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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 17
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—The sparring must be stopped.
Avalanche, the training instructor, had felt that way for over ten minutes.
That this sparring session shouldn't continue any further.
And the feeling was quite severe.
"..."
Yet, he couldn't.
The two students currently sparring, visible in his sight, bore no injuries.
Far from fatal wounds, not a single scratch existed on either student's body.
That was because it was one-sided.
One side relentlessly pressed the offensive, while the other perfectly blocked every attack.
Despite the lengthy duration of the sparring, neither student's weapon had touched the other's body, and thus, there were naturally no injuries.
Ironically, objectively speaking, there seemed to be no grounds for intervention.
And yet, Avalanche felt a sense of crisis, or even alarm.
The reason lay with one of the students currently sparring.
A student with the unfamiliar name 'Han Cheon-seong'.
The intensity of his offense made it hard to believe he was a new student. From controlling distance to thrusting his spear, he launched a truly one-sided assault, yet there was no hint of clumsiness in his weapon handling.
The opposing student was a 'Legendary Trait' holder, the top-ranked freshman of the academy this year, whose name everyone knew.
Even against Leonhardt, whose name I had heard countless times, Han Cheon-seong's offense flowed as naturally and fiercely as water.
It was a scene beyond common understanding, a reality.
That a student with merely a 'Common Trait' was dominating a student with a 'Legendary Trait'. Who could possibly believe it?
If I had only heard it, I would have scoffed, finding it utterly absurd.
But.
It was happening right now, in reality.
Clang! Clang!!
Large sparks flew from the clashing weapons, and the spear-wielding style changed once again.
Unlike before, each assault was now delivered with powerful thrusts or sweeping slashes.
'He understands the essence of variability.'
At first, he seemed to be unleashing rapid consecutive attacks, but now he varied the intensity, sometimes striking with great force to break the rhythm of the defense.
This kept the defender on edge, unable to let their guard down for a single moment.
'And yet, his posture hasn't faltered.'
As the sparring session dragged on, both individuals showed clear signs of exhaustion.
At any moment, one might expect a gap to appear or their weapon handling to become sloppy, yet, apart from the initial few exchanges, the back-and-forth continued relentlessly.
Both were fiercely entangled, without an inch of retreat.
If Leonhardt parried a spear thrust and took a step back, he immediately advanced another step. To counter this, Han Cheon-seong would unleash another fierce barrage to push him back.
A peculiar standoff continued, like intermeshing gears.
It was... truly unique, even from a spectator's perspective.
The sparring pattern was one side attacking, and the other merely defending.
In such a scenario, the defending side should typically crumble.
But with Leonhardt, the balance was maintained to such an extent that one wondered how such an entanglement was even possible, and the sparring continued.
Clang-clang-clang!
Amidst the ringing of sharp metal, the sweat-soaked, blond-haired Leonhardt came into view.
Despite his visible exhaustion, his gaze was different from the start of the sparring.
He gazed at the spear tip like a calm lake.
He never took his eyes off the spear tip for a single moment, utterly absorbed in how to receive the attacks, displaying a composure uncharacteristic of a newly admitted student.
'Despite possessing a Legendary Trait, he isn't arrogant...'
The top-ranked student in this year's entrance exam.
Leonhardt Lorient.
Befitting his Legendary Trait, 'Sky-Piercing Blade,' his sword-handling was remarkably refined.
Even now, his near-perfect defense gave the spear no chance to touch his body.
Yet. That was all there was to it.
Beyond that, Leonhardt couldn't advance.
Therefore, he now focused on Han Cheon-seong, who was swinging the spear from the opposite side.
As if to allow no breathing room, the spear's trajectory was either strangely elusive or sometimes surged forward with the speed of light.
And his signs of exhaustion couldn't even be compared to Leonhardt's.
That student's body was already at its limit.
My tension, my thoughts that I should stop this sparring, were all because of that student.
Not only was his entire body drenched in sweat, but his breathing was also ragged.
Even his eyes were clouded, and signs of his body's distress were apparent everywhere.
And yet.
The student's offensive hadn't weakened at all compared to the beginning.
To continue moving his body when it had reached its limit meant he was exerting extreme concentration.
'There's a possibility he's reaching the next level.'
That's why he couldn't bring himself to stop the sparring.
It was when a Trait encountered its limits and faced a crisis that clues to the next stage would appear.
That student, Han Cheon-seong, was highly likely standing at that crossroads right now. If I were to stop the sparring carelessly, I would be blocking the student's path forward...
For me, too, this sparring was truly a dilemma.
I knew Han Cheon-seong's body was at its limit, to the point where it wouldn't be strange for him to be in danger at any moment, yet I couldn't stop it.
Even now, he was wielding his spear in a state close to a trance.
Gulp.
He found himself swallowing and making up his mind without realizing it.
This sparring cannot be stopped.
And the student himself must be feeling it too.
That his own Trait was on the verge of evolving further and advancing. That's why he must be feeling such exhilaration...
