If Raon were asked—back in the days when he was an assassin—what the most physically difficult training was, he could answer without a second’s thought.
It was the spar against instructors.
The instructors would viciously keep targeting his vitals with an iron rod, and the training consisted in defending and counter attacking against them. Since the instructors never went easy on him, it was a given that he would get bloody bruises, and he often ended up with fractured bones or lacerations.
The worst part was the fact that the instructors increased their strength and speed when the children seemed to get used to their attacks, targeting a larger variety of vital spots and weaknesses in order to make it impossible for the children to defend against them.
While enduring the deadly pain every day, the kids contemplated how they could survive. As a result, they ended up removing their openings, and became capable of targeting the instructor’s openings instead.
It was a really difficult and painful training, one where he felt like he was in hell, but it was certainly efficient at nurturing his skills. In fact, the instinct that was engraved in his body during that training did manage to save his life in the past.
Since the Light Wind managed to obtain books on martial arts thanks to Glenn’s consideration, it was the perfect timing for them to start such instinct training.
“Burren.”
Raon bobbed his hand at Burren to come out from the center of the training ground.
“How long are you planning to keep watching?”
“Damn it…”
Burren came out, chewing his lips. Because he had only recently been defeated in an all-out fight, anxiety was flowing down his face.
“You shouldn’t need a warm-up. Come at me.”
“Haap!”
Burren mustered as much aura as he could and kicked the ground. The moment he tried to strike with his Barren Wind Sword at close quarters, Raon slipped away by using the Supreme Harmony Steps.
“Wh-Where?”
“Here.”
The moment Burren panicked, Raon used his hesitation to rush at him from the side and kicked his leg.
Smack!
Since Burren’s leg was kicked while he was using footwork, he fell down in an unsightly manner.
“Ugh…”
The damage wasn’t too great, but Burren’s face turned red because his pride was hurt.
“You aren’t invincible just because you are using footwork. You should move more carefully while observing the surroundings.”
“U-Understood.”
Burren ground his teeth, then charged at him again. Raon smoothly deflected his blow, like a rainwater flowing down the roof, before thrusting his training sword.
Cring!
The training sword wavered like a reed, multiplying into dozens of blades and targeting the opening Burren presented him with.
“Haap!”
In his confusion, Burren still managed to use his aura to spread his aura blade in the shape of a round shield.
Wham!
However, it was impossible to fend off Raon’s sword with an aura formed in such a short time period. The training sword, glowing red with heat, tore apart his light green aura and smacked Burren.
Smaack!
Of course, it wasn’t just an ordinary attack. Burren’s current weakness and openings were mercilessly pummeled.
“Kueh! Stop!”
Burren fell back with an unsightly scream. He crouched down in order to survive, not to defend himself.
“I lost! I-I said I lost!”
“Your reaction was fast, but the response wasn’t great.”
Raon lowered his training sword and pointed at Burren’s aura, which was scattered into the air.
“You would’ve noticed the weaker part of my strike if you were more careful, but since you decided to rely on power to defend yourself, it was only natural that your shield shattered.”
“Wh-When did you learn a variable sword like that…?”
“I didn’t really learn the variable sword. I was just trying it out.”
It wasn’t a technique he learned—just a strike using the changing nature of the Flame Spirit.
“Ah…”
“Ah…”
Burren’s eyes widened so much that they looked like they would pop out. He looked even more shocked than when he got smacked.
“Since it will be your turn again after I go through all thirty-three people, you should think about what you should’ve done in the previous situation.”
“Ugh…”
Burren’s face turned pale when Raon told him he would get another spar after a round with the others.
“Runaan.”
“Mhm.”
Runaan was rolling her eyes after taking a glance at Burren, who got beaten up. She usually didn’t act that way, but she didn’t seem afraid. She seemed to have realized it was different from when Raon was practicing the Fangs of Insanity.
“I’m coming.”
Raon nodded, and she immediately froze the ground and thrusted her sword quickly, like lightning. The training ground’s temperature was quickly lowered, and the emerging frost stiffened his body.
Slam!
With a single stomp, Raon wiped away all the frost covering the ground and air before striking. The training sword, swaying like a twig, multiplied into five to target Runaan’s head and shoulder at the same time.
Thud!
Runaan bounced back as elastically as a rubber band, but she didn’t surpass Raon’s prediction.
Whoosh!
Raon followed her movement like a magnet and slashed at a speed that would be difficult for her to react to.
