Chapter 67
When class ended, rumors about two students about to fight in the presence of Professor Kane spread throughout the entire academy in just a matter of minutes.
'If I had known I would break my promise to Cain so easily…'
Joshua muttered to himself with a bitter smile while tapping the table in front of him with his small fingers.
‘If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have made such a promise to Cain. He wouldn’t have to worry about his lousy master too much.’
He had lived for about half a century now, but he felt as if he was becoming more and more childish as time went on.
In fact, he was currently being childish in his childish body.
‘I’m more annoyed whenever the spear is being dismissed than when I’m the one being dismissed.’
Joshua’s life had always been like that. However, no one had dared to dismiss the spear anymore once Joshua had become an Absolute Master.
However, Joshua had to endure criticism and humiliation for using a spear as his main weapon for the longest time.
It seemed that Joshua was oblivious to the passage of time.
‘No… the era doesn’t matter—my blood still boils whenever I hear someone belittling the spear.’
"Ash… It's not too late to back out."
Joshua turned to the side upon hearing Icarus’ voice.
"Can you please stop saying that?"
Icarus' expression became more stern.
"I'm sorry, but I'll be frank… I'm not sure what you're thinking, but you won't be able to beat Amaru. Even if he loses the sparring, the wrath of the Stens will still fall upon you. You humiliated the rapier, and then shamed one of them in a battle..."
"Don't worry, I just have to defeat all of them then."
"...!"
Icarus' eyes shot wide open. He stared at Ash as if the latter had gone mad... and then he realized it. Only he and Agareth were terrified for Ash’s life. Ash had never been worried about himself at all.
'Ash's ancestors are apparently fallen nobles.'
Icarus hurriedly exclaimed, "Ash! You should look out for yourself!"
"..."
Icarus' remark caused Joshua to freeze.
"Can't you feel it at all? Agareth and I are very worried about you! Can't you see that we’re trying our best to save you?"
"Ah, that…"
Agareth let out a light sigh and looked at Joshua with those puppy-like eyes.
“If you want this place to change, then it’s impossible. You can never change this place on your own!”
"I won't be able to change this place on my own, huh," Joshua muttered with bright eyes in response to Icarus’ words, "Did something happen?"
"No… I mean…"
Icarus looked at Joshua before shaking his head.
"What's in the past should stay in the past. What you're facing right now is more important, Ash."
Joshua pointed at the grim-looking Icarus.
"You know what… I really like gambling—a lot."
"Huh?"
Icarus was taken aback by Joshua's abrupt reply.
"Now, let's gamble. Let's make a bet about this craziness, shall we? If I defeat Amaru bron Sten, stick to my beliefs, and survive the aftermath without a single hitch, unscathed, or whatever you call it, I win."
"You really… you can still think of gambling despite your situation?!"
"The loser shall fulfill the request of the winner."
Icarus looked at Joshua with a strange expression.
"Uhm, for the record, I don’t want you to fight. But now, you're telling me that if you lose the sparring, I'll win?"
"..."
"If I somehow win the bet, I already know what I want you to do, but—"
Once Icarus’ words fell, Joshua interrupted, "I never considered that."
"What?"
"The idea of me losing this wager."
"...!"
Icarus' eyes widened.
‘What the hell is that inexhaustible confidence?’
Icarus knew that Ash was from a fallen Viscount family. He also knew that his situation was similar to Ash’s, so he knew that nothing good would come out of dissuading Ash. After all, the latter was in the worst-case scenario right now.
While Icarus was thinking hard…
"Ah, that sounds fun!"
"...!"
Icarus abruptly spun around, startled by the voice from the opposite side of the room.
Agareth was grinning from ear to ear like a madman.
"Can I join in on that wager?"
Icarus exclaimed, "Agareth!"
"No… Hear me out here, Icarus. There's no other way out of this, okay? Ash right here couldn't possibly extinguish a fire with words alone. Amaru also isn’t the type of guy to forgive and forget, you know?"
"But still…"
"I see you're still unconvinced. Look at it this way… no matter how much Ash right here tries to run, Amaru won't settle for less than proving the power of the Sten Family through this so-called sparring. Professor Kane will officiate the sparring anyway."
"..."
"Let them fight and break each other's limbs. Perhaps we might even win this wager. And use it to make him stop getting into trouble."
Icarus could only shut his mouth in response to Agareth's words.
Agareth turned to Joshua. "Of course, I'm betting on Amaru, so don't worry."
Joshua smiled and replied, "Whatever floats your boat."
***
Swordsmanship practice was often held at the large training arena behind the academic building.
Upon hearing that the fight they had been waiting for would be held at the large arena today, thousands of students rushed to the scene.
Amaru, the second son of the Sten Family, smirked as the attention of many people fell on him.
"Is your brain still working, or did you drop it while fleeing?"
"Pffft!"
Amaru's voice was rather loud, and his words made some of the students laugh.
