Ch.50Duel (3)
by fnovelpia
“What are you doing so impudently during class time! Get up now!”
“Yes…”
“Take the wooden sword. I’ll personally instruct you.”
Eidel’s eyes were cloudy like those of a dying fish as he staggered to his feet. Clarke inwardly sighed.
Students like this are the first to die.
What good is being smart at studying? If you don’t diligently train, you’ll end up dead at the hands of monsters.
“First, show me your stance.”
“Like this?”
“Sloppy.”
His center of gravity was somewhat balanced, but that was all. Only the basic framework was there, while all the finer details were a mess.
“We need to do some pruning.”
Clarke corrected Eidel’s entire posture. He made him extend his legs more given his height, straightened his waist to align with his center, and instructed him to hold his hands higher so the sword tip would be at eye level.
Eidel trembled as he replied.
“Please spare me.”
“Good. Maintain that stance.”
“Please spare me.”
“Boy, stop exaggerating. In the military, they make you hold that position all day.”
“Please spare me.”
He was teachable to some extent, but one couldn’t say he had physical talent. Eidel was ordinary.
That’s what Clarke thought until they began the actual sparring.
“Try attacking me.”
“Really?”
“I’m an Omega. Stop talking and attack me already.”
As soon as those words fell, Eidel lunged at the instructor. Clarke thought he could easily dodge what seemed like visible movements. He raised his wooden sword, intending to block casually.
The sword’s energy curved.
For an instant, his vision blurred. A sensation of paralyzed thought. False openings began to look real, and real openings looked false.
A strange experience.
When he came to his senses, a chilling wind brushed right past his right temple. Eidel’s wooden sword had stopped just before striking the instructor’s temporal lobe.
“Instructor?”
“Huh? What?”
Stupid sounds escaped Clarke’s mouth in succession.
“Don’t tell me you couldn’t react to my attack?”
“…No. I was going easy on you.”
“Come on, that’s not true. You couldn’t react, could you? If I had gone a little further in that state, you would have been knocked out, right?”
It had been a long time since he’d shown such a simple opening. Even when capturing divine vessels, he hadn’t reacted this clumsily.
His shoulders felt stiff. The stigma engraved on his back trembled. The constellation king contracted with Clarke, the Sagittarius of the 12 Zodiac Houses, shuddered and sent a status message warning him to be especially careful.
Not just an ordinary constellation, but a constellation king who protects the universe against outer gods was trembling.
Faced with this unprecedented phenomenon, Clarke’s face hardened, not even hearing Eidel’s mockery.
***
Deliberately staying behind to request guidance from Clarke had been the right answer. Certainly, compared to when he learned from Rustila, his posture felt much improved.
Now all that remained for today was to watch her duel.
While Welton pushed for victory against his classmate Mathers, and childhood friends Mezulen and Kristin took turns winning and losing against each other, Rustila and Zernya continued their evenly matched contest.
Moving more cautiously than yesterday, Rustila ran in a curve when Zernya showed an opening.
But it was a trap. Zernya pushed away Rustila, who was diving into her embrace, as smoothly as flowing water.
A thrusting attack followed.
“Ugh!”
She pressed forward quickly like a well-trained fencing athlete. Rustila groaned. She retreated, clutching her abdomen that had been injured yesterday.
Zernya wasn’t one to miss such an opportunity.
The difference in skill determines victory and defeat. Zernya was a girl who knew how to distinguish between fake openings and real ones. Her sword strikes pushed forward like waves.
“Aack…!”
Rustila fell backward with a shrill cry. Soon a blade was at her throat. A heavy piece of metal on the verge of ionization rested on her shoulder.
“Sister!”
Seti, who had been training with a classmate, came running. I caught her midway and calmed her down.
Zernya withdrew her sword and brushed back her hair.
“You need to know the difference in our levels.”
“…”
“If you have any conscience, go back to your original class even now. That’s the best path for you, blondie.”
Rustila hung her head low.
It was her second defeat. She must be deeply disappointed.
Strictly speaking, since Zernya was the one who started the trouble, Rustila had no reason to be dejected, but for someone to whom swordsmanship was everything, the fact that she was challenged didn’t matter.
I grabbed her hand, which was sprawled on the ground, and half-forcibly pulled her up.
“Ugh.”
“Are you okay?”
“My side…”
Rustila frowned and even broke into a cold sweat. It seemed we needed to take her to a major hospital.
***
We went through examination and simple admission procedures at Amor General Hospital, one of the top 10 southern hospitals operated by the Rheinland family. The hospitalization fee was covered by (extorting) Seti’s allowance.
Rustila, confined to a private room after changing into a hospital gown, stared blankly out the window. Beyond the hemispherical glass barrier, the vast cosmos spread out like silk.
“I’ve finished filing your sick leave. Rest well.”
