Chapter 436
Chapter Title: It's Easy, Right?
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436.
Leo silently watched Ar-on.
Ar-on raised a fist toward Leo.
The atmosphere was completely different from when he had been facing the other students just moments before.
“Why are they just standing there, not moving?”
“Hmph. A mage is a mage, after all.”
Boruman wore a smug expression.
“This is what a battle between master warriors is like! It may seem like they're doing nothing, but they're engaged in a fierce mental battle! The one who moves first reveals an opening, so the more skilled the warrior, the less likely they are to move first! This is a battle of patience! They'll likely remain in this standoff for tens of minutes!”
*Whoosh-!*
Before Boruman could even finish his sentence, Leo closed the distance with Ar-on.
As Chelsea gave him a pathetic look, Boruman looked embarrassed.
Ar's eyes widened, focusing on the duel between the two as if determined not to miss a single moment of their fight.
*'The Black Rabbit's skill is incredible.'*
Ar knew it too.
There was a huge gap between her and Leo.
The depths of Leo's martial arts were something Ar couldn't even begin to fathom.
*'But even the Black Rabbit's skill won't be a match for Lord Ar-on.'*
His opponent was the Brave Hero, Ar-on.
The possessor of absolute martial power, hailed as a god of war.
It wasn't just because he possessed great strength.
Back in Dweno's world.
And in the duel just now, Ar had clearly realized what a staggering height Ar-on stood at.
*'Lord Ar-on seems even stronger now than when I saw him in Lord Dweno's world.'*
For Leo to fight on equal terms against such an opponent seemed nearly impossible.
*'But maybe he can at least reveal some of Lord Ar-on's true skill?'*
With Leo's bottomless potential, she thought it might be possible for him to draw out Ar-on's true abilities.
That was why Ar didn't want to miss a single detail of this duel.
*'The Black Rabbit will surely aim for Lord Ar-on's flank...'*
*Whap-!*
“A frontal assault?!”
Ar's eyes went wide.
Leo had charged straight at Ar-on without a hint of hesitation.
*'That guy Ar-on has no blind spots anyway.'*
Ar-on's super-sense was at a level where he could foresee fragmented futures in battle situations.
As long as he had that, Ar-on had no blind spots.
No matter how fast Leo moved to disrupt his vision, he couldn't escape Ar-on's range of perception.
*Swish-!*
Leo's sword thrust toward Ar-on.
Ar-on's eyes narrowed as he saw the blade.
*'I can't block it.'*
He considered deflecting the sword, but he knew that the moment he did, Leo would close in.
Ar-on's senses detected the dagger at Leo's waist.
In terms of pure hand-to-hand combat ability, Ar-on surpassed Leo.
However, when it came to unconventional tactics and strategy, Leo had a slight edge over Ar-on.
If Ar-on's strength was forged from his innate senses, reaction speed, and overwhelming kinetic vision, Leo's strength was honed through countless battles.
Ar-on, too, had experienced numerous battlefields.
But Leo... Kyle, the hero who always survived, had seen a different number of battlefields.
*'Kyle stood on the battlefield long before I ever did.'*
Besides, Ar-on wasn't the only one capable of precognitive-level predictions through super-sense.
Though not on Ar-on's level.
Leo was also a warrior who had stepped into the realm of super-sense.
Dodging Leo's sword, Ar-on reached for Leo's abdomen.
Leo twisted his body in mid-air, evading Ar-on's attack.
*Tak- Shing!*
In that instant, Ar-on drew the dagger—Leo's secondary weapon—from his waist.
With that, Ar-on's blocked vision returned.
His sight reactivated, and his closed-off senses of hearing and smell began to transmit information.
*Whoosh-!*
Ar-on moved his feet.
Ar-on, who hadn't moved an inch even when eight people ganged up on him with his senses sealed, was now moving with all his senses unleashed.
Even the Brave Hero Ar-on couldn't gain the upper hand in a duel against the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle, while under such restrictions.
*Clang-! Krrrrrrk-!*
The short blade of the dagger and the long blade of the sword clashed.
Holding the dagger in a reverse grip, Ar-on swung it upward.
Sparks flew between the two blades.
