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Clang!
The sound of two sword blades colliding echoed across the training grounds.
Leo Martian looked surprised, while Davian Naone remained composed.
Their classmates watched the sparring match with mouths agape.
'This guy.'
Leo Martian tilted his head and stepped back.
The distance between them was about three steps.
'That guy. He definitely read my movements completely.'
Perfectly read.
There had been times when he had predicted the direction by chance and tried to block, but.
This was the first time he had completely read and blocked the sword path like this.
Moreover.
'What is this movement?'
Even if he managed to guess the direction, his inner strength was still insufficient to keep up with Leo's speed.
But now.
It felt like the movement had suddenly become twice as fast.
How on earth.
Leo Martian asked.
"What did you do?"
Davian maintained his stance and replied.
"The Head of the Department of Swordsmanship is kind enough to give me guidance. I can't just let this opportunity pass by."
It was the absolute truth.
With this sparring, Davian would grow another step.
"So, you're only going to do your best now?"
Davian nodded silently.
Leo Martian couldn't understand.
Only now doing his best.
Absolutely not.
Even before this, Davian was clearly squeezing out every last bit of his inner strength to move.
Leo Martian wasn't one to miss something like that.
He didn't know what he did, but.
One thing was certain, something had changed.
"Indeed. You're no ordinary guy. Davian Naone. Stella was right to praise you so highly."
"May I make the first move this time?"
What?
Of course, he suddenly gained an unbelievable field of vision and movements, but.
To say that he was going to take the initiative now.
Leo Martian laughed loudly.
It wasn't a derisive laugh.
'It's been a long time since I've had a student who amuses me so much. Not since Stella Cloud.'
Davian urged him.
"I don't have much time. Please teach me for about 30 more minutes."
The remaining duration of the Shadow Move skill.
Leo Martian, who had no way of knowing such a thing, wore a smile on his face.
"You're too greedy, kid. 30 minutes, you say?"
"That's all I can handle."
"You can handle 30 minutes?"
"I'm going to try."
"Good. Come at me."
Davian's sword pierced towards Leo Martian.
'Tricks won't work.'
His opponent was the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship at Elton Academy.
He wasn't someone who could be dealt with using the various tricks he'd learned in just one year.
In times like this, it was better to go the orthodox route.
He drew a Sword Edge Circle.
And chose the weakest pizza slice in Leo Martian's stance.
Then he thrust forward with all his might.
He gathered all of his 6-star inner strength and surged forward.
The advanced skill 'Shadow Move' made his movements a whopping 2 times faster.
Just because your inner strength is doubled and you move up to the next rank doesn't mean your movements become twice as fast.
If that were the case, an 8-star swordsman would have to move 128 times faster than a 1-star swordsman.
So.
Davian, with his 6-star inner strength and a speed twice as fast, was.
Clang!
In terms of speed alone, he was by no means inferior to Leo Martian.
Clang!
Davian's sword and the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship's sword collided at high speed.
Eventually.
Leo Martian began to take a step back.
"Davian is pushing the professor back!"
"Is that even possible? Even if it's Davian? His opponent is the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship?"
Everyone was surprised and said something, but.
The most surprised was Bonita Fortis.
'Crazy.'
She had invested all her time outside of eating and sleeping into cultivating her inner strength during the vacation.
She had minimized her eating and sleeping time to no more than 4 hours a day.
She had tormented herself by cultivating her inner strength over and over again.
She hadn't even picked up a sword for two months.
And yet.
Davian Naone was moving at an unbelievable speed right before her eyes.
It was a sword so fast that the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship was barely able to block while slowly retreating.
'Unbelievable.'
It wasn't like this when they sparred during the final exam of the second semester of their first year.
She didn't even have to go that far back.
His movements just before this weren't much different from then.
But now, he was pushing back Leo Martian, the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship.
'What on earth happened again, Davian Naone.'
Frustration was etched deeply on Bonita's face, which had been filled with surprise.
And.
Pfft.
Bonita Fortis burst out laughing.
"Yeah. Maybe it's impossible to catch up to that guy in the first place."
Meanwhile.
Leo Martian was in a very difficult situation.
He wanted to draw out his full potential.
To figure out what needed to be improved.
And to gauge how strong of a talent he could become in the future.
At first, he was surprised.
Even though the President, the Head of the Department of Magic, and Stella had all praised him, he honestly didn't think he was this skilled.
Of course, Leo Martian's sword wasn't being blocked at all.
But that was to be expected.
Nevertheless, the eyes that kept chasing the sword until the end.
The movements that tried to predict the direction and block it somehow.
The unwavering will in the face of a desperate situation.
The unwavering legs.
Reflexes. Stamina.
And even strong defense.
Everything was a series of surprises.
It was beyond Leo's expectations.
Even this was great enough, but.
He suddenly asked for a moment to catch his breath and became a completely different person.
Not only was he accurately reading Leo's sword path, but he was now choosing only the difficult paths to stab and cut with his sword.
