Chapter 17 : Training

Chapter 17: Training

“An exchange tournament, huh....”

After today’s training ended, Iodin explained about the exchange tournament that would be held 13 days later. Along with her worries.

I understood her anxious heart, fearing that she might tarnish the name of Grand Duke Laitena.

But honestly, for me...

‘Why should I care?’

It wasn’t as if Laitena was truly my master.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly pleasant. Having some trivial people make all sorts of evaluations about me. If possible, I’d rather crush them so thoroughly that they couldn’t even squeak.

However, I wasn’t even sure if I’d still be staying in this past by then...

Anyway, right now, there was only one thing that captured my attention.

‘Sword Support.’

Ah, this vast world of ancient swordsmanship.

I finally witnessed with my own eyes the Sword Support that I had only heard of until now.

‘To think she not only escaped from that situation but even managed to counterattack.’

It was at the very moment I intended to land the decisive blow, after carefully constructing the setup.

I had cornered Iodin by endlessly playing mind games, narrowing down the choices she could make, and driving her into a corner by toying with the tempo.

She finally attempted to overcome the crisis with the very move she was most confident in.... And that was precisely the moment I had been waiting for.

‘It was as if her sword was alive.’

The instant I saw Iodin’s diagonal slash, I swung the counter I had prepared.

I was certain of victory, yet her sword moved on its own, as though alive, deflecting my secret strike.

That sword had shot out as if it already knew.

Goosebumps.

Even now, just remembering it made my skin crawl.

That was why I couldn’t fall asleep tonight either.

Another night of training!

Unlike yesterday, I took out Banroa.

Yesterday, I had trained with a cheap iron sword. Today, I intended to train wielding this peerless blade.

Each had its own strengths and weaknesses.

When exploring a new realm, a renowned sword that resonated more easily was better. But when revisiting a path I had already walked and polishing it thoroughly, a cheap blade that didn’t resonate easily was preferable.

Tonight, I was training to reach a new realm.

By ancient standards, stepping beyond Low-grade Expert to Mid-grade Expert.

The Stage of Body-Sword.

“Whooo....”

I swung my sword slowly.

Whoong— Whooong—

I focused, trying to sense Banroa.

First, the external aspects.

Its weight. Shape, texture, sound, curvature, balance point. I absorbed and felt everything.

Understanding them, I handled the blade freely, little by little, drawing closer to its soul.

Sseung—

Sreurung—

Gradually. A sharp sound leaked from the tip as I swung.

And then,

Wooooong—

At last, I felt a faint tremor from the blade.

‘That’s it. It’s fine. You can do it.’

I approached Banroa’s Sword Spirit carefully and warmly, as if dancing with a partner, as if reaching my hand out to a small animal.

‘Show me. The reason you were born into this world. The will you carry within you.’

Wooooong—

A shimmer rose from the tip of the sword.

I tried to commune with the Sword Spirit more gently, attempting to draw the sword’s will into my body.

The Stage of Body-Sword had been the way ancient swordsmen, who could not yet directly wield Aura, strengthened their bodies.

At first glance, it might have seemed useless for someone like me, who could already manipulate Aura, but my thoughts were different.

‘When I fused Sword Aura and Sword Energy, I was able to create a phenomenon resembling a Grandmaster’s Soul Blade. Then, what would happen if I merged the energy of the sword with Aura inside my body?’

Was this how I would step, one foot at a time, closer to the realm of a Grandmaster?

Well,

Either way was fine, or perhaps even better.

If this was the path of a Grandmaster, then I would be counted among the less than ten superhumans across the world...

‘If not, then I would instead gain a completely new weapon—one that even those superhumans themselves could not surpass.’

Honestly,

Did it even matter?

Even without Aura, even with nothing but the sword itself, such lofty realms still existed...

I swung and swung my sword beneath the white, shining moonlight.

Long ago, a certain sage had argued:

The moon and stars were, in truth, so far away as to be beyond imagination.

