Chapter 12: Auditore da Sicilia (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 12: Auditore da Sicilia (1)
When I arrived at the training ground, Chloe was already sitting on the platform, swinging her legs back and forth idly.
She was humming a cheerful tune, looking incredibly pleased about something. As I drew closer, she whipped her head around and waved at me brightly.
"Oh! Geomma-kun, you're here?"
"What, you're already here? It's not even seven-thirty yet."
"Ah, I just got here too!"
"Just now... What time?"
"Six-thirty..."
"Our appointment was for eight."
Instead of answering, Chloe scratched her head and gave an awkward smile. I let out a soft sigh and looked at her.
Her outfit was different from usual, clearly chosen with some effort. Similar to Abel a few days ago, she wore tights and a crop top, with a loose-sleeved tracksuit jacket thrown over them.
I hadn't noticed before because she always wore a baggy school uniform skirt, but seeing her like this, Chloe had surprisingly pronounced curves that didn't match her petite frame.
This is a rare sight.
The well-defined, firm abs on her stomach and the lean muscles visible through her tight-fitting leggings made me nod in understanding of why she was so strong.
When I stared at her for a while, Chloe covered her mouth with her sleeves, which hung down to her palms, and stole a glance at me. Her round eyes curved into subtle crescents.
She is cute, though.
Maintaining a calm expression, I handed her one of the wooden practice swords hanging from my waist. I had bought them at the school mart on sale for 30,000 won each, so they felt a bit light, but I didn't have any other options. Chloe took the wooden sword, stared down at it for a moment, and then spoke hesitantly.
"Weren't we going to use real swords?"
"Huh?"
Did I hear that right? This wasn't a life-or-death duel; what kind of crazy bastards train with live blades? No wonder she had that razor-sharp katana I'd seen before hanging at her waist. She was incredibly cute, yet she had a knack for giving me goosebumps in the most unexpected ways.
"It's just training. If we use real swords, we both risk getting seriously hurt. Let's stick to wooden swords for now."
"...So kind."
Chloe muttered in a barely audible whisper, then gripped the wooden sword in one hand and swung it through the air. Whoosh. Whoosh. A terrifying sound of slicing air echoed. Just how strong did her grip have to be to make a wooden sword make a sound like that?
Watching her quietly, I couldn't help but click my tongue in amazement. If Chloe swung with all her might, anyone's head would split open like a watermelon.
I wrapped both hands around the hilt. I had always held a sword with only one hand, so holding a longsword—even if it was just a wooden one—felt novel. Fortunately, it exceeded the required dimensions, so my blessing didn't activate.
Not bad.
Before we started sparring, I opened my Status Window for one final check.
Flash—
* * *
[Blessing of the Sword God]
If you cut, it will be severed.
◎ Body Rank: (2 ▶ 5) ▷ Sword dimension restrictions are eased.
◎ Mental Rank: 3 ▷ An intimidating presence is imbued into your words and actions.
◎ Armament Rank: 1 ▷ Unlock conditions have not been met.
☆ Synchronization Rate: 2%
★ 【 ? ? ? 】
[※ The blessing only activates when using a sword with a length of 32(+3) cm or less and a width of less than 6(+2) cm.]
* * *
Perhaps as a result of my consistent physical training, my Body Rank had risen to 5. Contrary to my expectations, the easing of the sword's dimension restrictions didn't seem to scale proportionally with the rank's value, making the progress feel somewhat slow.
Still, verifying my stat status was more important than the sword's dimensions, so this level of growth was quite satisfying.
But come to think of it, did blessings originally have these kinds of elements? While it was common for a blessing itself to upgrade based on proficiency, there were no cases I knew of where additional sub-elements like these were attached.
Furthermore, the text at the bottom filled only with question marks remained a mystery. Even now, with my physical body having grown to this extent, I couldn't get the slightest clue about it.
I'll need to look into this more.
As I stroked my chin, staring at the Status Window, Chloe approached hesitantly.
"...Um, Geomma-kun? Is something wrong?"
"Ah, sorry. Just a second."
As expected, Chloe couldn't see the Status Window. From her perspective, I must have just been staring blankly into space. Feeling bad for calling her over only to make her wait, I quickly closed the window.
"Shall we begin, then?"
"I look forward to sparring with you!"
"Likewise. Since it's our first time today, please go easy on me."
"Ah, yes!"
"I mean it. Really go easy on me."
We took large strides to put about twenty meters of distance between us. My plan was to learn everything with my body, from her initial leap to parrying her strikes.
Ever since my past life, I had always been a hands-on learner. Just as watching a video of gutting a fish a thousand times couldn't compare to slicing one open yourself.
I had long since realized that when mastering any skill, the physical sensation—the "feel" of it—was far more important than theory. My rapid adaptation to this academy was undoubtedly the product of the trial-and-error, head-first learning style I'd practiced since childhood.
Of course, this approach carried an overwhelmingly higher risk. But if you aren't willing to embrace that risk when trying to learn something, you will only fall behind.
If you stop at the stage of sacrificing your flesh and bones to become the best in a field, that's as far as you'll ever go. Only when you are prepared to carve away your entire physical being can you finally claim the title of the peak.
I swung my wooden sword to signal that I was ready, and Chloe responded with the same motion. I gripped the wooden sword tightly and narrowed my eyes. Even though it was just a mock battle, tension washed over me because this was my first fight without relying on my blessing.
Sweat slicked my palms.
My stance felt awkward.
Yet, the tip of my sword pointed precisely at my opponent.
As the atmosphere turned dead serious, her gentle smile vanished. The difference from before was that she hadn't lost her reason; instead, she wore the face of a proper, dignified martial artist.
A brief silence descended as we sized each other up.
