Chapter 82 : Chapter 82

Chapter 82. Shall We Take Off Our Ranks and Fight? (3)

“Huuuuup….”

“The path of the sword is like the path of penance…”

“Keeeeeeeeuk…”

“There is no easy way to become strong.”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…”

“First, you have to build the foundation. What is the foundation? It's the lower body. A firm, unshakable lower body is the first virtue a swordsman must possess…”

Thud.

“Well, well?”

Patrick's eyes glinted.

“Your butt touched the ground? Are you going to fight in that position?”

“No, this is…”

“Reset.”

“Keeeeuuuuu…”

At Patrick's command, Matthew forced himself back into the Horse Stance. Then, Patrick placed leather pouches filled with sand one by one on Matthew's shoulders.

“Grit your teeth and endure. No one has died doing this.”

“Keeeeeeeeeeu…. Uwaaaaaah…”

Patrick's training began, and in less than half a day, Matthew was tasting physical hell.

Patrick first made him do the Horse Stance to train his lower body, and to see faster results, he placed heavy pouches on both of his shoulders.

“Keeuuu, it's nice to have good equipment. The kids in my fiefdom had to put hard rocks on their shoulders, but these soft, well-balanced sheep pouches? The training environment is so pleasant and good. Right, my friend?”

“Ugh…. Uuuuuuuuuh…”

Desperately trying to calm his trembling knees, which moved against his will, Matthew gritted his teeth.

He too was a student at the Knight Academy and was no stranger to strength training. But…

‘This is really insane.’

The intensity of the training was completely different.

The training Patrick made him do seemed to be teaching Matthew a new world, a world where the human body could feel this much pain from such an act.

The moment his body reached its limit and was about to collapse again…

“If you collapse again, I'm doubling the time.”

“Heeuk…”

“You think I won't? You think I'm just saying this and will go easy on you?”

“H-… Heuaaaak…”

“If you're curious, try collapsing once. I'll show you whether I'm a man of my word or not.”

Matthew's eyes became bloodshot.

How did this demon know his limits so precisely and make such a threat at this very moment?

No, the reason wasn't important.

This guy would do it.

He would definitely do it. He was more than capable of it.

“Go beyond your limits. Don't set your own limits. I will set your limits.”

“Heuaaaak…”

To Matthew, who was now screaming what could be either a battle cry or a sob, Patrick added another sandbag.

* * *

“Woooow…”

“Now that Roist is gone, it's that new student.”

“I'd rather be beaten. What kind of bullying is this, disguised as public training?”

“Look over there. The professors are watching and can't say a word.”

“Vicious demon bastard.”

These were the impressions of the other first-years watching Patrick and Matthew's training.

In fact, from their perspective, this looked less like training and more like bullying under the pretext of training.

Was it because it was torture disguised as training?

The professors watching from one side of the training ground only glanced at Matthew and Patrick and did not intervene.

“Isn't he really going to quit the Knight Faculty?”

“Even if he quits, it can't be helped. He got in through a donation in the first place, how long could he last?”

“True, even dropping out in the first year will get you treated as a talent by the public.”

“That's true.”

The other first-years thought Matthew would drop out before the year was over.

Even from their perspective, what he was doing was not something a person should do.

It wasn't even sword training, just pushing the body to its limits to the point of being no different from torture. What kind of training was that?

Even if they were in Matthew's shoes, they didn't think they could endure such vicious bullying and continue attending the Academy.

Even the professors were thinking something similar.

However, there was one person who had a different thought after watching this training process.

‘Indeed, the basics first. He intends to solidify the roots.’

Professor Justin Leyte.

He saw Patrick training Matthew, said a word to the other professors to not interfere carelessly, and then watched from a distance himself.

The Patrick he knew was a much greater master than himself.

He thought that the process of such a master teaching a student had much for him to learn as well.

‘I'll have to watch for a while.’

