chapter_0056

Chapter 55 : Disciple

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This… I shouldn’t be the one to teach Miss Elia swordsmanship. I should go back to my master and learn the sword again, shouldn’t I?

Huh… This guy is acting up again.

If you want to learn swordsmanship, just go learn from her. I’m sure she’ll teach you well, even if I’m not the one.

After all, I taught the best swordsmen among my students.

I’d rather not learn swordsmanship from that rude person.

She’s the type to use it as a secondary weapon and still says her swordsmanship is boring. Why would I go learn from her?

Well… I guess it’s true that you didn’t get along well with her.

By the way, how is Elia doing? Do you think her physical training will go well?

The conversation that Kael and I had the first time I went to see Elia.

As Zenre watched Nella holding a sword from the staff, she recalled the conversation from that day.

“Really, it’s an unfair world.”

In the past, Kael had dozens of disciples.

Those without talent were filtered out, those who didn’t work hard dropped off on their own, and those who lacked passion gave up by themselves.

The disciples who remained under Kael were the ones who had managed to survive in that situation.

And if you were to choose the most outstanding disciple among them, everyone would point to one person.

Nella Oracle.

Zenre herself was confident that she wasn’t lacking in talent compared to most others, and she was indeed at the top among the disciples, even to the point of becoming the commander of the Shardena Knights.

However, Nella’s talent was on a completely different level.

Kael had said that she was like a person who embodied talent.

Whenever they practiced the same material, Nella would be the first to perfect it.

And sometimes, she would even figure out things she hadn’t been taught, gathering clues from what had been taught before and realizing it on her own.

When Nella had learned everything, her swordsmanship was nearly at the level of Kael, the founder of the technique.

She wasn’t as strong as Kael, but she was strong enough to stand right behind him.

Considering that Kael himself was an extraordinary being who shouldn’t be placed on the same level as ordinary humans, it was an insane level of skill.

If you were to choose the best swordsman on this continent, excluding Kael, Zenre was certain that Nella would be the one.

But Nella was not only talented, she was also arrogant. And that was why Zenre disliked her.

Swordsmanship… It’s definitely the strongest tool I have, but it’s boring.

More than that, I feel like progress is getting slower and slower.

So, if it’s okay with you, Master, would it be alright if I go explore another path?

Hmm… It seems like you’re learning something else, Nella?

Yes, I’ve been reading a magic book and teaching myself magic.

And once I feel like I’ve learned enough, I plan to visit the magic tower.

Of course, even the magic of the greatest magician on the continent wouldn’t be stronger than the swordsmanship you taught me, Master, but magic has more utility than swordsmanship, so it’s worth learning, right?

Magic, huh? Not a bad choice. So, can you show me a little of what you’ve learned so far?

One day, just as Zenre had entered an advanced stage of learning Kael’s swordsmanship and started digging deeper into it.

At the time when other disciples were leaving Kael to follow their own paths, Nella was the first to leave.

Recently, she had asked if she could leave Kael’s side since she had been self-studying magic.

Naturally, Kael, who always prioritized his disciples’ situations, had agreed readily and had simply asked out of curiosity how far Nella had come in her self-study.

In response, Nella demonstrated her magic in front of Kael and the other disciples.

This is about what I’ve learned so far. How does it look?

Nella… You really have talent in magic?

Her magical abilities were so impressive that they could only be described as incredible.

Though she said she had only been self-studying for three months, the magic she used was so powerful that it could easily rival the skills of veteran mages Zenre had seen in many battlefields.

For someone like Zenre, who had no talent for magic, it was an astonishing display of power.

Naturally, Kael, seeing her magic, fully supported Nella’s independence and used his connections to help her gain access to the magic tower.

Soon after, other disciples, following Nella’s example, began to leave to pursue their own paths.

And Zenre was no exception.

Years later, Zenre heard the news that Nella had become the master of the Magic Tower, and that no one had seen her use swordsmanship in all the years since.

The only connection Zenre had left to Nella was Enoch, who said that Nella sometimes trained in swordsmanship alone, but it seemed she only used it as a secondary weapon.

That was why Zenre despised her and called her rude.

Back then, she’d looked down on them for lacking talent in swordsmanship, but now she was using the swordsmanship she learned from Kael as a secondary weapon.

As someone who had devoted their life to swordsmanship, Zenre couldn’t help but dislike that.

However, despite these feelings, Zenre couldn’t help but be silently impressed when she saw Nella’s swordsmanship again after such a long time.

Swish- -!!!

With one powerful strike, Nella cut through more than half of the chimera’s wing.

And the depth and mystery contained in that strike were profound.