The moment I closed and opened my eyes, Chloe kicked off the ground and lunged forward. Her red hair trailed behind her.
Swish—
Chloe closed the distance in just two strides. Whether it was her blessing or her innate strength, her speed was nothing short of phenomenal.
In the blink of an eye, her wooden sword thrust inward, aiming straight for my carotid artery.
Fuck, you said you'd go easy!
I tilted my neck just enough to let the tip of her sword slip past. The sharp whoosh of slicing air pierced my ears. Immediately after, Chloe swiftly tossed the sword to her other hand and swung it diagonally from bottom to top.
Clack!
Perhaps Chloe had adjusted her angle intentionally, because I was able to block it. To be precise, blocking was all I could do. Having parried just a single clash, my hands throbbed as if paralyzed, and cold sweat broke out on my forehead.
A chill ran down my spine. I couldn't afford even a split second of complacency.
Pivoting on her right foot, Chloe spun her body like a top, unleashing a barrage of consecutive strikes from all directions. A relentless shower of sharp sword thrusts targeted only my vital points.
It was fast and fierce.
Unbelievably fast, yet completely devoid of wasted movement. Her strikes relentlessly targeted a single spot on my wooden sword.
Crack—
Along with the sound of splintering wood, a hairline crack appeared on the sword I was using to block. Yet, Chloe's emotionless chain of attacks did not stop. Even in the midst of that, I barely managed to deflect and parry the continuous onslaught. If I allowed even a single hit to land, my spine would fold.
My breath caught in my throat.
Gritting my teeth, I tried to steady my ragged breathing.
Snap!
In the end, my wooden sword couldn't hold out and snapped in two.
"Ah! Oh no! I'm so sorry! I meant to go easy, but I..."
[The conditions for Armament have been met.]
Only then did Chloe snap out of it and hastily back away.
[An error has occurred due to the destruction of the Armament.]
Her figure gradually began to blur.
[Initiating user personality adjustment using the Counterforce.]
Bzzzt—
[Humanity Rank is decreasing.]
[Blessing of the Sword God — Lesser is activated.]
* * *
Chloe cried out Kang Geomma's name. However, for some reason, her voice didn't seem to reach his ears. Instead, the murderous intent rising from his pitch-black pupils engraved the realization that something was terribly wrong deep into her mind. Soon after, the night wind kicked up an ominous cloud of dust.
Whoosh!
Leaving a trail of light from his eyes, Kang Geomma lunged toward Chloe, his movements blurring into multiple heat-haze afterimages.
Instantly, his blunt, snapped wooden sword swung down, striking the wooden sword in her hands.
Crack!
Chloe reflexively braced the sword against her body, putting her weight into the block, but the sheer force of the impact lifted her feet off the ground and sent her flying sideways.
"Ugh...!"
A groan of pain escaped her lips.
Even though she had tensed her arm muscles, the shockwave of the impact vibrated all the way to her bones. A sharp, throbbing pain gouged through her entire shoulder.
The sudden, heavy blow threw off her center of gravity, and her unbalanced body tilted sideways.
Chloe used her wooden sword like a crutch to support herself. A tremor, like a spasm, quickly rippled through her entire body.
Only then did Chloe snap back to reality. She focused her wide, innocent eyes, forcing herself to secure her field of vision.
Even so, she couldn't completely stop her hands from trembling. Chloe felt a surge of terror at Kang Geomma's sudden transformation; his presence had shifted beyond mere seriousness, radiating a murderous intent so thick it felt tangible even through a wooden sword. There was no room for any other emotion to slip in.
At that moment, Kang Geomma extended his arm and threw the broken wooden sword like a cannonball. She twisted her waist to the right, letting the flying projectile slip past.
In the split second her fluttering reddish-brown hair obscured her vision—
At a speed she couldn't even react to, Kang Geomma's nose brushed against her forehead.
Just before Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, his blurring shoulder was reflected in her retinas.
Tap!
"...Huh?"
"Let's call it a day."
Her forehead tingled slightly. Kang Geomma smiled faintly and showed her his lightly clenched fist.
A forehead flick?
"Thanks for helping me practice. I'll head in first."
Kang Geomma ruffled Chloe's hair with a gentle pat, then turned around, waved a hand in farewell, and headed toward the exit of the training ground.
"..."
Chloe could only stare blankly at Kang Geomma's retreating back.
* * *
She had felt this since the class placement exam, but Geomma-kun's martial talent possessed a strangeness that went beyond mere strength. It was like a raw, unrefined instinct rather than technique.
Even though she had unconsciously activated all her blessings, she hadn't been able to match him. And that was against a broken, half-sized wooden sword.
Chloe fell into a brief moment of deep thought. Soon, she pressed her temples gently and let out a long sigh.
I knew he was strong, but...
She dragged her body, which was stiff with tension, and began to walk. The goosebumps on her spine refused to subside.
By the time Chloe nearly reached the threshold of the dormitory, a red-haired man was waiting for her, leaning his back against the building wall.
"You look like you're having fun, Chloe."
"Brother?"
A faint coldness seeped into Chloe's eyes. The man furrowed his brow and spoke coldly.
"Is hanging out with a lowborn bastard the best you can do after entering the academy?"
"...Don't talk about Geomma-kun like that."
Chloe's eyes narrowed sharply. A bead of blood welled up from her tightly bitten lip.
"So his name is Geomma."
"..."
"If you keep associating with him, the Auditore family will eliminate him."
A brief silence settled between them. Then, Chloe steadied her trembling body, her expression hardening as she spoke.
"Even if the entire Auditore family comes, they won't stand a chance against Geomma-kun."
With those final words, Chloe swept past him like a cold wind and entered the dormitory building.
"Geomma, is it?"