Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Five Swords of Ban (5)
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[You have gripped the longsword of the 'Shadow Slicing Swordsman'.]
Material: Ironwood
Quality: Rare
Owner: Iseo Gong (5-Star)
Memory Preservation Rate: Low
Note: A sword made from flexible ironwood branches. However, it won't break as easily as a branch.
It was a sword from one of the academy seniors. Even trainees who liked practicing with the seniors' swords tended to avoid it. Unlike ordinary swords, its pitch-black blade looked quite alluring, but at the same time, that limply bending blade... was incredibly hard to handle.
There had been plenty of people offering advice when Ban picked it up. They said it would feel completely different from any sword he'd held before. It might even make the swords he was used to feel unfamiliar.
Of course, to him, it was meaningless worry.
"...Hmm, a practice sword made of ironwood? That won't be easy to handle."
"Don't worry. This is Ban."
"Right. That's right... Ban."
Urong smiled. Back when they first met, he had been someone with nothing but potential to his name... but now, he had become a swordsman who could announce himself with just that name alone.
The strongest in the third year.
Quite a familiar title, wasn't it?
Urong clenched his fist. The moment he assumed a combat stance, the ground around him cracked and split with sharp sounds. His body, the blood of the Cho Clan, the power embedded in that long history... it felt like it was taking form, ready to crush everything in its path.
'...Just like a wild beast.'
Ban began considering every possibility. Urong charging in, waiting, approaching slowly, and every other scenario. And the conclusion was one. All his abilities fell short compared to Urong, which meant... he had to seize control of the flow.
The moment he realized that, there was no room for hesitation.
Ban kicked off the ground. Running. Leaping. Slow compared to the sword, but his growth speed was still fast relative to others. His body shot forward like an arrow and was soon in front of Urong, who watched him with a leisurely expression.
'You shouldn't underestimate me too much, senior.'
Ban twisted the corner of his mouth and swung the sword. The blade, which had bent like a snake under the immense force, unfurled in an instant and lashed out like a whip toward Urong.
The name of the third sword was Scattering Sword.
It resembled the whip techniques used by Gerik of the Drampo Clan. The difference was that the Drampo manipulated 'space' to unleash whip strikes from all directions... while Ban was purely changing the blade's trajectory with wrist movements alone.
This swordsmanship had originally been developed to counter Yeoryeong. Deflection could lead to a draw, but to land real damage, deflection alone wasn't enough.
No matter how fast or strong, properly responding to this attack mixed with feints and real strikes was nearly impossible. There were too many variations, too many afterimages pouring out.
Yet Urong met it head-on. His fists and kicks moved so fast it was hard for the eyes to follow. His skin occasionally grazed the blade, drawing blood, but Urong didn't care. There was no fear in his eyes—only delight.
'Not enough.'
Ban gritted his teeth and focused more on his left hand supporting the sword. Even a slight movement of his left hand at the base changed the blade's direction entirely. The afterimages created that way absorbed his qi, shifting from feint to real strike and back... moving as if ready to devour Urong at any moment.
In the original owner's hands, this swordsmanship should have been even more powerful. If Iseo Gong, who had wielded it, were here, he might have gained a clear advantage over Urong. With his ability to foresee the future, he could already predict which feint the opponent would fall for and which real strike would land.
Unable to see the future, Ban had to rely purely on instinct. The experience and intuition absorbed from countless swords told him how Urong would move.
And then, when the sword's afterimages multiplied beyond what Urong could handle—
Boom! A sound like rocks colliding rang out. In the next instant, Ban was pushed far back, his sword planted in the ground. Urong grinned.
"That all you got?"
"...You're the one bleeding from your hands, yet acting so relaxed."
"Scratches like this? Nothing. Hey, strongest in the third year. If you're challenging me, show us something cool. Make it entertaining for the audience, right?"
Urong shrugged. Blood dripped from his hand, but as he said, it was just scratches. Ban frowned and gripped his sword tighter.
'...Brute force.'
Urong's move just now hadn't involved any profound insight or technique. He had grabbed the air and swung it like a fist. Ban's attacks, which had dominated from every direction—up, down, left, right—meant little against that greater storm.
It was embarrassing to even compare to Yeoryeong. And rightly so. Urong had surpassed his brothers to be considered the next clan head, one of the strongest in the Cho Clan by birthright.
'Was the illusion not the answer?'
