Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Sword That Splits Like Tofu
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‘Huh, does this even make sense?’
That was Damian’s thought.
Looking at Hae-jin and Anna, who were following along with his training, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was really reality.
It was inevitable.
Before starting the training, Damian had emphasized that the most important thing was ‘stamina’ and decided to test Hae-jin and Anna’s endurance first.
But when he actually ran the test, their stamina levels were so unbelievable that he couldn’t accept them as belonging to fellow humans.
Even he, who had trained his whole life to maintain his Holy Knight position over many years, or the best among his disciples who had begged him for training, would have dropped out of this stamina test.
Yet Hae-jin and Anna showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever during it.
If anything, they seemed even more energized?
In the end, Damian tried to keep going to see them tire out, but he ended up feeling more exhausted just from watching, so he stopped them.
“Alright, let’s stop there.”
“Hm? Why? I feel great.”
“You feel refreshed?”
“Yes!”
“Well, that’s amazing. Anna, you were never particularly strong in stamina.”
“You’re right.”
That was true.
Originally, Anna hadn’t been in great health.
She had become healthy upon awakening as a Player.
Many people were filled with complaints upon awakening as Players and being forced into the Survival Game.
Suddenly, one day, threats of unknown death loomed over them.
But not everyone was dissatisfied.
For those who had been in poor health and could have died at any moment even in normal times, the Survival Game was actually a blessing.
Awakening as a Player granted them health beyond what ordinary people could dream of.
Anna was the same.
The Anna Damian knew had been such a frail girl that one wondered if she even had any stamina.
Yet now, that same Anna was enduring stamina training that even veteran Holy Knights would dread if done in earnest.
Enduring it?
That wasn’t the right word.
She was coming out of it feeling refreshed, like she’d just gone for a stroll.
Having witnessed that, Damian realized something.
“Stamina training doesn’t seem to mean much for the two of you. In that case, shall we move straight to sword-and-shield techniques?”
“Sounds good.”
Hae-jin had felt it too.
Training to build Damian’s level of stamina?
It might be tough for an ordinary person.
But that was only for ordinary people.
For Players, whose stats far exceeded those of ordinary humans, it was meaningless.
Just look at Anna beside him—she was breezing through Damian’s stamina training with ease.
So he had been thinking.
That Damian’s stamina training was pointless for Players like themselves anyway.
Damian had realized it too, and now he was jumping straight into teaching his sword-and-shield arts, which was perfect.
In response to Hae-jin’s answer, Damian asked,
“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you’d learned to use my sword-and-shield style’s shield technique as a sword style?”
“That’s right.”
“Then how about a light test to see how well you can fight?”
“Let’s do it. What about weapons?”
If it was just to check his skills, shouldn’t they use wooden swords or something?
Damian replied,
“Do you have your own weapon?”
“I do. Players have something called an inventory where we store our items.”
“Oh, really? Then take it out. It’s better to train as if it’s real combat using the weapon you need to get used to anyway.”
“Got it.”
At Damian’s words, Hae-jin pulled out Joo-hyuk’s twin swords from his inventory.
Suddenly, two black swords appeared in Hae-jin’s empty hands.
It was an astonishing sight to Damian, who wasn’t a Player.
“Ho, that’s an impressive ability.”
“It’s something any Player can use. My weapon is ready.”
“Then I’ll grab mine from the house. I was thinking we’d do a stamina test today and train accordingly... but seeing you and Anna, that plan feels pointless.”
“Yes, I’ll wait.”
“Of course, Messiah.”
As he had said, Damian went back into his house.
Soon after, he emerged carrying the sword and shield he had used his entire life.
Seeing them, Hae-jin thought,
‘Hm, but can Damian’s sword and shield withstand this weapon?’
As long as he didn’t infuse it with aura, it should be fine.
Damian was an exceptional Holy Knight and a sword-and-shield master acknowledged by Joo-hyuk himself, so his sword and shield probably weren’t bad.
Damian, now holding his sword and shield, spoke.
“Shall we try a real combat-style spar then?”
“Understood.”
No sooner had Hae-jin answered than Damian moved swiftly.
“Hm?!”
Seeing Damian rush in quickly and attempt a thrust, Hae-jin pretended to be surprised but responded just as fast.
Cling! Clang-clang-clang-!
Normally, for a thrusting attack, you’d block with the flat of the blade or deflect it to the side.
But Hae-jin blocked Damian’s thrust with the edge of his sword facing it.
He met a blockable flat-on attack point-for-point with an edge.
Damian was stunned.
‘Blocking a thrust with the edge?’
That wasn’t all.
From Damian’s perspective, there was even more to be shocked about.
Right after Hae-jin blocked his thrust with his sword, something happened.
Damian’s sword split in half like tofu the moment it touched Hae-jin’s blade.
Because of that, they had no choice but to stop the spar.
Damian stared at his sword, its blade cleaved perfectly in two like tofu, wearing a bewildered expression.
“What in the world...”
Damian’s sword had been forged by a renowned European blacksmith.
