“This… is… how…”
Screech.
Screeech.
Seeing the golem screeching as it was slammed into the training hall wall, Deiker couldn’t even form words, his mouth just gaped open.
He had vaguely imagined ‘Would Eugene be able to destroy the golem immediately?’ but never truly believed it would become a reality.
It made sense though, as the black steel golem was actually a first test given to knights.
On the other hand, Eugene, contrary to Deiker, seemed dissatisfied and clicked his tongue while frowning.
‘As expected… I lack inner strength.’
What Eugene had just used was the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, specifically the fifth style, Plum Blossom Break.
It was a move created by the Mount Hua Sect with the intention of breaking through iron-made weapons. The strength of this technique is that it maximizes power with very little inner strength.
That’s why Eugene chose to use the Plum Blossom Sword Technique instead of his own Heaven’s Kill Sword Art.
However, by using the Plum Blossom Break, Eugene realized how lacking he was.
‘Even using half of my inner strength, this is all I could manage to destroy…’
Indeed.
Eugene knew well what kind of golem the black steel golem was, which is why he used half of his inner strength for the Plum Blossom Break.
Yet, despite that, the golem wasn’t destroyed.
It only became dysfunctional due to the impact, not because the Plum Blossom Break had actually cut through it.
‘Even the strength of Plum Blossom Break couldn’t cover up my lack of inner strength.’
The Plum Blossom Break is powerful even with minimal inner strength, so he thought it would be stronger using half his inner strength.
Normally, the more inner strength used with Plum Blossom Break, the more its power increases exponentially.
But the fact that Eugene couldn’t destroy the black steel golem even using half his inner strength showed how lacking his inner strength was.
“Haha…”
After a few minutes passed, Deiker, who regained his senses, let out a hollow laugh.
“Hmm?”
Deiker looked at Eugene with a puzzled expression.
“What’s with that look on your face?”
“Ah… It’s nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s just that I’m dissatisfied because it seems like I forcibly broke the black steel golem with sheer strength.”
“With sheer strength?”
“Yes.”
Deiker was once again surprised by Eugene’s words.
What kind of strength does it take to forcibly break the black steel golem?
It takes a lot of effort from a blacksmith to create a black steel golem.
As mentioned before, the primary material for the black steel golem is black steel, and this black steel is made by a blacksmith hammering away without rest for a month.
And yet, Eugene had forcibly broken such a golem with strength.
‘Because of this young student, the blacksmith’s effort was denied… that one month was denied…’
It was even more astonishing that it was broken with sheer strength.
“What was that movement you showed earlier? It’s a sword technique I’ve never seen before.”
Deiker recalled the sword technique Eugene had used on the black steel golem.
It was quite different from the sword techniques typically used by knights.
“It’s one of the sword techniques passed down in my family.”
Eugene lied effortlessly.
“Family? You’re saying a family of mages has swordsmanship?”
“Don’t you know what kind of family we originally are?”
“Ah… are you talking about the swordsmanship of the first Bedia, Keron Bedia?”
“Yes.”
If Keron Bedia had heard this, he would have been astounded by how effortlessly Eugene lied.
After all, Deiker had no way to verify Eugene’s words.
He couldn’t directly ask Keron Bedia, who passed away long ago, nor could he ask Eugene’s father, Alan Bedia.
Alan Bedia was a great mage and a duke of a kingdom to everyone else, not just a father to the children of the Bedia family.
Therefore, no one could easily approach him to ask questions.
“Do you know how to create aura?”
“I know to some extent.”
“Hmm… well, since you displayed swordsmanship, you must have some aura. Although it must be a very small amount of aura…”
Deiker nodded his head.
To perform swordsmanship, one needs aura.
It’s not just about following the sword movements; aura is used in conjunction with the sword techniques, so it was clear Eugene had aura.
“Then I’ll give you two weeks to materialize your aura.”
This was also a nonsensical statement.
To materialize aura, a knight had to reach at least the level of a 2-star knight, a Sword Runner.
And not just any 2-star, but a 2-star level 2 or higher knight could materialize aura.
“Of course, I’m not asking you to shape the aura for combat. Just create it, even if it’s unbalanced.”
“I’ll give it a try.”
“…Alright.”
Deiker had secretly anticipated what Eugene would answer, and as expected, Eugene accepted his words without hesitation.
“Then, I’ll take my leave now.”
Deiker, having finished his unconventional lesson with Eugene, gathered his sword and left the training hall.
In his original plan, Eugene would be struggling to mimic his swordsmanship by now.
‘Could the swordmaster talent of the Bedia family have been passed down to this child?’
As he was leaving the training hall, Deiker glanced back at Eugene, who was practicing with a training sword inside.
What was this unknown sense of expectation?
Deiker shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way.
***
The next day.
Eugene arrived at the training hall, which was only used for sparring, to attend his morning swordmaster class.
“Hmm, it’s you.”
As Eugene arrived, someone standing in the middle of the training hall looked at him.
It was Lina Sephaniel, Eugene’s magic instructor.
She was a high mage of the 6th circle and was known to be on the verge of reaching the 7th circle.
“Hmm…”
Eugene frowned as he saw Lina sizing him up from head to toe.
“I am Lina Sephaniel.”
“I am Eugene Bedia.”
