Ch.183Match (3)

Advanced Warrior, Bern Macron was once the only “exclusive” high-ranking adventurer affiliated with the Adventurer’s Guild.

He greatly contributed to maintaining the guild’s independence while it exerted international influence. During his prime, he traveled between the Frankish Kingdom and the Holy Empire, freely displaying his renowned reputation.

Now at the remarkable age of 84 and having secured a successor, he has been retired for quite some time. Nevertheless, his past achievements are still discussed decades after his withdrawal from active duty.

Of course, considerable time has passed since then, and he himself had been nearly forgotten recently as he enjoyed his retirement with his savings, but…

For certain reasons, while living in his hometown village and casually training disciples, he one day received a message from an old acquaintance.

“So, you’re asking me to test your son?”

“That’s right. You gave me a wish token before, didn’t you? I’d like to use it now.”

“Yes, that’s true. …But you’re using it on this old man?”

His former disciple, Hugo de Alzar, who seemed to lack any respect for his master, was brazenly asking him to evaluate his son by cashing in on their past connection.

“…I’ve heard things have been noisy lately. Well, fine. I’ll go see.”

“Really? Thank you, thank you so much!”

As it happened, he had a small debt to that disciple, and the news about the disciple’s son had piqued his interest.

But above all, the decisive reason that moved him was probably the news of the “Duel Tournament” that had reached even him.

Thinking that this green youngster was acting quite arrogantly, yet simultaneously admiring his spirit, Bern left his hometown for the eastern part of the Frankish Kingdom after a long time.

And afterward, events unfolded as everyone knows.

Despite his advanced age, Bern still maintained a combat-ready state as a high-ranking warrior. Could there possibly be any danger for someone like him on such a journey?

Thanks to this confidence, Bern retrieved his perception-hindering cloak that had been stashed away in his storage, headed to the frontier town, participated in the tournament, and watched the young man’s battles while waiting for the remaining participants to be eliminated…

‘…He’s quite skilled.’

Watching him perform such dazzling feats of combat, single-handedly defeating over ten intermediate warriors, Bern honestly couldn’t help but acknowledge this youngster… no, this kid.

Especially impressive was his ability to freely control twelve blades imbued with the notoriously difficult “Dance of Blades” magic, even if he had programmed their patterns.

That skill alone would be considered overwhelming for any warrior, but…

‘Oh, look at him!’

Bern, a high-ranking warrior who had trained countless disciples, could immediately notice through his excellent discernment that Camille, an intermediate warrior, possessed power that could hardly be confined to the intermediate framework.

His seemingly casual swings of the arming sword and mace naturally contained extraordinary technique.

Judging by his movements, his innate sensory abilities were exceptional, and his physical capabilities had already crossed the line of what could simply be called intermediate.

But perhaps because the gap with his opponents was so clear? Bern, unable to properly assess the details from mere observation, now wanted to test him directly.

And naturally, Camille demonstrated overwhelming prowess by borrowing the power of various factors he had accumulated.

The martial art of warrior Bern Macron contained the principles and mysteries of ‘maintenance.’

Thus, he specialized in attacks that ‘maintained’ the trajectory of slashes made of aura and ‘maintained’ the kinetic energy imbued in those slashes to launch aura blades.

In truth, any warrior of high rank could form and launch aura blades, but Bern Macron’s blades were on an entirely different level in terms of power and duration compared to such attacks.

No matter how distant the impact point, neither speed nor power would decrease. Thanks to a slight application of the power of ‘maintenance,’ Bern had virtually unlimited effective mana, limited only by the total amount of mana he could use instantaneously.

Particularly, the weapon he used in his prime was a unique sword with dozens of connected blades designed to utilize these characteristics, allowing him to unleash wide-area ranged attacks just by swinging it, a feature that once made him nearly dominant.

Of course, he controlled his power when facing significantly weaker opponents, but nevertheless, this barrage of ranged slashes was quite difficult to counter even for high-ranking warriors.

