NOVEL NEXT Chapter 147: Sword Intent?
>HOWWLLL!<
The wolf let out a long, anguished howl as the beam tore through its body and the golden light that surrounded its body rapidly faded as the corrupted mana within it dissipated.
Kyle sensed the wolf's condition. He still had this nagging feeling that the wolf still had it in it for one last attack and he knew he had to end it.
>SWISH!<
Activating [Lightning Dash], Kyle surged forward, his katana glowing with a fierce white light. The wolf was weakened and staggering and it barely had any strength to move.
"BEGONE!!!"
Kyle raised his katana, and with a scream he brought the blade down on the beast in a decisive strike.
But before the katana could connect, a familiar brilliant white line can out from its blade meeting the wolf and cleanly slicing it's body in two. The sheer force of the attack split the wolf into two, and the ground shook as the corrupted beast collapsed.
[Congratulations! You have slain Corrupted Tier-4 mana beast!]
[You have obtained 1* Corrupted Tier-4 mana core!]
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have completed Quests:
—Investigate the mana pool.
—Halt the beasts' evolution by any means necessary.
—Defeat all threats to restore balance to the forest]
[Reward: 100 Skill Points, 1* Chaos Spell Book]
Kyle couldn't control the joy he felt when he saw the system announce his rewards. He had done it, he couldn't wait to use his rewards.
'I'll have to finalize my chaos mana core soon then,' Kyle thought, before looking around to see how his teammates were faring.
On meeting his teammates, Kyle met their expressions. They were all frozen in utter shock and their mouth were wide open as they stared at him like a mythical creature. The surprise in their looks was very evident, but Kyle couldn't grasp what caused their surprise.
Void, after sensed the confusion on Kyle's face, let out a long exaggerated sigh before face palming and shaking his head in disbelief.
Kyle couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh… What's wrong?" he
Lina exploded first, her voice reaching a pitch Kyle hadn't thought was humanly possible.
"WHAT'S WRONG? You're seriously asking us what's wrong? What the hell was that attack? That white line thingy that came out of your katana?!"
The others nodded vigorously in agreement, their wide eyes demanding answers.
Kyle gulped hard after he realized what just happened. He had just used sword intent in front of them all. Of course they'll be surprised.
"Well…" Kyle began hesitantly, already deciding not to spill the truth to them. "I'm not sure what that was…"
Lina cut him off with a sharp glare. "Don't give me that crap, Kyle. There's no way you don't know. What did you just do?"
"I—I mean…" Kyle stumbled over his words, his nervous chuckle returning. "It just… happened?"
"Shut up," Lina snapped. "That's not an explanation. You can't just casually slice such a mana beast in half with whatever that was and act like it's nothing!"
Kyle's lips twitched into a nervous smile. He was trying to think of a way to downplay what had happened, but Zara had already chimed in before he could respond.
"That attack," she with awe, "It was so powerful that it even left a crack on the ground." She pointed at the spot where the wolf's corpse lay, and all their eyes followed.
Kyle glanced at the ground. A jagged line ran from where the wolf had been cleaved in two, extending several meters away. The sheer force of his sword intent had left an undeniable mark, both on the battlefield and on his teammates' perception of him.
He sighed inwardly, realizing there was no way out of this.
"So?" Lina pressed, folding her arms. "Are you going to explain, or are we supposed to guess?"
"Alright, alright," Kyle said, changing his mind and deciding to tell him. It wasn't like sword intent was that much of a secret, after all Instructor Dan knew about it and Kyle was sure the rest of the students would learn of it too.
"I think… it might've been sword intent."
Kyle hesitated, knowing there was no way out of this without giving them at least some semblance of the truth. He sighed heavily and scratched his head, avoiding their piercing gazes. "Alright, fine. That attack… was sword intent."
The blank stares that followed after he exposed the attack were almost comical.
"Sword intent? What's that supposed to mean?" Lina asked.
"Yeah, is it from magic?" Zara asked too.
Kyle sighed again, muttering under his breath, "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you."
The three girls stared at him, their expressions quickly turning from confused to furious. Finn also raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with his words.
Lina stepped forward and clenched her hands into fists.
"Kyle," she said in a dangerously low voice, "You better start explaining before we make you explain."
Kyle honestly felt like laughing when he saw her threat, but he simply played along and surpressed his laugh.. "Alright, alright! Don't kill me. I'll explain."
The group crossed their arms, waiting expectantly.
"Okay," Kyle began, trying to find the simplest way to explain it. "Sword intent is… well, it's kind of like an advanced skill that swordsmen can use. It's not just about swinging your sword harder or faster. It's about putting your will into the blade."
"Your will?" Celine asked, her brow furrowing.
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Kyle nodded. "Yeah. It's like pouring your intent, your focus, and your emotions into the sword. When you reach a certain level of mastery, you can manifest that intent into a physical force. That's what you saw—a manifestation of my sword intent."
The group blinked, processing his words.
"So… that white line that came out of your katana," Zara said slowly, "Was your will?"
"Exactly," Kyle confirmed. "It's insanely powerful, but it's also really difficult to control. I haven't mastered it yet that's why I can't summon it at will, for now it just pops up now and then, especially when I commit fully to an attack."
Finn crossed his arms, still looking confused. "So how did you even learn this? I've never even heard of it before."
Kyle shrugged nonchalantly, though inwardly he was cringing. "I've been training with swords for a while. Picked up a few things here and there. It's not exactly something they teach in class, you know."
The girls exchanged glances, clearly impressed despite themselves.
"That's… amazing," Celine said softly.
"Yeah," Zara agreed. "I can't believe you're walking around casually wielding something so dangerous."
"More like casually showing off," Lina muttered, though there was a hint of admiration in her tone.
Kyle chuckled nervously. "Well, like I said before I'm still not proficient with it... But if you're really interested, you can ask someone like Harris," Kyle suggested before adding after some thought, "He should educate the class on it one of these days."
They all nodded, making a mental note to ask their combat instructor when they returned to the academy.
"But it's still impressive for you to be learning something as powerful as that while being as young as us," Lina couldn't help but say with a jealous tone.
Kyle smiled and scratchrf the back of his head. "Thanks, I guess. But seriously, don't look at me like I'm some kind of genius. Sword intent isn't impossible to learn. It just takes a lot of practice."
"Still," Celine said with evident admiration, "You're still way ahead of us. It's no wonder you took down that corrupted wolf like it was nothing."
"Nah," Kyle quickly shook his head in disapproval, not wanting to claim credit for their joint effort. "We took it down together, remember?"
"Yeah, right. You're just trying to act humble, but let's not pretend you didn't do most of the work," Lina said with an eye roll.
"Seriously," Zara added. "You were the one who charged in, landed most of the critical blows, and then finished it off with your mirror then that sword intent."
"Don't forget how you held its attention while we recovered," Celine added. "We were barely keeping up."
Kyle opened his mouth to protest, but before he could respond, Void snorted loudly from behind, his tail swishing in irritation.
"If you don't think you contributed, fine," Void said, his voice cutting through the group like a blade. His golden eyes glared at them, filled with a mixture of annoyance and disbelief.