“Nina, Timothy should have taught you the origins of the Sword God Style, including the slash of the First Sword God.”
Swordsmanship had been created for one purpose: killing living things.
And living things that feared death did not stand still waiting to be cut.
Even if a swordsman simply swung straight at them from the front, they would try to evade.
That was why swordsmen spent enormous effort polishing technique.
They developed countless ways to release a slash: downward cuts, horizontal sweeps, rising attacks, and more.
The First Sword God had been different.
He simply swung faster than everything in front of him.
And cut it all in two.
People were not born equal.
Some entered the world surrounded by wealth.
Others began in poverty.
Some were born extraordinary.
Others possessed ordinary talent.
“What the First Sword God considered a completely natural slash was studied by generations of Sword Gods after him.
They analyzed it, broke it apart, measured every fraction of movement.
The end point they reconstructed is the ultimate technique we now call the Longsword of Light.”
“The reason the Holy Land of Swords still stands above the other schools today is largely because of that history.”
Gal spoke calmly.
“Then…
does Noah have talent comparable to the First Sword God?”
“…”
Gal frowned slightly.
His daughter had been hit so hard by Noah’s progress that she’d apparently lost enough common sense to ask a stupid question.
“Of course not.
Anyone with sufficient talent can eventually learn the Longsword of Light through practice.
Better geniuses simply travel that path faster.”
“Real monsters are different.
The First Sword God was one.
The Dragon God is another.
They exist on an entirely different level.”
Gal shook his head.
“Noah’s talent is better than I expected.
Maybe he’ll even become the youngest Sword Saint in history.
But that doesn’t mean everyone else is inferior to him.
You and Jino included.
Right now, Noah is simply moving faster.”
“Then why did Father only accept Noah as a disciple?”
“…”
“See?
Those were just words to comfort me.”
Gal stared at his still-depressed daughter.
As her father, perhaps he did need to wake her up properly.
“Nina.
Do you know the real difference between you and Noah?”
He looked out over the endless white snow and tapped one finger lightly against the hilt of his sword.
The sound pulled Nina’s attention back.
“Isn’t it…
swordsmanship, technique, and strength?”
Nina watched him as though waiting to see what answer he could possibly produce.
She had already realized during their duel that Noah’s swordsmanship surpassed hers.
His swings were heavier.
His speed was faster.
“Still too young.” Gal shook his head.
“Those are differences of body and technique at most.
I’m talking about the goal.”
Gal himself had never expected someone else to make Dragon God Orsted his target.
There had been a time when Gal took pride in his talent and basked in his own genius.
Then Orsted crushed him completely.
From that day onward, Gal trained like a man possessed for one purpose: to challenge the Dragon God again.
Eventually, he became Sword God.
But once he took responsibility for the Holy Land of Swords, he never again went searching for Orsted.
Was it duty?
Or fear?
Old memories surfaced.
Gal remembered lying bloodied before the Dragon God, and his scarred face unconsciously twisted.
Nina, looking down in thought, didn’t notice.
“Nina.
What is the goal you swing your sword for?”
If she weren’t his daughter, Gal wouldn’t have bothered pointing out something so important.
In his view, heart, body, and technique were all essential for a swordsman.
The body could be strengthened through exercise.
Technique could improve through repetition.
But desire and purpose differed from person to person.
How far someone could continue for the sake of that desire often determined where their path ended.
Gal didn’t interrupt Nina as she lowered her head and thought.
If a question like this was enough to shake her, then how far could she really travel as a swordsman?
Meanwhile, Noah’s performance today had surprised Gal yet again.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
Perhaps Gal should write to the Water God and North God schools earlier than planned.
If Noah really wanted to grow to the point of challenging the Dragon God, polishing himself solely against the Sword God Style would never be sufficient.
He needed more whetstones.
In Gal’s mind, a future plan was already forming.
Noah would travel to the other schools and challenge their dojos.
Just as the First Sword God had once wandered the world and challenged strong opponents everywhere.
Gal himself had also spent time as a wandering swordsman, sharpening his sword against different powerful enemies.
That was how he’d run into Orsted and suffered his crushing defeat.
A real sword couldn’t be sharpened by remaining locked in one place forever.
This journey would be necessary.
A pilgrimage of the sword.
Of course, there was one condition.
Noah’s talent and growth had to truly match his ambition.
He needed to develop quickly enough under Gal that the Sword God could make that decision without hesitation.
Nina remained deep in thought.
Gal silently planned his disciple’s future.
…
Sword Emperor Marcus’s residence.
After returning home, Noah didn’t immediately begin his daily swings.
He sat beside the bed and set his wooden sword down.
“…”
Once his body fully relaxed, Noah exhaled a long breath and replayed the day’s sparring in his mind.
He wasn’t the kind of swordsman who trained until his brain turned into a single straight line.
Learning to analyze failures and extract lessons was one reason he’d improved faster than children his age.
Naturally, Noah believed the true reason was simpler.
Unlike this entire dojo of illiterates, he used his brain.
Peak Great Completion of the Bachelor’s Degree Realm.
“Was my follow-up too slow after breaking the wooden sword?
Or did I leak killing intent…?
Probably both.
He’s the Sword God.
His vision and reactions are nowhere near something I can match yet.”
It had been like an old man playing with a toddler.
“If I control my presence…
could I catch him off guard?”
Noah knew nothing about what Gal had said to Nina afterward, nor about the Sword God’s plan to eventually send him around kicking in the doors of other schools.
And as for Noah having some grand, heroic dream…
Not really.
He simply didn’t want to meet the Dragon God one day and cosplay as Orsted’s speed bump.
If he really had to fight Orsted, Noah at least wanted the Dragon God to think:
‘Bad luck running into me today.
Hope you wore your thickest soles.’
After resting for a while, Noah finally felt better.
The nausea from Gal’s battle-aura blast—the sensation that all his internal organs had shifted sideways—gradually disappeared.
He walked out into the open courtyard.
Time for the daily grind.
Stance.
Swing.
The familiar, sharp sequence of Tsubame Gaeshi unfolded through Noah’s hands.
As repetition continued, his mind slowly sank into a state of total concentration.
‘Hehehe.
Swinging a sword is actually fun.’
Then the system notification sounded inside him.
[System Notice: You have completed ten thousand swings of Longsword of Silence: Tsubame Gaeshi.]
[Progress: Prototype – Ten Thousand Swings: Tsubame Gaeshi (1/100)]