Ch.75Initiation Ceremony (2)

Lady Knight Leana Fantrien was born as the second daughter of the prestigious Fantrien family, a name that had earned its own reputation.

In the Frankish Kingdom, where feudal order was quite strong, it was difficult for a landed noble, let alone a family without noble status, to make a name for themselves….

Nevertheless, the Fantrien family had established itself as a prestigious house known throughout the western continent, despite lacking any special titles.

This was thanks to their overwhelming record of producing a considerable number of knights.

The Fantrien family—which was closer to a massive collective of people connected through various blood relations and family ties rather than a traditional family—had evolved into something resembling a giant knight training institution, held together by its enormous scale and internal order.

Originally established by several knights with aligned interests for the purpose of martial training, at some point its structure changed, becoming an organization that merely borrowed the form of a family while functioning essentially as a structured institution.

And Lady Leana Fantrien was one of the knights produced by this Fantrien family.

Originally an orphan from the urban slums, she had attempted to pickpocket a senior Fantrien member, which resulted in her “voluntary adoption” into the family, subjecting her to their harsh education system.

Of course, Leana Fantrien, whose talent was abundant enough to reach intermediate rank by the mere age of twenty-three, managed to endure reasonably well. However, during this process, she became disillusioned with the family and, upon reaching intermediate rank, declared her independence in a manner almost resembling estrangement. After passing the test, she joined the Alzar Order of Knights.

Thus, she had risen from the bottom to reach—if not the pinnacle—at least the intermediate level of power that many aspired to, and through this process, she gained the experience of “overcoming hardship through effort.”

Because of this, Leana Fantrien’s sense of self had long been firmly built upon these “achievements” of hers.

Her worldview was based on the Fantrien family’s characteristic survival-of-the-fittest ideology, with underlying contempt for the weak and respect for the strong. On top of this, Leana Fantrien added her own inferiority complex stemming from her upbringing and past.

In other words, the unique mindset typical of a self-made person had manifested in a somewhat negative form.

She secretly despised knights from ordinary noble families, believing they had become knights solely due to their family backgrounds. Due to the complex arising from others not knowing her origins, she excessively disrespected and insulted the “common people.”

Rather than having any logical reason, she displayed a self-loathing tendency purely because she didn’t want to acknowledge her own deficiencies. She even went so far as to consider only her own efforts as true effort.

Therefore, although she might have been able to hide these tendencies and join the knights’ order for now, if these twisted ideologies were to surface over time, she could face the worst possible outcome….

…At least, it wasn’t like that right now.

When she came to the training ground after hearing about an induction ceremony doubling as a skill test, it was already displeasing enough to learn that her “opponent” was actually “Lord Alzar,” the future baron. But now, what kind of situation was this?

The very “Lord Alzar” who was supposed to be her opponent hadn’t even equipped proper gear, and furthermore, was holding what appeared to be nothing more than a reasonably long tree branch as a weapon!

“Are you… are you trying to mock me…?!”

“Well, of course. Did you think otherwise?”

Even as Leana tried her best to maintain her composure, he responded with what seemed like mockery, picking up the tree branch in his hand.

Even the most benevolent person would understandably lose their temper in such a situation—how much more so for Leana, whose thinking was already somewhat twisted due to her abnormal upbringing?

“…You rotten—!!”

Despite knowing it was an intentional provocation, Leana simply couldn’t endure it anymore. Finally, she gripped her sword tightly with both hands, enveloped it in a dark blue aura, and swung—

“—Huh?”

In the very next moment, she was utterly astonished for several reasons.

First, obviously, her longsword, swung with both hands… had been blocked by a casually wielded tree branch held in one hand.

Even though both surfaces were coated with aura, ultimately, enhancement through aura is proportional to the durability of the original object.

To put it in mathematical terms, it’s multiplication. A weapon with a performance rating of 20, when enhanced with aura, might reach a performance of 100, but a thin tree branch with a performance of 1, even if deliberately enhanced with aura, would struggle to exceed 20.

