Flinch—.
Adelia looked deeply moved by my words.
After staring at me for a long while, she bowed deeply at the waist and greeted me.
“Thank you, Sir Gaon. Even though you are busy, you have set aside time for me like this.......”
Hmm.
It’s all right, Adelia.
I’m not doing this for your sake. I’m trying to test my talent for the sword.
Of course, I couldn’t tell her what I truly thought, so I put on my usual airs.
“Now that you understand, give it your all.”
“Yes.”
SHING—!
Adelia nodded and drew her sword.
The wind swept through the back courtyard. Adelia’s platinum-blond hair billowed.
“.......”
“.......”
A brief silence passed between us.
Then Adelia’s first sword strike cleaved the air.
WHOOOSH—!
It was a movement too fast for the eye to follow.
The sharp whistle of air being torn apart battered my eardrums.
‘This.......’
Pale dust rose with every step Adelia took.
The full weight in her legs pressed deep tracks into the dirt.
WHOOOOSH—!
This was no leisurely sword dance.
They were desperate movements that crossed the boundary between life and death.
That was right.
Adelia was locked in a fierce battle against an imagined enemy.
‘.......Visualization training?’
Thinking that, I watched every one of Adelia’s movements closely.
Her sword raged like a storm. My eyes couldn’t yet fully track her movements, but I could just barely follow their afterimages.
Left, right, above, below.
Adelia blocked point after point in the air without pause.
As if she were knocking aside attacks flying in from every direction at once.
SHWAAASH—!
Adelia’s sword traced a smooth arc through the air.
Her stance, with her center of gravity lowered as she guarded every direction, felt strangely familiar.
‘Ah.’
Only then could I picture Adelia’s ‘enemy.’
Attacks that targeted six directions at once.
The figure charging at her like Asura, a massive greatsword in hand, was.......
【Peterpan, the Kidnapper of Dawnguard】
【Lv. 82】
‘.......So it was Peterpan.’
FLUTTER—!
The very next moment, a virtual enemy appeared before my eyes.
The hazy figure of Peterpan began fighting fiercely against Adelia.
Once her opponent appeared, every one of Adelia’s movements finally made sense.
‘Hah.......’
A hollow laugh slipped out before I realized it.
Her movements were on an entirely different level from several days ago, when she had only been Level 77.
Having surpassed her own limits in the meantime, Adelia displayed a sword style that was even more honed and sharp.
WHOOOSH, WHOOSH—!
The harsh sound of her sword cutting through the air continued without respite.
Unlike before, when she could not last even five minutes, Adelia now kept up perfectly with Peterpan’s movements.
‘.......Incredible.’
I couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
Adelia’s growth was astonishing, but the swordsmanship unfolding before me was also remarkably clear to read.
Though I couldn’t track every one of those arrow-swift movements in detail.......
I could at least understand the enemy she imagined and every intention behind how she confronted him.
“.......”
At the same time, another ‘path’ came into view.
Sword Path.
How could I break through my opponent’s sword? Was there no way to move even more efficiently?
I began to see all of it in detail.
I couldn’t explain the principles. I simply understood, by instinct, the minute flow of the sword and the answer hidden within it.
That was right.
It was like naturally learning how to breathe in and out without anyone needing to teach you.
‘Is this the power of a talent I’ve dumped all my points into.......?’
It was ridiculous.
After all, my average stats were still scraping the bottom.
My dynamic visual acuity, strength, and agility were all below the level of an ordinary person.
And yet, I could completely understand the advanced swordsmanship displayed by a Level 80 powerhouse.......
‘.......That must mean my potential for further growth is limitless.’
A tingling thrill ran through me.
This monstrous talent possessed far more terrifying potential than I had thought.
It was already this powerful. How much stronger could I become if I raised my stats?
I’m not certain yet, but I felt as though I could face even enemies whose levels far surpassed mine.
‘There aren’t many geniuses in this world whose talent is overwhelming enough to overcome a gap in levels.’
The so-called Irregulars.
Even counting Adelia, such aberrant beings were few enough to count on one hand.
It was not that the characters’ vessels for talent were small. Levels simply served as an absolute benchmark.
In a situation like this, I, having awakened my talent for the sword.......
Had now become one of the ‘Irregulars’ who shattered the limits of level.
“Whew.”
HALT—.
At that moment, Adelia, who had been swinging her sword without pause, suddenly stopped.
By then, Peterpan’s phantom had already disappeared.
After slowly catching her breath, Adelia fixed her gaze on her new opponent.
‘.......It looks like she’s about to begin visualization training with her next opponent.’
WOOOOSH—.
A suffocating standoff unfolded.
Adelia assumed a textbook yet steadfast middle guard stance and aimed the tip of her sword at her opponent’s throat.
Naturally, the enemy’s figure began to take shape in my sight.......
“.......!”
At that very moment, an icy chill crept up my spine.
My vision warped, and a certain ‘being’ emerged from within Adelia’s imagination.
‘.......What is that?’
RUMMMMMBLE—!
An overwhelming presence pressed down upon the space around us.
Its form was undoubtedly human, but Adelia looked infinitely small standing before that ‘being.’
