Chapter 7: Training (3)

"Second Son! What are you saying right now!"

Ewin Ryanbloom's words provoked a fierce protest from Paul Hassen.

"A duel to the death? I absolutely cannot allow it! What do you think of my son's life?"

"Try touching a single hair on my son's head! I won't let you get away with it!"

"Get out right now! I won't tolerate any more rudeness!"

Paul Hassen wasn't the only one to protest; his wife and daughter also objected.

The only one who remained silent was his younger brother, Abel Hassen.

"Go and stop him."

Ewin Ryanbloom neither tried to persuade the Hassen family nor acknowledged them. He simply gave orders to the knights.

"Second Son, calm down a bit."

"You're right. Why get excited over such a pointless matter?"

The knights mustered the courage to speak. They could see that the situation was taking a strange turn.

Second Son glared at the knights with bloodshot eyes.

"Do you want to die first?"

The knights could only swallow hard. Having guarded Ewin Ryanbloom for a long time, they knew that he was not joking.

"Stop talking nonsense and make sure they don't interfere."

The knights had no choice but to block the Hassen family.

"Move aside right now! Do you think this is a reasonable thing to do?"

"It's Second Son's order."

"Didn't I tell you to move aside!"

Paul Hassen tried to push the knights away, but he couldn't match their strength.

Watching his father, Damian Hassen felt a complex mix of emotions. Standing up to the viscount's second son for his good-for-nothing son made him feel both respect and guilt.

"Damian! No! Don't do it! I'm begging you!"

Paul Hassen called out urgently. This time, he decided to follow his father's advice, but today was an exception.

Why did he have to beg?

This situation was exactly what Damian Hassen had intended.

"Count to three and pick up your weapon. Surely, even a poor family like yours has a decent weapon, right?"

Damian Hassen opened his eyes lazily. He didn't like how his family was being treated, and he was speaking carelessly.

Winning the duel wasn't enough; he wanted to crush their pride completely.

Looking around for a suitable method, he noticed something on the table.

"…What are you doing?"

Ewin Ryanbloom asked, clearly confused. The object Damian Hassen had picked up was a fork for eating dessert.

"You told me to pick up a weapon."

"Did I say to pick up a weapon for the duel?"

Damian Hassen waved the fork.

"This is enough for someone like you."

"Hah…"

Ewin Ryanbloom burst out laughing, finding it absurd.

The laughter continued for a while before he growled with a face full of malice.

"I will definitely kill you."

* * *

As soon as he finished speaking, Ewin Ryanbloom kicked off the ground and swung his longsword at Damian Hassen's head.

Damian Hassen dodged the longsword with a slight movement of his upper body.

"You dodged that?"

Ewin Ryanbloom looked surprised.

"Even a rat can run, huh? Let's see how long you can keep dodging."

Ewin Ryanbloom swung his sword repeatedly.

Damian Hassen dodged all the attacks with minimal movements.

'He has the same habits as his brother.'

In his previous life, Damian Hassen single-handedly brought down the Ryanbloom viscount family. During that time, he clashed with the eldest son, who was a Swordmaster and had inherited the viscount title.

The eldest son's talent was remarkable, and his skills improved in real-time during the battle.

'But in the end, I won.'

After a grueling battle lasting about seven hours, Damian Hassen learned all the techniques and skills of the eldest son and beheaded him by exploiting his weaknesses.

'I already have a complete understanding of the Ryanbloom family's sword techniques.'

Lion Roar Sword (獅子猛吼劍).

Named for its overwhelming momentum, which is like a lion's roar. However, from Damian Hassen's perspective, knowing its weaknesses, it looked like a dog barking.

"You…"

Ewin Ryanbloom's expression changed as his sword repeatedly missed.

He realized something was off.

"How can someone like you dodge all my attacks?"

"It's all about skill."

Damian Hassen replied nonchalantly.

Ewin Ryanbloom's face turned red with anger.

"Shut up, dog!"

With a roar, Ewin Ryanbloom summoned his mana. His movements became noticeably faster.

'It's going to be hard to dodge now.'

Thanks to intense training over the past few days, Damian Hassen's physical strength had significantly increased. The fact that he wasn't panting despite such intense movement was proof of this.

However, his body was still too weak.

He couldn't keep up with Ewin Ryanbloom's movements, which were enhanced by mana.

'If I can't dodge, I'll just deflect.'

Ewin Ryanbloom swung his longsword.

The blade aimed for Damian Hassen's head.

Damian Hassen blocked it with the fork.

The moment the two metals clashed, Ewin Ryanbloom's expression twisted.

"Stupid brat."

A simple dessert fork couldn't possibly block a longsword. The fork would break, and Damian Hassen's wrist would be cut off.

But as he thought this, the longsword's trajectory changed.

The blade that aimed for his head veered to the left and embedded itself in the ground.

It was a completely incomprehensible phenomenon. Ewin Ryanbloom's face showed confusion.

The other knights were equally baffled.

"This kid?"

Ewin Ryanbloom swung his sword again.

He pulled the longsword from the ground and drew a diagonal line from bottom to top.

Damian Hassen blocked it with the fork once more.

The moment the two metals clashed, the sword's trajectory changed again.

The blade that was drawing a diagonal line suddenly shot upward.

Ewin Ryanbloom nearly lost his grip on the sword.

"Huh?"

Ewin Ryanbloom gritted his teeth and swung his sword again.

This time, he could clearly see what Damian Hassen was doing.

He inserted the longsword between the tines of the fork and slightly adjusted the angle to deflect it.

