Breaking Point: Ki Awakens
3 o'clock came around. I trudged up the hill behind the academy, feeling like a pig being dragged to the slaughterhouse. All around, I could hear the whoosh of magic surging into the air—frantic shouts from mages, the clash of steel on steel. The air trembled with mana. This was the combat training zone behind the academy: vast flat plains stretching dozens of kilometers, divided into narrow battlefields, mid-sized training areas, and wide-open zones. At the edges of each section, sharpened swords were stabbed into the ground, and tall towers stood at regular intervals, manned by safety personnel ready for any mishaps.
"Oh! You made it!"
Noel stood in the middle of one of the wide zones. In her right hand, a slender rapier; in her left, a jagged dagger with teeth like a shark's.
"Real swords for real?" I grumbled, tossing my bag into a corner. Then I grabbed a longsword with a razor-sharp edge. It was way heavier than I'd expected.
"Worried about me?"
No, she was the one worrying about me.
"No need. Just so you know, I'm pretty strong?"
"I know."
I answered while loosening my stiff muscles with some light stretches. Royalty, earls, dukes—the academy admitted only the cream of the crop from the nobility. A commoner who'd squeezed through that tiny needle's eye, with just 100 spots a year.
"No idiot ignores a commoner who made it into a noble academy."
"Glad you get it!"
That slender rapier was a noble's sword. Crafting and maintaining one wasn't easy. And the jagged dagger in her other hand? Made to parry and shatter an opponent's blade.
She's properly trained in swordsmanship.
It might actually be a good thing. I'd never held a sword in my life before enrolling. If I had to learn, better from someone who'd walked the elite path.
"Alright! Shall we dance?"
Noel pressed the hand holding her rapier to her chest and shouted. Her face lit up with pure joy at the chance to swing a blade again.
"Dance? Overkill much."
I thought that as I stomped my foot.
The duel between the Crown Prince and Ram two days ago had played out under hugely favorable conditions for Ram. He'd already gauged the prince's strength. The weapon was limited to wooden swords for the swordless noble, with a simple win condition: just touch a vital spot.
But above all, the Crown Prince had no idea about Ram's greatest weapon—his speed.
Whoa, he's seriously fast.
Noel, standing before Ram now, had somewhat anticipated his absurd speed.
Just barely visible afterimages.
Ram was fast. Knowing that, Noel had spent every liberal arts class brainstorming strategies for this very duel.
Focus on the afterimage's shoulder movements. His grip isn't that of a skilled swordsman.
Beyond the faint afterimage, she saw his shoulder twitch.
Aiming for my left ribs.
Noel tilted her dagger to block the invisible strike. Steel clashed, red sparks flew.
Flat of the blade?
Ram held his sword reversed.
"Doesn't matter if you cut me—I've got mana armor on."
Noel grimaced, pride a bit bruised, and swung her dagger. Ram's sword shattered along its path. At the same time, she pommel-struck his gut with her rapier.
Ram's body tumbled dozens of meters. Dust billowed.
"You'll pay for underestimating me...!"
He righted himself instantly, bursting from the dust cloud. Even the dust couldn't keep up.
Instinctive dread made Noel backpedal. The broken sword's flat grazed her throat. If it hadn't snapped, she'd have been in danger.
"Feisty! Let's heat things up—"
Before she could finish, Ram vanished from sight again.
Behind me.
Noel whipped her rapier backward with all her might, half-chopping, half-smashing.
Oh shit.
Only an afterimage lingered behind her. He'd circled fully and charged from the front.
Thud!
"Ah!"
A light impact on Noel's crown. She whipped around to see Ram pommel-smashing her head.
"Easy now, you trying to kill me?"
Ram's uniform was torn in places as he stood there.
Way faster than I thought. 30 minutes to adapt? Nah, an hour at least.
"...Again!"
And so the duel between Noel and Ram Artel dragged on until sunset.
Sunset warmed my back. No clue how long we'd been at it. From 3 until dusk—about four hours?
This is insane.
Broken swords littered the ground. My body was scratched up and filthy; Noel's uniform looked fresh from the laundry.
