Volume 1
Finale Part 1
A few days had passed since the rematch with Mars.
On this day, my master
had told me to come to the hut after class, so as soon as school was over, I
headed to her place after returning to the dorm.
Actually, the
end-of-year exams were approaching, with only two days left until the test.
No matter how much my
abilities had improved, the exams at Solminati Academy were difficult. And the
end-of-year exams would be even harder.
Especially since I had
barely managed to advance through the written exams, to be honest, I wanted to
focus on studying.
Usually, I would
refrain from training right before exams and concentrate on studying, but for
some reason, this time my master had insisted that I come today.
"Why did she say
I absolutely had to come? What's wrong with Master?"
Unlike usual, my
master had a serious expression and emphasized, "Understood? You
absolutely must come!" which made me a little uneasy.
When I arrived at my
master's hut, she was casually drinking tea inside as usual.
"Oh, Nozomu,
you've come."
Her demeanor was so
unchanged that I felt all my tension drain away.
"Master, what's
wrong today? I'm about to have my end-of-year exams soon, so if I don't cram,
I'm really going to be in trouble."
Frankly speaking, it
was a serious issue. My physical abilities had improved somewhat, and I could
now use techniques in battle that I couldn't before, even if I could use them
in training. This broadened my options in a fight, but it was still going to be
tough.
"Come on, don't
be like that. Just keep me company today. An invitation from such a beautiful
woman, you'd be no man to refuse~."
…………What on earth is this
person saying…………
"…………Master. Have
you been drinking since noon?"
"Of course not!
You should respect your master more!"
"I do respect
you. If only Master wouldn't say things that sound like a bad scam."
"Who's a
scammer!? And when did I ever say such a thing!!!"
Master, all scammers
say that.
"The 'beautiful
woman' part is a lie, isn't it!? At best, you're a former beautiful
woman!!"
"…………Stop right
there!"
Master's face turned
demonic as she placed her hand on her katana. A palpable killing intent rose
from her body. The wild birds around the hut took flight all at once, flapping
their wings to get as far away as possible.
……So scary. Master's
hair stood on end, truly like an ogre… or a yaksha, considering her homeland.
But I couldn't back
down either. I always get beaten up over trivial jokes, and even my retorts
elicit techniques equivalent to high ranks.
She can control the
force of her blows when it comes to killing or not killing, but she seems
utterly incapable of adjusting her strength to the situation.
I really need to teach
this person, who's challenging the law of equivalent exchange, about adjusting
their strength!
…………Otherwise, I'll never
escape this ridiculous state of routinely fainting in everyday life!!!
"B-but even I
can't take this unreasonable—" (Clang!) "Did you say something?"
"N-no, nothing at all. Master, you look beautiful as always today
too—"
……I couldn't do it.
……Master, please stop
pressing your katana against my neck along with your killing intent……
After that, Master
started talking about trivial things. About her homeland. About her family.
About what happened after she came to this continent.
She also wanted to
hear my story, so I told her about everything up to now. About my home village.
About my parents. About Lisa. About the events at the academy, about when I met
Master, and about the hellish training afterward.
There were some things
Master already knew, but she still wanted to hear them.
Even when I repeated
things, she nodded many times, listening with a happy expression.
…………As if engraving them
into her own memory so she would never forget them again.
As we talked, the
scenery turned crimson. It seemed it had become evening without me noticing.
Master glanced at the
scenery and muttered.
"Well then, shall
we begin the final training?"
***
I just exchanged words
with Nozomu. The content was very ordinary. Where is your hometown? How is your
family? What do you like?
Such very normal
conversations. We hadn't had many such conversations before. I taught him with
the katana, and I spoke with the katana.
katana, katana, katana.
That's all I had
taught him, and that was the most like us.
So now, these very
ordinary things he talked about felt so fresh, and the way his expressions
changed so much as he listened to my stories made me so happy.
I thought I would
never exchange words with someone like this again.
