Chapter 127. It’s the Very Best!
Parun’s mansion, arranged in a square around the central training yard.
Standing in the middle of the yard, Shine let his gaze shift between me and Professor Parun.
“What shall we do? I suppose it would be better to have an opponent…….”
A profoundly ill-mannered look.
He sounded like he was talking to Parun, but it was obvious he had me in mind.
‘Petty little bastard.’
He still hadn’t forgotten his grudge from the Fourth Base Camp.
That duel(?) back then was a fair and square duel where both sides threw in everything they had…… meaning, even our connections, fully mobilized.
And yet, how could someone’s heart be this narrow…….
‘Well, what can you do.’
I stretched my itching body this way and that, then stepped forward.
Perfect timing—I’d just equipped a new skill, Blink, and I also needed a decent opponent.
More than that……
Circle.
I’d started building it from the moment I left Hamelin Great Forest, and only recently had it finally become complete.
But embarrassingly, even after loosening up my joints, I didn’t get my chance to step in.
“Then I’ll be your opponent.”
“Hoh. You?”
“I just happened to get my hands on a usable Artifact.”
It was a surprising sight in more ways than one.
It wasn’t only Parun’s polite way of speaking.
It was surprising enough that the arrogant Parun would show anyone courtesy, but what shocked me was his eyes.
‘……Competitiveness?’
Yes.
The emotion of competitiveness hanging in Parun’s eyes as he walked toward the center of the yard.
‘Parun had a side like that?’
Of course, it wasn’t as if I knew Parun well.
Still, competitiveness didn’t match the image I had of him at all.
Even as I marveled at this new side of Parun, their conversation continued.
“Then, prepare.”
“Then…….”
Instead of replying, Parun loosened the jacket he’d fastened without a gap.
Charrreuk—
Right after that, metal spheres slipped out from inside his coat.
Eight spheres. Each about the size of a child’s fist. They floated around Parun as if they had wills of their own, and if you looked closely, you could tell Parun was controlling them.
I watched with narrowed eyes.
‘What are they even for?’
Controlling eight separate spheres individually wasn’t easy.
For a normal mage, two would be the limit.
Well, with Parun’s multitasking, it might not be difficult…….
‘The problem is whether it’s useful enough to be worth the effort.’
I couldn’t easily judge the value, since I’d never seen an Artifact like that in my life.
It looked like magic support, maybe…….
“Is your preparation complete?”
“Yes.”
Woom—woong.
Surrounded by the floating metal spheres, Parun’s reply spread wide through the training yard.
“Then, I look forward to a good duel.”
“Likewise.”
No further talk was needed.
Even detailed rules that a friendly spar would normally require—how much power to release and so on—weren’t necessary.
That was possible only because both of them were at a level where the giving and receiving (受發) of power was entirely free.
“Then I’ll give the signal?”
“…….”
“…….”
Neither answered, but their silence was agreement.
‘Good. Then let’s see.’
There were two viewing points.
How much strength Shine had actually recovered after becoming a vampire.
Depending on how much he’d recovered, the success or failure of this whole matter would change.
‘Well, he has the fundamentals, so he’ll be fine to a certain degree, but…….’
The other point was Professor Parun’s exact level.
Back during the Kalahen incident, the environment hadn’t allowed him to fully display his strength.
With that thought, I fired a sphere of light up into the air.
Thung—
When the glowing orb drifted down like a dandelion seed and reached the space between the two—
Pang!
The orb burst.
The start of battle.
“Hu…… hup!”
The first move was Shine’s.
It was only a simple test, but Shine had no intention of letting this chance slip.
‘My body was itching anyway.’
He’d fought countless times even in Hamelin Great Forest, but it wasn’t the same as when he was a Death Knight. He had a body now.
Breath—the sensation of air coming in and going out was vivid, the chest opening and closing with it, the twitch of muscles imprinting itself on his mind. Then, how far could this flesh-and-blood body follow him?
His living body had been a flawless masterpiece, as if sculpted by a god.
The body moved as he thought, and thought followed as the body moved. Mind and body—neither lacking in anything—supreme, an innate harmony.
“Hu…… hup!”
He began with a light slash. But for the one taking it, it was never light.
Pssit—!
As a sharp tearing sound rang out, a cheap iron sword split the air.
Good. A smile rose to Shine’s lips. But only for that instant.
Tzrrr—!
Jjeojeojeojeojeok—!
Metal spheres screeched like cicadas. Dozens of force fields bloomed along the sword’s arc and blocked the “cut.”
As the speed gradually slowed and the blade became wedged into the force field, Shine’s smile deepened.
Honestly, at first, he wondered what Parun’s confidence was about.
‘Against a knight…… you’re closing the distance?’
Considering the special nature of sparring, it was an unavoidable issue, but if he were a mage, he would’ve started the match with sufficient distance.
But Parun didn’t. The distance between Parun and Shine was only about ten steps. Far, if you wanted to call it far, but for a knight like Shine, it was a distance he could reach in a single breath. And in reality, that’s exactly what happened.
Yet, seeing that defense just now, the confidence had its reason.
But the thought didn’t last long.
Tzrrr—tzut!
The metallic screech rang again. Jjeojeok—the force field that had clamped down on the blade tightened. Shine put strength into it—“Hup!”—but the stuck blade wouldn’t budge.
A white flash erupted immediately after.
Kwaaaaaang—!
