บท 102: Chapter 102
Flames of exhilaration were burning in Raon's eyes as he closed the book.
'It's an intuition sword.'
An intuition sword was a type of swordsmanship that increased its level through real battles instead of repeated practice of the technique.
It was also the technique the sixth training ground trainees used to almost defeat Burren.
Since it could be used in a real battle as soon as it was learned and the level increased pretty quickly, an excellent intuition sword could hardly be obtained with money.
'And this one is a high-grade intuition sword.'
He could tell because he had learned an intuition sword in his previous life. The Fangs of Insanity was an advanced swordsmanship, good enough to be called high-grade among the intuition swords.
'But it's ferocious.'
It was a priceless technique, but it was awfully violent.
Fangs of Insanity. Just as its name implied, it craved stabbing into the enemy's throat.
'I need to be careful.'
If he made a mistake, the sword could stab his own throat instead of the enemy's. It seemed he needed to be careful as he learned.
Raon opened the book and started reading once again. He carefully double-checked everything, just in case he missed something.
'This is weird.'
He felt like the back of his head was tingling each time he read the book. It felt like the Fangs of Insanity had something else mixed in on top of it being an intuition sword.
'I'm not sure what that is.'
He examined the drawings and words in detail, but he couldn't find out what he'd was missing.
"Anyway, this is a great harvest."
He would have to keep swinging his sword as often as he breathed at Habun castle. He could probably complete the Fangs of Insanity while fighting over there.
'Let's try the posture for now.'
Raon put down the book and stood up. Wielding his sword, he tried practicing the basic postures of the Fangs of Insanity one after the other.
For every swordsmanship, the basics were the most important part. Application was only possible once he had the perfect basic posture. And the basics were even more important for an intuition sword, which had simple forms.
Looking at the book, Raon practiced until he perfected his posture, then unsheathed his sword.
Once he got the posture, it was time for the real battle. After all, it was pointless to practice an intuition sword on his own.
'Real battle, huh…?'
Raon smiled, tapping on the sword hanging around his waist.
"It would be nice to spar with them after such a long time."
***
The next day, Raon went to the fifth training ground after finishing his daybreak cultivation. The training ground was completely empty.
After warming up lightly, he was practicing the posture and principles of the Fangs of Insanity that he'd learned the day before. It was at that time that the training ground's door opened and Burren entered.
"I thought I would be the first one to arrive…"
Burren frowned and started warming up. Since it was time for individual training, very few people arrived as time passed.
After polishing the posture of the Fangs of Insanity, Raon looked at Burren. Judging from how he was training a swordsmanship he had never seen before, he must've learned a new technique as well.
After watching him training for a while, he resumed training the Fangs of Insanity. After around two hours passed, the door to the training ground burst open and Rimmer walked in with his hands held together behind his back.
"You guys are still the same."
The way he swaggered while yawning looked exactly like a jobless layabout. However, his left eye was slightly dark, as if bruised.
Was he beaten up in the gambling house?
"I'm going to sleep, so if anything happens…"
As he walked towards the head instructor's room, Raon blocked his way.
"Can you please watch me spar?"
"Spar? With who?"
Rimmer turned his head to look for the opponent. However, no one was raising their hand.
"I'm going to spar with Burren."
"Huh? Me?"
Burren's eyes widened, as a full moon, in surprise.
"Out of nowhere?"
"You don't want to?"
"Y-yes! I do!"
Burren quickly nodded his head.
"I'll do it! I mean, let me do it!"
'I can't miss this opportunity.'
Burren hadn't fought against Raon since he was beaten up during the temporary trainee exam. He knew that Raon was strong, but he still wanted to try fighting him.
"Hmm, it's annoying."
Rimmer frowned, scratching his cheek.
"Instructor."
"Phew, alright. Get yourselves ready."
"Yes!"
Burren nodded and ran towards the center of the training ground.
"Aren't you going?"
"Instructor, if ever it looks like I'm going to hurt Burren, please stop me."
"Stop you?"
"Yes."
That was the reason he didn't ask Burren for a duel until Rimmer had arrived.
The Intuition Sword was difficult to control. He could easily inflict a serious injury on Burren with a single mistake.
"Haa, it's really annoying…"
"Please."
Raon bowed and went to the temporary arena. Despite what he said, Rimmer was going to stop him for sure.
Raon wielded a dull training sword and faced Burren. Every trainee that had been training stood back to watch them.
