My heart thudded loudly. As if pressing it right next to my ear, it resounded greatly. When I absentmindedly put my hand to my chest, the sound intensified.

Aidan looked dazed, alternating his gaze between the handle-only sword in his hand and the blade scattered on the ground. He seemed not to have accepted the reality yet.

He didn’t understand why he had lost. It’s understandable, from his point of view, there shouldn’t have been a loss.

I think so too. Originally, this should have been a fight I’d lose. By specs alone, and by simple skill, it was a fight I was supposed to lose.

If Aidan had gone all out from the beginning… No, even that thought is unnecessary.

Without the use of Qi and just relying on physical prowess and skill alone, I would have been continually pushed back and eventually defeated.

Qi and robust body techniques. I don’t have enough mana to properly wield both. Even in the recent sparring match, using Qi for a brief moment significantly depleted my mana.

‘Know the enemy and know yourself, and in a hundred battles, you will never be in peril.’

Wasn’t that a phrase from ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu?

I remember it means there’s no danger in fighting a hundred battles if you know both the enemy and yourself.

In this sparring, Aidan didn’t know me.

He didn’t know what sort of training I’ve received from Professor Atra, how much I’ve grown, to what extent my Spatial Awareness can perceive, how much I could move, or whether I could use Qi or robust body techniques.

Of course, the unknown was mutual.

I didn’t know Aidan’s physical level. Whether he had a unique ability, and if so, what type it was, how powerful it was, and though he would’ve mastered Qi and robust body techniques, I didn’t know how much so.

But there was a difference.

I had the knowledge of the original work, which allowed me to gauge Aidan’s level.

I knew how Aidan saw me. That he was being condescending, hence I predicted he wouldn’t use his unique ability or Qi, and I was right.

So I concealed myself and when he was inattentive, I struck all at once.

As a result, I won. Aidan had relaxed and been careless, hence, a mistake allowed him to hand over a victory that should have been assured.

If we were to fight again, I would definitely lose. If we fought a hundred times right now, I would likely lose a hundred times.

That’s how great the gap in skill between Aidan and myself was.

But this time, I won.

It went as planned. Winning as predicted. Even if I had lost, it would’ve been acceptable, but I still won.

Perhaps that’s why I felt slightly pleased. Being human, I suppose winning feels better than losing.

Leaving Aidan who still hadn’t recovered from the shock, I extended my Spatial Awareness normally. Only then did I see the other cadets positioned around the sparring arena.

They had similar expressions to Aidan. I wonder, a foolish expression? One of shock?

I saw Baek Ahrin with sparkling eyes full of surprise. That person is… a bit burdensome.

I also spotted Hong Yeon-hwa. I nearly chuckled.

Her beautiful red eyes blinked. Her mouth was agape wide enough to worry if an insect might fly in.

Such a look showed her shock.

I felt pleasantly amused.

No need to keep wandering around and making concessions for me, as my unique abilities allowed me to see well in all directions. Despite me saying this repeatedly, she hardly paid any attention, which had irritated me, but seeing her like this…

Just a while ago, I had calmed my emotions, feeling rather cool, but now my heart was buoyant.

The corners of my mouth twitched. A smug smile rested on my lips.

‘Hehe.’

Perhaps because I felt elevated, I did something I wouldn’t normally do.

I raised a hand towards Hong Yeon-hwa. Opening my index and middle finger while folding the rest, I formed a ‘V.’

Unable to speak, I expressed it with my mouth shape. Communicating this way isn’t easy, but perhaps a superhuman like Hong Yeon-hwa would understand even with just the shape of the lips.

Hong Yeon-hwa’s reaction changed.

Her mouth opened wider. Her lips trembled, and her cheeks flushed red.

…Why is she reacting like that?

. . .

After the “Basics of Practical Sword Techniques” class was over, I took care of lunch in a simple way.

Today, as Hong Yeon-hwa had separate matters to attend to, I took care of my meal with an energy bar.

It’s convenient and satisfies the nutritional needs. If the quantity isn’t enough, simply increase the number of bars. If there’s a lack of nutrients, take additional supplements.

