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Chapter 94

“Something’s off. My master’s sword was never this flimsy….”

Piiing!!

The tip of the sword thrusting forward, charged with fierce momentum, trembled and came to a halt in midair.

It had enough power to take a life, but to think this was the result of dozens of hours of effort felt utterly disheartening.

I knew there was a tremendous gap between Yeon-woo’s realm and Yuri’s, but to Yeon-woo, Yuri was demonstrating at a level that was ‘seeable.’

So, that meant that they could do it as well.

‘What am I lacking? Is just gathering Aura not enough?’

The frustration left me baffled. To calm my heart, Yeon-woo circulated their sword energy. I went over Yuri’s demonstration in my mind to examine what was causing this.

‘Creating flow in the Aura is required to circulate the sword energy? What kind of technique is this…?’

Wait a minute. Wasn’t the flow in Yuri’s demonstration matching the flow in my Mana Pass? The sword that charged fiercely in, suddenly demonstrated rapid fluidity. That’s when the variations began.

It created an illusion as if the sword was scattering.

‘Is that what it meant…!!’

When I received teachings on sword energy from Yuri, they mentioned that even in chaos, there is order. Chaos referred to the formless Crescent Moon Sword, while order meant the technique to wield the sword with sword energy.

I had wielded my Crescent Moon Sword while circulating sword energy until now and hadn’t realized this fact, which could only be described as sheer foolishness, but simply grasping a fragment of enlightenment brought me pure joy.

Desperate to swing my sword right away, I held back my excitement and visualized Yuri’s sword dance once again in my mind. Understanding it accurately was crucial.

“Would it kill you to explain it a bit easier?”

“It seems Dad has caught a hint, Tae-oh!”

“User Dad, congratulations…! Soon we’ll see that pretty sword…?”

“That’s just unnecessary talking! I’ll show you, the completely transformed me!!”

Inside Yuri’s Gate, Shar and Tae-oh, expertly assembling LEGO blocks to build a castle large enough to fit a couple of kids, cheered joyfully.

Suddenly, I sprang to my feet, having sat down on the dirt floor with closed eyes, recalling Yuri’s sword dance. My body was itching with anticipation.

With a stance far lighter than before, I set my gaze on the tip of the sword. Concentrate, just concentrate. Don’t lose the tingling sensation that barely brushed my fingertips. My mind and eyes sank. My heated body cooled down, and sensations began to flood into the sword. It felt as if I had sharpened myself to the point of becoming the sword itself.

From the shadows on the ground, a shadow in human form burst forth. Though it appeared to be a dancing sword, it couldn’t end with just a dance. The shadow twisted its neck as if limbering up and leaped several meters to strike. Training was to be done as if it were real. I assumed an enemy’s presence.

‘Like a wave crashing fiercely.’

Faster than my heart’s beat, I unleashed a single sword strike. My arm flowed smoothly, yet powerfully, just like the waves rolling in.

Flowing from the Mana Core, the Aura traveled through my arm and, as it reached the sword’s tip, it drew a straight line, halting.

Bang!!

Just a moment ago, a sound was made by the sword’s trembling, but now the ringing confirmed I had struck the space with force. Even if a rock had been in the sword’s path, I knew intuitively it would have been pierced easily.

However, just before that, the shadow twisted its body, sending a fist my way. A barrage of punches tried to fill the space where air once was. Face-to-face with the most troublesome type of attack, I took a light breath.

‘Like rain hitting the ground in succession.’

Normally, I would have fortified my defense and waited for a counterattack opportunity, but now, I intentionally erased that option from my mind. My judgment was swift, and before my heart could catch up, my sword and arm moved.

What would happen if I managed to deflect every single punch that filled my field of vision? Before I had ever even thought about attempting such a thing before my regression, my body was already carrying it out.

Tatata!!

It was like I was firing back at a Gatling gun aimed at me, as attacks poured in to counter what was coming. The Aura surged within me like an angry wave, and the onslaught accelerated to match the current of the Aura.

This bizarre standoff came to an end only when I thought my arm might cramp up from the continual swings. I nudged the sword’s tip slightly side to side, twisting the path of the incoming punches. Thrusting once more, a large hole was pierced in the shadow’s chest.

The shadow, now holed, melted to the ground, and once again, figures armed with weapons surrounded me. Among the seven or so figures rushing in to pass the test, I pulled back the sword I had just thrust out like a spring.

The sword energy spins. The Aura moves, and the sword moves. The sword moves, and the Aura moves. My body wasn’t just wielding the sword but also executing the footwork I had previously engraved in my body.

‘Like a maelstrom swallowing even the furious waves.’

The shadows wielded their weapons, stabbing and shooting. The figure of Yeon-woo, stumbling as if drunk, grew hazy. Weapons collided above my head, entangling each other’s feet as if by agreement.

In that moment, silently, I spun around. I didn’t rely solely on inertia. In a state of extreme immersion, where time felt slow, I dealt delicate and precise strikes at each looming shadow.

Different from the form Yuri had shown, but it was a level that could evoke the impression of a ‘misty sword.’

Continuously confronting the phantom foes, I swung the sword in a trance. Thrusting, slashing, twisting, blocking, and dodging.

Even with my Aura wrapping around me, my arms trembled as if I were about to drop the sword at any moment. My legs felt heavy as if weights weighing hundreds of kilograms had been attached.

