Ch.124Academy Transfer – 5

‘A Sword Saint with a Weapon.’

Though it was a wooden sword rather than a proper weapon, I was honestly curious. Just how powerful was a Sword Saint wielding a sword? And how powerful was the Demon Lord who had shattered that Sword Saint head-on?

Astaroth, who had supposedly stolen the Demon Lord’s power, was quite a formidable opponent. Even while using mana breathing techniques and physical enhancement simultaneously, each of his attacks shattered my bones, forcing me to fight while repairing myself with healing magic.

In other words, without healing magic, I couldn’t have guaranteed victory either. If I had actually faced such a situation, I would have avoided direct confrontation and aimed for a single decisive blow instead.

‘It also felt like he fell short of someone who could shatter a Sword Saint head-on.’

It’s possible that Astaroth and Ellisier possessed different levels of power as Demon Lords, but that wasn’t my concern right now. That was something to consider later while talking with the other three.

I drew the dagger I received from the Chairman and gripped it. Since I’d received it, I might as well put it to use.

As I thought about increasing its size, the entire blade immediately grew to a size similar to Eternal. While displaying a color combination opposite to Eternal’s, the Sword Saint immediately reacted to this unfamiliar weapon.

“My, that’s a sword made from dragon scales. The Chairman made it for you, I presume?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“I heard that the Chairman raided the imperial treasury to repay a debt of gratitude, and the aura emanating from the sword is quite extraordinary. It must be infused with dragon’s breath.”

“Dragon’s breath…”

“I’m referring to the breath attack. Look, the sword is already adapting to fit the child’s hand. Such transformation would be impossible naturally without the power contained in the breath.”

Just as she said, I could feel the handle subtly shifting to perfectly fit my hand. It felt less like gripping a handle and more like becoming one with it.

“Seeing how it’s already adjusting to you, it seems to have acknowledged you as its master. Once it’s completely tamed, it will grow into an excellent sword that would reject even being touched by anyone but you. Made from dragon scales and fangs, it would commonly be called a Dragon Fang Sword, but you may give it another name if you wish.”

“How do you know so much about this?”

“Because my sword was the same. Though I’ve had it for quite some time…”

The Sword Saint gave a bitter smile. Come to think of it, they say we never really got to see the Sword Saint wielding her actual sword.

“Well, that’s enough explanation. Now it’s time to begin what we came here for.”

The Sword Saint clapped her hands. That’s right. I wasn’t alone in the training ground.

Not just Leona and Aria, but also Priscilla who was present during the first sparring session, Ellisier whom the Sword Saint specifically instructed to bring, and even Laura who joined because she didn’t want to be left out, along with the direct disciple Karna.

Except for Rosaria, who was sitting comfortably in the audience seats due to her complete lack of combat ability, almost everyone nearby who could fight had been gathered.

Except for Io Brante. That student… well, it’s hard to call him that, but anyway, that person wasn’t close enough to be included here.

‘I wonder what he’s doing now.’

I hadn’t heard from him since I last thanked him. I thought perhaps he’d made enough money and decided to quit the mercenary business completely to focus on taking care of his siblings.

“…I was supposed to be dealing with other students.”

“No one would question it if they’re told the Sword Saint summoned you. Just stay put.”

As Ellisier grumbled about the Sword Saint making him look like a liar, Laura raised her staff beside him as if telling him not to worry. It was an object that served as both a staff and a sword.

I wonder if teaching Laura magic swordsmanship would be effective.

“Come at me with full force. I’ll adjust accordingly.”

“Really? I’ve become incredibly strong now. I’ll—GACK?!”

Before Leona could finish her boastful statement while emitting golden light from her holy sword, she was slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the training ground. Debris from the broken wall fell onto her blue hair.

The Sword Saint had already returned to her original position. Everyone stared in bewilderment.

“Did you see that just now?”

“…If I had seen it, I wouldn’t have this expression.”

If those two couldn’t see it, and Leona simply allowed the attack to hit her, the outcome was obvious for the rest. Perhaps only Karna had any chance among them.