When Hong Yeon-hwa suggests eating lunch together in the cafeteria, I do eat. Even though it’s distasteful not to feel any flavors, since it’s eating with someone else, I try hard to eat my fill.

I still haven’t spoken about my lack of taste. I truly don’t know how to solve this problem.

Do I even need to mention it? I wonder if this issue would resolve itself if I just keep swallowing it like a white lie.

…No, the truth is that it’s just uncomfortable to speak about it. I know Hong Yeon-hwa isn’t like that, but I was afraid she might be disappointed in me for deceiving her this whole time.

Moreover, this isn’t strictly a disability—it’s a curse.

The curse of sensory seal. If I could just lift this, the problem would be solved. For my own happier life, I am determined to lift the curses of early death and sensory seal someday.

I thought it might be better to have started hiding it now than to awkwardly say I can taste it after the fact.

I trudged toward the old-fashioned training grounds as I took care of lunch.

“……”

While munching on the energy bars packed in my carryall, I arrived at the training ground and encountered Professor Atra, who had arrived early.

Her gaze shifted between my mouth, where I was munching, the energy bar in my hand, and the wrapper sticking out of the carryall.

. . .

“Make sure to have proper meals. Does it make sense for a superhuman who uses their body to resort to such half-hearted meals?”

[Yes]

And I was reprimanded.

I listened to Atra’s reproach and her advice with a frown on her face. If those are the ingredients that go into making your body, how can your body be built properly? Make sure you eat things like this when you’re looking after your nutrition.

Her advice was quite plausible following the scolding.

Training with Professor Atra was mostly like this.

Her style was rough and tough to endure. Due to her blunt attitude, she was the type people would easily dislike.

However, I didn’t particularly dislike Professor Atra.

Although her demeanor was like that, she didn’t teach me carelessly. She was sincerely committed to education, even though it was rough.

There was a bit of discontent, but it wasn’t significant, nor was it directed solely at me.

I had suspicions that she might be whacking me because she resented me under the pretense of ‘recovery training,’ but in reality, I could feel my body’s recovery abilities improving.

– Crackling…!

Today’s weapon was a longsword.

The sword I was accustomed to had a blade on either side, but this one had a blade on only one side and was relatively elongated.

I swung the sword. Grabbing the handle and exerting force, I made a long slash. Before the line ended, I started on another.

Crack! The longsword, leaving a lengthy scratch on the ground, was propelled upwards. Powered by a faint manifestation of robust body techniques.

– Clang!

My hand was jerked violently. The longsword spun and embedded itself firmly in the ground. Suddenly, a makeshift wooden longsword was pointed at my neck.

“Your attack is clumsy compared to your defense. It’s something I’ve been mentioning continuously. You are indeed improving steadily, but keep focusing on that.”

I nodded at Atra’s nonchalant words. Looking at Atra collecting the wooden longsword and shaking her head in disapproval, I flopped down exhausted.

Today, I was beaten into a mess again. The frequency of being hit has reduced as my skills improved, but due to the increased need to move my body, the fatigue remained.

“It’s been noisy, I hear. A special admissions student took down a combat major cadet with a sword.”

Atra glanced over nonchalantly as I was catching my breath and spoke indifferently.

Lying down, I perked my ears as she continued.

“So? Have you learned anything from it?”

I could feel her gaze piercing me, as if she was indicating for me to think and speak before she did.

I pondered for a while.

‘I’ve got a grasp on my current level.’

I’ve caught up, albeit still insufficiently, to the heel of a combat major cadet.

It’s astonishing.

Jack-of-all-Trades. A unique ability of the versatile category.

I haven’t directly used Jack-of-all-Trades, but there was a round where I utilized a similar versatile category unique ability.

Therefore, I understand the downside of the versatile category well.

The advantage is proficiency correction and growth in various fields.

The disadvantage is that the limit in each of the various fields is somewhat mediocre.

Swords, spears, knives, axes, bludgeons. Being able to handle a variety of weapons doesn’t mean much if you’re up against someone invested in only one of them.

While the versatile category spreads its proficiency across many, a single skill category unique ability establishes uniqueness and ultimately achieves an extended ability, breaking free from the general rules.