…………No, I was probably
intentionally avoiding it. Just as Nozomu was unconsciously running away from
the fact that he was "dumped by his lover," I was also running away
from the fact that I was "betrayed by my family," avoiding people,
and standing still.
…………What a fool I am.
With this, I have no
right to say anything about my disciple……
This inept master was
admired by this boy. He says all sorts of things, but I could clearly feel that
he trusted and relied on me.
If I had been born a
few decades later……I probably would have wished to live with him.
But the bond between
us is not that of lovers, but of master and disciple. It's a little
regrettable, but even so, there's something I can leave in his heart at the
end.
That's fine with me.
That's enough. His side……I'll leave it to someone who can walk with him.
***
"Well then. Shall
we begin the final training?"
Master said those
words as if she were going for a walk.
"U-um, Master.
Final...?"
"Just as I said.
This will be the last training I can give you."
Master's demeanor
hadn't changed. She was her usual nonchalant self. With that kind of
atmosphere, the next words she spoke were...
"L-like I said!
What do you mean by final—" "The final training is……for you to fight
me seriously to the death."
"……………………Eh?"
I couldn't understand
what Master was saying.
Fight to the death?
Me? With Master?
"W-what are you
saying!? What do you mean!!"
Master stood in the
garden and held her sheathed katana ready. She had already prepared for battle.
"Master!! Please
answer me—" "I have no intention of saying anything. Or do you,
perhaps, think there's any point in asking for a reason from someone who's
trying to kill you seriously?" "MASTER!!!!"
The color of Master's
eyes changed, and I could feel a heavy aura emanating from her body. She was
clearly serious.
Even so, I questioned
Master.
"Of course there
is! What do you mean by final!! And fight to the death... what are you
thinking!!!"
"………………………………"
She said nothing.
Instead, she showed me with her actions.
The moment I thought
Master's body flickered, an intense killing intent slammed into me.
The next instant, she
was already right in front of me. From a quick-draw stance, the sheathed katana
was drawn towards my neck.
I rolled on the ground
to escape the killing intent. Master's katana swept just above me, but she
immediately followed up with a roundhouse kick.
I instinctively raised
my right arm to block the kick, but the Ki-enhanced kick was too heavy, and I
was blown away, slamming into a tree.
"Kuha...!"
I grimaced in pain,
but with movements ingrained from training, I immediately got up and regained
my stance. Instinctively, I drew my katana, ready for the next attack.
"Master! What in
the world are you trying to do!?"
Master said nothing,
her katana pointed towards me.
Her eyes declared,
"I have no intention of saying anything."
…………Master is always like
this. Even during other training, she wouldn't allow questions and would
unilaterally declare things, making me do double the training if I said
anything. It seems she won't teach me anything unless I fight.
But this time, Master
was clearly strange.
Even in previous
training and mock battles, she did things that were
"life-threatening" but never tried to "kill" me.
But the dense killing
intent coming from her right now was piercing me, and her quick-draw earlier
was aimed at my neck. She was clearly trying to kill me.
Master's figure
flickered again. And killing intent came from the side.
I instinctively
enhanced my body with Ki and raised my katana. The raised katana miraculously
blocked Master's attack, but she immediately unleashed a series of attacks.
A downward diagonal
slash, a horizontal slash from the left, an upward slash from the right, an
upward slash from the left—a flowing, efficient series of movements and an
extremely precise storm of slashes rained down.
I parried the slashes
while retreating slightly. My knees, waist, and arms all worked together
efficiently to deflect Master's katana.
Even so, I was still
overwhelmed. We used the same katana style, but Master was superior in skill,
physical ability, and experience!
Unable to endure, I
used Flash Step to disengage, but Master immediately caught up and continued
her pursuit.
We clashed while
moving at high speed.
Twilight faded, and as
darkness enveloped the surroundings, only the trajectory of the katanas
illuminated by the full moon reflected our presence.