Ewin Ryanbloom's eyes widened in disbelief.

He looked back and forth between the longsword and the fork, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"How… How can someone like you use such a technique!"

Among the people Damian Hassen had fought, there was a character called 'Sword Saint' (劍聖).

A master of swordsmanship who could deflect not only arrows but also magic.

The Sword Saint's level of mastery was called 'All-Flowing Insight' (萬流通察), where he could read the flow of all attacks.

Damian Hassen fought the Sword Saint for three days and emerged victorious.

"Because I'm a genius."

He didn't feel the need to explain further and gave a short, simple answer.

This only made Ewin Ryanbloom angrier.

"I told you to shut up!"

Ewin Ryanbloom adjusted his grip on the sword. His mana flared even more intensely.

"This time, I'll cut you down with the fork and all!"

Ewin Ryanbloom swung his sword even more fiercely.

Damian Hassen deflected all the attacks effortlessly.

"Th, this, this…"

"What am I seeing?"

The knights watching the scene were all shocked.

At first, they thought Damian Hassen had gotten lucky when he blocked the sword.

But as the same thing happened again and again, they realized the truth.

Damian Hassen.

He possessed extraordinary sword skills.

"Dear, what am I seeing?"

"I don't know either."

The Hassen family was equally astonished.

Paul Hassen and his family watched Damian Hassen with stunned faces.

"Is it true that he killed all the bouncers in the bar by himself?"

While everyone was amazed, Damian Hassen felt a great sense of satisfaction.

'The potion's effect is excellent. I need to get a few more.'

Despite moving for so long, he wasn't particularly tired.

If it were just regular physical training, his stamina wouldn't have improved so quickly.

While Damian Hassen was thinking, Ewin Ryanbloom shouted.

"This is… This can't be happening!"

Frustrated by his repeated misses, Ewin Ryanbloom's expression turned vicious.

"How can the second son of the Ryanbloom family not be able to handle a single scum like you?"

Damian Hassen was the first to notice the change.

A reddish-brown smoke rose from Ewin Ryanbloom's longsword. The knights were all alarmed.

"Second Son! You can't release your Aura!"

Aura (オーラ).

The ultimate weapon that only seasoned warriors could produce after years of training. When applied to a blade, it could cut through steel like butter, and when attached to a hammer, it could shatter rocks.

It was thanks to Aura that the human race, a relatively weak species, could dominate the continent and subdue countless other races.

"Let's see if you can block this!"

The Aura-infused longsword cut through Damian Hassen's body diagonally.

Damian Hassen held the fork up to the incoming blade.

Everyone expected Damian Hassen to die.

They thought the fork would break and his body would be cut in half.

But nothing happened.

"…Huh?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

The Sword Saint's level of 'All-Flowing Insight' deflected even Aura-infused attacks.

Ewin Ryanbloom's mind went blank for a moment, and his grip on the longsword loosened.

Noticing this, Damian Hassen applied more force to the fork.

The longsword slipped from Ewin Ryanbloom's hand and fell to the ground.

Without his weapon, Ewin Ryanbloom was defenseless.

Damian Hassen lunged forward and slashed his throat with the fork.

A line of blood appeared on Ewin Ryanbloom's neck.

* * *

The moment his neck was cut, Ewin Ryanbloom saw his life flash before his eyes.

All the events of his life passed before his eyes.

But even after the flash, he didn't go to the afterlife.

"…Huh, huh!"

Ewin Ryanbloom screamed and collapsed to the ground.

He touched his neck with trembling hands. Blood was flowing, but the wound wasn't deep.

"A, am I, am I, alive?"

Although he didn't die, the intense fear left him paralyzed.

Ewin Ryanbloom shouted at the knights.

"What, what are you doing! Protect me! Protect me now!"

"Stay back."

Damian Hassen was now standing next to Ewin Ryanbloom.

"This duel continues until one side dies. If anyone interferes, I'll kill them first."

Damian Hassen pointed the fork at Ewin Ryanbloom.

Using a fork for cutting cake to threaten someone was a ridiculous sight, but no one laughed.

"Ewin Ryanbloom."

Damian Hassen spoke in a cold voice.

"I am the winner of this duel. You will not mention the previous incident as you promised."

He wanted to kill Ewin Ryanbloom right there, but he wasn't ready to take on the viscount family yet.

"I don't want to see your face again. Now, get out."

With that, Damian Hassen placed the fork back on the table.

* * *

Ewin Ryanbloom left the Hassen viscount's residence as if he were fleeing.

"…Damian, I can't ignore this today."

As soon as Ewin Ryanbloom left, the family members surrounded Damian Hassen with questions.

"Exactly when, where, from whom, and how did you learn swordsmanship?"

When they heard that he had taken on the bouncers in the bar alone, they dismissed it as a strange story.

But today was different. The Ryanbloom viscount family was one of the most prestigious knight families.

To treat Ewin Ryanbloom, a prodigy from such a family, like a child?

And to deflect an Aura-infused blade?

"Hmm."

Damian Hassen thought quietly. His family wouldn't believe that he had regressed.

The problem was that he couldn't come up with a plausible explanation.

He had become too strong, too suddenly.

In the end, Damian Hassen gave up on explaining.

"I just naturally awakened to it."

His father's face twisted in disbelief.

"Don't joke around."

"I'm not joking."

"Do you think you're some kind of genius sent from heaven? To suddenly awaken to such swordsmanship!"

Damian Hassen's eyes widened.

"How did you know? That's exactly it."

"Damian!"

"Then I'll go back to training."

Damian Hassen evaded his father's questioning and fled.