Smack!
He hit Runaan’s wrist as she was trying to defend herself in that short time period, before stabbing the ten openings she had at the same time.
“Ack.”
Runaan’s scream was silent. She lowered her eyes while grabbing the vitals that were attacked. She looked like a wet puppy in the rain.
Be honest. You are from Devildom, aren’t you?
‘What the hell are you talking about?’
Look at the ice cream girl. How can you hit her ten times in that short instant, even though she’s so precious? You are a real devil!
‘This is necessary to make her stronger.’
Looking at Runaan’s expression made him feel sorry for her, but he had to steel his heart. It was for their sake, after all.
——————
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“The elastic footwork was nice, but you didn’t properly check for your direction nor determine my attack. You need to analyze the opponent’s sword before deciding whether you will dodge, block, or counterattack.”
“Mhm.”
“I’ll attack the exact same way during the next spar, so you should think about how to counter it.”
“……”
Runaan didn’t reply for the first time as she went away.
“It’s my turn, then.”
Martha came up to the arena with a grin on her face. She fearlessly raised her training sword like a challenger.
“I’m coming!”
Without any starting signal, she immediately charged to strike. Her sword, imbued with a powerful strength and speed, was falling down on Raon’s head.
Clang!
Raon swung his training sword like a snaking wave to deflect Martha’s strike before striking her opening.
Smack!
Although her body faltered from the powerful impact, she kept swinging her sword without interruption. It looked like she intended to attack one more time if she had time to defend or flinch from the pain.
“I wonder if that’s the correct decision.”
Raon chuckled, deflecting every single one of Martha’s attacks before mercilessly smacking her weaknesses and openings.
“Keuh…”
Martha’s face turned into a scary frown from the intense pain and the fact that she didn’t land a single strike.
“Your powerful strength and endurance are your biggest weapons, but they don’t always work. The opponent might be simply better than you in all aspects, or they might be capable of nullifying your attack like me.”
Raon swung his sword horizontally. The blade spread out into five in an instant, and mercilessly pierced through her aura.
“Kyah!”
Although Martha had been enduring the attacks while gritting her teeth, she ended up falling down with a scream.
“It’s fine to trust the defensive abilities of the Titan’s aura, but you have way too many openings. You should learn how to discern between what hits to take and what hits to dodge.”
“Argh!”
Her black eyes were filled with anger as she glared at him while grabbing the spots where she was attacked.
“V-Vice-squad leader, isn’t this too much?”
Dorian broke out in a cold sweat, his face pale.
“The spar needs to be like a real fight for you guys to improve.”
Raon smiled, then pointed at Dorian, who just asked the question.
“It was good timing for you to ask a question, since you are next, Dorian.”
“Hieee!”
* * *
When the half-moon reached the center of the sky, the screams finally stopped in the fifth training ground.
“We will stop here for today.”
Raon grinned, carrying his training sword on his shoulder.
“Uaah!”
“I-I’m saved…”
“I really thought I was going to die.”
“Haaa…”
The swordsmen couldn’t even answer properly, collapsing on the training ground like wobbling zombies. Their visible skin was filled with bruises, and their training outfits had turned white because of their sweat.
It must have been painful and difficult, but Raon thought they would be somewhat recovered by the next morning, since he made sure there wouldn’t be any aftereffects.
“You should keep thinking and pondering about why you got hit, and how you can avoid getting hit. You should be able to progress faster if you make use of the new martial arts you learned.”
“Th-That’s not something you can do in a single day!”
Burren barely managed to raise his head. From the third time he got beaten up, all his respect disappeared from his speech.
“You will just get beaten up if you can’t.”
“Keuh!”
He just ground his teeth, as he couldn’t refute that.
“……”
“Damn it. Damn it! God damn it!”
Runaan couldn’t stand up, her head on the ground, and Martha kept swearing in frustration while looking up at the sky.
“Uaah!”
“I’m dying…”
“E-Every single part of my body hurts.”
The swordsmen kept moaning while laying down in different postures.
“I went easy on you because it’s the first day. Since I won’t do that anymore starting tomorrow morning, you should come here at daybreak and warm yourselves up in preparation.”
“E-Easy? You call this easy? And did you just say you aren’t going easy anymore?”
“And from morning, on top of that?”
“Are you seriously trying to kill us…?”
“S-Squad leader! Where are you? The vice-squad leader is trying to kill us!”
