novelraw Chapter 139 : Chapter 139
Chapter 139 : Chapter 139
139
I looked at the old knight called Kantaros.
As if resigned to death, vitality slowly drained from his face.
However, I had no intention of tormenting him.
No matter how much I valued the students I taught personally as an Academy instructor, I had no intention of treating those who came to audit with difficulty poorly.
Above all, aren't they our patrons helping us?
I must serve them with utmost sincerity.
"Sir Kantaros."
"...Ahem."
When I called him, he glared at me as if asking why I was calling him.
A chuckle leaked out unknowingly at the somewhat sulky and coy appearance of the old man.
Hiding my emotions as much as possible, I approached him and stood side by side.
"Thank you for personally setting an example for the students despite your uncomfortable body."
As soon as my words ended, sounds of agreement erupted from the audience far away.
A few audience members nodded with serious expressions.
And Sir Kantaros, who actually heard my words.
"Huh?"
He had a bewildered expression.
Soon, he opened his mouth with a somewhat flushed face and a prickly tone.
"Injury, I know my situation well. Since the level of your students is so high, a person like me pushed aside by the flow of time..."
He must have thought I made up words to save his face.
But I was sincere.
Cutting off his words, I pressed a spot on his shoulder firmly with the wooden sword I brought.
"Ugh?!"
Sir Kantaros grimaced and knelt down.
"This is accumulated fatigue from using your body for a long time. It has worn down little by little, so gradually that you didn't even know fatigue was accumulating."
Sword Aura was a task of realizing Sword Intent and modifying the body to fit that Sword Intent.
That meant just because one could manifest Aura didn't mean their swordsmanship was outstanding.
It was just more efficient and purposeful, should I say.
Sir Kantaros's shield technique was excellent in itself.
Perhaps in his youth, even if he couldn't manifest Aura, he might have been able to sense and utilize mana.
But now his body was old.
"The problem is that the mind does not age. Rather, it matures."
Even if the eyes grow dim, the intuition to judge right and wrong becomes stronger.
One cannot swing a sword hundreds of times, but can swing it correctly just once.
One cannot move the body quickly, but can survive more certainly than anyone else.
Like this, aging refers to the body unable to keep up with the mind.
Hearing my words, Sir Kantaros looked at me with somewhat reddened eyes.
"Then, then what should I do? Do I have to compromise to move this old body? Are you telling me to understand my, my aging?"
It was a desperate voice only someone who had agonizing for a long time could utter.
I spoke while placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You must understand. Compromise refers to giving up on what you cannot do. But understanding refers to emphasizing what you do best."
Since there is no brute strength now, do not use strength.
Instead, use the strength that has been finely controlled.
"Move slower than you thought. Not deflecting the angle in advance, but just sliding it off the moment you receive the impact is enough."
"If I make a slight mistake, I will be cut?"
"You aren't afraid, are you?"
"No, I survived until now because I always feared death."
"I was talking about the sword. Are you afraid of wounds?"
At my words, Sir Kantaros's pupils wavered once.
"Step forward. The goal is to draw the opponent's attack deeper inside your body. Use your aging. If you cannot move faster than the opponent, just become delicate within the range you can move."
Pull the arm and change the posture so the body moves within a range where joints and muscles don't have to strain.
"The way you use your pelvis and thighs must change. Because the joints are screaming from enduring for a long time."
Correcting the feet, legs, neck, and gaze.
The posture, carved little by little, soon fitted perfectly.
From a certain moment, Sir Kantaros even modified his body posture more appropriately without me adding words separately.
Experience indeed could not be ignored.
"...Ha."
Sir Kantaros let out a hollow laugh as if it were absurd.
It was around the time the work of creating a single passage to show off Sword Intent throughout his entire body was finished.
"Good. Pan."
"Yes."
Pan, who had been waiting until then, quietly lifted his wooden sword.
Instantly, mana rose around Pan's body with a WOONG sound.
The light of vivid Aura burned like a flame on Pan's sword.
Unlike existing students who shaped it like a sword, Pan's Aura seemed to pursue something other than a sword.
"That level is an Adept. What do you think?"
I slowly removed the hand I had been placing on him until now.
Sir Kantaros glanced at me and clicked his tongue.
"You make me do something ridiculous."
"Are you not going to do it?"
"Damn it!"
As I stepped back a couple of steps, Pan walked forward immediately.
A simple quick walk.
Unlike the previous two students who showed their swords through steps and breathing, Pan was simpler.
From his attitude, every movement itself spoke of his will.
'The mind that can cut everything.'
Pan, whose mind had reached the extreme, had finally even cut space-time.
Such a sword of Pan rushed towards Sir Kantaros's shield, drawing a smooth curve from bottom to top.
The light of Aura drew an elegant curved trajectory as if conducting an orchestra.
Standing before it was the will to block everything.
A dark steel-colored Aura lingered on Sir Kantaros's shield.
