Chapter 17. King of All Weapons – (3)

***

ー The match must be stopped.

Avalanche, the training instructor, had been feeling this for nearly 10 minutes.

This match should not continue any further.
And he felt it quite seriously.

“…”

But he couldn’t do that.

The two cadets fighting the match visible now had no injuries.

Let alone fatal wounds, not even a single small scratch existed on either cadet’s body.

Well, it was one-sided after all.

One side relentlessly pressed the offensive, and the other perfectly blocked that offense.

Despite the match continuing for quite a while, neither cadet’s weapon had touched the other’s body, and naturally, there were no injuries.

Ironically, it had to be seen that there was objectively no room for intervention.

Yet Avalanche was feeling a sense of crisis or even alertness now.

The reason for this was with one of the cadets currently fighting the match.

The cadet with the unfamiliar name ‘Han Chunsung’.

His fierce offensive display was hard to see as a new cadet. From adjusting distance to thrusting the spear, his one-sided offensive showed no sign of inexperience in handling weapons.

The opposing cadet was known to everyone as this year’s Academy valedictorian with a Legendary Talent.

Even against Leonhardt, whose name I had heard well, Han Chunsung’s offensive flowed naturally and fiercely like water.

It was a sight and reality that couldn’t be understood by common sense.

How could anyone believe that a cadet with just a Common grade was gaining the upper hand against a cadet with a Legendary Talent?

If I had heard it verbally, even I would have snorted at how ridiculous it sounded.

But.

It was happening in reality now.

Clang! Clang!!

As large sparks flew from the clashing weapons, the way of handling the spear changed again.

Unlike before, each offensive thrust is done with strong force or with large slashes.

‘He understands the subtleties of variation.’

At first, he seemed to pour out rapid strikes prioritizing speed, but now he occasionally adjusts the strength to break the flow with powerful thrusts.

From the perspective of receiving attacks, it was impossible not to be tense, unable to let one’s guard down.

‘Yet his posture hasn’t crumbled.’

As the match had continued for a long time, both people were visibly tired, regardless of who.

At any moment, someone might show an opening, or their weapon handling might become inadequate, but except for the first few exchanges at the beginning, the situation of attack and defense continued.

Both of them. They were fiercely interlocked without giving an inch.

If Leonhardt steps back while deflecting the spear, he immediately steps forward again. And to prevent that, Han Chunsung again pours out an intense attack to push back.

A strange confrontation continues like interlocking gears.

That… was very peculiar even from an observing standpoint.

The pattern of the match was one side attacking, and the other side just defending.

Then the defending side should typically collapse, rightfully.

But when that became Leonhardt, the match continued maintaining balance to the point where one might wonder how they could interlock like this.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Through the sharp metallic sounds ringing out, Leonhardt’s sweat-soaked blonde hair came into view.

Amidst signs of fatigue, his eyes alone were different from the start of the match.

He looks at the spear tip like a calm lake.

Not taking his eyes off the spear tip for a moment and focused on how to receive the offensive, a calmness unbefitting a newly enrolled cadet stood out.

‘Despite having a Legendary Talent, he’s not arrogant…’

This year’s entrance exam valedictorian.
Leonhardt Loraiant.

Befitting the Legendary Talent Sky-Splitting Blade, his way of handling the sword was quite complete.

Even now, with near-perfect defense, he doesn’t allow the spear blade any chance to touch his body.

But. That was all.

Leonhardt can’t move forward beyond that.

So this time, I took in Han Chunsung swinging the spear on the opposite side.

As if not giving even a moment to breathe, the trajectory of the pressing spear forms sharp paths, or sometimes rushes in as fast as light.

And his signs of fatigue were incomparable to Leonhardt’s.

That cadet’s body was already at its limit.

The reason I thought I should stop this match and felt tense was all because of that cadet.

His whole body was drenched in sweat, and his breathing was labored.

Even his eyes were blurred, signs of his body crying out were apparent everywhere.

Yet.
The cadet’s offensive hadn’t weakened at all compared to the beginning.

Continuing to move the body that had reached its limit meant he was exerting extreme concentration.

‘There’s a possibility he’ll reach the next level.’

That’s why I couldn’t dare stop the match.

When Talents encounter limits and go through crises, clues for the next stage often appear.

That cadet Han Chunsung was likely standing at that crossroads now. If I carelessly stopped the match, I would be blocking the cadet’s future path…

This match was truly a dilemma for me too.

Knowing the cadet Han Chunsung’s body was at its limit to the point where it wouldn’t be strange if he fell into danger at any moment, but unable to stop.

Even now, he’s swinging the spear almost in a trance-like state.

Gulp.

Unknowingly swallowing, I made up my mind.

This match cannot be stopped.

And the cadet himself must be feeling it too.

