Idrian?
Idrian had shed all his weight and transformed into a remarkably handsome young man. He stood there looking exactly like his illustration on the cover—a visual that practically screamed "main character."
"Hello..." Miruel greeted me hesitantly, peeking out from behind Idrian as if she felt a bit shy.
"What brings you here? All the way to the sophomore main building."
The freshman and sophomore classrooms were in separate buildings. Of course, crossing over wasn't forbidden, but since most matters could be resolved within one's own building, students rarely visited other academic halls. It looked like they had sought me out on purpose. What was going on?
"Senior, I've come to claim the reward we discussed before."
"Reward?" At my puzzled question, Idrian nodded.
"Yes. Didn't you promise to take a look at my swordsmanship after our duel?"
Ah... right. I remembered now. In exchange for taking credit for slaying the demon, I had promised to give him some pointers on his swordsmanship.
But is there any point in me giving pointers to Idrian?
He was the hero who had defeated the Primordial Evil. If he hadn't led humanity to victory in the Great War between humans and demons, the current world would belong to demons, not humans. Does it make sense for me to critique the swordsmanship of such a powerhouse? At his peak, Idrian was a godlike existence who transcended the realms of superhuman, calamity, and transcendent.
Well, it can't be helped. A promise was a promise. Besides, I had plenty of time, and there was something I needed to verify anyway.
"So, when do you want to do this?"
"Right now, if possible."
"Now?"
And that was how I ended up standing in the sparring arena. Word must have spread, because at least a hundred students had gathered to watch. Even the seniors, who should have been busy with their graduation projects, were in the crowd.
Is it because of Idrian?
The empire's worst scoundrel. A guy with zero talent who dragged a trail of filthy scandals wherever he went. Although those were the deeds of the original owner before my transmigration, and his recent changes had quieted his notoriety among the freshmen, it was a different story for the upperclassmen. Since the academic buildings were separated, the busy seniors had no reason or leisure to pay attention to a freshman.
To put it another way...
"Go, Idrian!"
"Win this, Idrian!!"
His popularity among the freshmen was explosive. He was practically the only one who had slain a demon during the entrance ceremony raid, and during the welcoming party, he had displayed martial prowess rivaling the upperclassmen. While his combat power might not have been the absolute peak of the freshman class, his popularity was unmatched.
Backed by the roaring cheers of the freshmen, he stepped onto the arena stage.
"The crowd is pretty passionate. You're quite popular, aren't you?"
"It's a bit overwhelming... but I should live up to their expectations."
"But why a duel? If you just wanted me to look at your swordsmanship, there are other ways."
Teonor Academy was packed with state-of-the-art magical machinery. Among them were devices designed to assist in training swordsmanship and other weapon arts.
"I find this more comfortable. Only by clashing blades directly can I see the path forward."
Just like when he executed demons, warlocks, and other traitors. Idrian's past life had been nothing but real, life-or-death combat. Relying on machines now felt awkward. It was far better to clash directly.
Shring. I chuckled softly as Idrian drew his sword. He was holding nothing but his blade.
"Hey, Idrian."
"Yes, Senior?"
This punk. I know you inside out. How dare you underestimate me like this?
"If you don't come at me with everything you've got, you won't even last a single exchange."
A standard-issue training sword slid smoothly from its scabbard. In an instant, the sharp, oppressive pressure of a Sword Master flooded the entire arena.
Sizzle. The barrier magic surrounding the arena flared to life, protecting the spectators from the aura radiating from my blade. At that sight, Idrian's expression froze.
"Indeed. I wouldn't last a single clash like this."
Idrian reached into his dimensional pocket and began pulling out all sorts of magic tools. He was soon draped in artifacts bought with the allowance the Goldenroad family had showered upon their eldest son—an amount large enough to purchase an entire county. It was a dazzling, extravagant display. I even spotted a magic tool whose price tag easily eclipsed that of my Amorphous Armor.
A ring-type magic tool crafted from a fragment of the unmeasurable magic beast, the Mother of the Great Ocean.
Upon activation, it drastically boosts physical stats and inflicts massive additional fire-attribute damage.
Special Effect: Once a day, it can completely melt the enemy's weapon.
It was an anomalous ability that couldn't be blocked unless one held an exceptionally famous sword. There was no way I possessed such a legendary blade. In other words, it was pure poison to someone like me, whose combat power plummeted without a sword. Not that I didn't have a countermeasure, though.
I did a lot of research on my abilities after that irregular slime outbreak, after all.
"Please guide me."
Idrian's sword lunged forward, pressing in with a trajectory cleaner than anyone else's.
Oh... I casually deflected his blade. His sword slid down the flat of my blade like a waterfall.
He unleashed a tempest of strikes, determined not to lose his momentum. An ordinary warrior would have been suffocated by the sheer pressure, helpless to do anything but defend until their inevitable defeat. But I was different.
