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Side Story Chapter 7

Of course, the prestigious noble families stuck to swords since they couldn’t give up on their families’ old techniques just because the trends had changed in the continent.

Most of the people that joined in on the trend were the knights without good families or someone to support them. The younger the knights were, the more likely they were to use different weapons. The Hero King was a living legend and an idol to them, such that some knights even thought that swordcraft was boring.

“Your Highness, let me tell you one thing before we begin our spar: the sword is the best weapon in the world.”

Kireua’s brain ground to a halt.

“Other weapons are just cheap imitations of swords. I’m telling you, people are gravely mistaken,” Cain firmly asserted.

“...Mistaken?”

“The attack range of a spear is long, but that makes it heavy. Even though it might be powerful, your attacks will become slower if you use a spear.”

“…Despite everything, His Majesty became the strongest man on the continent with his spear.”

“And that is why I told you earlier that not everyone can become Joshua Sanders.”

Kireua couldn’t retort.

“The saying about how a talented person needs ten years to become skilled in swordcraft while learning the spear requires dozens of years at least isn’t wrong. However, someone would say that one can become unmatched by mastering those invincible spear techniques even if it takes twenty or thirty years. In that case, spears are the best!

“But, no.” Cain quietly shook his head. “For example, the weight of an ordinary longsword is around 1.3 to 1.7 kilograms while a spear weighs twenty to thirty kilograms, meaning a spear is at least ten times heavier than a sword. It’s heavy even for the expert knights, but what would happen if you made the spear lighter? Then the spear literally becomes useless since it’s lost all its advantage. It gets less sturdy and less destructive or the attack range becomes shorter. That is why a spear is good for a strong person with long arms and fingers. Besides, the history of spear techniques in the continent of Igrant is incomparably shorter than that of swordcraft.”

Cain’s criticism was scathingly accurate.

“His Majesty declared that he’d show the world what one can do with the spear they all looked down upon, and he accomplished his goal in the end, but…” Cain trailed off but his eyes shone. “…I don’t share his opinion. A maid’s son, a bastard, a son worse than his father… the people at the time belittled Joshua Sanders himself, not his spear. On the same note, let me ask you: would people be able to belittle me or the Flame Emperor if we said that we were going to use a spear from now on?”

“…Not… really…” Kireua mumbled.

“Yes, knights like me and him can use a branch like it’s the finest sword in the world.” Cain straightened. “So don’t doubt your talent. It’s not like you don’t have talent; the spear just happens to be a bad match with you, just like how there are clothes that don’t look good on you.”

Kireua shut his eyes. “…I’m Joshua Sanders’s son. People will laugh at me if they hear that me and a spear aren’t a good match.”

“Everything in the world is about results. If you’re really worried about what people think, you can reach the peak with the sword, Your Highness.”

Kireua bit his lower lip so hard that it bled a little. His dream had been to reach the peak with a spear, creating his own spear techniques using his flame aura. The day that he had found out that achieving his dream was impossible, the despair that he felt was indescribable. If it hadn’t been for that day, Kireua would still not have given up on mastering spears, but it was the Emperor himself who had advised against it.

“Shit…” Kireua cursed. The mere memory of that day made his mana boil over. At the time, he wanted to run away from reality, so he had voluntarily gone to study in the faraway Thran Kingdom. Kireua had wanted to defeat the Flame Emperor, who was known as the best swordsman in the current generation, no matter how long it took, to prove that the Emperor was wrong.

“Come.” Cain grinned. His golden aura spread like an ocean wave, but his sword was still lowered and his stance was as casual as ever. He looked like he was full of openings.

Cain had the majestic title of “Combat Emperor Star” of the Nine Stars, but some people said he was technically the Nihil Emperor Star[1] because he had nothing. Yes—Cain de Harry, the First Knight, didn’t have an authority, but he was still the strongest Star.

“My terms for me giving you the Deon Ring are simple: show me one attack that is good enough to satisfy me. I don’t care what method you use, and I won’t move a centimeter from here,” Cain said.

Kireua felt insulted. Regardless of all else, he was a Master, but Cain didn’t care about that at all.

“Eeek!” Kireua clenched his teeth. A red flame rose up from his sword, a demonstration of his unique aura.

Kireua darted forward like an arrow.

However, his attack was blocked so easily that he was dumbstruck. Their two swords clashed, and Kireua was instead the one open to attack.

Cain’s foot slammed into Kireua’s abdomen with an audible thud.

“It shouldn’t sound like that. Again.”

“…Ugh!” Kireua had to take ten steps backward due to the shock but sprang forward again.

“It’s not supposed to make a ‘clang’ noise. Again!” Cain shouted.

Kireua pretended to aim at the upper left part of Cain’s body, but he abruptly rotated and swung his sword toward the right side of Cain’s waist. Launching an attack while rotating at the halfway point and using momentum was complex and difficult, but it was meaningless against Cain.

“Again.”

“Ugh!” Kireua grunted.

Clang, clang, clang!

“I told you to show me your skills, but you’re just using your sword to scribble on the ground.” Cain shook his head. There is no way you can launch a valid attack today at this rate.”

