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The clanging of metal that filled the training grounds didn’t take long to diminish.

Given that we had split into teams for the sparring, one might expect some level of organization to have formed among them. However, it was practically impossible for such organization to develop from the very first day of facing each other, resulting in most of the children quickly dropping their swords, except for a few.

The fierce brawl was now gradually winding down.

The children who had laid down their swords watched those who were still fighting.

It wasn’t disheartening to lose; observing the opponent who had bested them until the end was a positive sign.

However, the actions of the children at this moment were not driven by that competitive spirit or self-reflection. As the sparring was nearing its end, all the children’s heads turned to one place.

Crash!

“Damian, don’t get distracted.”

“Where are you even looking?!”

Despite the heated atmosphere calming down, the children’s gazes were still directed toward a location resonating with thunderous clanging, almost like an explosion.

How could such a sound erupt merely from metal clashing together? The space where attacks rained down, slicing through the ground and air, was a dimension separate from where the children had been swinging their swords until now.

They stood, spellbound, as the scene shattered their preconceived notions.

This wasn’t confined to just the students; even Rex, the organizer of the sparring, felt the same way.

While he hadn’t anticipated the situation unfolding this way, missing the opportunity to intervene was his oversight. The three individuals had become fiery hot metals, and he felt they were now too intense to even think about stepping in.

Their back-and-forth struggle was fierce indeed.

‘Still, I have to stop it.’

Rex sighed and grabbed the sword he had kept empty until now.

Would those children follow his words just because he said it? It was hard to tell, but Rex considered the possibility. Given their deep concentration, the likelihood of his voice reaching them was very slim.

Still, since it wasn’t entirely impossible, he began channeling his energy into his voice just in case.

“Ah, it’s over.”

Suddenly, one student blurted this out.

Among the few who hadn’t set down their swords, Hailey Hartmann stated, rather confidently, that the duel among the three was over.

Rex momentarily didn’t understand her words, but as he observed the atmosphere deflating around the three, he realized she was not just speaking idly.

Though he wasn’t sure what sparked this, the children, starting with Damian, halted their swords.

It didn’t seem like they had exhausted all their stamina; all three still appeared to have some left. Although it was indeed Rex’s goal to stop them, the abrupt cessation of their duel left him with curiosity.

“Everyone, put down your swords.”

Putting thoughts of what might have gone wrong in the abruptly halted sparring aside, Rex hurriedly informed the children that it was over. While quite a few of them still held swords, any further sparring would be meaningless.

Even if Rex hadn’t declared the end, the moment Damian and the others stopped fighting marked the conclusion of the duel. The main figures in this lesson were none other than Noel, Reinhardt, and Damian, so Rex’s job now was to appropriately wrap up the class.

After all, the goal he initially had—to assess the students’ skills—had been achieved.

“Even though we split into teams suddenly without introductions, everyone did well. However, I noticed a few points for improvement… but I won’t mention them now. For those who fell out early, take a moment to think about what went wrong. And although I don’t know if you discussed it in the previous lesson, everyone here will be classmates in this class moving forward. As a final task, please introduce yourselves to one another. This concludes today’s lesson.”

Rex gathered the children and spoke, then left the training grounds.

Though Rex’s face appeared complicated as he exited, only a few students noticed it. After all, what could be more important to them than the class ending early?

*

During my spar with Noel and Reinhardt, Elena’s face suddenly caught my eye.

There was no particular reason.

I had no idea why she was there. I didn’t even sense her presence until that moment; I was entirely focused on facing Noel and Reinhardt. Our eye contact must have been a sheer coincidence.

“Gah!”

“Stop looking away! Focus here!”

Of course, neither Noel nor Reinhardt would appreciate my distraction.

Initially, they had fought separately, but as I kept redirecting my attacks towards them, they must have realized, at some point, that they needed to coordinate and come at me together. However, their teamwork was far from perfect, as I still managed to manipulate their attacks against each other. Nonetheless, it was effectively a 1 versus 2 situation.

