Chapter 184: Is “Treat Training Like Real Combat…” the Right Phrase?
The Daphne training grounds.
Inside, dozens of pits had been dug all over the place.
Kkieeek!
“Uwaaah! Die! Die, you bastard!”
Knights of Daphne, wielding wooden swords, were engaged in an all-out struggle—not a battle, but training—against the Ghasts.
‘Dammit, why the hell are these things so damn sturdy!’
‘They’re not even afraid of swords!’
At first, everyone thought it wouldn’t take that long.
But using wooden swords against these tenacious beasts, whose tendons seed like steel cords, was difficult from the get-go.
“Damn it, I’m late!”
Kkieeek!
Trying to use Wave Swordsmanship in live combat was the real issue. Movents they had originally mastered got jumbled with their usual sword style... and couldn't be properly executed.
The timing to release mana.
The step forward, and the retreating footwork.
The montum and breathing behind a thrust.
None of it blended in harmony. That made fighting Ghasts a dreadful and exhausting task.
And in the midst of that…
“That move just now wasn’t Wave Swordsmanship, you idiot!”
“S-sorry, sir!”
With Hardin endlessly yelling while walking between the pits, it felt even more miserable.
And that wasn’t all.
“Aaagh! M-my arm!”
One knight had his arm slashed by a Ghast’s sharp claws and blood was pouring out.
Then—
Kkieeek!
“Get lost, you bastard.”
Wham!
Hardin jumped into the pit, kicked the Ghast to the opposite side, poured a potion on the knight’s wound, and swiftly wrapped it in a bandage.
“Th-thank you.”
“Don’t waste ti thanking —grab your sword.”
“Huh? We’re continuing here?”
When the knight asked with wide eyes, Hardin shot him a sharp glare and replied.
“What, you think if you get hurt in a real fight the enemy’s just gonna back off nicely?”
“N-no, of course not, but…”
“Then keep fighting.”
This was... a bit too much, wasn’t it?
Just as that bitter thought crossed the knight’s face—
Kkueeek!
The Ghast had already gotten back up and was charging again.
Crunch!
Was it rage? Or venom?
“Rrgh!”
The knight grabbed his wooden sword once more and faced the creature.
Even fiercer than before.
‘Do they only understand when you yell at them?’
Watching this, Hardin snorted through his nose.
“Haaah! Haaah!”
Kkieeeek!
The knight was now driving the Ghast back, performing Wave Swordsmanship techniques with so decent form.
Compared to before training started, their progress was incredible.
Although there were still rough movents, and a lack of speed and power…
‘At this rate, they’ll be able to master it in ti.’
A faint smile tugged at Hardin’s lips as he stepped out of the pit.
He climbed back up to ground level and tried to straighten up—
Stagger!
Suddenly, the strength in his legs gave out, and his vision blurred.
‘Damn it…’
In that mont, Hardin’s instincts knew.
His body was breaking down from overwork—no doubt about it.
For nearly a week straight, there had been a commotion over capturing Ghasts alive.
After returning to Daphne, I trained the knights during the day and did my own personal training at night.
Anyone else would have dropped dead from doing just one of those things... but I’d been doing both recklessly at the sa ti, so even I, Hardin, had reached my physical limit.
Stagger! Stagger!
Just as my unbalanced body was about to topple and roll into a pit—
Grab!
A hand suddenly shot out and grabbed swiftly by the back of my neck.
“You alright, Hardin?”
Hearing the concerned voice, I looked up—
“…Father?”
Viscount Cobalt was standing there, staring straight at .
I scratched my cheek awkwardly and replied, “Ah, yeah. I’m fine. I just slipped a little…”
“Still… try to take it easy now and then.”
A complicated expression—part bitter, part sorrowful—flashed across his face.
That probably ant…
‘So, he’s known all along.’
That expression told everything.
The gaze I’d been feeling from afar during my late-night training... it had been his.
I smiled faintly and replied, “You know. If I want to receive a countship, I can’t afford to be sloppy.”
“I know, of course I know. But… if you collapse before that, what aning would it have?”
“I’m not collapsing, so don’t worry.”
“Huuu… alright.”
Cobalt let out a deep sigh and nodded.
He knew too.
That I wasn’t in any condition to actually listen to what he said.
“Then… at least drink this.”
“What is it?”
“A potion that’s good for fatigue recovery. I got it from a physician who’s apparently famous in this region. Drink the whole bottle.”
“You didn’t need to waste money on sothing like this.”
Pop!
Cobalt pulled the cork out and shoved the bottle straight into my mouth.
“Stop complaining and drink it.”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
The purple liquid rushed into my mouth, and a bitter taste and sll imdiately filled my senses.
After I drained the bottle completely, Viscount Cobalt finally removed the empty bottle from my mouth.
“Puhhaaa!”
“How is it?”
“How do you think? If one of these could fix everything instantly…”
As I frowned and grumbled—
‘Hm?’
My chest slowly began to warm up, and the fatigue that had been weighing down started to ease.
Even the tension that had gripped my body seed to lt away.
I let out a deep breath through my nose and replied with a sheepish expression.
“Well… I guess it’s not totally useless.”
“Then I’m glad.”
“Alright, you should head back. You’ve got things to do, don’t you?”
“…Right. Just make sure you take it slow when you can.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll manage just fine.”
