Chapter 86

Chapter 30. Defeat Alice! (2)

Alice Vatzger.

She was a towering figure with a fearsome scar above her left eye, the commander of Tikan’s defense force and the wife of the silver-sworded Casimir.

'He wants me to defeat her within six months?'

Just by her appearance, Alice seemed far stronger than any of the criminals he had seen in Marmot. Her imposing figure and bulging muscles were certainly not ordinary.

But was she really that strong?

Even with Jin’s sword skills, magic, and spirit energy, it would take at least six months.

During the month he spent in Tikan, Jin saw her every day. They often had breakfast together and exchanged light jokes.

But he didn’t feel that she was an outstanding warrior.

'She’s a unique character, but... is she really that difficult to defeat, even with magic and spirit energy? I’m confident I can handle a 7-star knight who isn’t outstanding. Sir Casimir must know my abilities are at that level.'

Despite this, seeing Casimir’s confident attitude, it seemed like it would be interesting.

"Alice... If Sir Casimir says so, there must be a reason. Very well, I will spar with Lady Alice. If she agrees, of course."

"Of course she will. Since becoming the commander, she has been complaining about the lack of fights and feeling bored. A sparring match with you, Young Master Jin, will be a great gift for her."

Alice reacted as Casimir predicted, accepting the request immediately when Jin and he approached her.

"Me and Young Master Jin? Haha! It’ll be fun. I’ve been bored lately, dealing only with weak criminals. Even they don’t show up much anymore because I catch too many of them..."

"Mom, are you going to fight with Big Brother Jin?"

Yuria, who was hugging Alice, had worried eyes.

"No, it’s not a fight, it’s a friendly match."

"But everyone who fights Mom ends up as toast..."

"This time, it’s a friendly match. Yuria, who will you cheer for when Mom fights Big Brother Jin?"

"Umm... I’ll cheer for Big Brother Jin."

"Raising a child is useless... This kid, a good five-year-old should cheer for Mom at times like this."

Alice playfully nipped her daughter’s cheek, but Jin was momentarily speechless at Yuria’s response.

"But, but! Big Brother Jin is the weaker one. Yuria will always stand by the weaker and the struggling ones!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Muran, who had been lying on the sofa reading a red novel, suddenly jumped up and burst into laughter.

"Weaker... struggling... ha ha ha ha! Jin, you really have a good eye for people! Truly worthy of being Az Mil’s contractor."

Jin forced a smile and quietly approached Muran, stomping on his foot. Muran quickly pulled his foot away but couldn’t stop Jin from snatching the red novel.

"You crazy, no, foolish dragon... I told you not to read such things in front of the child."

"I was secretly reading a small gore novel. Put it down nicely, will you?"

"Where do you keep getting these from? I’m sure there were no such books when we left the Garden of Swords."

Cough, cough, Casimir cleared his throat.

He had been providing Muran with five red novels a week. As a great black dragon, he had no choice but to comply with the request.

"Anyway, how about we start the sparring matches in two days, Young Master Jin?"

"Let’s have dinner together after I finish work and spar every day. For the next six months. I need to show the young master the dignity of Tikan’s defense commander."

"Every day? I’m fine with that, but I’m worried about taking up too much of Lady Alice’s time."

Alice shook her head with a smile.

"Don’t worry. It will probably be over quickly for a while."

* * *

Two days later, in the evening, in the basement training room of Casimir’s mansion.

Jin had taken a two-day break from personal training to be in top condition for the first sparring match and to objectively analyze the gap.

"Young Master Jin. Before we start, there’s something I need to clarify."

Alice, standing opposite Jin, began to warm up.

"Please speak, Lady Alice."

"I was once a member of the Viment Special Task Force. I guarded Casimir before he became the ex-prince and left Viment with him when he was exiled."

Jin immediately understood why he hadn’t felt Alice’s true strength until now.

Special Task Force members, unlike the royal guard, operate in the shadows and are trained to hide their strength first.

'Something was off, but a Special Task Force member... No wonder Sir Casimir mentioned six months.'

According to Jin, the minimum requirement for the Viment Special Task Force was 6-star.

However, that was just the minimum. Since she had guarded a 'prince,' Alice must have been at least a 7-star warrior.

"So, I hope you don’t get too discouraged even if you lose to me multiple times. I have no intention of going easy on you. Shall we begin?"

Jin nodded silently.

Whoosh!