"Phew, let's start, haaa, the spar."
Rimmer raised his hand, visibly showing off his unwillingness.
"Don't use any extreme move that can kill and wield your blades for your development."
"Yes!"
"Yes."
"Anything you want to tell each other?"
He bobbed his finger, signaling them to be quick about it.
"I'm going to use a new technique. You should be careful, since it can be dangerous."
"I'll be using something I'm already used to. It will be different from that time."
Raon told him he would use a new technique, and Burren said he would use an old one.
"Are you done? Then, begin!"
Rimmer lowered his hand while saying that, and Burren and Raon kicked the ground at once.
* * *
Burren grit his teeth.
'This is my opportunity.'
He had been dreaming about sparring against Raon constantly since losing to him.
Raon's growth could be called brilliant, but he had also been working hard endlessly. He wouldn't lose so easily like before.
"Haaaaa!"
Instead of the new swordsmanship, Burren used the Kirin Swordplay that he learned from the direct line training.
Whoosh!
The sword accelerated with his determination to win. The blade reached Raon's forehead in no time.
'Huh?'
Burren's eyes widened. Before his sword managed to touch Raon, his sword burst up like lightning.
Clang!
An intense collision bent the trajectories of the two swords at once.
"Ugh…"
Burren quickly withdrew and bit his lip.
'Is he really attacking preemptively?'
Raon had always fought by observing his opponent first before making his move. He didn't expect him to start attacking first at all.
"Fine! Bring it on!"
When Burren fixed his grip after getting pushed back, Raon kicked the ground and came rushing at him.
He used the second technique of the 'Kirin Swordplay' against Raon, sword swinging down diagonally.
Clang!
His hand trembled because of the enormous power of Raon's attack. However, it wasn't the power of his sword that made Burren flustered.
It was Raon's violent spirit. The ferociousness was completely different from the way he had been so far, giving him goosebumps.
Clang! Clang!
Buren ground his teeth, blocking Raon's strikes as they stormed at him.
'I haven't been training so hard just to lose like this!'
He brought out every last bit of aura he possessed. He connected the rotation, starting from his lower body up to his sword, to swing it straight at him.
Kirin Swordplay, Severing Slash.
The rotating attack was aimed at Raon.
"Huff…"
However, Raon didn't step back. He dashed towards the Severing Slash with an even more ferocious spirit.
Clang! Claang!
He repeatedly swung his sword to rip apart the Severing Slash. It looked like a savage beast biting its prey with its molar.
However, Raon's sword was still hungry after eating up the Severing Slash. It dashed towards Burren to chew on bigger food.
"Eek!"
Burren ground his teeth. He lowered his posture, thrusting his sword with the sharpness of the wind.
Rumble!
Even though it was the best attack he could use currently, Raon's sword was even more ferocious as it slashed him.
Creak!
The extreme spirit of Raon's sword easily ripped apart Burren's last attack.
'Wh-what is that sword?'
Burren's jaw dropped. Raon's sword looked like a venomous snake that only looked for the weakness in his swordsmanship. It was fast, tenacious, and powerful, making it impossible to escape.
"Eek!"
Burren hurriedly tried swinging his sword, but Raon's sword was faster.
The light reflected from the sword shone right in front of his eyes. His sword had already reached right under his nose.
'It's not over yet!'
The Burren from the past would've closed his eyes by then, but he was different now. He forcefully twisted his body to withdraw. However, Raon's sword followed him right away, as if it was expecting him to do so—just like a living animal.
Clang!
Raon's sword pierced through his technique, intended as a surprise attack, and rushed towards his throat. It looked like he had no intention of stopping, as the sword's speed wasn't decreasing at all.
'Th-this is crazy! This is a spar!'
As Burren started screaming inside, the blue wind appeared.
Clang!
Along with a rough metallic sound, Raon was bounced far back.
"Jeez…"
Rimmer was standing in front of Burren, an annoyed expression on his face.
"Haa, thank you."
Raon raised his staggering body and bowed at Rimmer.
"Y-you bastard! Were you trying to kill me?"
Burren pointed his trembling finger at Raon.
"I told you to be careful because I'm not used to this sword."
"That's just a way of greeting!"
"I was serious, though."
Raon dusted off his clothes and casually responded.
"You crazy bastard…"
Burren looked like he was still out of his mind, as he was using the vulgar speech he usually hated so much.
"Well, is that it?"
