#67: Chapter 67 — I Became the Sword Saint’s Disciple

Serpens was trying to understand what had happened to him with an utterly serious expression.

‘What is this?’

He had visited the imperial knight order with Lucas.
There, he had met Knight Commanders named Lionel and Berisa.
While the three of them talked, he had stood off to the side and watched them blankly.
He didn’t feel as if he had wasted time.
Because it felt like he had finally seen real knights.
Everything had truly been good.
He had met impressive people and witnessed an impressive conversation.
Everything had truly been good, but…….

“Lionel. There is no need to go easy on him.”
“How far should I push him?”
“I have spare Golden Mandragora seeds. Just do not kill him.”
“Yes, Commander.”

How had it come to this?

“Seriously, what is this?”

A sparring match had suddenly been arranged.
And his opponent was Lionel, someone who was even a Knight Commander.
It was a truly strange spar.
Why? Because this spar had been arranged not at Lucas’s request, but at Lionel’s.

Serpens scratched his head hard.
Even a street storyteller would be cursed at if his story unfolded like this.
For what reason in the world did Lionel want to spar with him?
Wasn’t a Knight Commander supposed to be an extremely busy person?
It wasn’t that he disliked sparring.
He was simply curious.

‘Why me?’

He truly wanted to know the reason.

Did he want to show off his strength?
Against a thirteen-year-old?
He didn’t look like that kind of person.
But if that wasn’t it, was there any reason to willingly spar with a thirteen-year-old?

Serpens looked around.
It was neither a dirt floor nor a grassy field.
It was a sparring ground made of stone.
A space inside the building that had looked like a temple.

A space made of gray stone.
The stone floor did not matter much.
But the walls were a problem.
He could see parts protruding slightly here and there.
They didn’t look like a problem on the surface, but it would be different if he crashed into them.
Because the pain he would feel would be doubled.

Serpens memorized the spots he needed to be careful of.
The room was not very wide.
If he moved back to open distance a couple of times during the spar, he would reach the wall.
The narrower the space, the more he had to use his head.
That was not Lucas’s teaching.
It was something he had learned while running away since childhood.

“I apologize for asking for a spar so suddenly. I heard you were the Commander’s disciple, so I became curious about your skill. My personality is rather combative, you see.”

Lionel said as he drew his sword.
Serpens also gripped his sword in response.

‘So that was it.’

After hearing Lionel’s words, he finally understood the reason for the spar.
He had not challenged a thirteen-year-old boy to a spar.
He had merely drawn his sword against Lucas’s disciple.

“It’s fine. When else in my life would I get to cross swords with someone called a Knight Commander?”
“……Your master was the greatest Knight Commander in history.”
“I mean an active one. Active.”

Serpens looked at Lucas.
Then he shook his head hard.

‘The greatest Knight Commander in history…….’

It was a fact he had already heard, but hearing it again made it feel new.
He could understand why everyone he had met until now had reacted that way whenever they heard Lucas’s name.
Well, knowing Lucas’s past didn’t change anything.
He had never cared about that in the first place.

“Please take care of me.”

Serpens gripped his sword with both hands.
His right foot went one step back.
At the same time, he lowered his center of gravity slightly.

What he had to focus on now was not Lucas’s past, but the spar before him.

He had not the slightest intention of taking it lightly.
Because he was facing this spar as Lucas’s disciple.

“I look forward to it as well.”

Lionel also took his stance.
It was an aggressive stance, with the longsword held in both hands pushed forward, as if he might spring out at any moment.

Serpens lifted both heels and lowered his center of gravity even further.
It was a measure to react immediately to his opponent’s attack.

The boy’s gaze went to his opponent’s shoulder line and toes.
His breathing settled, and the sound of his heartbeat echoed in his ears.

“Begin.”

Lucas’s signal.
At the same time, Lionel moved.

Pat.

When his foot kicked off the stone floor, a brief gust rose.
The longsword cut through the wind and drove straight down toward the boy.

Boom-!

When the sword strike hit the ground, fragments of stone flew up.
Serpens, who had dodged to the side, looked at the cracked floor.

‘……Crazy!’

At first, he had thought of trying to receive the attack.
Pure curiosity.
He had wondered how strong someone called a Knight Commander would be.
However, that had been unnecessary curiosity.
If he had blocked that sword head-on, it would clearly have been his two arms that cracked, not the floor.

Whoosh-!

Another attack came in before he could even catch his breath.
Serpens crossed his sword and arm to receive the impact.

Kthoom!

“Kuhuk!”

Serpens was pushed back as if he had been sent flying and slammed into the wall.
The boy hurriedly pulled himself together and looked at his opponent.
But what entered his vision was something unexpected.

‘……A cloak?’

A blue cloak was fluttering before his eyes.
That was definitely the one Lionel had been wearing-

Clang!

An attack came in from the side, and Serpens barely managed to block it.
For some reason, his sense was not coming through clearly.
The sense he had felt before the sword was swung was only coming to him just before the attack landed.

“As expected of the Commander’s disciple. It seems you have certainly learned the basics.”

Lionel’s face was quite serious.
It seemed he had no intention of going easy.

“It seems I’m still lacking quite a lot.”

Of course, Serpens also wanted him not to go easy.
That was why he took his stance again.
He could not be busy only with defense.
The chance that an attack would work was small, but…….

“Hup!”

If he didn’t even try, the chance would only remain at zero.

Clang!

A sharp metallic sound.
Serpens’s eyes moved busily after knocking the blade aside.

A frontal fight was impossible.
His opponent was a Knight Commander.
There would only be so many attacks he could deflect.
In that case…….

‘I’ll aim for one decisive strike.’

