episode_0008

ㅡPapa Papa Papa Pat!!!

Holding the sword with only one hand,

Nevertheless, Jeanne’s explosive dash showed no signs of imbalance.

‘Mana Footwork. Jeanne is charging in with all her might.’

Those movements cannot be created simply through physical training.

The realm of transcendent mana users,

Jeanne is using Mana Footwork, a movement technique that only top-tier mana awakeners can display.

‘That means she surpassed Sword Runner. She became a Sword User.’

Jeanne became a Sword User swordsman.

All classes have levels based on their skill level.

Swordsmen are naturally the same,

Rather, in the case of swordsmen, it is the most popular class, so each stage is more meticulously understood.

The first level is someone who starts down the path of a swordsman without any special abilities,

So they are called Sword Beginners.

In fact, broadly speaking, even a section where mana awakening has occurred but

No significant physical ability is shown also falls under this.

After that, the point at which the awakened mana begins to create clear changes in physical ability,

A swordsman who has entered that stage is called a Sword Walker.

The next third level is Sword Runner.

A Sword User is a realm that can achieve extraordinary levels of physical enhancement,

A swordsman capable of utilizing what is commonly called Power Aura [罡氣].

As mentioned earlier, Power Aura [罡氣] means extraordinary physical enhancement,

Such as lightly swinging a log-sized axe,

Or the ability to have durability beyond common sense.

In other words, this means that they have surpassed human physicality.

And the name that defines a swordsman who has evolved one step from that Sword Runner,

That is Sword User.

The Power Aura [罡氣] of a Sword User becomes much more detailed than that of a Sword Runner.

It affects not only basic physical abilities such as strength, agility, and durability, but also technical aspects.

It can be seen as a Power Aura [罡氣] aspect commonly referred to as advanced mana control.

For example, it allows the use of Mana Footwork where the concentration and dispersion of power are properly achieved,

Or it enables efficient continuous movements based on fluid and rapid center of gravity shifting.

In addition, a basic level of mana projection is performed on the sword, so the blade does not break easily.

In other words, Jeanne’s explosive dash right now

It is a Mana Footwork created thanks to the excellent Power Aura distributing the center of gravity freely.

‘She’s capable enough to be a mercenary captain.’

When I left my family home at the age of nineteen,

Jeanne was a Sword Runner.

I অনুমান that she achieved a breakthrough to Sword User not long after that time.

After practicing in that state for a few more months and becoming sufficiently accustomed to Sword User, Jeanne confidently created the mercenary group.

If a Sword Runner receives professional or elite treatment in the mercenary world, a Sword User is classified as a leader level.

Therefore, around that point, a justification for gathering people is created even if the experience is not glamorous.

ㅡShuaaaaaak!!

Jeanne, who unleashed such a steady and explosive dash,

Approached my attack range directly.

Then, she showed off a sharp-feeling sword angle and swung her sword towards me.

Spin!

Watching it, I quickly readjusted the greatsword hilt to make the greatsword blade point towards the ground.

‘There’s no hope if a newbie fights a Sword User head-on. I have to be defensive.’

If the opponent is a Sword User or higher,

And if I am a relatively slow greatsword user in terms of mobility,

It was judged that in such an open space battle, it is right to choose a battle method that focuses on defense.

Pointing the sword upwards and defending can be seen as a posture to counterattack after repelling the enemy’s sword at any time.

On the other hand, what my current posture means,

It is a posture that enables efficient defense against the opponent’s fast and continuous attacks with only small movements.

Clang!!!

I, who chose a defense method tailored for Sword Users,

Immediately moved my sword in the direction where Jeanne’s sword drew a sharp angle.

As a result, a refreshing sound of steel colliding burst out.

“I thought you just looked good holding the sword, but your defensive posture is quite something?”

It’s a bit much for me to say myself, but this defense method is quite high-level.

Jeanne, who has been training in swordsmanship since she was young, recognized it and was slightly surprised.

“I had many opportunities to see the duels of knights on the Pilgrim’s Road.”

The source of this advanced technique was the Pilgrim’s Road.

Knights and adventurers following the Pilgrim’s Road

Most of them are crazy about swords and sincere about swords.

So it is common to pursue swordsmanship that is romantic and classified as orthodox.

Moreover, since they are people who get restless if they don’t swing a sword even for a day,

Every early morning, they would duel with swordsmen who were on a pilgrimage with the same purpose.

Their appearance became a great learning material for me.