"Done already? I haven't even broken a sweat!"
Noel had adapted to my speed at a terrifying rate. In the first bout, chasing afterimages seemed impossible. By the second and third, she clumsily tracked me. From the fifth, I was dancing to her tune.
"Hoo..."
My nasal passages were parched; every breath hurt. Arms and legs quivered—I couldn't run much more.
"Scary how you hit that speed without mana."
Noel tapped her chest with her rapier hand and assumed position.
"Enhancing your body with mana? Being nice so I can't even chase afterimages? My eyes are fully adapted now—no need for pity!"
It's not that I won't—it's that I can't.
"This time, let's go all out!"
This damn academy treated mana use like breathing. You lot are the blessed ones.
Irritation leaked from the back of my skull. I hurled the broken hilt. It clanged against scattered sword fragments.
"Oh."
I drew a deep breath and clenched my fist hard.
Better than flailing a sword half-assed.
"Finally going serious?!"
Noel grinned wide, sheathing her jagged dagger. She swung her empty left hand behind her back.
If the book’s right, this is the key moment.
The power generated by the body through extreme tempering and training.
Normally gained through prolonged meditation and contemplation, but here's how to awaken it quickly.
When the body reaches a certain realm, it naturally stores this special power, ki, in the dantian.
Fragments of sentences from the book Professor Lien gave me swirled in my head. That slob—pure 100% wastrel, chugging booze in broad daylight on campus—said my body had reached that realm. Senior professor or not, he wouldn't lie.
Push your body to the brink where it can't endure without using the hidden power in your dantian.
What if it doesn't work?
If no ki resides in your dantian, you'll die. Not recommended...
Damn it. Should've forgotten that part.
Have faith.
19 years, every day without fail—11 hours of training. Rain, snow, guests be damned, I ran. Now, I had to trust it wouldn't betray me.
No time for waterfall meditations over decades.
Stuck with this trash romance fantasy's protagonists. No daily explosive growth, and my life's on the line. To survive, get stronger.
Collapse from exhaustion today, or get swept in the coming events.
Or... get filthy strong, so threats avoid me.
"Hoo..."
I dragged my barely-walking body toward Noel. Instinct screamed to stop, but I shoved the noise to the back of my mind.
One step. Another.
Vision spun, body quaked in pain. Thud. Thud. Heart about to burst. Lungs screaming.
As the world blackened...
"..."
Suddenly, breathing eased. The blackening world flushed red with sunset. Tremors halted. Everything sharpened, slowed.
My brain realized: untapped energy remained.
Just recognizing it shattered my world.
Thrill exploded from my heel, flooding me.
"Looking good?!"
Thud! Thud! That grating heartbeat now thrummed like a sweet drum.
It surged. Euphoria near suffocation, electric liberation tingling everywhere.
"Let's go!"
Excited Noel's face sharper than ever.
"Yeah," I said, clenching my fist. "Let's."
My leg slammed the ground. Each step cratered like a meteor; dust walls rose in my wake. The massive sonic boom struggled to catch my back.
Scattered blade shards whipped away like in a storm. Uniform glowed red from air friction; cold sweat evaporated mid-flight.
Fatigue, pain, gazes—all lagged behind.
Noel mouthed something. Looked like a curse.
My fist slammed her gut. Her slim frame rocketed like a bullet along the arc.
I stopped. Sounds returned.
"Fucking insane,"
As expected, Noel cursed. The sonic boom finally hit.
Screeeee—! Ears overwhelmed, tinnitus took over.
"Faster than I imagined..."
A slender rapier pierced the massive dust cloud. Blood trickled from Noel's mouth—mana armor hadn't fully blocked it.
"This is beyond imagination?!"
She poured mana into the blade, bellowing.
"Get ready—my turn now!"
The tip flashed like lightning.
"On your mark..."
And—
Snap.
"Ah, wha—?!"
Consciousness sucked into black abyss.
"Hey?! You can't just beat the crap outta me and pass out!"
How the hell does she have that voice volume?
"Hey, you! You sneaky little...!"
Even unconscious, that shrill tone rang crystal clear.