บท 134: Rapid Upgrade (4)
'So… in conclusion… Irene and the Sword Master decided to settle the matter within 4 months with a match.'
When she heard that Irene challenged Ilya, the first emotion she felt was shame.
Because she didn't.
And Judith tried to train harder and harder than anyone else.
She decided to not feel any sense of defeat or inferiority… but the moment she saw Ilya's Aura Sword, she gave up.
And decided to burden her future self and not her present.
She couldn't win now.
So she made a plan for the future.
Unlike Irene Pareira.
This damaged Judith's self-esteem, and from then on she continued to work hard.
Train, train and train.
Harder than the days she trained under Jet Frost.
So much so that she forgot to sleep and eat, but the most difficult thing for her was accepting that she had felt defeated the moment she saw Ilya.
And once such a feeling starts, then a person turns into nothing.
Judith felt like she wouldn't be able to face Irene or Bratt.
'Need to work harder than them.'
'More than the talented ones.'
'Be foolish and ignorant like I am the most talented one in the world.'
Judith spent each day with that mindset and a month passed. Finally, the results seemed nice.
She hadn't reached Ilya's level yet.
But was sure to make him startled.
And for that reason Judith visited John Drew's mansion.
You're not alone, I can do it too… she thought that.
But the guy she saw after a month had grown up again.
'Fuck!'
Grunt.
Judith, who pulled her sword, gritted her teeth.
And stared at Irene Pareira who was ready, as if she wanted to kill him.
The posture of Irene wasn't strong.
No, it wasn't that.
He looked more calm and relaxed.
She wasn't sure what had changed, but the air around Irene was much more dense and heavier than before.
Judith exhaled and moved cautiously.
A movement which she moved around a circle.
Sometimes light, sometimes heavy… her unique footwork unfolded like a flame.
John Drew's eyes widened at that.
"What is she…"
He was told that the woman was not even 20 years old, but her movements were so refined.
Following her movements were difficult.
It was a gait that she herself created.
John Drew was shocked at the talent and effort to make it possible.
However, there was another person no less great than her, Irene.
'Why are there no gaps?'
Irene's swordsmanship was heavy and hard.
And when attacking him who took defense, it would feel like one was dealing with a piece of iron which was stuck to the ground.
Of course, that didn't mean that there was no way out.
Like now, when constantly moving around the time will come.
Just as how a gentle breeze can change a huge rock, Judith too was confident of shaking Irene.
… but today that guy didn't seem like he would move.
'Damn it!'
No matter how clumsy it was, all the realization she had gained while moving to Partizan and the movements of Irene in the middle, didn't seem to affect Irene at all.
Rather, Judith's heart began to race.
Because Irene's gaze was following her, contemplating if he should move or not.
Realizing that, she grunted and stopped moving, ready to charge at the opponent.
'If there are no gaps, then I will break him down!'
Right. This wasn't her swordsmanship at all.
Although she did change for the sake of efficiency, Judith's sword was a raging beast, which went to attack right away.
Break this, break that!
Power concentrated on her feet as she was ready to move.
At that moment, Irene, who was standing firmly, raised his right foot and appeared to make a kick motion.
"…!"
Judith was startled.
The battle with Jet Frost came to mind.
A strong attack to kick the floor and then use the debris as a distraction.
It wasn't that she would lose, but the attack had left a strong impression.
She stopped herself and turned to the side.
However, the land wasn't cracked.
Instead, Irene himself was coming at her.
Kang!
"Kuak!"
'Shit!'
Anger rose.
She was deceived by a simple trick and lost the first hand, and now her stance was disturbed.
In that state, the damage from the heavy sword would be huge.
The problem was, Irene's attack started.
Kwang!
Kang!
Kwang!
Not as fast as her.
But the weight of the attack was beyond one's imagination.
And she blocked the sword five times now yet she felt like her hands were going to rip.
She had to get her stance right, but the force of the sword was too much for her to fix it.
In the end, Judith found time to fix herself after taking 17 attacks.
She widened the distance at once and looked at her opponent.
Flames like volcanoes in her eyes.
But Irene didn't care.
As before, he was calm and pretended to kick the ground.
No, this time it wasn't fake, but real.
Looking at the stones rising around, Judith screamed.
"You jerk!"
Puck!
She swung her sword to deflect the stones and shards, but Irene rushed to her.
And the anger she was feeling was making her blood boil.
And her anger gave strength to her hand.
Strength enough to break rocks, even metals at one strike.
