Ch.5353. Excellent

Although Brandon had limited his divine power to match Rex’s level, that only reduced the total amount of divine power, not his developed senses.

Thanks to this, he was able to notice Rex’s intention at the last moment.

The determination to strike his opponent while disregarding his own life!

Considering this was just a sparring match, it was truly a bold and audacious action. At minimum, both would suffer serious injuries, and one of them might even die.

If his opponent had been someone of similar standing to Rex, he would certainly have faced harsh reprimand, but Brandon was a knight. He could unleash his original power whenever he chose.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he drew upon his divine power to accelerate his body and twist the trajectory of his longsword. Thus, he narrowly prevented the catastrophe of cutting Rex in half.

‘There’s a limit to bravery. How can someone be so reckless?’

At first, he felt indignant. To charge in knowing the other side would have to back down—it wasn’t honorable. Strictly speaking, Rex wasn’t even officially knighted yet, and his position as a squire was ambiguous at best.

Still, as Berger’s disciple, he should approach everything with integrity. Resorting to tricks because he couldn’t win fairly? That’s not right. One should humbly accept defeat and strive to improve one’s shortcomings.

While his competitive spirit was admirable, Brandon didn’t want to indulge in this foolishness.

‘I’ll make him bedridden with muscle pain for a while.’

All that remained was to deflect Rex’s zweihander and make him pay dearly for underestimating him…

Then he sensed danger.

The zweihander thrusting toward his waist suddenly bent. As Rex’s elbow rotated, the blade soared vertically. Brandon hastily extended his longsword to block, but the zweihander writhed like a snake, advancing in a completely unexpected direction.

‘This is…!’

Brandon was astonished at this point. He couldn’t fail to recognize what technique this was. It was his own. The swordsmanship he had used to toy with Rex earlier had returned like a boomerang to threaten him. Though it was merely a grappling technique without a special name, it wasn’t shallow enough to be replicated after seeing it just once.

At that moment, their eyes met.

Despite the longsword nearly splitting his head moments ago, there was no fear in Rex’s eyes. They were the eyes of someone absolutely certain he wouldn’t die.

Even knowing this, it’s psychologically difficult for most people to move as intended, yet Rex steadfastly took a step forward.

‘He’s insane.’

Brandon revised his assessment from “indignant” to “this guy is crazy.” He’d heard that Rex had just begun learning swordsmanship today—how was that possible? No matter how talented someone might be, this was far too extreme. Brandon himself had been called a genius since childhood and had reached the Radiance stage as a holy knight. Yet even he couldn’t immediately apply a technique he’d just seen.

‘Impressive!’

That was Brandon’s genuine appreciation. He even felt a twinge of jealousy toward Berger. Teaching someone like this would make every day enjoyable. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like if he had found him first.

Still—he had a long way to go.

Rex would surely reach Radiance soon, but he wasn’t there yet.

‘I’ll show you something for that courage.’

His promise to limit his power had already evaporated. He could have easily blocked the attack aimed at his neck, but Brandon did nothing.

He had taken a liking to Rex. At this point, he decided to show him something special.

Looking at the zweihander’s blade,

Brandon manifested “Radiance.”

Slash!

“W-what’s happening?”

The squires watching the match blinked in confusion, not understanding what had occurred. For an instant, a light illuminated the world brilliantly, followed immediately by a fierce wind. Dust rose, obscuring their vision.

What happened? The match seemed to be decided, but they couldn’t see the outcome, which was frustrating. As everyone anxiously stared ahead, the dust cloud gradually cleared.

The squires widened their eyes at the scene finally revealed.

“……”

The dazzling flash was gone, and Rex’s zweihander was stuck in the ground far away, hilt-up. Rex calmly shifted his gaze.

Blood trickled from a wound across his side.

It wasn’t a serious injury—just a slight graze. Surprisingly, the blade hadn’t touched him. Brandon’s longsword had stopped right beside his waist. Yet his skin was torn as if cut, though only the air pressure had touched him.

Rex clenched and unclenched his tingling palm. His shoulder ached as if dislocated. Like the squires, he didn’t understand what had happened. But his eyes had witnessed the mysterious phenomenon in its entirety.

Suddenly, brilliant radiance had poured out from Brandon.

Light has no physical form. Logically, the blade should have cut through the light and continued forward. However, the zweihander was violently repelled upon touching the light. The recoil made him lose his grip on the handle, and simultaneously, a cool breeze sliced past his skin.