Alice’s fist, closing the distance in an instant, was right in front of his nose. A speed that a normal 5-star knight could never react to.

Alice intended to end the first sparring match with one blow.

Even in a sparring match, she believed it should be conducted like a real fight.

'From what I learned from Lord Muran and Gilli about the young master’s past, what he needs now is an overwhelming defeat and the process of rising from it. He probably won’t be able to avoid this blow for about ten days.'

From Alice’s perspective, every crisis Jin had overcome in the past had always involved 'opportunities and variables.'

When fighting Alu, he used Melta’s rune to create a variable.

When fighting Quikantel, he opened his sword and cut her wings while she was unaware of his existence.

Recently, when fighting Andrei, he was able to strike once thanks to Muran and Luna.

Kwajito Truka, his strongest enemy during his student days, would not have lost if he had known about Jin’s spirit energy.

In other words, the formidable enemies Jin had faced were either overconfident or lacked information about him.

In contrast, Alice knew almost all of Jin’s abilities. His sword skills, magic, and spirit energy, as well as the fact that he possessed Melta’s rune.

Therefore, Alice believed she needed to make Jin feel a 'real crisis.' For a martial artist to grow stronger, there is no better method than a crisis.

However, the punch Alice aimed at his face hit...

the scabbard.

'He blocked it!?'

Alice’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t a proper block. The shock transmitted through the scabbard made Jin lose his balance and instinctively step back.

Losing balance in a fight is the most fatal. It means the loss of defense and evasion. Alice could easily silence Jin with the next blow.

However, the fact that Jin didn’t allow a direct hit was a fresh shock to Alice.

'It was a speed that couldn’t be blocked. Even considering the blessed body of Runkandel... Have I become dull? I felt my punch was slightly slower than usual.'

Jin was still in an unguarded position, unable to draw his sword. Alice’s next punch was already close to his ribs.

However, he had activated Melta’s rune to wear a helmet.

In his left hand, a magic spell he had prepared before coming to the training room was already cast.

Flash!

Whoosh...

No matter how well-trained a martial artist, they can’t help but close their eyes when suddenly faced with intense light. Even at the moment when they are confident they can end the fight.

"Ugh!"

Crack!

Due to the light, her stance was momentarily off, and her punch didn’t penetrate as deeply as expected.

Still, it was enough to break one of Jin’s ribs. The power was sufficient to end the sparring match.

Before delivering the third blow, Alice couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

'The opportunities and variables in the young master’s past crises weren’t just luck. He created them all! I didn’t expect him to prepare such a spell in advance.'

This time was no different.

In other words, Alice had lost in a 'numbers game.'

'Now I understand. The reason the young master was able to block my first blow... was because he had used earth magic to lower the density of the ground I was standing on. That’s why my speed was slower than usual.'

Looking back, the ground where she had stepped was slightly more sunken than usual. A very subtle difference.

If Jin had played a little more with the ground, she might have noticed before closing the distance. That’s the level of a martial artist like Alice.

- "It will probably be over quickly for a while."

Jin had expected that Alice would try to end the match quickly when facing him.

He kept thinking about what unexpected variable he could introduce before the match started. In the end, all the variables he created worked, but...

Defeating Alice was still a challenge.

Crack!

The third punch hit Jin’s side. He flew about three meters and crashed to the ground, and Alice shuddered for a moment.

Not from a sense of victory, but from the surprise of being caught off guard by Jin on the first day.

"Ugh... As expected, tricks alone won’t do."

Tricks?

Alice almost corrected him, saying that this wasn’t a trick but a strategy.

"...I’m amazed, Young Master Jin. I never imagined I would have to attack three times on the first day."

Jin, staggering to his feet and then collapsing again, was also quite shocked.

'Sure enough, a former Viment Special Task Force member. Even with all the variables, I couldn’t even draw my sword.'

He was disappointed and frustrated, but his heart was racing.

Was it because he had never experienced such a thorough defeat since his rebirth?

He also felt his head clearing, as Casimir had predicted.

"Um, Lady Alice."

"Yes, Young Master Jin?"

"Will you... not call a healer?"

"Oh, my, I’m so scatterbrained. Did it hurt a lot? Wait a moment!"

As Alice hurriedly ran off, Jin smiled.

I will defeat Alice before six months are up.

This goal, closer to the secrets of the Heart Sword and Runkandel than anything else, was stirring a strong sense of achievement in Jin’s heart.