Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Indomitable Will
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***
“Instructor Kalli. Thank you so much for today. You've been a tremendous help.”
“It's nothing. You, on the other hand, Cadet Han Cheon-seong... You must be exhausted. Go back and get some rest.”
“...Yes. Thank you. I'll be on my way, then.”
With a final, small bow, Cheon-seong turned, and Kalli watched his retreating back for a moment.
"..."
Cadet Han Cheon-seong's entire body was covered in wounds.
Even with the aid of magitech items to regenerate his body, they couldn't heal everything.
At one point, I couldn't bear to watch anymore and used a potion on him myself, but even so, the wounds etched into his body showed no signs of healing.
Of course, they wouldn't heal when new ones appeared as soon as the old ones were treated.
And even if the surface wounds healed, the damage would accumulate, leaving fatigue behind. And yet... Cadet Han Cheon-seong never stopped training.
No, it wasn't even training. It was nothing more than a one-sided spar.
Cadet Han Cheon-seong was simply beaten, sent tumbling, knocked down, and forced to drop his spear, his body hitting the ground in a miserable heap time and again.
He must have fallen at least dozens of times.
But still, Cadet Han Cheon-seong did not stop.
—Please, let's spar again.
—I'm sorry, but I'd like to ask for one more round.
—It's alright. You don't need to hold back. I'd be grateful if you continued sparring with me just like this.
The sound of his voice, firmly requesting another spar... seemed to echo in my ears.
*Click.*
As the door clicked shut and Cadet Han Cheon-seong was gone, I let out a small, unconscious sigh.
“Huu….”
I felt sorry for him, but a mix of other, more complex emotions swirled within me.
I couldn't honestly say what this feeling was.
Nor could I explain why I had shown him such great favor...
I had my suspicions, but it felt like too great a favor to be explained by that alone.
But now, I thought I understood at least one thing.
“I see now why yesterday's spar ended in a draw.”
In his spar against this year's top entrant, Cadet Leonhardt, Cadet Han Cheon-seong had achieved the unbelievable result of a draw. No matter how many times I'd heard the story, I couldn't understand it.
After all, his Trait was Common. A cadet with a Common Trait fighting a cadet with a Legendary Trait to a draw was a result that defied all common sense.
But after spending time with him today, I completely understood why.
—Indomitable.
Cadet Han Cheon-seong possessed a will so strong it could only be described as indomitable.
That will never broke. No, even when it bent, he would get back up and immediately try to face me again.
"..."
Even as I thought it, it felt... so incredible.
At the start of the spar, I had felt terribly sorry, thinking I'd been too hard on him. I had dealt him a greater setback than I'd intended.
I shouldn't have shown a cadet that much power right from the start. For a C-Class cadet, it was practically taboo. But I had done it anyway.
And it was all because of a single phrase.
—You can only move forward if you face reality.
The words Cadet Han Cheon-seong had suddenly uttered in the cafeteria.
They were incredibly important words to me. Words that had changed my life completely.
That was why I had stopped him and even personally showed him to my private training room, something I would never have done for just any cadet.
And I had tested his will.
I had to know just how strong his will was, if he could truly move forward. If he could put his own words into action.
And this was the result.
I slowly lowered my head.
“...”
My gaze fell upon the pair of ruby-studded earrings resting in my palm.
Until just a moment ago, Cadet Han Cheon-seong had been wearing them, and a faint warmth still lingered.
If it were up to me, I would have let him keep wearing them, but... I couldn't, as the magitech items weren't entirely my personal property.
*Ssk.*
I carefully closed my hand around the earrings and nodded.
“...I didn't think I'd make up my mind on the very first day."
A foolish thought escaped my lips along with a faint smile.
My mind was made up in a single day.
Discrimination is rampant within the academy. Based on a cadet's grades, background, Trait rank, personal talent, and so on... there are countless forms of it.
This discrimination extends to how instructors treat their cadets. An instructor will naturally favor and cherish a cadet with a brilliant Trait and talent, like a shining gemstone.
And now... I had found such a cadet.
—Han Cheon-seong.
An unusual name. A cadet with a Common-rank Trait.
But what did that matter?
He aligned perfectly with my values... and he had shown me everything he had.
His worth and his talent. His potential for future growth. And above all, definitive proof of 'those words' I cared so much about...
“I'll probably end up favoring Cadet Han Cheon-seong from now on. But that can't be helped.”
As I spoke the words aloud, my heart felt light.
After all, the reason I'd wanted to take charge of Class C1 was because of him in the first place, so this feeling seemed only natural.
