Warning (3)
Chapter 53
Hamus took a deep breath and focused his mind.
Johanna had skillfully deflected Hamus’s attacks with ease.
To break through the guard of a swordsman accustomed to flowing power, he needed greater speed and strength.
However, Johanna had just evaded what should have been Hamus’s most powerful strike.
Whether it was due to overconfidence or overly straightforward attacks, that fact remained unchanged.
“…”
Hamus thrust his sword towards Johanna’s sternum, lips tightly sealed.
Johanna easily deflected the weak stab to the side.
Seizing the opportunity, Hamus closed the distance, pulling both wrists forcefully to slash down on Johanna’s shoulder.
Chaac!!
It was an overwhelmingly heavy sword strike for Johanna to handle.
There was nearly a two-fold difference in both strength and weight between Johanna and Hamus.
Despite the situation where fear might be justified, Johanna calmly twisted her waist.
Ssuk!
Hamus’s attack narrowly missed Johanna by the thickness of a sheet of paper.
At the same moment Johanna avoided the attack, she tapped Hamus’s blade with the hilt of her own sword.
Gang!
“Krk!”
Hamus, losing his balance, staggered back to create some distance.
‘This damn woman is already showing arrogance…!’
Even if one has the confidence to evade an attack by the margin of a sheet of paper, such actions should be avoided in actual combat due to the need for reaction time in case variables arise.
Johanna’s sense of distance was commendable, but she was being too arrogant.
Eegek!
Grinding his teeth, Hamus loosened the tension in his wrist and swung his sword nimbly.
The plan was to pour all his strength into the sword the moment their blades met.
Johanna, however, saw through this and smoothly dodged the attack by slightly moving her body.
She didn’t even react to Hamus’s feinted swings designed to test her limits.
After failing eight attacks, Hamus slightly relaxed his grip during the ninth attack.
The sword swung horizontally, slipping from his grasp due to centrifugal force and lunged forward unexpectedly.
Chaac!
The tip of the sword barely grazed over Johanna’s breastplate.
Hamus’s eyebrows furrowed deeply.
This was supposed to be his trump card, yet Johanna evaded it effortlessly.
‘How… Could it be?’
Hamus realized.
Johanna’s eyes continuously moved up and down, meticulously scanning every inch of Hamus’s body.
The reason why Johanna wasn’t paying attention to Hamus’s ‘sword’ was simple.
She had already measured its length.
By analyzing Hamus’s movements while wielding the sword, she could predict its trajectory with perfect clarity.
Hamus muttered under his breath.
“Damn.”
An overwhelming talent.
It wasn’t about the level of swordsmanship; Johanna’s innate senses and dynamic vision were simply superior to Hamus’s.
Swallowing the complex emotions rising within him, Hamus refocused on the duel.
Setting aside his wounded pride for now, he coldly assessed the situation.
What Hamus clearly excelled at over Johanna:
Strength, weight, endurance, and slightly better swordsmanship.
‘The best option is to bring it down to close-quarters combat.’
He would need to get as close as possible and overpower her with sheer strength.
Deciding to absorb minor attacks with his body and charge forward, he thought about it just as the 30 seconds passed and Johanna made her move.
Chaeck!
A quick and light thrust.
When Hamus deflected the thrust by turning his sword, Johanna darted around Hamus, repeatedly stabbing at him.
While blocking the attacks, Hamus was astonished.
‘Is she playing around?’
One of the most important aspects for a swordsman was maintaining their center of gravity.
Lowering the center of gravity was essential to channel proper strength into the tip of the sword.
Johanna was going against the fundamentals of swordsmanship.
Seeing the obvious openings in Johanna’s defense, Hamus pressed through them.
Tuuuk!
The moment Johanna’s feet touched the ground after her aerial maneuver, Hamus seized the unstable timing and charged forward with his sword aimed ahead, leading with his shoulder.
Johanna retaliated by swinging her sword.
Ggi-gi-gik!!
The two blades, each aiming for the other’s neck, clashed in mid-air.
Johanna’s thrust was twisted off course due to the disparity in strength.
However, it was Hamus who looked flustered.
Johanna easily evaded Hamus’s direct advance, and the twisted thrust pierced into Hamus’s right shoulder blade instead.
Pa-gok!!
Enduring the pain, Hamus rammed into Johanna with his left shoulder.
Though it was a powerful shoulder charge, Johanna once again leapt into the air just before impact.
Paeuk!
After landing a few meters away and performing a controlled fall, Johanna raised her sword without any change in expression.
Although the shock wasn’t entirely absent, she had mostly neutralized it by floating in the air.
Hamus felt the heated air pressing down on him suffocatingly.
