Chapter 50: What the Magician Doesn’t Learn
Chapter 50 – What the Magician Doesn’t Learn
“Call it magic now.”
As soon as he heard Flan’s words, Ivan took two steps back.
…Call it magic?
That’s absurd. I can’t understand or accept it.
I was born a knight, I received a knight’s duty, and I trained only with the sword ever since I could hold something.
Swordsmanship.
This is swordsmanship. It will always be, and I never doubted this truth that is close to a fact.
Swoosh!
Ivan swung his sword again.
The sword, aided by his innate ability, rushed towards Flan’s head like a ray of light.
But again, the doll quickly intervened.
Clang!
The swords clashed, creating a huge explosion.
“…”
Ivan’s eyes twitched. He was startled by the doll’s solid defense.
No, it was more than just solid.
The doll was mimicking Ivan’s swordsmanship to protect its master. Exactly, the same.
“…Stop?”
There was no answer. The target was a doll, after all.
Ivan slowly rolled his eyes. He soon reached Flan, who was calmly standing.
I shouted without realizing it.
“How dare you play such a prank on a knight… Aren’t you afraid of my sword?”
“I wonder.”
The answer came back quickly. In a cold tone.
“I ask you, Ivan, would you be afraid of such an opponent?”
“Such…”
Thud.
It felt like a nerve bundle snapped somewhere in his head.
“Such…”
He repeated Flan’s words. His boiling head cooled down in an instant.
No, maybe it was already completely burned.
Flan was right.
She was nothing but ‘such’ an opponent right now, and he might suffer a humiliating defeat like this.
But.
‘Knights don’t get stronger only by training.’
Ivan knew.
If you can’t use all your skills in real combat, you’re third-rate. If you can use all your skills in real combat, you’re second-rate.
And… only those who overcome their limits in real combat can be called true first-rate knights.
Ivan lifted his head. He breathed evenly, and looked around at the many students sitting in the stands.
Many knight students were looking at only one person, and Ivan knew that person was him.
He nodded once, and gripped his sword.
‘Watch carefully, everyone.’
Whether your choice to trust me as your representative was right or wrong.
This match was no longer a simple game of win or lose for Ivan.
It was a place to prove that there was a unique swordsmanship and spirit that only knights had, and that it could never be imitated by something like magic.
What she held in her hand was not just a sword. The knights’ pride was also in her grip.
“Hoo…”
Ivan slowly raised his sword.
Upper stance.
He abandoned the middle stance, which had both defense and offense. He was going to break through something today.
He repeated his breaths. His breaths got lower, and the air around him started to sink.
‘Sharply, without mercy.’
If the doll copied himself, he just had to trample himself and move on.
Like a flying bird, he wouldn’t look back.
Clang!
The doll blocked Ivan’s sword again. But it was different from before.
Ivan suddenly felt his vision widen.
He started to see the doll’s wobbling. To him now, he saw the gap.
“…What is it?”
Eric, the scout of the Mysterious Valley, muttered without knowing.
Flan.
The name he first heard through Colin. He felt that she was not exceptional when he looked at her appearance.
A person with self-confidence. Just that.
“To summon Ivan and fight him, how did you come up with that idea… No, even if you did. Is that possible with just a few minutes of observation?”
“That’s half right and half wrong, I guess.”
Colin nudged Eric.
“In what way?”
“I don’t know much about the unique abilities, but… The swordsmanship is clearly Ivan’s, anyone can see that.”
“But even if it’s only half right… It’s already an impossible thing.”
Eric unconsciously stuck out his tongue.
In the end, didn’t it mean that Plan had perfectly copied her swordsmanship with just a few observations of Ivan?
“Senior, look at the atmosphere of the knight department.”
The two scouts looked around the audience seats of the knight department.
The students who would have cheered enthusiastically normally were sitting blankly, and the silence reminded them of emptiness.
“Of course it’s like that. The swordsmanship they invested time and effort in was copied in an instant. For the knight department, it’s a matter that shakes their foundation.”
