Ch.82Chapter 82: Second Day at the Fortress (4)

#

It was my first time visiting Night Haven’s training grounds at this hour.

Back when I had spent time here as a mercenary before my regression, this was a place where memories of training my body and mind in the early dawn, earlier than most knights, lingered.

It had been a desperate struggle to make myself even slightly better, to contain the regrets that surfaced too late.

I had been consumed by inferiority while watching the stars that were far ahead of me, missing even the chance to become a shooting star.

I was like kindling, burning myself up with the fuel of that inferiority.

Only after seeing a precious person losing their light after three years did I finally realize their importance.

This was where I had made belated efforts, wanting to be her strength even if from an unseen place.

So as I faced this place again after so long, the emotional scent that settled in my mind was regret, like the smell of rain-soaked earth.

It was a hall of regret, forever preserving the pathetic image of a man who didn’t know how to offer warm words to keep a precious person from getting soaked in the rain—a man who only reached out his hand after that person was drenched and had twisted their ankle.

A man who was always one step too late.

Of course.

Now that I had the chance to change things, I had no intention of letting this training ground remain a hall of regret in my mind forever.

Yes, I needed to change it.

Not as the place where tragedy began—where I was controlled by inferiority and made both myself and those around me unhappy.

But as a base camp for climbing the mountain called “future” to cultivate a better tomorrow.

Just setting foot here brought a thousand thoughts flooding my mind.

I realized anew that this training ground was still filled with memories of that time before my regression, when I was nothing but lacking.

I need to train hard.

I need to overlay these memories, not with the helpless ones from before my regression, but with the determination to pioneer a new future.

After steeling my resolve, I looked around, scanning the knights who filled most of the training ground from early morning.

The atmosphere of the training grounds in Night Haven’s garrison district was the same now as it was before my regression.

The suffocating heat emanating from knights who wielded their beloved weapons while considering even the time to wipe sweat flowing from forehead to chin as precious.

The flow of dense fighting spirit naturally released as training continued.

And finally, the sound of blades cutting through air as they silently swung their weapons.

Nothing was significantly different.

Just like the special training grounds for the Cradle’s special awakened ones, this place too was a gathering of people honing themselves for a better tomorrow than today.

If there was one difference, it was this:

Everyone seemed to have heard about last night’s attack incident.

While their expressions deliberately showed composure, pretending nothing was wrong,

I could see hesitation faintly revealed in their movements as they wielded their weapons.

In the past, I wouldn’t have even understood what it meant for hesitation to dwell in one’s form, but now I could not only understand the meaning but also naturally perceive how it was manifesting.

They were wavering.

At a glance, it appeared to be a spectacular display of sword forms and combat stances with the utmost brilliance and sharpness, but to varying degrees, I could feel the perfection they aimed for faltering at the end of their trajectories.

Those practicing martial arts showed a strange dullness in the sound of their footwork due to unstable centers of gravity.

For swordsmen, being one myself, the hesitation was even more apparent.

Whether using the Empire’s standard sword techniques or family-inherited styles, most of them produced only very faint sword cries that accomplished swordsmen should naturally emit when swinging their swords.

Some couldn’t even produce a clean sound of a blade cutting through air, let alone a sword cry.

It wasn’t hard to see that last night’s attack had dealt a significant psychological blow to these battle-hardened warriors focused on refining their martial arts.

Well, it’s understandable, I suppose.

A magical beast had infiltrated through the defense network of this cutting-edge fortress city, which had mobilized all the Empire’s engineering knowledge and capabilities.

And that creature had rendered three knights renowned for their skills combat-ineffective all at once within the fortress.

Not only those who witnessed the incident in real-time last night, but also those who woke up this morning to this thunderbolt news and reports of their fellow knights’ injuries—

It was natural that even experienced knights who had weathered countless bloody battlefields would feel psychologically intimidated.

Siz, who had put aside her usual innocent lightness upon entering the training grounds and now wore a calm sharpness in her expression, seemed to sense this atmosphere as well.