Even when winning numerically, they ended up taking hits, and this was Hamus’s first experience truly feeling the gap in talent.
Johanna closed the distance again.
Taking a defensive stance, Hamus clearly understood.
Johanna’s swordsmanship seemed rootless at first glance but was actually a variation of the Phillip’s family sword technique.
She confused opponents with dazzling movements before delivering a subtle and fatal blow almost unconsciously.
Ka-ga-ga-gang!!
His concentration scattered as he tried to block the rapid strikes coming from all sides.
Small wounds spread across Hamus’s entire body.
Chaeck!!
Hamus’s upward swing aimed at Johanna’s wrist missed.
In retaliation, an attack came toward his face.
Desperately bending his wrist and assuming a defensive posture, Hamus failed to stop Johanna’s blade from tearing a long gash across his cheek.
Ju-rul-reok
“…”
Blood trickled down his cheek.
Having been struck in the face, Hamus regained his composure.
He questioned himself.
Am I lacking in swordsmanship compared to her? No, not that.
Hamus had far more experience and training than Johanna.
Though it might only be a matter of time before he was overtaken, Hamus was still superior in terms of swordsmanship for now.
With half-open eyes, Hamus intensified his focus.
Johanna’s swordplay was flashy, but there were many openings.
Her intuition filled these gaps in ways no ordinary person could follow, mocking Hamus.
‘Don’t be dazzled.’
He shouldn’t respond to every small attack.
He needed to find the openings, create variables, and deliver a single decisive blow through the gaps.
A heavy, straight strike to overwhelm Johanna’s talent.
“Hyeup!”
Hamus inhaled deeply.
Johanna slid along the ground from the right, thrusting her sword.
Her target was the waist. Of course, depending on Hamus’s reaction, the trajectory could change at any moment.
Hamus crouched lower, positioning his shoulder.
The moment Johanna’s sword path attempted to change again.
Kkeug!
Johanna’s sword tip slid along Hamus’s shoulder blade and pierced through the gap between the blades.
The shoulder blade already had a small hole from earlier during the sparring session.
Hamus guided her sword through that gap.
The sword edge tore through his shoulder as it entered, but Hamus ignored it, raising both arms high.
Geu-deug!
Johanna’s trapped and twisted sword helplessly followed Hamus’s movement.
With all his might, Hamus swung his sword down at Johanna’s head.
Ti-di-dik!
Mana reacted to Hamus’s will, infusing his sword.
The wooden safety device encircling the blade couldn’t withstand the mana flow and shattered.
Suddenly feeling Hamus’s immense presence, Johanna’s eyes gleamed.
Mana erupted from her rotating core, surging through her grip and overwhelming her sword.
Ti-di-dik!
Johanna’s sword broke through both the safety device and Hamus’s shoulder blade, escaping.
Her delayed swing moved to deflect Hamus’s attack.
“…!”
Pikor, who had been observing the duel, instinctively extended his arm before stopping.
Either of them could suffer serious injury, especially Hamus, but this was a valuable bout for both.
He decided to wait and see the outcome.
Just then, something whizzed past the corner of Pikor’s vision.
It was Ray.
Gga-deug!!!
Ray suddenly appeared and stomped down on Johanna’s sword which was swinging upwards from below.
Johanna, experiencing sudden wrist torque, winced in pain, but Hamus was even more shocked.
Ray had appeared right before his eyes without him noticing.
If things continued this way, Hamus’s strike would bisect Ray’s upper body.
Hamus desperately tried to halt the attack, but the sword’s trajectory swept past Ray’s torso in the blink of an eye.
“Huh-ek!”
After finishing the attack, Hamus stumbled back in surprise.
It seemed Ray’s torso would split open, spilling internal organs.
“Uh-ek! Uh-ek! Uh-ek?”
However, after several deep breaths, Ray stood perfectly fine, looking back at Hamus.
Hamus felt a chill run down his spine. The sword in his hand felt unnaturally light.
Upon inspecting it, he found the middle section of the blade severed, leaving less than half its original length.
“?!”
Only then did Hamus look at Ray.
In Ray’s left hand was a sword, and in his right was the severed portion of the blade.
“??”
Hamus’s mouth hung open.
Even if Ray’s sudden appearance went unnoticed due to his focus on Johanna,
How could anyone possibly sever a mana-infused sword so instantly and hold it in hand?
“What… exactly…?”
Hamus turned to Pikor, the highest-ranked knight of the Phillip’s Count family, seeking an answer.
Pikor, with a solemn expression, glanced at Hamus and then turned away.
Hamus felt somewhat disappointed.
He thought Pikor, as a knight of the Phillip’s family, was withholding teachings from him.
But Pikor’s thoughts on what Ray had done were similar to Hamus’s.