The opponent was shrouded in a darkness so dense it seemed capable of swallowing every light in this world.
His sheer force inspired an unfathomable fear and oppressive pressure.
“.......Ah.”
With a low sigh, Adelia let go of her sword.
The weapon that fell limply from her hand rolled across the dirt with a clear ring.
Adelia’s hands trembled ceaselessly. The face beneath her shadow was filled with nothing but despair.
Even in the world of her imagination, Adelia could not bring herself to face that being.
A cold silence followed.
Although the enemy’s phantom had disappeared, its presence still lingered like an afterimage.
‘Just who was that.......?’
The question suddenly crossed my mind.
Who could Adelia’s final opponent possibly have been?
It was a presence strong enough to freeze even me, despite my Mental Strength stat being MAX.
It would not have been an exaggeration to call it a calamity bordering on cosmic horror.
I racked my brain, but I couldn’t think of a character in Loel’s setting who possessed such a presence.
‘.......Could it be Adelia’s target for revenge?’
But even if that bastard was strong, he couldn’t be that strong.
Did Adelia’s trauma make him seem that terrifying?
Questions led to more questions. It felt as though my head would explode.
Unable to bear it any longer, I finally asked Adelia.
“Who was your final opponent?”
JOLT—.
Adelia’s body jerked as if she had gone into a spasm.
Having barely escaped the enemy in her mind, she picked up her sword.
Then she slowly turned toward me and spoke.
“Sir Gaon.”
Adelia called my name.
I wondered why she had suddenly called me by name.
But in the next moment, her answer resolved all my questions at once.
“My final opponent was....... Sir Gaon. It was you.”
***
Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake—.
Adelia silently looked down at her own hands.
Is it because of the fear engraved into her body? Her arms, still holding her sword, shook like aspen leaves.
“.......”
At last, she had overcome the high wall that had stood in her way.
Even Peterpan, who had once been difficult to face, was now an opponent she could handle with room to spare.
With that in mind, she had decided to take the chance and try a mental-image battle against Sir Gaon as well.......
‘.......There is still a long way to go.’
His martial prowess had reached a realm her current attainments could never dare approach.
“Adelia.”
At that moment, Sir Gaon spoke.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Adelia quickly looked up.
Then she could not help but be startled.
‘Huh?’
After all, in Sir Gaon’s hand.......
‘.......A sword?’
There was a sword in his hand, though she had no idea when he had taken it out.
“There’s no need to fight in your mind when the opponent you want to spar with is right in front of you.”
“.......!”
“Go ahead and attack. With all your strength.”
SWISH—.
The moment he finished speaking, Sir Gaon took a stance with his sword still sheathed.
The blade was concealed, cutting its lethality in half, and not the slightest trace of energy could be sensed from him, including killing intent.......
Still, Adelia could not let her guard down before the opponent in front of her.
“.......”
Her body would not move.
The fear she had felt in the mental-image battle had not yet faded.
As if noticing that, Sir Gaon added, “I’m not going to attack.”
“.......Ah.”
“I’ll only defend, so don’t worry. Give me your very best strike.”
Only then did Adelia nod and take her stance.
She had no intention of letting this chance to receive valuable instruction slip by.
“.......”
GULP—.
Her mouth dry, she swallowed and gripped the hilt tightly.
The distance between Sir Gaon and Adelia was a little over three meters.
It was close enough for her to reach him with a single leap.
CREAK—!
The weight shifted into both Adelia’s legs, and.......
CLANG—!
“.......Huh?”
A dazed sound escaped Adelia before she knew it.
Her palm stung. The sword she had been gripping was nowhere to be seen.
WHIRRR—!
Only then did the sword, which had shot into the air and was now plummeting toward the ground, enter the edge of her vision.
“W-what....... was that......?”
Adelia’s eyes went wide.
She could not understand what had happened in the slightest.
The moment she resolved to attack, before she could even deliver a proper blow.
Her weapon had slipped free of her grasp.
“.......”
THUNK—!
Not long after, the sword embedded itself in the ground.
Still dazed, Adelia turned to Sir Gaon.
Having defended against her decisive strike with absurd ease, he was still standing in exactly the same stance as before.
***
HUM—!
The tip of my sword trembled. A tingling sensation curled around my fingertips.
Savoring that pleasant feeling, I smiled to myself in satisfaction.
‘This.......’
━━━━━━━━━━━━
【Ultimate Auto-Parrying】
Grade : ★★★★★★★★★(9-Star—Legendary Grade)
Type : Passive Skill
Cost : None
Cooldown : 24 hours
[Skill Description]
When the fleeting moment and eternity meet, swordsmanship escapes the shackles of reason and enters the realm of instinct.
Your sword is no longer a mere ‘weapon.’ Like a heart that beats on its own, like lungs that naturally breathe even without conscious thought, your sword has become a part of you.
The mysteries of the human body are wondrous. They employ every means to protect their master. Your sword has now become one such part, and it will detect and block every threat of death.
Ultimate defense has now become your ‘instinct.’
[Effect]
Automatically blocks fatal attacks regardless of your Cognition stat.
━━━━━━━━━━━━
‘.......This is far better than I thought it would be?’