So, in the early days of the Pilgrim’s Road, I watched the dueling scenes in a manual way,

From around the time of awakening, I focused and thought about what form of swordsmanship would suit me.

‘Hmm, honestly, I thought I could deflect Jeanne’s sword a little, but I can’t. That means Jeanne’s Power Aura [罡氣] level that she has been training so far is considerable.’

The difference in weight between me and Jeanne is almost double,

The difference in weapon class between the two of us is also enormous.

However, because Jeanne’s sword is a very expensive masterpiece and a certain level of mana is projected onto it, Jeanne’s sword would not break even if a strong collision occurred.

Nevertheless, in my own calculations, it was thought that Jeanne’s sword would clearly be significantly deflected due to the influence of the class difference mentioned earlier.

If her form falters as a result, I could dig into that gap and unleash a powerful body check, so I even made a roadmap.

However, Jeanne’s physical enhancement and weight transfer created by Power Aura [罡氣]

It far exceeded my expectations, so the picture I had hoped for never came out.

“I didn’t want to use thrusts, but if that’s the case, I have no choice.”

Cheo Cheo Cheok!!!

Jeanne also felt an unexpected situation because I had successfully executed an advanced defense technique.

So Jeanne immediately began to revise her strategy.

She took a quick and light step back,

Then, she transformed into a thrusting stance.

“Isn’t that too dangerous? It’s a duel with a newbie?”

I was slightly serious.

To openly take a thrusting stance in a duel with a newbie,

This is an act without business ethics.

One-handed thrusting with a longsword is an advanced technique.

Wrist, lower body, waist, shoulder strength,

And balance,

Finally, even accuracy.

This is because it is a technique that uses power only when all of these are perfectly honed.

Therefore, although it is difficult to learn,

Once it reaches the level of completion and enters the utilization stage, there is no attack as difficult as that.

It’s long, fast, and unlike swinging, there isn’t even an angle.

So it is difficult for the opponent to avoid or defend.

Therefore, it is an attack method that is not often used when dueling with real swords because the safety of the dueling partner is important.

“You’re using a turtle guard, so I have to break through even by using thrusts, right? Otherwise, it’ll become an unnecessarily prolonged battle.”

Above all, thrusting is good for destroying defensive swordsmanship.

Since Jeanne is by no means a patient type,

It was a sufficiently viable coping method for her.

ㅡChuaaaat! Kang!ㅡChuaaaat! Kang!

Soon, Jeanne’s thrusting attack began.

The linear attack of the fast and continuous pouring masterpiece sword,

Even if the volume of the roar became smaller than the first attack,

The speed was so great that it could not even be compared.

Tatat! Dadadat! Tatadat!

The movement aspect of the sword was thrusting, but

In the case of the footwork that Jeanne is using, it was not just a simple linear movement.

This is because she is capable of free weight transfer based on Mana Footwork, not using footwork through general physicality.

After stepping aside to a certain angle,

She added diversity in the form of thrusting in like lightning.

Honestly, there would be no need to go this far against a defensive swordsmanship with a general sword.

However, because my sword is a greatsword with an incredibly wide defensive area, Jeanne also stepped on the accelerator.

‘At this rate, it seems like my side will be overloaded.’

As a result, the movements of me, the turtle, became more frequent and larger.

Moreover, since it was not a mutual offensive and defensive state in the first place, but a unilateral defensive state, the overload began to increase even more.

A height that is 16cm taller,

A weight of 45kg or more,

Furthermore, at the moment when my long arms and legs, as well as my heavy greatsword, passed through a singularity,

A structure was created where the disadvantages of continuous movements were more prominent than the advantages in defense.

‘Then I have to make a bet.’

However, even so, the skill difference between Jeanne and me is too great to change to a mutual offensive and defensive aspect.

In the end, I’ll have to make a one-shot bet.

‘The weakness of thrusting attacks, unlike swinging…’

Deciding to make a bet, I increased my concentration to the fullest.

At the same time, I looked at Jeanne’s linear attack that was rushing in like a storm again.

‘That is, if it’s deflected, the possibility of the form collapsing is greater!!’

ㅡSpin!!!

In that state, at the moment I spotted Jeanne’s sword aiming at my solar plexus and thrusting in,

I rotated my greatsword blade vertically, as if letting the sword tip pass through like an automatic door based on my torso.

ㅡThueook!!

Then, after placing my right hand on the wide part of the greatsword,

ㅡThueooeeong!!!