"I admire your courage. To think you would actually come back... However, what you said about rapiers being garbage is unacceptable. There’s no way you run away now that you’re here," Amaru coldly said. He glanced at Professor Kane standing in the middle of the arena.
When he saw the unresponsive Joshua, Amaru chuckled and continued. "Don’t be arrogant now and choose a proper weapon. You’ll end up hurting yourself if you choose the wrong weapon."
Joshua didn’t reply at all. He simply tightened his grip on the wooden stick.
Unbeknownst to everyone here, Joshua was going through a significant transformation.
As Joshua glanced at the weapon in his hands, he recalled something. He knew he could easily defeat anyone using his spear skill alone, let along using his Magic Spear Arts Level 3.
However, Joshua was fully aware that he could easily defeat a naive kid like Amaru through his physical strength alone.
‘Once again, I’m going to show the world how great it is to wield a spear.’
Joshua muttered to himself and started recalling the fundamentals that he had mastered.
Every martial art was unique and distinct. As an example, Duke Agnus’ swordsmanship boasted great power, which was just natural, given Duke Agnus’ extremely strong physique.
Meanwhile, the Sten Family’s swordsmanship had a myriad of variations as well as an elusive, flowing elegance.
Softness could triumph over strength, speed could triumph over softness, heaviness could triumph over speed, and strength could triumph over heaviness. With this logic, one might think that the Sten Family’s softness would lead them to victory over Duke Agnus, but that was not the case. Such a duel was meaningless for an Absolute like Duke Agnus.
Of course, the exceptions to this logic could be counted on one hand.
Only a limited few were exempted from this rule that still applied to the majority of people, especially those on the lower rungs. However, such a mentality would have a significant impact on the outcome of one’s battles.
If that was the case, what kind of mentality Joshua needed to have to win this fight? How could he counter his opponent’s specialty?
‘The fight has to end quickly.’
Joshua grinned in joy as he felt the warmth of the wooden stick in his hand.
He hadn’t really used such a wooden stick before, but because it somewhat looked like his Lugia, it had now caught his attention.
There were many types of swords, and one sword type did not necessarily suit the master of another. In contrast, spears were generally robust and heavy. They were unwieldy, and it was generally hard to use them to kill effectively on the battlefield. However, spears could be used in many situations.
Unfortunately, the spears’ disadvantage meant that most knights had used lances before mana had become ubiquitous throughout the continent.
‘I have only been looking at the next milestone while running, but whenever I cross over a wall, another wall a thousand times higher will obstruct my route once again. There’s no other choice for me but to start running again…’
The spear had infinite possibilities.
Joshua believed that it was the case because he had once mastered that Magic Spear Arts.
‘I have been sprinting in hopes of seeing the finish line, but it appears that my path has become distorted and I didn't even notice.’
‘I’m an idiot. There’s nothing more important than the fundamentals and the initiative. To think that I’ve forgotten those two. It seems that I really still have a long way to go.’
Joshua’s spear skill had become so advanced that the fundamentals had basically gotten buried in the depths of his memories. As such, Joshua became lost in his thoughts as he tried to recall each and every part of the basics.
***
Joshua felt like he was misunderstanding something. It seemed that the reason why the road to his future seemed unclear was that the memories of his past life were overlapping with his current life.
"The sparring begins… now!"
Professor Kane's voice suddenly rang out.
"All right, let’s fight!"
Amaru gnashed his teeth and took a step forward as the clamor of the crowd intensified.
"Do your best, you bastard." Realizing that Joshua was ignoring him, with his eyes closed, Amaru finally exploded. "All right, then. If this is what you want, then I'll crush you like this!"
He rushed forward, and his snake-like eyes glimmered coldly.
"..."
Joshua's senses were telling him that a fast-moving opponent was coming for him.
'But… What's this?'
Joshua felt like time had slowed down. Others thought that Amaru was moving extremely fast, but it was the exact opposite for Joshua.
Time had slowed down so much that a second felt like an eternity.
Finally, Amaru appeared in front of him after a long and painful delay.
Joshua gently opened his eyes.
"Thanks."
"What are you talking abou—" Amaru was about to ask.
However, a ray of light struck Amaru's abdomen out of the blue.
"...?"
A deafening silence filled the arena.
Amaru had been charging at Joshua like a madman, but he suddenly stiffened and stood frozen like a rock.
Even Kane was astonished.
"What are you doing Amaru—" Kane shouted.
However, his voice was interrupted by a loud thud.
"Arghhhh."
Amaru slumped and collapsed after screaming out.
The cadets gathered in the arena gawked in disbelief.
To them, it looked like Amaru had stumbled to the floor while angrily charging at Joshua.
In contrast to the cadets’ reaction, one person looked overjoyed.
'Extreme swiftness, where the opponent can't even see or comprehend how they were hit. Speed above speed, speed beyond speed.'
Joshua gripped the wooden stick so hard that it was crushed in his grip, and he stood there unmoving.
It was a skill that he had never acquired in his past life: Enlightenment of Magic Spear Arts Level 6.
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