything to win.'
'A person like some rough-and-tumble mercenary.'
'A squire unbefitting a knight.'
Aside from a few individuals, the majority of the cadets did not think highly of Yan.
The assessment of the cadets from Squad 3, who watched him from the closest vantage point, was not much different.
He was good at improvising and occasionally showed a maturity beyond his years, but that was all.
Fundamentally, the cadets of Squad 3 felt a sense of aversion to Yan's methods.
Even after greatly benefiting from his unconventional thinking and game-changing tactics in the flag defense battle, this aversion did not disappear.
An unusually competent but even more untrustworthy guy.
The members of Squad 3's evaluation of Yan was that he was someone they could cooperate with for a moment to achieve victory, but not someone they could trust with their backs.
The man himself didn't seem oblivious to what his peers thought of him.
However, he showed no signs of trying to gain their approval or making an effort to improve their relationship.
As a result, his peers' opinion of him steadily declined through several incidents.
Although he had recently shown himself to be dedicated to training to make up for his shortcomings, it wasn't enough to change their assessment.
There were even cadets who criticized him for causing trouble for many people by ignoring the faculty's evacuation announcement and continuing to train on his own.
Professor Dieter Rizzner had even been struck by lightning while evacuating Yan.
For the cadets of the Silver Eagle Class, who were eagerly awaiting the day they would head to the Lower World, the injury to Professor Dieter Rizzner, the person in charge of the descent training, was like a bolt from the blue.
While the previous incidents had been literal accidents that occurred regardless of his intentions, this time there was no room for excuses.
Yan's already poor reputation plummeted to rock bottom.
The cadets of Squad 3 were not free from this resentment either.
“You guys know we haven't liked you since that flag defense battle, right?”
“Don't you know how group activities work? You shouldn't have just evacuated yourselves; you should've looked after your squad mate.”
“What the hell is wrong with Squad 3?”
The gazes of the cadets from other squads were not kind.
It was only natural for complaints to come from the squad members.
“I'm not trying to stick up for that troublemaker, but it's true we're at a disadvantage compared to the other squads because of that incident.”
“Honestly, in a situation like this, isn't it wrong to inconvenience your squad mates because of personal training? I don't think I would've done that.”
“What's so great about him that we have to visit him in the infirmary?”
It was the squad leader Lian's job to placate them.
“We can't deny that we benefited from Yan during the flag defense battle. If it weren't for him, our squad might have placed last in the first group competition.”
He tried speaking nicely.
“Swallowing what's sweet and spitting out what's bitter. If we act like that, what makes us different from mercenaries?”
He also pointed out their tendency to get carried away by every little thing.
“Now, whether you like it or not, Yan is a member of our Squad 3 until we graduate from the Cradle. So we have to carry him with us.”
After much effort, Lian managed to quell his squad mates' complaints to some extent.
“The descent training isn't the immediate problem. It's not like we're going to the Lower World for a vacation. To be honest, I can't trust that guy's skills.”
“Well, I'll give him his cunning. But whether that will work in a real battle...”
“Besides, his body isn't in good shape because of the lightning strike, so he's bound to hold us back.”
Nevertheless, even he couldn't do anything about the squad members' distrust of Yan's skills.
Of course, there was the decisive moment that made Professor Navian change her guided sparring method.
Thinking of the Ascending Sword Yan had shown, Lian didn't fully agree with them, but given the circumstances, it was true that he was also worried.
The sight of Yan, wrapped in bandages and only sleeping in the infirmary, looked grave even at a glance.
It even crossed his mind that it might be better for everyone if Yan simply stayed in the infirmary on the day of the descent.
In fact, that seemed highly likely.
But contrary to expectations, Yan returned to class much earlier than anticipated.
“Ah...”
“Mm.”
The members of Squad 3 couldn't bring themselves to congratulate him on his return.
To anyone's eyes, it was too soon for him to be back in class.
He was obviously better than when they saw him lying in the infirmary bed, but his appearance, with half his face and body still wrapped in bandages, was not one that invited congratulations.
This was even more so in a situation where a real battle was imminent.
For the members of Squad 3, who had been secretly hoping he wouldn't return until the day of the descent, the situation was sigh-worthy.
That was why.
“I'll have to check for myself.”
When Professor Navian called out Yan, who was squatting in a corner, not a single cadet from Squad 3 stepped forward to stop her or express concern. It was all for that reason.
They even thought it might be Professor Navian's own way of showing consideration(?), personally sending Yan back to the infirmary for returning too early.
But that wasn't it.
The moment Yan raised his sword, they all understood.
*-Vrooom.*
A clear hum came from somewhere.
The cadets of Squad 3 widened their eyes.
“Is... is that Geomyeong...?”
It was definitely Geomyeong.
Although the faint glow that usually accompanied Geomyeong was absent, the sound itself was clearer and more resonant than any they had ever heard.
