The darkness is slowly receding.
The cursed sun is never late, even today.
In the past, I never liked seeing that thing raise its head, which was unable to do anything under the cover of darkness.
But that’s alright. There isn’t much time left for that anymore.
Even if I disappear, if I can perish together with that hope, our Lord shall surely restore glory.
Child who is loved by that hideously ugly thing.
How has it been?
Did my trickery bring out laughter because it was too simple?
I felt the same way.
As I confirmed the many things you possess, laughter naturally escaped me.
You are quite skilled at countering darkness.
You have memorized the paths of places you’ve never been to perfectly.
You even know how to handle the sword of someone you face for the first time.
Armadhi has surely bestowed upon you countless knowledge.
However, you are far too overconfident in your own knowledge.
A trump card is not something to be shown so easily.
Otherwise, wouldn’t the opponent be prepared to counter it?
If you are the only hope of this land.
Then my role is to devour that hope.
After preparing everything.
I shall wait in anticipation.
For the moment you come.
For the moment you scream in pain.
For the moment you weep for salvation that does not come, begging Armadhi to save you.
You will not be able to turn away from this.
Because I have already seen the weakness of your heart that desperately tries to hide it.
Just before dawn. At the moment I would usually start training as a habit.
I’m sure he’ll be there at this time.
“Hello.”
As expected. Frey had already arrived at the training ground before me, swinging his sword.
“What a nice shield! Did you get it recently?”
“Yes, a little while ago.”
“Isn’t it cool? A fool like you wouldn’t even be able to scratch it.”
“Are you going to test it?”
“Please do.”
“If you want to feel just how pathetic you are, I won’t stop you.”
The reason I came to meet Frey was simple.
It was a skill I had never seen before in the game.
To understand exactly what kind of performance Weakness Recognition possessed.
There were no hidden skills in the game called Soul Academy.
It was a game that had not received a single update during the countless modes created. Naturally, all hidden information had long been revealed through unpacking.
Achievements, speedruns, constraint play, etc. I had actively utilized this unpacked information during my countless experiments and, in the end, produced numerous records.
Some people expressed their dissatisfaction with using unfair methods, but I didn’t care about that opinion. There was no reason to listen to someone less skilled than me, right?
In any case, after conducting countless studies, I naturally knew all the skills present in Soul Academy.
To create the optimal efficiency, I had touched upon every skill that seemed promising.
And this was a skill I was seeing for the first time.
A skill I encountered because I had been reincarnated into this world.
Of course, I needed to check its performance first!
To be honest, the explanation of Weakness Recognition is ambiguous. It states that you will be able to recognize weaknesses more effectively.
If this were a game, I would think it was just an increase in critical hits, but this is reality.
How the skill will activate, what effects it will produce, what its performance will be, and what uses it might have—all of these are things I need to verify.
This is precisely why I came to find Frey.
The sword is my guard and simultaneously a teacher of Soul Academy. Since she already wasted a day because of me, I can’t hold her up any longer.
However, Frey is different. This fellow, who has no interest in academics or anything else and only cares about swinging his sword, can be held up as long as needed.
“Shall we go?”
“Anytime.”
“Do as you wish. I’ll have to attempt a surprise attack since I’ll be the one getting ambushed anyway, right?”
“Got it. Let’s go.”
Watching Frey dash forward quickly, I thought. For now, it felt no different from usual.
He practices sparring with me dozens of times a day.
Can’t I find something new in the sword that has already become familiar?
“...The shield has become sturdier. Equipment boost. Cowardly.”
As I blocked Frey’s sword with Ankir, he whined while striking in succession.
I was aware that equipment also counts as a skill, so it must have touched Frey’s emotions, but I didn’t let it affect me.
Just a moment ago, while facing the skeleton, I had doubts about my personality.
So instead of mindlessly chatting, I focused on watching Frey’s sword.
The sword she wielded then and the sword she wields now are different in many ways.
While she still pursues her unique speed and relentless onslaught, there are clear differences in between.
To put it simply, that difference is refinement. In the past, Frey moved her sword according to her instincts.
She had not learned much, so it couldn’t be helped.
Most people would feel something was off midway and seek to learn from others, but Frey did not.
Her talent was exceptional enough to conquer the continent with just instinct.
But not now. For some reason, Frey, who had asked her father to teach her how to wield a sword, now had a sword that was remarkably cleaner than before.
Retaining the advantages that Frey had—quick judgment and fearlessness in attack—she has built the fundamentals of swordsmanship on top of that.
Now, with the sword's movements sharpened, the speed and power of her attacks have increased.
As unnecessary thought processes have decreased, the speed at which her sword strikes has become faster.
Though she had only received teachings during the vacation, her sword had undoubtedly become significantly stronger.
However, it was still not enough.
Perhaps having confronted a skeleton that had reached the extremes of the basics or because I had acquired the skill of Weakness Recognition, I could see her shortcomings.
The intervals between her sword strikes are too short.
