[353] A Swordsman's Conviction (5)
Everyone's gaze swung to the empty air. The black greatsword spun, blotting out the sun, and with a heavy thud it buried itself into the ground behind Rai—more than halfway in.
Rai did not look back. His eyes stayed fixed squarely on Rian.
Frozen in a stance with his greatsword leveled, Rian couldn't move a single finger. A terrible pain roared through him from the aftershock of Divine Transcendence.
In the growing silence, Rai clicked his tongue and turned.
"I lost. Let's stop."
Rian's pupils trembled. It was the first time in eighteen years he'd heard Rai admit defeat.
Rai showed no particular emotion as he sheathed the black blade. Then he walked over to Klump and bowed his head.
"I lost. I acknowledge my defeat."
"Heh. You got thrown off by the pace. Still, it was nice to see you so fired up—so unlike you."
Rai muttered, lips curling.
"This is why you shouldn't hang around fools."
"Still, it wasn't bad, right? Feels good, doesn't it?"
Rai, thoughtful for a moment, passed Klump and murmured softly.
"...You look a little more like a swordsman now."
Reina hurried after Rai.
"Wait, come here. Is your hand all right? You're supposed to be dispatched tomorrow, right?"
"It's nothing. I cramped and let go of the sword."
"Who are you trying to fool? A swordsman doesn't cramp that easily. Put your hand out."
Reina took Rai's wrist, flipped it over, and inspected his hand. Even the calluses—now almost indistinguishable from the skin—told her he had not come this far by talent alone.
"Figured as much."
Reina's brow tightened as she examined the back of his hand.
The left hand is supposed to cushion the shock when gripping a sword. But the nails on his index, middle, and ring fingers were all gone.
"Don't make a fuss. Nails come off easily."
"I've never heard that before! Ugh, with hands like this you can't even cut a steak. Come on—let me bind it."
Reina fetched bandages from the training ground's first-aid kit and wrapped Rai's index, middle, and ring fingers tightly to press them closed.
As the tension eased, fatigue rolled over even the onlookers. Only Kuan kept staring at Rian with a grave expression.
'Divine Transcendence...'
Rian's swordsmanship on the field had indeed been extraordinary. It was a performance you could never show in the step-by-step evaluations of a sword academy.
'But if it were me, I would have taken a different route.'
Divine Transcendence was dangerous. It wasn't just a boost in power.
The closing movement that had driven into Rai possessed a strange quality—so bizarre that even producing it with an external gravity field would be difficult. And yet Rai had met Rian's heavy blade with his own heavy blade.
Pride? Inexperience? Or was there some variable on the battlefield Rai hadn't read?
"A swordsman is a craftsman who wields a sword."
"Sir."
Klump was standing behind them before Kuan noticed.
"But a sword is, in the end, a tool for killing. That's an undeniable truth. So why do we pursue the sword?"
Kuan couldn't answer.
"You can't change the world with a single sword. But the sword you hold in your heart is different. A great swordsman wins battles, but a knight with conviction changes the world. Rai was ignited by Rian's conviction."
"The sword you carry in your heart..."
"Perhaps Divine Transcendence is nothing more than the materialization of conviction."
Kuan recalled events long past.
The man he had been before his Achilles tendon gave out. A resolve so firm he refused even the rites at the funeral hall and chose death—now that strength felt like a faint, distant memory.
"I had it too, once."
Klump looked at Kuan kindly. As a soldier and as a swordsman, Kuan was a regrettable junior.
"How long will you wander? Come back to the army. My direct aide just retired. If you take the post, you'd be a great help."
"I'll think about it. Thank you for your concern."
Kuan meant it, but he had no intention of returning to military life.
Today's duel had made one thing clear. The sword he wielded was already broken. Without taking up a new sword, he could never reach Divine Transcendence.
"Grandfather, I can drop out now, right?"
Rian strode forward. Pain had plastered his face with cold sweat. He'd proven himself by results, not words, so Klump had no more reason to stop him.
"Yes. You won. Whether you withdraw or take up knightly training, do as you wish."
"I told you from the start, didn't I? You went and started a fight over nothing."
Rian, fingers bandaged, changed his clothes as he said it.
"Don't go getting yourself killed. If you die, I feel like I'll have to go look for you."
Contrary to everyone's expectation, Rian did not explode in anger. They had both done their best, and he had no desire to dwell on the match pettyly.
But one question still remained.
"Hey, one thing."
Rai paused with his coat halfway buttoned and turned.
"The technique that blew up the ground—wasn't that an application of the sword-slaying technique?"
"So?"
"Why didn't you use the sword-slaying technique on me? You could've shattered my sword and ended the duel."
Rai cocked his head as if he didn't understand. There are limits to teasing—was he mocking me?
But there was no trace of provocation in Rian's face.
'No way he's serious...'
Rai looked to Klump.
"What happened? You didn't tell Rian?"
"Heh. What could we do? He took it like a sneaky cat. We hadn't even properly chosen an heir. He opened the schema—turned out to be a lie, too."
Rai snorted at the brazen lie.
"You weren't going to give it to me anyway, were you?"
"Eh, I didn't really need to."
"Tch!"
As stories flew past in which he was the only one left out, Rian cut in.