“No way!”
“A weakling like him producing Geomyeong!”
The cadets of Squad 3 cried out, almost fainting in shock.
Even Lian, who had a relatively high opinion of Yan's abilities, was just as astonished.
It couldn't be helped.
Geomyeong wasn't something just anyone could produce.
A phenomenon that occurred when a sworn knight drew out their power.
Or a sword's response to the will of a swordsman who had reached a certain level.
If asked which was rarer, it was unequivocally the latter.
Unlike the former, which was merely the phenomenon of the metal comprising the sword ringing loudly due to repulsion from excessive force, the latter was proof of a profound state.
Whether it was the former or the latter, it was a phenomenon of too high a level for a mere cadet to display.
They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
It was absurd.
What was even more absurd was that the person himself didn't even seem to realize his own sword was crying out.
*Smile.*
Professor Navian was smiling.
Her expression was closer to amusement than surprise.
Somehow, she seemed to have anticipated this unbelievable phenomenon to some extent.
“What is this...”
“You expect me to believe this...?”
An absurd situation where the two people facing each other with swords were calm, while the onlookers were making a fuss in astonishment.
The half-dazed cadets snapped back to their senses.
*Tat.*
Almost simultaneously, the two kicked off the ground toward each other.
*Swoosh.*
Immediately after, an ear-splitting sound of displaced air was heard.
One from below to above, the other from above to below.
“...!”
Daringly, Yan met Professor Navian's attack head-on.
A straightforward response, devoid of any tricks.
None of the cadets criticized him for being foolish.
For that, the sword unfolding before their eyes was far too sublime.
It was as if a shooting star were falling from the sky.
*Clang.*
The two swords clashed in mid-air.
The falling meteor was helplessly deflected.
“Ah...”
The cadets, who were following the sword's trajectory as if mesmerized, let out a sigh without realizing it.
The process was a bit different, but it seemed the result would be the same as always.
Everyone thought so.
It was a hasty judgment.
*Spin.*
When Yan's sword, which had been knocked high into the air, drew an arc and charged toward Professor Navian's chest, the cadets couldn't help but clench their fists.
“Huh, huh?”
“Ah...!”
When Yan's sword, which had been sliding down Professor Navian's beloved blade as it blocked his path, was deflected once more, they sighed in disappointment without realizing it.
What followed was a series of exchanges that were difficult to even follow with the naked eye.
Both Professor Navian, who stood in place and effortlessly blocked every strike, and Yan, who circled her and relentlessly poured on attacks, were at a level they couldn't even dream of imitating.
The fact that Professor Navian was holding back considerably didn't matter.
Weren't they the ones who couldn't even properly receive a single blow from her, even when she was holding back, and ended up rolling on the floor every time?
“Could it be... he was hiding his skills?”
“Or maybe we were the ones who couldn't see it...”
There had been too many strikes exchanged to dismiss it as a fluke.
Professor Navian's unusual consideration for Yan wasn't baseless favoritism.
It was simply proper treatment befitting his abilities.
They didn't want to admit it, but they had to.
The problem child they had secretly looked down on as Squad 3's burden was a talent with potential they couldn't even begin to measure.
The moment they accepted that fact.
*Crack.*
A sound like something shattering was heard.
“This time, I'm not so pleased with this boy's sharp edge.”
As soon as Professor Navian finished speaking, glancing at her beloved sword with a displeased look.
*Crumble.*
The training sword, which had clashed countless times with Gaznae's black iron greatsword, turned to dust, leaving only the hilt.
“I want to know the name of that sword.”
When Professor Navian asked, Yan hesitated for a moment before answering.
“...It is Nakseong.”
For those listening, it was unclear whether the name meant it was modeled after a falling star or created to make stars fall.
“It is a fine name.”
Professor Navian smiled and nodded.
Yan accepted the compliment as if it were only natural.
A very confident attitude.
He looked so incredibly impressive doing so.
“Wow...”
The cadets of Squad 3 were genuinely impressed.
But their admiration didn't last long.
*Drip, drip.*
Red blood trickled down Yan's chin.
The front of his shirt was quickly stained red.
Standing ramrod straight, he staggered.
“Huh?”
The watching cadets hurriedly rushed over.
But before they could even reach him.
*Thud.*
Professor Navian caught Yan's falling body.
“It seems the training sword wasn't the only thing that couldn't handle the insight.”
As she clicked her tongue and spoke, Yan, cradled in her arms, moved his blood-stained lips.
It was at an angle she couldn't see.
“...!”
The cadets of Squad 3 clapped their hands over their mouths as if on cue.
“...?”
Professor Navian looked at them with a puzzled expression, but no one opened their mouth to explain the situation.
They all just answered in their minds.
*That the cadet in your arms just said something incredibly irreverent,*
‘The gear diff was insane.’
It was a rather inappropriate thing to repeat verbatim.