Bang! Swords filled with mana clashed, and the sound that followed rang across the entire training ground. Like always, Zich’s sword shot forward like a storm, and Greig gritted his teeth and bared the attacks with his sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Greig managed to barely defend against several attacks, but these attacks were a small minority of Zich’s attacks. The rest of the attacks fell directly onto his body.
Slice! Slice! Slice! The sound of his body shredding clearly traveled to Greig’s ears, followed by a pinging ache; and even though he didn’t see bright red blood flowing down his body, he could feel it. Yet, he didn’t cower in fear. Only when Zich’s attacks stopped did he check his condition.
‘I can still move!’ He had felt this level of pain many times before. Now, he could tell how deep his injuries were or whether his body could still move simply by the pain he felt.
Tap tap! Perhaps Greig had thought wrong. His legs gave out and his stance crumpled.
Whoosh! Zich’s sword aimed toward this opening, but then Greig’s eyes shone.
Flick! He placed more pressure on his legs and swung his sword. The definite strength and force his sword made couldn’t have been made without the right balance. He had clearly used a feint move.
‘Like this, just once!’ However, Greig’s hope was misplaced. Swish! Zich easily tilted his torso, and Greig’s sword missed; simultaneously, he felt a pain climbing to his thighs.
“Urgh!” This time, Greig really fell because his legs gave out. Then, he quickly looked at his thigh. There was a large hole in his thigh due to Zich’s sword.
“It’s good that you feinted, but you should have calculated that your opponent would’ve recognized your feint and tried to trick you in reverse.” Zich chuckled next to him and gave a piece of advice that sounded more like mockery. Greig tried to get up while gritting his teeth, but the injury in his thigh was too big for him to stand. Thus, Zich glanced at a priest nearby.
A priest approached Greig and used his holy powers. Greig’s large injury that spat out large amounts of blood became small in an instant and healed.
“Thank you always for your help,” Zich thanked the priest since he had been using them frequently for the past few days.
The priest smiled lightly and said, “Considering how an honorary holy knight is helping us, what we are doing is nothing. Moreover, I have previous experience working with you, sir.”
This priest was the one who had healed Zich when he had suffered many injuries dueling right before he left the Steelwalls.
“I was so shocked that time when you said you would fight in that state.”
After healing Greig, the priest got up. “Okay, I’m done here.”
“Thank you. You can leave now since I am planning to stop for today.”
“What? Already?” Greig’s eyes widened. He looked up to the sky. The sun was still in the middle of the sky. Usually, they would have dueled ruthlessly for hours more, but today was different.
“What? Do you want to get sliced more or something? Have you opened your eyes to that world after getting one-sidedly beaten up for a while now? Even if I am psychologically healing you, I can’t help you with that too.”
“Of course not!” Greig yelled, but Zich continued to look suspiciously at him. The priest also distanced himself from Greig a bit. Greig heaved while glaring at Zich, but soon, he disappeared into the mansion, and Zich watched him leaving while chuckling.
“Then, I will take my leave now as you suggested,” the priest said.
“Yes, thank you for your work.”
The priest left, and all the spectators also disappeared after Greig returned to the mansion. Soon, the only people remaining on the training ground were Zich who was still soaked with Greig’s blood, and the sole remaining person from the spectators, Lyla. She approached Zich and asked, “How come you ended the session so early today?”
“It’s becoming useless now. I actually dragged it on longer than necessary because it was fun tormenting Greig. Yet, even I’m becoming sick of that now,” Zich said. Lyla had already guessed this, but hearing Zich say it directly to her made her sigh.
“Then, is the thing you have been calling ‘treatment’ over?”
“No, not yet.” Zich stared at the place where Greig had disappeared.
“He has simply become used to duels now. So, that means he’s cured to some extent since his trauma in duels is almost gone now. I thought that guy might be completely broken, but I guess he endured.”
“If his trauma is gone, doesn’t that mean the treatment is done?”
“He still has a severe problem left. In comparison to that, his trauma in duels is nothing much really.”
“What is that?”
“The embarrassment he felt from getting beaten by someone he had looked down on. That’s probably the biggest reason for his current state. Due to the shame and humiliation he felt from his loss, he probably became dispirited by the way others viewed him. His self-confidence would’ve naturally been smashed into pieces too.” In the first place, this was what Zich had aimed for when he crushed Greig in their duel, and this plan had worked so well that Greig fell to the state he was currently in.
“How will you solve that?”
“Simple. I just have to show that guy the truth.”
“What truth?”
Zich stretched out his chest and placed more pressure on his neck as if he was telling an obvious fact. “I just have to show him the truth that the difference between him and me is as wide as the difference between the sky and the earth. I have to make him realize that comparing himself to me is a joke in itself. Then, he won’t think it’s an embarrassing fact that he is weaker than me since it’s only natural as the placements of this world. I can also plant some confidence in him too.”
“…” Lyla had felt this way before, but Zich had an impressive amount of confidence. However, the fact that his words weren't wrong still alarmed her. “So what are you going to do to show this huge difference between him and you? You’ve probably thought of something, right?”
“Hm? I haven't really thought about it yet.”
