The Academy’s Hard-Headed Swordmaster

A nameless barbarian blocked his path.

As he had done before, Kyle swung his sword. M

ost barbarians died easily with just this, but the opponent he met this time was different.

“Uhahaha-! A splendid warrior!”

“……Aura?”

This barbarian, like Kyle himself, was a warrior who knew how to imbue his weapon with Aura.

A master of the realm people called Aura Expert.

As was typical of masters of this realm, he wasn’t someone who could be easily defeated with just a swing or two of a sword.

Victory or defeat was determined by the depth of training accumulated over time. And Kyle could confidently say that he was second to none when it came to training.

“State your name!”

“…….”

At the barbarian’s words, Kyle swung his sword without replying.

It might have been considered dishonorable, but the barbarian seemed to take it as a sign of respect, becoming even more delighted.

“Yes! That’s it! As expected, warriors converse with steel!”

The nameless barbarian said so, swinging his axe.

Every time the Aura-imbued axe clashed with the sword, intense sparks flew.

The sparks alone were enough to draw the attention of everyone around them—Kyle instinctively realized that this fight couldn’t drag on.

‘There are archers on the walls and magicians like the Duke, so I won’t be completely overwhelmed…….’

Whether it was arrows or magic, they were only effective when the soldiers and knights on the front lines halted the barbarians’ movements.

If the barbarians, having slaughtered the soldiers, climbed the walls, the high walls and the arrows and magic would be of little use.

And—now that he was down below the walls, if he took too long, there was a possibility of being surrounded and attacked by the barbarians.

“Uhahahahahaha-!”

“……Huu.”

Facing the barbarian who burst into hearty laughter as if enjoying himself, Kyle also grinned.

The Aura filling his body coursed through his muscles and nerves, imbuing his weapon and armor.

Two Aura-enhanced warriors clashed.

Striking with swords, parrying, using armor, gauntlets, fists, kicks, even headbutts with helmets.

He used every means available to pressure the barbarian.

Surprisingly, the barbarian was more proficient in this kind of brawl than Kyle, who had professionally learned swordsmanship and wrestling.

As such, real combat wasn’t something that could be perfected just by learning swordsmanship and wrestling.

‘This won’t do.’

Realizing that time was dragging on, Kyle took a gamble.

He threw himself towards the axe swinging down at him.

Believing that he could block an axe blow with his entire body filled with Aura, Kyle launched himself forward and quickly thrust his shoulder forward.

He received the axe, aimed fiercely at his head, with his shoulder armor, and immediately thrust his sword deep into the exposed opening.

‘Puk’!

He pulled out his sword, slicing through as he withdrew it from the barbarian’s abdomen which it had pierced.

The barbarian’s upper body, which had been smiling just a moment ago, was sliced in half, erupting in a fountain of blood.

“—Gerald?”

From afar, the cry of another barbarian who saw Gerald die reached Kyle’s ears.

Kyle nonchalantly wiped the blood off his sword and aimed it at the barbarian staring blankly at the corpse.

The barbarian, trembling after witnessing his comrade’s death, screamed madly a moment later and ran towards Kyle.

‘Kwaang-‘ ‘Kwaang’!

Explosive sounds erupted from beneath the barbarian’s feet as he ran across the snowy field, and his figure arrived before Kyle in an instant.

“You son of a bitch!”

The barbarian’s rage poured out, and that rage materialized into the bone of some unknown monster.

Gripping the long bone in one hand, the barbarian swung it down powerfully like a club.

Kyle, receiving the blow with both hands, felt his knees buckle involuntarily.

‘What the…!’

“Die, dieeeee!”

The barbarian didn’t stop there, continuing his barrage of attacks.

He swung the bone without even taking a proper breath, as if he didn’t know the meaning of fatigue.

Each time Kyle received the bone swung by the barbarian, he realized that the impact went beyond his muscles and jolted his very bones.

It was hard to believe, but he also realized that this barbarian’s strength surpassed his own.

‘Is this even possible?’

A considerable sense of frustration washed over him.

Even if his body hadn’t fully matured, he had trained it for nearly ten years.

He trained systematically every day, enduring the pain of his bones breaking every time.

Yet, these barbarians, who seemed like they had never exercised a day in their lives, easily surpassed him?

No matter how much muscle mass differed between races—wasn’t this too much?

