Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Training
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“An exchange meet…”
After today’s training, Iodine explained the exchange meet that would be held in thirteen days. And her worries along with it.
I understood her anxiety, her fear of tarnishing Grand Duke Laitena’s name.
But honestly, for me…
‘Like I care?’
It’s not like Laitena is my real master.
Of course, it wouldn’t be pleasant. Having a bunch of nobodies judging me this way and that. If anything, I’d rather put them in their place so they couldn’t say a word.
But it was questionable whether I’d even still be in this past by then…
In any case, I only had one interest right now.
‘Entrusting Sword.’
Ah, the vast world of ancient swordsmanship.
Today, I had witnessed the Entrusting Sword I had only ever heard of.
‘To think she could escape that situation and even launch a counterattack.’
It was the moment I was about to land the decisive blow after a meticulous setup.
I had constantly engaged in psychological warfare to limit Iodine’s options, playing with the tempo to push her to her limit.
She finally tried to overcome the crisis with the one move she was most confident in… and that was the very moment I had been waiting for.
‘It was like the sword was alive.’
The moment I saw Iodine’s diagonal slash, I swung the counter I had prepared.
I was sure of my victory, but Iodine’s sword moved on its own, as if alive, and parried my ultimate strike.
That sword, lunging out as if it had known all along.
*Shudder.*
Just thinking about it now gives me chills.
And so, I couldn’t sleep tonight either.
Tonight is for training!
Unlike yesterday, I drew Vanroah.
Yesterday I trained with a cheap iron sword; today I planned to train with a legendary blade.
Each had its pros and cons.
When pioneering a new realm, a famed sword that allows for easier communion is better. When meticulously honing a path already walked, a cheap sword that makes communion difficult is better.
Today, I train with a new realm as my goal.
By ancient standards, the realm of an intermediate Expert, beyond the lower level.
Body Sword.
“Hooo…”
I slowly swung the sword.
*Swoosh— Whoosh—*
I focused on feeling Vanroah.
First, the external aspects.
Its weight. Its shape, texture, sound, curvature, center of gravity. I feel and absorb everything.
Understanding it, wielding it freely, I gradually, little by little, approached its soul.
*Shing—*
*Sleeng—*
Slowly, a sharp sound began to leak from the tip of my swinging blade.
Then,
*Wooooong—*
I finally felt a faint vibration from it.
‘That’s it. It’s okay. You can do it.’
As if dancing with a partner, as if extending a hand to a small animal, I carefully and gently approached Vanroah’s Sword Spirit.
‘Show me. The reason you were born into this world. The will you harbor.’
*Wooooong—*
A haze shimmered at the sword’s tip.
I communed with the Sword Spirit even more gently, trying to draw the sword’s will into my body.
Body Sword was a method ancient swordsmen, who couldn’t directly handle Aura, used to strengthen their bodies.
At first glance, it might seem useless to me, who could already handle Aura, but my thoughts were different.
‘When I combined Sword Aura and Sword Ki, I was able to create a phenomenon that looked like a Grand Master’s Soul Blade. So what would happen if I combined the sword’s energy and Aura inside my body?’
Is this how I take one step at a time toward the realm of a Grand Master?
Well,
If so, great. If not, even better.
If this is the path of a Grand Master, I would be joining the ranks of the superhumans, of whom there are not even ten in the entire world…
‘And if it’s not, then I’ll be equipped with a completely new weapon that surpasses even those superhumans.’
Honestly,
Does it matter?
That such a lofty realm exists, with only the sword, without Aura…
Under the white, shining moonlight, I swung my sword again and again.
A certain sage once claimed,
That the moon and stars were, in fact, unimaginably far away.
He climbed the highest mountain in the world, measured the size of the moon, and said,
Even having climbed this high, I can feel no difference in the moon’s size. The moon is truly far away.
Because I saw you every day,
I failed to recognize your vastness.
The feeling the sword gave me now was exactly like that.
The sword, which I always carried, like the moon I always saw.
And because of that, I never knew.
What a distant realm was hidden within it.
I had spent my life focusing only on Aura, which seemed more special.
*Woong—*
*Woong—*
Vanroah trembled minutely in my hand.
Suddenly, I remembered.
The countless days I fought, sword in hand.
Come to think of it, the sword had often cried out like this before.
I just hadn't paid attention, so it had passed me by.
The sword had always been by my side, fighting with me, speaking to me.
Only now do I realize.
‘So that’s how it was. You were always by my side. You. You always spoke to me. It’s not that we’ve only just met… it’s that I’ve only just turned to look at you. You, who were always beside me.’
The expressions Iodine and the knights showed today.
Those faces, stunned by my sudden improvement.
I thought I finally understood why.
For me, ancient swordsmanship wasn't about learning something new.
It was merely the process of realizing it was already beside me.
That’s why it happened.
*Dong— Dong— Dong—*
How long had I been swinging my sword?
A bell rang.
Eleven at night, marking the end of the day.
A brief moment when all the lights illuminating the city are turned off to offer a prayer of thanks for the god’s blessings that fill the world.
*Fwoosh—*
In an instant, darkness descended upon Glowingsteel, which had been brightly lit by magic lights.
The sky, which had been hazy with the city’s glow, became as dark as a deep well.
“Ah…”
As the world darkened, the hidden stars were revealed.
Starlight blooming in all directions around the shattered “Broken Moon.”
Stars.
Always there, but hidden by the bright lights of the earth.
Stars that might burn brighter than anything else in the world, but simply because they are too far…
So far away,
That they are hidden by the lights of a single city.
