Ray felt an overwhelming sense of injustice.
The circumstances were indeed strange. Strange as they were, Ray had no way to secretly send Sword Aura 200 meters toward a rock without Jimy and Matthew noticing.
As Ray stood confidently in front of them, Jimy glared at him and pointed to another rock.
“Quit your excuses and release your Sword Aura again.”
“My Mana is depleted; it’s tough.”
“Quit your excuses.”
Truthfully, neither Ray, Jimy, nor Matthew could figure out exactly what happened when Ray’s sword inexplicably lost its Sword Aura.
Ultimately, the fastest way to resolve the suspicion was to try again.
“Grr… It’s tough…”
After irritating Jimy and Matthew several times, Ray adjusted his stance once more.
This time, the target was a rock about 150 meters away that Matthew had just attacked.
Ray feigned composure while gripping the hilt of his sword multiple times.
A gulp passed through his throat.
He focused all his consciousness on the rock, now appearing as small as a knuckle.
‘Cut. Destroy. Swing the sword. Like a whip. Extend it long. Reach it. Diagonal line.’
The sword swung.
Hooook!
Once again, the Sword Aura evaporated into thin air.
However, unlike before, everyone’s gaze was fixed on the rock Ray had targeted.
And then…
Crack!
An indescribable, bizarre sound rang out.
In a fleeting moment almost impossible to discern, beyond the thin crack in the space in front of the rock, Ray’s eyes recognized his own reflection as if in a mirror—an image that should not exist.
Immediately afterward, the Sword Aura burst forth from the void and descended toward the rock.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-JACK!!!
With a thunderous roar, fragments of the shattered rock scattered in all directions.
It was clear to anyone who saw it who the culprit was.
“Ah, damn.”
That was mine, alright.
Ray awkwardly stroked his chin.
Matthew froze in place, and Jimy grabbed the back of his neck, making a choking sound.
As the uncomfortable silence dragged on, Ray decided to take the initiative and suddenly flared up.
“Matthew! My Sword Aura is acting strange! What exactly did you teach me?”
“Why are you questioning me, you little bastard!”
“AAAAHHH! Stop yelling! Just stop!!”
Jimy, pulling his hair, drew his sword and produced a Sword Aura in anger.
“You claim you self-taught this swordsmanship? Stop bullshitting! Who taught you this crap?”
“Jimy, calm down. He said he self-taught it.”
“How can I believe such nonsense? A self-taught person’s Sword Aura doesn’t leap through space! The only swordsmanship capable of such miracles in the history of the Empire is Harshia’s Spatial Blade!!”
“Spatial Blade?”
“Damn it, the Harshia-style Spatial Blade declared extinct 600 years ago!! Where the hell did you learn it?!”
“600 years ago, extinct?”
“Yes!! 600 years ago…!”
“Jimy.”
Ray cut him off.
“How am I supposed to have learned a technique that went extinct 600 years ago?”
“That’s for you to answer!!”
“Jimy, listen carefully.”
Ray decided to brazen it out.
“It’s simply because my talent is extraordinary.”
Ray’s overly confident attitude left Jimy speechless with his mouth agape.
“Even without learning from someone, geniuses like me instinctively find the path to mastery. My swordsmanship isn’t the Harshia style. We just happen to have chosen the same direction. Even without interaction, and despite a gap of hundreds of years, unparalleled geniuses naturally resemble each other.”
“Ugh, AAAH…!”
“This is a phenomenon beyond the comprehension of ordinary people like Jimy. Don’t try to understand it; just accept it as it is. Don’t overthink it.”
“KYYYYAAAHHH…!”
With blood pressure soaring, Jimy collapsed onto the ground, clutching his stomach in pain as if he might die.
Damn it. So infuriating, I want to kill him.
While Jimy writhed on the ground suffering from excessive jealousy and hyperventilation, Matthew watched silently.
Though Matthew also felt a gnawing pain in his gut, his first instinct was that things were getting wildly complicated.
After composing his thoughts, Matthew spoke with a grim expression.
“Ray.”
“What is it?”
“Whether it’s Harshia style or your original technique, it must never be shown to anyone else.”
Matthew was certain.
If word got out that Ray could wield the Spatial Blade…
“The entire Baron’s Territory will be wiped clean, not even a blade of grass spared.”
*
“An oddity.”
After parting ways with Jimy and Matthew, Ray muttered to himself while heading toward the bakery.