A contest between a sword that cuts anything and a shield that blocks anything.
CLANG!
The winner was the sword.
The shield was cut cleanly diagonally and fell to the floor.
THUD!
The heavy weight of solid iron shook the floor.
However, the expressions of Pan and Kantaros were opposite.
Pan pouted as if somewhat regretful, while Kantaros had a refreshed expression as if he had done it.
It had to be so.
"I blocked it!"
Because Pan's sword only cut the shield and couldn't inflict a single inch of wound on Kantaros.
"Haha, I blocked it! So this was how to block! To think what I knew until now was such a mess! I was a fool. Ahahahaha!"
Kantaros straightened his back and burst into laughter with a refreshed expression.
"This is it... Haha, ha. It's ridiculous. Ahaha. Ahaha, haha."
That laughter was hard to see as just laughter.
His shoulders shook, and a faint moisture was felt in the laughter.
Honestly speaking, I couldn't understand why he was laughing and crying in a place like this.
I just guessed he had walked such circumstances and paths for a long time.
In the meantime, I summarized the lesson content for the students.
"As you can see, an Adept refers to a person who connects Sword Intent and life like this. Then we can organize the system like this. Becoming a Walker means discarding things other than Sword Intent. Becoming a Runner means swinging the sword to match Sword Intent. And an Adept lives by Sword Intent."
"What comes next?"
Pan asked curiously.
Since I hadn't reached the next stage yet, I couldn't know exactly.
But I could predict the direction.
"With the sword, life, that is, breaking my limits."
Professor Hollians also said something similar.
That Sword Intent and Aura are merely processes, so one must aim for the next.
Then let's think of this as real magic.
For a mage to go beyond the 5th-circle and reach the 6th-circle, they had to glimpse the order of magic different from the existing magic system.
Just like that, shouldn't the sword also go beyond the frame of Sword Intent and become something else?
At my words, the students each put on a thoughtful expression.
In the meantime, Sir Kantaros, who had been laughing for a while, composed himself and approached me.
"Thank you."
I smiled brightly.
Don't mention it.
I just did as much as I was paid.
Because Sir Kantaros.
This person was a big-handed patron who paid half a year's tuition for our Academy students.
"It's a marvelous experience. Just now, I mean. When you taught me. At that time, my body moved on its own."
"That must be because Sir Kantaros has long experience and know-how..."
"No, it's not a story of that level. How should I put it. It felt like the feeling you wanted to convey kept seeping into my head."
At first, I thought it was just a compliment on my lecture.
But listening to Sir Kantaros continuously, I had a guess.
General Fantasy.
Ulf said that Fantasy would be of great help related to education.
'Honestly, I didn't understand it well.'
Isn't the explanation too complex?
That General appeared targeting me, and therefore the desire I wished for was realized.
Then did Giant-Block reflect the desires of mages or archers?
Considering that, didn't the illusion manifest to block all ranged weapons?
Although desires are partly reflected, what's more important was the relationship with the demon's main body.
Anti-Magic was like that, and Sacer too.
'They said General Fantasy was a general commanding demons.'
What if that means it can convey information, knowledge systems, etc., conceived in the mind to the demon?
And if this is done through a class?
With a thought penetrating my head, I looked around swiftly.
And far away, I found Dwayne hiding among tall students.
"Dwayne!"
Perhaps to avoid people's gazes, he was curled up tightly.
When I called him, he flinched and tried to hide deeper into the crowd, but it was useless.
People around stepped back one by one to make a small circle so I could find him easily.
"Dwayne, come here."
"...I really don't want to stand out as an assassination target in a place like this."
Dwayne, who approached me, muttered as if doing ventriloquism with his mouth shut.
It was understandable enough that he was scared.
But there was no one like Dwayne as a test subject.
First, he must not have properly taken my basic swordsmanship class.
No, not just not taking the swordsmanship class, the less foundation he had in swordsmanship, the better.
Second. If this class is truly effective, it had to be someone who could benefit Akarind Academy when learning the sword if possible.
I handed my wooden sword to him as he grumbled.
"Listen carefully to what I say from now on. Listening exactly to those words, you will spar with Pan."
"...What? You're crazy, right? Or was my assassin actually you, Teacher?"
His eyes were instantly dyed with fear.
"It's because Pan is the person who can receive your sword most safely here."
"Safely, my sword can be received safely by anyone here no matter who you pick! My sword is non-violent!"
Ignoring Dwayne's resistance, I grabbed his arm and stood beside him.
"Listen well. Because the swordsmanship I'm going to teach you from now on is advanced swordsmanship."
A sword I have never taught anyone else.
If injecting abstract images that are not yet organized becomes possible...
'Wouldn't all students here be able to use Aura?'
My heart pounded with a strange premonition.
If that really becomes possible, this Fantasy was a cheat artifact ridiculously more nonsensical than Giant-Block or whatever.