The speed was so fast that he had never met an opponent who wielded such a fast sword before.
A sword path that was incredibly fast yet without a single unnecessary movement.
Clang!
In order to put speed into a sword, you have to take out the power.
However, each and every collision had a strong energy imbued in it.
'What kind of monster is this... .'
Of course, he could push Davian away or launch a proper attack to turn the tide of the battle right away.
To do so, he would have to manifest aura or deliver a critical hit.
Swordsmen above a certain level show their true value when they manifest aura.
However, he couldn't use aura to face Davian in a place where he was called to check his level of swordsmanship.
Of course, he couldn't deliver critical hits that could endanger his life even more.
'I tried to test this kid, but I ended up on the test myself.'
A chuckle escaped his lips.
What kind of situation was this?
'Okay, let's do this properly, Davian Naone.'
Shwing.
Leo Martian let Davian's sword slide off.
Davian lost his balance as he stretched his arm forward.
Not missing the opportunity, he swung his sword to strike Davian's stomach...
Thwack.
But Leo's sword was stuck to Davian's sword and wouldn't come off.
In that state, Davian pulled Leo's body towards him.
Then he took his left hand off the sword hilt.
And made a fist.
Pow!
He struck Leo Martian's abdomen.
…!
The two stood still in that position.
Silence filled the training grounds.
Only the gentle sound of the spring breeze softly sweeping the ground could be heard.
After a few seconds of silence.
"W-what?"
"Did he just land a body blow on the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship?"
"Did the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship get hit? By Davian Naone?"
Bonita simply put her hand on her forehead and shook her head.
'That guy is crazy. I can never beat him. No, in a little while, no one will be able to beat him.'
Leo Martian straightened his back and stepped back.
Davian also took a few steps back.
"Excellent."
"You flatter me."
"Now, should we try using the edge of the blade instead of the side? Would you like to continue?"
"I can still go for another 20 minutes."
"Good. Let's try again."
Grip.
Leo Martian gripping the sword hilt could be heard even by Davian.
'He's really going to do it properly this time. I welcome it.'
Davian also readjusted his grip on his sword.
"May I make the first move this time as well?"
"As you wish."
Infirmary.
Medium crossed her arms and sat on a chair, looking at Davian.
Davian sat on the patient bed with his top off.
There were dozens of large and small sword wounds all over Davian's upper body.
"Are you stupid?"
"Pardon?"
"No, who rushes in until their body is like this? And against the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship?"
"He said he wanted to do it properly."
"I don't know much about swordsmanship, but it looked like you almost died a few times? Look at this wound on your stomach. If it was a little deeper, your intestines would have popped out."
Davian nodded.
"He was really amazing. The Head of the Department of Swordsmanship's real swordsmanship. If we had fought properly, I would have completely lost."
"Then you're supposed to lose, not win? And is this the time to be admiring him?"
"He wouldn't have killed me, would he?"
"Sigh."
Even as she talked, Medium's eyes were constantly scanning Davian's upper body.
"The shallow wounds are already healing. The deep wounds are also closing on their own."
Davian also lowered his head to watch the wounds heal.
"It's all thanks to the potions you gave me, teacher. I took it 6 times and the effect is really amazing."
By taking Medium's potions 6 times, the level of the recovery skill 'Blessing of Hydra' had increased by 30.
It was a skill that increased in level when external force was raised, but there was no need to raise external force separately.
Swish. Swish.
The wounds were healing as if someone was casting a healing spell.
However, Medium Frill was only crossing her arms and scanning Davian's wounds.
"But why did you suddenly say you were going to stop?"
"What do you mean?"
"The sparring. The Head of the Department of Swordsmanship also suffered a lot of injuries. I don't know much, but it didn't seem like Davian was being pushed back that much?"
Davian smiled awkwardly.
"My time was up."
"Your time was up?"
"There's something like that."
Bang!
The door to Leo Martian, the Head of the Department of Swordsmanship's personal research lab, opened violently.
"Master!"
"Stella, you've come."
"What is this…!"
Leo Martian was sitting cross-legged in the center of the research lab, and two infirmary teachers were treating him.
He was almost completely healed, but the torn and split scars here and there made it easy to imagine a fierce battle.
"Is this the work of Davian?"
Leo Martian smiled bitterly.
"Yeah. Kid, isn't the skill you told me about much different from this? Did you deliberately hide his true skills to trick me?"
"Me? Trick you? What's going on, really?"
"Yeah, did you come here worried because your teacher left the training grounds covered in blood?"
Unexpected words came out of Stella's mouth.
"Jackpot."
"What?"
"Davian really made the Master like this? The Davian Naone I know?"
"Huh, look at this kid. Now that I see it, you didn't rush here worried about your teacher. You came here curious about how Davian made me like this?"
Stella, who had been caught off guard, scratched the back of her head once and approached Leo Martian.
"Of course not, Master."
"You still can't lie."
"Does it show?"
"Yes."
"But what happened anyway? Davian isn't usually this good…?"
"That's what I want to ask."
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