Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Ariel Academy (3)
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Right after the possession, I couldn't remember my older sister at all.
Strangely enough, though, I could just barely make out her name from the fragmented memories of Sian before the possession.
Hedi Merrigold.
She was a pretty girl, but her mouth was so foul, and once she latched on, she bit like a rabid dog—which was why even the debauched body I'd possessed before hadn't messed with her.
The kids who'd been chattering fell silent at Hedi's blunt remark.
Laura didn't particularly try to stop the mood from shifting.
If anything, it might've been a relief for her. She seemed pretty worn out from dealing with the kids.
The children might not notice, but to my eyes—honed by years as an adult before possession—it was obvious.
I wouldn't volunteer to run a daycare even if I were a national treasure-level Sword Master, unless I absolutely adored kids. In that light, Hedi lightening the mood was a nice touch.
"Alright, everyone, shall we head to the training grounds?!"
Seizing the moment, Laura leaned her arms on the lectern with a smile in her eyes.
The kids responded with fresh energy, as if nothing had happened, jumping up and heading to the training grounds.
I stood up with them.
As I did, I glanced at Hedi.
"......"
Her face looked full of dissatisfaction, prickly and sensitive.
Was she always like that?
For some reason, my eyes kept drifting to her.
I pulled my gaze away before Hedi could notice and followed the kids to the training grounds.
The training grounds were spacious.
There were two lines: one with straw dummies reinforced to withstand aura blades for swordsmanship practice, and another with regular dummies.
We lined up at the regular dummy row and gathered.
Once all the students were assembled up front, Laura confirmed it and addressed us loudly.
"Listen up, everyone. Today's lesson is on the Thunder Sword Arts."
The students' reactions were a bit puzzled.
"Thunder Sword Arts...? We already learned that swordsmanship."
"Shouldn't the next one be Water Sword Arts? Why Thunder Sword Arts...?"
"Review time? Sweet. I skipped a few classes anyway, so this is perfect."
I was a little puzzled too.
The Thunder Sword Arts were a first-stage beginner technique based on the Three Fundamental Sword Techniques.
Even if the original owner had learned it half-heartedly, my memories from before vacation clearly showed we'd finished it.
So why were we suddenly reviewing Thunder Sword Arts?
Just as my thoughts reached that point, Laura silently demonstrated the second form of the Thunder Sword Arts.
-Whirr! Whoosh! Thwack!
A swift, precise spin, fluid yet never sloppy—pure sword strike.
It was the second form of the Thunder Sword Arts.
Definitely the second form...
'What the hell was that!'
She'd modified the form.
I'd never seen anything like it in the game. Altering a set form...?
This was a huge discovery.
I could adapt forms on the fly to evade life-threatening monster attacks.
Or overwhelm an opponent in a PK duel with unpredictable swordplay.
Laura's demonstration had given me massive inspiration.
"What? That's Thunder Sword Arts...?"
"Did Laura mess up? It looks like a totally different technique."
The others didn't seem to get it.
"Dude, did you see her chest jiggle mid-swing...? Insane."
"Wonder what she's like in bed."
...Some seemed impressed for entirely different reasons.
Openly spouting lewd crap in public like this... They were bold, I'll give them that.
Laura seemed to notice the boys' behavior but ignored them and continued the lesson.
Being a professor must be tough.
As their dirty talk dragged on, the girls nearby frowned at the boys.
Some felt disgusted by the blatant lust right in front of the woman herself and started moving away.
A few in the group debated stepping in to shut the boys up.
Then.
One girl from the group that had been behind stepped forward.
I thought she was rushing to the bathroom, but her direction said otherwise.
Her face twisted in contempt. Her footsteps headed straight for the offending boys.
'Well now.'
It was none other than Hedi Merrigold.
Her steps soon stopped in one spot.
"Huh? What the—"
It was right in front of the boy who'd been spewing lewd comments about Laura.
-Thwack!
"Argh—!"
Wow.
A dull thud like cracking a watermelon echoed among the kids.
Hedi had just smacked the lewd boy's head.
