The wind blew.
A wind that wasn’t strong enough to cool down the heated air blew past Airn and Khun.
There was a sense of tension in the air which made it seem like a battle would spark any moment.
However the match didn’t start right away.
Step step Kirill started walking and stood there between the two. There were no signs of fear on her face. Khun who got slightly flustered as he saw Kirill walk forward asked.
“What?”
“I want to take a look at sister Judith.”
“But she’s fine.”
“Just because she is fine there is no reason to not help her right? Wait a minute. I will lay her down and give her a simple healing.”
“What? Are you a priest?”
“I am a sorcerer. But a simple treatment is possible.”
“…”
“Ah don’t fight immediately. I want to see my brother fight as his sister.”
“…”
“Do you get it?”
“Huh look at her.”
Khun smirked.
Was it because she was the sister of Airn Pareira who was now famous on the continent? The woman didn’t seem like a normal person. She had a dignified figure and seemed like an interesting person.
So he nodded.
“Okay. Finish it and come quickly.”
“Yes. Lulu help me.”
“Okay.”
Lulu transformed into her sorcery girl form and raised her wand. And Judith who was lying on the floor started to float in the air.
Once Kirill and the others entered the house Khun who watched them looked at Airn and asked.
“She is quite different from you.”
“Yes.”
“Have Judith and your sister already met each other? It didn’t seem like it… but your sister seems to care about my disciple.”
“This is their first meeting.”
Airn said with a smile. He couldn’t understand her actions either.
Kirill must have felt something in Judith with her sorcery senses.
‘I don’t know for sure but it is good that it worked out better than I hoped it would.’
After a while the door opened.
Lulu returned as a cat and Kirill came out with a proud expression.
And said
“You can now start.”
“Ah… I am not the type to listen to anyone…”
Khun smiled and mumbled. But he didn’t feel bad.
After all even from back when they were young Airn knew that his younger sister was the type of person who was more popular with unusual people.
Airn who thought that took a stance with a serious expression.
Ad said
“I’m ready.”
“Good.”
Woong!
Wooong!
The two exchanged glances as they raised their Aura.
The Aura Sword which appeared at the same time shone in gold and white.
Surprisingly the difference in length wasn’t that significant. Of course it couldn’t be better than Khun’s since he was known to be the best on the continent.
However there was another part that was truly shocking.
Without any sign of movement Khun’s body disappeared.
Shhh
Kwang!
“Kua….”
And Airn let out a groan as he deflected the sword which came at him in an instant. He was really surprised and was almost on the verge of losing.
Khun’s sword was that fast.
As he moved his feet and narrowed the distance he held out his sword.
Pop!
Kwang!
Pop!
Khun kept stabbing at Airn. And Airn raised his senses to the peak and countered it. Some of the attacks were avoided and some of them were blocked.
And then he tried to find his own pace. The energy of metal which welled up from within made Airn’s sword stronger and heavier.
His eyes looking for the counterattack shone sharply for a second.
But it was in vain.
Receiving the constantly pouring attacks from Khun Airn realized how large the gap was between him and one of the three major swordsmen on the continent.
‘I can’t be strong with a heavy sword.’
A heavy sword wasn’t necessarily a slow sword.
It was supposed to be a pressure-oriented sword that advances hard and heavy and one that aimed to occupy the opponent’s space and limit the freedom of movement of the opponent.
However it kept getting blocked from the start. Khun was always in a position where he could advance freely.
The opponent’s sword was always present and was constantly moving in for more space.
Not only did Khun have a strong sword but he also had the most perfect posture and was fully prepared.
Even though Airn’s was a heavy sword that didn’t get pushed back in a head-on collision it wasn’t possible for Airn to gain an advantage over opponents who were prepared quickly.
Surely…
‘But I can’t give up like this.’
Airn smiled.
It was strange. If it was him when he was in Rabat he wouldn’t have been able to maintain his composure like now. He would have struggled to get Khun’s approval somehow and made an unreasonable move to prove himself.
But not now.
He didn’t realize it but the sword of water flowing through his heart was giving him a sense of calmness.
Of course it wasn’t just him being calm. Airn was a young swordsman.
Unlike the old swordsman who experienced a lot of stuff and had felt most of the world Airn was still young and fairly inexperienced. So his passion was still burning bright.
And the water tuned into that brightly burning passion.
Tung!
He raised the energy of metal and blocked his opponent’s sword.
Khun found that interesting. He could feel the heaviness of Airn’s sword on his hands.
Airn counterattacked aiming for that momentary gap. And added fire to the metal.
A sword that had been heated like an iron ingot at a metal forge was swung towards Khun.
‘It is beyond my imagination.’
The interest in Khun’s eyes grew.