‘Well, I did see it…’

I did see it. I saw the Sword Saint rushing at Leona, stabbing her in the abdomen while avoiding vital points, and then returning to her original position as if time had rewound.

But seeing was all I could do.

“Oww, that hurts…! Did you really hit me seriously?!”

“If I had hit you seriously, child, you would have already exploded without a trace. I adjusted my strength just enough to make it hurt, so stop exaggerating and get up.”

“Owww…! Just you wait, really!”

Despite her complaints, Leona gritted her teeth and got up. The Sword Saint watched her with a pleased smile, then slowly turned her head. It seemed I was the next target.

“Child, I am personally very grateful to you.”

“Pardon?”

Despite my question, the Sword Saint silently stroked the wooden sword in her right hand with affectionate eyes. Even without words, I could guess why she was grateful.

“Though it’s far from adequate repayment…”

Woong—mana infused into the crude wooden blade. Karna’s expression turned pale as he watched from the side.

“Watch and learn. This is the first lesson.”

With those words, the Sword Saint vanished. Reflexively, I raised the Dragon Fang Sword toward where I anticipated the afterimage would appear. Immediately, there was a clang as the blades collided, and my feet slid back a few centimeters.

‘I couldn’t see it.’

Just now, blocking came first. The Sword Saint struck where I had blocked.

In other words, one could say she deliberately aimed for where I would block. With such speed, could she really not change her sword path?

“What kind of sword technique was that just—”

—CRASH!

Just as I was about to ask what sword technique she had used, a strange sound came from below my right. I checked beneath my feet.

The floor right beside me was collapsing as if a meteor had struck it.

Although the Dragon Fang Sword hadn’t received that much impact, I was inwardly shocked to see the floor crumbling as if hit by some massive slash. I wondered what kind of technique this was.

“This is the sword technique, child. Did you see it?”

The Sword Saint remained completely calm, as if it were nothing special.

“What do you mean? Your movement, or the sword technique?”

“I’d appreciate if you could answer both.”

“As for your movement, I only saw the afterimage, and as for the sword technique, I have no idea what it was.”

“You truly are remarkable, child. To see my movement on your first attempt. My first disciple over there took months just to perceive my movement.”

The Sword Saint smiled at Karna, who looked away awkwardly. Well, even being able to perceive that through effort is something to be proud of, I think.

“Since you followed my movement, I should now explain the sword technique. It’s a very simple principle.”

The Sword Saint tapped the opposite side of my Dragon Fang Sword with her wooden sword. This time, the training ground to the lower left collapsed with a thunderous sound, crumbling for nearly tens of meters.

“Bypassing the defensive magic, armor, or shield used by the enemy to directly strike their body. That is the essence of this sword technique. At my current level, I could simply cut through the concept itself, but… you haven’t reached that level ‘yet,’ have you?”

“I don’t think I’ll reach that level in my lifetime.”

Cutting concepts? How am I supposed to understand such an abstract sword technique?

In my previous world, when learning magic, I was told several times not to try to understand it but to feel it with my heart, but cutting concepts is an entirely different dimension of problem.

However, the Sword Saint seemed to take my words as a joke, chuckling before moving on to the next explanation.

To summarize the explanation that followed, I needed to swing my sword ahead of the following shockwave, establishing a sword path for the shockwave to follow.

“If you guide the direction of the shockwave well, you can cut something completely different as I just did, or attack the fingertip to burst the head. Do you understand, child?”

“…How do you send the sword path beyond defensive magic or armor?”

“I’ll teach you that too. Don’t worry.”

The explanation continued after that, but honestly, I only understood about half of the concepts. For the rest, I could only think, “I see.”

My expression must have shown my bewilderment, as the Sword Saint smiled brightly while comforting me.

“It’s alright, let’s try again. You seem to be the type who gains understanding through practice rather than theory. Instead of spending time on this, it might be better to cross swords once more. But before that… I shouldn’t neglect the other children.”