Clang! "Ugh!" With a light flick of my wrist, Idrian's trajectory was broken, forcing his arm upward.
Though he had been working out diligently, his physical stats were still below the freshman average. Even without using my cheat ability, my physical stats were at least around the sophomore average. The gap between us was massive.
"Stop holding back and use your full strength. I didn't come here just to watch you swing a sword."
"...Understood."
A deep blue light, reminiscent of the ocean, erupted from Idrian's index finger. For a brief second, it felt as if the entire arena had been submerged beneath the waves.
In my vision, an emerald-colored slime—the ocean itself made manifest—appeared for a fleeting moment before vanishing without a trace.
As the illusion faded, Idrian stood in the center of the arena, now enveloped in the same emerald Sword Qi I had just seen.
The second round had begun.
Clang! Clang! Screeeech!
Two men clashed repeatedly in the center of the arena. A dazzling, blonde bishounen and a somber, black-haired young man. Their contrasting appearances and the clashing colors of their aura split the arena cleanly in half.
"..."
The spectators watching the battle were left speechless. Even those who had been boisterously cheering just moments ago couldn't find their voices.
At a glance, it looked like a close match. But the reality for the combatants was entirely different.
I can't break through his defense.
No matter how relentlessly Idrian attacked, Kanteil deflected every strike with effortless ease. Sweat beaded on Idrian's forehead, and the destructive power of his sword began to wane. At this rate, he would collapse from sheer exhaustion. And yet, his senior hadn't launched a single offensive strike; he was merely parrying.
I can't let it end like this!
He felt a pang of guilt toward the person who had agreed to mentor him. But since Kanteil had demanded his full strength, he would give it everything he had.
Idrian channeled mana into the Sea's Tears. A refreshing sensation washed over him, and simultaneously, a mutation occurred within his emerald Sword Qi. A searing heat rose from the ocean-blue energy, beginning to melt Idrian's own sword in real-time.
"I'm coming at you for real!"
The Sea's Tears. The weapon-destroying venom of the Mother of the Great Ocean—the first and strongest slime. A deadly poison capable of melting almost any weapon beyond repair condensed onto Idrian's Sword Qi.
It's still not enough.
But even that wasn't enough. Against a man who casually wielded a state of absolute mastery—a realm that even his past self had struggled to touch—he couldn't rely on a single poison.
Idrian pulled two pills from his breast pocket and swallowed them. Seeing that Kanteil made no move to stop him, Idrian felt a mixture of relief and mounting tension. Kanteil was literally telling him to show everything. In other words, his senior was absolutely confident that he would win no matter what Idrian pulled.
Idrian's brow furrowed.
I don't like this.
Even if his power had been completely reset, who in the world had ever dared to look down on him with such leisure? Even the Primordial Evil that threatened to destroy the world had tensed up upon facing him.
Grip. He squeezed the hilt of his sword so hard it groaned.
"If you keep acting so relaxed, you're going to get hurt."
I smirked. Seeing my relaxed smile, Idrian's fighting spirit flared. He unleashed the very last reserves of his power. His faint Sword Qi solidified into a vivid, distinct color. It was a fully matured Sword Qi. Unlike before, where he had forced it out using his past experiences, this was the true hallmark of one who had stepped into the Expert realm. Although his mana capacity was severely lacking compared to a normal Expert... at least this single strike wouldn't fall short.
The two swords clashed. The Sword Qi imbued with the weapon-destroying venom seeped into the gaps of my Sword Force, melting my blade. In an instant, my sword dissolved. The blade, reduced to molten metal by the green Sword Qi, dripped onto the floor.
He had won. His senior had lost his sword, while Idrian still held his. He even had a bit of stamina left. But why?
Why am I so uneasy?
Brushing the molten metal off his hands, Kanteil reached up and touched his own hair.
"A Sword Master treats their sword as an extension of their own body. People call that realm the Unity of Sword and Body."
The realm of treating a mere tool like an arm. Then let's think about the reverse. If you can treat a sword like your body... is there no way to treat your body like a sword?
After my defeat by the irregular slime, I had gone through countless trials and errors. And finally, I had found the answer.
Pluck. Kanteil pulled a single strand of black hair from his head. It drooped like wheat ready for harvest. No power could be felt from it, yet Idrian's instincts screamed in absolute terror, louder than ever before. Stop that thing right now!
But...
"It's already too late."
The "sword" held in its master's hand sharpened, unleashing a terrifyingly keen edge. At that moment, a presence incomparable to when he had drawn his actual sword swallowed the entire arena. The stiffened strand of hair fell downward.
SHRAAAAAANG!
A massive, deafening roar echoed. The seated spectators leaped to their feet, witnessing an unbelievable sight.
"Is that even possible?!"
Beautiful butterflies fluttered inside the arena. The defensive magic barrier, which not even a 7th-Circle Archmage could breach, hadn't just been shattered—it had been carved into the shape of butterflies, fluttering away into the air.