chapter 24
024 Tues – Proof(2)
The next day, Tigris and all the swordsmanship instructors gathered at the dance hall.
There were no preparations.
It was just a well-balanced sword and a gymnasium.
Bedrian stood in front of Tigris with a balanced sword.
Bedrian’s eyes widened.
‘In the end, I couldn’t fully understand.’
Bedrian has 4 rings, equivalent to Tigris.
But last night, I stayed up almost all night, trying to understand all of Tigris’ thoughts, but it was impossible.
‘Even if I had a little more time… I might be able to understand everyone…’
Fortunately, it was completely understood until the 2nd week.
Today was the day of lectures for the 1st and 2nd weeks, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
Tigris started this lecture.
“This is Tigris di Norberd, the swordsman instructor who taught the understanding of slashing and fae. I’m going to go ahead and start class right away.”
Tigris drew his sword.
A sword with a faint red color on its body.
It was the sword of a salamander, a sacred object that he had received from the second-class report of the imperial family not long ago.
Just by looking at Tigris with his sword drawn out, he felt an incomprehensible sense of intimidation.
“Attacks using swords are divided into five categories. Strike up, cross cut, diagonal cut, stab. All swordsmanship in the world ends within these five categories. Among them, this semester, you guys will learn about slamming.”
Tigris looked at Bedrian and said.
“Let me slash the sword.”
“How do you mean?”
“With the thought of cutting off the enemies of the parents vertically.”
Bedrian thought for a moment, then drew his sword.
‘Let’s drop it roughly.’
Now I am a student, not a teacher.
It was supposed to be tinkered with like a student who managed to make one ring.
Hung-!
It was awkward, like wearing clothes that didn’t fit your body.
However, this would have been enough for Tichrist to be satisfied.
However, as expected, Tigris shook his head.
“again.”
“···········?”
Bedrian looked at Tigris with bewildered eyes.
“Everyone again?”
“Do it right down. If you’re just thinking about it, you can leave this lecture.”
Bedrian was absurd.
Now he is a student.
Not an instructor with four rings. But do you want to do your best here?
“Are you going to slash your parents’ enemies with such a crude swordsmanship? Such a swordsmanship would not be able to cut even a rotten piece of wood. Strike it down with murderous intent and sincerity.”
Bedrian tilted his head left and right.
Duduk-!
‘Yes, let’s do this, right?’
Bedrian accepted the quarrel that Tigris had brought.
Bedrian raised his sword.
This time, he slashed his sword with murderous intent.
Hung-!
A heavy sword wind spread in all directions.
It was so powerful that the trees at the end of the dance floor shook.
The other instructors seemed to be a little surprised by Bedrian’s high-level strike.
But Tigris shook his head.
“again.”
“Are you saying that this is not enough now?”
“Don’t think to fool the instructor’s eyes. You didn’t do your best.”
Bedrian had a fever.
“Where is the evidence that I did not do my best? I did my best.”
“At the end of the day, you relaxed your right big toe. Then the balance of the body was slightly disturbed.”
“that···!”
“Are you going to call it a mistake?”
At Tigris’ bitter eyes, Bedrian got goosebumps.
In fact, Bedrian slightly shifted his balance to test Tigris.
“This is your last chance. If you don’t do it right this time, I’ll force you to leave.”
Bedrian bit his lip.
If he could detect such a subtle difference, he would have noticed everything he had done.
‘great. I’ll do it.’
Bedrian decided to come out sincerely this time.
‘But if you don’t properly explain what you’re thinking about doing this, I’ll do anything I can to stop this lecture.’
Bedrian glared at Tigris and drew his sword.
Not a heavy sword wind, but a sharp sword wind that seemed to tear the flesh to pieces.
Tigris dispersed the sharp sword wind with just one light cross stroke.
“It’s not bad.”
Bedrian felt blood rushing through his head.
‘Isn’t this bad?’
This slap was not just a slap.
