22
22 - Déjà Vu
Rona looked at the broken sword with an expression of disbelief. Half of the blade had cleanly snapped, reducing its weight by half.
'My sword broke? Not Jin-woo's sword, but mine?'
As a knight, she had sparred with many other Elf knights. However, never once had her sword broken during a sparring match.
For that to be possible, there would need to be a considerable difference in skill between opponents, and while there were knights stronger than her, there were none with such a skill gap that they could break her sword.
But to think it would break in one strike against Jin-woo's sword...
Of course, she hadn't used all her strength like during sparring with other knights, nor had she used spirits.
But even if it was pure swordsmanship, it was shameful.
'Ugh.'
Perhaps that's why her face flushed hot.
No matter how much she favored Jin-woo, losing in sword sparring was a separate matter.
After her family fell and she became an orphan, she had earned her knight's title solely through desperately honed swordsmanship.
Having pride in her sword, she felt both ashamed and wanted to show Jin-woo a magnificent display with the swordsmanship she had trained so hard...
"Oh, sorry. I didn't break it on purpose."
Perhaps misunderstanding her embarrassed expression, Jin-woo apologized. That apology made Rona's body burn even hotter.
"Let's do it again."
"Do you have another sword? If not, I'll lend you one, no, I'll just give you one."
As Jin-woo tried to take out an iron sword from his inventory, Rona raised her hand to stop him.
"I also carry a few swords in my inventory pouch. But let's do it like this."
"Like this, you mean with the broken sword?"
"Yes."
Driven by pointless stubbornness, she faced off against Jin-woo with the broken sword. Jin-woo blinked and spoke innocently.
"The intact sword broke, but with a broken sword..."
But those words scratched at her pride even more. Jin-woo had said it out of genuine curiosity, but still.
Rona's figure vanished in an instant and appeared above Jin-woo's head. Jin-woo deflected her sword with a similar sensation as before.
Clang-!
'Huh?'
Jin-woo was surprised. It was completely different from before. Earlier, her sword that clashed with his had broken and flown away, but this time the impact transmitted to his hand was different.
Faster than before, and heavier.
'Where did this kind of power come from...!'
Rona's sword swept in consecutive strikes, pressing Jin-woo hard.
Jin-woo relied purely on instinct and intuition to block the sword moving at a speed that was overwhelming just to watch. In a balance that would collapse with one wrong move, Jin-woo continued his mad tightrope walk.
To think she could do this much with a broken sword - just how much had she been holding back until now?
Clang-!
This time, Jin-woo's sword flew away. The white gem sword he had received from Rona soared high into the sky and fell behind his back.
Perhaps because it was a treasured sword, it didn't break, but he had still lost his grip on the sword.
In that brief moment, his eyes met Rona's. Those eyes were asking whether to end this match here or try the next move.
At the moment their eyes met.
A shadow-wrapped fang dagger was already in Jin-woo's hand, shooting toward her neck.
Thud.
Of course, Rona caught his wrist and blocked it. The dagger stopped without cutting even a single hair on her neck.
"Whew! Not easy, right?"
Rona released Jin-woo's wrist holding the dagger and exhaled.
'This time was okay, right?'
Still, this time was okay, Rona praised herself. It seemed she had at least saved face.
Was barely saving face against a swordsman who only roamed the 1st Floor really appropriate... She tried to erase such thoughts from her head.
"Definitely not easy. That was my ace in the hole."
"Don't tell me you dropped your sword on purpose?"
"Not that, but I was thinking to quickly draw a dagger and stab if such a situation occurred."
"A spirit that never gives up until the end! Very good. It's an essential spirit for a swordsman."
Receiving praise, Jin-woo didn't feel bad either. He had lost, but losing was natural.
"Shall we go one more time? Or should we review?"
"Let's review. One match and one review."
Rona said that just sparring mindlessly wasn't a very efficient training method. What would improve from that was only reflexes or impromptu gambling moves.
That wasn't learning swordsmanship, but learning how to fight.
Swordsmanship was something more substantial than had to be built up step by step.
'Right, this kind of teaching was what I needed.'
It was the teaching that struck a chord with Jin-woo. Taking the opportunity, he poured out all the thoughts and questions he had while swinging his sword alone, and received answers.
Rona didn't give clear answers to those questions. She presented her opinion, then presented the complete opposite counterargument to that opinion, and then refuted that again.
In this way, she layered sword theories several times to derive more optimal conclusions and various possibilities.
It was an approach Jin-woo could never have thought of alone.
"You're smarter than I thought?"
"I'm sharp when it comes to swords. You know that. My swordsmanship works even on the 5th Floor, right?"
Saying it that way made it very convincing. Swordsmanship that worked even on the 5th Floor.