The Light Wind members screamed while grabbing their heads.
“If you have the energy to be screaming, you should leave and think about a way to avoid getting hit instead, since it will be even more difficult tomorrow.”
Raon smiled coldly at them before leaving the training ground.
Thud!
As soon as Raon left, Dorian put his hand in his belly pocket, and took out a luxurious sled.
“I’m going home!”
* * *
Instead of entering the annex building, Raon went to the open area. Judiel, who was watching the lake where moonlight was spreading, bowed to him.
“Fortunately, I managed to obtain the sword technique you mentioned.”
Judiel nodded, giving him a thin booklet.
“Thank you.”
Raon smiled faintly and accepted Judiel’s booklet. The swordsmanship’s posture and explanation were written inside.
“So, this is the White Fragrance Sword.”
White Fragrance Sword was the martial art granted to the Golden Crest swordsmen by Garon, and it was an excellent advanced technique that had both diversity and great space control.
He had asked Judiel to investigate it so that he could use it to beat up the Light Wind members—or, rather, teach them—and she managed to obtain it before it was too late.
Considering the fact that she personally drew the pictures and added the explanations, she clearly had excellent senses and sharp eyes.
Raon carefully read the booklet about the White Fragrance Sword twice before burning it with the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation.
“I’m going to try using it now. Can you watch me?”
“Yes.”
Judiel nodded, then stepped back.
Cling!
Raon turned his wrist, drawing his sword.
Whoosh!
The silver blade, carried by the wind, spread around like the fragrance of the spring flowers as it drew four different curves.
The blades—with flashy diversities, like a kaleidoscope—spread around at different speeds and trajectories to slash the moon that was reflected on the lake into dozens of pieces.
“How was it?”
After demonstrating all the different techniques of the White Fragrance Sword, Raon went to Judiel.
“I-It was almost perfect…”
Judiel’s eyes trembled intensely. She apparently didn’t expect him to reenact the White Fragrance Sword from reading the booklet twice.
“However, I think it was slightly faster and the trajectories’ spreads were wider.”
“Like this?”
Taking into account her advice, Raon used the White Fragrance Sword once again.
“Yes. That’s exactly the White Fragrance Sword that I saw. How did you do that after just reading the booklet twice…?”
Her eyes were trembling violently at the ridiculousness of what he had just shown her.
“It’s thanks to an enlightenment I recently got.”
The Ring of Fire and the Flame Spirit significantly increased his understanding of variable swords and illusion swords. That was the reason he was capable of reenacting the White Fragrance Sword just from reading the explanation and seeing the pictures.
“If you are at this level, why did you ask me to gather information about the White Fragrance Sword? You must’ve already learned much better techniques.”
“It’s not for me.”
“What?”
“I’m going to split and divide this White Fragrance Sword and use it to train the Light Wind members.”
He was planning to attack the Light Wind members by using the diversity and space domination of the White Fragrance Sword, all in order to engrave an instinct in them. An instinct that could overwhelm and pulverize the Golden Crest’s swords.
“Hah…”
Judiel’s eyes lost focus upon realizing the meaning of his words. It looked like surprise wasn’t enough to describe her astonishment.
“Good job. You should return and rest.”
“Wh-What about the young master…?”
“I’m going to stay here to hone this swordsmanship a bit more.”
“But you must be tired from fighting the swordsmen all day long.”
“I don’t have much time. I need to finish learning it properly to make the members stronger.”
“I see. I’ll get going, then.”
Judiel nodded, then returned to the annex building.
‘I’ll finish this quickly.’
Since you said you will finish it quickly, I bet you will continue until morning.
Wrath frowned, complaining that he wouldn’t be able to sleep once again.
“I’ll make it quick.”
Raon gave him a small smile, before using the White Fragrance Sword. He split the diversity and space domination of the different techniques into small pieces, putting them in his own sword.
The White Fragrance Sword was thoroughly dismantled and became the fertilizer for Raon’s growth.
While he was focused on learning the technique, Judiel brought a sandwich and placed it on the tree stump located next to the open area.
In order to avoid disturbing Raon’s concentration, Judiel stayed far away from him and silently watched him practicing the White Fragrance Sword. She was thinking about whether there was anything she could do to help him.
* * *
* * *
The Light Wind kept doing nothing but sparring for their training for a month.
Whenever the Light Wind members started getting used to the fast and diverse attacks, Raon increased the intensity to make sure they could never get used to it.