Rimmer sheathed his sword and yawned.
"I'm going to go to sleep then…"
"Not yet."
Raon blocked Rimmer's way and shook his head.
"Huh? But you don't have any sparring opponents anymore. I don't think Burren's going to fight you."
"There are plenty over there."
He turned around and pointed at the trainees spectating them.
"U-us?"
"Why would we?"
The trainees who were suddenly designated started stepping backward.
"Despite being the top trainee, I haven't been paying enough attention to you guys. I shall check your current abilities before leaving."
"But I…"
"Uh? Uuh?"
"W-wait! My dormitory is on fire…"
"I refuse your refusal. Krein, let us start with you."
Raon refused their refusal, dragging Krein into the arena since he was the easiest target.
"W-wait, seriously?"
Krein's lips were trembling. He thought Raon was crazy for asking him to fight after showing off that violent swordsmanship just then.
"S-somebody! Sir Burren!"
"Hmm…"
Krein asked for help, but Burren turned his head away, pretending he didn't hear him.
"Instructor?"
"Well, it's a bit annoying for me, but your abilities will certainly improve after fighting against a swordsmanship like that."
Rimmer urged Krein, telling him to do it quickly since he was going to do it anyway.
"Don't worry. The instructor will stop me if it gets dangerous."
Raon smiled and drew his sword.
"I'm coming!"
"Arrrgghhh!"
The trainees' screams resounded endlessly throughout the fifth training ground that day.
***
"Tsk."
Raon clicked his tongue, sitting at the training ground. The wide training ground was completely empty, and he was sitting there alone.
"I can't even spar anymore."
He kept sparring with the trainees for the past two weeks, coming to the training ground every day.
He thought it was a great plan with two benefits at once: helping the other trainees improve and practicing the Fangs of Insanity. Apparently, he was the only person who thought of it that way.
No one would fight him anymore, now that two weeks had passed.
Burren didn't even come to the training ground anymore after seven spars, and Martha disappeared, shouting "fuucccck!" after ten defeats.
And Runaan was watching him through the crack of the training ground's door, with half of her face hidden.
"Aren't you going to spar anymore?"
It seemed she was significantly shocked from the way she was asking.
"I won't."
Raon shook his head and Runaan entered the training ground. She trotted towards him and sat next to him.
"Haa…"
Raon shook his head.
'I can't spar with the trainees anymore.'
The fact that they were too scared of him was a problem, but the difference in ability had become so wide that it became pointless.
'But I did manage to learn something.'
He managed to find out the characteristics of the Fangs of Insanity through the spars against the trainees.
'A ferocious wolf.'
Fangs of Insanity was a terrifying swordsmanship that specialized in penetrating into the opponent's disordered flow or defective parts to tenaciously rip them apart.
The trainees were afraid that the instincts of the Fangs of Insanity would find their weaknesses, more than its ferocity.
Even though Burren and Martha challenged him again when they were about to forget about it, they ran away afterwards.
'But…'
Raon glanced at Runaan sitting next to him. She never asked him for a rematch after the first spar against him, unlike Burren or Martha.
It looked like she disliked the idea itself of fighting against him.
"Runaan."
"Mhm?"
"Spa…"
Runaan drifted away before he even finished saying spar. It was really mysterious how she was using footwork with her ass touching the chair.
"I won't do it. I won't."
Runaan came right back next to him when he said he wouldn't do it.
'I guess it's because of Syria.'
Syria Sullion. It must've been because of that crazy bastard that Runaan didn't want to fight against people close to her, even if it was just a spar.
The King of Essence can fight you all night long. But you will obviously be squashed to death by the King of Essence's pinky finger.
'You can fight me?'
Yes, give me your body. The King of Essence will create the spiritual world and…
'Rejected.'
Y-you bastard! The King of Essence was serious…
Raon flapped his hand like a fan to send Wrath flying away. He kept swearing while drifting away to the wind, but Raon ignored him since he would return soon anyway.
"Haa…"
Raon sighed.
'Anyway, how shall I train from now on?'
As he was pondering how he could increase the proficiency of the Fangs of Insanity, the training ground's door burst open.
"Hey, I can hear you sighing from my room!"
It was Rimmer. He walked up while scratching his head, then stood in front of Raon.
"I'm guessing you don't have any sparring opponents, right?"
"Yes, they've all run away."
"I see, then…"
He grinned and pointed at himself.
"Fight me."
____
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