Chapter 39

Otto stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter his mother had given him.

Thud! Smack!

Akkan mercilessly beat the fallen Otto.

- Disappointing!

“Ouch!”

- You can’t even counterattack!

“Wait! Just a moment! Let’s talk this out… Ah!”

- Is this the level of those who enter the Sacred Realm?

“Hit me again… Ouch!”

Otto rolled and tumbled to avoid the sword—more like a club—wielded by Akkan.

But it was impossible to dodge Akkan’s sword with such poor movements.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

A relentless beating.

Akkan’s bladeless sword spared no part of Otto’s body—his arms, legs, shoulders, waist, and head.

“Aaaaaah! Please! Aaaaaah!”

Otto pleaded and cried, but it was useless to Akkan.

Akkan was a spirit-like being, not a human, residing in armor.

He existed to teach the invincible sword to those who entered the Sacred Realm, and thus had no concept of mercy.

He simply taught the invincible sword to those who entered the Sacred Realm…

“P-Please stop… I… I… It hurts… I’m… I’m… going to die… I… I… I’m dying… I… It hurts too much… S-Stop….”

It wasn’t an act.

Akkan’s sword was brutal.

His skin was already torn in many places, and his muscles were mashed.

Several bones were broken, making it impossible for him to control his body.

“Huff, huff, huff….”

Broken ribs pierced his lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

‘Damn it… I never thought I’d be beaten to death…’

Otto shivered, feeling the stark difference between the game and reality.

In the game, he had immediately learned the invincible sword when he met Akkan…

‘I’m really going to die…’

Otto thought his life was over.

With all his bones broken and his lungs torn, breathing was a struggle.

Even with the Divine Magic Body, a 70-level character had no chance against Akkan, the guardian of the Sacred Realm.

He would just be beaten to death…

- Get up! Counterattack!

Kairos’ encouragement reached Otto, but his consciousness was fading.

- Damn it!

Kairos wanted to help Otto, but he couldn’t.

Otto was already a mess, and it was impossible for Kairos to fight Akkan in his place.

‘What did I do in my past life…?’

Right then.

Whoosh!

A circular magic circle appeared on the hall floor, emitting a faint light.

Then, something incredible happened.

[Notice: The Sacred Realm rejects you!]

[Notice: Your health has been fully restored!]

Otto’s fading life force flared up again.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Otto was surprised to see his battered body fully healed.

Just a moment ago, it was hard to tell if he was a person or a lump of minced meat, but now he was completely unharmed.

- The Sacred Realm…

Akkan said to Otto.

- Does not let those who enter it die.

“…!”

- At least not until you learn the invincible sword from me, Akkan. You cannot die even if you want to.

“R-Really…?”

Otto, drenched in cold sweat, let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew… That’s a relief… I thought I was really going to die… Ah!”

Otto was cut off mid-sentence as Akkan swung his sword—more like a club—and he screamed, leaping away.

- Let’s go again.

“Wait! A moment to breathe… Ouch!”

- Learn! This sparring will continue until you learn the invincible sword! Forever!

“F-Forever…?”

- Yes!

Akkan shouted and began to beat Otto mercilessly again.

* * *

Otto painfully realized what Akkan meant by “forever.”

‘…He means he’ll beat me forever.’

There was no other way to explain the current situation.

Akkan was incredibly fast and incredibly strong.

Therefore, Otto had to endlessly repeat the process of being beaten to near death and then resurrecting.

Learning the invincible sword was out of the question; even defending himself was impossible.

How many hours had passed?

“The invincible sword is a joke… This is just torture….”

Otto, who had resurrected for the 49th time, sobbed in frustration.

It was definitely torture.

With Otto’s abilities, it was impossible to even spar with Akkan, let alone dodge his attacks.

That meant…

‘Am I going to be beaten here forever…?’

Then.

- Hey, punk.

Kairos, who had been quiet for hours, spoke to Otto.

“Why…?”

- Keep watching his movements.

“What…?”

- His swordsmanship is perfect. It’s not a matter of being strong or weak. His swordsmanship is just too perfect.

“So what?”

- Just keep getting hit and watch his movements with your eyes. Learn them.

“What do you mean?”

- There’s no way to explain it in words. You’ll naturally understand as you get hit. It’s a form of training that you learn through your body. It’s brutal but the most effective.

“What…?”

- I’d like to help you, but then it wouldn’t be your training. So, just keep getting hit. You won’t die anyway, so what’s there to be afraid of? Pain becomes familiar if you endure it. Clear your mind and just try to mimic his movements.

“But….”

- If that can of beans wanted to kill you, he could have done it easily. If his sword had an edge, you would have died thousands of times! Understand the purpose of this trial!

“I get it!”

Otto didn’t ignore Kairos’ advice.

Kairos was once a tyrant who conquered a third of the continent with a single iron mace and was also an emperor.

Regardless of historians’ evaluations, his power was undeniable.

‘I’ll trust him.’