Moreover, comparing a craftsman-forged sword to a random tree branch picked up from the roadside—which one could hold more aura?

The second reason for her shock was the strange sensation she felt from the blade of her sword as she pushed with all her might.

The reason a sword can display powerful destructive force is due to the “concentration of power” that comes from focusing the entire body’s strength on a thin line (the blade) when swinging.

It’s the same principle that allows a pointed spear to easily pierce through materials that a blunt stick cannot penetrate with the same force.

But somehow, despite concentrating her power on the blade’s edge as per the sword’s design, Leana found that force strangely dispersing in all directions.

No matter how much attention she paid, she couldn’t feel anything special—just a short, thin, and not even straight tree branch.

‘How, how is this possible…!!’

But perhaps the most astonishing reason of all was that she couldn’t detect any trace of magical enhancement from the knight before her.

Currently, Leana stood at about 176cm, with her aura fully spread to enhance her body. While human females might generally have weaker physical abilities compared to males, once aura is awakened, the story changes completely.

Pure physical size issues aside, she could exert physical abilities practically different from those of a normal human species, yet “Lord Alzar” was facing her without even wrapping himself in magic, let alone aura.

Basically, enhancement through aura activates naturally even without conscious thought, but Lord Alzar had deliberately turned even this off while withstanding Leana’s attack.

Of course, as an aura bearer, he might still be receiving the minimal enhancement that inevitably applies, but even with that minimal enhancement, how was he not being overpowered by Leana’s strength?

‘….Hmm.’

Due to these three reasons, as Leana continued to exert herself and maintain the exchange in a dazed state, she felt as if she had been bewitched by a fairy or ghost.

No matter how hard she swung her weapon, they were all blocked by that knight’s hand, and she couldn’t even cut through that thin, twisted tree branch.

An ordinary person would likely lose their fighting spirit and have their will completely broken by this point, but the mind of a human who had endured the harsh education of the Fantrien family and awakened their aura was not just firm—it was solid and unyielding.

An intermediate warrior, in real-world terms, is like a madman convinced they could kill thousands with a swing of their weapon, and aura is simply this energy taking physical form through magical power.

Moving with a mindset too heavy to be simply described as madness, Leana finally spotted an opening created by the curved shape of Lord Alzar’s tree branch.

“There it is—!!”

With a battle cry, she explosively amplified her physical abilities by detonating the magical power within her body.

Normally, a battle cry would merely announce “I’m attacking now,” but when supernatural forces like magic and mysticism are involved, the story changes instantly.

The only explained operating principle in the concept of mysticism is the law of equivalent exchange.

By deliberately committing the negative act of shouting a battle cry, she created a positive element that amplified her physical abilities more than standard enhancement.

Of course, she would have to bear the recoil from these enhanced physical abilities, but from the perspective of someone focused solely on defeating the knight before her, such trivial matters meant nothing.

Only, only defeating the “enemy” mattered.

Having completely forgotten that this was a kind of initiation ceremony, Leana pushed magical power into her longsword to its limit and swung it with all her might—

—Slash!

“….Huh?”

In the next moment, the cleanly bisected aura blade flew through the air and embedded itself in the training ground stage.

An abnormal sight that completely twisted all the meager common sense Leana had built up until now.

Having witnessed the slash that cut through her aura-enveloped sword like butter with a mere tree branch, Leana quietly thought as she beheld the surreal yet beautiful trajectory of the sword:

‘How could anyone possibly—’

—Thwack!

Of course, her thought was never completed.

—Thud!

Lord Alzar’s fist struck the part of her face not covered by her helmet—specifically her chin—shaking her brain and quickly cutting off her consciousness.

“””””WAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!”””””

And simultaneously, as cheers erupted from the audience watching this splendid match at the “initiation ceremony,” the now almost irregular event of the “initiation ceremony” following Lord Alzar’s induction concluded with the new recruit’s unconsciousness.

‘….Whew, damn. That was almost a disaster.’

Regardless of what thoughts might be going through the mind of the gallantly standing Lord Camille de Alzar.