After swinging and swinging until I questioned if I was even breathing properly, the final moment approached.

In the Crescent Moon Sword techniques, there are no distinctions. They don’t show one motion and explain what technique it is or when to use it. This is because the only technique that bears the name of the Crescent Moon Sword is but one, and regardless of the situation, if it is finished with that technique, then it is the Crescent Moon Sword.

The Crescent Moon Sword is both the sole restriction and condition that defines what a sword technique is. Full Moon, Full Sky. In Yuri’s demonstration, the only strike that Yeon-woo had never seen nor grasped with their eyes, lingered strongly in impression, leading Yeon-woo to describe Yuri’s sword dance as ‘like a black full moon.’

Without being able to unfold the Full Moon, Full Sky right now, even if I perfectly executed everything else, I couldn’t say I was using the Crescent Moon Sword.

‘Was it like this, or like that?’

The sword that had been swinging without interruption now came to a halt.

Until now, the sword had led the way before my thoughts could catch up, but I felt as if I had lost my path in the middle of the vast ocean.

With a body that felt like it might collapse at any moment, I stood there in a daze, holding the sword and thinking.

No answers came. Not even a hint appeared. Just moments ago, I was wielding a mist-like sword, but now it felt as though I was trapped within the mist.

How long had I been standing there, blankly? After losing my bearings and hesitating, I came to realize one thing.

‘I must swing it.’

If I don’t swing, it won’t end. No matter how much I think, standing still won’t yield answers. Thus, swinging is the right choice. Swing it, bring it to a conclusion, then think about it a step removed.

Yet, I couldn’t swing, and with heated breaths, I was merely gripping the sword, mainly due to the anxiety that if I let this moment slip away, I might never complete the Crescent Moon Sword again. In the epiphany that had found its way to my body, if I couldn’t complete it now, when would I ever achieve it?

And soon, I realized that this sense of disbelief stemmed from mistrust. Despite choosing the sword even after hearing I had no talent, would I distrust the sword and Yuri?

In the end, what I couldn’t trust was myself. That feeling of disbelief that I would likely not be able to attain greater enlightenment than this.

The thirty-five-year-old Choi Yeon-woo was holding me back. In the realm of mana, the past where I had been utterly devoid of any shred of talent compared to my current sword talent was casting a heavy chain.

Before my regression, how much had I clung to every little enlightenment? Seizing and holding onto moments I thought would never come again. The outcomes were always neutral. If there was something gained, something was lost.

“Don’t bother me.”

Muttering briefly, Choi Yeon-woo, the fifteen-year-old first-year student of the Academy, simply swung the sword as if breaking the chains.

*

After finishing the call with Claire and meditating in the woods, I was approached by two little children.

The two who followed each other everywhere and appeared closer than real siblings shook Yuri’s body, looking as if they were about to cry.

“Dad is acting strange…!! He suddenly stopped moving while practicing swordsmanship!!”

“It wouldn’t be weird if he collapsed right away, but he’s just standing there…!! Please help…!!”

“Alright, let’s go check it out. Don’t worry too much.”

Though reassured by Yuri’s words, the two children still tugged at Yuri’s clothes, insisting they had to hurry. With only a three-year age gap, it felt like they were pulling a friend along, but Yuri didn’t mind.

Outside the forest, I saw the humble cabin atop a small hill and the figure of a boy, holding a sword, standing there, sweat evaporating as he cooled down.

He looked deeply focused, and perhaps due to overexertion, he appeared a bit precarious.

After quickly bounding over and landing next to him, Yuri scanned Yeon-woo from various angles. All the muscles in his body were drenched with fatigue, nearing their limits.

While he was a highly resilient awakened being, this moment could very well be a stepping stone for building his future body, but I wondered if there would be aftereffects from this before the first match.

However, the more pressing matter was the growth of the sword energy.

The Mana Technique Yuri had personally created to reach the peak of the sword was the sword energy, which seemed ordinary at first glance as it accumulated magic power at a seemingly typical rate and didn’t exhibit any particular effects.

Yet, in reality, even the term ‘sword mastery’ barely encapsulates the greatness of the sword energy. Naturally, since it was crafted by incorporating the entire essence of sword enlightenment.

The only ability of the sword energy is to assist its user in immersing easily in the sword. It allows one to take the sword as the heart and pour their heart into it.

However, its remarkably potent ability sometimes leads to side effects, as in this case.

‘Heart Demon, huh.’

Rather than the rebellious phenomenon caused by forcing the Aura to its utmost limit, there was none visible. That too, might just be a matter of time; if things went poorly, he might even burn his life force.

Despite that risk, Yuri chose to teach the sword energy because there was a way to manage it if it occurred. If the day came when the two children cried, he might just rush over to forcibly block the heart demon.

Even with such a method available, he remained passive because he knew that if he could overcome this situation on his own, it would become a tremendous opportunity.

…And time passed. The two children seemed to be struggling to watch, eyes tightly shut. Was it about twenty minutes? It suddenly seemed precarious for him to even stand on his legs, and just as Yuri was about to step in to eliminate the heart demon…

Light sparkled in his vacant eyes. The sword was swung at that moment. A flash burst forth, and the ground was deeply etched.

It couldn’t possibly be called the Full Moon, but I was sure that a pale moon had risen.

(To be continued)

 

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