He was honestly amazed. He thought that Airn was just a turtle in its shell trying hard to defend itself but for the same kid to notice the gap in his movements and attack him.
And the attack wasn’t even from a normal sword.
It had a strong will and in addition to that there was a hot and ferocious energy which refused to back down. If it was an opponent of the same level the energy would have been terrifying.
Of course Khun was higher than Airn.
He laughed and raised his Aura even more. And his strength his Aura and his mind all served to accelerate his body.
The sword of the great swordsman who had a serious expression on his face was swung at the opponent who had tried to smash him.
Kang!
And it fell.
Kang!
It kept falling over and over again.
After unleashing seven attacks in an instant Khun took a step back with a relaxed attitude.
And said
“You are quite good.”
“…”
Airn couldn’t follow his attacks. The opponent’s attacks were pouring down at him with an incredible speed which made even the wind blow away.
He realized that it was impossible to control the flow of his opponent with just metal.
Nodding his head Airn tried to speak to Khun.
“Excuse me…”
“You can call me Mr. Khun comfortably. I am not very good with formality.”
“… Mr. Khun. Excuse me but could you give me a moment?”
“Hmm.”
Khun stared at Airn. Normally he would have told him to not spew jokes and to get back into the match.
Who would ask an opponent to wait in the middle of the match? He probably would have said something like ‘What is the need for a match if you need breaks?’
But he didn’t.
Just like Ian couldn’t understand Khun’s sword. And like how Khun couldn’t chase after Ian’s sword.
The juniors would be the same. It was unacceptable to treat Airn the way he taught Judith.
‘I really did change as well.’
The person who had always trained and moved solely for defeating his opponents now didn’t.
Before he knew it he was treating Airn with the attitude of a teacher and smiled.
‘Not like a teacher… but like a senior giving off a little generosity…’
Not bad.
Khun who thought till there nodded his head.
And Airn too. His expression was strange.
The young Sword Master was hard as steel and hot as flames but yet he felt calm and relaxed.
Like Ian.
However not exactly like Ian.
Khun showed interest in Airn’s energy.
“Phew…”
And slowly exhaled.
Airn’s Aura was the same.
Khun’s eyes lit up as he felt his opponent’s Aura slowly and solemnly flow to his feet.
‘It’s like water.’
No it couldn’t be simply compared to water.
Kwakwakwang!
The flow of energy which seemed plain and boring suddenly changed violently at one point.
It was like a tsunami. The force of Airn rushing in wasn’t simple to be called as ‘just like water.’
Woo-!
And to that ferocious energy the energy of steel was also added.
Watching the massive and heavy attack falling at him Khun nodded.
He smiled and his eyes smiled too.
The sword was nice.
It was the same thought he had when he stopped Airn’s attack previously.
Kwang!
Khun drew his sword!
Kwang!
And again!
Kwang!
Kwang!
Ang!
Kwang!
Faster faster and even faster he shot out the sword towards Airn. In fact it was as if his hands were on fire and he wanted to cut down the opponent.
Kwaang!
Khun wasn’t Ian.
He wasn’t the best talent nor did he have a brilliant mind.
Unlike his rivals who achieved remarkable achievements in many ways his only achievement was the one weapon in his hand.
A sword that cuts water?
Of course he didn’t know about it.
He didn’t even want to know it either.
Even without such a thing he could deal with water.
“…!”
Airn’s eyes shone.
With a terrifying speed Khun’s rapid flurry of sword attacks kept hitting the wave.
It wasn’t like Ian’s grand movement but it was powerful and swift and poured in countless times and the water that came had no choice but to submit to those attacks.
And the water was pushed aside.
But because it was water it would eventually once again unite despite being cut but the sword that kept cutting the water kept pushing the water aside.1
And the attacks repeated countless times.
The result of this was the wave being split on both sides for a brief moment.
And lying in between that gap was the young and promising swordsman.
That gap was enough. And with a grin Khun unleashed his sword and the sword flew across the neck of the fully disarmed opponent.
It was a perfect finish.
“…”
“…”
Kirill and Lulu who were watching it said nothing.
It was the same with Airn.
Completely different from Ian he had a blank expression at the opponent who managed to find a way out. And smiled.
“Thank you so much. I learned a lot.”
“… learned my ass; you can’t even follow it.”
Tch
Khun who had the sword in his hand grumbled as he looked at Airn.
It felt good but also not good at the same time.
He glanced at the house and thought of Judith.
‘I won’t say it is impossible but…’
She was walking down a more difficult path than him.
Mumbling in his mind he sighed.
I do not think there is actual ‘water’ but I think it’s probably the manifestation of Aura very similar to the technique Bratt had shown earlier but far more advanced.↩
