Book 2: 312
Translator: Seven
Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei
Paak!
Lukas sucked in a breath as he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He could taste a hint of blood in his mouth. Despite this, it was clear that Snow was holding her strength back so as to avoid damaging his internal organs.
His gaze slightly blurred, he lifted his head.
Before he knew it, he saw Snow standing about ten steps away from him.
“..”
He got into the stance again.
He wasn’t able to see Snow’s movements. Originally, he had been able to because Snow had been moving at a speed that did not surpass his dynamic vision.
Thanks to that, he was able to get used to her movements. But that had changed.
Swoosh.
Once again, Snow disappeared.
historical
Was it his stomach again? Or his back?
Lukas thought about Snow’s tendencies and battle style for a moment before coming to a conclusion.
‘Front.’
As he expected, Snow appeared in front of him.
Paak!
Of course, even though he knew this, he wasn’t able to react.
His wrist felt like it was about to fall off. He couldn’t overcome the force of the strike and was sent rolling across the ground. Nevertheless, he didn’t let go of his sword.
‘She became an amazing Swordsman.’
Riki’s swordsmanship.
The subtle movements that she’d developed on her own.
The traits of an Ice Elf.
And finally, the rare treasured sword Deukid.
Even Kran from Earth, who had reached the peak of mortality, was not a match for Snow.
Over the past ten years, Snow had fully digested all the products she had in her possession.
‘She must have undergone grueling training.’
In other words, the power she was displayed now was her own power.
Lukas couldn’t help but smile. The last time he’d seen Snow, she was wallowing in her own helplessness. There were no signs of that now. This proved that she’d perfectly overcome that tribulation.
“Are you masochistic?”
Snow was staring at him with a strange expression.
“No.”
“..”
Snow looked at this man who lay on the ground, before turning to the side and spitting.
“You are a strange man.”
There was a brief pause then Snow continued.
“Of course, I don’t know you well enough to say this. Do you know why I said that? It’s because of your eyes.”
The wind blew, causing Snow’s white hair to flutter.
Brushing her hair from her face, she continued.
“Detached observation is not an easy attitude to obtain. It’s an innate trait that not just anyone can acquire. Usually, only those who have reached the end of their field or those who’ve had a special experience can.. Did you say that you lost your memory?”
Lukas didn’t respond.
But Snow continued to talk while fiddling with the branch as if she hadn’t expected to receive an answer in the first place.
“I don’t care if that’s true or not. But one thing is certain, you have many secrets.”
Lukas finally got to his feet again and brushed the dust off of himself.
“What do you want to say?”
“Lukas, I’m not a fan of arrogantly preaching, but I’ll tell you one thing. You. No, your calm mind is basically poison at this point.”
“..”
“It’s your life, your struggle. You keep contemplating problems with a distant mindset. That is not a virtue that a Swordsman needs. You need to be able to use your emotions when you need them.”
“Sorry.”
Lukas shook his head.
“This isn’t something I can change.”
This was different from his body.
Lukas had lived for an extremely long time as a Wizard. He could deceive his body, but he couldn’t deceive his mind.
Of course, it might be a good idea to destroy everything and restart from scratch. If he was going to be a Swordsman, it would be better to abandon his mindset as Snow advised.
However,
“I don’t intend to only fight as a Swordsman.”
“Do you have other means?”
“..maybe.”
He had no choice but to give a vague answer. Because even he wasn’t sure at that moment.
..When he had broken into Peran’s barrier back at the inn, Lukas had been greatly inspired. It felt like he might have found another means other than swordsmanship.
He looked down at the sword in his hand.
Not with this.
He couldn’t accomplish it with just a high quality steel sword. It was an impossible task with a sword that didn’t have runes.
“That sword.”
Lukas pointed at the sword hanging at Snow’s waist.
“Can I borrow it for a moment?”
Snow’s expression changed at that moment, and a frosty glint appeared in her eyes.
“Do you know how rude that question is?”
“I know. That’s why I asked so politely first.”
“That wasn’t that polite..”
Snow muttered in a soft tone, but unexpectedly, she handed Deukid to him.
“Here. Keep it clean.”
“Thanks.”
Lukas slowly pulled Deukid from its sheath
Sssng-
It felt like he would be cut just from looking at it.
It was obvious how amazing of a sword it was.
He’d also heard about the process of making this sword.
The main material had been the fang of a Dragon, and all kinds of mystical metals had been included. At that time, the greatest blacksmiths of Lucid’s homeland, Icollium, quenched it for a year in lava from the hottest volcano.
When it finally began to take the form of a sword, Schweiser and his disciples engraved all kinds of runes on it.
Self recovery, sharpness maintenance, strength increase, hot and cold resistance..
Thanks to this, Deukid could still last without rusting even after 4000 years.
But the thing that Lukas was paying attention to now wasn’t Deukid’s formidable strength or sharpness.
It was one of Deukid’s special abilities.
‘Magic break.’
It depended on the user’s competence, but even if a Second Class Swordsman were to wield it, they would easily be able cut through 4-star spells.
Lukas understood this principle.
Mana was essential both for spells and for runes.
Deukid’s blade had the ability to interfere with the flow of mana in cast spells. In other words, it was possible for it to disperse even runes that had already been engraved. And the mana would remain on the blade for a long time.
But there were no spells cast there.
So Lukas only had one option to choose from.
“..”
Snow silently watched Lukas’ actions.
It was her first time seeing a stance like this, or swordsmanship like this.
No. Her eyes narrowed.
‘That isn’t swordsmanship.’
“..”
Lukas stopped moving and slowly let out a breath.
“This is a large forest, but the mana here isn’t dense. That’s probably because many people have been here.”
“What?”
“Nevertheless, I think I got the hang of it.”
As Lukas finished muttering, he drew a line in the air with Deukid.
And
Fwoosh!
A flame appeared in the air from nothing.