episode_0065

Yes, let’s admit it.

With a sword, I’m absolutely no match for Ascal.

Does that hurt my pride?

‘Absolutely not.’

If I were to beat Ascal with swordsmanship from the start, that would be stranger.

My forte is my looks and strategizing, not swords.

Ascal warily looked at the sword stick in my left hand and the four daggers in my right.

“So those were daggers?”

“Oh dear! You found out.”

“And you lied to me earlier?”

“It just happened that way.”

“Are you even going to wield daggers?”

I shook the daggers in my right hand so Ascal could see them clearly.

“Not quite…!”

And then I suddenly threw a dagger.

*Whoosh. Clang!*

The dagger I threw flew at Ascal with great speed.

But Ascal struck the dagger I threw with his sword.

“There are still three left.”

*Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.*

I threw three daggers at Ascal in succession.

I had no pride in my swordsmanship, but I did have pride in dagger throwing.

All three daggers I threw flew towards Ascal, tracing different trajectories.

Ascal struck the first dagger that flew at him with his sword. *Clang!* The dagger, deflected by Ascal’s sword with a clang, hit another dagger flying in a curve and fell to the floor.

The remaining dagger flew in from a blind spot, but Ascal tilted his head slightly and dodged it.

Ascal accomplished all of this without moving a single step from his spot.

“Is that all?”

Ascal said, his lips curved into a provocative smile.

If Ascal were to fall from just that? I wouldn’t have believed it either.

“Oh come on~ No way.”

I extended my right hand forward and snapped my fingers repeatedly, as if to show Ascal.

*Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap.*

Each time the sound of my fingers snapping echoed through the training hall, a dagger appeared in my hand.

To be precise, I was just taking daggers out of my sub-space in time with the snapping sound.

But from Ascal’s perspective, not knowing that, it must have looked as if a dagger was materializing in my hand every time I snapped my fingers.

“How many daggers do you think I can ‘create’?”

This time too, all four daggers flew towards Ascal, tracing different trajectories, but again, Ascal dodged them all by swinging his sword or tilting his head slightly from his spot.

“How many daggers do you think I’ll have to throw before one hits you?”

*Snap.*

“If I keep throwing them, one is bound to hit eventually, don’t you think?”

*Clang!*

“Do you think I’ll just stand still and face you?”

Ascal, having struck away the thrown dagger, kicked off the ground and rushed towards me, but I widened the distance with Shadow Steps.

*Snap. Whoosh- Clang!*

As I widened the distance, I threw a dagger at Ascal.

“Tsk.”

Throwing daggers accurately while moving with Shadow Steps.

It was one of my many specialties.

Earlier, Ascal had charged with fast speed and unleashed a fierce assault, making it difficult for me to use Shadow Steps, thus blocking them.

But now he couldn’t do that; I could maintain my speed while throwing daggers, but Ascal’s speed decreased whenever he struck a dagger.

*Snap.*

*Whoosh- Clang!*

*Snap.*

*Whoosh- Swish.*

*Snap.*

*Whoosh- Clang!*

*Snap.*

*Whoosh- Clang!*

In the training hall, only the sounds of fingers snapping, daggers flying, and Ascal deflecting them with his sword echoed.

The sound of footsteps running through the training hall was drowned out and vanished by the clash of daggers and swords.

“How long do you think you can keep moving like that?”

*Thump-thump-thump.*

Ascal said, running towards me.

“Well, I’m not tired yet, so I think I could keep moving like this for a few hours.”

*Snap. Whoosh-*

I said, throwing a dagger.

If it were me before entering the academy, I wouldn’t have been able to sustain it for long, but thanks to elixirs and morning training, my stamina had grown exponentially.

Of course, Ascal probably wouldn’t get tired from just this either.

‘My goal isn’t his stamina, but his mind.’

I didn’t think Ascal’s rock-like mind would crumble from just this much.

But it was enough to stress him.

After the sparring match began.

I created stress by making him unable to close the distance he needed to close with Shadow Steps.

Ascal tried to counter Shadow Steps by pressing his attack, but with my dagger throws, that too became impossible now.

An endless barrage of dagger throws.

In truth, the daggers in my sub-space were finite, but Ascal didn’t know I was pulling them out of a sub-space.

Even swinging his sword at close range was difficult to hit, and now it was hard for him to even get close.

