Ch.38Chapter 38: Of Course, Overcoming This Is Also Up to Me

I should probably give up on sword practice.

Not only do I lack time, but even if I were to pick up any of these and train, it’s obvious I wouldn’t achieve proper efficiency.

The reason was that the shortcomings of the two swords were too apparent for recreating the lethal sword technique I sought—one executed with concise movements.

The short sword, while easy to handle due to its short length and light weight, paradoxically couldn’t achieve the concise movements I wanted because its lethality was too low to implement the killing blow I sought.

The great sword, with its overwhelmingly longer reach compared to the short sword, had suitable lethality for its size, but its weight was a fatal flaw—not just difficult to handle, but burdensome even to lift with both hands.

“Nothing works.”

I scratched the back of my head, relieving my displeasure.

Even if I wanted to blame someone, it all started because I broke the swords that suited me when I couldn’t control my anger.

It’s unfortunate, but after lunch, before heading straight to the dedicated training ground, I should find a suitable weapon and then refine my sword form here once more before heading to the dedicated training ground.

Having organized my thoughts and needing to sort out my complicated feelings that were getting tangled up…

“Hoo.”

I let out a light sigh and took in the morning air.

Though slightly chilly compared to the warm sunlight, the clear air gradually calmed my mind, which had been filled with frustration.

I cooled my head with the cold morning air and kept repeating to myself to calm my mind.

‘Don’t be impatient.’

The more one rushes toward a destination, the narrower one’s vision becomes, often preventing one from accomplishing what they set out to do.

Think positively.

Although I have to leave this place without accomplishing anything, let’s consider it as training that awakened my slightly heavy body and mind by breathing in the clear, cold morning air.

Hmm… wait? Body?

Something flashed in my mind.

“…Let’s try once before leaving.”

If you have a thought, you should at least try to act on it.

“Can I lift it?”

With doubt in my mind, I reached out my right hand toward the great sword, only its grip visible.

As soon as I gripped it, I could indirectly feel the heaviness of this thing embedded in the makeshift armory through my right hand.

In the past, I wouldn’t have even considered lifting it with one hand, let alone two, but after awakening my hyper-regeneration ability, I suddenly wanted to test how much my enhanced physical abilities had strengthened.

“Well then.”

That’s as far as my thoughts went.

Even if I didn’t swing the sword, it was time to gauge whether this enhanced body could lift such a sword with one hand.

“Hnngh!”

I applied strength to my right hand and slowly lifted the great sword stuck in the makeshift armory.

Even though it was an impulsive action, I still harbored doubts.

Pulling out a long, wide-bladed sword with its imposing weight requires much preparation.

Normally, I would have needed to place this sword below my feet, grip it with both hands, and slowly lift it to reveal its heavy blade.

Srrng

The great sword embedded in the makeshift armory followed my hand, gradually revealing its blade with a clear sound as it escaped its sheath.

“…It’s working?”

Contrary to my expectations, while the great sword did transmit its weight to my right hand, it was lifted out of the makeshift armory with relative ease, following my hand slowly.

Even if I could lift it, I firmly believed that as more of it was revealed, the center of gravity would shift, and I would be at the sword’s mercy.

Surprisingly, as it completely left its sheath and revealed its well-maintained white blade, my hand wasn’t overwhelmed by the sword’s weight.

For a moment, I wondered if this sword was designed to maintain a perfect center of gravity regardless of how it was lifted, but I quickly dismissed the thought with a shake of my head.

The memory of when I, relying solely on my innate strength, carelessly tried to pull this sword out with both hands before my regression and ended up spraining my left shoulder, immediately dispelled the fleeting hypothesis in my mind.

“Hoo…”

I let out a light sigh, completely clearing my mind of the lingering thoughts that had occurred while drawing the sword, and moved on to the next action.

The sword tip was still pointing toward the ground.

The stance I sought was the high guard.

Suitable for showing fighting spirit against an opponent coming straight on.

Above all, it’s a stance filled with fiery will.

“Let’s do this.”

Having succeeded in drawing the sword with one hand, I judged that using both hands would allow me to at least assume the stance I wanted, even if I couldn’t swing the sword. So I gripped the lower part of the hilt with my idle left hand and the upper part with my right.

“I’ve got the grip.”

All that remained was to lift the sword diagonally above my head to complete the stance.

Steeling myself, I applied ample strength to both hands and arms and lifted the sword.

The great sword, which by appearance alone seemed immovable due to its heaviness, was raised above my head, slowly but surely.

It traced a smooth arc without even the trembling that naturally occurs in the arms when lifting something heavy enough to strain one’s muscles.

“It… worked.”

I completed the high guard stance with such stability that I doubted if this was even possible.

