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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
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38. A Sparring Match Unlike Any Other - Luna
***
—Skills.
A concept so prevalent in countless games and novels that it was easily encountered.
In fact, skills were such a common term that they often felt cliché, failing to evoke much excitement.
For instance, ordinary skills like 'Stab,' 'Slash,' or 'Triple Slash' had merely average power. Even high-tier skills, such as 'Meteor' or 'Asura's Fury,' varied wildly in their destructive potential.
These techniques, countless in fantasy and martial arts alike, were known as skills.
However, at the Grand Royal Academy—or Groa, as it was commonly known—the meaning of 'skill' was entirely different.
—The power of skills was overwhelming and extraordinary.
Skills couldn't be easily acquired, nor could they be obtained simply by wishing for them.
Regardless of trait grade, high-level individuals—specifically, those who reached Trait Level 7—could awaken a single skill. Another skill could then be awakened at each subsequent level.
While other methods of obtaining skills were rumored, they were largely considered impossible.
The only known condition for skill creation was 'enlightenment.'
And not just any ordinary enlightenment.
It required a disconnect from conventional logic, a transcendent realization beyond reality, to acquire a unique skill.
Thus, skills were a testament to the absolute power held by those who had made a name for themselves, a kind of 'exclusive possession' that denoted their worth.
And now, Han Cheon-seong, incredibly, had obtained a 'clue' to such a skill.
…
—! —!
Cheon-seong's movements, as he spun his spear and gestured lightly, struck anyone watching as far from ordinary.
Given how quickly rumors of his duel with Leonhardt had spread, Han Cheon-seong's appearance in the training hall was enough to draw the attention of most students present.
Han Cheon-seong's distinct black hair and black eyes. While students with black hair weren't unheard of, black was generally a rare color.
But with Luna and Millia, two rarely seen beauties, by his side, it was inevitable that the students' gazes would converge on him.
"There's not really much to show, even if I wanted to."
He felt a strange sensation as he spoke.
Millia, her eyes sparkling with anticipation as she watched him, and Luna, casting a sidelong glance with a haughty expression.
Even though he was merely demonstrating his Level 4 spearmanship to them, there was literally nothing special to display.
While his proficiency in wielding a mana-infused spear had greatly improved, he wasn't like Leonhardt, unleashing brilliant blue light and immense power.
And spearmanship, he felt, was fundamentally intuitive yet powerful.
Its purpose was to quickly subdue opponents by thrusting, slashing, and sweeping.
Rather than a weapon suited for prolonged combat, he viewed spearmanship as a characteristic more akin to annihilating the weak.
Wouldn't it be stranger if such a style *were* flashy?
"Just watching you wield the spear... I can really feel how strong you are."
"Well, it *is* Level 4."
Chuckling at the two entirely different reactions, he slowly retrieved his spear.
Then he slowly surveyed his surroundings. C-class students had, at some point, gathered around them.
They all watched him with curious eyes. For a moment, he considered challenging one of them to a duel, but then shook his head.
While demonstrating the strength of his spearmanship through a duel would be ideal, the students he saw didn't really seem strong.
'No, perhaps I've just become too strong.'
His first duel, with Leonhardt, had set his standards too high. And then yesterday's duel with Kali.
In truth... having repeatedly sparred with such impossibly monstrous beings, he felt a sense of disconnect even considering finding an opponent within his own class.
Considering the average student was Level 2, his rashly requesting a duel would actually be close to a nuisance.
"..."
As proof, several students whose eyes met his immediately looked away, just in case. How could he even approach them?
"Han Cheon-seong."
Then, hearing Luna's voice, he turned his head.
"Hm?"
"You. Duel me."
"...What?"
"I said, let's duel. Didn't you hear me?"
Luna repeated herself, her lips curling up in exasperation at his words, and for a moment, he couldn't understand her intention.
'Battle Cure, Level 2.'
Looking solely at the trait itself, Luna's trait was so restrictive that it almost felt as if she had been forcibly assigned to a combat class.
Yet, it was also a trait that granted a unique power.
No, come to think of it...
'A trait that provides compensation for all damage received—it's practically cheating.'
Battle Cure's fundamental effect: healing power increases proportionally to damage dealt.
Ironically, this translated into the absurd concept of strengthening the damage dealt itself.
That's why, as her trait level rose, Luna became an almost all-around overpowered character.
At the same time, the fact that her trait wasn't restricted by any weapon was another advantage.
Clack.
Luna headed towards the weapon racks, and as she chose a weapon, he still found himself giving her a strange look.
'What exactly is her scheme?'
Luna's weapon wasn't fixed even in the novel.
As the eldest daughter of a count's family, she received almost all support and higher education, proficiently handling a wide variety of weapons and adapting to most situations.
Swords, spears, shields, or magic—regardless of type, it was hard to tell what her true identity was...
'If I think about it, that makes no sense, right?'
How could she handle all of them? He'd thought the author might have favored her as the main heroine, but the more he thought about it, the stranger Luna's settings seemed.
"Ah. Then I'll use this."
The armament Luna picked up was a weapon he hadn't anticipated.
In her right hand, she wielded a small hammer, and in her left, a kite-shaped shield... For a moment, he was dumbfounded and asked,
"...Are you really going to duel me?"