The Light Wind members trained, got beaten up, and pondered every day—yet they still felt like their skills hadn’t increased at all. It was truly a strange swamp.
“I-I’m losing my sanity.”
“I wanna die. Please, end me…”
“I wanna see my mom. Mom…”
Even during their sparse break times, they couldn’t properly rest and couldn’t come back to their senses as they kept rubbing their faces on the floor.
Obviously, many swordsmen tried to run away, but they had all given up after realizing they couldn’t hide from Raon’s perception.
“Amazing!”
Rimmer shook his head as he saw the state the swordsmen were in, his face plump from doing nothing but eating and playing around, since he didn’t even need to oversee training anymore.
“I would’ve already given up on being a swordsman if I was you. Oh my god!”
“S-Squad leader.”
“I’m gonna thank god that I’m not in your position.”
Apparently, he was serious about that, as he gathered his hands and started praying.
“Hnng.”
Rimmer went away while humming, and he looked even more detestable than Raon.
“S-Sir Burren. Are you going to keep up with this? We are seriously going to die at this rate!”
“That’s right. We are all going to die because of a monster among us instead of the enemy outside!”
“Damn vice-squad leader! He’s smiling every day now. I’m sure he’s enjoying beating us up!”
The Light Wind members went to Burren to complain, since he was the only one they could talk to. In fact, Runaan completely stopped talking altogether and Martha couldn’t say anything other than swear words, making Burren the only person who could still discuss things with them.
“It’s also difficult for me, but there’s no other way. The squad leader left the matter entirely to Raon, and that damn Raon is so determined to never go easy on us.”
“We don’t exactly need to stop sparring.”
Krein raised his head. He could pretty much be called Burren’s faithful vassal at this point.
“We could take a few days’ break from these hellish spars.”
“Break? How would you do that?”
“For example, this ground.”
Krein pointed at the training ground’s floor.
“The existence of soil absorbs the impact and allows us to avoid serious injuries, but if we didn’t have that, even Raon wouldn’t be able to go too hard on us. He might even postpone the spars until we get new soft soil.”
“Hmm, indeed.”
Burren nodded. Since all training grounds were full nowadays, it was also impossible to go to another training ground to continue the spars. If it became impossible to keep sparring in the fifth training ground, they might really end up getting a few days’ break.
“You heard that there’s going to be a powerful typhoon tonight, right? Since there’s no way the vice-squad leader’s going to be guarding this place at night, how about using that typhoon for our advantage?”
“Use the typhoon?”
“Yes. We will throw away the soil, and mess the ground up, and tell him that it was all the typhoon’s doing. Even the vice-squad leader won’t be able to blame us for that. Since the training ground’s going to need maintenance, we won’t be able to spar for two to three days.”
“Uh…”
Burren bit his lips. He would normally never have accepted such a proposition, but he really felt like he was going to die at the rate they were going.
‘Yes, just a few days. Let’s rest for a few days. It’s not for me, but for the kids, because they really are going to die.’
Since he hadn’t been able to sleep for over two weeks straight, he convinced himself with nonsensical reasoning and nodded.
“Alright, gather everyone who can agree.”
Burren gathered everyone except for Runaan, Martha, and Dorian—who was pretty much Raon’s direct subordinate—and explained the plan to them.
* * *
That night, thirty members of the Light Wind gathered in the fifth training ground with wobbly legs after the light went off.
“Let’s start the operation.”
Burren pointed at the soil on the ground once everyone was gathered.
“The first group will throw away all the soft soil on the training ground. Don’t leave a single bit behind.”
“Yes!”
“Keep your voice low.”
“The second group will make a mess on the ground. Since we need to pretend it was the typhoon’s fault, you gotta make it look as natural as possible.”
“Yes!”
“Keep your voice low, I said!”
Since the training had just finished, the swordsmen were not in their right mind.
“The third group will make a mess outside the training ground. Remember that making it look natural is the most important thing in this operation and start working.”
“Yes!”
“I said to keep your voice low! Please!”
Burren started the operation without realizing that he was the loudest one.
Craving a week’s break, or just a few days’ break at least, the swordsmen threw away the soil and made a mess of the ground.
It was truly a touching sight where they were working hard for their survival, but they didn’t realize that there was a pair of red eyes watching everything from above, on the training ground’s roof.
* * *
The next morning, Raon entered the training ground at the same time as usual, but it had turned into a completely different place from the day before.
