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Boom.
King of the ancient beasts.
Behemoth's massive body slammed into the ground.
Crack, crunch.
Emperor Kaiser Lapas lightly loosened his neck and commanded.
"Clean it up."
"Yes!"
The Imperial Knights rushed forward and began to dispose of Behemoth's corpse.
Though the Imperial Knights were all top-notch knights, it took twenty of them to barely drag Behemoth's body out of the Imperial Palace courtyard.
While the Emperor was single-handedly beating Behemoth to death, a man stood silently to one side.
"Heinz."
"Yes! Your Imperial Majesty."
"You have a report?"
"Yes!"
Heinz Grayton.
The head of Marino Empire's intelligence department, and the leader of the anti-Alkanzia spy organization.
"Come inside."
The Emperor's office.
Kaiser Lapas sat on a massive golden throne.
The cushions on the seat and backrest were blood red.
His physique, three times larger than the intelligence chief kneeling before him, and his broad shoulders were imposing.
The Emperor stretched out his thick arms and placed them on the golden armrests.
Even with the slightest movement, his tendons pulsed and then subsided.
"Raise your head and report."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Intelligence Chief Heinz Grayton barely raised his head.
It would be a grave mistake to think of the intelligence chief as a pen-pushing politician.
This was the Marino Empire, where the logic of power reigned.
Intelligence Chief Heinz Grayton was a veteran swordsman of the Empire, who had dedicated his life to swordsmanship.
However.
Standing before Emperor Kaiser Lapas, he still felt fear rising within him.
"We've slightly altered the method of opening a fixed passage to the Demon Realm. The exact timing will take a bit longer to determine, but we should be able to open it within two years."
"Is it because of Davian Naone?"
"Yes? Ah, well..."
"Answer me."
"Yes. He's been too much of an obstacle to our existing methods. Every time we send elite personnel to amplify the dungeon core, they're defeated by him..."
"He even eliminated Kain and recently gathered all of stronghold X-11 underground and burned them to death, I hear?"
A bead of sweat trickled down Heinz's back.
It seemed that whenever Davian Naone was mentioned, the Emperor became more talkative.
No subject of the Marino Empire desired to engage in long conversations with that insane Emperor.
'Ultimately, it's true that the plan to secure a connection to the Demon Realm was completely revised because of Davian. But...'
Heinz cautiously observed the Emperor's expression.
'Is he smiling?'
Emperor Kaiser Lapas was smiling.
"He's an interesting one, Davian Naone. Very well. Continue as you are, ensuring that the plan to secure a connection to the Demon Realm doesn't clash with Davian."
"Ah, yes."
"He's very interesting. He's eighteen now, isn't he?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
In truth, the Emperor's influence played a part in the change of plans to avoid Davian.
Intelligence Chief Heinz Grayton had reported that he would personally deal with Davian, but for some reason, the Emperor did not grant his permission.
As a result, they had no choice but to alter the plan.
"An interesting fellow. Any new news about him?"
"He recently showcased his magical achievements at the Academy, it seems."
"Oh? How did it go?"
"It's hard to believe, so we're confirming the facts, but he's said to have become the most magically potent mage in Alkanzia."
Hahahaha.
Emperor Kaiser Lapas laughed loudly.
"Interesting, very interesting. So he's now the strongest mage in Alkanzia, is he?"
"We will confirm the details further and report back, Your Majesty."
"Enough. Avoid any clashes with him for the time being. It seems he's exceeded the level you can handle."
When I offered to handle it myself, you wouldn't allow it.
Now you say he's beyond my capabilities.
He's just the strongest in Alkanzia.
Heinz Grayton's pride suffered a deep wound, but the other party was the Emperor.
If he showed even the slightest sign of discomfort, his head might explode and he'd die right then and there.
"Heinz."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Tell me, if you were to go to Alkanzia right now and face him one-on-one, are you confident you could win?"
There was only one human being who inspired fear in Heinz Grayton, a veteran swordsman of the Empire.
The Emperor before him.
"Your Majesty, while he has achieved great things at a young age, he's still just a fledgling from Alkanzia."
"You're confident you can win?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Then we'll have to let him mature a little more. Surely, just a year ago, you would have said he could never block Kain's axe."
Heinz bowed deeply, pressing his forehead to the ground.
"That was my misjudgment. I apologize..."
"No. It's not your misjudgment, but rather that he's growing that quickly."
"I am sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for?"
There were still mountains of things to report.
Heinz quickly brought up the next item on the agenda to finish the report and leave the Emperor's office as soon as possible.
Thankfully, the Emperor didn't seem to be in a bad mood yet, but that could change at any moment.
"Besides that, the matter underway on the outskirts of Kanzar City..."
The Emperor held out his large palm.
Knowing it was a simple gesture to stop, Heinz's heart grew cold once more.
The moment that palm reached out to him, he would die without even being able to resist.
Fortunately, the palm didn't extend any further.
"Enough. That will do."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"The rest is proceeding according to plan, I trust? Are there any other plans going awry?"