What the hell was that? Scary…
Pikor hadn’t answered because he couldn’t.
He had almost missed Ray’s movement entirely.
How Ray had managed to sever the mana-filled sword was beyond comprehension.
The heated atmosphere of the clearing turned icy.
Breaking the duel abruptly, Ray momentarily looked embarrassed before placing the severed sword piece in his right hand down.
“Um, well.”
Scratching his chin, Ray gestured to Hamus and Viktor.
“You two, come here for a moment.”
“Y-yes?”
Unconsciously reverting to formal speech, Hamus replied.
Viktor, who had been intently watching the duel, also startled and cautiously observed Ray.
Ray gestured again.
“Come here.”
As Hamus and Viktor hesitantly approached, Ray placed his hands on their shoulders and whispered.
“How about it? Our kids are pretty impressive, aren’t they?”
“Y-yes…”
“Truly… amazing.”
Ray chuckled.
Watching the orphans he had raised show results was genuinely a joy for Ray as well.
Though recently, a certain woman had been causing trouble, he was still proud.
“That’s enough.”
After a brief pause, Ray continued.
“Since we’re here, let me give you one warning.”
“…?”
“You can sass me all you want. But if either of you shows arrogance to Lady Alesya again, I’ll beat you half to death. Whether inside or outside Phillip’s County. Got it?”
“…Yes.”
“…Understood.”
“Good.”
Satisfied, Ray patted their backs and bowed to Pikor.
“Sir Pikor, thank you for observing the duel. Sorry, but I have urgent matters to attend to. May I leave early?”
“Alright.”
Finishing the situation handling, the smile disappeared from Ray’s face.
Turning his gaze outside the clearing with a desolate look, Ray had originally had no intention of interrupting the duel, just like Pikor.
Although Hamus and Johanna were advancing to the next level and struggling to control their power, potentially requiring preparation for injuries on both sides,
It was a necessary process for improvement.
Yet, Ray intervened for another reason.
Where his gaze landed,
A wolf-like spirit was retreating, its mouth curled in a wide grin.
That spirit had clearly intended to interfere between Johanna and Hamus just before their final exchange.
Regardless of the spirit’s exact intent,
If the wolf spirit disrupted their intense focus on each other,
Both could have been seriously injured.
Ray muttered a curse.
“Damn son of a bitch. Who’s your master?”
Drawing his sword, Ray chased after the spirit fleeing with the wind.
*
“Ray! Ray!”
Karen desperately called out to Ray as he ran away, but Ray didn’t respond and left the clearing.
Karen, who had much to say to Ray, sighed in disappointment and sharply turned to Pikor.
Her boldness impressed Pikor, who awkwardly cleared his throat.
Stammering, Karen voiced her complaint to Pikor.
“Ray has been neglecting us lately!”
“Neglect?”
Pikor inwardly marveled.
Indeed, thanks to studying under Ray, Karen’s vocabulary was better than her peers’.
Karen continued her complaints.
“He rarely visits the orphanage and leaves hastily when we do meet! He’s been neglecting us lately!”
“You must understand. Ray is quite busy these days.”
Pikor explained the situation to his admirable student.
“Miss is planning to study abroad, and Ray has agreed to accompany her. Preparations are needed…”
“Study abroad?”
Karen mulled over the word “study abroad.”
Going to a distant country for an extended period to study.
That was roughly what “study abroad” meant to Karen.
“Study… abroad?”
Karen’s heart rate accelerated dramatically.
Struck by sudden fear, she shook her head and anxiously asked.
“Study abroad? Leaving far away to study?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“R-Ray is going to study abroad too? Leaving… far away?”
“Something like that.”
“Then when will he return?”
Karen’s body began trembling, but Pikor, unaware of her distress, fell into thought.
“Well…”
Studying at the Royal Magic Tower was an excellent opportunity to expand one’s network.
Often, students sent for short-term study programs ended up staying for several years with significant efforts applied in various aspects.
Of course, Count Phillip, Alesya, and Ray had only planned to leave for a few months and return, but Pikor was unaware of this.
“It might take a few years, maybe up to five years…”
“Eh… five years… five years…”
Karen’s legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the spot.
Next to her, Johanna, who had been pretending not to care but eavesdropping with perked ears, suddenly started hiccuping.
“Uh… five years…? Uh! Ray gone for five years…? Uh!”
Beside the hiccupping Johanna, Luna glared with her silver eyes glowing blue.
Realizing the situation too late, Pikor panicked.
“Ah, hey, kids! This isn’t confirmed yet!!”
Trying to salvage the situation belatedly, the children couldn’t calm down.
Soon, Karen started sobbing uncontrollably.