* * *

A day passed, then two…

A week passed, and it was almost a month…

“Fix your posture.”

“Ugh…. Uwaaaaaaaaaah…”

Nothing had changed.

Patrick continued to train Matthew only in the basic Horse Stance, and Matthew silently followed Patrick's lead.

Well… not entirely silently.

“Aaaaaaaahp!”

Screams constantly erupted.

Just from the sound, it was a scene so desperate that one would think it was a criminal being tortured, not training.

The only thing that changed was the number of sandbags placed on Matthew's shoulders. The others who watched this scene were impressed.

“He's actually enduring that, amazing.”

“How can he endure that level of strength training?”

“He's not using aura either, right?”

“Is that exercise easier than it looks?”

“No. I tried it once, and I couldn't even last 30 minutes without aura.”

“But Matthew has been doing it all day, hasn't he?”

“You have to acknowledge his grit. His grit…”

Now, even the eyes of the other first-years watching this scene were filled with a subtle admiration.

In truth, they didn't think that training was helpful.

They thought it was right to swing a sword one more time or focus more on Aura Blessing while doing such ignorant strength training.

That's what they thought, but…

“Grit…. Yes, his grit alone…”

“You have to admit it. I guess he wasn't just some guy to be ignored because he was a donation admission.”

“You're right.”

People are naturally impressed when they see someone accomplish something they can't do.

The expressions of the first-year classmates watching Matthew, who had been continuing the high-intensity lower body workout ordered by Patrick for over a month, had changed quite a bit.

And in fact…

Patrick himself was also a little surprised right now.

‘Look at this bastard.’

His eyes were bloodshot.

The sweat flowing from his entire body had fallen to the ground, forming a puddle.

His trembling lower body proved that his body had already reached its limit.

But seeing Matthew holding onto his body, which had reached its limit, with his mental strength and pushing himself even further, Patrick's eyes showed a peculiar light.

No matter how hard it was, no matter if he felt like he was going to die, his will alone never chose the option of giving up.

The times Matthew had collapsed so far were not because of his own will, but only when he had truly pushed his limits to the point where the tearing of his muscle fibers reached its peak.

Patrick felt interest, pride, and a sense of nostalgia in this side of Matthew.

‘There's another grit monster like Namgung Cheon.’

* * *

Iron Dragon Swordsman, Namgung Cheon.

A man abandoned despite being born as the legitimate son of the Namgung Clan, the most prosperous prestigious family among the Five Great Clans.

Like most of Patrick's friends, Namgung Cheon was not treated well by his family.

Despite being born as the eldest grandson of the Namgung Clan, he was the world's greatest dullard, with not even a sliver of talent to be found.

The head of the Namgung Clan had already given up on him.

While his younger brothers learned the Namgung Clan's superior sword art, the Azure Sky Unhindered Sword Art, and the Emperor Sword Form that only the direct line of the clan head could learn, the only thing he could learn was the basic sword art, the Twelve Forms of the Iron Sword.

A dullard who couldn't even perfectly execute those Twelve Forms of the Iron Sword and could only repeat the training endlessly.

As outcasts tend to befriend fellow outcasts, he managed to form a connection with the Ugly Dragon Scholar Jaegal Hyeon, who was discriminated against for being ugly, and the Iron-Blooded Saber Dragon Peng Mujong, who was cast out from within the Peng Clan, and as a result, he also became acquainted with the Radiant Dragon Great Master Jin Cheon.

And in Jin Cheon's view, Namgung Cheon was a person who stood at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from himself.

Jin Cheon, from a third-rate sect, who could only rely on his own talent.

Namgung Cheon, born as the eldest grandson of the Murim's most prestigious family, the Namgung Clan, but with not a bit of talent.

They couldn't be more different.

Jin Cheon never thought he would pity the direct-line eldest grandson of the great Namgung Clan in his life.

