Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Genius Divine Archer Who Became a One-Man Legion
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“Is this right?”
Along with Lian’s words, Dianal looked at the spear gripped in his hand.
It was reinforced by evenly distributed mana.
Seeing that, Dianal asked,
“Could you always do this?”
“No, it’s my first time.”
“Hmm… Not bad at all.”
Cases like this, where it was done all at once, were rare…
Dianal had to work to hide her surprise at how smoothly his mana flowed.
Dianal asked Lian,
“What’s your name?”
“Lian.”
“Good, Lian.”
Dianal nodded.
She was surprised by the better-than-expected performance, but she spoke flatly.
“Not bad for a first try… but overall, it’s still sloppy. That said, it seems like you’ll master this part quickly, so no need for separate training time.”
At the same time, Dianal drew up her aura and formed an aura blade.
Lian’s eyebrow twitched slightly at the sight.
‘…An aura blade.’
Of course, it was faint in form, but producing one meant he was a mid-level aura user.
A mid-level aura user, and a mercenary at that.
She was curious about his standing in the mercenary world.
But that wasn’t important right now, so Lian decided to ask Adelson later and focus on the training.
Lian asked Adelson,
“Why use an aura blade?”
“Impressive that you can distinguish between sword energy and an aura blade. Does seeing it scare you?”
“I think I can ask about the reason for the training method.”
Dianal let out a short laugh at Lian’s words.
“I’ll control my strength, so don’t worry. But… you’d better give it everything you’ve got. My training is close to real combat.”
Then she glanced somewhere before saying to Lian,
“Well… there’s a temple nearby, so losing an arm or something shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”
“…”
At his words, Lian silently gripped the spear tightly. Watching him, Dianal said,
“Then let’s begin.”
Thud!
With that, he kicked off the ground and charged at Lian.
Incredible speed.
In an instant, he closed in on Lian and swung his sword down from above without any finesse.
Boom-!
The moment Lian raised his spear to block the sword, a massive roar erupted.
Lian’s expression twisted slightly for a moment.
The palm gripping the spear had torn open.
‘Such… destructive power.’
For a moment, the mana infused in the spear wavered unsteadily. Dianal’s eyes flashed at that.
“If you can’t supply mana properly, your arm will fly off with the spear on the next attack. Give it everything!”
“Urgh!”
Training like this.
Was it because he came up from the bottom that his style was so unique?
‘Brutal bastard…!’
But there was no time to complain.
His sword was already coming from the side.
‘Danger!’
Every cell in his body screamed a warning.
That his attack was dangerous.
“Haa!”
Lian shouted and hurriedly kicked back, retreating.
The destructive power was too much to block consecutive attacks.
Whoosh-!
His sword, slicing through empty air, stuck to Lian like a magnet.
Flash!
Lian’s face twisted as Dianal instantly changed trajectory and thrust at his chest.
Swordsmanship without form.
It felt just like watching a well-trained barbarian warrior, akin to a beast of the wild.
Instinctively, Lian twisted his waist to dodge while moving his right hand to his waist.
‘Oh no!’
In the urgent situation, he had forgotten he was holding a spear.
Seeing Lian move his right hand as if drawing an arrow, Dianal yelled,
“What are you doing! Get your head in the game!”
Thud!
With a dull sound, his foot slammed into Lian’s abdomen.
“Gah-!”
Pain like his guts were twisting sent Lian crumpling to the ground.
He had taken a mana-infused attack head-on, so it was the natural result.
“Guh…!”
Lian, collapsed on the ground, couldn’t get up easily.
No, was it impressive that he hadn’t passed out?
‘Still, he’s decent.’
She had wondered what kind of guy this kid was, but… Adelson’s eye for talent was still sharp.
‘But he can’t push further today.’
He probably couldn’t even move.
Looking at Lian writhing on the ground, Dianal said,
“Next training tomorrow.”
Then Dianal turned away.
Self-reproaching herself for going somewhat seriously against a novice like this.
But,
“W-Wait… Cough!”
Before Dianal had taken a few steps, Lian’s voice came from behind.
Dianal stopped, unable to hide her surprised expression as she looked at Lian.
He had staggered to his feet and was aiming the spear at her again.
“Hoo… Hoo…”
Lian wiped the blood from his mouth and steadied his ragged breathing.
Then, looking at Dianal, he said,
“I got… distracted for a moment. Sorry.”
He gripped the spear straight and said to Dianal,
“Let’s… go again.”
‘…What is this tenacious bastard.’
At Lian’s sight, Dianal felt a chill run down her spine for a moment.
It was similar to that strange feeling she’d had on the battlefield…
Soon, Dianal raised her sword.
“Fine, let’s do it.”
Dianal swung her sword at Lian once more.