Instructor Clarke scratched his head and sat down next to Seti and me. He peeled a few apples from the fruit basket and popped them straight into his mouth.
“How intensely did you two fight for you to crack a rib?”
I snatched an apple that was about to enter the instructor’s mouth and answered while eating it.
“They’re sworn enemies.”
“She’s on bad terms with Adelbein? That must be tough. So, what caused the rift between them?”
“I don’t know.”
The bad blood between Zernya and Rustila was something taken for granted in “God Slayer.” There was no need to attach a specific reason.
I just thought it was time when they started fighting.
“You know, there are people in this world who just want to kill each other on sight…”
“Ah, I know what you mean. My wife does that to me for no reason.”
“What does she say?”
“She tells me to go out and die every day.”
“I know that feeling.”
Instructor Clarke chuckled and handed me another apple. I peeled it neatly and arranged it nicely on a plate.
“What would a young kid like you know about that?”
“My family told me to go out and die every day too.”
“Hey, that’s different from this.”
Seti interjected with an indignant expression, but the conversation had already gone off on a tangent.
I handed the well-peeled apples to Rustila and Seti. The two scratched their cheeks simultaneously like real sisters, then instantly demolished one plate.
I peeled another apple. This time I used a bread knife for a different style. Seti looked at me with a pathetic expression as if asking what nonsense I was doing, but she didn’t scold me.
This too was part of training.
Originally, I had intended to learn only the proper method of handling a sword from Instructor Clarke, but thanks to his unexpected interest in me, I was promised intensive guidance.
The reason he was sitting in Rustila’s hospital room was actually because of me.
This was a stroke of luck for me. After leading the conversation for a while, I naturally shifted the topic.
“How is Rustila?”
“What about her?”
“I mean her talent as a swordswoman. Does she have any chance of beating Zernya?”
Rustila, who had been munching on apple slices with vacant eyes, turned her head. Her reflexive response to sword talk was quite adorable.
Instructor Clarke sighed and said:
“To be honest, it’s difficult.”
She doesn’t lack talent, but her technique relies heavily on wild aspects. No technique, just disordered violence.
This level might be enough to defeat A-class monsters, but not intelligent S-class or higher monsters, according to the instructor.
Naturally, Rustila buried her head in despair. It’s understandable to be disappointed when told to abandon the sword style you’ve believed in and trained with all this time.
“You’ll have to start again from the beginner level. By the way, my technique relies heavily on orthodox methods. I didn’t have much talent either. That’s why I’ve climbed this far by stubbornly following the rails others laid down.”
It was self-praise, but also true. Didn’t Professor Feynman say something similar? To reach the top of any field, you need to build a solid foundation.
“But it’s the style I’ve learned from my constellation all this time…”
“I understand. Still, you shouldn’t think everything a constellation says is right. Especially if they have enough rationality and goodwill to form a contract. What if, by some chance, the constellation allies with an outer god and becomes corrupted?”
Yes, that happens, though not often. But Rustila’s Vega is so pure that it wouldn’t happen unless directly absorbed by a black hole.
In other words, Rustila’s path is also the right path.
Clarke probably knows this deep down. Rustila is a student he cannot teach. So he needs to introduce her to another swordsman who has a different “right path” suitable for her.
Just then, a good person seemed to come to his mind.
He clapped his hands and said:
“My wife…”
***
Even after being discharged, Rustila continued to challenge Zernya.
Since Zernya’s skill was overwhelming, Rustila couldn’t last more than a few exchanges. If she managed to cross swords ten times, she was lucky.
“I’m tired of this.”
A month later. Today again ended with Zernya’s victory. She frowned as she lowered her sword from Rustila’s shoulder.
“Let’s stop now. I’m sick of someone like you.”
“…Fight me. One more time. Set a date.”
“You still haven’t come to your senses?”
Zernya was also exhausted by now.
Originally, she hadn’t particularly welcomed or disliked anyone entering the elite class, be it Rustila or anyone else. After all, she would be number one anyway, and no one would surpass her.
She thought there would be no tadpole who would feel they were swimming in the same water as her just because they studied together.
But that thought shattered like thin glass.
The boy she uniquely and slightly acknowledged, Eidel, was getting along well with Rustila.
The fact that Eidel, who was currently above her, was close to Rustila, who was far inferior to her.
First, it was bad for her heart.
Second, it was contemptible.
By associating with trash like Rustila, Eidel might create an atmosphere where other students could look down on her.
Such a thing must not happen.
“Get lost.”
Zernya hissed at Rustila with killing intent. She clenched her teeth and stepped out of Zernya’s shadow.
“Phew.”
That’s it.
That’s done.
Now that she knows her place, she’ll stay away from Eidel.
All that remained was to pull down the top student and climb up there herself.
The promised mid-term evaluation was approaching.
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