Sparring (2)
Following Berkel, we arrived at a small training ground. “This is the training ground assigned to the instructors, so you don’t have to worry about someone watching like in the public training grounds.”
Indeed. Less attention is better.
“I know both of you use one-handed swords as your main weapons. Right?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“Yep.”
Berkel brought two one-handed swords of appropriate length from the display rack in the corner of the training ground and handed them over. They looked like real combat swords at first glance, but when I received and swung them, the blades were dulled, and they bent due to high elasticity—they were practice swords. Not as good as the knight order’s ironwood swords. What do they call these? Blunts? Anyway, since they’re not real swords, there’s no need to hold back on attacks.
“Now then, take your positions.”
Isaac widened the distance. He glared at me with narrowed eyes and raised one corner of his mouth. “That indifferent face and arrogant nose. I’ve wanted to break it since the first day of training when you opened your eyes wide. It’s a light sparring, so I’ll go easy on you.”
He’s really acting cocky.
“Do as you like.”
“Ha, you bastard. Are you acting cool because there are women around? Hurry up and start!”
“Alright. Are both sides ready?”
“Yes.”
“Yep!”
“Traits can only be used to the extent that they don’t kill the opponent or cause equivalent damage. If wounds require potions, emergency treatment can be used, but the corresponding cost will be charged, so be prepared.”
After reciting the precautions before starting, he uncrossed his arms. “Then… keep in mind that this is a sparring match, not a duel where life and death are at stake. I’ll end the match when one side is incapacitated or declares surrender. Prepare.”
First, let’s see how fast he is since his status window is speed-oriented.
“Start!”
As soon as the start declaration was heard, he swung his sword first. Whoosh— Isaac charged with a faint wind swirling around his body. With D-rank agility and speed correction from his trait, it was the fastest attack aimed at me so far, excluding Ivelin. But.
Body of Steel
All body grades increase by one stage.
Only you have D-rank agility? Fine. This familiar slowdown. Whoosh. A simple trajectory compared to the speed. I twisted my body minimally to dodge.
“Oh? You dodged that?”
I could feel my movements had clearly changed from training with Ivelin. ‘Even the me from the third floor of the Labyrinth could have dodged that, but there would have been more wasted motion than now.’ Anyway, I roughly gauged Isaac’s speed.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
After dodging once, I seized the initiative and continued attacking. Silver sword strikes rained down, claiming space.
“Kugh!”
Even with his swordsmanship trait, Isaac barely managed to block. He gritted his teeth, focused entirely on defense. ‘Should I just use Storm Sword and end this quickly?’ No. When we meet in the Labyrinth, to kill him without variables, it’s better not to reveal my cards. Then… if the sword is blocked, use fists.
Smack!
“Kaaagh!”
While he was distracted by the sword, I struck his nose with my left fist from a blind spot. “This fucking bastard!”
Grabbing his bleeding nose, he stepped back. Soon he planted his left foot forward, glared, and charged with a roar.
Isaac casts Gale.
A trait without a trigger word—does he activate it by thinking? Thanks to Eyes of Chaos, I can see everything anyway. Thud! Unlike before when he ran wrapped in a gentle breeze, Isaac now surged forward like a cannonball cloaked in fierce winds. I swung my sword quickly at his charging form. Trajectory? Diagonal slash with the sword in my right hand. Followed by a left straight punch. ‘Obviously the sword is a feint.’
Clang. I parried the sword. As expected, no power behind it. Without hesitation, I twisted my body. At the same time, Isaac’s full-powered punch struck the empty space where my face had been.
“What—”
His posture collapsed from swinging his fist too hard. An opening. Crack!
“Kuuuaaagh!”
I landed another direct hit on the nose I’d struck earlier. Blood sprayed, painting the air red. Blood pooled on my fist and on the training ground floor where he fell.
“You dogshit bastard, how the hell did you dodge that?! Do you have a high-grade detection trait or something?!”
He screamed, blood streaming down without even trying to wipe his face. ‘Obviously. A guy full of inferiority like you wouldn’t just take a broken nose lying down—you’d want payback out of shame.’
Isaac casts Gale.
“Uwaaaah—!”
Where now? …What? There was no trajectory from sword or fist. ‘An attack with no visible trajectory? Like when I first got hit by Ivelin?’ Fortunately, it wasn’t that. Instead, the space within about five meters of him turned red in a circle as he charged. As expected. The only area skill he has… Tempest!
Tap. I kicked off the ground and leaped back.
Isaac casts Tempest.
Kuaguaguak! A fierce whirlwind erupted from the red-tinged space, centered on his right foot slamming down.
“Kuh.”
Even outside the range, the aftershock was enough to lift me briefly. If I hadn’t dodged, it would have been at least serious injury. Still, is this the power of a trait granted by a god?
“Aaaagh! Just get hit, you bastard—!”
Isaac, frustrated that all his attacks were countered.
“Would you get hit if you were me? Such an obvious attack.”
Because of the restriction requiring concentration, even without Eyes of Chaos, his attacks were predictable. Thud. Since I’d secured the blood, I kicked his stomach to end the sparring. He collapsed, clutching the struck area.
“Kuhk, keeergh.”