As if he felt a chill, Eric rubbed his arm.
“Look at the eyes they’re giving Plan. Wow, scary…”
There was no resentment or blame for Ivan, the representative. Only, the eyes toward Plan were not nice.
And there were a lot of them.
“How can they not glare? In their position, Plan is nothing more or less than a thief.”
“A thief… Can you say that? It’s magic.”
“That’s why the magicians acknowledge it. Originally, knights and magicians don’t understand each other.”
“Anyway, at this rate, the magic department will win. In front of their eyes… Something unbelievable is happening.”
“Don’t doubt it.”
Colin’s cold voice nudged Eric again.
“Don’t doubt it, and accept what happened as it is. That’s what a scout should do.”
But even Colin had sweat running down his forehead.
“…Even if something I’ve never seen before happens in front of me.”
“Is there no possibility for Ivan to turn the tables?”
“Well.”
Eric’s head turned to Colin with a swish. Colin spoke without taking his eyes off Plan and Ivan.
“If he awakens… Maybe. Have you ever seen someone awaken?”
At Colin’s words, Eric quietly shook his head. He had not been a scout for even a year.
“Do you know what awakening is?”
“Senior, I know that much. Whether it’s a magician or a knight, when they awaken, their realm rises sharply.”
“Sigh… You know too little.”
Colin let out a deep sigh.
“It’s true that their realm rises as if their blood is cleared, but that’s for the magicians. The way of awakening for the knights is a bit different.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, the knights’ abilities become more unique. I don’t need to explain how much their power increases.”
“Ah… And then they go beyond that to the realm of transcendence.”
Eric nodded quietly.
“For now, just remember one thing. Awakening requires a trigger.”
“A trigger… Yeah, that makes sense. It doesn’t make sense to awaken without any trigger.”
“Right. So, from now on, focus your attention and watch.”
Colin paused for a moment and then said.
“Whether they want to overturn the situation or maintain it. It’s enough to be a trigger for awakening.”
?
Ivan suddenly felt his body burning.
But he was not in a hurry.
The sword had already become a part of his body. He felt the energy wrapped around the sword vividly.
Had he ever been so focused? Had he ever been so desperate?
And.
Had he ever been so angry?
He didn’t need words at this moment. He just stared at his opponent with a sharp edge.
At that moment, when everyone held their breath.
“Huh!”
Swallowing his breath, Ivan ran toward the doll.
His sword slashed the air several times. The sound of breaking the air came a beat late.
Boom!
‘Faster.’
Ivan’s speed was different from that of other knights.
No, it had to be. Otherwise, his unique ability would have no meaning.
‘Faster!’
He pursued the extreme of speed.
With every swing, the sensation at the tip of the sword becomes clearer.
‘Faster, faster!’
My body is pushed to the limit, and it is faster than ever. I reach a level that I could never achieve before.
In an instant, countless traces are created, and they pour down on the doll, stabbing it.
Crack!
One of the doll’s arms falls off.
I surpass myself. I break my limit.
That desperate feeling, it ‘awakens’ the knight.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The doll’s hand, arm, shoulder are cut off in order.
My lower body supports my body firmly, and my body moves smoothly, making the sword dance.
Ivan from before… He is no match for the current Ivan.
The doll that was torn apart becomes a blue energy and disperses.
Finally, Ivan, who is left alone, looks at Flan with his eyes sinking endlessly.
“I am a knight.”
She started to mutter softly.
“We have dreamed of impossible dreams, fought against unbeatable enemies, welcomed unbearable pain, and lived like that.”
Ivan puts his palm on the body of the blade. He then moves his hand to the tip of the sword.
“But when we achieve the impossible. When we defeat the unbeatable. When we endure the unbearable.”
Then, the entire blade begins to emit a brilliant light.
A golden, intense energy that cannot be compared to the white energy.
“…We finally obtain our own. A uniqueness that no one else can have.”
Ivan slowly takes his stance.
There is no need to complicate things. Just one fast thing will be enough.
