Chapter 436

436.

Leo silently stared at Aron.

Aron raised his fist toward Leo.

There was a different atmosphere compared to just moments ago when he was dealing with other students.

“Why are you two just standing there without making a move?”

“Hmph. No matter what, a Wizard is still a Wizard after all.”

Borman put on a smug expression.

“This is the fight of warriors who have reached mastery! Though it may look like they’re doing nothing, they’re actually engaged in fierce mental calculations! The side that makes the first move reveals an opening, so the more skilled warriors never move first! This is a battle of patience! They’ll probably stay like this for another few dozen minutes!”

Whoosh-!

Before Borman’s words even finished, Leo closed the distance with Aron.

When Chelsea looked at him with an exasperated expression, Borman’s face turned uneasy.

Ar kept her eyes wide open, intensely focusing on the sparring between Leo and Aron, not wanting to miss a single moment.

‘The Black Rabbit is truly incredible.’

Ar also knew this.

There was an immense gap between Leo and herself.

The depth of Leo’s martial arts was something Ar couldn’t even begin to fathom.

‘But even the Black Rabbit’s skills won’t be enough against Lady Aron, will they?’

Her opponent was Aron, the Hero, praised as a divine warrior.

It wasn’t just because she possessed overwhelming strength.

In the world of Lord Dwenno last time,

And in the sparring just now, Ar realized just how high Aron stood.

‘From when I saw her in Lord Dwenno’s world, Lady Aron seems even stronger now.’

It seemed almost impossible for Leo to match Aron’s level.

‘But perhaps Leo can reveal at least some part of Aron’s true strength?’

It occurred to Ar that if anyone could draw out Aron’s real abilities, it could be the Black Rabbit’s relentless perseverance.

That’s why Ar didn’t want to miss a single moment of this sparring.

‘Surely the Black Rabbit will aim for Lady Aron’s flank…’

Whoosh-!

“Frontal attack?!”

Ar’s eyes widened in surprise.

Because Leo had rushed head-on toward Aron without hesitation.

‘There’s no blind spot from Aron, anyway.’

Aron’s extrasensory perception that foresaw snippets of the immediate future in battle situations ensured that there could be no blind spot for her.

No matter how fast Leo moved to disturb her vision, he could not escape Aron’s cognitive range.

Though Aron excelled in pure close-combat abilities over Leo,

In unconventional tactical maneuvers, Leo had a slight edge over Aron.

While Aron’s strength came from innate senses and reaction speeds, along with overwhelming dynamic vision,

Leo’s strength was honed from countless battlefields.

Aron also experienced many battlefields.

But the number of battlefields that Leo, the Hero of Survival, had faced was on an entirely different level.

‘Lord Kyle started fighting on the battlefields long before I even did.’

Moreover, being able to read moves at a predictive level through extrasensory perception was not limited to Aron.

While Leo didn’t match Aron’s level in it yet,

He too was a warrior who had dipped his toes into the realm of extrasensory perception.

Aron sidestepped Leo’s thrust.

And simultaneously, Leo twisted his body in mid-air to evade Aron’s counterattack.

Thud – Swish!

At that instant, Aron pulled the dagger from Leo’s waist.

Simultaneously, her previously blocked vision came back.

Her enhanced vision activated, and her previously closed auditory and olfactory senses began transmitting new information.

Whoosh-!

Aron took a step forward.

Even though Aron hadn’t moved while eight people had attacked in unison despite her senses being sealed in the previous duel with the Hero of Beginning Kyle,

Now, she moved freely with all of her senses unleashed.

Even the legendary hero Aron couldn’t overcome the initial Hero Kyle in a restricted situation.

Clang – Crackkkkkkk!

The short blade of the dagger clashed with the long blade of the sword.

Aron, gripping the dagger in reverse, swung upwards.

Flames erupted between the crossed swords.

Leo’s right hand gripping the sword rose upwards.

Whoosh-!

With his right hand raised, Leo’s torso was exposed.

A complete defenseless stance.

Seeing this, Aron unleashed a powerful kick.