The pinnacle of Imperial swordsmanship, the legendary Harshia-style Spatial Blade.
Even Ray couldn’t deny how incredibly powerful this swordsmanship was.
Harshia, the prodigy who reached the Expert level at the youngest age in Imperial history—12 years old—created this legendary swordsmanship, the Spatial Blade.
Its exact principles remain elusive, but the Sword Aura of the Harshia-style Spatial Blade leaps through space, falling right in front of the target.
‘There’s a reason why it’s based on dual swords.’
In a hypothetical fight against an opponent of equal skill, defending with one sword while launching leaping Sword Aura attacks with the other would leave any opponent helpless.
‘If properly mastered, it seems you can even control the position and timing of the leaping Sword Aura.’
With a delay of just 30 seconds, dozens of Sword Auras could be stacked with precise timing and unleashed in a single devastating bombardment on a single target.
Of course, Ray couldn’t do it yet.
Since he didn’t fully understand or properly use the technique, he couldn’t even control the time it took for the Sword Aura to leap through space after being released.
Even after experimenting by exhausting his Mana and stamina at the training grounds, the time it took for the Sword Aura to leap through space varied unpredictably, even with targets at the same distance.
Additionally, controlling the exact point where the leaping Sword Aura would appear was currently impossible.
‘I guess I can’t really say I have no talent for the sword…’
It truly was a mad swordsmanship technique.
There’s no way the Empire would sit idly by watching the Harshia-style Spatial Blade become obsolete unless something was seriously wrong.
To preserve the Spatial Blade, the Empire gathered all its prodigies.
Yet, even with those prodigies, within less than a hundred years after Harshia’s death, the Spatial Blade was declared obsolete because most of those who tried to master it either failed or died.
The fact that Ray could learn it meant his body alone was worth millions.
‘Now I understand why the Mana cultivation method skipped refinement.’
The refined Mana required for the Spatial Blade was so potent that it drove most of the Empire’s gathered prodigies insane.
Had Ray increased his Mana recklessly through the cultivation method before entering the refinement process, avoiding death would have been nearly impossible.
“Damn. I get that they gave me something great, but at this point, it’s just a liability.”
If news leaked that the Spatial Blade had been revived, there was no telling what chaos would ensue.
Matthew had said:
“Because you exceeded our expectations, you’ve taken on risks beyond imagination.”
“You can’t use it where there are watchful eyes. It has immense potential, but you lack the ability to fully harness it.”
Moreover, he couldn’t pass it on to children either.
Not only was there a security issue, but the probability of dying while learning was far too high.
Tsk. Shaking his head, Ray thought,
“I should probably prepare myself for the possibility of stepping directly onto the battlefield.”
Even if he wasn’t destined to be a hero, Ray finally acknowledged that he might eventually possess formidable martial skills.
Battlefield. Battlefield.
With a somewhat bitter expression, Ray entered the bakery.
The baker, Bur, who had been attending to other customers, approached hastily with a large package, looking startled.
“Here, take this.”
‘We’ve been regulars for years, and only now am I hearing honorifics.’
Smiling faintly as he accepted the pastries, Ray handed Bur the money for next week’s snacks.
After hesitating briefly upon receiving the payment, Bur attempted to return the coin pouch to Ray.
“F-from now on, I’ll charge half the price.”
“Don’t worry about it, Bur.”
Shaking his head, Ray tapped the pastry bundle lightly.
“Don’t worry. As long as you don’t mess with what the kids eat, we’re good. Keep it up, okay?”
“Y-yes, understood.”
“Then sell lots of bread.”
Chuckling, Ray left the bakery.
For a brief moment, Bur, deflated, sat down on a chair to catch his breath.
*
“Today, we’re going to learn the form ‘Goryeo’ together!”
Adel excitedly shouted to the children gathered on the playground.
Although she hadn’t gone around breaking skulls with a mace as an Inquisitor of Heresy in her younger days…
She had trained in martial arts as part of her cleric’s discipline, so she was confident in physical activities.
Some time ago, when volunteering regularly at an orphanage, she followed along with one of the children teaching strange martial arts to others. Now, she’d become proficient enough in Taekwondo to substitute for Ray when he was absent.
“Kids who haven’t memorized the moves yet, follow along by watching your friends!”
‘Goryeo’ is one of the higher-difficulty forms in Taekwondo.
Luna, who was just starting her second attempt at Goryeo, tried a side kick but lost her balance and fell with a thud.
