Midterm Exams – 3

Cordelia was staring at me intently. This time, even when our eyes met, she didn’t look away. A very intense gaze. That was a look filled with admiration and envy.

There’s a saying, “You see as much as you know.” This short and concise phrase contains a tremendous truth. People’s eyes truly see only as much as they know.

The same applies to Cordelia. On the first day of class, I had also dueled with Instructor Helford. But back then, she never gave me such a look. Didn’t she admire knights back then as she does now? Or has my skill grown enough during this short month and a half to impress her?

That’s impossible. It’s just that Cordelia’s perspective has grown. She, who felt nothing watching the duel between Helford and me on the first day of class, has grown enough in just a month and a half to recognize how remarkable my skills are. She who knew nothing then now sees my skills again with her newfound knowledge.

Saying it like this makes it sound like I’m gilding my own face, but what can I do if I’m genuinely skilled? I don’t usually feel it since there’s no occasion to use these skills, but according to Seol-ah, this body is the strongest in this world. Although this world isn’t high fantasy, so I can’t slice mountains like tofu or split the sea, the fact remains that I’m the strongest among humans. For reference, Wilhelm is second.

Anyway, Cordelia has grown considerably in a short time and realized that I, who usually just throws nonsensical jokes around, am more skilled than she had thought. More precisely, not me but Mikhail.

Cordelia seemed quite surprised, as she showed no interest in the subsequent matches and kept staring at me. I’d like to sit next to her and tease her about her newfound respect for me, but I held back since it wasn’t the right situation. We were still in a cold war, and I couldn’t just go sit next to her and keep talking after my duel was already over.

“Next, Cordelia! And Max!”

Helford called Cordelia’s name loudly. Cordelia walked to the center of the training ground, not hiding her nervous yet excited demeanor. Her steps were light, but her lips were dry. Max, the student who came out as her opponent, stood up from his seat trembling with an uneasy look in his eyes.

Pairing a female student with a male student might seem unfair at first glance. However, among the female students taking the swordsmanship class, Cordelia is the only beginner. Generally, only female students genuinely interested in swordsmanship would choose to take such a sweaty class.

In fact, the average skill level of male students is much lower. Basic Swordsmanship is a prerequisite for other courses. Even skilled practitioners like me have no choice but to take this class in order to access advanced subjects.

On the other hand, there are quite a few students who take the class because their family made them, for exercise, or simply to try it out. Max, Cordelia’s opponent, was one of those students.

Although Cordelia has grown, she’s only been holding a sword for about a month and a half—it would be absurd to have her duel female students who have been wielding swords for nearly ten years.

The student called Max was still trembling, apparently extremely anxious about something. His sword stance looked quite stable, suggesting he wasn’t such a beginner that he needed to be this nervous against Cordelia. Why was he acting like this?

Helford also seemed puzzled by Max’s state and tilted his head.

“As I said earlier, I won’t grade based on wins and losses. What’s important is how well you apply what you’ve learned, and not getting injured. So there’s no need to be so tense. Understand?”

Max just nodded slightly without making eye contact with Helford. If anything, he seemed even more tense after hearing those words. Cordelia, meanwhile, was fidgeting with anticipation, as if she couldn’t wait to apply what she had learned.

Perhaps he’s just the type who gets extremely nervous. Helford seemed to think so too and simply stepped back. After briefly checking both of them, Helford announced the start of the duel.

“Begin.”

As soon as Helford declared the start, Max rushed at Cordelia. In stark contrast to his previous nervousness, he pressed her aggressively.

Several exchanges followed. Cordelia perfectly blocked Max’s consecutive horizontal slashes. When he momentarily faltered and thrust strongly with his thigh muscles, she deflected that as well.

Max took a step back to regain his composure, then resumed his offense. A textbook overhead slash. Cordelia raised her sword to block it. Max’s sword tip wavered, seemingly losing strength. He tried to push Cordelia’s sword away with pure force, but he couldn’t overpower Cordelia who had blocked his attack with the strong part of her blade—the part closer to her body.

Swordsmanship isn’t simply about the stronger person always winning, which is what made this move possible. Of course, being stronger is advantageous, but it’s entirely possible to overcome strength with technique like this. When the weak part of a sword (the part farther from the body) clashes with the strong part (closer to the body), the weak part can never push back the strong part, no matter what. The only exception might be the use of mana.

Using mana allows one to exert superhuman strength. Infusing a sword with mana can make it emit an aura. Of course, someone skilled enough to use mana would naturally have mastered techniques as well, but with mana, one could simply overpower and break through technique with brute force.

Naturally, nothing about mana is taught in basic swordsmanship class. For most students, using mana is impossible. Forming an aura or circulating mana through one’s body to enhance physical abilities are both quite advanced techniques. Moreover, teaching strength-enhancing techniques to students whose skills are still rudimentary poses a serious risk of injury.