Just before Jeanne’s sword completely crossed the wide area of the greatsword, I put my strength and weight into deflecting that fierce linear attack in the left direction based on me.

‘How is it, the force to withstand has weakened, so it gets deflected, right?’

Then, a different feeling than the first sword collision was transmitted to me.

A swinging sword has a large radius, so it is slow,

It’s good for putting strength and weight to withstand.

On the other hand, although a thrusting sword is fast,

Structurally, it is difficult to create the force to withstand because the sword is far from the center point of the swordsman.

However, it is certainly faster and more concise than a swinging sword,

From my point of view, it was difficult to find the timing to deflect Jeanne’s sword with a calculated move.

Therefore, in order to receive her sword with an even wider area and create my own initiative timing,

I rotated the greatsword even while taking the risk of my defensive wall being breached.

As a result, Jeanne’s linear sword dangerously entered my center point.

However, the crisis is an opportunity, I did not miss that moment and with the wide area of my greatsword,

And even with the strength of my right hand, I succeeded in deflecting Jeanne’s sword.

‘Good. Then a counterattack with a left-hand backspin blow!’

After that, I thought the plan worked and was about to prepare a counterattack,

ㅡHwiriririk!

‘Huh?’

Jeanne’s body, which seemed to have lost balance as the sword was deflected, suddenly rotated quickly.

ㅡSeuaaaaak!!

After that, Jeanne’s movement naturally did not end with a turn motion.

Jeanne, who had already recovered her posture,

Then, she sharply swung her sword, which had just contained a lot of centrifugal force.

ㅡCheoooeeoeok!!!

In other words, it was a perfect attack that she aimed for,

Jeanne’s sword came close to my nape, which was preparing for a backspin blow, and stopped neatly.

‘Ugh!’

Halt!

I felt the quick energy of the sword that had seized my nape.

Therefore, my body automatically stopped, and

“Oh, I lost.”

Made me admit defeat.

How did she do it?

Did she expect that I would accept Jeanne’s sword on purpose and then counterattack?

Or did her mana footwork weight transfer again exceed my expectations?

My head gets complicated for a moment

But in the end, I lost to Jeanne in the first real sword duel.

“It looked like you had a calculated move, so I deliberately went in with less power, but to open the castle gates and use that as a basis for a counterattack… You were really something, brother.”

Smirk…!

Jeanne, who had won the victory, immediately raised the corners of her mouth as if she could not control the thrill.

Still, thanks to Jeanne’s temperament that couldn’t hide her feelings so much, my doubts were resolved.

It was half and half.

She didn’t completely read my intentions, but only caught a feeling,

So she took out insurance and then filled the rest with superior technology that was certain.

“That was a really great strategy. If you and I were the same Sword User, I would have been defeated.”

Seureureung…!

Jeanne retrieved her extended sword, put it in the scabbard, and praised me.

However, if my algorithm, which knows Jeanne’s personality to some extent, activates its interpretation ability,

I am a Sword User,

It seems like she wants to say that Yujin, you are a Sword Runner.

“Then did you think I would become a Sword User or a Sword Expert as soon as I awakened?”

Puuuoooook!

I also released my battle stance and answered by sticking the head of the greatsword into the grass.

Jeanne still wants me to flounder in the need for her existence.

So she relentlessly pushed me to

She did a moonlit show to see if my breakthrough area was above her Sword User.

As a result, she was able to grasp that my awakening ability was at the Sword Runner level,

That’s why she’s so satisfied and doesn’t know what to do.

“Still, you have enough talent. Just trust and follow this older sister!”

Jeobeok! Jeobeok! Jeobeok!

Jeanne, who was already in high spirits, couldn’t hear my words.

Her mouth was almost up to her ears,

Then, she walked past my side, taking the appearance of a winner.

“But you also know how to hold back for your younger brother, which is a bit surprising? Did you become more lenient after becoming a mercenary captain?”

Then I also muttered my own impressions without paying attention to the arrogance.

“Who’s holding back! Do you think a current mercenary captain would do something so soft?”

Cheoeok! Hwoeaek!

At my words that she wasn’t holding back,

Jeanne stopped walking in a huff.

Not only that, but she even turned her head and looked up at me, who was standing next to her, with fierce eyes.

“You didn’t hold back? Really?”

Seueuk…!

Hearing Jeanne’s answer, I took my hand off the greatsword.

“You really didn’t hold back????”

Warak!!!

After that, I hugged Jeanne’s waist as if covering it.