Kireua staggered away from the impact and fell on his behind, his face reddened in humiliation. However, Cain made it worse.

“Phew, this is not going to work. Let me show you a demonstration. Pick up your sword.”

The waves of Cain’s golden aura disappeared completely. Kireua’s eyes widened.

“Wh-why aren’t you using your aura?!”

“Considering your current level, I think I can spar against you without using my aura.”

Kireua bit his lower lip so hard that it bled again. Even if he was a Star, how could Cain think of using his bare sword to deal with Kireua’s aura? With aura, one could cut iron in half with a single strike. On top of that, Kireua was a Master, who was capable of sharpening his aura to its limit.

However, Cain started his demonstration before Kireua could get even angry.

“…Huh?” Kiruea’s eyes lost focus for a moment. Cain was already in front of him; the only sound he made had come from Kireua’s sword.

“M-my aura was cut?” Kireua stuttered.

“First of all, everything in this world has its own flow. You need to know how to read it. You shouldn’t be satisfied with yourself just because you became a Master.”

“Flow…?” Kireua blankly repeated.

“Only Masters, who have surpassed their physical and mana limits, can see these flows,” Cain said. “Do you now understand why the strongest knights describe becoming a Master as only a starting point?” Cain asked him.

Kireua heard Cain’s sword cut again. With his own eyes this time, he saw a part of his flame aura around his sword getting chopped away.

“What in the world…?” Kireua muttered.

“But seeing flows isn’t something that can be taught; you need to experience it and learn it yourself. That must be why the Flame Emperor allowed you to return to the Avalon Empire.”

“M-My teacher can do it too?” Kireua shouted in surprise.

“Of course; he’s one of the Nine Stars, the Red Flame Star of the Thran Kingdom, just like me.”

“That’s—!”

“Anyhow, authorities have these flows too. One way of learning how to see these flows is surviving a life-or-death crisis.”

Even while they were having a conversation, Kireua’s aura kept getting cut away.

“Who cares that you’re a Master? You’re at the same level as a person whose authority just manifested, and experts don’t even stand a chance against them. That is your reality.

“Of course, the manifestation of an authority is very rare, but… statistically speaking, there will be over a hundred people with authorities in one country.”

A hundred people was a very big number. In other words, the twelve countries had at least a hundred Masters.

“Authorities manifest with no warning, like destiny. There is no age limit, so numerous people with strong authorities may be born even at this moment. Nevertheless, an authority is not a talent. It’s just the luck you’re born with since you need to be chosen by a god—but of course, the gods wouldn’t choose just anyone. In that regard, I praise your resolve. You didn’t pay heed to the gods’ games and reached your current level with your own ability—but that ends today.”

Kireua’s sword fell to the ground in two pieces.

Kireua panted. Blood dripped from all over his body because after getting rid of all his aura, Cain’s sword turned against him. The world looked red in Kireua’s eyes.

“How do you feel after experiencing it directly? Did you understand what the flows are? You only have to do it once. If you manage to even leave a scratch on my sleeve, then you win and I’ll give you the Deon Ring. Wait, is it still too difficult?” Cain smirked.

“…op.”

“But you still wish to take after Joshua Sanders. That’s ironic. People are going to laugh at you, you stubborn baby,” Cain mocked.

“Stop!” Kireua yelled at the top of his lungs. Something inside him snapped. He could let the other things slide but he could not stand idly by while Cain disregarded everything he had worked for until now. He was certain of one thing: if putting in effort was a talent, Kireua was the most talented person on the whole continent. Although he might not be able to use spear techniques, he had spent twenty years cultivating his aura using the method taught by the Emperor himself. Humiliating Kireua any further was practically the same as mocking the Emperor.

Kireua sprang up from the ground with renewed resolve and distanced himself from Cain. His mana quickly circulated inside him.

‘I must trust my own ability. Everything in this world has its own flow, and a Master will be able to see the flow with his own eyes,’ Kireua recited. Although it was very vague, Kireua could somehow understand it.

‘…Read the flow of mana.’ Kireua focused his mana around his eyes. Instantly, the muscles around his eyes were wracked by immense pain. Anyone who saw him right now would shake their heads and say that he was acting crazy. Mana itself was destructive in nature, so putting his mana around their skin was insane enough—however, Kireua was doing it on his eyes, the softest part of the human body.

Nevertheless, Kireua didn’t stop. He only needed to deliver one attack. One.

His heart raced drum, his blood rushing through his veins, and his eyes turned bloodshot.

‘Focus. I must focus.’

“Ahhhhhh!” Kireua streaked across the gap between him and Cain, closing in on Cain in the barest fraction of a second.

The Combat Emperor Star shook faintly. What he heard was something new—and he hadn’t caused it.

“…Oh?” Cain quietly exclaimed.

Cain’s voice was the last thing Kireua heard before he completely lost consciousness.

1. This is Korean wordplay. 무(武) means combat in English, and 무(無) means nothing in English. Both letters sound the same in Korean. ☜