He had tried responding to unblockable swords with more swords. But Urong rejected a battle of skill. Of course, if this turned into a war of attrition, Ban might have the edge. Accumulating even scratches would wear Urong down... and repeating those air-blasting punches wouldn't be easy.
But.
—What? You're not going to use me?
'I can't anymore.'
Ban replied bitterly to Yuri's voice. Right. If he kept chipping away at Urong's blood little by little... he might just seize victory in this spar.
But how could he? Against an opponent staring him down so intently...
A dagger appeared in one of Ban's hands, a broad dao in the other. He had planned to face him with the third sword... but to show everything, nothing was better than the second sword.
Urong's eyebrows shot up.
"Dual-wielding? You're pulling out the tricky stuff."
"It won't end at just tricky."
The strength of Swallow Chain wasn't merely endless combos. Every slash and thrust fully embodied the spirit of Cho Swordsmanship: 'power brought to its extreme.' Which meant he could throw everything he had into the clash.
He didn't want to beat Urong today. He didn't want to lose either, but what he truly wanted was... to show him. How much faster he'd become. How much stronger. How much he'd grown.
He assumed his stance. Dagger thrust forward, broad dao supporting from the side. Urong narrowed his eyes, half-clenched fist aimed at Ban. No punch had extended yet, no sword had flown... but the air between them already hummed, on the verge of tearing apart.
Who was it? A gulp from a throat unable to bear the tension echoed.
Ban and Urong charged at each other.
Sand flew up from the training ground. The occasional shockwaves from clashing forces made even the spectating students step back.
'...This strong?'
Shade bit his lip watching Ban. It was a sword influenced by Scorpion Sword, but Ban's was clearly superior to his own. No—more accurately, Ban was superior to Shade. Dividing swordsmanship into superior and inferior wasn't ideal, but...
This was almost the first time seeing Ban go all out like this. Against Shade, Yeoryeong, or Jeo, he hadn't fully unleashed everything. By then, after long spars, he had already analyzed his peers' styles thoroughly.
But Urong was different. Not someone he could handle with skill alone, nor did he want to. So today, it was clearer. How fast Ban's sword could become, how sharp.
"At that level... he could graduate right now and no one would bat an eye."
Some graduates muttered. As the strongest third-year, it made sense, but even accounting for that... Ban was strong.
Urong's fists were fast. Sometimes too fast for the eyes to track. And the power in those fists was even more terrifying. Enough to punch the air and fire it off like a projectile.
Yet Ban facing those fists showed no intimidation. He thrust his head right beside a fist while swinging, or met it head-on with his slender dagger alone.
The mere fact that the blade hadn't broken yet proved Ban's qi control was top-tier.
And above all, as time passed, Ban's sword began speeding up bit by bit.
It was the hallmark of Cho Swordsmanship. Harnessing even the rebound of a deflected blade to add speed. Soon, the sword reached velocities beyond what Ban's strength alone could produce; his body merely supported it. Deflect the sword, and another strike poured from a new angle. Just as a decisive blow seemed imminent, Ban's broad dao deflected it with impossible ease.
Everyone forgot to speak. They realized this wasn't a student-level bout. It was a clash between future pillars of the nation.
And at the end of that clash... there was no victory or defeat.
"Hah... hah..."
"...Ngh..."
Both Ban and Urong breathed heavily. They could still move a fingertip, but the fighting spirit in their hearts had long been spent. Ban chuckled.
"You're too much, senior... Going easy until the end..."
"...You're hiding power too... ngh... same as me."
It had to be that way. Any more, and it would have been a fight to the death. Ban shrugged. With his fighting spirit spent, his eyes held only undisguised satisfaction.
"Thank you, senior. For sparring with me..."
Urong smiled wordlessly. Fighting an underclassman on equal terms was no shame to him. Even in loss, he wouldn't see it as disgrace. Laziness might be a sin, but weakness wasn't.
"Monsters..."
Someone muttered, half in lament, half in self-mockery.
The duel that began at dawn under white sun ended as the sunset hid behind the mountains.
It stirred hearts, set pulses racing. Some lamented their lacking talent, others vowed busier tomorrows. And beyond all those thoughts was Ban. The one who charged without flinching at his senior, at an opponent who looked undeniably stronger.
The one who, with no blessings, clung desperately to a single sword and reached strengths once unattainable. When people looked at Ban, they saw a knight... a warrior... a swordsman.
The one once called Cho Clan's Ban was now called Five Swords of Ban.
Yes. Five Swords of Ban.
Five Swords of Ban.
That was the story.