Listening to Rona's words, what he had been swinging instinctively and sensually until now became organized at once.
"Wait a moment."
Asking for understanding, Jin-woo sat down on the gravel and closed his eyes.
As if it were natural, Rona didn't disturb Jin-woo and stepped back one pace.
Under her protection, Jin-woo fell into his own world inside his head.
It wasn't some new enlightenment. He was just examining all the swordsmanship up to now.
From when he first awakened until now, he looked back on every sword he had swung and applied the sword theories he had heard from Rona.
All the swords he had swung so much came to mind. It was so natural that he didn't even think it strange that he remembered them all.
After recalling them all, his thought was that, unexpectedly, his swordsmanship hadn't deviated greatly from theory.
'I just swung it, but it's almost close to the correct answer?'
Certainly, they were swords swung purely by instinct, only sensually. Yet those swords hadn't strayed far from the correct answer.
There were slightly different parts, but even those different parts didn't feel like wrong answers.
Rather, he even thought that in those parts, his instinct was more correct than Rona's sword theory.
Was he simply falling into self-intoxication and making a misjudgment? He didn't need to wonder alone. He could just ask about what he didn't know.
The distinction between what he knew and didn't know was finished. Jin-woo opened his eyes and exhaled.
"Whoooo..."
His eyes were clear. His mind was sharp and refreshed, feeling like he had woken up after sleeping soundly for several hours.
No, the sky had actually darkened. Certainly, the sun had been at its zenith just earlier.
"What, how much time passed?"
"About 7 hours."
"That long? Were you here the whole time?"
"Yes. It would be dangerous to leave you alone."
It was surprising that 7 hours had passed when it felt like he had just closed and opened his eyes, but he was also surprised at Rona, who had watched over him without leaving his side for even a moment.
"I feel a bit sorry."
"Sorry for what. When a novice swordsman gains enlightenment, as a senior, I should properly watch over them."
"It's not something grand like enlightenment... Rather, I just gained a lot more things I don't know."
"That's proof you gained enlightenment."
Enlightenment doesn't end with awakening to answers. The path of the sword has no end, so when you learn one thing, two questions naturally arise.
The process itself of endlessly throwing up questions, getting answers, and throwing up questions again is the process of awakening to swordsmanship.
"It's similar to the circulation of souls, right? Spending a lifetime searching for the meaning of life, then returning to death and being born again as a new existence to find new meaning."
"..."
"The discipline of the sword is no different, and if you endlessly raise your level, it's said that the soul escapes the cycle of circulation and reaches the realm of spirits."
Well, spirits are only talked about in old stories, she added.
Reaching the realm of spirits through the sword. It sounded like talking about cultivating the Way to become an immortal.
Jin-woo looked at her as if surprised. The girl who always went around giggling and laughing now looked as smart as a university professor.
"You're really smart?"
"I told you so. Knights are also scholars who explore the sword."
Come to think of it, even athletes, despite the perception that they only use their bodies, are all smart people.
Thinking about it, when exploring the most complex organ that is the human body, there was no way one could be stupid.
'This is trouble. I'm not smart.'
He became worried for no reason. Since childhood, he had been a stupid student who had never been in the upper half of his class ranking.
Learning the sword wasn't that difficult yet, but would his head start hurting more and more as he progressed...
Well, he'd think about future matters when the time came.
"I'm sorry for making you wait 7 hours, but could I ask one more favor?"
"If you're saying one more match, I like it."
"We're on the same wavelength."
Watching Jin-woo dust himself off and stand up, Rona smiled contentedly. She had expected this from the moment he fell into meditation.
After exploring the mental world that deeply, there was no way his body wouldn't be itching for action.
"I'll use an intact sword this time."
Putting away the broken sword, Rona drew and held a new sword.
***
The sword Bulkar had been making was completed.
It was a sword with a very beautiful pale sky-blue blade that looked like flowing water surface in some ways.
Actually, since water surfaces being blue and the sky being blue are both due to light scattering, it wasn't wrong to say so.
"Wow..."
Jin-woo let out a sincere exclamation. The sky sword Bulkar had made for him had a beauty that made one stare blankly. It seemed he could just stare at it for hours.
'But it doesn't feel like a decorative piece at all.'
The beauty Jin-woo spoke of wasn't the beauty of fancy ornaments or jewels. Beyond decoration, he was captivated by the functional beauty it possessed as a 'sword'.
When he first saw the white gem sword Rona gave him, he felt something similar, and this sky sword was the same.
'I had this kind of hobby. Should I try collecting real swords when I go back?'
He had never thought he had such a hobby of being unable to resist when it came to swords. Now that he realized it, he thought about becoming a collector.
