Ch.162The Age When Pink Buds Bloom (4)

“It seems like you still want to keep going.”

Seeing Levi using his sword to prop himself up to avoid falling to the ground, Evan wore an expression of pity.

Levi had only 1 minute left to pass the test, but… it was evident that he was struggling just to stay standing.

“Huff, hah… I can… still do it.”

From the beginning, the standard itself was too difficult for Levi. To reach Evan, who wasn’t just a Master but a Grand Master.

Even the knights here had failed countless times before succeeding. Perhaps they had demanded something too difficult from the young Levi.

But what was admirable was Levi’s attitude—he still refused to give up.

In truth, rather than Evan deflecting with his sword, Levi had simply exhausted himself trying to avoid Evan’s attacks.

Evan had swung his sword carefully to avoid hurting Levi, but it still took considerable stamina to dodge a blade that could injure with just a graze.

Come to think of it, hadn’t someone mentioned that stamina was this child Levi’s weakness? It certainly seemed that way, but Evan could sense plenty of potential.

He wasn’t lacking in talent, and with that kind of determination… Arthur would probably benefit from watching and learning from him later.

Since they were similar in age, perhaps they might become friends and eventually become Masters together. The thought actually seemed quite nice,

so Evan drew a line with his sword in front of him and temporarily halted the duel.

“Judge, would it be alright if I impose a handicap on myself here?”

“A handicap, sir?”

“I want to blindfold myself. And I’ll put away my sword too. There’s only a minute left anyway, and Levi seems tired.”

After a moment’s consideration, the judge nodded in approval. Levi was young after all,

and such handicaps were sometimes given even in duels with regular knights.

In fact, the spectators were looking favorably upon Levi for having lasted this long without any handicap.

Evan deliberately put on the blindfold slowly, then returned Ascalon to his waist and faced in Levi’s direction.

He couldn’t see, but vision wasn’t that important in this kind of fight anyway.

Since he intended to go easy on him anyway, Evan crossed his arms and gave a slight nod to signal the start.

“…Phew.”

Levi instinctively realized that Evan was going easy on him. Though it didn’t sit well with him, his opponent was Evan.

The gap between them was too great to feel embarrassed or angry about it.

After exhaling deeply, Levi aimed his sword at Evan’s legs and kicked off the ground again.

‘I’m running out of stamina.’

This was Levi’s chronic problem, having never received professional training. He had felt it when sparring with Arthur too—his stamina was severely lacking.

Arthur probably could have easily lasted three minutes. The thought crossed his mind briefly, but Levi decided to focus on the present moment.

He couldn’t let this opportunity that Arthur had created for him go to waste.

Levi was already somewhat aware of his own feelings.

Maybe not when he first met Arthur, but now he knew that what he felt wasn’t just simple admiration.

How Arthur might have interpreted his promise to take responsibility, Levi had long realized Arthur’s denseness and wanted to close this distance over time.

If he suddenly confessed and Arthur became flustered, nothing could be more embarrassing.

He was fine with it taking years. But this moment was part of the process of building those years.

Arthur’s father, the man called the Sword Saint.

The fact that such a person wasn’t even holding a sword and had blindfolded himself gave Levi courage.

As he kicked off the ground, many thoughts flashed through his mind. Even if he attacked the legs, would Evan’s balance falter?

He might even dodge that. The gap between them was immense. Wouldn’t someone like him be able to dodge attacks even with his eyes closed?

Screech!

Evan’s senses had already detected Levi’s attack.

He wanted to let himself be hit, but that would make his movements unnatural, so he couldn’t do that either.

From the start, Levi’s speed seemed like a turtle’s to Evan,

so for Levi to land a hit on Evan, he would need to use an unexpected move.

‘…This won’t work.’

He thought as his breathing grew ragged.

An attack that could strike Evan here. With only self-taught attacks at his disposal,

most of his moves had already been read. It meant there was probably no way to win while keeping his body intact.

But would throwing himself at Evan work? Though he had chosen this himself and was determined to endure, even that was becoming difficult.

As his mind cleared, the pain that had been suppressed in his body began to surge.

His arms trembled, and his hands shook so much that it was hard to even grip the sword.

“Huff, hah.”

His breathing had already lost its rhythm and was being exhaled unsteadily, causing his body’s balance to crumble.

Probably two more exchanges. When he realized there were only 20 seconds left, Levi’s expression became more serious than ever before.

Inhale—

15 seconds. Levi took as deep a breath as he could. The air filling his lungs was the spark to burn through this remaining time.

He intended to pour out everything he had learned so far. Clang! The swords clashed in mid-air.