Even if he didn’t realize it, a desire to end this sparring match quickly must be hidden in his subconscious.

That’s why when I charged forward earlier, as if to unleash an all-out strike, Ascal tried to counter instead of dodging.

Just as even the hardest rock erodes before countless crashing waves, the stress I was putting on him would create small cracks in Ascal’s rock-like spirit.

After that, I continued to evade with Shadow Steps and throw daggers.

‘This should be enough.’

Ascal looked at my hand, or more precisely, my fingers.

This was because a dagger appeared in my hand whenever I snapped my fingers.

For this, I had kept snapping my fingers until now, even when it wasn’t necessary.

To plant the idea in Ascal’s mind that a dagger would appear whenever I snapped my fingers.

‘One last time.’

There weren’t many daggers left now.

*Snap.*

I threw a dagger at Ascal while retreating with Shadow Steps.

*Clang.*

Ascal paused for a moment, struck the dagger with his sword, and then charged at me again. Until now, I had continuously retreated, but this time, I too charged at Ascal.

When I charged in reverse, Ascal flinched. He quickly took a stance, but his reaction was slightly slower than before.

*Snap.*

While running, I snapped my fingers, pulled a dagger from sub-space, and gripped it in my right hand.

Then I pulled my right hand back, taking a stance as if I were about to throw a dagger at any moment.

Ascal saw that and took a stance as if to deflect the dagger. But I threw the sword stick from my left hand, not the dagger in my right.

The sword stick, released from my hand, tore through the air as it flew towards Ascal.

It didn’t trace a flashy trajectory like a dagger, but it couldn’t be easily deflected like one either.

*CRASSSHHH!!!!!!!!!!!*

Unlike when deflecting daggers, Ascal swung his sword widely to the side, striking the sword stick.

A deafening crash echoed through the training hall as Ascal’s sword and my sword stick collided.

*Whoosh!*

As Ascal swung his sword, I kicked off the ground, accelerating even more as I rushed towards Ascal and swung my dagger at his exposed body.

*Clang!*

But as if Ascal had anticipated it, he swung his sword back in the opposite direction.

To swing a sword already mid-swing in the opposite direction was an incredible feat of strength.

The small dagger I held in my right hand couldn’t withstand Ascal’s swung sword and fell to the floor.

“Well done, Loki.”

Ascal’s sword didn’t stop there; it came down from above towards me.

‘This is what I aimed for.’

When Ascal’s sword would reach me faster than I could snap my fingers.

When Ascal felt certain he could end the sparring match.

This time, I didn’t bother snapping my fingers.

I immediately summoned a dagger into my right hand and aimed for Ascal’s exposed face.

Ascal’s expression turned to surprise when he saw a dagger in my right hand, even though I hadn’t snapped my fingers.

I was certain. Ascal’s sword wouldn’t be able to deflect this dagger.

I was certain. Ascal wouldn’t be able to dodge this dagger.

*Crunch!*

But my dagger couldn’t end this sparring match.

“Haha…..”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

Because Ascal had bitten the dagger flying towards his face, his teeth reinforced with mana.

It was insane agility and guts.

I picked up the sword stick from the floor and widened the distance.

“It doesn’t look delicious, but just in case, I have to ask. What does a dagger taste like?”

Despite the joke on my lips, my mind didn’t stop thinking.

‘Was the first plan a failure?’

I had wanted to end it with that.

With this, Ascal would doubt everything about me once again.

The correct approach here is to show a new ability and confuse him, rather than hiding my existing ones.

“Then, shall we get serious now?”

I had been serious from the start, but I spoke with a hint of bluff.

I didn’t bother snapping my fingers.

After all, Ascal had realized that snapping my fingers was meaningless.

I conjured an image in my mind and unleashed an illusion.

Nine more of me appeared in the training hall.

“Hmm….”

I looked at the nine clones I had created.

And I pondered.

My mana had also increased incomparably thanks to the elixirs.

I had never succeeded before, but the feeling right now was too good.

I disliked acting first and thinking later, but this time, I decided to just go for it.

While having created nine clones, I created ten more clones.

Twenty of me now existed in the training hall.

“””””””Now then~ Which one is the real me?”””””””

And then, the twenty of me threw twenty daggers towards Ascal.