However—Camille somehow managed to counter these attacks.

At first, Bern watched to see if this genius was truly reacting to his barrage, but he was greatly impressed when he realized that Camille was not seeing but ‘feeling’ the attacks to block them.

He was especially amazed at how Camille blocked attacks of power far beyond intermediate level with such a thin and flexible weapon (Unicorn Longsword).

“Haha, hahahaha—!!”

A genius warrior who might one day have his name recorded in history books. Fighting such a brilliant uncut gem was nothing short of the greatest happiness for a warrior like Bern.

Therefore, despite his age, he once again engaged in close combat with his still-itching body.

Since aura helps maintain a youthful physique, his body remained robust despite being 84 years old.

Although he couldn’t completely avoid aging, he was still fit enough to serve on the front lines.

Thus, enduring some creaking joints while resuming combat with this promising talent, Bern Macron felt something akin to ecstasy each time their weapons clashed.

First and foremost, what struck him was that Camille de Alzar’s swordsmanship was already ‘complete’ and had been mastered long ago.

A derivative swordsmanship with no specific form. Perfect swordsmanship forged solely to kill, not for any other purpose. A ‘genius’ combat method designed on the premise of spontaneous response and counterattack.

Easy to say, but in reality, it’s close to the unreasonable demand of ‘respond appropriately with improvisation according to the situation.’

However, Camille de Alzar, this genius knight, possessed such tremendous talent that he could physically fulfill these unreasonable demands of his mind.

A special third sense that entered the realm of supernatural abilities beyond common sense like enhanced vision or super hearing. An optimal and superior physique capable of realizing movements born from unconventional, abnormal ideas.

And on top of that, overwhelming talent in handling weapons—especially bladed ones—encompassing swordsmanship that was literally a bundle of sensibilities, including those abnormal ideas.

Particularly, Camille’s physique was a cheat comparable to his combat sense and perception, as if born to fight. It rivaled that of Bern’s… a high-ranking warrior who, despite his age, never neglected training and physical maintenance.

His overwhelming talent, aptly described as “talent flopping around like a live fish,” and the swordsmanship derived from it was a rare martial art with absolutely no room for improvement.

If one were to purely evaluate the technique itself, one might criticize it for relying too heavily on the user’s own sense, but how could anyone possibly improve movements so perfectly tailored to one’s own senses?

While Camille’s father, Baron Hugo de Alzar, had entrusted his mentoring to a famous high-ranking master, Bern himself held the position that there was no need to interfere with what was already working well.

His experience, which had allowed him to survive to the age of 84 as a sword-for-hire, told him that this swordsmanship was truly beyond the need for any adjustment.

Therefore, Bern could immediately determine how to deal with this excellent young warrior going forward.

Trying to correct or forcibly redirect his style would be tantamount to making him lose his potential completely.

Thus, his stance should be limited to advice outside of combat. In other words… he should simply provide experience fighting against a high-ranking opponent.

Having no desire to commit the atrocity of caging someone with the potential to soar freely through the sky, he suppressed his educational urges and decided to ‘finish’ the match while gradually adjusting his strength.

“Well done.”

“Ah—”

—Slash!

Slash, slash, and slash. The strange technique utilizing the mystery of ‘maintenance’ instantly shreds his body.

A barrage with power controlled just enough not to kill an intermediate warrior. Lord Alzar, struck by this attack known as ‘unavoidable,’ finally seemed to collapse to the ground, but…

‘…He’s standing, unconscious.’

His muscles unconsciously stiffened, leaving him unconscious while still standing. Satisfied with this display of ‘fighting spirit,’ Bern was about to leave when he dropped a ‘book’ he had prepared just in case—

At precisely the same moment, he used a special form of teleportation that ‘maintained’ his position temporarily, allowing him to rapidly vacate the area.

An action that clearly reflected his personal stance of absolutely refusing troublesome matters.