“Hmm…”

After letting out a light sigh while looking around, Siz calmly stated what she observed:

“The knights training here are full of hesitation in their movements.”

Since she was plainly stating what she saw and felt, there was no need for me to further explain how heavy the atmosphere in the training ground was.

“The people here either experienced what happened last night in real-time or heard about it first thing this morning at the latest. When comrades are attacked and injured, the mood can’t help but be heavy.”

As I summarized the situation in response to Siz’s comment about the atmosphere, we arrived at a perfect spot for our training.

“Let’s do it here.”

She must have thought the same, because as soon as we reached this spot, Siz stopped walking and suggested we begin our sparring.

I nodded in agreement while facing her directly.

And so, the location for our sparring was set.

It was an appropriate place.

Not the center where we would draw excessive attention from others, but a corner spot where gazes would naturally be dispersed.

A good place where we wouldn’t unnecessarily agitate the people in the training ground who were already displaying a heavy mood.

#

After entering a suitable location,

I grabbed a blunted training sword from nearby and was heading to my position when

Siz remained in her spot and entered meditation with her eyes closed.

Though she wasn’t assuming a typical meditation posture like sitting cross-legged,

With each gentle breath, golden fighting spirit visibly permeated around her body.

It was different in nature from Lanos’s breathing technique, Prikasa, which accumulated formless energy without any color.

Yet it was still a skill referred to as one of the finest breathing techniques coveted by anyone who had stepped into the martial path.

Flabeo.

One of the greatest breathing techniques for martial artists who base their practice on accumulating fighting spirit through breathing methods, alongside Lanos’s Prikasa—this was the breathing technique of the Proxian family tradition.

The accumulation of fighting spirit, perfected with a level of proficiency incomparable to me who was just relearning the basics of Prikasa after awakening regenerative abilities and having breathing restrictions lifted, was truly remarkable.

As I paused my steps toward her position to watch this sight,

[Hmm… I can feel the achievement built through steady practice without taking shortcuts every time I see her. Considering her age, it’s truly remarkable. Remarkable indeed.]

Paphnir’s voice, sounding no less impressed than I was by her achievement, echoed in my mind.

His voice conveyed genuine admiration.

The fact that this dragon, who usually spoke to me with playful words after I woke him from his thousand-year slumber, was expressing such admiration made me newly appreciate how extraordinary Siz was.

And it wasn’t just Paphnir and I who felt Siz’s extraordinariness.

-….

-Oh….

-Is that the rumored Flabeo breathing technique…

-Seeing that golden fighting spirit, she must be from Proxia.

-I thought she was just a cute young lady when I saw her yesterday, but now I see she’s actually a big shot.

The Imperial Knights in the training ground had even paused their own training to watch Siz’s breathing technique, expressing their awe through murmurs.

The fact that members of the Imperial Knights, who regarded training in the grounds as more sacred than any other daily activity,

Had forgotten their own disciplined training meant to overcome last night’s shocking incident, just to watch her—

Siz’s appearance as she slowly drew up her fighting spirit while entering meditation was truly impressive.

[That girl seems to get stronger every time I see her, just like you.]

As I stood there, absentmindedly watching her, Paphnir’s voice echoed in my head again.

He was saying something similar to what he’d said last night about me growing stronger whenever I felt affection for Siz.

Since it wasn’t something I could just brush off as a casual remark,

‘…Is that so?’

I inserted a conversational prompt to continue the dialogue.

[Just as you grow stronger every time you think of her, it seems like that girl also grows stronger thinking of you.]

Paphnir was trying to deduce the source of Siz’s strength through his own reasoning.

-Watching her makes me feel motivated.

-If she can do it, why can’t we?

-Let demons or whatever come. I’ll cut them in two if they cross my path.

-We’ve been so focused on her that we forgot our own training. Come on, let’s get back to it.

The Imperial Knights who had been staring at Siz’s meditation now returned to their training, realizing they couldn’t afford to divert their time any longer.