Otto decided to trust Kairos and approach the sparring with Akkan without any thoughts.

The process was arduous.

“Grr….”

Repeating the cycle of being beaten to death and then recovering was not an easy task.

He didn’t die, but the pain didn’t lessen.

However, as Kairos said, the pain gradually became familiar.

Since his body would recover, the pain was only momentary.

- Mimic his movements and counterattack! He’s not just fast and strong! He’s using perfect swordsmanship!

“Counterattack…?”

- You keep dodging and blocking, so you get hit! You idiot! You need to take the initiative by counterattacking! You need to make him block or dodge your attacks! Haven’t you heard that the best defense is a good offense?

Otto pondered Kairos’ advice.

‘Counterattack… counterattack… Right. If I attack, Akkan won’t be able to beat me as easily. It’s a cliché, but it’s true.’

Following Kairos’ advice, Otto tried attacking instead of just defending or dodging.

- Hmm! Are you finding the answer?

As Otto started to actively resist, a satisfied voice came from under Akkan’s helmet.

- But you’ve only taken the first step.

“Gah!”

- The learning begins now.

“Aaaaaah!”

The result didn’t change much.

It was impossible for Otto, who knew nothing about swordsmanship, to learn the invincible sword just by hearing a few words of advice from Kairos.

Even with the Divine Magic Body, which increased his swordsmanship proficiency by 25%, it was still impossible.

* * *

On the fifth day since Otto entered the Sacred Realm.

Conrad, who visited the Sacred Realm out of concern, found nothing unusual and turned his attention to Camille.

“Your name is Camille, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ve heard of you. You’re known for your chivalry, and many lords have sought you.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“You must have received many good offers. Why did you turn them down?”

“I have already sworn my loyalty and received a knighthood. I have no intention of breaking that oath for personal gain.”

“You are as excellent as I’ve heard.”

“I don’t think it’s something to be praised.”

“What?”

“A knight is someone who serves their lord. Keeping an oath of loyalty is not something to be praised.”

“You only know one side of the story.”

Conrad smiled wryly.

“The reason chivalry is emphasized is because it is not often kept.”

“…”

“Many knights betray their lords for personal gain and glory. In this world, it is commendable that a promising young man like you stayed by the side of a mere rural lord.”

At that moment.

‘It’s only been four days?’

Camille was surprised by Conrad’s words.

The Kuntach family’s information-gathering ability was better than he thought.

Despite ignoring Iota for the past 30 years, they had managed to gather information about Otto in just a few days.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Would you like to have a cup of tea with me if you have a moment?”

“But….”

“It will be fine here. I promise that nothing will happen to him even if he comes out of the Sacred Realm.”

Currently, the entrance to the Sacred Realm was guarded by Conrad’s direct subordinates, making it a no-go zone even for members of the Kuntach family.

“I want to hear about him from you.”

“If you insist….”

Camille followed Conrad away from the entrance of the Sacred Realm, thinking he should share some good stories about Otto since Conrad seemed interested.

* * *

Otto lost track of time at some point.

For the first 48 hours, he was somewhat aware of the passage of time, but after that, he couldn’t gauge how much time had passed.

Being beaten and sparring with Akkan without a moment’s rest, he had forgotten everything and only swung his sword.

It was strange.

Despite swinging his sword for days on end, he wasn’t hungry.

He wasn’t sleepy either.

Or rather, he didn’t even notice hunger or sleep.

He had even forgotten that he was a human who needed to use the bathroom.

Only the sword, the sword, and the sword.

Following Kairos’ advice, he focused on watching and learning Akkan’s movements.

- You need to twist your waist more! Come on!

‘I’m trying my best!’

- Too slow! Too slow! How will you ever become strong if you learn this slowly!

‘No more nagging, please?’

- Tsk tsk tsk!

Occasionally, he had brief arguments with Kairos.

Then, one day.

Bang!

Otto’s sword hit Akkan’s left neck area.

“…!”

Otto was surprised to see his attack succeed.

It was the first successful hit since he started sparring with Akkan.

“I… succeeded?”

- Finally, you’ve learned.

A voice tinged with amusement came from under Akkan’s helmet.

“L-Learned…? Me?”

- Yes.

“But I only hit you once?”

- That one hit is the beginning. You have already learned the invincible sword. You will need to continue refining it, but you have laid the foundation.

“No way….”

At that moment.

- Punk! Congratulations!

Kairos’ voice congratulated Otto.

- Successfully learning the invincible sword! I’m honestly surprised!

‘M-Me? Learned? Really?’

- Tsk! It doesn’t seem to have sunk in yet!

‘Does it make sense? How long have I been here?’

- Five years isn’t a short time. Of course, it’s not enough to fully master this perfect swordsmanship. Others might have taken 10 years, or even a lifetime, to learn it.

‘Huh…?’

- Punk. You’ve done it. Laying the foundation for perfect swordsmanship in five years is a remarkable achievement.