The entire training ground had turned into a mess, as if it were bombed overnight.
“What’s going on?”
“I heard yesterday’s typhoon passed around this area.”
Burren came up to him and frowned.
“Typhoon? Ah, they did say there was going to be a typhoon.”
“Yes.”
“It does look like a typhoon’s doing.”
Raon licked his lips while looking on the shambled ground.
“V-Vice-squad leader.”
Krein stood next to Burren, his hands gathered together.
“We might end up with a serious injury if we keep sparring here, don’t you think?”
“Indeed. It’s impossible to spar here.”
Raon nodded, looking regrettable.
“Since we need to talk, gather everyone in front of the platform.”
“Yes!”
“Ah, yes!”
Burren and the swordsmen were filled with excitement, since they figured it was going according to their plan. Their wobbly steps almost looked cheerful at that point.
“Haa…”
Raon went up on the platform and sighed.
“As everyone saw, the training ground isn’t in good condition right now. We need to do its maintenance today.”
“Oh!”
“Wow…”
“Finally!”
Cheerful expressions became clearly visible on the faces of the swordsmen upon hearing Raon’s declaration. However, Raon hadn’t finished talking yet.
“However! Fortunately, we still have a way.”
“A w-way?”
“What way?”
“Dorian.”
Raon gestured with his hand, and Dorian sighed heavily before walking up to the platform. He had some difficulties, but he managed to take out a large sack from his belly pocket.
“It’s the soft soil we requested at Porvan’s city hall. It’s the best soil for softness and safety.”
Raon smiled, pointing at the soft soil that Dorian started to take out. That soft soil was the first thing he requested when he visited Porvan’s mayor.
“It happened to arrive two days ago. I was planning to change it after this training was over, but let’s use this opportunity. Take them all out, Dorian.”
“Yes.”
Dorian responded with a tired voice, before taking out a hundred soft soil sacks and placing them in front of the platform. His unfocused eyes showed that he had already given up on everything.
“Ah…”
“Uh…”
“A-Am I dreaming right now…?”
The swordsmen, who were filled with happiness just a moment ago, had to drop their jaws. The way they looked suggested that they had just fallen into the pit of hell, revealing that they had never expected such a development.
“Since we don’t have much time, let’s finish it today. Bring the shovels and the maintenance tools.”
The swordsmen turned around with trembling limbs upon hearing Raon’s order.
“D-Damn it…”
“We even skipped sleep to do all that shit…”
“That damn idiot!”
“It was all for naught!”
They all glared at Krein, who had initially devised the plan.
“B-But there won’t be any sparring for a day, for today at least. Let’s find comfort in that.”
Krein broke out in cold sweat as he shook his hands.
“You would’ve been already dead if we didn’t get that going for us, at least.”
“Haa, alright. Let’s rest for today, at least.”
“I guess one day is pretty good already.”
“Where are you going right now?”
While the swordsmen were trying to find hope in their despair, Raon’s brusque voice could be heard.
“What?”
“B-But you just asked us to bring the tools…”
“We need to start the maintenance.”
“It’s just maintenance. Not everyone needs to go.”
Raon smiled cheerfully and opened one of the sacks to spread the contents on the ground in front of the platform. He used aura to harden the ground, immediately creating a temporary training ground.
“Time is gold, and the duels are happening soon. The spars need to continue.”
“Ah…”
“Uh…”
“Kuh!”
The swordsmen’s faces turned pale upon witnessing the temporary training ground being created in a flash. Raon, who was holding his chin up high while standing on the training ground, looked like a death god from hell.
“As expected of the soft soil, it feels nice to step on.”
After properly hardening the ground, he bobbed his hand at Burren.
“Come at me already. What are you waiting for?”
“Me?”
“Yes. We always start with Burren, you know?”
“Uhh…”
Burren looked like he was about to cry as he took the training sword that Dorian gave him.
“Daaamn it! Kuh!”
He charged at him along with a shout of concentration that sounded like a scream but was beaten up immediately and rolled on the ground, covered with soft soil.
“It hurts less because we have soft ground now, doesn’t it? I think we can increase the training intensity from today onward.”
“Huh!”
“What is life…?”
Raon grinned, and the swordsmen’s faces turned pale as they held maintenance tools in their hands.
Are you really human?
Wrath left a single comment after watching the entire situation.
The more I watch you, the more I’m certain that you are one of us.