Leo's right hand, holding the sword, was forced upward.
*Whoosh-!*
With his right hand raised, Leo's abdomen was exposed.
Completely defenseless.
Seeing this, Ar-on unleashed a kick.
*Boom-!*
Leo's body was sent flying.
*Shhhhhk-!*
The soles of Leo's shoes scraped against the ground, kicking up dust.
After regaining his balance, Leo quickly moved away.
*Boom-!*
Ar-on's fist slammed into the spot where Leo had just been.
The ground caved in, sending dirt flying in all directions.
“How can he generate that much destructive power from a movement like that?!”
Celia's eyes widened.
From the kick that had just landed on Leo to the current attack, Ar-on showed no sign of drawing upon any great power.
And yet, a destructive force far exceeding their expectations erupted from Ar-on's foot and fist.
“He's concentrating a sliver of power into a single point.”
Chen Xia, watching the exchange with an unusually sharp gaze, answered.
“In a split second, he compresses his aura and unleashes it. At a speed so fast it's hard to even perceive.”
“If that's the case, shouldn't Leo have taken a huge hit?”
“I wonder.”
Everyone turned their attention to Leo.
*'I didn't manage to land a heavy blow.'*
Ar-on looked at Leo.
In that fleeting moment, Leo had quickly compressed his aura to offset Ar-on's attack.
*'He's gotten stronger.'*
This wasn't the Kyle that Ar-on knew.
In terms of total power, Leo's strength still fell short of the Kyle that Ar-on remembered.
*'Kyle is still in the process of regaining his power.'*
The reason Ar-on thought Leo had gotten stronger was due to his skill.
The Kyle that Ar-on knew couldn't have blocked that last attack so perfectly.
He was reminded once again that the friend before him was not the friend he once knew.
*'Even in this era of peace... you haven't stopped.'*
Seeing that Kyle hadn't dulled in the slightest despite living in an era of peace, he could tell.
That he hadn't had a single moment of peace.
To perfectly pass on this peace they had risked their lives to protect to the next generation.
Just how much his friend was striving.
Ar-on looked at the students who were focused on their duel.
*'In that case.'*
He readjusted his grip on the dagger.
*'I should try... to pass on at least a little something.'*
He felt a desire to pass on his techniques, even just a little, to the next generation.
Ar-on lowered his stance.
Seeing this, Leo shook his hand.
*'Looks like he's getting serious.'*
He shook his left hand, which had blocked Ar-on's kick, to get rid of the tingling sensation.
*Whoosh-!*
This time, watching Ar-on initiate the attack, Leo readied his sword.
*Krr-gak-!*
Sword and dagger clashed, sending sparks flying.
***
“How was it?”
After the duel.
Ar-on smiled warmly at the students lined up before him.
“It was amazing!”
Boruman shouted, his face filled with emotion.
“I felt that Instructor Akan's techniques are on a level I can't even begin to fathom! Is that all because of super-sense?”
“Super-sense is a technique that pushes your senses to their absolute limit. The techniques I used in the fight are in a different realm.”
“Ooh!”
“If you're curious about my techniques, I'll teach them to you as well.”
All the students' eyes widened.
For a warrior, their techniques were akin to a mage's core magic formula.
Even mages who published countless magical theses would not reveal their core magic formulas when presenting the principles of their secret arts to the academic world.
It was only natural for a researcher not to readily disclose the fruits of their long years of study to the public.
The same was true for martial artists.
Sharing the results of long training with others was by no means an easy matter.
Yet the instructor before them was offering to teach them techniques of an unfathomably high level without hesitation.
“First, I'll teach you how to activate super-sense.”
“Yes, sir!”
The students answered with enthusiasm.
“You've all learned the Brave Hero's Breath, so you should be able to learn super-sense quickly.”
“Is it a derivative of the Brave Hero's Breath?”
“You could say that.”
To be precise, it was a technique Ar-on had used naturally while using the breathing method.
*'I had a hell of a time learning his techniques myself.'*
Leo clicked his tongue inwardly.
Ar-on's breathing and super-sense were incredibly difficult to learn.
In the first place, since it was Ar-on's unique technique, it would have been impossible for Leo to learn it if not for his mana's unique properties.
