Chapter 95

EP.95 Sword and Shield (3)

Belnoa reviews the previous battle.

‘I don’t know how Professor Rania is doing...’

For Belnoa and Rak, it was a fierce battle. Her vision wavered, and she nearly lost consciousness several times. Even now, her ribs and collarbone, which were hit, still ache.

‘...My field of vision was too narrow.’

In the heat of battle, a person's field of vision naturally narrows. One is too busy reading the opponent's movements and thinking about the next move.

However, when the battle ends and you review it from the beginning, step by step... surprisingly, a lot of things come into view.

“Rak.”

Belnoa, leaning against a tree, spoke. Rak, who had been lying on the ground, slowly lifted his head.

“What is it?”

“Can you move?”

“I think I’ll be fine after resting for about ten minutes. She controlled her strength quite skillfully.”

Rak rubbed his abdomen as he spoke.

“Then listen carefully for ten minutes.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“It might not work with just one or two tries... but I do have one.”

Belnoa lifted Rak’s battle-axe. It was quite heavy. Swinging the heavy axe a few times, Belnoa said,

“Can I borrow this for a moment?”

“...A weapon is a warrior’s body and companion.”

“Who was the one who threw it around so carelessly?”

Rak pondered for a moment and nodded.

“Well, if it’s just for a moment, I can lend it to you.”

Belnoa held Rak’s axe upside down. Then, she began to wrap the axe handle with shadows. Rak tilted his head in confusion.

“What are you doing, Belnoa?”

“To me, weapons are expendable. I can create daggers at will, so I never hesitated to detonate them when they were grabbed.”

It was a non sequitur.

Belnoa continued speaking as if to herself.

“So, I didn’t notice it. But watching you fight, I realized it.”

“You realized it?”

“Yeah. Think about it. When the axe was spinning through the air, you aimed precisely for the handle. Professor, with her incredible dynamic vision and reaction speed, could do that.”

Rak nodded.

He remembered her terrifyingly precise movements clearly.

“Then, why did she need to plant the axe in the ground?”

“...What do you mean?”

“Taking away a weapon and not being able to use it is a matter of fairness. But couldn’t she have thrown it far away to make it harder to pick up? Or grabbed it and thrown it far away?”

But, Belnoa said,

“Professor never did that. She just threw it or placed it on the ground.”

“...”

“Think about it. You picked up the axe and used it again and again during the battle. The axe was always near your feet, wasn’t it?”

Rak slowly nodded.

“...Now that I think about it, that’s true.”

“And we fought within five steps of the stump.”

Rak’s gaze turned to the clearing.

The space within five steps of the stump. The battle took place there, and the marks where the axe was embedded remained only in that area.

‘It’s not just the axe.’

The remnants of the daggers Belnoa had detonated also fell within that range.

“That means...”

“Yeah, anything grabbed will definitely fall within that range. Professor never uses weapons. She doesn’t throw them anywhere. She just places them on the ground.”

That is the fifth constraint.

Understanding the constraint, Rak asked,

“So, don’t be afraid of your weapon being grabbed?”

“Exactly. Besides, you use two axes. It’s fine if one is grabbed. Just swing the other one right away.”

Belnoa tied the shadows.

“Then, Professor will let go of your axe and reach for it again. That’s the constraint.”

Belnoa threw the shadow-bound axe at the opposite tree. With a thud, the blade embedded itself in the tree trunk.

“Then, like this.”

Belnoa gripped the shadow connected to the axe and swung it.

Thwack!

The axe handle was pulled out of the tree and returned to Belnoa’s hand. Belnoa, holding the axe, pointed to the shadow line tied to the handle.

“I’ll retrieve it for you.”

“...Is that so?”

“The shadow can extend to about ten steps. And, I can stock spells in the line.”

Rak took back the axe.

“The plan is simple. We won’t set it up in detail like before. You don’t need to think.”

Belnoa, while tying shadows to the remaining axe, said,

“The one you used when we sparred.”

“...If you mean that one.”

“You know, the one where you charge with bloodshot eyes.”

“If I use that, I can’t judge the situation. I act on instinct rather than reason. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine.”

Belnoa stood up.

“I’ll make the judgment. Act on instinct. I’ll adjust the rest.”

Rak, with great effort, stood up.

“It might take some time to sync.”

They looked up at the sky.

The sun was still high in the sky. On the first day of the three-day test, the sun had not yet set.

“There’s plenty of time left.”

“Is that so?”

Rak shifted his gaze.

His gaze was directed at the center of the clearing. There, Professor Rania was sitting cross-legged, looking at them.

Superhuman movements.

Quick judgment.

A woman with skills that could overwhelm even the seasoned warriors of the North.

‘I’m scared.’

However, fear is something to overcome.

Rak, taking a deep breath, lifted his axe to his heart. He directed the spell stored in the axe handle towards his heart.

...The warriors of the North know no stopping.

They live more passionately than anyone on the frozen ground. Their passion does not wane even in a blizzard.

‘The warrior of the North is a burning flame.’

Rak tapped his heart with the axe handle. The stored spell glowed.

‘Eternal, unquenchable iron, forever tempered.’

Heating.

Boom.

Rak’s bloodshot eyes turned even redder.

2.

“...”

Rania instinctively felt a sense of unease. Rak’s state as he approached the boundary line was not normal.

His eyes were bloodshot.

The veins on