Thank goodness... no.
"No, Your Majesty. Everything is proceeding as reported."
"Good. As I said before, avoid clashing with Davian as much as possible, and report only on his achievements. Finally..."
The Emperor raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist.
"It seems a worthy opponent for me has finally appeared. I'll let him mature a little more."
Swish.
Professor Stella Cloud lightly cut the leather held by two assistants.
A clean motion.
But nothing special.
You could see this scene commonly at a butcher shop downtown.
It was only cutting leather with a sword.
"Now, how was the leather cut just now?"
"You cut it with the blade."
"Yes, correct. Accurate."
Some students grimaced.
This was something even someone learning swordsmanship for the first time would know.
The leather was cut because it was cut with the blade.
"Now, watch carefully this time too."
Two assistants picked up another piece of leather and held it on either side.
"Pull hard."
The two assistants pulled the leather taut from both sides.
Stella Cloud, holding up her sword, lightly touched the tip of the sword to the top of the leather.
Crackling.
The leather split down the middle due to the pulling force from both sides.
"How was the leather cut this time? The blade didn't even pass through the leather to cut it."
Finally, a discontented answer came.
"Well, because you pulled it from both sides."
"Exactly. Because you pulled it from both sides, why did it cut?"
"Because you poked the leather with the tip of your sword, Professor."
"Exactly. I only poked it with the tip, so why did it cut?"
"That's..."
They knew the leather would tear like that, of course.
But it wasn't easy to explain in words.
While the student who had voiced their dissatisfaction hesitated.
Bonita Fortis answered.
"Because enough stimulus was given to tear the leather."
"So, is this cutting or not?"
"It is cutting. If the sword tip hadn't touched it, the leather wouldn't have torn."
"Now, this is the principle of cutting objects with the tip of a sword."
"Ha."
It was the voice of the student who had given the dissatisfied answer earlier.
"It tore because it was pulled strongly from both sides. Are you saying this is the principle of cutting objects with the tip of a sword? What if no one is pulling it from both sides?"
Stella Cloud stared intently at the student who had just spoken.
"I thought you had only improved your skills a lot in a year... but your head has grown a lot too? And you've lost your fear."
The student who was arguing flinched.
They seemed to have forgotten for a moment.
Stella Cloud's intense first impression at the freshman entrance ceremony two years ago.
"I'll let it go just this once. Because I'm teaching a very difficult class."
Stella snatched the halved leather from the assistant's hand and threw it up.
Then.
Thud.
She touched the tip of the sword to the leather that had risen high and was falling again.
Shwaaa.
The leather split into two.
"Gasp!"
"Huh?"
Not only did it split.
It was cut in a perfect, smooth straight line.
"When you're pulling from both ends, you can tear this leather with a small stimulus. But if there's no pulling force, you just need to give more stimulus. That's swordsmanship. You're not butchers working in a meat market, are you?"
The student who had been arguing hung their head low.
Although it wasn't said outright, it felt like they had been demoted from a swordsman who could use aura to a butcher.
"Bonita, come forward."
Bonita stepped forward.
Stella pointed to a wooden pillar set up next to her.
"Cut it, Bonita. With the tip of your sword."
Bonita untied the hair tie from her wrist and roughly tied her red hair back.
Swish.
She drew her sword.
Shwaak!
She swung it sharply.
To someone who didn't know swordsmanship, it would just feel like swinging a sword in the air.
But most of her classmates could see that the tip of Bonita's sword had brushed past the wooden pillar.
Thud, rumble.
The cleanly cut top of the wooden pillar fell to the ground and rolled away.
Amid the students admiring her clean skill.
Belum raised his hand.
"Is this training to make the sword's reach longer?"
Stella Cloud shook her head.
"No. It's training to test the limits of how far you can cut with a sword. Everyone saw Bonita cut the Ferreanium without aura during last year's final exam, right? Everyone is practicing that together."
Another student raised their hand.
"Is there a reason to practice that when it's easier to cut with aura?"
"Because there are many things in the world that are harder and more uncuttable than a Ferreanium pillar. Things that you can't cut no matter how high you raise your aura."
For example.
A dragon's scales.
"And the third-year swordsmanship curriculum for this year was decided after consulting sufficiently with the head of the swordsmanship department, so I hope you'll follow it even if you're somewhat dissatisfied. I promise it will be a year that will greatly help your achievements. It's not too late to deal with aura after that."
Stella looked around at the students.
Of course, not everyone would be able to achieve as much as Bonita.
No, they might not even succeed in cutting with the tip of their sword at all.
Even so, it would definitely be a great help.
It didn't matter if they learned how to grow their aura more and use it proficiently a little later.
Most of them were now able to manifest aura, so she fully understood their desire to quickly train in using aura skillfully and become strong swordsmen.
But.
It was the professor's role to guide the students' proper learning methods.
It was far more important to bring swordsmanship closer to completion, even if it meant developing aura a little later.
And.
At least two students.
Would surely reach unimaginable heights through this class.
Bonita Fortis and.
Davian Naone.
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