Fortunately, the longsword stopped just before piercing Rex’s waist. Brandon had applied the brakes at the right moment, but that wasn’t all.

Looking at the hand gripping the longsword, Brandon spoke.

“You care quite a bit for your disciple.”

Berger shrugged.

“If something were to happen to him, it would be painful for me, having finally found a satisfactory disciple for the first time in my life. I must protect him well.”

In truth, Berger never thought Brandon would inflict a fatal wound on Rex. Knight is not a position that an immature person can hold.

Nevertheless, Berger had intervened in the match. As soon as he saw the signs of Radiance, he instinctively kicked off the ground, and his lightning-fast hand caught the longsword.

“He’s certainly a wild one.”

Brandon nodded in agreement. The longsword that had been aimed at Rex’s waist was withdrawn and sheathed.

“I was going to stop anyway.”

“I know.”

Berger readily responded to Brandon’s somewhat defensive remark. Though he had caught the blade with his bare hand, there was no wound. It meant Brandon had controlled his strength until the very end. If full power had been applied, even Berger wouldn’t have escaped unscathed.

Brandon stroked his chin and spoke.

“Are you alright?”

Berger also turned to look at Rex. Rex remained silent for a long time, head bowed. His tightly clenched fist trembled. At a glance, he appeared shocked and frustrated by the enormous gap between them.

‘That’s to be expected.’

The sparring match had been one-sided from start to finish, with Rex being overwhelmingly dominated. Both Berger and Brandon, once called geniuses themselves, had no difficulty imagining what the boy before them was feeling.

When defeated by someone far stronger than oneself, there’s an indescribably terrible feeling. The more talented you are, the greater the despair from a helpless defeat.

“Rex.”

You are the greatest talent I’ve ever seen. If you continue training, remembering today’s defeat, you might reach not only Radiance but perhaps even higher stages.

“…”

Berger, about to offer such awkward consolation, found himself closing his mouth.

“I learned a lot.”

His worry was unnecessary. Rex had neither lost heart nor motivation.

“May I request another sparring match next time?”

Berger revealed his white teeth in a grin.

‘That’s it.’

Rex’s blue eyes were calm.

They weren’t the eyes of someone broken-spirited. Far from being broken, they were ignited. Beneath that tranquil gaze burned a hot flame—a mixture of desire to become stronger and obsession with continuing to wield the sword.

“A sparring match.”

Before answering, Brandon looked around. The emotions in the squires’ gazes were clear: admiration, acknowledgment, aspiration… the thought that they could never match a knight.

Looking back at Rex, he was different. His eyes were full of competitive spirit, determined to catch up someday, and unwavering confidence in himself.

Now he was even asking for another match on his own terms. If any other squire had done so, they would have been immediately reprimanded. How dare you make such presumptuous requests to a knight? But…

Indeed, this one was different.

“How impudent.”

But even more so, admirable. Brandon raised a finger with a playful smile.

“Once a month. You choose the date. Send the time through a page. If your skills haven’t improved much compared to today, or if I’m not satisfied, the promise is canceled.”

“Understood.”

Brandon nodded at the straightforward answer and turned to leave.

“Let’s go.”

“…Yes!”

The squires, who had been alternately looking at Rex and Brandon with bewildered eyes, belatedly shuffled their feet. As more than ten people filed out, the training ground suddenly became quiet.

Rex closed his eyes. A gentle breeze blew, drying his damp sweat. The leaves rustled, making a pleasant sound.

“Master.”

“What is it?”

“How much stronger must I become to defeat Sir Brandon?”

“Training weights.”

Berger stroked his chin with a peculiar expression and murmured softly.

“If you can draw out holy flame while wearing the vassal armor plus four rings… I can’t guarantee you’ll reach Radiance, but at least you won’t be defeated so helplessly as today.”

It would take considerable time. Berger himself spent a full five years to fully master the training weights.

“There’s one way to graduate from the training weights quickly. Want to try it?”

There are ways to shorten the period, but most don’t attempt them. They require bone-grinding effort and brutal training. The process is more terrible than one can imagine.

Rex answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“I will.”

“Even normal training weights impose severe restrictions. This will be incomparably more painful and difficult than what you’re experiencing now.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Rex’s determination didn’t waver.

That fact pleased Berger so much that he smiled.