An explosion of cold (冷氣). Not one or two layers, but a total of…… eight layers. Layered torrents swept over his body.
Hu, hu…… He pulled up Aether to brace against the impact, but he couldn’t stop the chill rising from deep inside his bones. Truly, it was troublesome. Troublesome, and yet…….
“……!”
Shine realized something the moment after.
Kwaduk! Kwajik!
The earth rose and tightly bound his ankles like shackles. No—more than ankles. Jjeojeok, jjeojeok! Like multiplying ice, solid rock covered his lower body.
And that wasn’t all.
Whiiiiiing—kagagagagak……!
Cold air suddenly changing nature and sweeping through space. Dozens of blades of wind tried to shred his body, and only then did Shine finally pull the cheap blade out with force.
Just…… right. He was serious now.
With his lower body bound, Shine’s sword split the air.
Can a sword cut wind? It can’t. Beyond being invisible, wind is not a target to which the act of “cutting” applies. But…….
Pibit, pibibit, pibibibibibibibit!
Dozens of times in an instant. Shine’s sword that split space “cut” the blades of wind. No—saying he simply “cut” them wasn’t accurate.
He stabbed, cut, and also tore, digging into the grain of the wind and completely dispersing it.
At this point, even Parun couldn’t hide his surprise.
How could he disperse wind with a sword that hadn’t even been coated in Aether? And it wasn’t ordinary wind. Wind is, in the end, only a phenomenon. But those dozens of wind blades—each and every one was a spell.
Eight Heart.
A spell created through eightfold stacking, with the help of eight Artifacts.
And could you believe he did that while his lower body was completely bound?
From here on, it was no longer “realm” but a territory of skill (技藝).
And with all that, what did he say?
“Seems the warm-up is about done.”
“…….”
Parun didn’t answer.
He only curled his lips upward slightly.
Just as Shine hadn’t used Aether coating, Parun also hadn’t fought at full strength.
Kwaduk!
The lull, not even five seconds long, ended as Shine tore free from the earth’s shackles.
Boom!
“……Kgh!”
A powerful impact that struck the chest like a hammer! Parun spat out a mouthful of blood. The tip of Shine’s Aether-laden sword had reached his solar plexus.
Parun had barely managed to stack force fields and stop the blade from driving in, but the shock wasn’t light. Still, there was no time to hesitate.
Tzrrr—tzrrt!
“Are you doing that again?”
As Parun retreated, crash! The layered force fields shattered. Shine’s form shot forward like an arrow and followed.
A mage being chased and a knight doing the chasing. A feast of technique where neither side lagged behind.
Kudeuk, kwaduk! Seogeok—!
Jagged fangs rose from the earth. Ice crystals bloomed, and lightning gathered. Three elements used already. Even more astonishing was the multitasking.
For an ordinary mage, it would’ve been a skill that made them cough blood, but Shine wasn’t easy either.
Cutting, thrusting, batting aside—every movement flowed like water without a hitch, and you couldn’t find even a single scrap of waste.
Strike after strike pierced the core of the magic.
Jjeo-eong—!
Lightning crashed down.
Flash!
Sword light blazed.
Kugugugu—!
When the earth rose like a tidal wave and surged in, space itself was severed without mercy.
This was no longer a “test.”
If either side slipped even slightly, heads would fly and limbs would be crushed by magic.
There was no killing intent (殺意), and what either of them “meant” didn’t matter. Whatever the intent, it was dangerous all the same.
And yet—why?
‘More. More…….’
Shine’s eyes shone with burning momentum. A smile deepened on his flushed face.
He was enjoying it.
How long had he wanted this moment?
A sword (劍) is not simply something you swing. Swordsmanship is the result created when the body breathes and the mind responds, resonating together.
Ssswae-ak!
Pssit!
A sharp ice spike grazed his cheek. And yet Shine smiled and moved.
He “saw” the ice spike, “decided” to avoid it, and his body “moved.”
The interval Shine aimed for was a single inch. But with an error of 0.01mm, blood splashed.
Shine adjusted that gap.
Jjeojeong—!
Lightning struck again.
Shine’s sword split the air. With one strike, he knocked aside the lightning and took it into himself. With the next strike, he intended to fire it back.
But—
Pajijijik!
“……Nngh. Heh, heh heh.”
Taking the lightning into his sword was fine, but his Aether couldn’t control it.
This, too, was a gap between mind and body.
Shine adjusted the gap again.
Adjust, adjust, adjust, adjust…….
An endless chain of adjustment.
At the same time, it was a perilous act where an error of “an inch” could split life and death.
But Shine, as if his life meant nothing, kept and kept and kept matching his body.
No—strictly speaking, it wasn’t “the body.”
More precisely, he was fitting a mind tuned to his former body into his current body.
Pssit!
An ice spike cut across his cheek again.
Error: 0.001mm.
Boom!
With a blizzard, sharp ice fragments swept across the earth. Pajijik, pajik! Lightning running along ice crystals.
As if entranced, Shine felt thousands of fragments and moved his sword endlessly.
The error shrank, little by little.
From 0.001mm to 0.0001mm. And from 0.0001mm to even smaller. Smaller. Smaller…….
When that gap shrank without end, finally converging toward an infinite zero—
A shiver ran through his whole body, and a smile bloomed on Shine’s blood-smeared face.
This body, too……
‘It’s the very best (極上)!’
It was a laugh overflowing with pure ecstasy.