"W-what the hell! You crazy bitch, you wanna die...!"
"Should we tell Laura?"
"......!"
The hit boy panicked for a second.
If word got out he'd harassed a Sword Master, he'd face discipline for sure.
It might not end with expulsion—his family could take the fall. And he knew that yet still ran his mouth...
His kid brain had dug his own grave.
Realizing his situation, the boy trembled, then tsked and turned away from Hedi.
Hedi sneered dismissively.
"Moron."
She turned and went back to her spot.
The boy was still fuming.
It felt refreshing.
There was no heroine like her among Cain's roster... Hedi struck me as an extra with a strikingly distinct personality.
A spark of curiosity about her ignited.
"Everyone, you don't think I just performed the Thunder Sword Arts, do you?"
Then Laura grinned at us.
"What I did was precisely the second form of the Thunder Sword Arts. But I added a little twist."
"Ehh?! You can do that, Laura?!"
"Forms are fixed, aren't they?!"
"Exactly. Forms are fixed. But sword paths aren't, are they?"
I got it.
The sword path is the trajectory the blade follows during a form.
The form's motions are set, but how you swing the sword mid-form is up to you.
Not a bad idea.
You could cancel a basic swing during a form or add an extra slash where there shouldn't be one.
As if answering my questions, Laura continued.
"The legendary Sword Master Bella Brace once said: 'Everyone may start the same. But how it unfolds? That's up to me.'"
My body twitched at the familiar name.
Bella Brace...? The Brace family?
Someone connected to this debauched young master Sian?
"Are you Lady Bella's disciple, Laura?"
A girl asked.
"Not quite. But I did work under her quite a bit. Now, a question."
Laura placed her hands on her hips and went on.
"You're dueling someone at my level. We both start the first form of Thunder Sword Arts at the same time, but they execute faster. What happens?"
A boy raised his hand.
"You there."
"The first form is a spin into a thrust. So you'd get stabbed mid-spin by their faster rotation."
"Right. So how do you thrust first despite starting slower?"
"Uh..."
The boy thought deeply, then said,
"I don't know."
"Perform a vertical slash during the spin."
"...?"
The boy tilted his head, confused.
Laura chuckled softly and explained again.
"If you're spinning slower, add a vertical slash to throw them off, then spin again and complete the first form."
In other words, disrupt their form with a basic cancel slash, then quickly re-execute and strike first.
"Finally, what I want to tell you all is: don't get stuck in the forms. I think the smart ones here will grasp that right away."
I wasn't sure if understanding it made me smart, but I got it instantly.
Laura's words would have a big impact on my future sword training.
"That's it! Mull over what I just taught you during solo practice. Now, line up. Time to learn the first form of Water Sword Arts!"
.
.
.
The rest of the class was utterly ordinary.
We learned a new sword art, and I picked it up quickly.
But the real standout was that initial form modification lecture.
I wanted to make it my own ASAP. So after lunch with Lloyd, Bobby, and Lui like yesterday, I hurried to the second-floor student training hall again.
Right before opening the door.
"That bitch Hedi's from some fallen noble house?"
I froze at the voice beyond the door.
'...What the hell?'
I paused opening the door and decided to listen.
"Yeah! I was intimidated 'cause I thought she was from a countess family, but turns out it's a crumbling wreck with nothing but the name!"
"And she strutted around acting all high and mighty...? Unacceptable. How dare a fallen noble touch Francis here, from a prestigious baronet house?"
The voices drew closer to the door.
I quickly ducked behind the wall.
-Clunk!
The door opened, and the owners of the voices stepped out.
Sure enough, it was the two boys from sword class who'd been talking dirty.
"Where's that girl now? This is about our family honor."
"Next period, she always heads to Professor Philip's Dantian theory class."
"Round up the guys. His class is in the next building, right? There's a back courtyard by the passage—drag her there and beat her senseless so she can't act up."
The two boys headed down the opposite hallway, their voices fading.
Once they were gone, I stepped out from hiding.
I'd just overheard something pretty shady.