As her single remaining sky-blue eye surveyed the surroundings, the others who had been listening to the explanation with blank faces came to their senses and gripped their weapons. Whoosh—the Sword Saint vanished.

I was the only one who could see what happened next. The Sword Saint first placed her wooden sword against Karna’s forehead, then Priscilla’s thigh, Laura’s arm, and Ellisier’s side before returning to her original position.

“Kugh!”

“Eek?!”

“Urgh?!”

“Gack!”

With various groans, the four people clutched their struck areas and tumbled across the floor. It all happened in an instant.

While Leona was still getting into position with a dumbfounded expression, the Sword Saint appeared in front of Aria a beat later and lightly tapped her head with the hand not holding the wooden sword.

Aria, who had been visibly tense with her eyes tightly shut, curled up like a mole in a whack-a-mole game. Leona cried out indignantly.

“Why are you going easy on Aria?”

“That child wasn’t even ready to fight yet, was she? The other four were prepared to fight. That’s why.”

“Ow!”

Leona, struck on the forehead again, clutched her head and sat down on the floor. The Sword Saint, having subdued the other six except me in just a few seconds, returned to her position and met my eyes.

“Impressive, child. I deliberately moved faster, but your eyes were following my movements. Very excellent.”

“…You noticed even that?”

“Of course. How could I not notice? Conversely, the other children’s eyes didn’t move at all. They’ll need more time.”

Her single remaining eye, still maintaining its vivid color, sparkled.

“So, for now, I should focus on you.”

A smile, then acceleration. It was a movement she had shown several times already. Her body vanished from its place in an instant.

I tracked her movement with my eyes. The Sword Saint was approaching in a straight line. Her arms, legs, and wooden sword formed a perfect thrusting posture. But even though my eyes and mind reacted, my body still wouldn’t move.

It meant I was still not quite able to properly keep up with that speed.

If I used mana breathing techniques and physical enhancement together, I might be able to react, but somehow I felt that wasn’t the right approach. I had a feeling there might be another method.

‘Another method, huh.’

I pondered as I watched the Sword Saint closing the distance as if in slow motion. The Sword Saint’s movements appeared slow, but my body was moving even slower, unable to move a finger.

‘…What allows her to move so quickly?’

I decided to revisit the fundamental question. The reason the Sword Saint could move at such incredible speed. Simply attributing it to her strength seemed insufficient.

That body must have its limits of power too. So why?

‘…’

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to me. In the past, I would have dismissed it as nonsense, but now it seemed worth trying.

Even as I continued to contemplate, the distance between the Sword Saint and me was steadily decreasing. The tip of the wooden sword pulled back slightly. She was about to strike.

‘It’s worth a try.’

This wasn’t a real battle anyway. If it works, great; if not, there would be plenty of other opportunities. I exhaled as if using a mana breathing technique, then recalled a memory.

Not a memory from this world. A memory from long ago, when I was desperately researching any magic that might increase my chances of victory.

Based on that memory, I changed my perception. Instead of seeing the blue light commonly known as the color of mana, I began to see each tiny particle. I could also see the Sword Saint accelerating by absorbing mana particles one by one.

‘So that was it.’

I inwardly laughed. I already knew this concept. It was simply a matter of applying it to swordsmanship rather than magic.

Instead of producing hundreds of magic circles per second through mana breathing techniques, I just needed to change one at a time.

Now that I understood the principle, it was time to demonstrate it physically. How the Sword Saint had realized this concept didn’t matter. The priority was to deflect the wooden sword that had nearly reached me.

I absorbed two mana particles. My body, which had seemed frozen despite my efforts, began to keep up with the accelerated time. I brought the Dragon Fang Sword to intercept the trajectory of the wooden sword, clearly moving faster than the Sword Saint.

—CLANG!

With a sound that rang in my ears, time that had slowed to a crawl returned to normal.

“…My goodness.”

The Sword Saint let out a soft exclamation. She alternated her gaze between her wooden sword blocked by my Dragon Fang Sword and me, with an expression of utter disbelief.

“What… did you just do?”

“Don’t you already know?”

After all, I know it too.