To him, who couldn't learn any superior martial arts due to his lack of talent, he made a subtle suggestion.

“Should I teach you a few things?”

At that time, Jin Cheon had already caused a ruckus with the Namgung Clan head once and had extracted the first half of the Azure Sky Unhindered Sword Art.

Although there was a condition that he would never teach it to others, he thought, surely he wouldn't say anything if I taught it to his own son.

But at that time, Namgung Cheon said with a smile…

“How can I, who can't even properly do the Twelve Forms of the Iron Sword, learn the Azure Sky Unhindered Sword Art?”

“But your younger brother is already learning the Emperor Sword Form beyond the Azure Sky Unhindered Sword Art. Isn't that embarrassing? You're the older brother.”

“It's fine.”

Namgung Cheon said with a smile.

“What can I, with my meager talent, achieve by competing against monsters like my younger brother or you? It is enough for me if I can defeat just one person.”

“Who is that one person?”

“The me of yesterday.”

“……”

“If I can become even a little stronger than the me of yesterday, that is enough for me.”

“What are you talking about? A talentless guy like you…”

“Hahaha.”

Seeing the bluntly sarcastic Jin Cheon, Namgung Cheon just laughed it off.

At that time, Patrick had a strange conviction.

This guy will become strong.

There was no basis for it, but for some reason, he had that conviction, and that conviction turned out to be correct in the end.

When the Black Serpent Legion, a major power of the Unorthodox Alliance, led its elite troops to attack the Namgung Clan, the head of the Namgung Clan was leading his elite troops and fighting elsewhere.

At that time, when everyone thought that the fate of the completely blindsided Namgung Clan was nothing but destruction.

“Who dares to look down on the Namgung Clan?”

The one who defeated the Black Serpent Legion's leader, the Septic Saber Jeokmak, and stood firm at the main gate of the clan, protecting his family until Jin Cheon and his friends arrived with reinforcements, was Namgung Cheon, who was ridiculed as the world's greatest dullard even within his own clan.

It was the moment when he, who had not received even a single form of the Azure Sky Unhindered Sword Art, let alone the Emperor Sword Form, and had silently trained only in the Twelve Forms of the Iron Sword to overcome the him of yesterday, proudly claimed victory against a supreme master of the Unorthodox Alliance and earned the title of Iron Dragon Swordsman.

Effort, grit, passion.

Words that are easy to say.

Those who say that even if you lack talent, you just have to work harder than others.

Patrick had sneered at such fools since his past life.

Effort? Grit?

Give me a break. Do others not do it?

For anyone with a sane mind, making an effort is a matter of course. What's so great about it that they can hold their heads high and spout nonsense like, ‘I worked hard’?

Above all, there were no humans among those who spouted such nonsense who truly made an effort until the end.

What's the use of making an effort right now?

When others around them overtake them and pass them from behind, and eventually, they begin to feel the misery of being left behind alone, the majority of them are guys who don't even make that ‘effort’.

Those who say, ‘I worked hard. I did my best.’ were nothing but losers whining, ‘I did my best, but it didn't work out. So please feel sorry for me.’

With the exception of one grit monster, the Iron Dragon Swordsman Namgung Cheon.

The world regarded him as the greatest dullard, but in Patrick's view, Namgung Cheon was not a talentless guy.

The talent to keep trying until the end.

That was a talent that even Jin Cheon, who made a name for himself as the greatest genius of his time, did not have.

And perhaps, this Matthew in front of his eyes might have the same thing.

Looking at Matthew's eyes filled with venom, Patrick thought.

‘I don't know how far you'll follow, but as long as you do, I'll take care of you until the end.’

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuh…”

Finally, Matthew lost consciousness and collapsed.

At that, Patrick lifted him up himself and slung him over his shoulder.

“Young Master. I will do it.”

“It's fine.”

Patrick brushed off the restraining April and returned with Matthew slung over his shoulder.

‘You will become strong.’

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