It was all that Bedrian had been training and researching for the sword for 20 years.
“I’m not joking right now, let’s do something…”
“However, the timing of putting the auror into both arms is a bit disappointing. It was too hasty.”
Tigris raised his sword.
“Now this is the slap you just showed me.”
Hung-!
A sharp sword wind spread in all directions.
A sharp wind blew past Bedrian’s wrist guards.
There was a faint scratch on the wrist guard.
‘···crazy.’
Bedrian doubted his eyes.
The hit Tigris showed just before was exactly the same as his own, without a single error.
The speed, distribution of force, and timing of putting the aurors into the muscles were all the same.
“It is a swordsmanship that corresponds to the heavy strike among the four types of strikes I will teach. It is a method of maximizing the power of the sword by deliberately applying a load to the muscles using the aura. Before entering this class, let me give you one piece of advice about this swordsmanship.”
Tigris took a stance again.
“Inject the auror into the muscles of both arms slightly later than the timing of inserting the auror into the left foot, which is the stepping foot. If you do that…”
Whew!
The sword wind from Tigris’s sword did not scatter in all directions, but swirled around it.
Then, as if sliding along the sword, they gathered at the tip of the sword.
And the gathered wind rushed forward.
A sharp wind blew across the stadium.
The wind slashed the thick branches at the end of the gymnasium.
All the instructors, including Bedrian, opened their mouths.
“It is possible to gather the scattered sword winds into one.”
Bedrian was absurd.
This swordsmanship was uniquely created by Bedrian while he was an instructor.
Also known as Storm Hawk Swordsmanship.
It was a swordsmanship that could create sharp sword winds only with the movement of the sword without swordsmanship.
However, it was still an unfinished swordsmanship.
When he raised his sword, the winds of the sword scattered all over the place, and he tried to gather them into one, but it didn’t work.
But Tigris solved the problem at once.
“How can this swordsmanship…”
“It’s a good swordsmanship. It’s not perfect yet, but if you research it further, it’s a swordsmanship with high potential value enough to enter the archives of the Imperial Palace.”
“No, so. How did you learn this sword…”
“It’s not something I learned. I just watched it once and followed it. And I just filled in the missing parts.”
“So you’re saying that once you see a sword, you can just copy it?”
Bedrian was so complicated that he didn’t even know he was being respectful.
“Yes.”
“Nonsense!”
I couldn’t believe it.
How can a person see a swordsmanship once and imitate it?
If so, it meant that Tigris could be completely copied the moment he saw the swordsmanship of other families.
“There are things in the world that you cannot understand, and you are only faced with one of the phenomena that cannot be understood.”
It could be felt as an arrogant tone, but all the instructors, including Bedrian, did not feel that it was arrogant.
Even Tigris himself did not consider himself arrogant.
Because Tigris was not arrogant.
To say it was arrogant because his talent was innate. There was no one who could not say that Tigris was a genius.
Tigris said, looking at the instructors who all stood up and looked at him.
“Did you ask how I can teach students? No one else knows, but I can.”
Tigris opened his mouth with a very natural tone.
“Because I can imitate someone else’s swordsmanship once I see it. In the process, I know what went wrong and how to fix it.”
Tigris looked at Bedrian and said.
“Then let’s go back to class.”
That day, Tigris’ lecture received full marks from all the instructors.
* * *
Dean of Nation reported the results of Tigris’ mock lecture to the principal of Bastian today.
Bastian nodded as he heard Tigris’ incredible genius today.
“I did too.”
“Did you know?”
Bastian said with a smirk.
“If it wasn’t for that kind of talent, do you think I would have accepted you as an instructor? And the fact that Tigris is a genius was quite famous, wasn’t it?”
“I didn’t know it would be like this. How can you imitate the swordsmanship you’ve seen once…”
All the instructors knew that Bedrian was making a new swordsmanship.
It was because he gave a demonstration to some instructors and asked for advice on what was lacking.