He had climbed the tallest mountain in the world to measure the size of the moon, and then said:

Even after climbing this high, I cannot sense any difference in the moon’s size. The moon truly is far away.

Because I had seen it every day,

I had failed to realize its vastness.

And that was exactly the feeling the sword gave me now.

Like the moon I always looked upon, like the sword I always carried.

Precisely because I always had it, I had failed to recognize it.

How boundless a realm lay hidden within it.

I had lived only pouring my attention into Aura, which merely seemed more special.

Woooong—

Wooong—

Banroa quivered finely in my hand.

A memory suddenly surfaced.

The countless days I had fought while gripping a sword.

Now that I thought about it, even back then, the sword had often trembled like this.

I had only ignored it, brushing past without caring.

The sword had always been at my side, always fighting with me, always speaking to me.

Only now did I finally realize.

‘So that’s how it was. You were always beside me. You always spoke to me. We did not only just meet today... I have only now turned back to you. You, who were always at my side.’

The expressions Iodin and the knights showed today.

Those faces, aghast at my suddenly increased skill.

Now I thought I knew the reason.

For me, ancient swordsmanship was not about learning something new.

In truth, it was merely the process of realizing that it had already been by my side all along.

So that was why.

Dang– Dang– Dang–

How long had I been swinging my sword?

The bell rang.

Eleven at night, the time that marked the close of the day.

A short moment when all the city’s lights were extinguished, to offer prayers of gratitude for the divine blessings filling the world.

Hoooh—

For an instant, darkness descended upon Glowingsteel, which had been brightly lit with magical light.

Even the sky, which had glowed faintly white from the city’s lights, turned dark as a deep well.

“Ah….”

When the world darkened, the hidden stars were revealed.

Around the shattered ‘Broken Moon,’ starlight blossomed in every direction.

Stars.

Always there in their place, yet hidden by the bright lights of the earth.

Perhaps they might burn brighter than anything in the world, but only because they were too far...

Too far away,

that even the light of a single city was enough to conceal them.

Yet in reality, they covered the sky, vast beyond measure, brilliant and unfathomable.

Now I understood.

The sword, too, was like the stars—always there, merely hidden beneath Aura.

Wooooong—

Banroa cried out.

Following that vibration, a resonance etched itself deep into my being.

A sensation sharpened, standing tall like a single drawn blade.

My body became as firm, flexible, and refined as the famed sword Banroa itself.

“Ah….”

I had thought the Aura flowing through me was immense... but now I realized that thought had been wrong.

Between the Aura that flowed within me, a framework was erected.

Before I accepted the sword’s energy, my Aura had been like an octopus or squid—something without bones.

Whoooong—

If someone were to see me now, they would surely think I had become a sword myself.

Just like that ominous sensation I had felt the first time I saw the leader of the cultists.

This was…

The realm of the Stage of Body-Sword.

*         *         *

After I stepped into the realm of Body-Sword, Iodin’s face brightened noticeably.

I could feel the relief, as if a great burden had been set down.

Day by day, I devoted myself to training the sword.

Each day was fulfilling.

One day, two days, ten days passed.

By this time I had grown fairly accustomed to wielding Body-Sword,

that morning, as I went out early to the training grounds, the atmosphere within the castle felt distinctly strange.

“Lord Celsius has come?”

“Of all times, when His Grace the Grand Duke is away….”

“He came knowing that His Grace was away. Damn it. Why does His Grace even tolerate that man….”

“Shhh. No matter what, he is of His Highness the Grand Duke’s bloodline. Watch your tongue.”

Lord Celsius?

He seemed to be someone of high standing among the Grand Duke’s kin... yet the mood was anything but welcoming.

I soon learned the reason at the training grounds.

“Wahahaha! So this is all the famed Horizon Knights amount to! How could you ever hope to serve Laitena like this?”

The man’s very voice was laden with fat, his cheeks and belly bulging.

