Corridor Blade Storm
Practical training – whoosh!
A few Team 2 students began gathering one by one. It was no wonder—with all this intel flying around, anyone oblivious to the fight breaking out had to be Orbis dropout material.
Arima Kanna from Team 2 hurried her steps. Most students would aim for the opposite side where no fighting had erupted yet.
But that was too predictable. Unless the enemy team was full of idiots, they'd have students guarding the other passages.
There was no way to know how the opponents were deployed. So the smart play was to target the side where a fight had already started, wearing them down even a little.
Arima Kanna's hunch hit the mark.
"Huff... huff..."
The surroundings were already a total wreck, and most of the students looked exhausted.
...No way she handled them all solo?
But what Arima Kanna saw was beyond belief. Yui-seol had been facing off against that entire group by herself.
Arima Kanna's mind raced.
Seo Ji-ho...
He looked relatively fresh compared to the others. The narrow corridor was crammed with students, cramping his style.
But on their side, only two...!
"I'm joining up."
Arima Kanna swiftly drew her sword and charged at Seo Ji-ho.
Claaang—!!!!
A deafening roar shook the research lab.
"Haha..."
Seo Ji-ho blocked Arima Kanna's sword with his right blade, looking mildly troubled, then whipped his empty left sword around in a flash.
A technique only possible with dual blades.
Shwick—!
Arima Kanna ducked low to evade the strike.
"What?"
Seo Ji-ho's eyes widened in surprise. And rightly so—Arima Kanna's stance was a flexible pose even superhumans enhanced by mana would struggle to mimic.
"I'm pretty flexible."
Arima Kanna's sharp kick targeted Seo Ji-ho's side.
"Not on my watch!"
Jeonggal Rang-woo flinched and thrust out his fan, but...
Kwaaaaaang!!!!! Crackle—!
A tactical weapon-grade spear thrust came flying in.
"Gah!!!"
In an instant, red light burst from the bracelet on Jeonggal Rang-woo's wrist, and he was forced to withdraw from the field. A 'eliminated' ruling.
"You gotta know when to quit clowning around."
Yui-seol smirked as she spun her spear wildly. Electricity crackled and sparked from it with every swing.
Seo Ji-ho felt a strange mix of emotions watching her.
She's awakened an attribute, huh...
The world was vast, full of geniuses, it seemed.
Seo Ji-ho quickly scanned the area. Most students had been knocked out by Yui-seol's spear and were eliminated.
Hmm...
That meant no more interference from them.
"Hup...!"
Seo Ji-ho stomped down hard. At the same time, sharp blue sword aura began emanating from his blades.
A rippling sword aura. He hadn't mastered an attribute yet.
But... that was enough. With Seo Ji-ho's overwhelming mana reserves,
Vrrrrooooom!!!!!!
it was a weapon plenty powerful on its own.
"Round two?"
Seo Ji-ho tilted his head and said.
****
"Someone's going ham over there."
I could feel an enormous surge of mana from afar. Probably the top-rankers duking it out.
Then came the sound of a crowd rushing over. They must've sensed the mana and were joining in... but sorry to say, they were mostly bottom-tier students. Not much help.
I dashed ahead and blocked their path. I could hear them yelling something, but...
It didn't really register.
I'd unleashed my stored iaijutsu the moment I spotted them.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!
Six students were eliminated in a blink. I'd aimed for five, but the razor-sharp slash pierced the wall and took out the one behind it too.
"What the fuck!"
The guy who'd just been strolling along, Shin Ji-oh, got dropped just like that.
"...!"
The golden-haired beauty, Natasha, with her hair swaying. Her ability to detect beyond-common-sense iaijutsu let her sense mine, naturally.
"There you are. I'm coming right now."
Whoosh—!
How much time passed? Natasha and I faced off once more.
...I definitely shook her off the other way.
Her pursuit skills defied common sense. Honestly, impressive.
"Underestimating Natasha's detection ability would be troublesome."
She grinned and prepared her iaijutsu.
Krakaaka!
Shockingly, the slash came flying the instant she seemed ready. One of her 'techniques'—stationary iaijutsu. Weaker than a proper stance, but lightning-fast.