That’s why I criticized Jack-of-all-Trades as an ambiguous unique ability. The reason I deliberately chose Jack-of-all-Trades was that I had two other unique abilities, Spatial Awareness and Mana Affinity, to go with it.

If I could have chosen only one, I would have never taken Jack-of-all-Trades.

I heard about Aidan’s unique ability after the sparring had ended.

Swordsmanship… in short, a skill, a swordsmanship category unique ability.

It’s strange. It’s undeniably odd that the sword I honed with Jack-of-all-Trades won against a sword wielded by a swordsmanship category unique ability.

Even the proficiency was overwhelmingly higher on his side. And the time spent handling swords as well.

It was a fluke. But even considering that, it was strange. Because it meant I had already caught up to the tips of Aidan’s feet.

‘Synergy.’

Spatial Awareness, Mana Affinity, Jack-of-all-Trades.

Three unique abilities coexisting, providing positive effects to each other.

There can be no other reason. Luck was a big factor, but if I hadn’t grown to the tips of my toes thanks to synergy, luck would have lost its meaning.

[It was luck that helped me win, but fundamentally, we are different. If we fight again, I surely think I’ll lose.]

“I heard. You took advantage of the opponent’s carelessness and won consecutively. The strategy was brilliant. Diving into the opponent’s weaknesses was also good.”

Surprisingly, praise came my way. Luck aside, perhaps she was pleased with the victory.

I casually checked Atra’s expression with my Spatial Awareness.

Her usual indifferent look. Now when I think of Professor Atra, this image comes to mind. But just a moment ago, there was a flicker of emotion beneath that expression.

The part where she mentioned carelessness.

“However, today’s outcome was a result of carelessness. If the opponent hadn’t been careless, a result like this would have been impossible.”

My interactions with Atra haven’t been for a long time, but when you stick around a person for a considerable amount of time in a day, it’s inevitable to exchange words.

However, Atra consistently maintained her teaching demeanor, and friendly and light-hearted topics, which were far from her usual ones related to superhumans and combat, were rare.

Atra detested carelessness terribly. If I were to lose in a spar later on due to carelessness, she might just beat me to death herself.

With the keyword of carelessness, I received a subtle grimace from Atra and feedback on the sparring from a few hours ago.

I recounted the development of the sparring match with Aidan and listened to her evaluation. It was paired with her assessment and critique of the more recent sparring match with her.

And so, time flew by. Before I knew it, it was time for the major lectures to end.

“Time’s up. Today’s session ends here.”

Noticing the time, Atra declared the end of the lecture. Then she placed a water bottle next to my head and silently looked at me.

This was Atra’s kind of consideration. Her way of saying that this is the last chance to speak up if there’s anything left to say.

I was about to shake my head indicating I had nothing more to say, but just in case, I tapped my smartwatch.

[Next Monday and Tuesday, we have dungeon extraction practice. So I won’t be able to come those days.]

“…Alright.”

It was a subtle difference, but Atra’s expression shifted.

Atra really hated the topic of dungeons. Precisely, she never let on to me, but my Spatial Awareness inadvertently caught it.

I brought it up just in case. Even though she had no scheduled lectures, she’s a professor after all. She probably knows the schedule to some extent.

After conveying this, I laid back down. I planned to rest for just a moment before heading to the library.

“…?”

I was tuning my mana quietly when I noticed something odd. Atra, who should have left by now, was still standing in place.

Using Spatial Awareness, I saw Atra, apparently deep in thought, undeniably visible to me.

[Professor?]

“…It’s nothing.”

Looking puzzled, I asked, and Atra, after a fleeting glance in my direction, shook her head. She then turned her back and disappeared from the reach of my Spatial Awareness.

Suddenly, what is she doing?

I tried to guess for a moment, but how could I understand? I shook my head and stood up. It was time to indulge in magical tomes in the library.

. . .

The next day. During major lecture time.

“Take these.”

Atra handed me a stack of books, easily dozens in count, all related to dungeons.

In another carryall, there was an assortment of magical tools. On closer look, most were for use in dungeons.

“Today and tomorrow, we are going to conduct lectures about dungeons.”

…???