Seeing this, I felt relieved that we probably wouldn’t draw much attention during our sparring unless we got particularly wild.

[Hmm…]

A light groan escaped from Paphnir as he carefully observed Siz.

With that kind of sound, I expected some follow-up comment to echo in my head, but

[My friends all raised good descendants, except for that lovesick fool.]

The voice resonating in my head was no longer about Siz but about his own past.

By the way, when he openly talks about a “lovesick fool”…

I’m pretty sure he means Excel.

…Surely he doesn’t mean me.

[You barely pass by my standards, so don’t worry.]

Somehow he eerily knew what I was thinking and immediately reassured me, but his words still felt like a dagger twisting in my chest.

And he wasn’t done yet.

[That guy just can’t control his emotions, but his skills are better than yours, so keep working hard.]

Paphnir was poking at my sore spot again while encouraging me to get stronger.

I was going to tell him that he didn’t need to worry since I was already planning to do that, but the upcoming practice match with Siz was too important, so

“Hoo…”

Whoosh

I sighed lightly and swung the practice sword to warm up.

The grip of the training sword felt good—identical to a real sword in weight and balance, except for the blunted edge to prevent accidents.

By the way, Excel should have woken up by now and heard about last night’s incident, so he should be here, but I don’t see him anywhere.

Did something happen?

It’s not enough to worry about, but it is concerning.

Just in case, I turned my head around and extended my spiritual sense to check for his presence, but he wasn’t here.

It seemed he had gone somewhere other than the training ground after breakfast to take care of his own business.

Well, it’s Excel of all people—he’ll handle his affairs properly along with the other two.

As I organized my thoughts, my footsteps had already brought me to a spot at an appropriate distance from Siz, who was continuing her meditation.

Now I just need to wait for her meditation to end before we begin sparring, right?

While I was in the midst of my own mental preparation, though not meditation per se, for the sparring with Siz,

[Youngster.]

Paphnir’s voice echoed in my head again.

It wasn’t disruptive enough to interfere with my preparation for the match, but the mere sound of his voice was somewhat burdensome, making me feel slightly annoyed.

However, judging by his serious tone, devoid of his usual playfulness, it seemed he had something to ask of me, so

‘What is it?’

I responded to Paphnir’s call, hiding my curtness as much as possible.

[Want me to help?]

An unexpected offer from Paphnir penetrated my mind.

Help me?

I was puzzled why he, who did nothing but speak to me in a mental state invisible to the eye, would suddenly offer help.

‘How?’

Since I couldn’t even guess what kind of help he was offering, I questioned his request in a polite voice.

[I’ve noticed your movements have become more structured these past few days, so I think you’re capable of following my instructions now…]

‘…And?’

[It’s nothing grand—just try moving according to my instructions. I’ll help you so that even if winning is difficult, you won’t lose easily either.]

….

Can I trust this?

Considering the results of the training in the mental world Paphnir created, I thought listening to him probably wouldn’t hurt much.

‘…Do I need someone else’s help?’

The truth was, even with help, my chances of beating Siz right now were extremely low.

Rather than receiving someone’s help, I preferred to be gloriously defeated by my own efforts and gain experience from it.

‘Thank you for your kind offer, but this time I’d like to try with just my own strength.’

I politely declined Paphnir’s request.

He might have been displeased at having his rare offer of goodwill rejected, but upon hearing my courteous refusal, Paphnir said:

[A will worthy of respect.]

He accepted my rejection without any particular reaction, then

[If that’s your wish, I won’t interfere. Instead, I’ll give you advice about your movements after the sparring is over.]

He declared he would help me in a different way.

There was no reason to refuse that, so

‘Thank you.’

I expressed my sincere gratitude to Paphnir.

By now, Siz had finished her meditation and fully drawn up the fighting spirit dwelling in her body. She had picked up a blunted practice sword and was holding it in her right hand while looking at me.

Her gaze was filled with gravity that she had fully summoned, rather than her usual affection.