Our movements were
different from linear Flash Step. We moved around each other in curves, as if
clinging to each other.
Ki Technique:
"Flash Step - Curving Dance -"
An advanced form of
the Ki Technique "Flash Step." By linking the movement of the knees,
the accompanying shift in the center of gravity, the movement of the torso, and
the movement of the shoulders, it enabled complex curved movements in Flash
Step, which could originally only move in a straight line.
It's easy to say, but
in reality, it requires strong legs and hips to completely control the momentum
of Flash Step, and the dexterity to link the movements of the whole body
without waste.
Without strong legs
and hips, one would lose balance due to the momentum of Flash Step and be
slammed to the ground, and if the movements of the whole body were not linked,
one would also lose balance and be slammed to the ground.
It is an extremely
difficult advanced technique that requires both strength and dexterity.
In the exchange using
Flash Step - Curving Dance -, Master was still superior. Flash Step - Curving
Dance - is an advanced form of Flash Step, but its movement speed still depends
on the user's abilities.
Master's Flash Step -
Curving Dance - clearly surpassed mine. I was gradually forced into a defensive
position, and eventually, Master, who had anticipated my movement, stopped me
in my tracks.
"Damn it!!"
I stopped and
exchanged blows with Master again, but the situation remained the same. I was
overwhelmed.
Moreover, Master's
attacks weren't just with her katana.
"Tch!!"
After parrying a
slash, Master swung her scabbard with one hand. The Ki-enhanced scabbard could
easily break human bones.
Master, who had
somehow switched to a two-weapon style of katana and scabbard, unleashed an
even denser attack than before, though with reduced power, trying to devour me
with it.
Her fighting style was
a comprehensive combat art that combined not only swordsmanship but also the
scabbard and even unarmed combat, and this was our original fighting style.
I also switched my
fighting style to a two-weapon style using the scabbard, parrying Master's
increasingly fierce attacks.
However, due to the
difference in our original abilities and skill, I was constantly pushed back,
and eventually, my counterattacks couldn't keep up, and a blow from the
scabbard struck me.
"Guaah!!"
With a dull thud,
Master's scabbard hit my bicep on the arm holding my scabbard. Fortunately, no
bones were broken, and I could still hold the scabbard.
Not missing the
opening created by my momentary sluggishness, Master swung her katana in a
flash.
I couldn't parry with
my katana in time, so I reluctantly twisted my body to barely dodge it, but
then Master's kick came flying again.
Judging that I
couldn't avoid it, I jumped backward to reduce the force of her kick.
The backward jump sent
me flying, creating distance between us.
It was like a replay
of our previous exchange, but the reality was different. While being thrown
back, I whipped my aching arm and sheathed my katana.
The moment I hit the
ground, I took a fall and sprang back up, channeling Ki into my katana and
compressing it to the extreme.
Half-hearted
techniques wouldn't work on Master. Due to my Ki capacity, I could only use it
a limited number of times, but I was pinning my hopes on my most trusted
technique!
Ki Technique:
"Phantom Void"
The extremely
compressed Ki blade flew at high speed. It should have struck Master in the
blink of an eye… but reality went beyond that.
"What!!"
Suddenly, an explosion
occurred right in the middle of the distance between me and Master. The extremely
compressed Ki diffused and scattered around.
When I looked at
Master, she had similarly swung her katana in a quick-draw stance. I was
stunned by the unbelievable situation. There was no way Master would have
missed such an opening.
Master charged at me
with Flash Step. I hurriedly tried to intercept, but I was clearly too late. I
instinctively put my scabbard in the path of her katana, but she ignored the
scabbard and swung her katana through.
Ki Technique:
"Phantom Void - Return -"
Drawing a trajectory opposite to her previous quick-draw, it slashed through my body diagonally.
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
MaxKne
Swagaraga
[Gold]
B random
DavidA
Nepheos
[Silver]
Creris
Fred A.
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Matthew Fraser
Anton Lim
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