Cordelia conducted the duel with passion, true to her impatient nature. She pursued Max after he briefly created distance between them. The two engaged in extremely close combat, their swords completely entangled.

She raised her left hand to grip the blade. Half-swording. A stance that effectively uses the principle of leverage to counter opponents of different weight classes. It’s easier to understand by thinking about shoveling. If you’re only holding the handle while working, your senior watching from behind will smack the back of your head. It’s the same principle as placing one hand on the handle and the other closer to the blade of the shovel to make digging easier.

Naturally, gripping the blade with one hand allows for more powerful control of the sword. This would be dangerous when there’s distance between opponents as it leaves the hand vulnerable to attack, but it’s one of the most useful techniques in such close-quarter combat. Helford smiled at her accurate application of what she had learned. Judging by his expression, Cordelia would likely receive a good grade.

Now Cordelia began actively pushing Max back. Max seemed taken aback, as if her skill level exceeded his expectations. He probably thought it would end with the first test of strength. His overhead slash was once again blocked by Cordelia. She didn’t stop there and deflected his sword to the side.

Max’s sword cut through empty air. Cordelia tried to seize the opportunity to thrust at him, but unfortunately, Max retreated faster. Having withdrawn in an almost tumbling manner, Max glared at Cordelia.

“Damn it, they said I wouldn’t need to use it…!”

Max grumbled, apparently displeased about something. His pupils were shaking rapidly, just as they had when he first came to the training ground. Wouldn’t need to use what?

In that moment, his aura became incomparably more ferocious than before. Unable to hide my shock, I shouted:

“Mana…!”

This was impossible. Max was absolutely not a student capable of using mana, and he actually hadn’t been using it. If his skill level had been this high, he would never have been matched against Cordelia in the first place.

Helford, Cordelia, and all the other students seemed confused, just staring blankly at him. Max, who had somehow approached Cordelia, easily knocked away her sword.

Cordelia, who had been blocking all his attacks until just now, lost her grip on her sword and fell. Her sword flew far and dropped. Blood flowed from her hand, suggesting her grip had been torn.

Cordelia groaned in pain from the impact. There’s an enormous difference in physical ability between a superhuman using mana and an ordinary person who doesn’t. It was reckless for Cordelia to try to block his power with her body, and she was now paying the price for that recklessness.

I gritted my teeth. And quietly summoned mana in response to the rising unease. Complex sword techniques or using an aura still required Mikhail’s memories, but I could now enhance my physical abilities on my own.

If only Max would back down now… If he just withdrew now, it would simply be an accident. Whether he had some kind of predisposition, or awakened through this duel, it’s suspicious but it would just mean a student who couldn’t use mana suddenly became able to.

Using mana during a duel is clearly wrong, but it could be excused as him not being able to control it since he just learned it, or acting rashly out of a desire to win.

But that couldn’t be the case, could it? A student who had never stood out suddenly becoming able to use mana during a duel? That’s nonsense.

His unusually tense, trembling appearance. And the mana he suddenly became able to use. Something was definitely happening. I stood up, ready to rush out.

What about the instructor? I looked at Helford. He seemed unable to properly assess the situation and just shouted:

“Stop! The duel is suspended!”

But Max ignored him and pointed his sword. A stream of aura erupted from his sword. His target was still Cordelia, who remained fallen and groaning in pain. Even with a blunted practice sword, once aura is used, the blade’s dullness becomes irrelevant. It could easily slice through a human body.

Cordelia raised her head and saw the sword aimed at her. She just stared at the approaching sword, unable even to scream. Her body had frozen in excessive fear. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“You crazy bastard!”

I cursed as I leaped onto the training ground. Helford also rushed forward, but he couldn’t be faster than me who had been preparing to spring out.

For a moment, time seemed to stop, and everything around me appeared to move slowly. The shocked gazes of other students who saw me suddenly jumping in, Max’s sword slowly approaching Cordelia, the instructor running toward us a beat late—everything entered my vision with clarity.

And when my body collided with his, the flow of time returned to normal.

THWACK!

I sent Max flying with a full-force body tackle. In my head, the conversation I had with Seol-ah last week kept circling.

‘I don’t understand why men like that whole “who’s stronger” and “who’ll win” stuff so much. It’s not like you’ll ever have to fight anyway.’

‘We won’t have to fight?’

‘There are no monsters or creatures like that, and there isn’t even a hint of war until the end of this story. Assassins targeting Lily? Lily might send assassins, but she’s never been targeted.’

She tricked me again.

“You said there would be no fighting!”

How is it that nothing matches up when there’s a transmigrator who knows the story right beside me!