* * *
Adelson seemed quite pleased with the tea he had imported this time.
Savoring the fragrant aroma, he took a sip and wore a satisfied expression.
Unlike Adelson, Bex, sitting in front of him, had a somewhat dark look as he asked,
“Are you sure about this, Master?”
“About what?”
“You left Sir Lian with Dianal.”
At that, Adelson set down his teacup.
He knew what Bex meant by it.
But,
“Yes, it’ll be fine. I think Lian can gain something more from this.”
“But Dianal is…”
“That’s why I asked Sir Bex separately.”
“…Hoo, understood.”
Bex nodded lightly at Adelson’s words and promptly left the office.
Left alone, Adelson picked up his teacup again.
It felt a bit cooled, but it wasn’t bad this way.
“Lian…”
Thinking of Lian, who was probably getting beaten badly right now, Adelson wore a slightly apologetic, bitter expression.
* * *
Thud.
Dianal looked at Lian, who finally collapsed unconscious on the ground.
“…”
What a tenacious guy.
A truly tenacious guy.
Even in the mercenary world, crawling up from the bottom, she had rarely seen one like him.
Drip.
Dianal wiped the sweat trickling down her cheek without realizing, then flinched in surprise.
“Sweating against a kid like this…?”
Even giving him the benefit of the doubt, he was barely out of his teens.
And she had sweated against him?
“…No one would believe it.”
Muttering to herself, Dianal left Lian collapsed and headed into the barracks.
* * *
“Ugh…”
Lian, who had lost consciousness, let out a small groan and slowly opened his eyes.
He seemed to remember blocking the last attack…
‘But nothing after that.’
He had blacked out in one hit.
Then he sat up and looked around the room.
It was the lodging where the Hamel Merchant Group was staying.
Knock knock.
Just then, with a knock, Adelson entered the room.
“You’re awake?”
“Ah… Mr. Adelson. What happened?”
He was asking why he was here.
Adelson answered.
“I asked Sir Bex to watch over you until training ended.”
“Ah, so he brought me here…”
Nod.
“Yes, Sir Bex. And don’t worry about your wounds. A priest from the temple came by earlier.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Lian realize there was no pain in his body.
Lian let out a small sigh and bowed his head to Adelson.
“I’ve caused you trouble.”
“Trouble? Nonsense.”
Adelson waved it off.
“If anything, I feel bad for introducing you to him knowing this would happen.”
He gave a wry smile and said to Lian,
“He’s much better now than before, but he’s still pretty rough. From what I know, he started as a mercenary at ten years old.”
“Someone you’ve known a long time?”
“No, it’s been about seven years since we connected. I saved him when he was on the brink of death.”
Adelson recalled that memory.
Then he shook his head as if it still gave him chills.
“Ugh… I don’t know what I was thinking back then. Of course, looking back, it was the right call, but… it was reckless.”
“Sounds like quite the story.”
“It’s a long one, hahaha.”
Lian smiled faintly along with Adelson’s words.
Adelson continued,
“Since then, Dianal and I have stayed pretty close. Him settling in Bellotra is because of me, too. Whether that’s true or not, who knows.”
But the important thing was that he had climbed to mid-level aura user all on his own, without anyone’s help.
“He’s the closest thing to a genius that I know. His teaching methods are rough, but I think they’ll be effective.”
Thinking of Lian’s state when Bex carried him in right after training, he felt a bit sorry.
“If it’s too much, shall I find someone else?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“I figured you’d say that.”
Adelson smiled and stood.
“Then rest up; you must be tired.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“No trouble at all. Let me know if you need anything. You’re my most important guest.”
With that, Adelson left, and Lian let out a quiet breath.
‘Aura…’
Lian turned his gaze to the window and recalled what Dianal had taught him.
Operation, emission, and fixation.
He had somehow succeeded up to emission, but thinking about the next step, fixation, made his head spin.
He understood it in his mind, but couldn’t do it—that kind of feeling?
‘Don’t rush.’
Lian calmed himself.
Focus on what’s in front of him, one step at a time.
Lian got off the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor.
It was late at night, but sleep wouldn’t come.
No, reviewing today’s lesson was more urgent than sleep.
Whoooong.
Lian slowly circulated his mana and recalled the spar with Dianal.
What he lacked in their clash.
Imagining how to handle the next spar, he intensely visualized in his mind.
How much time passed?
Dawn was breaking outside the open window, the sun rising.
After closing his eyes for a long while, circulating mana and thinking of the spar, Lian slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.
“…Hooo.”
With the long breath, the moving mana stabilized and settled into place.
“Then, shall we go again.”
It was a spar full of shortcomings. But now he had a sense of what to add, how to do it.
One might hesitate after such a brutal first spar. But Lian’s steps toward Dianal held no hesitation.