But what made learning Ar-on's techniques even more difficult was...
“First, breathe in and feel the mana.”
“Yes.”
“Then, spread that mana throughout your entire body.”
Ar-on explained the mana circulation method for using super-sense.
“And then?”
“Use the mana spread throughout to stimulate all your sensory organs.”
“...Pardon?”
The students, who had been listening to Ar-on's lecture with shining eyes, saw their faces stiffen for a moment.
“You feel it, right?”
Seeing Ar-on's sparkling eyes, Dion raised his hand.
“Instructor Akan.”
“What is it?”
“Is there a more specific explanation? Your explanation is too difficult.”
“Hm? Was that too abstract? Then again, all the kids I've taught found my explanations difficult.”
Ar-on, who had been pondering with his arms crossed, smacked his fist into his palm and said.
“Right! It's the sensation of turning mana into grains of sand, putting them in a glass bottle, and shaking it!”
“...”
“...”
Ar-on's bright explanation only made the students' expressions turn even more bizarre.
“Is it difficult? Hmm... In that case.”
Ar-on tried his best to explain in more detail.
The feeling of circulating mana, the timing of his breaths, and so on.
He tried his best to put the sensation of using super-sense into words.
But the more he tried, the more peculiar the students' faces became.
“Let's take a short break. I'll try to explain it better.”
Eventually, Ar-on called for a break.
“Lord Leo. You worked hard in the duel!”
Eiran approached Leo and took a towel out of her subspace to hand to him.
Thanks to the hot weather and intense movement, Leo was drenched in sweat.
“Thanks.”
Leo smiled and wiped his face with the towel Eiran gave him.
Then he pulled at the collar of his shirt, letting air flow inside.
Watching him, Eiran's face flushed slightly.
The occasional glimpse of his collarbone was quite stimulating for a teenage girl.
She was averting her gaze while still sneaking glances at Leo when...
“As expected of the Black Rabbit! To think he could hold his own against Lord Ar-on, even with his senses blocked!”
The other students believed that Ar-on had maintained his sensory restrictions when facing Leo.
“Hieeeek? I-I wasn't staring at anything!”
Eiran shrieked in surprise at the sound of Ar's voice from behind her.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I-It's nothing!”
Eiran frantically shook her head at the bewildered Ar.
“Anyway, Lord Ar-on is the same as ever. His explanations are so difficult.”
“I guess it's because he sees things so differently.”
Ar let out a small sigh, and Eiran gave an awkward laugh.
The two of them had already trained under Ar-on in Dweno's world.
Even back then, Ar-on's explanations had been hard to understand.
As a result, their training had been mostly focused on sparring.
“This time, we can't just learn by getting beaten up, so it's going to be even harder.”
“L-Learn by getting beaten up?”
Eiran's ears perked up, and she blushed by herself at Ar's words, who had crossed her arms with a deep sigh.
Then her eyes met Leo's, and she jumped in surprise before clearing her throat.
“Lord Leo, do you also find Lord Ar-on's explanations hard to understand?”
“I've got a decent grasp of it.”
“You do?”
“What?!”
Eiran and Ar were stunned by Leo's answer.
Her tail standing on end, Ar asked.
“Really? You're not lying, are you?”
“Why would I lie?”
“You're amazing, Lord Leo!”
Eiran beamed.
“Once I get the hang of it completely, I'll give you some advice.”
After that.
Once the break was over, the students spent the rest of the day listening intently to Ar-on's explanations.
In the middle of it all, Leo also gave the students a much more detailed explanation than Ar-on's.
It was only when the sun began to set that the students were able to grasp the basic steps of activating super-sense.
“You're all amazing!”
Ar-on clapped his hands, genuinely pleased.
Seeing Ar-on's sincere pride, the students were genuinely happy.
“Lord Akan, you must have gone through blood, sweat, and tears to master this technique, right?”
Celia asked, her face slightly flushed.
To which Ar-on replied with a cheerful voice.
“Nope, I could just do it naturally since I was born.”
The students' faces turned peculiar.
And Ar-on's next words were enough to make them despair.
“See? Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy, right?”
*'It's not easy.'*
The students screamed internally.