The trajectory drawn by the great sword I held while assuming the stance was a smooth arc.

Moreover, while I felt an appropriate weight in my arms during this series of movements, it wasn’t overly burdensome.

It was an unexpected great success.

As satisfaction began to cloud my mind and I was about to crave another desire…

“Still, swinging it would be too much.”

I quickly acknowledged my limits and just maintained the stance.

If it were simply a matter of swinging from top to bottom all the way through, perhaps it would be possible.

But for regular cutting practice, where one stops the motion at the point of cutting, I’d need several wrists to make it possible with this sword.

Nevertheless, I had gained a lot.

“I didn’t deliberately use fighting spirit and just used my physical abilities, yet this works.”

And not just at the level of merely lifting it, but to the extent of displaying a plausible high guard stance.

In fact, it felt like a strength training exercise due to the appropriate weight sensation.

Wait? Strength training?

“…It might work.”

A suitable method for refining the stance that must be established before wielding sword techniques came to mind.

“First, let’s eat and attend the morning class.”

Having quickly organized the thoughts that had emerged in my mind, I carefully placed the great sword back in the armory and headed toward the dining hall for breakfast.

Whooosh

The sound of the somewhat chilly late autumn wind, ill-suited to the warm sunlight, reached my ears from behind me.

“Just you wait, Fafnir.”

Following the sound of the wind was a self-mutter expressing mild vengeance against the entity presumed to be the evil dragon that had taken me to an unknown place and toyed with me last night, a sentiment I couldn’t help but express due to the joy of finding a training method to become stronger.

How childish. How very childish.

Realizing that a childish emotion still lingered in a corner of my heart, I lightly tapped my forehead with my right hand.

Calm down, calm down.

The day is just beginning.

The real start of training to become stronger comes after lunch.

The frustration I initially felt upon seeing the armory had now been replaced by refreshment due to finding an unexpected clue.

#

The first day after the temporary holiday ended, and the academic schedule returned to normal.

After finishing the basic theory classes held in the morning, students paired up with friends they got along with and, after lunch, began their training to enhance the sparkle they each harbored.

Rookie students who had just enrolled headed to the basic training ground to focus on physical training suitable for the weapons they used.

Students whose main purpose was to learn various fields of magic, including elemental magic, went to attend advanced theory classes prepared by the Cradle’s proud faculty of magic professors.

Among the students striving to enhance their innate sparkle in various forms, there was a separate place where those with the most brilliant sparkle headed:

The dedicated training ground for Awakeners—those who had awakened their abilities before turning 18.

Normally, by this time, the place should have been brimming with the fervor of geniuses striving to enhance their sparkle.

However, what filled the Awakener training ground now was not fervor, but the unified, subtly curious gazes of most students, who typically neither interfered with nor were interfered by others, all directed at a specific point.

Murmur, murmur

All that existed were the murmurs expressing their respective impressions as they looked at whatever was at the focal point of their gazes.

What could make these selected geniuses neglect their own tasks and focus their attention on one place?

The answer would be found at the point where their gazes were directed.

First, the place they were looking at was a dedicated space within a dedicated space, prepared for the one undisputedly considered to have the greatest talent among the many geniuses gathered here.

Who is this genius among geniuses, referred to as the brightest star among the many stars that have passed through the Cradle during its thousand-year history?

It’s Liliansis Proxian, a descendant of the prestigious sword family Proxian, whose skills are recognized to the extent that she’s expected to soon become the heir to the Proxian family.

So, have they gathered like this to watch the training of someone whom even they, often praised as geniuses, acknowledge?

No.

While the owner of this space, she, was indeed training with her practice sword as usual, the students’ gazes were directed not at her but at a man who was silently refining his sword form not far from her.

Fiery red hair reminiscent of blazing flames.

A rather fierce gaze that subtly straddled the boundary between ferocity and impurity.

A handsome appearance that couldn’t be easily concealed even by such fierce eyes.

But apart from that, a presence that seemed truly ordinary among the superhuman candidates, showing nothing particularly eye-catching.

The man’s identity was Karl Ranos, Liliansis Proxian’s fiancé and the descendant of the great hero’s bloodline, who miraculously awakened his special ability two days before his 18th birthday, avoiding demotion to a regular student.

Why were their gazes fixed on this man, whom most students here knew by name alone?

On the surface, Karl Ranos’s training didn’t seem particularly special.

He was holding a practice sword, manufactured according to the rules of this place without any sharpened edge, with both hands.

He was maintaining an offensive high guard stance with both hands holding the sword above his head, showing no particular movement.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

Despite maintaining an ordinary stance, his rough breathing and the slight trembling of his arms holding the sword made the scene appear not just ordinary but potentially subpar, showing only inexperience.

