Ch.20Chapter 20: Know Your Enemy and Know Yourself, and You Need Not Fear the Result of a Hundred Battles

“Hooh… Look at this one?”

Despite the significant difference in skill between himself and Floor 7, that unwavering fighting spirit.

And that confident attitude regardless of who the opponent is.

Truly worthy of being called the Prince of Barbarians.

Pleased, Riman nods at Valt’s words.

“Alright, tell me. If it’s something I can grant, I’ll do it.”

The question asked on the off chance had worked.

From the beginning, Valt gained more from this duel than Riman. While Riman merely satisfied his curiosity, Valt’s skills improved dramatically from the experience of facing an opponent above Floor 7.

Why are barbarians feared despite lacking proper martial arts?

It’s because barbarians grow stronger in real-time during battle due to their insane intuition and senses.

For barbarians who fight with beast-like instincts, combat experience is an essential condition for becoming stronger.

But it’s also true that Riman approached Valt first.

Valt plans to exploit this point to get more out of this person.

Valt glances at Riman’s sword and says, “The sword, please use that sword to give me some wounds.”

Wounds out of nowhere? Confused by this strange request, Riman asks back.

“Huh? What? Wounds?”

Valt answered Riman’s question.

“I want to check how much Aura my body can withstand.”

The standard of strength for Aura users is as follows:

Floor 1: Sword Beginner

Floor 2: Novice Sword User

Floor 3: Intermediate Sword User

Floor 4: Advanced Sword User

Floor 5: Novice Sword Expert

Floor 6: Intermediate Sword Expert

Floor 7: Advanced Sword Expert

Floor 8: Sword Master

Floor 9: Grand Sword Master

Floor 10: Sword Gerent (Ruler)

Magic is similar.

Circle 1: Novice Mage

Circle 2: Low Mage

Circle 3: Middle Mage

Circle 4: High Mage

Circle 5: Low Wizard

Circle 6: Middle Wizard

Circle 7: High Wizard

Circle 8: Archmage

Circle 9: Archwizard

The reason there’s no name for Circle 10 is because it’s said to be impossible for humans to achieve the 10th Circle.

The prevailing opinion is that only dragons, the progenitors of magic, can reach Circle 10.

In truth, the opponents Valt had faced until now, while skilled enough to be called proficient, weren’t particularly strong by these standards.

This is because Aura users can only truly utilize Aura-based techniques once they reach Sword Expert level.

Up to User level, there’s Aura Sword,

From Expert level, there’s Aura Thread,

From Master level, there’s Aura Blade.

Even Valt’s father, Kwan, can only withstand up to Floor 7’s Aura Thread, but cannot withstand Aura Blade, which is the realm above.

And that’s only because he’s Kwan—there are almost no barbarians who can withstand Aura Thread in general.

That’s why barbarians are pushed back by Central Continent people.

Barbarians have no way to block Aura Blade, while Central Continent people do.

Magic is similar.

That’s why Valt is making this request to Riman.

Confirming how much Aura his body can withstand will make Valt’s combat approach more daring.

And if he learns how to block Aura and magic above Floor 7 while studying magic, it’s obvious that the barbarians’ combat power will rise dramatically.

He could learn slowly through actual combat, but it would be foolish not to take advantage of such a good opportunity.

After hearing Valt’s explanation, Riman strokes his chin.

“Hooh? I’m curious about that too. Alright, how should I do it?”

It’s a simple method.

Riman will use Aura from Floors 1-7, and Valt will check his body’s durability in different states: his bare body, his body enhanced with Indu Fumnis, and his body with all magical power drawn up.

After hearing the explanation, Riman draws his sword.

Schwang-

“Well, I never thought my morning exercise would involve cutting a barbarian’s arm. I’m ready. Shall we begin?”

***

The experiment was very informative.

Though he gained a few more wounds, it wasn’t anything to worry about.

Valt’s body already had various scars anyway.

Valt’s basic body, with stats higher than when he met Lisa, could withstand up to Floor 3.

Using Indu Fumnis, he could withstand Floor 4, and by converting physical power to magical power and covering his entire body with magic, he could somehow withstand even Floor 5’s Aura Thread, though he would still be wounded.

Aura Floor 5? Those called Experts shouldn’t be compared with mere Sword Users.

There’s a reason for the classification system.

There exists an insurmountable gap between Sword Users and Sword Experts.

Seeing the results, Riman exclaims in amazement.

“Incredible! Floor 3 with bare body! Floor 5 with magic! This level without even using Aura!”

They tried Floors 6 and 7 too, but stopped when wounds started forming as soon as the Aura touched him.

Valt expresses his gratitude to Riman for helping with the experiment.

“I understand now. Thank you for your help.”

“No, no. It was interesting for me too. Hmm… So that’s why they’re called barbarians, huh?”

Knowing oneself is important.