But she couldn't attack Irene.
Whoo!
He kicked it away feeling the rise in energy.
But that attack wasn't completely deflected.
And that alone showed the power of Judith.
But that didn't matter. He would get the chance again and he would move when the stance of the opponent was broken.
Irene quietly said to Judith as he brought his sword to her neck.
"I won after a long time."
"…"
"Should we go again?"
"... later."
Judith pushed Irene's sword away.
The way she spoke was softer.
Like she was a different person from when she first entered the hall, she looked at Irene with an expressionless face and said.
"I will come again."
"… okay."
Irene couldn't hold onto the friend who was walking out.
Maybe in the past he couldn't have, but now Irene could understand her feelings.
Judith's eyes were filled with deep emotions.
And the eyes which looked at him were burning.
After being silent for a while, Irene said.
"I will train by myself till the next match."
"… yes. I will figure out how to help you."
John Drew nodded and left the hall.
It wasn't the right time to ask Irene to pay for damaging the floor.
"…"
Judith, who left the mansion, wandered aimlessly on the streets.
A few people were whispering while looking at her, but she didn't care.
She didn't feel well enough to react to all that.
The people who looked at her sullen face, didn't talk much.
'… I lost again.'
Judith had great potential in the centre continent, no, she was talented in the entire continent.
And she knew that without someone constantly reminding her about it.
But what did that mean?
She lost again.
Just like when she took the final evaluation… She was behind Irene and Ilya.
'No, I am better than I was back then.'
Judith smiled.
That was right. At that time it was her heart which was broken.
When the two of them, the silver haired girl and the blonde guy, left the school, she couldn't curse or laugh.
"… rest for today?"
She knew.
She knew that this wasn't the end.
Compared to the past, she was a bit more driven, but she was still Judith.
Even if she lost today, she would stand and shake the loss off tomorrow.
But today, she wasn't in the mood to practice.
With that, Judith headed to her room with powerless steps and a helpless expression.
But she stopped when she saw a blue haired man appear in front of her.
"… what?"
Judith asked.
It was because this didn't feel like an accidental meeting.
Bratt Lloyd was there standing, to meet her.
And with no intention of hiding, he answered.
"Kuvar has a nice drink with him. Laphrow 25. Whiskey is hard to find even with money. It is a taste that beginners frown on, but it is so special that people get addicted to it."
"Go away. I don't want to drink."
"If you don't want to drink, you go away."
"What?"
"Today I am going to be in a good mood and I am the kind to recommend the ones around me to drink too. It doesn't matter whether you like to or not. A drink which catches my eye, then I need to give it to others. I reject your rejection."
"What…"
She was about to yell, when Bratt stepped close to her.
Judith stepped back and frowned.
"Fight me if you don't want to."
"What?"
"You want to rest in the room without being forced to drink, I plan to bring the guys into the room and drink."
"…"
"We have a difference in opinion. So we need to resolve it through a fight and the loser will follow."
"Have you lost it? You want to drink, go out, drink and come back… sigh, no."
Judith shook her head.
Then, as if a flame sparked, she felt the urge to kill the guy in front of her.
"Follow me."
"Okay."
Judith took the lead.
The two silently headed to a vacant place which Judith had rented and they both fought till the sun went down and then rose again.
Three days after Judith's visit to the mansion.
Another gladiator match was held against Irene.
It was a promotion battle to the Queen level and the opponent was Lucas Gibson, a wandering knight who was known to have Queen level skills.
"Battle between an Expert and another Expert… I can't decide between the two."
"Who will win? Irene Pareira?"
"Maybe? It is 7-3 for me."
"Hmm, I never dreamed that a young man would be so strong…"
Unlike before, now people were predicting victories for Irene.
All his past three opponents were crushed.
And apart from the victory, he actually kept his word in each match.
But now, the opponent was also an expert.
Defeating such an opponent with a single blow would be possible if Irene was at King level.
"Absurd. Crazy really."
"And the bet? I can't believe it, I really can't."
A match where Irene will have to break his word.
Nevertheless, people flocked to watch the match.
It didn't matter if he could keep his word or not.
How strong could the hidden trainee of Kronor be? And will he be revealing his true strength today? Is he higher than an expert?
With such thoughts and excitement, people sat down as they sipped their beer and the match began
And it was decided in a single moment.
"…!"
"Haa…"
One Sword strike.
Seeing Irene Pareira who defeated the opponent once again with a single strike, the audience realized that they were mistaken.
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