“Alright. I’ll be going now.”
With a face still full of concern, Viscount Cobalt left the training grounds.
Watching him go, I let a faint smile slip onto my lips.
‘Well… I can’t say it feels bad.’
The old man had even brought a potion, after all.
As I savored that faint warmth of contentnt—
—
—Varlach, at least drink this before you continue.
—What is this… a potion?
—
—A mory from the past suddenly flickered through my mind.
Sniff!
I sniffled for no reason and grumbled to myself.
“Am I really getting that old…”
Why did these pointless mories keep popping into my head out of nowhere?
Joy and sorrow tangled awkwardly on my face, and I didn’t know what to do with myself.
---
---
---
From that day on, ti flew by in the blink of an eye.
“Haaah! Haaaah!”
Kkueeeeh!
“When you unfold the Dolphin Fin stance, center your weight!”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights of Daphne trained day and night, honing their Wave Swordsmanship and conducting live-combat drills against the Ghasts.
And after each long day of training—
“Huff… Haaaaah…”
I would climb a mana-rich mountain and circulate my energy through Blue Hole to accumulate mana inside my body.
‘Should I add another partition to my core? Or… should I extend the mana circuit from here to increase efficiency during discharge?’
At the sa ti, I continued expanding my understanding of how to evolve my core.
The core currently within my body was already different from the mana circuits I used to rely on.
But shaping it exactly like Shagrath’s core was not an option, since our physical forms were different—plus, Shagrath used demonic energy, which made his core fundantally incompatible with mine.
More importantly, my personal goal in strength was…
‘To beco stronger than that damned octopus-head.’
So, no matter how badly my brain felt like it was splitting open, I couldn't afford to stop training or thinking.
One day, like any other, as I was in the middle of my usual routine—
Bzzzmmm!
My left wrist began to glow, and then a flat, emotionless, yet familiar voice ca through—devoid of any sentint.
I let out a long sigh and replied, “I was in the middle of training. What is it, Princess?”
“You’re quick with the intel.”
“I’m dying trying to make it feasible. Though, if you’re that worried, you could always help. Like last ti.”
Well, that much was true.
The core of this mission was… to secretly handle the task without the other six great houses knowing, and in doing so, create a justifiable reason for Daphne to inevitably be granted the countship.
“But if deia gets involved here, this whole thing turns into public news.”
Of course, I already knew that.
“Still, you could’ve phrased it a little more nicely, you know. I an, we’re supposed to be in this together, but your tone’s pretty sharp.”
“Of course, of course. How could I expect otherwise.”
“Huuuu…”
I furrowed my brow and let out a deep sigh.
What the hell—did she just contact to ss with ?
Like I wasn’t already drowning in work.
Then, once again, her voice ca through the bracelet.
“Huh? That ca out of nowhere.”
A mont of silence.
“Uh? Did the signal cut out?”
As I flicked the bracelet with my finger, making a ting ting sound, her voice ca again.
“Now that doesn’t sound like what you were originally going to say, does it?”
“Huh?”
With that, the bracelet’s light dimd and went out.
“…She really just says her piece and hangs up, huh.”
Geez… Kids these days have no manners.
“Well, still… since it’s an order from the princess… I guess I have to see it through.”
I’m a very polite man, after all.
A faint smirk crept across my lips.
---
---
---
As the sun began to set, inside one of the pits dug into the training ground—
Kkieeeek!
A Ghast let out a screech as it lunged toward Beryl, soaring high in a single bound.
Its maggot-infested eyes glowed with a ghastly blue light.
A charge so fierce that most knights wouldn’t even be able to react.
But—
‘Sea Turtle.’
Kaang!
Beryl’s wooden sword used the technique of Low Tide to deflect the creature’s claws into empty air.
Kkieeet!
A brief opening—Beryl didn’t miss it.
‘Poison Jellyfish!’
A diagonal slash, like a whip cracking through the air.
The blow struck the creature’s body.
Ordinarily, with just a wooden sword, it would’ve ended in a re thud.
But—
Bwoooong!
The sword in Beryl’s hands shimred with a wave of blue light, accelerating in an instant and slicing through flesh.
Gyre.
A secret art of Wave Swordsmanship… taught to him by Hardin.
And that blade kept moving.
‘Dolphin Fin! Stingray! Yellow Ringed Octopus!’
Offense and defense beca one. Each strike flowed into the next.
Beryl completely overwheld the Ghast.
He no longer thought.
He simply followed his instincts.
Wave Swordsmanship unfolded naturally in response to the enemy’s attacks and movents—creating an ever-shifting, unorthodox flurry of strikes.
A true state of no-self.
That continued for quite so ti.
And then—on Beryl’s body—a wave surged.
In the final mont—
“Uwaaaaaah!”
As Beryl thrust his blade forward with all his might—
Paaaaaaah!
The crashing sound of waves echoed out.
Kkieeeet!
The Ghast’s solid, heavy body was torn into pieces and scattered in every direction.
“Huff, huff, huuuff…”
Did… did I do it?
Just as Beryl wiped the sweat from his forehead—
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Applause rang out from above the pit.
He slowly lifted his head.
“Y-Young Master…?”
Hardin was standing there, smiling proudly, giving him a silent thumbs-up.
Reviews
All reviews (0)