Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Unyielding Will
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***
"Alright. Let's begin with a spar."
"Yes."
Watching Kalli slowly create distance, I, too, prepared for our spar.
First, I activated Ellimiang's Consideration, infusing my body with a light vitality. A pleasant energy coursed through my entire being.
'I shouldn't use methods that strain my body from now on.'
I decided not to even consider putting a load on my body during my training with Kalli.
Kalli could withstand my full power like an unmovable mountain. Rather than pushing myself to the brink by setting my own limits, I wanted to face her in a slightly better condition.
*Swish…!*
With vitality coursing through me, I swung the black spear in a wide arc, as if lightly stirring the air.
*Whoosh! Shwoop!*
Following my outstretched hand, the spear moved as if it were one of my own limbs.
Even as I warmed up, I could clearly feel the state of my body.
My condition was perfect, one could even say flawless.
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong. You may come at me right away.”
In contrast, Kalli, holding her sword, spoke nonchalantly.
“Yes. I’m coming now.”
Without hesitation, I kicked off the ground, completely calming my once-troubled heart.
The spar began.
As far as I knew, the time I had left to spar with Kalli was not long.
'Not even half a year remained.'
Therefore, every single moment was a precious opportunity not easily given to me.
—!
Lightly kicking off the earth, I even quieted my breath.
I enveloped my entire body in mana and raised the spearhead, aiming it at Kalli.
And I could feel it immediately. Looking at Kalli, the feeling was distinctly different.
The 'presence' I felt from her was now more tangible.
“...”
…just how immense the power of Kalli, who stood waiting for me so calmly, truly was.
‘She’s so strong.’
At a glance, Kalli seemed defenseless with her sword lowered, but paradoxically, she had no openings.
So I became a little more cautious, considering how I should thrust my spear at her.
The spear needed to be heavy, yet contain immense destructive power. The moment it's easily parried, its greatest destructive force vanishes.
If that happened, being a spearman would be meaningless.
‘A powerful strike.’
Therefore, the direction I had to pursue was to put great force into every attack.
*Thump!*
With that brief thought, I had already reached Kalli’s front.
As I thrust the spear without hesitation, the way I swung the blade had also changed drastically. A strange form of attack, thrusting the spear while lightly twisting my wrist.
*Swoosh!*
As the spearhead shot forward, it advanced with a slight rotation.
It was like the initial rotation of a spiral.
*Claaang!*
And, as expected, the spear was blocked by Kalli's sword and repelled.
The result was both the same as and different from our previous training sessions. The aftershock from the deflected spear wasn't as strong as I'd expected.
As if letting the recoil flow through the hand gripping the shaft, I immediately withdrew and reset my stance.
Rather than continuing a frantic barrage of attacks without a moment's breath, I cautiously collected myself.
“You’re not coming right away?”
“An attack that’s easily blocked wouldn’t be very meaningful, would it?”
I answered Kalli's question calmly and began to greatly reduce the mana enveloping my body.
‘I can’t put too much strain on my body.’
I started to focus intensely on the mana within the limits I could handle.
And little by little, very slowly, I began to change its properties.
As I did, the amount of mana I could wield decreased exponentially.
Despite my total mana not being that large, the mana surrounding me had drastically decreased to about one-fifth of what it was moments ago.
Even so, it didn't matter.
Because the mana now enveloping the spear shaft had begun to slowly rotate according to my will.
*Shhh…!*
The blue spiral enveloping the black spear shaft was incredibly faint and transparent.
‘It worked!'
And yet, just that fact alone filled my heart with elation.
For nearly the past ten days, I had to be careful with any strenuous movements, let alone training. So I couldn't do anything physical.
So I had thought, endlessly.
While thinking about Anastasia, I simultaneously worked to further solidify the concept I had realized and considered how I could wield it.
I had learned through experience that manifesting power by pouring everything out, like in the battle against Leteia, would only break me.
And that if I manifested my power that way again, there would be no next time for me.
So I delved seriously into the concept I had awakened to.
And this was the result.
*Shhh…. *
Such a beautiful current of blue light.
The spiral current, manifested by my will, clearly existed.
The spiral imbued in the spear shaft, which I found myself staring at as if mesmerized, was certainly faint. It couldn't even compare to the power I had unleashed upon Leteia…
But what was important was that I could now change my mana with my will and imbue that concept into my spear.
I hadn't reached the level of a skill, but I could now wield a weaker version of that power at will.
“...Cadet Han Cheon-seong.”
“Yes, Instructor Kalli.”
“Weren't you in the nurse's office all last week? That just now….”
Seeing Kalli ask in surprise, a natural smile escaped my lips. I was grateful that she had noticed my change and asked about it.
“Instead, I kept thinking about the concept of the skill. I couldn't quite grasp it, but I managed to completely control the power.”
This was similar to the most important concept Kalli had told me about early on.
To control one's power and manifest it within the limits of what one can handle.
“Really. Even when you should have been resting... you were still training.”
“It’s all thanks to what you taught me, Instructor.”
“Cadet Han Cheon-seong... I'm not praising you right now.”
As Kalli's brow furrowed slightly, only a faint smile came to my lips.
I was grateful for her sentiment, wishing I had rested well, but more than that, I was happy to be sure that I had taken another step forward.