I grabbed his hair and lifted his head. “…”
What’s he muttering? Come to think of it, looking at Isaac’s traits, he still has the Wind Spirit card left. Surely not?
“Hah… I surrender, I surrender.”
Of course not.
“Stop! Surrender declared, so the winner is Aren. Since a potion is needed, let go and step back.”
I deliberately shook my hand hard to pull out some hair, then headed toward Yeriel and Lumia. Spreading my bloodied hand to show the hair, I said, “My hand got too dirty. Lumia, any way to clean it with magic? Is it too trivial to be possible?”
I mouthed ‘curse material’ silently and closed my eyes as a signal. She understood, right? Lumia quietly nodded, then overlapped her hand with mine and focused. A dark purple light shimmered briefly before vanishing along with the blood and hair. Seeing my now clean hand, Lumia whispered in my ear.
“Conditions are met. The material must be used within today. It’s dangerous to linger here, so shall we head back to the inn?”
“…Hmph. You two are too close.”
Yeriel glared at Lumia with displeasure.
“Heh heh, Aren, you’re no joke. You’ll breeze through the first floor.”
Bardus approached with admiration.
“Honestly, after the sparring started, I was quite surprised to see Isaac wasn’t just full of bluster. His speed was incredible. And that last technique…”
He pointed at me and laughed.
“But you toyed with that Isaac like he was a child. Especially those ghost-like movements dodging attacks by a hair’s breadth… Whew, thanks to you I got a good show. My eyes were opened.”
“You’re praising me too much. Honestly, Isaac got more excited as it went on, making him easier to handle. Anyway, thanks, Bardus.”
“No need. You worked hard.”
Praise makes even whales dance—they say it feels good no matter how many times you hear it. Anyway, since everything’s done, I should head to the inn quickly to check if the curse applied properly.
“Berkel. The sparring’s over and we’ve received today’s training, so may we leave now?”
Berkel was pouring a potion on the battered Isaac while saying something.
“Go ahead. There won’t be any issues from the sparring. I’ll finish pouring the potion on this guy and make sure he stays quiet until training ends.”
“Yes. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After nodding to Berkel and Bardus, I glanced at Isaac sprawled on the ground. Grind. “…”
Meeting my eyes, Isaac gritted his teeth. Then he turned his head away. ‘I thought his spirit might be broken, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. His eyes look like they’re shooting flames.’
Chaos says that even so, for the next few days, if he sees you, he’ll probably stay quiet out of embarrassment.
‘Probably. Until the Labyrinth opens, it’ll finally be quiet.’
Now it’s you and me. One of us has to die to break this chain of hatred. Both he and I had to eliminate each other to live well in Labyrinth City. And after fighting today, I was certain. The one who survives will be me.
***
We arrived at the inn run by Grandfather via carriage.
“Lumia, you’re back? Your face looks brighter than usual today.”
“Yeah. Being by Aren’s side makes me feel good.”
“I see. This old man feels relieved seeing you’ve completely regained your energy. Truly fortunate…”
They seem closer than just innkeeper and guest. Well, anyway, good is good, so I moved on and told the innkeeper that Yeriel and I would be staying here from now on too.
“I don’t mind. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other, so shall we introduce ourselves? My name is Rotten. Call me Grandfather Rotten, Old Man Rotten, Mr. Rotten—whatever’s comfortable.”
“I’m Aren. Mr. Rotten. Please take care of me from now on.”
“Hehe. Grandfather Rotten, I’m Yeriel!”
Feels good. Thanks to Lumia, we found a nice inn. After paying and receiving the room keys, we unpacked in our respective rooms. Then we gathered in Lumia’s room right away.
“I’ll start now.”
Lumia closed her eyes, clasped her hands, chanted a spell, and intoned, “Engrave the brand’s arrow into the enemy’s heart. Shajite Querentis.”
Hum. Shortly after, Lumia opened her eyes and spoke confidently. “Success. Now, for 30 days, we can find Isaac’s direction from anywhere using the curse.”
Then she opened her hand, revealing a black arrow like a compass pointing in one direction. No matter how I moved her hand, it only pointed that way—clearly working properly.
“Lumia, thank you! Thanks to you, we can deal with our biggest headache.”
Smiling happily, Lumia fidgeted and said, “I feel like I was a big help to Aren. Then… can I get just one hug?”
“Ehyo, I’ll acknowledge it this time.”
What are you acknowledging, Yeriel? Anyway… a hug is fine. I gently hugged Lumia.
“J-just a little tighter.”
“Is this okay?”
“Yeah. Good.”
As we held on long enough to get warm, Yeriel got angry and pulled us apart.
“Uuuu, watching quietly and there’s no moderation. Now separate! Come on, let’s each go rest in our rooms until mealtime!”
Leaving behind Lumia’s reluctant face, I headed to my room.
“Seeing the bed suddenly makes me feel drained. I should take a nap first.”
Chaos says you fought a believer so you must be tired and tells you to sleep quickly.
Whew, now only a few days remain until the Great Labyrinth entrance opens. From what I heard, at most three days? Let’s sleep and think about what to do in the evening. I should start packing what to bring into the Labyrinth and reinforce my equipment with the money from Hans. With those thoughts, as soon as I lay down, an irresistible sleepiness rushed over me and I passed out.