However, the students observing his training had different thoughts.

“From top to bottom.”

Every time Karl Ranos swung his practice sword in response to Liliansis’s command…

Woong-!!

A wind-cutting sound, questionable whether it could be produced merely by swinging a sword in the air, was heard.

Peouk-!!

The floor of the training ground, reinforced with all sorts of strengthening formulas to withstand the intense movements of superhumans and immediately restore itself even if damaged, showed faint but numerous sword marks from the sword wind before quickly restoring itself. This repeated scene was the main reason for their focused attention.

The overwhelming sword wind filled with power from a single cutting motion, and the numerous sword marks it etched on the floor…

While it was indeed an impressive sight, one might wonder if it was enough to attract such attention in a place filled with exceptional superhumans. The secret lay in Karl Ranos’s physical condition as he repeated this series of movements.

“Karl… How about infusing your body with fighting spirit?”

Despite trying to appear calm, Liliansis’s voice couldn’t hide her concern.

“Hah… It’s fine. I don’t plan to use fighting spirit until I achieve the results I want.”

Karl responded to her concern with a smooth voice, though his breathing was rough.

Yes, this was the reason for the students’ focused attention.

The clearest indicator of a mature superhuman’s level is the utilization of fighting spirit.

Superhumans typically fight by converting mana floating in the air into fighting spirit through their lungs using breathing techniques passed down in their family or self-created based on extensive combat experience. They then store this fighting spirit in their heart and circulate it throughout their body in sync with their breathing and heartbeat to strengthen their physical form.

Despite being able to handle the legendary breathing technique Prikasa, which even prestigious families couldn’t match in terms of converting mana into fighting spirit (though he was still inexperienced)…

“This current training is physical conditioning disguised as sword training. In other words, it’s foundational work to enlarge the vessel that will hold the fighting spirit.”

Karl was deliberately not using fighting spirit while swinging his sword, yet producing such a scene.

But that wasn’t the only surprising thing.

“Are you tired? Stay there, I’ll bring you water right away.”

“Thank you.”

The next scene, which unfolded when Liliansis approached Karl with a gentle voice she never showed to other students and handed him a cup of water, was also enough to evoke surprise.

Kuuung-!!

A terrifying roar echoed across the training ground floor.

He had briefly placed the sword on the ground.

He hadn’t roughly thrown it.

He had merely bent his knee, let the blade touch the ground first, and then carefully placed the grip on the ground.

Yet the moment the grip touched the ground, a sound revealing its immense weight reached the ears of students watching Karl’s training from afar.

-So that’s the source of the discomfort I’ve been feeling all along—that sword.

-…Insane. Did he put a weight-increasing spell on that sword? He applied a weight-increasing spell, not a weight-reducing one, to a sword for techniques where speed is essential?

Only then did a few surprised comments emerge from the students who had been merely watching in silence.

-Is he really the one who awakened two days ago? I heard he had given up because he couldn’t awaken, but that’s clearly a lie.

There were also voices expressing surprise at seeing Karl demonstrate feats that even they, mature superhumans, couldn’t easily show without fighting spirit.

Various forms of admiration were being freely expressed, but…

-He swung something that heavy without even wrapping his body in fighting spirit. What kind of scene would he create if he wrapped his body in fighting spirit and the sword returned to its normal weight?

The moment a sharp observation came from one student’s lips…

-….

The murmuring crowd suddenly fell silent, and then…

-I should train.

-Yes, let’s train.

With these words as a cue, the students busily moved to continue their respective training, and all gazes directed at Liliansis’s dedicated training ground disappeared.

“…I guess my training wasn’t anything special. They’re leaving so quickly.”

Karl observed this scene while slowly drinking water, his voice expressing a calm observation, but…

“I don’t think… that’s it.”

Even for Liliansis, it was surprising to see her fiancé, whom she had underestimated, swinging a sword with an ultra-weight-increasing spell without even wrapping his body in fighting spirit. Her voice, too, carried a hint of bewilderment.

As the students quickly returned to their places and immersed themselves in training, especially those who, like Karl Ranos, used swords as their main weapon, one question arose in their minds:

How was he swinging the sword to create a sword wind strong enough to leave faint marks on the floor with such light and simple movements, without even infusing fighting spirit?

And how much brutal physical training had he repeated to develop the strength to lift such a heavy sword without wrapping his body in fighting spirit?

While there was no clear answer to these questions, the sentiment most of them felt was probably just one:

‘Just shut up and swing.’

They would simply continue to train by swinging their swords, aiming to lay the groundwork to recreate with their own bodies the amazing sight they had witnessed.

Needless to say, the fervor emanating from the special ability awakener’s dedicated training ground, already filled with members with high self-esteem, grew even more today compared to yesterday.