Bang-!

Leo’s body was sent flying back.

Sssscrrrrratch-!

Leo’s shoe soles screeched against the ground, kicking up dust.

Regaining his balance, Leo swiftly moved away.

Bang-!

Aron’s punch smashed into the ground where Leo had just been.

The ground caved in, and clumps of dirt scattered in all directions.

“How can so much destructive power come from such an ordinary motion?!”

Celia’s eyes widened.

Neither in the kick that connected with Leo earlier nor in this current attack did Aron seem to employ any great force.

Yet, a destructive power far exceeding expectations erupted from her toes and fingertips.

“One concentrates a small portion of energy into a single point,” answered Chen Sia, watching the exchange between the two with a sharper-than-usual eye.

“One compresses the aura and releases it in the blink of an eye—so quickly that it’s nearly imperceptible.”

“If that’s the case, didn’t even Leo-senpai suffer significant damage?”

“Perhaps.”

Everyone turned their attention to Leo.

‘Not enough to deal a heavy blow.’

Aron gazed at Leo.

At that very instant, Leo quickly compressed the aura to neutralize Aron’s attack.

‘You’ve grown stronger.’

The Aron that Leo knew wasn’t like this.

When comparing the total amount of power, Leo’s strength did not match the one that Aron knew as Kyle’s strength.

‘Kyle is regaining his strength.’

Aron felt that the figure before her had become stronger in terms of skill.

Aron knew that the Kyle she previously knew wouldn’t have been able to perfectly block her previous attack.

Once again, she realized that the friend before her was not the same as the one she knew.

‘Within this era of peace, you… have not stopped.’

Seeing Kyle, who didn’t dull in the age of peace, she understood that he hadn’t rested even for a moment.

For the sake of passing on this peace they had sacrificed their lives to protect, intact, to the next generation.

She understood the efforts her friend made.

Aron turned her gaze toward the students who were intently watching their sparring session.

‘Well then.’

She adjusted her grip on the dagger.

‘If there is even a little I can pass on to the next generation, I need to work hard.’

Aron lowered her stance.

Seeing that, Leo shook out his hands.

‘This will be serious then.’

He shook off the numbness from his left hand that had blocked Aron’s kick.

Whoosh-!

This time, observing Aron initiate the attack first, Leo adjusted his grip on the sword.

Crack-!

As their swords clashed, sparks flew.

*

“How was that?”

After the sparring match.

Aron smiled warmly while looking at the lineup of students in front of her.

“Amazing!”

Borman exclaimed with admiration on his face.

“I felt that your technique is beyond measure! Is it all because of your extrasensory perception?”

“Extrasensory Perception is a technique that elevates your senses to their limit. The technique I used during the fight just now belongs to a different category.”

“Ooooh!”

“If you’re curious about my techniques, I’ll teach them together.”

At that, all the students widened their eyes in surprise.

For a warrior, techniques are akin to a core spell formula for a wizard.

Even wizards, who publish numerous magical theses, do not disclose their signature magic’s essence during academic conferences.

It’s natural for researchers not to easily reveal the fruits of their lengthy studies to the public.

The same applies to martial artists.

It is absolutely not an easy matter to share the results of years of training.

And yet, this mentor standing before them promised to teach the techniques they had reached such unfathomable heights with.

“First, I’ll teach you how to activate Extrasensory Perception.”

“Heeey!”

The students replied enthusiastically.

“You’ve learned the Hero’s Breath, so you should be able to master Extrasensory Perception quickly.”

“Is it a derivative skill of the Hero’s Breath?”

“One might say that.”

In fact, it was a technique that Aron naturally incorporated into her breathing routine.

‘This technique also gave me a headache when I was learning it.’

Leo internally sighed.

Aron’s breath and Extrasensory Perception possessed a difficulty beyond imagination.

First of all, being her proprietary technique, it would have been impossible for Leo to learn it had his mana properties not matched with hers.

But more than that, the hardest part of learning Aron’s technique was…

“First, breathe in and sense the mana.”

“Yes.”