“What?”
“I thought maybe I could take him to a monster hunt, but I still have to think of the details.”
“How could you think of something that important starting from now?” Lyla’s tone rose, but Zich remained calm.
“I just need to stick by his side anyway. If he sees my overwhelming talent next to me, wouldn’t he naturally gain admiration for me?”
“Ugh, I seriously can’t deal with you!” In the end, Lyla smacked Zich on his back.
* * *
After returning to the Steelwall Estate, Hans went around places to give his greetings. Unlike Zich, Hans had no ill feelings toward the Steelwalls, and everyone welcomed him with open arms. Among them, the person who was most glad to see him was the Countess. She embraced him like a lost child finally returning home after a long time.
For the Countess, her nanny had been a very special person. Not only had her nanny taken care of her since her youth, but she had also been the support that allowed her to hang on while she was tormented by Sara when she first came to the Steelwall Estate. Thus, naturally, she thought of the nanny’s grandson, Hans, very dearly—especially after all of Hans’ blood-related guardians such as his nanny or parents died from old age or sickness. The Countess wanted Hans to stay comfortably in the estate near her, but Hans refused this offer, saying that he was Zich’s servant and disciple now.
Hans rested for several days after arriving at the Steelwall Estate. Since this was his home, he psychologically felt more comfortable. He trained just enough so that his body wouldn’t become stiff and enjoyed the comfort of being back. Yet, after some time, he thought he had rested enough and took up his sword again.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Hans’ sword sliced through the air fiercely. He held a sword made for fundamental sword training and heightened his body’s senses every time he brought his sword down. He needed to ingrain the proper stance into his body while exercising. Only then would his body be able to react faster than he could think in an unexpected situation. This would help him stabilize and become fiercer.
“You are already here.”
Hans relaxed his stance when he heard a voice. Lara was walking to the practice ground.
“Are you going to train too, Ms. Lara?”
“Yes. Now that no one can guilt me from practicing swordsmanship, I’m going to swing my sword until I’m satisfied.” Lara pulled out the sword from her waist. After swinging her sword a couple of times, she looked at her surroundings.
“It really is a nice practice ground.”
“The Steelwalls are a renowned knight family acknowledged by the kingdom. This place is one of the best among all the Steelwall Estate’s practicing grounds. Only the Count’s family members or high-ranking members of the knight order can use it.” This place was the same one that Zich used when he received permission from the Count.
“You know this place so well.”
“Well, I’ve cleaned this place many times before.”
‘That’s right. I heard that Hans used to work here as a servant,’ Lara thought. However, matters of someone’s class had little meaning for her now. Besides, no matter how much a person was obsessed with class and deemed lower-class people inhuman, they wouldn’t be able to treat Hans poorly because of the skills he possessed. Furthermore, it appeared that Hans was no longer a servant from what she heard, and Hans didn’t seem to care too much about his past or class either. Above all, Lara was not the type of person who would reevaluate her assessment of a skilled fighter like Hans simply because he used to be a servant. In short, Hans’ past held zero meaning for the two.
“Should we try dueling?”
“If you would, I would be grateful.” There were many things to learn from dueling with a highly-skilled fighter, and Lara always welcomed the chance to duel with someone of Hans' level of skill. Thus, instead of a training sword, Hans pulled out a normal sword. Then, the two placed some distance between each other and faced forward.
“Please make the first move.”
“I won’t refuse then.” Lara rushed toward Hans.
Bang! Bang! Bang! They used some mana as they flashed, so loud noises rang across the training ground. The sounds traveled quite far, and people began to slowly gather around the place curiously. Of course, there weren’t many people since the training ground was only permitted to a select few, but those who gathered were many of the top names in the Steelwall Estate.
“Hm…” A knight with completely white hair and beard watched the two fight carefully. He was Mihen Tiner, the man titled as the best knight in the Steelwall Estate and the captain of the Steel Spear Order of Knights. He had been passing by the area for an errand when he heard a loud noise from the training ground and came to check out what was happening. He watched Hans and Lara duel quietly.
“…His name was Hans, right?” Mihen finally spoke, and the knight next to him nodded.
“Yes, sir. He used to be a servant and is the grandson of the nanny who used to serve the Countess,” the other knight answered.
Mihen also remembered seeing Hans. Although he didn’t know all the servants in the Steelwall Estate, Hans was quite famous in the estate for having the Countess’ favor. Yet, even before that, Mihen had also seen Zich take Hans on the day he ran out of the estate. At that time, he hadn’t thought much of Hans. Even if the Countess treasured him, he thought that a servant was just a servant, and all he did was simply click his tongue as Zich dragged Hans away, and Hans had tears and snot trickling down his face. Furthermore, Mihen had also been too occupied by the sudden strength and genius that Zich had displayed that day.
Yet, the Hans he saw again was a completely different person. The way he swung his sword was skillful and the mana he poured out felt heavy. Mihen hadn’t assessed all of Hans' capabilities yet, but it was obvious that Hans’ skills didn’t lag behind the members of his knight order. If he also considered the fact that Hans must have learned swordsmanship only after he had left the estate, his skills were unbelievable, almost frightening.