*Clack. Clack.*
As I slowly prepared to leave, the faint warmth lingering on the earrings in my hand for some reason...
...made her feel strangely good.
***
*Click.*
As he stepped into his private dorm room, Cheon-seong momentarily staggered.
*Thud.*
He barely managed to catch himself, bracing his hand against the nearby wall.
“...I feel like I'm going to die.”
Even as he spoke, he had no strength left in his body.
He stood there, leaning against the wall. A moment later, a foolish laugh escaped him.
“Reality is a harsh mistress.”
I truly understood that today, and what I gained from it was more than I could have imagined.
It wasn't like yesterday's spar with Leonhardt, where my Trait evolved and I suddenly grew stronger.
But I felt like I had gained something even greater.
My entire mindset had changed.
Right now, that was more important than anything else.
Before coming to the academy, I had constantly repeated self-hypnotic phrases like, 'It's okay to lose,' and 'It's okay to be broken.'
I did it until it became a habit.
Then, after my chance connection with Glacia, I became even more conscious of it.
I tried to force myself to be confident, to eliminate any hesitation in my actions. Because having a wishy-washy attitude would get me nowhere.
I knew that better than anyone.
To survive in the academy with a Common-rank Spearmanship, I needed my own unique identity.
And the only unique identity I could have was my will.
To hone my will to an absolute degree, making it the one thing that set me apart from others.
In a word, 'indomitable.'
I had to be confident in my actions, to be able to overcome anything.
To do that, my will had to be unbreakable. I had been lying to myself endlessly.
And now...
I... no longer had to lie to myself.
*Sliiiide.*
Sliding down the wall, I collapsed into a sitting position...
...but my heart felt refreshed.
If yesterday I felt great because of the sense of accomplishment from my Spearmanship Trait reaching Level 4, right now, my heart was simply at peace.
It felt like I had let everything go.
Staring into the darkness of the room, I opened my mouth without realizing it.
“Accepting reality like this... it's actually really calming.”
As I said that, the spar from moments ago flickered before my eyes.
The spar with Kalli had gone on for hours.
I couldn't even count how many times we had clashed during that time.
But I did know one thing.
From Kalli's perspective, I must have seemed relentlessly persistent, to the point of being annoying.
Even for someone like her, who values effort, she probably had never encountered a cadet who pushed so recklessly.
“Pfft…."
Looking back on my actions, I burst out laughing again at how foolish I must have seemed, but I didn't regret it one bit.
Even if Kalli started to hate me tomorrow, right now, I just felt good.
Because only by being broken, knocked down, and beaten countless times today could I truly accept myself.
If we had ended things ambiguously after the first spar, I would have truly become nothing.
'Probably.'
Just with words.
Just in my head.
I would have just thought to myself, 'I have to accept reality and move forward.'
If a miraculous result like yesterday's spar with Leonhardt hadn't happened, I have a strange feeling I would have slowly crumbled.
Because genuinely feeling something is completely different from forcing yourself to endure it while lying to yourself.
*Ssk,* I gently brushed my hair back and nodded.
“Good.”
I was just so satisfied with this situation.
This foolish version of me, who had been so thoroughly shattered, broken, and knocked down... I really, really liked him.
Because now, I can have true confidence.
The confidence that it's okay even if I'm broken or knocked down in the future.
I'll probably be able to smile even in defeat.
That's why I can move forward. I can grow stronger.
I felt that certainty today.
And I realized something else, too.
—The limits of Spearmanship.
That I myself had been the one defining the limits of my Trait.
“Status Window.”
I spoke softly, my gaze focused on the empty air.
A transparent light immediately appeared, beautifully illuminating my vision.
*
---
Name: Han Cheon-seong
Gender: Male (20)
Title: None
Height · Weight: 178cm, 67kg
Current Continental Influence: 207
*Stats
[Strength 13]
[Agility 21]
[Stamina 20]
[Mana 10]
[Luck 5]
*Traits [1]
[Spearmanship Lv.4]
*Skills [0]
---
*
The status window itself hadn't changed much. Still, the slight increase in my stats was noticeable.
My Strength and Stamina had each gone up by 1.
Other than that, there seemed to be no changes.
However.
I know this isn't the end of it.
"..."
My gaze was drawn to the Spearmanship Trait.
Why Spearmanship only exists as a Common-rank Trait. Today, I felt like I finally understood the reason.
“It all depends on what I do.”
The clue.
I saw it clearly.
Even though it's a Common Trait.
Earlier than even Rare, Unique, or Legendary Traits...
...the clear potential to create a 'Skill'.