“How dare you, Gerald—!”

While Kyle thought he wouldn’t be able to overcome him with strength, the barbarian was still singing his song of rage.

‘Sssaek’!

Parrying the fiercely swung bone, Kyle read his next move and interrupted his attack.

The barbarian, whose wrist was struck in an instant and dropped the bone, let out a stupid sound.

“Huh?”

Having dropped his weapon, the barbarian immediately swung his fist as if he would fight barehanded, but even so, a sword was longer than a fist.

At this moment, there was no need to swing the sword powerfully to overcome the barbarian’s strength.

Simply aligning the angle and sharpening the blade was enough to slice the barbarian’s fist clean in half.

“—If only everything could be solved with strength alone.”

Kyle said so, beheading the barbarian.

He possessed innate strength, but because of it, he neglected his training.

Gerald had actually been a more tense and dangerous opponent.

He relied on the skills he had honed, not on innate strength.

Survival wasn’t possible with just speed and strength.

Survival wasn’t possible with just learned skills.

The harmony of body and skill was crucial.

And—.

‘I understand.’

Kyle stared intently at the sword in his hand.

Ten years since he hit the wall of Aura Expert.

He had wondered if the wall of Master even existed, but after just one real battle, he began to grasp it.

He had gained some understanding of why Aura Masters were called Sword Saints, of the seemingly unrelated correlation between Aura and sword.

‘I’m glad I came to experience real combat.’

If he had remained in his territory, swinging his sword alone, continuing non-lethal training with the knights—he wouldn’t have gained this realization.

The wall of Master would have felt even more distant.

“—Who’s next?”

Kyle said so, moving forward.

He could feel the barbarians flinching, sensing his momentum.

The front line, which had been relentlessly pushed back, was gradually advancing.

Grinning, Kyle was about to charge towards the barbarians.

He would have, if he hadn’t felt a tremendous amount of energy from above.

“—!?”

Startled, Kyle looked up at the sky and finally realized the identity of the energy he felt from above.

A massive ice mountain, large enough to cover the sky, was there.

The iceberg hurtled straight towards the barbarians.

Like a catapult, the sheer force of the ice mass was enough to sweep away the barbarians.

Watching the ice mountain obliterate the barbarians and disappear, Kyle marveled at the power of magic.

“—Why are you here?”

A voice came from the wall, and Kyle respectfully bowed his head.

The owner of the voice immediately jumped down from the wall and landed before Kyle.

The master of the North and the Magician of the Hexagram.

Duke Walter Grace looked at Kyle and asked,

“Kyle Meyer.”

“It’s been a while, Your Grace.”

“Why are you here?”

“I ran away.”

“Ran away, you say.”

Letting out a dumbfounded chuckle, the Duke opened and closed his mouth as if he had much to say.

However, perhaps thinking it was ridiculous to say it to Kyle, who wasn’t even his own son, he shook his head and looked at him.

“Forget it. Let’s go up. This should be enough to drive back the barbarians—”

—Found youuuuu!

And at that moment, a loud voice echoed from the barbarians’ territory in the distance.

At the sound that resonated widely, the Duke immediately turned his head in the direction of the voice.

As Kyle belatedly followed the Duke’s gaze—a spear, seemingly flung from nowhere, flew towards the Duke.

‘Clang’!

“Kugh—!?”

Several layers of magical barriers protecting the Duke shattered instantly, and the Duke was thrown back dozens of steps. Kyle, about to look at the Duke, instead stared at the place from where the spear had flown.

Something was flying towards them.

Something long like a spear seemed to be flying, but upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn’t a spear.

It was a person.

A person running at an incredibly fast speed.

He was running so fast that he looked like a single spear.

The moment he recognized him, Kyle reflexively swung his sword.

However, his gaze remained fixed on the Duke.

A sword imbued with Aura couldn’t be ignored, but he made the impossible possible.

To be precise, the sword he was holding made it possible.

‘Slice’!

Kyle’s sword was cut cleanly in half.

There was only one power in this world that could effortlessly cut through a sword imbued with Aura.

Aura Blade.

The power of an Aura Master.

The power that allowed one to cut through anything in the world with a single sword.

“Finally shown yourself—! Duke!”

“—Damn you.”

The greatest warrior who ruled all the barbarians.

The Great Warrior Chantalka appeared before the two.