Eugene felt puzzled by Lina’s non-aggressive demeanor.
He had heard from other team members the day before why Lina Sephaniel disliked the Bedia family.
Because of this, Eugene expected Lina to be hostile from the start, but she came off as unexpectedly calm.
No, to be precise, she acted curtly, which seemed calm from Eugene’s perspective.
“Since you’re already a mage, we’ll skip over mana attributes, circle operation, and types of magic. After all, you’re a Bedia, right?”
There was a hidden sharpness in her gentle words.
Just from those words, it was clear how much Lina Sephaniel harbored resentment toward the Bedia family.
“So, what kind of lessons will I be taking?”
“Do you know what is the most important thing for a magic swordsman?”
He didn’t know.
He knew what was important for a knight, but since he had never experienced being a magic swordsman or met one, he couldn’t answer hastily.
“It’s the utilization of energy. In other words, the management of abilities is crucial.”
Of course, for a typical mage, it’s enough to master the use of magic.
However, managing magic for a magic swordsman was much more difficult than ordinary magic management.
If the difficulty of managing ordinary magic is 10, then for a magic swordsman, it’s over 40-50.
Why is it so difficult?
It’s because a magic swordsman uses both mana and aura ‘together.’
“To put it simply, it’s like drawing a triangle with one hand and a square with the other hand.”
For most people, drawing a triangle and a square simultaneously is impossible, and even for those who can do it, they can only manage it slowly. If they try to do it quickly, it gets all mixed up.
The management of a magic swordsman’s magic is the same.
When using a sword, they need to use aura, and when using magic, they use mana.
It sounds very simple, but as explained, it’s like drawing a triangle with one hand and a square with the other hand.
In battle or on the battlefield, or when confronting monsters, they must rapidly alternate between using aura and mana.
If they mess up even once, it could lead directly to death.
“Do you know the difference between circles and aura?”
“Yes. I know that if you contain the energy called magic power in a circle, it’s mana, and if you contain it in the right side of your chest, it’s aura.”
Circles form below the heart, and as the circle level increases, additional round rings are added.
Conversely, aura forms in the right side of the chest.
That’s why among knights, aura is called the second heart.
“You understand well. So you need to use both aura and mana together.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Hmm… I like your confident tone. Shall we begin immediately?”
Whoosh.
Lina extended her arm and drew a round metal ball from the corner of the training hall to her hand.
“Deiker told me you know how to use a sword?”
“Yes.”
Swish.
“Your task is to cut this metal ball.”
When Lina held out the round metal ball, Eugene tilted his head in confusion.
After talking about managing abilities, was the task really just to cut a metal ball?
“Of course, it’s not just about cutting the metal ball.”
Snap!
Crack!
As Lina snapped her fingers, ice formed around the metal ball and soon grew to the size of a pumpkin.
Float.
“First, melt this ice with magic, then immediately cut the metal ball.”
Lina pointed to the floating chunk of ice.
Inside the chunk of ice was the metal ball that Lina had been holding. Without even chanting, Lina cast her spell, befitting a 6-circle mage.
‘This is no big deal…’
“Oh, by the way.”
Clap.
Just as Eugene was thinking how easy this task seemed, Lina clapped her hands.
“As soon as you melt the ice, you must immediately cut through that metal ball. Because it’s a bomb. You’ll have about one second after the ice melts, haha.”
“??”
What did she mean? A bomb?
Not just a simple metal ball, but a bomb?
“Why are you so surprised? If you want to become a magic swordsman, you need to be able to manage this level of energy. Additionally, that metal ball won’t just be split by wildly swinging your sword. You need to cut through the core for the bomb to be neutralized. Don’t swing at the wrong spot and detonate it.”
Indeed.
Lina Sephaniel clearly disliked the Bedia family.
Eugene had to use magic to melt the ice and then immediately switch to swordsmanship to cut through the bomb’s core.
And he had just one second to do it.
Moreover, despite being a bomb, it looked like a plain metal ball with no obvious center.
Typically, bombs have a fuse at the top, but the bomb encased in ice by Lina had no fuse, making it impossible to discern the top or bottom.
“But don’t feel too discouraged. This bomb cutting task is just a test. I’ll prepare practice ice separately. However, you must cut this bomb within three days to pass the test.”
Swish.
Lina raised her hand again.
She was about to create practice ice in addition to the test ice.
“The practice ice won’t have a bomb inside, so don’t worry…”
At that moment,
Whoosh!
The test ice suddenly caught fire.
“What… what are you doing?!”
“I will do it right now.”
“Ha, are you crazy? Are you so confident because you’re from the Bedia family that you can’t assess the situation?”
Lina scolded him with an incredulous expression.
Melting the ice was fine.
After all, even a 1-circle spell like Fire could melt it.
But the problem was what came next.
The bomb would explode one second after the ice melted, and the fire melting the ice would obscure the view, making it hard to see the core of the bomb.
He needed to practice to get a feel for it and improve his dynamic vision, but he was starting immediately?!
Boom.
“What an idiot…?”
Lina stepped back, creating a shield to protect herself.
“It’s not too late, so step back…”
At that moment,
Slash!
Click.
As Eugene quickly drew the longsword from his waist, there was a clicking sound.
And simultaneously,
Thud.
The bomb was split in half and fell to the ground before it could explode.
Cliche Novel 