"What are you talking about? Just answer. Why didn't you try the sword-slaying technique?"
Rai, annoyed, turned and headed for the training-ground exit.
"Ask my grandfather, not me. What a mess—a swordsman who doesn't even know what he's holding."
Reina followed Rai.
"Really leaving today?"
"No, I'll stay the night. I'm tired. Bring my meal to my room."
When Rai brushed him off, Rian's eyes flashed and he jabbed a finger.
"Hey! Where are you going? I asked why you didn't use the sword-slaying technique! Don't leave me hanging—say it now!"
'This idiot is hopeless.'
Ignoring Rian's shouts from behind, Rai settled into thought.
In the Ozent family, the black-haired and blue-haired lines descend together.
Why hadn't his grandfather given him the greatsword?
As a child he thought his grandfather favored Rian because they shared the same blue hair. But today's duel had given him a vague clarity.
At the very least, the sword's rightful owner had been Rian.
* * *
Shirone and Tess decided to stay a day at Reina's manor.
The three of them gathered in Rian's room and unburdened six months of stories. The biggest topic was Amy's failure on the graduation exam.
"By the way, how's Amy? She must've been heartbroken."
They'd read about Amy's failure in Spirit Journal. The prodigy of the Karmis household failing early in the graduation exam was handled like a scandal.
"She's fine now. She was down for a while, but she's better. Next year's exam will be different."
"Of course. Amy will pull through. I want to see her. That was really fun back then."
Rian also recalled his time in Elysion. Realizing Divine Transcendence while fighting Imir had been a turning point in his life.
"Amy has what it takes to be a mage. Tell her I'm rooting for her. I'll come to the next graduation exam and cheer her on in person."
Shirone would be taking the exam in a year, so Rian couldn't miss it.
"You're lucky. I can't go. The swordsmanship school finishes later than the magic school. Maybe I should drop out and follow Rian."
Rian waved his hand.
"What, you—the top student at the swordsmanship school—drop out? No. You'll graduate at the top, proudly."
"But it'll feel so empty without you. I really want to follow."
When Tess made a face on the verge of tears, Rian scrambled to change the subject. He noticed Shirone's sword propped by the desk and asked.
"By the way, Shirone, do you carry that sword around?"
"Oh, that was a gift."
Shirone told them what had happened in Kazra. Rian and Tess, having experienced Elysion themselves, quickly understood the object's nature.
Encouraged by their curiosity, Shirone demonstrated.
First he performed precision manipulation, then activated the Adamantine Armament. The sword enveloped Shirone and, in an instant, a robe that looked organic covered him.
The sight was eerie and immensely powerful; even bold Rian couldn't help staring. Tess pointed at the floating orb and asked,
"What's that bead for?"
"That's a mana computation device. It substitutes for time-slicing techniques, so calculations are much faster. And the crystal orb in the gauntlet is a mana amplifier. Using the two expands the range of magic one can operate."
"I see. That's really interesting. There are artifacts with such complex functions."
Armand was the sort of weapon any swordsman would covet. But Rian and his friends' interest never went beyond curiosity. For those who bore a sword in their conviction, any object was still just a tool.
'It would be nice if Rian could use Armand.'
Knightly training is a different dimension from sword-school classes.
The world doesn't hand Rian systematic, graded challenges. He could handle third-rate thugs or petty thieves easily, but criminals who stood out could give even the kingdom trouble—they were exceptionally skilled.
From that perspective, Armand, which augments the user's bodily functions and offers its own defenses, would certainly help.
But unlike Dante's case, the magic blade did not respond to Rian.
Armand provides an optimal combat environment to users, but getting one hundred percent efficiency requires high-level tactical understanding and complex system control.
With Rian's direct, overbearing style, mastering Armand's functions was difficult, and Armand seemed to know that.
'Even if it's a sword, it's really like a sword.'
But Rian had no intention of leaning on anything. After his match with Rai, his confidence soared.
"Don't worry! This is just the beginning! From today I'll have an undefeated record!"
Watching Rian pound his chest, Shirone smiled contentedly.
He was a fire. One day he would become a blaze large enough to burn the world and return to him.
That night.
Rian lay curled under the covers, groaning.
The aftershocks of Divine Transcendence did not end with the first wave. The worst pain came at night, when the body tried to recover function.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
Moans slipped from his throat, but he bit his pillow to hold them in.
He couldn't let Shirone, sleeping beside him, hear. Above all, the fear that if he cried out now he might not be able to hold on any longer weighed on him.
His face was drenched in cold sweat, his focus blurred. Still, Rian glared into the darkness and endured the pain.
'Thank goodness. I'm so glad I won.'
Had he lost to Rai in front of Shirone, he would have fallen into a pit and been unable to do anything for some time.
Rai had been strong. Technically, he could be called a genius.
But he was not an insurmountable wall.
'The gap narrowed. It really did.'
He couldn't be certain the same outcome would occur in another duel, but in certain areas he had definitely surpassed him. He could be confident of that.
'I can do it. I didn't choose the wrong path.'
Knowing the distance wasn't unreachable gave Rian a rush of exhilaration. Even as his body trembled with pain, a laugh escaped his throat.
"Heh heh, heh heh heh."
The night of pain and pleasure passed.