However, the advice is ‘Isn’t it better to bring the sword wind together?’, ‘The sword is too slow.’ It’s just a vague level of advice.
In order to follow the swordsmanship as it is, the Auror’s maneuvering sequence, sword, and power distribution must be made entirely by the swordsman’s senses that cannot be described in words.
However, Tigris understood and followed it only by seeing it once.
“To be honest, Tigris is not a talent for the Imperial University. I didn’t expect to be able to say this, but it’s a waste to rot as an instructor at the Imperial University.”
“Then what do you think Tigris should do?”
“If it were me, I would have joined the Golden Knights. He must have refined his swordsmanship even more as he entered the Golden Knights, received instruction in swords from Sir Bergang, and gained practical experience. Tigris will be able to complete the nine rings that all knights have longed for.”
Bastian said, touching his beard.
“That is the difference between you and Tigris. There is no difference between me and you.”
“···yes?”
“As you know, the Tigris won the Young Blood Tournament. That he was able to enter the Golden Knights. But why did you choose Imperial University?”
“···I do not know. Does Principal Bastian know?”
“Neither do I.”
Nation was instantly stunned.
“yes···? What is that…”
“But I do know one thing. Not if you’re a genius… A person who can complete 7 rings or 7 circles walks a different path alone when everyone else is walking on the set path. Because they know which path is right for them. Of course, including me.”
Before being called a sage, Bastian was called a ‘false summoning wizard’.
Bastian was known for his fire magic and artefact crafting, but he preferred to grow and watch plants and animals.
To some extent, despite knowing what his talents were, he devoted more time to animal and plant studies.
However, he eventually became the 7th Circle Archmage.
Because he knew nothing about animals, plants, and monsters, he was even given the title of ‘sage’.
So what about Bergan?
Bergang preferred to travel rather than wield a sword.
When I was attending Imperial University, I loved to travel so much that I had to pay twice as much because I couldn’t meet the number of attendance.
However, in the end, Bergang completed 7 rings.
The criminals lament while looking at Bergang and Bastian.
How do such people become sword masters and archmages.
They put in more effort, but why is heaven blessing them?
It’s a story they don’t know.
It looked like they were playing, but Bergand and Bastian were studying swordsmanship and magic.
“Tigris is walking his own path. So don’t try to understand his steps. As he said himself, he is a genius who knows he is a genius.”
“…Then what would you like to do with Tigris in the future? Tigris must enter as an assistant instructor for other lectures except for this lecture. Otherwise, you will not be able to complete 8 credits. But all the other instructors are reluctant to use Tigris.”
There were several reasons.
Some instructors were worried that the students attending the lecture would compare themselves to Tigris, while others said that Tigris’ talent was burdensome and could not be accepted as an assistant instructor.
Even the instructors were worried that Tigris would copy the swordsmanship they were studying.
“Hmm···. Let’s think about that later. I can’t force Tigris to become an assistant instructor because the other instructors are too burdened.”
“···All right. Then I’ll just get up.”
“Look carefully.”
Nation went out and Bastian sat down with a chair on his back.
“…that wasn’t all.”
Tigris was able to release sword energy when he had three rings.
So Bastian thought that Tigris’ talent was more focused on Auror operation than on swordsmanship.
But that was an illusion.
Tigris had a natural talent for both swordsmanship and Auror operation.
‘But why did you ask me to hide it?’
After showing him cutting rocks by blowing swords with rotten branches, he asked to remain silent.
He knew that Tigris had reached a great level, but he was only getting a rough idea, and it didn’t fall off as clearly as in mathematics.
Bastian kept his gaze on the crystal ball.
If you ask Bergang about the status Tigris showed, he will be able to give you a quick answer.
But I swore to be silent, so I can’t ask.
“I’m so curious about this…”
Bastian’s mournful sigh echoed.
It was very difficult for the wizard to contain his curiosity.