“Then, spread the mana across your body.”

Aron taught them the method of mana control involved in using Extrasensory Perception.

“What’s next?”

“Stimulate all sensory organs with the mana dispersed throughout your body.”

“…?”

At that point, the students’ initially bright faces suddenly turned rigid at the vague instructions.

“Do you get the feeling?”

Seeing the students’ confused faces, Dion raised his hand.

“Akan Instructor.”

“What is it?”

“Could you explain more specifically? Your explanation is too hard to understand.”

“Hm? Is my explanation too abstract? Huh. I guess all my apprentices have found my explanations difficult.”

The thoughtful Aron, with his hands crossed, pondered for a bit and then struck his palm with a fist and said:

“Right! Imagine condensing your mana into grains of sand, putting it inside a glass jar, and shaking it!”

“….”

“…. ”

The more cheerful Aron’s explanation continued, the more strangely the students’ faces twisted.

“Is it difficult? Hmm… then…”

Aron tried to explain more detailed aspects—how it felt to control mana, the timing of breathing.

She tried to put the sensation of using Extrasensory Perception into words.

However, the more she tried, the more peculiar the students’ expressions became.

“Let’s take a short break. I’ll try explaining it better.”

Aron finally decided to offer a break to everyone.

“Leo-sama, thank you for the sparring session!”

As Eiran approached Leo, she retrieved a towel from an extradimensional space and handed it over.

Due to the sweltering weather and intense physical activity, Leo’s body was drenched in sweat.

“Thank you.”

Leo smiled as he wiped his face with the towel Eiran handed him and pulled down the collar of his shirt to let some air in.

Watching this action, Eiran blushed slightly.

The glimpses of the collarbone were quite stimulating for the young teen girl.

Even as Eiran tried to look away, her eyes would sneak back to glance at Leo.

“Indeed, the Black Rabbit! Even with Lord Aron’s senses blocked, to go up against Lord Aron and hold your ground…”

Other students thought that Aron had maintained his sensory constraints while facing Leo.

“Hi-i-i-ik? No, I wasn’t peeking at anything!”

Eiran gasped as Ar’s voice came from behind her.

“Hm? What’s the matter?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

Not understanding Ar, Eiran waved her hands nervously.

“Anyway, Lord Aron is still the same. His explanations are too complicated.”

“Indeed, he sees things differently, so it’s probably more difficult.”

Ar sighed quietly, prompting Eiran to give a nervous laugh.

Both had received training from Aron in the world of Lord Dwenno.

Even then, Aron’s explanations were hard to understand, leading to more sparring-based training.

“This one seems even harder because we can’t just rely on physical training.”

“Mo, physical training only?”

As Ar sighed with her arms crossed, Eiran perked up upon noticing, only turning red upon realizing her own embarrassment.

Then she accidentally made eye contact with Leo and startled, clearing her throat.

“Lord Leo, even you find Lord Aron’s explanations hard to understand?”

“I grasp the general idea.”

“Eh?”

“What!?”

Leo’s response left Eiran and Ar in shock.

Ar, with her ears perked, asked,

“Seriously? Not a lie?”

“Why would I lie?”

“Indeed, Lord Leo! You’re incredible!”

Eiran smiled brightly.

“I’ll give advice when you grasp the basics completely.”

Afterward,

The break ended, and all day long, the students diligently listened to Aron’s explanations.

In the middle, Leo also provided much more specific explanations to the students compared to Aron.

As twilight approached, the students finally understood, to a degree, the basics of activating Extrasensory Perception.

“Everyone’s incredible!”

Aron genuinely clapped in delight.

Seeing Aron’s heartfelt appreciation, the students truly felt joy.

“Lord Akan must have put in a lot of effort to master this technique!”

Celia asked with a slightly flushed face.

To which Aron cheerfully replied,

“No, it came naturally since I was born.”

The students’ faces twisted strangely.

And Aron’s following words were enough to drive despair:

“How about it? Once you get the hang of it, it’s really quite easy, right?”

‘It’s not easy!’

The students howled silently inside.