His Talent is right on the verge of evolving and moving forward now. So he must be feeling some kind of elation…

As the instructor, I couldn’t interfere with that.

I shouldn’t stop the match. I had to watch until a winner was decided.

Instead, while making full preparations, I had to be tense, ready to leap in at any moment in case of an unforeseen accident.

The blue light enveloping Leonhardt’s sword was growing stronger in intensity as time passed.

Naturally, its destructive power was also increasing.

As the cadet Han Chunsung grew, even Leonhardt’s Talent was gradually shining more strongly.

And suddenly, a change appeared.

Clang!!

With an ear-splitting intense sound, the spear is greatly pushed back.

As Leonhardt subtly deflects the spear blade as if exerting almost full power, the cadet Han Chunsung staggers back two steps.

‘It’s over.’

Immediately after, I sensed the end of this match.

I was prepared to leap in, but.

“…!”

Unbelievably, the cadet Han Chunsung didn’t let go of the spear even while greatly staggering.

Swoosh!

As if forcibly flowing out strong power, he strongly rotates on the ground while readjusting the spear and immediately thrusts it forward again.

Then he begins thrusting the spear even more madly than before.

“Ha.”

Leonhardt, who was about to close the distance in one breath, had to stop and receive the offensive again.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Unlike before, a rapid series of strikes. The match didn’t end as sparks flew from the sword clashing against it.

A pure exclamation leaked out unconsciously.

‘It must be seen as innate sense, but…’

It was amazing.

It wasn’t something like a Talent ability.

The improvisation of instantly righting his body and sweeping the ground to flow out power and thrust the spear again.

Even with a Common level 3 Talent, it shouldn’t be a movement that could be corrected.

Yet that one move blocked the end of this match.

It blocked the moment leading to defeat and brought back the offensive advantage.

If he had hesitated for a moment when greatly pushed back, or if flowing out the power had been unskilled, Leonhardt would have seized that gap to end the match.

“…He’s crazy.”
“How can he still swing the spear?”
“Isn’t he not Common?”

As various voices were heard from the cadets gathering one by one, a smile unconsciously played on my lips.

There were words that this year’s incoming students were outstanding even compared to last year.

But to feel it from the entrance ceremony day.

Looking at Leonhardt, who entered as valedictorian among outstanding cadets, and that cadet Han Chunsung who was matching him, it seemed like a huge storm was brewing.

‘Spearmanship, huh.’

A Common Talent clearly wasn’t an outstanding power.

A trivial Talent where most finish their Academy life in D class even if they enter.

That cadet with a Talent that most people give up even entering with now is shining so strongly.

Could he have understood the Talent to that extent in such a short time?

‘Should this be seen as effort?’

As that thought occurred, one of the Academy instructors suddenly came to mind.

An instructor famous for showing great achievements on the battlefield, with red hair fluttering like a blazing flame.

‘Kali Ishtar.’

The words she emphasized while meeting face to face for several days came to mind.

ー Effort never betrays you.

In fact, it was a saying everyone received as a joke because Kali’s Talent was too superior to say such things.

But now I completely understood those words.

A cadet proving those words through action.

Fighting evenly with a Legendary cadet using a Common Talent. No, he has never been pushed onto the defensive even once.

Rather, he was showing the end result of effort while demonstrating a position of superiority.

Rustle.

Even while lost in thought, I didn’t release my clenched left hand.

The blue light dwelling in my left hand, a precursor to Talent manifestation, had actually been there for quite a while. And I felt I couldn’t relax this tension for a while.

The two cadets fighting now were amazing.

While the cadet Han Chunsung is showing an appearance transcending Common Talent, that doesn’t mean Leonhardt facing him isn’t extraordinary.

He blocks the spear again with a calm and serious attitude.

And he hasn’t allowed a single attack. Above all, that could be said to show Leonhardt’s extraordinariness as a cadet.

Leonhardt focusing on defense and not giving an opening showed why he was this year’s valedictorian just by that.

Most cadets fall into arrogance just by having a Unique Talent. Even I was like that in the past.

Because they’re special and superior to others, they focus on showing eye-catching activities like attacking.

I only realized the importance of defense after going into actual combat several months later. But Leonhardt was realizing that from now.

“Good.”

Looking at the two cadets, my heart was satisfied.

And soon, exclamations leaked out from among the cadets.

“…Insane.”
“No way!?”
“That light…”

Those exclamations weren’t admiring Leonhardt.

It was because a faint blue light was now dwelling in the cadet Han Chunsung’s body.

It was a sign.

The blessed light that appears just before evolving to the next level as a Talent evolves.

‘He might really rise.’

On entrance ceremony day. The unprecedented event of achieving Talent level 4.

That cadet Han Chunsung was almost right at the threshold.