In that context, turning my gaze elsewhere was quite a risky move. The balance that had been maintained could easily collapse at any moment.

Well, assuming everyone was putting in their full effort, that is.

Since we were in a spar, everyone was wielding their swords with a certain level of leeway.

Or perhaps it was because they were both focused on coming at me, which was on their minds. Whatever the case, it looked like both Noel and Reinhardt had a number of hidden techniques up their sleeves, meaning none of them were fully sincere in their attacks.

Whether sincere or not, based on visible capabilities, I had the upper hand, so momentarily casting my eyes elsewhere wouldn’t shake the equilibrium of our spar. Just as Noel and Reinhardt had their ease, I had that much comfort as well.

“Huh? What’s this feeling…”

It was Noel who first noticed that Elena was there.

After we made eye contact, Elena stopped hiding her presence, and perhaps because of this, Noel and Reinhardt also realized she had arrived. That was why we halted our spar.

It wasn’t simply because of her appearance that we stopped. Elena’s arrival served as a catalyst to briefly survey our surroundings.

As I glanced around, I realized that outside of the three of us, nobody else had been energetically dancing around with their swords. After reading the professor’s atmosphere for a moment, we understood that now was the time to put our swords down.

As Rex Morpheus announced the end of the lesson and left the training grounds, the gazes of the remaining students naturally shifted toward us. Strangely, unlike the previous lesson, there was a feeling that some walls had been broken down. It seemed our friendly sparring had positively contributed to that.

While it remained fierce from the observer’s standpoint, even if we smiled during the duel, it served as proof of our skills, and the atmosphere of our spar was not bad either, so it appeared to have had a positive effect.

As for Reinhardt, who usually had a stern face, that was one thing. However, in Noel’s case, her personality made it easy to approach her as long as one didn’t feel the weight of social status. Even if it took a little time, it didn’t seem long before the students became comfortable around them.

This held true for me as well, but priority had to be given to more pressing matters.

Before more of the students focused their attention on us, I slipped away from my spot. Even if the walls had lowered a bit, it would still be awkward to strike up a conversation. No child had approached me yet.

Hailey, Noel, and Reinhardt knew where I was heading, so they didn’t follow me. I said I would see them again shortly and walked out of the training grounds.

“That was impressive.”

As I headed toward the seating area, a voice emerged from the darkness where no one had been just moments ago. It was a familiar voice. I turned my head towards the source and found the Sword Saint’s deep navy-blue eyes meeting mine.

Caught off guard by an unexpected encounter, I looked at him for a brief moment with a bewildered expression before bowing my head and replying.

“Have you been watching?”

“Just by chance. I was drawn in by a familiar aura.”

After saying this, the Sword Saint stroked his chin for a moment, then slightly curled the corners of his mouth, to the point it was hard to perceive, before he spoke again.

“It was a nice spar after a long time.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

I felt a little hesitant due to the Sword Saint’s unexpectedly friendly attitude. If he had been observing the spar, it was clear that I had the upper hand in my duel with Reinhardt.

Knowing his relationship with my father was strained, it was difficult to accept the goodwill he was exhibiting purely at face value.

After all, I had greeted him when we first met—when our eyes met during the entrance ceremony, and perhaps this had marked a shift in his perception of me compared to my father.

“If it were just the two of you in a duel, who do you think would win?”

The Sword Saint, who had been quietly watching me, suddenly asked this question. It was abrupt, but I answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“I would win.”

“Right. I suppose so. I like your honesty. But what about, say, three years from now?”

“I can’t say for sure about that…”

The Sword Saint smiled again at my response—not the faint smile from before, but a full, visible grin.

“There’s no child like you. Well, for now, that’s enough.”

Then he asked if I had any questions for him, and when I replied that I didn’t, he vanished like the wind, just as he had appeared.

I was unsure of what significance our conversation held, but I didn’t dwell on it. After all, what mattered to me most right now was getting to the seating area.

 

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