“Here I come.”
“...Alright. Come.”
Without hesitation, I stepped toward Kalli, who had answered reluctantly.
*Shhhk!*
Using my planted foot as a pivot, I kicked off the ground even more forcefully than before.
—!
Within my rapidly expanding vision, I knew that with this body, I couldn't contain the complete power of the spiral.
The spiral originally contained the principle of a cycle close to infinity.
It was a power so strong it could contend with even an apostle if I wished it. There was no way a body like this could handle the concept of a spiral, which contained a power nigh infinite.
So, I would supplement that power with external factors.
By adding greater speed to the spear imbued with the still-faint spiral current.
To increase its destructive power.
———!
The moment my foot hit the ground again, I felt it for certain from my accelerating body.
What was important for me now wasn't the total amount of mana.
—how to utilize this mana, which now possessed the properties of a spiral.
In effect, it was as if I had already awakened an entirely different skill.
'Mana with the properties of a spiral.'
It was a power with ridiculously broken properties, allowing mana with an original total of 1 to display an absurd efficiency close to 3 or 4.
“...!”
Catching sight of Kalli's slightly widened eyes, I thrust my spear without a hint of hesitation.
———!!
***
“Hah... Hah...”
At the sight of Han Cheon-seong breathing heavily, Kalli slowly lowered her sword.
“That's enough. We won't continue the spar any further today.”
“...Yes. Thank you... for the spar, Instructor Kalli.”
As he expressed his gratitude through ragged breaths, Kalli let out a soft sigh and nodded.
‘I have to stop it here.’
To grow, one must certainly reach their limits. Only by hitting a wall can one break through it and move forward.
But there was a time and a place for that.
For Cadet Han Cheon-seong, who had just returned to his daily routine, training that pushed him to his limits right away was unnecessary.
He still needed time, time for his body to adapt.
Even if his body had fully returned to normal, the strain placed on it should be increased incrementally.
*Thud!*
Suddenly, Cadet Han Cheon-seong plopped down on the spot, dazed, and a small laugh escaped her.
“Really, today's spar was amazing. It's hard to believe you're a cadet who rested for over a week.”
She conveyed her honest thoughts as she slowly approached him.
The sight of Cadet Han Cheon-seong that came into view was one of complete dishevelment.
His face was flushed as he panted, and though he still gripped his spear, both his hands were trembling.
In a way, I had stopped him just before his limit... so much so that I wondered if I should have ended the spar sooner.
However.
“...Is that so?”
Seeing Cadet Han Cheon-seong lift his head, seemingly pleased by my words, I felt my various thoughts dissipate.
*Rustle.*
I slowly sat down beside him, looking at the cadet from a little closer.
“Of course. You may not have solidified it as a skill yet, but you're perfectly applying the concept of the spiral, Cadet Han Cheon-seong. Do you know how incredible that is?”
As I spoke, Cadet Han Cheon-seong probably had no idea how surprised I had been throughout the training.
When he first imbued the spear with the spiral current, I thought he might be overdoing it, but his control over the power was perfect.
And as if that weren't enough, using mana with spiral properties to accelerate was a different matter entirely.
Imbuing mana with a unique property meant that controlling it would become extremely difficult. It was several times harder than simply manifesting and using mana normally, so even those who could do it rarely did so intentionally.
And yet, Cadet Han Cheon-seong... had showcased such a use of mana as if to prove a point.
He had drastically reduced the amount of mana, precisely allocating what he could handle. Then, he had launched more threatening, sharper, and more powerful attacks.
‘If you look at it as talent, it's truly overwhelming talent.’
Moreover, after an incident like encountering an apostle, most would be left with significant trauma….
But Cadet Han Cheon-seong possessed an unbelievable drive for improvement.
With a spirit that refused to break, he looked toward the next step, trying to move forward no matter what.
'How can he be so admirable?'
The fact that he was burning with such determination when he should have been resting completely was, frankly, a bit displeasing to me….
But he was a cadet I couldn't bring myself to dislike.
As I was lost in thought, our eyes met blankly.
“Instructor Kalli?”
“Hm?”
“Such a familiar touch is….”
As Cadet Han Cheon-seong spoke with a rare, serious expression, my gaze belatedly followed.
There, I saw my hand, which had reached out unconsciously.
A hand that was stroking the cadet's hair….
"Ah, did it bother you?"
"...It didn't bother me."
His calm reply to my words strangely made my heart glad.
As I gently removed my hand, I still felt a little embarrassed.
"Instructor Kalli."
Then, as Cadet Han Cheon-seong met my gaze with a resolute look in his eyes, I flinched in surprise.
“...Uh.”
"May I say something else?"
"Of course. What is it?"
Seeing his uncharacteristically hesitant demeanor, I grew tense myself. Cadet Han Cheon-seong let out a small breath.
"Instructor Kalli. I'll be completely honest."
"...Yes. What is it?"
His unusual hesitation left me clueless as to what he was about to say.
But then, I suddenly felt the cadet's gaze slowly sweeping over my body.
...and it was such an explicit gaze on my body that it took me by surprise.
“......”
And yet, I couldn't say a word.
And at that moment.
Cadet Han Cheon-seong's lips parted.