But in reality, a world vast enough to cover the sky, unfathomably bright and distant.
Now I understand.
The sword, always overshadowed by Aura, was just like the stars.
*Woooooong—*
Vanroah cried out.
Following its vibration, a resonance was etched deep within me.
A sensation of being sharpened, like a single sword.
My body becoming hard, flexible, and precise, just like the famed sword Vanroah.
“Ah…”
I thought the Aura flowing through my body was powerful… but now I know that was wrong.
A framework being erected amidst the Aura flowing through my body.
Before accepting the sword’s energy, my Aura was like a boneless octopus or squid.
*Fwoooosh—*
If someone were to see me now, they would think I was like a single sword.
Just like the ominous feeling I got when I first saw the cult leader that day.
So this,
Is the realm of Body Sword.
***
After I reached the realm of Body Sword, Iodine’s face brightened considerably.
I could feel the relief, as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
The days passed, each one spent training with the sword.
Every day was fulfilling.
One day, two days, ten days passed.
It was around the time I had become quite accustomed to using Body Sword.
That day, I was heading to the training grounds early in the morning when the atmosphere in the castle felt strange.
“Lord Celsius is here?”
“Of all times, when the Grand Duke is away…”
“He came because he knew he was away. Dammit. Why would the Grand Duke… that man…”
“Shh. He’s still the Grand Duke’s blood relative. Watch your mouth.”
Lord Celsius?
He seemed to be a high-ranking relative of the Grand Duke… but the atmosphere was anything but welcoming.
I soon found out why at the training grounds.
“Hahahaha! Even the renowned Horizon Knights are nothing special! How can you serve Laitena like this!”
He was a man with fat in his voice, his cheeks and belly plump.
With his head balding, he had taken off his shirt and was strutting around the wide training grounds as if it were his own living room, his belly jiggling.
A knight, who seemed to have just lost a duel against him, retreated with his face flushed red.
The members of the Horizon Knights, gathered in a circle, wore expressions full of discontent.
“Is that five wins in a row? Well! Next opponent, step up!”
No one came forward.
“Hahahaha! Are the great Horizon Knights scared? You were so arrogant, saying no when I asked to see the treasure Laitena brought back. But when I ask to see your skills, you’re nothing but a bunch of cowards!”
Every single word was meant to provoke.
The knights bristled.
“Lord Celsius. Then I shall be your opponent.”
Disgusted by the spectacle, the captain, Brook Denar, finally stood up, his large frame rising.
But the man called Lord Celsius shook his head.
“Haha. No, no. The captain is the pride of the Horizon Knights. I should protect that. Hahaha!”
His tone was as if he could win but was letting him off.
But no matter how I looked at it, there was no way that pig could even withstand a single strike from Brook.
‘The upper end of an Expert, perhaps?’
The presence he exuded was much stronger than the cult leader’s or Iodine Serom’s, but that was about it.
It was a difference in quantity, not quality.
As proof,
“Lord Celsius! Then I shall learn a lesson from you.”
“Isn’t your specialty swift sword techniques? I use a heavy sword, so a swift swordsman like you has nothing to learn from me.”
“Then I will…!”
“Ah, come on. The familiar faces are so boring. Isn’t there anyone fresh?”
“You have never crossed swords with me…”
“Are you all this cowardly! If this is how it is, why don’t you just entrust that treasure to me?! You don’t seem to have the skill to protect it anyway!”
The bald man would make up ridiculous excuses to avoid duels whenever high-ranking knights, known to be at the peak of the Expert class, issued a challenge.
And yet he ran his mouth off.
Strong against the weak, weak against the strong.
His eyes gleamed as he searched only for members he was sure he could beat.
I couldn’t help but frown.
“Lansen. It’s not good to catch that man’s eye. Let’s go to the training grounds outside the castle today…”
Iodine, who had approached me at some point, whispered in my ear.
For Iodine, who always valued etiquette, to use the phrase ‘that man’…
“Who is he, anyway? Lord Celsius? I heard he’s a relative of my master…”
“That is correct. Lord Kashigiere Celsius. He is the master’s older brother. But his conduct is not exactly upright… he is someone to be avoided within the knight order.”
Hoh… so the Grand Duke had a scoundrel for an older brother?
He certainly seemed like someone I shouldn’t get involved with.
I glanced at him and was about to turn away when his greasy voice was directed at me.
“Hm? Wait. You! Russell? No, was it Lansel? It’s you, isn’t it! The one Laitena took as a disciple!”
Iodine, who had been trying to get me away, squeezed her eyes shut.
I slowly turned back around.
Lord Kashigiere, his eyes wide, stomped toward me.
“Y-You…! You ill-mannered brat! Where did you learn such disrespect, not to greet your master’s brother! This is why commoners are…!”
Ah, this is already a headache.
I shook my head inwardly but maintained a polite exterior, bowing my head.
“My apologies, my lord. I saw you were in the middle of an important duel and thought to leave quietly so as not to disturb you, but it seems I have committed a great offense.”
“Even your excuse is utterly vulgar. Honestly… what on earth is Laitena thinking? Taking some unidentified vagrant as a disciple this time? Before it was an orphan girl…”
Wow.
Now I definitely see why Iodine called him ‘that man.’
With a single sentence, he managed to be disrespectful to the Grand Duke and heap scorn on both me and Iodine.
‘Annoying…’
Roverland, the lawless continent. I was nominally a vassal to a count, but in reality, I had built my temper by clashing with thugs and bandits. That temper was starting to stir.