Chapter 29
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just what I said. Let’s spar, you and me.”
“That’s a bit sudden… may I ask why?”
“It’s hard to explain in words. Just trust me and fight me with everything you’ve got. I’ll do the same.”
“Well… alright.”
It was confusing, and honestly, I hesitated.
If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have minded so much—but sparring with Luke was something I preferred to avoid for several reasons.
‘Even veteran players always struggled with Luke’s boss fight.’
Strictly speaking, Luke wasn’t really a boss fight—more like a sparring match.
You didn’t die even if you lost.
It was the equivalent of a test dummy in games—essentially, a way to measure your combat strength.
The only problem was that Luke was a very difficult, high-level measuring dummy.
And the reason was simple—he had too many attack patterns.
‘They really did a good job recreating that setting where he mastered more than ten sword styles.’
He had perfectly mastered eleven sword styles.
If you included the ones he was still training in, it exceeded twenty.
‘He’s said to use the right sword style depending on the situation. So, he must know at least one daring and destructive technique capable of breaking through my defense.’
Whether I could withstand a swordmaster like him was uncertain, but I didn’t really have much of a choice.
Besides, Luke seemed quite serious about wanting to spar with me.
‘He must have something in mind.’
Luke was someone who truly cared about his students, and he was also one of the few Aura Experts in the Empire.
I didn’t know what his plan was, but if this method could help me manifest my Aura, it was worth doing.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
Following Luke, I walked to the center of the gymnasium and raised the Mistcatcher.
As the atmosphere between us turned into one of sparring, students began gathering around us.
Among them were Sara and Jason.
Both of them looked at me and Luke with great interest.
“Teacher, are you really going to face me with full strength?”
“No, not exactly. When I said ‘full strength,’ it was just a figure of speech. If I truly went all out, you’d be down in one hit.”
“Yes, I figured as much.”
This was the man who could slice a massive boulder with ease. If he used his full power, there wouldn’t even be bones left of me.
“But I’ll gradually raise my strength as we fight, so you’d better brace yourself.”
“…This really is for my Aura manifestation, right?”
“If my prediction’s right, it’ll definitely have an effect. And besides… I told you before, didn’t I? I’ve always wanted to fight you once.”
Luke smiled as he said that.
“I’ve been dying to know whether I can break through your solid defense. Been wondering since last week, actually.”
“If that’s the case… I’ll do my best.”
I raised my sword.
Alright, think positive.
I’d eventually face all sorts of strange opponents ahead, and an experience like this with Luke would definitely help.
“Good. Then… shall we begin?”
“Yes, let’s begin.”
The moment the words left my mouth, Luke swung his sword at me.
I quickly blocked the attack.
Chang―
‘…Imperial Standard Swordsmanship?’
After blocking several of Luke’s following strikes, I realized it.
Simple yet sharply precise movements.
It was indeed the sword style known for its low difficulty and commonly taught to soldiers.
I didn’t know why Luke was using it, but since it was an easy style to counter, I could block it without too much diffi—
“Hm?”
Suddenly, Luke changed his stance.
He gripped his sword with both hands and raised it over his shoulder.
That stance… I had definitely seen Lisa use it before.
Before I could even react, Luke’s sword came flying at me.
I instinctively lifted my sword to block—
Boom―!
“Ugh?”
Even though I blocked it, the impact forced me back several steps.
It wasn’t as overwhelming as Lisa’s strike fueled by Blood Energy, but the sheer destructive force of the technique was immense.
“You actually withstood that?”
Luke smiled as he aimed his sword at me.
It was clearly a smile of pure enjoyment.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t even begin to smile.
“Huu…”
I took my stance again.
As I’d said before, purely defensive swordsmanship wasn’t enough to survive in this world.
I had to learn how to counterattack.
‘The Balmuth Family’s sword style has the drawback of being slow.’
A red dot appeared before my eyes.
Luke raised his sword over his shoulder again and swung downward, and I dodged the heavy strike with perfect timing.
Then, I swung my blade toward his wrist.
The same method I used when I faced Sara before—
“Wha—?”
Luke suddenly leaped, spinning once in the air.