Shiiiiiik—!
Three slashes bore down on me. But of course, I dodged them effortlessly. Fast for a top student, sure, but nothing more.
I can't land a hit on him at all...
Sweat trickled down Natasha's neck. Dodging her slashes like they were nothing.
At this rate, forget main wife—she'd end up a concubine at best.
No way!
That couldn't happen. A woman who wields iaijutsu must pair with a man who does the same for society to make sense. It was righteous, proper.
Common sense of common senses.
Then here...
Natasha assumed her iaijutsu stance. Grand talk aside, iaijutsu was all she knew.
But that was plenty. For a swordmaster, iaijutsu was the pinnacle.
No fool turns down rice just because it's good and eats plain. You need soup, sides. But... overwhelming rice crushes even the sides.
The technique taught by Ian Korpe.
Stillness's Single Stroke — [Shaking Abyss Style].
"Speed leaves afterimages, but weight leaves traces."
Kwaaaaaaaa!!!!
A massive slash hurtled toward me. As iaijutsu, its speed was instantaneous.
I figured dodging wasn't the play—better to parry.
The moment I went to use Storage...
"Put your all into it!"
Natasha shouted loudly.
—Draw your sword.
Tyrbing's snarky telepathy followed.
"......"
Click.
I lowered my stance. The Sword Saint trait's greatest strengths: precision in technique and comprehension of all sword arts.
Stillness's Single Stroke.
"Shaking Abyss Style."
I murmured softly and drew.
Piiiing—.
Natasha's ears rang with tinnitus. Not from my technique hitting her.
For a split second, too fast for the eye to track. Natasha caught just a glimpse of my movement.
A fragment of the draw, but even that instant...
"Natasha is happy......" So beautiful.
Natasha Korpe, eliminated.
****
Twitch—!
Seo Ji-ho's gaze flicked somewhere involuntarily. He sensed mana he couldn't ignore.
Ugh! Rookie mistake!
He realized his error and quickly reset his stance. Getting distracted mid-fight was the biggest blunder.
But surprisingly, it didn't cost him. Yui-seol and Arima Kanna had glanced away too, unwittingly.
One second.
Exactly one second later, a ground-shaking vibration and thunderous boom erupted.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!!
The three students' formation crumbled.
"Ugh!"
Arima Kanna and Yui-seol grew anxious simultaneously.
Damn, the moment Yi Han-su shows up, we're done!
The same thought flashed through both women's minds. Yi Han-su was clearly a cut above them. Seo Ji-ho was tough, but they had numbers. Yet...
Even two-on-one feels like a loss.
Seo Ji-ho's thinking aligned.
Just stall, and reinforcements will come.
Even as overall rank 1, this was getting dicey. Yui-seol at rank 2 had even awakened an attribute. Her spearmanship was sharp, but those chains were a real pain. She was using them with unexpected versatility.
Shwick—!!!
Seo Ji-ho swung his swords fast, batting away the spear aimed at his head.
Clang—!
Another metallic ring. Yui-seol had wrapped her chains like armor to block.
"Ha."
Yui-seol laughed loudly.
Chaaaain—!!!
Chains burst from her left hand, binding Seo Ji-ho's sword. Arima Kanna lunged at the opening.
But...
Thud—!
"Hey, hold up!"
Seo Ji-ho yelled in surprise. A burly guy burst from behind him—Cha Ryu-jin, who'd been guarding the right entrance with the flag, had joined.
"Don't worry. I've got another reliable student holding the fort."
Cha Ryu-jin flashed the coolest grin he could muster and shouted,
"Now it's two versus two."
Perfect timing and line, in his mind. But a line shattered his sweet illusion.
"Three versus two."
Arima Kanna and Yui-seol whipped around in disbelief. A male student with a sword at his waist.
"......" "......"
Arima Kanna and Yui-seol exchanged wordless understanding, then charged at Seo Ji-ho and Cha Ryu-jin's side with weapons raised.
"Hyaah!!!!" "Get out of the way, you bastards!"
That side looked way easier.