As the old saying goes, to win, you must know your enemy and know yourself.

Though he called it morning exercise, it’s already lunchtime after spending time with Riman.

After moving his body so vigorously, he’s hungry again.

It’s a mystery how large barbarians managed not to starve to death in the barren south.

Wouldn’t they become twice as strong just by eating well and building more muscle?

Since they agreed to meet at noon, he should quickly finish his meal and go meet Arias.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Sure, see you next time.”

Watching Valt leave, Riman thought to himself.

‘A barbarian barely over 20 years old can withstand attacks from a Floor 5 Expert? He might be special, but… this is truly… exciting.’

Having lived as a professor for a long time, Riman knows how to appreciate a student’s potential without prejudice.

He was looking forward to seeing what kind of waves this barbarian prince would make at the Academy.

***

“Hello! Valt!”

It seems Lisa also came along since Arias was meeting Valt.

“Hmm, did you rest well?”

Arias has lost much of her wariness toward Valt.

Being a young elf, she didn’t have strong prejudices against barbarians to begin with, and she remembered how reassuring Valt’s broad back felt when he suddenly intervened during their confrontation with those criminals yesterday.

Seeing Valt again, Arias’s heart flutters as she recalls his dependable back.

‘W-what am I thinking!’

Feeling strange emotions, Arias shakes her head and greets Valt.

“Ah, hello? But what happened to your body? You’re covered in wounds and… dust!”

Thanks to the barbarian’s amazing physical abilities, the wounds on his arms had already healed and weren’t bleeding, but they still appeared as red gashes.

“I had some sparring this morning.”

At the mention of sparring, Lisa gets excited.

“S-sparring? V-Valt! You can’t kill people at the Academy!”

Valt presses his index finger firmly on Lisa’s crown for saying unnecessary things.

But to Lisa, it feels like being pressed down with a club.

“Ow!! Owowow! N-no! My height! I’m shrinking!”

Watching Lisa crumple like a turtle, Valt says,

“Who said anything about killing? Rather, I got beaten quite thoroughly, as you can see.”

Both Lisa and Arias are surprised at those words.

“W-what? B-beaten!? W-who was your opponent!? Did a demon appear or something!?”

The finger pressing on Lisa applies a bit more force.

Crack!

“Aack! Ack! My neck! My neck made a weird sound!!”

Valt smiles slightly, removes his finger, and says,

“I fought with a professor named Riman Squat. He was strong.”

Lisa, who bounced back to normal like a whack-a-mole, gets excited again.

Why is this girl so noisy, Valt wonders.

“R-Riman Squat! Professor ‘Drowsy Sword’ Riman Squat?”

“I don’t know about the nickname, but the name is correct.”

Drowsy Sword? Does it mean a languid sword? He didn’t seem that languid, though thinking about it, his droopy eyes might give that impression.

Arias thought Valt was impressive.

Despite being so strong, he doesn’t stop training, sparring with a professor from early morning.

With her heart beating faster, Arias suddenly grabs Valt’s wounded arm.

“Hmm?”

“Hold still. If you leave it like this, it’ll scar.”

‘W-why am I doing this?’

Arias doesn’t understand why she’s holding this barbarian’s hand and trying to heal him.

Magical power gathers around Arias, and she softly says,

“Please, Undi.”

Then the spirit on Arias’s shoulder moves to Valt’s arm and begins to envelop his wounds.

It feels like magical power is being converted into a mysterious energy.

‘Ooh? Is this spirit power?’

The wounds heal visibly fast until they’re barely noticeable.

As an added service, the spirit swirls around his entire body, blowing away the dust and making Valt look neat.

“Hooh… Fascinating. Thank you, Arias.”

“W-well, it’s nothing…”

Why does Valt’s gratitude make her so happy? Arias feels something strange is happening to her.

At that moment, the water spirit Undi, having heard Valt’s words, bounces around on his arm.

Valt seems to understand roughly why the spirit is acting this way.

“Haha, sorry Undi. Yes, thank you the most.”

Only then does Undi make a satisfied expression and return to Arias.

Seeing this, Arias’s eyes widen.

“M-my goodness, even with your affinity, you can sense the spirit’s emotions? You can feel that?”

He just made a lucky guess, but he doesn’t understand why this is so impressive.

“It just seemed that way. Shall we start right away?”

At Valt’s words, Arias shakes her head.

“Not here. Let’s find a good spot.”

Arias takes the lead, with Valt and Lisa following behind.

A spacious park—or should it be called a forest given its size?

There’s a fairly large lake visible in the back, and the trees are dense.

It doesn’t seem like an artificial lake.

Arias finally stops and says,

“This place has the strongest natural energy.”

Though Valt doesn’t know what natural energy is, he also feels this place is the most refreshing.

Arias looks at Valt and asks,

“First, we need to decide on a spirit. Which spirit would you like to summon?”