Out of frustration, she might be increasing the number of attacks, but the fact that her attacks are faster means that each individual attack becomes weaker.
If there isn’t sufficient power, even the fastest sword will merely bounce off the shield.
No special techniques are necessary to deal with me.
If I just wait quietly, she will self-destruct.
My judgment was accurate.
As Frey increased her speed, she eventually exposed a huge gap, and in that moment, I saw the imbalance in her stance.
When I pushed against the spot I had been eyeing, Frey fell down far too easily.
Lying sprawled on the ground, Frey blinked and then raised her sword.
“Again.”
I willingly accepted her request.
To truly feel the power of the skill Weakness Recognition.
As the sparring time lengthened, I began to understand what the skill Weakness Recognition was.
First of all, this skill reveals weaknesses.
Just as I saw Frey’s impatience and her crumbling balance, it allows one to naturally see the opponent’s weaknesses.
And this skill does not show everything from the start.
During our first spar, I could not see several weaknesses, but as time went by, I could see more.
The gap that arises when one is in a hurry, swinging their sword ‘just a little’ faster than stepping forward.
Or the eyebrows that drop ‘slightly’ when one is about to take a gamble.
Thanks to this, I was able to suppress Frey more easily as the sparring continued.
Next, it was clear that this skill was influenced by my abilities.
Because I could see weaknesses that I had roughly grasped from countless sparring sessions with Frey.
At this level, Weakness Recognition could easily be called a cheating skill.
I, who am adept at defense, naturally create prolonged battles.
As time passes, I can identify my opponent and find ways to break them down. This Weakness Recognition skill fits my fighting style perfectly.
However, the cheating nature of Weakness Recognition did not end there.
Surprisingly, this skill didn’t just influence combat.
I should have realized it from the moment the explanation was vague.
A weakness literally refers to an opponent's weak points.
Body parts that are uncomfortable to show? Weaknesses.
Words they don’t want to hear? That’s a weakness too.
Things they never want to be discovered by the opponent? Naturally, those are weaknesses.
Explaining this way might be a bit hard to understand. Hmm. For example. Yes.
“That's unfair. Because I'm small, hiding behind the shield makes it all blocked.”
What Frey doesn’t want to be discovered right now.
“Hey♡ Foolish swordsman♡ I know you want to insult me, but with a sword this pathetic, there’s no way that would even cross my mind♡”
She keeps trying to pick a fight and provoke me.
For some reason, this is also Frey’s weakness.
Look. As soon as I bring it up, hesitation appears in her sword.
“Instead of wasting time babbling, you should focus on swinging your sword, right?♡ But the result would still be the same♡”
Just as I chuckled, a red hue appeared on Frey’s face.
Anger? Embarrassment? I’m not sure what emotion she carried, but the result was clear.
A blue light gathered above Frey’s sword.
Whoa!? This is a sparring match! What are you doing using aura here?!
As soon as I saw that, I hurriedly surrounded my shield with holiness.
The only fortunate thing was that Frey’s preparation was not perfect.
Because her provocation had worked so well, her aura was wrapped around her sword in a haphazard manner, leading to uncertain power.
But I could block it because of my equipment. If it had been someone else, they would have been smashed to bits.
Nonetheless, Frey’s swordsmanship was genuine.
As I intended to speak harshly while protecting my head with my shield, Frey was already running far away.
...What is this about hitting first and then running away? Did she find my nagging that unbearable?
Hmm. I don’t think I’ll be welcomed if I chase after her.
Since I’ll meet her later, I can nag her then.
This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.
So, let’s check on something else first.
Thanks to spending time sparring with Frey, my holiness had been significantly restored.
I will use the Holy Domain to check...
“Miss.”
The moment I decided to look, a voice that seemed to have been waiting for me rang out, causing me to halt the use of holiness.
Standing behind me was something that looked like a sword, but it was not a sword.
It’s hard to put into words, but how should I say it?
I can’t feel the subtle madness usually emanating from a normal sword.
If it were that one, it would wait for several days without showing impatience.
Instead, it would shout, “Thank you for letting me wait!”
What’s this? What is this guy doing?
I applied more force to the hand gripping my mace as the opponent hurriedly spoke.
“I am Alsetin, my lady.”
...Alsetin?
What is he doing here?
What if he gets discovered by the academy?
If he had just sent a note, I would have gone to meet him later. Why is he doing something so urgent?
“I’m sorry, my lady. It’s quite an urgent matter.”
‘What is it?’
“Speak. Quickly.”
“It’s related to what you were looking for, my lady. Darkness is attempting to engulf the land.”
...Huh.
Wait a moment?
So, if it’s something I was looking for, it’s definitely information related to the Burrow noble family.
If it’s about darkness, then it’s Tariki.
And the land refers to the territory.
Putting all of this together, it means Tariki is trying to engulf the territory.
To put it another way, it means the Apostle of the Evil God is trying to offer the Burrow territory to Tariki...
Are you insane?
Are you insane!?
Is that bastard going crazy to get annihilated?!