His head was completely bald, his upper body bare, his belly fat jiggling as he stormed about the vast training ground as if it were his own living room.

One knight, who had apparently just been defeated in a duel with him, withdrew with his face flushed bright red.

The Horizon Knights, gathered in a circle, all wore expressions full of discontent.

“Already five victories in a row? Come! Who will be my next opponent?”

No one stepped forward.

“Wahahaha! What, has the great Horizon Knights lost their nerve? When I asked to see the treasure Laitena brought back, you acted all arrogant and refused. But when I ask to see your true skills, you all turn into cowards!”

Every word of his was calculated to scratch at people.

The knights bristled in anger.

“Lord Celsius. Then allow me to face you.”

Perhaps unable to bear the sight any longer, the captain, Brook Dunar, rose to his massive frame and stepped forward.

But the one called Lord Celsius shook his head.

“Haha. No, no. The captain represents the pride of the Horizon Knights. That, I must protect! Wahaha!”

He spoke as though he could win, but was graciously sparing his opponent.

Yet no matter how I looked at it, that pig had no chance of withstanding even a single strike from Brook.

‘Around the edge of High-grade Expert?’

His presence was far stronger than the cultist leader’s or Iodin Serom’s, but only to that extent.

It was a difference in degree, not in kind.

As proof—

“Lord Celsius! Then please, allow me to learn from you.”

“Your specialty is swift swordsmanship, is it not? I use heavy sword techniques. A swift swordsman such as yourself would have nothing to learn from me.”

“Then let me—!”

“Ah— enough. I’ve seen your faces too often already. So dull. Isn’t there someone fresh around?”

“Have you never crossed swords with me before….”

“Are you all truly this cowardly? At this rate, you may as well hand that treasure over to me! With such paltry skills, you cannot hope to guard it!”

That bald man, whenever high-ranking knights—those known as Peak Experts—challenged him, would offer absurd excuses to avoid the match.

Yet his mouth ran endlessly.

The strong against the weak, the weak against the strong.

His eyes gleamed as he searched for knights he could actually beat.

My brow furrowed on its own, when—

“Junior Ransen. It won’t do you any good to catch that man’s eye. Let us head to the training grounds outside the castle today….”

Iodin had come near at some point, whispering in my ear.

For Iodin, who always valued courtesy, to use the words ‘that man’….

“But who is he? Lord Celsius? He seemed to be our master’s kin….”

“That is correct. Lord Kashigier Celsius. He is Master’s elder brother. But because his conduct is far from proper… he is an avoided figure even within the knight order.”

Hooh…. So the Grand Duke had a delinquent older brother?

He certainly seemed like the sort of man with nothing to gain from becoming entangled.

I was about to turn away after a glance at him, when that greasy voice suddenly aimed itself at me.

“Hmm? Wait. You! Russel? No, no, was it Ransen? It’s you, isn’t it! The one Laitena recently took as a disciple!”

Iodin, trying to pull me away, shut her eyes tight for a moment.

I slowly turned my head back.

Lord Kashigier, eyes bulging, stomped heavily as he approached me.

“Y-you…! Insolent brat! Where did you ever learn such manners, failing to even greet your Master’s elder brother! This is why lowborns are always…!”

Ah, what a headache already.

I shook my head inwardly in exasperation, but outwardly I bowed with proper courtesy.

“My apologies, Uncle Master. As it seemed you were in the middle of an important match, I intended to slip away quietly without disturbing you, but it turned into a grave discourtesy.”

“Even your excuses are unbearably crude. Honestly… what on earth is Laitena thinking? This time he takes in some nameless vagabond as a disciple? Last time it was some orphan girl….”

Wow.

Now I fully understood why Iodin had called him ‘that man.’

With just a few words, he had managed to insult the Grand Duke, then heap contempt on both me and Iodin.

‘How irritating….’

The temper I had honed in the lawless continent of Roberland—where so-called vassals of counts were little more than gangsters or bandits—began to stir within me.

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