Even with just the mana Evan was emitting, Levi was pushed back pathetically. His body was forced back, and as Levi kicked the ground again, his body rotated.

As his waist turned, the twisted joints added power.

His taut thighs, his lungs full of breath, the smooth movement to not waste even a bit of strength—finally broke through Evan’s mana.

Crack!

But even so, it was impossible to actually touch Evan’s body, and he easily dodged Levi’s sword.

10 seconds. Calculating the time, Levi thrust his sword again. Without any combo moves, that sharp thrust made one knight gasp in admiration.

A move no one had taught him, a thrust made purely on his own instinct—even that, Evan easily avoided.

“Seven seconds left.”

With that calm reminder, Levi’s mind became even more focused.

For a brief moment in his vision, he saw Arthur watching him with a determined expression.

Standing alone while everyone else was seated, Levi drew strength from that sight.

His labored breathing became calm again, and his depleting mana flared up once more.

A final burst of light—it was probably just a momentary flare at the end.

But if there were 7 seconds left, wouldn’t that be enough? He didn’t waste time distributing his mana.

Burning all his mana at once, blue flames suddenly erupted from Levi’s body.

Whoosh— With his breath, he cut through the veil created by Evan’s mana.

5 seconds. As he broke through the veil, his sword slashed toward Evan, cutting through the air.

Cutting, tearing, slashing through the air. Amid these seemingly meaningless swings, Evan simply retreated slowly.

3 seconds.

Levi narrowed his eyes at something he was beginning to sense.

This hint of ‘sensation’ felt in his mind, which was starting to turn white from exhaustion.

Though he had doubts about this feeling he’d never experienced before in his life, he decided to trust it in this situation.

Slash!

His sword cut through the air again. At that moment, with less than 1 second remaining, Evan reached for his head to remove the blindfold.

Whoosh— But as the sound continued, Evan sensed the sword rising again through his waist.

How? Before he could even think about it, his arm had already blocked the sword.

Oops, he thought. In this duel where the goal was to make contact, the moment he blocked with his arm, it could be considered a touch.

“…I touched you.”

Levi realized this too, and seeing Evan’s arm blocking his sword, he grinned and muttered.

Sweat poured down like rain. Thud. Levi couldn’t pick up the sword that had slipped from his hand.

His strength completely drained, Evan lightly caught Levi’s body as he collapsed to the ground.

“You didn’t need to push yourself this hard, but… I suppose it’s my fault.”

“Tell me, huff. I passed, right?”

Despite being so exhausted he could barely speak, Levi still asked about that, making Evan chuckle.

It was a contrasting sight. Evan, who had lost the duel, didn’t shed a single drop of sweat and looked relaxed,

while Levi, who had actually won, was gasping for breath as if he might faint at any moment.

“Yes, you passed. Welcome to Yuris.”

“Huff, by the way… I should tell the Sister about this. Does this mean I’ll be living here now?”

“That’s right, but… Sister?”

“I don’t have parents, you see… so a Sister took me in and I’ve been living with her. I live at the church, but now that I’m a knight apprentice, I’ll be living here, right?”

A Sister, Evan nodded slightly as he looked at Levi. It might be rude to this child to show pity.

So when Evan agreed, Levi saw Arthur approaching from a distance and quickly turned his face away.

“Levi! Really…! You! I don’t know what to say, you were amazing. Truly!”

Arthur was excited after seeing Levi win. To think Levi had accomplished what he himself couldn’t do.

That final move was truly incredible. Changing the trajectory mid-attack—a technique even experienced knights found difficult.

Even Evan couldn’t dodge it and had to block it, so he nodded in agreement as he helped Levi stand up.

“But why aren’t you looking at me?”

“I, I smell right now.”

“What? It’s normal to smell when you sweat. Let me check where you got scraped. Look here.”

“I said I don’t need it!”

Seeing Levi and Arthur bickering, Evan let out a deep sigh.

Should he stop them, or encourage them? Anyway, since he had decided to accept Levi, he was thinking of bringing him to Yuris completely.

For that, he needed to know the name of the church and the Sister, so when Evan asked, Levi quickly turned his gaze from Arthur and answered.

“The Sister who raised me is named Lize. She’s been taking care of me since I was left at the church door.”

“…Lize?”

“Yes, do you know her?”

“Do you happen to know when this Sister joined the church?”

“I think… I heard she came before I was born. If there’s anything unusual about her, well… she dislikes men? She says there’s someone she hates. I think she might have had an unrequited love.”

The name Lize, and even her peculiarity. As Evan listened to this, his expression gradually became subtle, and eventually, he looked in the direction where Aileen would be and smiled bitterly.

For a coincidence, it seemed remarkably tangled.