It shouldn’t have a single nick under normal circumstances.
Yet it had split like tofu.
Seeing that, Hae-jin thought,
‘Ah, even without aura, the gap with divine-grade gear is too big, huh.’
Honestly, he’d thought that without infusing aura, Damian’s sword and shield wouldn’t break badly.
But he was wrong.
The moment the spar started, Damian’s sword became unusable.
In the end, they had to stop.
Damian couldn’t stop laughing.
“Hahaha...”
He had no words for the sight of his sword split like tofu.
He could only think,
‘Just what in the world is the Messiah’s sword made of?’
That was all that came to Damian’s mind—truly the Messiah.
Why?
Because Damian had firmly believed his sword was second to none in the world.
He had even planned to bequeath it, upon his death, to the most outstanding disciple guarding the Papal Citadel.
But now, that will was meaningless.
He had no sword left to pass on.
Damian, now swordless, said,
“I suppose I’ll need to get some wooden swords.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Against the Messiah’s weapon, I don’t think I can do much.”
His own sword had split like tofu.
No matter what sword he brought, sparring against Hae-jin’s would be impossible.
So Damian decided they’d use wooden swords for the spar.
If weapons split like tofu just from touching Hae-jin’s sword, there was no point in sparring.
Hae-jin asked about that,
“Should I go get some wooden swords for the spar then?”
Joo-hyuk had told him anyway.
To learn twin sword techniques based on Damian’s sword-and-shield style.
He hadn’t ignored Hae-jin’s experience wielding a greatsword fiercely, but since the weapon type had changed, he needed to adapt.
So if he could learn Damian’s sword-and-shield arts, he wanted to do it as soon as possible.
But Damian said there was no rush today, so let’s start tomorrow.
“I can handle that. How about we call it for today? It’s still early, so it’ll take time to procure them.”
It wasn’t even quite morning yet.
Rushing around to get wooden swords at this hour would be awkward.
Hearing Damian, Hae-jin asked,
“Should I come back this afternoon then?”
“I think starting training at cock’s crow would lose its meaning if we break the flow.”
Honestly, Hae-jin didn’t get it.
What was the point of starting training at cock’s crow?
But Damian was the teacher.
If the teacher said so, then that was that.
Based on Damian’s words, Hae-jin said,
“So we’re postponing training to tomorrow.”
“That’s right. Or are you in a hurry?”
“No, nothing urgent.”
The second trial had just ended.
There was plenty of time until the third trial.
No rush at all.
Seeing Hae-jin’s reaction, Damian said,
“Then I’ll prepare equipment for you and Anna to use, and we’ll meet again tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
And so the first day of training ended with Damian’s sword splitting like tofu.
The next day arrived.
Hae-jin transported to Damian’s house ten minutes earlier than yesterday.
And he could see it.
The empty training ground clearing.
Seeing that, Hae-jin chuckled.
‘Commands work best after all.’
Neither Damian, who was supposed to wait from an hour ago, nor Yohan, who said he’d arrive an hour early, was visible in the clearing used as the training ground. It seemed his instructions yesterday about the ‘command’ had taken effect perfectly.
He was satisfied.
Thus, the agreed meeting time approached.
Ten minutes before 3:30.
Hae-jin saw it.
Three people emerging from Damian’s house next to the clearing.
Seeing that, Hae-jin thought,
‘These guys... I told them there’s no need to wait an hour early, but they’ve been holed up in there?’
They must have avoided being late compared to Hae-jin because of the ‘command’ he’d given, so they hadn’t waited in the clearing.
The three who came out of Damian’s house greeted Hae-jin.
“You’ve arrived, Messiah.”
“We got here early, so we were at Damian’s house.”
“Nice to see you, Hae-jin.”
Damian, naturally coming out of his own house.
Yohan, who had arrived first but insisted he hadn’t broken the command.
And Anna, greeting him.
Hae-jin greeted the three as well.
“Yes, good to see you. Are those the training items you brought out?”
The three from Damian’s house.
Anna was holding a wooden sword and shield, Damian the same. And Yohan held two wooden swords.
Yohan handed the two wooden swords he was holding to Hae-jin.
“Yes, exactly. These are the wooden swords for you, Messiah.”
“Thank you.”
Hae-jin took the two wooden swords from Yohan.
Seeing them, Hae-jin was quite surprised.
“These are...”
He couldn’t help it.
The wooden swords were shaped exactly like the twin swords he had shown off yesterday.
Damian smiled as Hae-jin recognized it.
“That’s right. We modeled them after the twin swords you showed us the day before. Since we can’t go full combat, we wanted to capture the feel at least.”
“I see. I’ll use them well—thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s only natural for me to prepare these for the Messiah. How’s the grip?”
Damian asked about the grip on the wooden swords he had made himself.
Surprisingly, Hae-jin found the grip similar to his usual twin swords and was impressed.
With a satisfied expression, he told Damian,
“It’s good.”
At Hae-jin’s reaction, Damian asked,
“Then shall we do the spar we missed yesterday right now?”