Keukeuk!

Serpens deflected the attack and stepped back.

‘But how?’

Lionel was watching Serpens while lightly swinging his sword.
As serious as his expression was, he was not letting his guard down either.
Would something change if they exchanged attacks and defenses a few times?
Probably not.

“Phew…….”

Serpens steadied his breathing.
Soon, seriousness began to show on the boy’s face.

Patzzt-

Black ripples and white sparks wrapped around the boy’s sword.
Lionel’s eyebrow twitched.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you now?”
“Thirteen.”
“Thirteen…….”

Pat-

Serpens’s light leap.

Kthang!

And a heavy attack.

Lionel blocked the attack and quietly stared at the boy.
A chained attack followed.
The movement and strength he showed were by no means those of a thirteen-year-old.

He swung his sword without hesitation against an opponent far above him in skill.
But that did not mean he was reckless.
He swung when he had to swing, and opened distance when he had to open distance.
He noticed the deliberately created openings with astonishing precision,
and even went so far as to predict Lionel’s movements.

Keugakak!

Lionel put a little more strength into his strike and brought it down on the boy.
Serpens deflected it with quite a bit of room to spare.
The boy then thrust his sword toward Lionel’s neck.
The attack didn’t reach, but a spark of Aura grazed his cheek.

Lionel pushed the boy away and glanced at Lucas.
Was he used to seeing the boy’s skill?
He was watching the spar without the slightest change in expression.

‘Well, I suppose this boy’s skill is something the Commander shaped.’

Lionel and Serpens stared at each other for a moment.

Lionel lowered the tip of his sword.
He moved the blade back and took a stance as if he were about to slash upward.

‘……What’s this?’

Serpens was flustered.

The distance between the two of them could not be called far.
But it was far enough that even if Lionel swung his sword, Serpens wouldn’t be hit if he stayed still.

Was he going to leap?
To make an effective attack while leaping, one had to swing from above to below.
But from below to above?
What was he trying to do?

Serpens instinctively lifted his toes and lowered his center of gravity.
It was to react as quickly as possible to his opponent’s action.

Ruuuumble.

And in that moment, red Aura began surging around Lionel.

Pabat-!

Serpens immediately rushed forward.
His instinct screamed that he mustn’t approach.
It wasn’t that he felt killing intent.
It was simply dangerous.
If he collided with that red Aura, the spar would end without needing to calculate anything.
Even so, the boy thrust his sword forward.

“Huuup!”

It was safer to approach instead.
If he approached danger, he could at least prepare himself.
But if danger approached him…….
That was an accident.

An accident he could not respond to.

Kwakakakaka!

Black Aura collided with red Aura.
A massive collision.
The aftermath of the collision sent Lucas’s hair flying.
Black eyes blinked quietly.
He slowly stepped forward.

Grab.

Then, with his rough hand, he lifted Serpens, who had gone limp.
Lucas glanced over his condition.
There was no visible bleeding.
He might have suffered internal injuries from the clash just now.
That kind of thing wouldn’t show on the outside, so he could ask when the boy woke up.

“You must be pleased, having a disciple like this.”

Lionel said as he put his sword into its sheath.

Lucas looked at Serpens’s sword lying on the floor.
The sword was broken in half.
He thought he would have to look for a new sword in the evening.

“I reduced my strength a little midway through. There shouldn’t be any major problem with the boy’s body.”

Lionel said, reading Lucas’s gaze.
The Aura circling around him vanished as if scattered by the wind.

“I had no intention of using Aura, but once we actually clashed, I wanted to see the child’s limits.”
“I see.”
“What in the world did you do for a thirteen-year-old kid to have this level of skill? Above all, that black Aura-”
“It is nothing you need to be curious about.”
“Commander. It is already shocking that he has this level of skill at his age, but he even handles Aura. I cannot help being curious.”

Lucas didn’t give any particular reply.

“Honestly…….”

Seeing Lucas’s reaction, Lionel gave up on being curious.
Since he knew Lucas’s personality well, he knew it would be meaningless to press further.

‘I wondered what he had been doing during the time he disappeared…… and he was making a monster like himself.’

Lionel let out a sigh.
To train a thirteen-year-old for three years and bring him to this level.
What kind of person was he?

Of course, that thought contained an error.
Because only one year had passed since Serpens and Lucas met.

‘Could he have been secretly raising him from even younger……?’

However, Lionel did not know that fact.

“…….”

He quietly stared at Lucas.
He blinked silently, then carefully asked Lucas.

“Commander. I ask because I am not certain, but have you reached an even higher realm than before?”
“……?”
“Before, I could feel the presence of your Aura, however faintly. Now, I cannot even feel that.”

Lucas thought for a moment.
Should he tell the truth?
No, nothing good would come of that.
It would mean revealing a weakness, and it might lead to the bothersome matter of explaining again how he had lost his Aura.

“My technical skill with the sword has improved.”
“I see. You truly surprise me every time, Commander.”

Lucas looked at Lionel’s hand.
His left hand was gripping his sword hilt with hesitation.
Though he couldn’t bring himself to say it, Lucas knew what he wanted to say.

“Draw your sword.”
“……Pardon?”
“Did you not say you would show me how much you had grown?”
“……Ah!”

Shring.

Lionel drew his sword with nervousness and excitement plain on his face.
And then.

Ruuuumble!

He began pouring out red Aura.

“Are you trying to avenge your disciple?”

Lucas gently set Serpens down in the corner of the sparring room.
After stepping away from the boy, Lucas said quietly.

“……As if.”

Creak.

At the same time, strength filled Lionel’s entire body.

Bang!

He kicked off the ground and rushed at Lucas.