Karen, who had been watching Luna closely, couldn’t help but grin widely.
‘She’s not very good at sports!’
Karen, who had recently been thoroughly outclassed by Luna in anything requiring brainpower, clenched her fists in joy.
People aren’t perfect, after all.
If you fall behind in academics, you can always dominate in sports!
However, it wasn’t long before Karen found herself crouching again, her face red.
“Hold steady, Delun!”
“Don’t worry, Sister Johanna.”
Johanna grinned broadly and pushed off the ground.
Taking advantage of her light frame to accelerate quickly, she jumped powerfully into the air.
Whirrrr!!
Spinning like a top, Johanna successfully completed three rotations in mid-air before kicking the wooden board held by Delun.
Crack!!
“Success!!”
‘Baka Johanna! Baka Johanna! How dare you!’
Karen’s shoulders trembled with anger.
She remembered why she had initially focused more on studying: it was hard to keep up with Johanna and Delun’s athletic abilities.
‘I can’t let this continue!’
Karen abruptly stood up and approached Johanna.
“I want to try too!”
“Eh? Hmm? Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“Of course I’ll be fine! I know how to do a spinning kick too!”
Insisting stubbornly, Karen took the wooden board from Johanna and created enough distance to build momentum.
‘I can do this. I can do this.’
Concentrating as much as possible, Karen started running across the ground, gritting her teeth as she lifted off.
One rotation.
Two rotations.
And halfway through the third rotation…
Karen’s body already hit the ground.
“Oof!!”
It was too ambitious an attempt.
Misjudging the landing timing, Karen sprained her ankle and completely lost her balance.
To make matters worse, her arm twisted, causing her to fall face-first into the dirt.
Just as the anticipated pain was about to hit, Karen tensed and closed her eyes.
Thump!
“…Huh? Hmm?”
Suddenly, a hand helped support her weight, prompting Karen to cautiously open her eyes.
A boy with a tense expression frowned slightly.
“What are you doing, huh?”
“Ray!”
Raising her voice sharply, Karen immediately clung to Ray.
Without stopping her, Ray lightly tapped her forehead.
“It’s good to challenge yourself, but don’t push too hard trying to do something you can’t.”
“Hmph. I’m not. I can do it too!”
After refraining from such antics for a while, seeing her throw herself around again made it obvious that the cause was undoubtedly Luna.
Understanding Karen’s psychology, Ray gently stroked her chin to console her.
“Being good at something is important, but what I truly admire is someone who consistently puts in effort.”
“Hmmph.”
Karen gleamed her eyes, inviting him to say more.
With a light sigh, Ray added,
“You always put in effort, Karen. In studies, in sports, and for your friends. You always care for and interact with the new kids coming to the orphanage, and I really appreciate that.”
“Heehee! Kiss!”
Ray, allowing Karen to snuggle closer, moved his body together with her.
Karen, the first Rare-grade character drawn from the gacha system, lacked any standout exceptional talent in any specific field but showed potential in all areas due to her diligence.
She actively helped newly arrived children adapt to the orphanage, which is why many kids looked up to her.
Karen played a significant role in ensuring the smooth operation of the orphanage.
‘Only…’
Her possessiveness was rather strong.
Even now, smearing saliva on Ray’s cheek wasn’t so much an expression of affection as it was a display to warn other kids—”this is mine.”
Ray wasn’t overly concerned.
It’s common for children with attachment issues to develop excessive possessiveness.
Currently, she was fixated on Ray, but no one could predict when or if her fixation might shift elsewhere.
Even Ray, in his previous life, went through at least three cycles of marriage and divorce between kindergarten and early elementary school. There was no need to attach undue significance to childish antics.
‘Not that it bothers me.’
Right now, it felt like having a cute daughter, and he hoped Karen’s teenage rebellion would come later rather than sooner.
As saliva began to drip, Ray detached Karen and stood in front of Phillip.
Phillip, who had been cowering with his shoulders hunched, trembled slightly.
“You stuck around, huh, Phillip.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Good choice. Pass these around to the kids.”
“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”
“Use honorifics.”
“Thank you…”
Handing over the pastry bundle, Ray turned halfway to look at the playground.
All the children accumulated through the gacha system came into view.
No matter how future events unfolded, whether good or bad, a time would inevitably come when personal survival would require force.
“I need to have a proper talk with the Count.”
If magic wasn’t an option, then a Knight was necessary.
Determined, Ray turned his body again.
Genius