Zenre had thought she might have caught up by now, but seeing that Nella had continued to train her swordsmanship even while pursuing magic, Zenre clicked her tongue inwardly.

“Dammit… Her swordsmanship is still amazing.”

Having mastered magic to such a degree and still being so skilled in swordsmanship was just unfair, wasn’t it?

Once again, Zenre felt the bitterness of life, looking at someone more talented than herself.

But compared to the old days, when Nella had seemed so far ahead, Zenre felt like she could catch up now.

“Still, at this rate, I think I’ll catch up soon.”

Unlike before, when the gap in talent was huge, most of that gap had now been filled with effort.

At this point, Zenre was confident that she could catch up to Nella.

Burning with a passion that had rekindled late in life, Zenre smiled wryly and raised her sword.

“Hey, Nella! Let’s start by taking out your eyes! If you have clear vision, you might go back to being a lady, right?”

“Alright! I was just thinking the same thing—turns out you actually know how to use your brain too, huh?”

From atop the slowly descending chimera with its wings severed, the voices of Zenre and Nella reached each other through the fierce wind.

For a moment, Zenre frowned at Nella’s casual provocation, a vein popping on her forehead. But the real priority right now was to bring this chimera to a full stop.

Thinking he’d pay her back for the taunt later, Zenre poured even more mana into her sword energy.

“I’ll take care of this eye!!”

“Then I’ll go for the other one!”

No sooner had they spoken their intentions than two slashes flew through the air, tearing the wind apart.

The attacks sliced straight into the chimera’s eyes.

“Kyaaaaagh!!!”

Being an undead chimera, it likely didn’t feel pain, but with its vision suddenly going black, it let out a cry and began to fall straight down.

Fwoooooooosh

-!!!

The chimera, with Zenre and Nella still clinging to its body, tumbled straight toward the ground.

In the midst of the fall, Nella kicked off the chimera’s back, leapt into the air, grabbed Zenre’s armor, and swung her staff with the embedded jewel.

“Teleport!”

Flaaash—

-!

Wrapped in the light of teleportation, Zenre and Nella moved from the sky to the surface of the highlands.

The very next moment, the chimera crashed in front of them with a deafening roar.

BOOOOM~

Its enormous body slammed into the grassy plains of the highlands, turning the land into a wasteland.

Had they not teleported and remained atop it, the shock would have likely knocked them unconscious.

Worse, if they’d passed out, they could’ve been crushed under its massive body.

Just imagining it made Zenre let out a breath of relief.

“Phew.

“The problem is, even with convenient magic, this thing still isn’t dead. Guess it’s time to end this.”

Nella recreated her sword energy, which she had dismissed to teleport, and asked the question.

Zenre nodded, forming her own sword energy again.

“Still, better be careful. From the way it feels, this thing is really strong. We only brought it down earlier with a surprise attack,

“I know. Alone, neither of us could probably win. Let’s approach carefully and end it quickly.”

In battle, letting your guard down is forbidden.

Especially since this chimera was undoubtedly powerful—they couldn’t afford to be careless.

So Jenre and Nella raised their weapons, ready to react to anything, and watched the situation unfold.

“Grrrrrr…”

The thick dust cloud began to settle, finally revealing the chimera’s figure.

The chimera emerging from the dust had discarded the corpses clinging to its body, like a lich manipulating skeletons remotely.

Whatever dark energy it had used, the stench of malice was thick as the corpses moved toward Zenre and Nella.

But more than the strange fighting style, what truly caught their eyes was the appearance of the corpses.

They couldn’t help but speak in shocked voices at the same time.

“Wait a minute, that’s…

And when asked why, it was because some of those advancing corpses looked far too familiar.

Unknowingly, Zenre and Nella muttered the names that escaped their lips.

“Melion, Shasha, Zeke…”

“Why are they coming from that chimera…?”

Fellow disciples who had died in the human-demon war 20 years ago.

On that battlefield, which could only be described as hell, their bodies had never been recovered.

Now, they were puppets drowned in malice, walking toward Zenre and Nella.

A trembling voice rose from deep in their chests, and their mouths were covered by instinct.

And the moment they saw the corpses’ faces, both Zenre and Nella turned their heads abruptly, recalling someone who flashed through their minds.

“W-Wait!”

“Master…!” Right!

Because the one who would be most shocked by this sight was standing right there.

They turned their heads behind them, eyes searching for Kael.

And as expected—

Just as they feared, Kael’s face was shadowed with deep sorrow.

“Damn…”

“This is bad.”

Past Elia who was still fighting dragons, past Zenre and Nella, Kael stared at the bodies fallen from the chimera.

The trembling of uncontrollable emotion was clear on his face.

…Ah.

A tremor named sorrow—and rage.