In that motion, he easily avoided my blade.
Then, he resumed his assault with a flurry of slashes.
Chang― Chang―
Cha-cha-chachang―!
‘His swordsmanship changed.’
It wasn’t the slow, weighty style from earlier, but a fast, light-footed one.
The rapid consecutive strikes came so swiftly that the red dots from my Attack Prediction Skill flickered before my eyes nonstop.
‘The Hawkbat Family’s swordsmanship.’
The fastest sword style in the Empire.
So, he really had mastered that one too.
It was hard to adjust to the sudden change, but not impossible.
It wasn’t as fast as Jason, who used the power of wind along with it.
Chang―! Chang-chang―! Chang―!
The sound of clashing blades echoed through the gymnasium again and again.
Luke’s sword was fast—very fast.
But no matter how fast it was, the combination of my defensive swordsmanship and Attack Prediction Skill wasn’t something easily broken.
“…No wonder Sara lost.”
After a few minutes, Luke, slightly out of breath, finally spoke.
“Your swordsmanship is extremely defensive, but truly impressive. Purely in terms of sword skill, there are probably very few swordsmen in this Empire who could break through your defense.”
“Thank you. But why only judge by pure swordsmanship…?”
“Because once other powers are added to swordsmanship, the outcome can change entirely.”
With that, Luke surrounded his body with Aura.
Not the level of an Aura Expert, but rather, that of an ordinary Aura User.
“I think we’re done warming up, so let’s get serious now. And Gideon—”
“Yes?”
“Try to draw out your Aura while we spar. Keep focusing on the power within your soul.”
“Understood.”
The power within my soul.
I couldn’t quite feel it, but I did my best to stay aware of it.
“Alright. Then let’s go again. Your extremely defensive swordsmanship… against my extremely offensive one.”
Luke began swinging at me again.
Now imbued with Aura, his strikes carried far more weight than before.
But that much was manageable.
My body already knew how to block attacks from opponents with far greater strength.
‘But this swordsmanship Luke’s using now is definitely…’
A disciplined, straightforward sword style.
At a glance, it didn’t seem much different from the Imperial Standard Swordsmanship I saw earlier.
However, from where I stood, directly facing him, that difference was painfully clear.
‘He really poured everything into offense.’
Compared to the Imperial Standard Swordsmanship, his stance was much stiffer, his footwork almost nonexistent and highly restricted.
With his lower body practically fixed in place, Luke continuously brought his sword down at me.
It was a swordsmanship like a stationary cannon.
And I knew exactly what this technique was.
‘Luke’s own modified version of the Imperial Standard Swordsmanship.’
The Imperial Standard Swordsmanship was simple and versatile, a balanced form of offense and defense.
Luke had taken that form and stripped away most of its defensive elements, amplifying only the offensive ones.
A sword style that embodied the phrase “attack is the best defense”, allowing no opening for the enemy to strike back.
And I was fending off that extremely offensive swordsmanship with my own extremely defensive one.
Chang— Chang—
‘Damn, that’s strong.’
Powerful, weighty blows rained down on me without pause.
If Lisa’s swordsmanship delivered a single strike with power level 100, Luke’s felt like ten consecutive strikes, each at power 50.
It was hard enough to handle him when he fought using swordsmanship alone, but now Luke was using Aura.
Because of that, I could feel my defense slowly starting to crumble.
‘In the end, the problem is Aura. If I had Aura too, I could probably hold my own.’
While desperately blocking Luke’s attacks, I kept trying to draw out my Aura.
But I still had no idea how to actually bring out that power.
And perhaps noticing that, Luke suddenly spoke.
“As expected, this level isn’t enough to make you feel a real threat to your life.”
“…What?”
“Forget everything else and just focus on drawing out your Aura. Concentrate on your soul to the very end.”
The moment he said that, Luke’s Aura grew drastically thicker.
He had begun using his full power as an Aura Expert.
I was momentarily startled by his sudden escalation, but Luke swung at me regardless.
A blade empowered by the dense Aura of an Aura Expert.
Just by looking at it, I instinctively understood.
‘I’ll die. Even if I block that, I’ll die.’