As an instructor, I couldn't interfere with that.
Nor should the sparring be stopped. I had to watch until a victor emerged.
Instead, I had to be fully prepared, maintaining the readiness to spring into action at any moment in case of an unforeseen accident.
The faint blue light emanating from the sword in Leonhardt's hand grew stronger with each passing moment.
Naturally, its destructive power also intensified.
As Han Cheon-seong, the student, grew, Leonhardt's own Trait slowly began to shine even brighter.
And then, a sudden change occurred.
CLANG!!!
With a deafening, ear-splitting sound, the spear was forcefully pushed back.
As Leonhardt skillfully parried the spear, almost as if exerting his full power, Han Cheon-seong stumbled, taking two steps back.
'It's over.'
Immediately after, I instinctively knew the end of this sparring session.
He fixed his gaze, ready to spring into action, but.
"...!"
Incredibly, despite stumbling heavily, Han Cheon-seong did not release the spear from his hand.
Swish!
As if forcibly redirecting the powerful force, he spun his body low to the ground, regaining his grip on the spear. Simultaneously, he thrust the spear forward again.
In fact, he began thrusting the spear even more frantically than before.
"Hah."
Leonhardt, who had been about to close the distance in an instant, halted, forced to receive the barrage of attacks.
Clang-clang-clang!
Another rapid flurry of consecutive attacks, different from before. Sparks flew from the sword clashing against them, and the sparring did not conclude.
Pure admiration escaped him without him realizing it.
'It must be a natural instinct...'
It was astonishing.
It wasn't an ability of his Trait.
The quick thinking in that moment: instantly righting his body, sweeping low to the ground to redirect the force, and then thrusting the spear again.
Even a Common Trait at Level 3 couldn't possibly account for such a movement.
But that single move halted the end of this sparring session.
It had blocked the moment that would have led to defeat, regaining the offensive advantage.
If he had hesitated for a moment after being pushed back so significantly, or if his redirection of force had been clumsy, Leonhardt would have exploited the opening and ended the sparring.
"...He's insane."
"How can he still wield that spear?"
"Isn't he supposed to be Common?"
Hearing various exclamations from the students gathering one by one, a smile unconsciously formed on his lips.
There had been talk that this year's incoming class was superior to last year's.
But to experience it from the very first day of the entrance ceremony...
Seeing Leonhardt, who had entered as the top student even among exceptional students, and Han Cheon-seong, who was his equal, it felt like a significant stir was about to be unleashed.
'Spearmanship, huh.'
A Common Trait was certainly not an outstanding power.
It was a trivial Trait, one where most students would end their academy life in D-class, even if they managed to get in.
Yet that student, possessing a Trait that most now gave up on even before admission, was shining so brightly.
Could he have understood his Trait to such an extent in such a short time?
'Should I consider this effort?'
As that thought crossed his mind, one of the academy's instructors suddenly came to mind.
An instructor famous for her incredible performance on the battlefield, her red hair fluttering like a crimson flame.
'Kali Ishtar.'
The words she had emphasized during their encounters over the past few days came back to him.
—Effort never betrays you.
In truth, given how overwhelmingly superior Kali's own Trait was, everyone usually took her words as a joke.
But now, he understood those words completely.
A student who was proving those words through his actions.
Sparring against a Legendary student with a Common Trait, he was evenly matched. No, he hadn't been on the defensive even once.
Rather, he was demonstrating his superiority, showing the ultimate result of effort.
Swish.
Even lost in thought, he didn't unclench his left hand.
The blue light, a precursor to Trait manifestation, had actually been present in his left hand for quite some time.
And he felt he wouldn't be able to relax this tension for a while.
The two students currently sparring were truly remarkable.
While Han Cheon-seong, the student, was demonstrating abilities beyond a Common Trait, it didn't mean Leonhardt, his opponent, was anything less than extraordinary.
With a calm and earnest demeanor, he continued to block the spear.
And he hadn't allowed a single attack to land.
More than anything, that could be said to demonstrate Leonhardt's extraordinary nature as a student.
Leonhardt, focused on defense and giving no openings, showed simply through that why he was this year's top-ranked student.
Most students fall into arrogance just by possessing a Unique Trait. I myself was like that in the past.
Because I was special and superior to others, I focused on conspicuous displays like offense.
It took me months of real combat to realize the importance of defense. But Leonhardt was already understanding it now.
"Good."
His heart was filled with satisfaction watching the two students.
And soon, exclamations of awe erupted among the students.
"...Insane."
"No way!?"
"That light is..."
Those exclamations weren't for Leonhardt.
It was because a subtle blue light had somehow begun to settle upon Han Cheon-seong's body.
It was an omen.
The light of blessing that appears just before a Trait evolves and enters its next level.
'He might actually ascend.'
On the day of the entrance ceremony. The unprecedented feat of reaching Trait Level 4.
That student, Han Cheon-seong, was almost there.