Also, this is something that cannot be imitated or replicated.
“Flan.”
The awakened knight softly, put the name of his opponent in his mouth.
“A knight learns for a lifetime, not to bend in front of defeat. That is the indomitable spirit that is engraved in our bones.”
Ivan slowly inhales. The excitement heats up his body.
I will keep swinging, stabbing, and advancing. I will prove that there is a unique domain for knights.
That is, the knight’s way that Ivan thinks of.
“…This is, something you can never follow.”
The golden energy begins to swirl.
There is no need for a grand name for this manifestation.
One flash.
A single, brilliant sparkle. That’s all it takes.
Ivan sticks the sword close to his body. He sees the path to Flan clearly.
My body is lighter than ever. I will surely win. No, I cannot lose.
“Not to bend in front of defeat… Knights have a lot to learn. Surprising.”
Then Flan opened his mouth.
“There are a few things that magicians don’t learn.”
He continues with a natural attitude.
“I didn’t learn how to lose, and I don’t know.”
The magician’s red eyes look at the knight.
“Come.”
At the same time, a golden line stretches out.
?
“Haa, haa…”
Ivan wipes the tip of his sword.
There is a line of blood on the cold blade.
It means that the strike hit. He shakes off the blood drops that flow along the blade and nods his head.
“…I won.”
Flan must have been cleanly cut in half. He must have been sent to the infirmary by now.
The tension that was filled in his body is finally released. He feels a sense of accomplishment that he raised his level.
But then it happened.
“Not bad.”
“…!”
He quickly turned his head back at the sudden voice.
“You definitely have your own unique point. And the fact that you surpassed your limit is also commendable.”
He shudders his shoulders as he looks at Flan, who is standing calmly.
The uniform on the edge of Flan’s shoulder was torn. That part was slightly stained with blood.
‘How on earth.’
Ivan’s strike was as fast as lightning, and there was no error in the trajectory. It couldn’t have missed.
…Flan, he somehow dodged it.
“But Ivan, I’m curious about that ability of yours.”
Flan continued his words as he rubbed his chin.
His red eyes, filled with nothing but curiosity, met Ivan’s gaze.
“I want to see it a few more times. How about it?”
Mist rose from Flan’s body and eroded the space.
The dreamlike waves of mana soon formed three images.
“Wha, what…”
Ivan’s jaw trembled.
The moment he flicked his finger, three black swords that emitted a menacing aura appeared in front of him.
Flan quietly clasped his palms together.
Like gears rotating in different directions, he slowly moved his palms to interlock them.
Then, each sword transformed into Ivan’s appearance.
This time, not one, but three.
“I’d like to see it three more times.”
“…”
Dumbfounded, Ivan couldn’t close his mouth.
He also couldn’t utter a single word.
The sword left Ivan’s hand.
Bang!
Finally, the moment the sword hit the ground.
A thunderous roar erupted from the magic department.
I also edited and corrected the sentence structures, words, and paragraphs to make them more suitable for web novels. Here is my edited version:
Ivan felt a chill run down his spine as Flan rubbed his chin and spoke.
“That ability of yours… it piqued my curiosity.”
Flan’s red eyes, devoid of any fear and full of curiosity, locked onto Ivan.
“How about showing it to me a few more times?”
A misty aura surrounded Flan’s body and distorted the space around him.
Soon, three images emerged from the dreamlike waves of mana.
“What the hell…”
Ivan’s jaw dropped.
As soon as he flicked his finger, three black swords that radiated a sinister presence materialized in front of him.
Flan brought his palms together and slowly moved them in a circular motion.
Like gears turning in opposite directions, his palms aligned and clicked.
Then, the swords changed their shape and took on Ivan’s likeness.
Not one, but three copies of him.
“I want to see it three more times.”
“…”
Ivan was speechless.
He couldn’t close his mouth or say anything.
The sword slipped from his hand.
Boom!
The sword crashed into the ground with a loud noise.
A deafening cheer erupted from the magic department.
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