For the first time since coming to this world, I felt the fear of death.
But even in that moment, I held onto Luke’s words—to draw out my Aura no matter what.
And just as our swords were about to collide—
I felt something inside me shatter.
Boom—!
I blocked Luke’s sword with the Mistcatcher, but I was sent flying a great distance.
Normally, that kind of strike should’ve killed me outright.
But even after tumbling across the gym floor several times…
“Ugh… that hurts like hell.”
—for some reason, I wasn’t dead.
My body was covered in dust, with a few small wounds here and there, but nothing serious.
Even though that strike should’ve been more than enough to kill me.
Wondering what had happened, I looked down to check my body…
“Huh? What’s this?”
A white aura was surrounding me.
And instinctively, I knew what it was.
“This… this is Aura?”
“That’s right. That’s Aura.”
Luke smiled as he slowly approached me.
“I don’t know why, but it felt like there was a kind of wall around your soul—something that was preventing you from manifesting Aura. But just as I said before, that wall seemed pretty fragile. I figured if you were forced to draw it out strongly, it would collapse easily.”
“So you made me feel a threat to my life on purpose?”
“The Aura that comes out from instinct is the strongest kind. I apologize for the sudden, overwhelming strike. But it was the most effective method.”
“I understand. And thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve got the feeling for it now.”
I looked at the white aura surrounding my body.
Because of this Aura, I could feel myself becoming slightly—but definitely—stronger.
It was faint now, but once I strengthened it, this aura would grow thicker, and I would become even stronger.
“Looks like you like it.”
“It’s not a bad feeling.”
“Then try blocking my attack again with that same feeling.”
“…You’re not going to swing like before again, are you?”
“Hahaha, don’t worry. I won’t do that.”
As if to prove his words, the Aura around Luke’s body faded, returning to the level of a regular Aura User.
“I just want to see if I can break through your defense using only swordsmanship.”
“If that’s the case… then fine.”
At those words, I got back up, and Luke smiled as he swung his sword again.
Luke’s extremely offensive swordsmanship and my extremely defensive one.
Our spar continued for several more minutes until—
“Gideon.”
“Yes?”
“You’re ridiculously good at blocking.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
In the end, Luke couldn’t break through my defense.
And from that, I became certain.
‘Just as Luke said, there really aren’t many people in this Empire who could break through my defense using only pure swordsmanship.’
Luke was one of the top swordsmen in the Arium Empire.
If even he couldn’t do it easily, then most other swordsmen wouldn’t stand a chance either.
‘Good. I’ll just keep growing like this. Next up…’
As I was thinking about how to improve further, Luke sheathed his sword and gestured that we were done.
“Let’s call it a draw. I think my stamina’s going to run out before I can break you.”
“Yes, I didn’t think I could defeat you anyway, sir.”
At Luke’s declaration of a draw, the students watching—including Sara and Jason—reacted in shock.
And understandably so; it wasn’t common for Luke to fail to defeat a single student.
Even if he had adjusted his level for the spar.
Honestly, I would’ve been surprised too.
But then, Luke made a statement that shocked the students even more.
“And after this spar, I’ve made up my mind. Gideon.”
“Yes?”
“You’ll be representing us in the Academy Competition next semester.”
“…What?”
I tilted my head at Luke’s sudden words, wondering if I’d misheard.
“What? What did you just say?”
Apparently, I hadn’t misheard, because Sara came storming over, looking both dumbfounded and furious.
“Luke, why would you pick that guy as a representative for the Academy Competition—?”
Sara protested, but Luke’s expression was one of firm conviction.
And before long, word of Luke’s declaration spread throughout the Academy, and once again, I found myself the center of attention—just like on the first day.
A few hours later, that evening.
Inside the staff conference room of Lysquare Academy, numerous teachers had gathered.
There, Luke spoke once again to the headmaster of Lysquare Academy, Dilug.
“For this year’s Academy Competition, I think we should send Gideon Kyrgram as our representative for swordsmanship.”
Most of the teachers looked puzzled at Luke’s words.
Then Headmaster Dilug spoke slowly, wearing a thoughtful expression.
“Could you explain your reasoning?”