5.
Swoosh, shhhk!
The swords in the students’ hands tirelessly cut through the air. Every movement was accompanied by a sharp whistling sound that filled the entire training field. Unlike ordinary wooden swords, these were weighted with steel rods inside. Amid harsh exhales and battle cries, the tips of some students’ swords produced a truly dangerous hum.
Whistle, pang!
Seeing this, the senior instructor slightly lifted the corners of his lips.
“Not bad.”
Compared to three months ago, the progress was incredible. And it was not only about outward changes like broadened shoulders or hardened physiques. It felt as though a formation of hundreds of sharp blades stood before his eyes.
“Of course, they still work roughly and the edge is hardly sharpened, but still…”
A sword was a sword. Considering not even a year had passed since the beginning of Lion’s Moat, their growth speed was astonishing. It clearly demonstrated how harsh the training here was.
“But what draws the most attention is…”
The senior instructor slowly turned his head. Among the students scattered across the field, his gaze singled out one boy.
“This brat.”
Reddish-brown hair and scarlet eyes. It was Kun Zoldic.
“When Lion’s Moat first began, I thought he would either quit training or die within the first days…”
Who would have imagined the child would not only survive but last nearly a year.
“His endurance, once at the very bottom, has already risen to the average level?”
And that was not the only miracle. Ordinary instructors constantly submitted reports that Kun mastered sword techniques at a frightening speed.
“As if he isn’t learning something new but remembering what he already knew.”
Recalling a line from a subordinate’s report, the senior instructor carefully watched Kun’s movements through the slits of his mask.
“Hm…”
Swoosh, shhhk!
Kun’s breathing was heavier than the others’, and his movements slightly slower. Apparently the steel-weighted sword was still too large and heavy for him.
“However…”
Despite this, his execution skill was outstanding even compared to the best students.
“Perfectly straight, like along a ruler.”
Apart from some slowness, his movements were exemplary, straight from a textbook. Now it was clear why instructors wrote such reports.
Blood will tell, even if the body is weak?
The thought flashed and disappeared. The senior instructor frowned.
But something else is strange. Despite flawless technique, I feel not the slightest trace of magic power or Aura.
In the Third Moat nearly thirty people had already dropped out. Around fifteen—perhaps twenty—percent of the students had not lasted a year, dying or being expelled. Considering more than half those losses happened not in training but in bloody clashes between the children themselves…
It was impossible to survive this meat grinder without Aura.
Two possibilities remained: either the boy’s mastery had reached a level allowing him to hide from the instructor’s perception, or his breathing technique belonged to the rare type that barely manifested outwardly.
There were several such techniques, but…
Could they deceive his sight? Not knowing the peculiarities of Supernatural Power and Divine Madness, the senior instructor merely shrugged.
It did not matter.
Whatever technique he used, everything would soon become clear.
“Everything is ready as you ordered…” one instructor reported.
The senior instructor smirked. Looking away from Kun, he commanded:
“In ten minutes, assemble the children.”
He never noticed that at the exact moment he turned away, Kun’s gaze shifted directly onto him — as if he had known from the beginning he was being watched.
6.
Feeling the heavy stare of the instructor disappear, Kun slowly exhaled.
“Huu.”
He lowered his sword and looked at the empty space before him.
Lion Tempering Basic Technique.
This was the name of the sword technique he received together with the weighted blade. They said one who grasped its essence would hear a lion’s roar with every swing, and that the technique was so universal it would become the perfect foundation for any combat art in the future.
But despite the grand name, the Lion Tempering Basic Technique was nothing outstanding.
It was the simplest technique of the Zoldics. Everyone learned it — direct heirs, side branches, even vassals when they first began the path.
Of course, as an art of House Zoldic it was far superior to anything found on the market, but…
If it were intermediate or advanced level, perhaps. A foundation was a foundation. Kun knew dozens of techniques surpassing it: Bloody Flower Sword, Blue Rose Sword, or Agran Style. Yet he obediently trained this style for two reasons.
First:
No point exposing trump cards.
No one would be surprised if a Zoldic heir knew other styles, but the more cards hidden up the sleeve the better. With his current weak body he had to hide his claws to survive. But he did not intend to merely cower.
The second reason was ironic: the Lion Tempering Technique truly gave an incredibly stable foundation. Heavy swords, twin blades, swift rapiers, curved swords, spears, staves, flails, even shields…
This technique developed exactly the muscles needed to wield any weapon.
Broad, if not deep, understanding of weapons — that was the goal of this style. It was the foundation of a house that recognized no boundaries in schools or types of magic, seeking only absolute strength. Now Kun understood why it was said there was no weapon the Zoldics could not wield.
Kun tightened his grip on the wooden sword when—
“Ahhh!” one student screamed and collapsed.
A snake shot from the bushes and slid across the ground before disappearing into the grass. Bright coloration and triangular head left no doubt — it was venomous.
“Snake!”
“Careful, it might be poisonous! Don’t approach!”
The children panicked.
“Don’t you think there have been too many snakes lately?”
“And poisonous toads and strange birds…”
The changes were too deliberate to blame merely on warmer weather after winter.
So this is what they meant by choosing the principle ‘The living take all’ instead of ordinary survival…
Kun was about to smirk after understanding the plan when a loud voice rang out:
“Attention!”
“All gather!”
The instructors’ voices thundered across the field. Exactly three months had passed since they began studying Aura breathing techniques.
Some time later a small bowl stood before each student. Inside was a substance resembling soup freshly scooped from a bucket. Its murky color and nauseating smell immediately suggested something bad.
Kun recognized the contents before the senior instructor spoke.
“I see some of you have already guessed. What is before you is poison.”
A murmur instantly rose among the children.
“Poison?!”
“Why? We have to drink it?!”
The instructor continued, ignoring the panic:
“And this is no ordinary poison. It is called Witch’s Garden.”
His voice was calm, as though he had known exactly how they would react.
Witch’s Garden…
It was a mixture of hundreds of poisonous and medicinal herbs, something between toxin and medicine. Witch’s Garden did not increase magical power like expensive elixirs, but if a person overcame it, they gained immunity to many poisons and cleansed their mana channels of impurities.
Clear proof of the old saying that the difference between poison and medicine lies only in its use.
It was poison — but to the one who conquered it, a gift.
Of course, only if you could digest it.
The complex composition promised agonizing pain: from convulsions and temporary paralysis to blindness or irreversible flesh rot.
For training it was surely diluted…
But still, for effect it had to be taken every three days for half a year. The risk was enormous.
“Drink,” the senior instructor cut off.
His tone allowed no objections. And Kun had no intention of whining over some toxin.
Ssss…
As if sensing the boiling poison, the power of Supernatural Power and Divine Madness inside his body bared its fangs hungrily. The reaction was far more ferocious than usual — like a wild beast seeing long-awaited prey and drooling.
Kun narrowed his eyes in confusion and slowly raised the bowl to his lips.
Then—
A swallow, another.
What followed even Kun did not expect. The power of his technique, as if opening a huge maw, devoured the poison completely before it could spread through the body.
Crunch!