Just as Shartia found life's reward in planting trees and tending forests, he wished he had something he could be absorbed in like that.
Precious famous swords would cost no joke, but couldn't he earn that by working hard in Gates...?
"Use it carefully. It's harder than ordinary iron swords, but the durability of the iron isn't that good."
"Does it break easily?"
"Relatively. Instead, as I said, it has affinity with wind, water, and lightning, so it'll be good if you utilize it in that direction. Try to avoid clashing with other blades or directly cutting hard monsters."
"You're telling me to engrave magic or spells on it."
"It would be safe to utilize it in that direction. Find a spell caster yourself."
Anyway, the white gem sword alone was sufficient for direct combat.
Being told to find a spellcaster directly wasn't particularly worrying either.
'While searching for Erosion Cores, won't I eventually gain abilities with such attributes too?'
Jin-woo already possessed the abilities of Rock Sword and Shadow Sword. Similarly, he might have opportunities to gain sword abilities with wind, water, or lightning attributes.
"Mmm. One task is finished. It's bittersweet."
"What will you do from now on?"
"What about you?"
"I'm planning to go back."
It had already been a long time since entering the Gate. It wouldn't be bad to stay longer, but now he wanted to return.
When Jin-woo said he was leaving, Rona looked at him.
"Jin-woo. Are you leaving already?"
"I've been here a long time already. The Dark Elves who attacked us might still be around too."
"Those guys..."
"Those guys?"
"Mmm. It's nothing."
Rona swallowed her words and rummaged through her belongings to take out something. Three softly glowing white feathers.
"Then take this, Jin-woo. Bulkar gets one too."
"What is this?"
"Could this be..."
"Feathers of Fate. I personally plucked them on the 3rd Floor and have been keeping them."
Jin-woo's eyes widened. So this was a Feather of Fate.
He had only heard about them in words, but this was the first time he saw one directly.
"But why this? Aren't Feathers of Fate items used to enter Gates together with companions?"
"That's right. They're completely useless when leaving, but... We have such a culture. When you meet someone by chance at a Gate and get along well, you share Feathers of Fate. It's a culture of wishing to meet again in the future."
"There's such a thing."
Was there such a culture among Earth's Hunters, too? He had never heard of it, but it wouldn't be strange if there was.
No. Since Feathers of Fate were consumables that were quite expensive, there probably wasn't one because people would think it was a waste of money.
Bulkar carefully put away the feather and spoke.
"If you're giving it, I'll gratefully accept it. But I don't plan to leave the Gate yet."
"Oh my, really?"
"Dwarves tend to stay put once they settle somewhere. When I was mining Sky Steel, I lived in that cave for over a year."
Listening, Jin-woo was quite surprised. To think he had spent over a year there.
"I'll probably be in this waterfall cave for a while, so if you happen to come nearby next time, drop by."
Bulkar, Rona, and Jin-woo shook hands. Since the two were planning to exit through the Blue Portal, they were parting with Bulkar here.
"Thank you for the sword."
"I'm the one who's grateful, I lived thanks to you. Use the sword well."
After exchanging final farewells, Jin-woo and Rona left the waterfall cave. Then they headed to the closest of the Blue Portals they had marked beforehand.
Blue Portals also disappear after much time passes, but the place the two sought still had its portal remaining.
Crossing that would return Jin-woo to Jin-woo's world, and Rona to Rona's world.
"It was brief but enjoyable."
"Me too."
It had been enjoyable, and there were many things to be grateful for. The sword theories he learned from her were countless, and the number of times they sparred together must have easily exceeded a hundred.
When he returned from fighting the Werewolf on the 0th Floor, Jin-woo felt he had grown greatly.
And it was the same now. He had grown sufficiently in a different direction from the Werewolf time.
Most importantly, having learned sword theory solidly from the basics meant he could now explore to some degree on his own going forward.
Until now, training meant mindlessly swinging the sword until all his strength was exhausted.
"Thank you. You are my sword teacher."
"It's an honor. To think the day would come when I'd teach swordsmanship to a Spirit of the Sword."
"I'm human... Also, it's not a spirit but a Demon Spirit."
"Demon Spirits are also a type of spirit, so it's the same thing."
Just as he had shaken hands with Bulkar, Jin-woo extended his hand to Rona as well. She smiled and clasped that hand.
At that moment, a puzzled expression crossed her face.
Unlike the soft hands of Elves, no matter how much they trained, these were hands hardened through discipline. Such hands weren't particularly rare. Elves didn't have them, but other races did - even Bulkar's hands had been much more like iron than Jin-woo's.
But something. From Jin-woo's hand, unlike when shaking hands with Bulkar, an inexplicable sense of déjà vu passed through her.