"Would I have said it if I wasn't serious?"
Now she was quite unreserved in her replies, and the look in her eyes as she gazed at him seemed truly innocent.
Pure, unadulterated malice, in fact, was what he saw.
—A look that screamed, 'I truly despise you.'
It was a look filled with the fervent desire to somehow land a blow on him and humiliate him. Recognizing that, he couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
It was like a child whining about having their toy taken away.
At this point, Luna's actions almost seemed cute to him.
"Alright. Fine. Let's duel."
Accepting the duel calmly, he immediately looked at Millia.
"Han Cheon-seong, but there's a two-level difference in your traits—Level 2 and Level 4. Are you really sure? I think this duel might be a bit risky."
As she voiced his own thoughts, he was certain that Millia was indeed more mature than Luna.
"You're right. So, Millia, could you call the training instructor? Just in case. I'd like an observing instructor present."
"Yes, alright."
Millia, who had left immediately at his words, soon returned with the C-class training hall instructor.
The training instructor was a green-haired woman with kind eyes.
Her name was 'Ludmina.' She possessed a Unique-grade trait at Trait Level 7, one level lower than A-class instructor Avalanche.
"Han Cheon-seong and Luna. I heard two students are requesting a duel. Is this perhaps a duel stemming from a dispute or conflict?"
Despite her kind eyes, she asked quite calmly, and he shook his head.
"No, ma'am."
"No, it's not."
When his answer accidentally overlapped with Luna's, she glared at him as if annoyed, but her expression only made him want to laugh again.
'She really is like a little girl.'
Not just in thought, but truly like an elementary schooler? It was as if he was looking at a girl whose mental age had stopped right around there.
Her speech was direct, and the emotions she felt were clearly displayed on her person.
Because of this, he actually felt no ill will towards Luna.
"Very well then. If that's not the case, I always welcome duels between students. Students, please take your positions."
At the gentle voice of the instructor, distinctly different from Instructor Avalanche, who had observed their previous duel, he and Luna moved to create distance between themselves.
Even so, the gazes of the surrounding students felt intense.
Somehow... this situation felt familiar, yet entirely different.
'It's strange, isn't it?'
Just a few days ago, his duel with Leonhardt had also drawn countless spectators.
A-class students had flocked to watch his duel with Leonhardt, and back then, he had been receiving completely different gazes than now.
The voices of several A-class students who openly called him pathetic, or looked at his Common trait with pity or disdain, were still vivid in his memory.
But now, standing in this duel arena, the gazes he received were completely different from before.
He could confidently say that almost no C-class student in the training hall looked down on him; in fact, more than half were watching him with genuine anticipation.
'Is this... the kind of gaze Leonhardt received?'
As he slowly raised his spear, his feelings were intensely complex.
Of course, the gazes Leonhardt, with his Legendary trait and undeniably handsome and striking appearance, received wouldn't be exactly the same as his, but he imagined it would feel somewhat similar.
—The gazes that the protagonist of this world received.
He was, at least indirectly, experiencing them now.
"Duel, begin."
With the gentle voice of the instructor, he did not initiate the first attack, unlike in previous duels.
He calmly waited for Luna to charge at him first.
The difference in trait levels between her and him was stark.
A mere two levels, Trait Level 2 and Level 4, was by no means *just* a two-level difference.
It was a difference that could hardly be compared.
If he were to attack first and gain an advantage, the relationship he had painstakingly improved with Luna would be ruined.
Moreover, the duel when Leonhardt was Level 2 and he was Level 3, and this current duel, were vastly different because the opponent was different, and he himself had grown stronger.
It wasn't that he was looking down on Luna.
—He recognized the difference between his opponent and himself. And precisely for that reason, he wouldn't show off. He intended to approach the duel with the concept of 'control'.
"Han Cheon-seong, since you're Level 4, I won't hold back either."
When Luna spoke with such confidence, he chuckled instantly.
"Alright. Luna, you can attack first."
As he echoed the very words Leonhardt had spoken to him in their last duel, Luna fearlessly pushed off the ground and charged at him.
—!
Standing his ground and watching, he realized anew.
Now that he clearly knew he held the advantage over Luna, keeping his heart from swelling with excitement was proving harder than he thought.
And, 'Was this how Leonhardt felt when he looked at me?'
Yet, the fact that Leonhardt had not disdained him but calmly proceeded with their duel came to mind once more.
'...Indeed, there are things to learn from the protagonist.'
And he, too, had to be the same.
He had to treat Luna not with contempt, but as a proper opponent in a duel.
With that resolve, he calmly took in Luna's form as she entered his vision.
—! —!
Luna, rapidly pushing off the ground and closing the distance with every passing moment, had a surprisingly interesting grip on her shield.
True to her noble background, there was no hint of amateurishness.
Even as he watched her, he calmly made up his mind.
At that moment, *swish*, his hand gripping the spear underwent a slight change.
Though he hadn't yet reached a skill, he wasn't entirely stagnant just because his trait level hadn't increased.
It was a new stance he had realized, a concept he could now pursue.
—[Thrust and Twist a Single Point]
If an attack couldn't be broken, then the opponent's attack would be twisted away and erased.
And he would debut it for the first time in this very duel...