Chapter 30

‘Master.’

‘What do you want?’

Luna thought of her master who taught her swordsmanship. Always wearing a mask with a smiling face.

Her voice and physique were so ambiguous that she didn’t even know their gender—name, age, hometown, and all that. Almost everything was a mystery.

So she just called her Master. The Master didn’t seem to mind either.

‘Why did you teach me swordsmanship?’

‘Because you have talent. You also have that mysterious eye, don’t you?’

‘Is that so? I don’t really know about that.’

Luna, who lived in the countryside rather than the city, reacted nonchalantly to those words.

If there had been a point of comparison, she might have realized it, but there was none, so it didn’t resonate with her heart.

Her hometown was focused on farming. It was amazing that the Master even came all the way here.

At least she had known about her “eye” for a long time. It was an ability she had from birth, so she hadn’t paid much attention to it.

‘So keep striving constantly. You will certainly become a light that brightens the world.’

‘I don’t understand what you mean.’

‘Have you ever read the fairy tale where the hero defeats the demon king?’

Luna nodded. That fairy tale was so famous that nobody didn’t know it.

Moreover, it wasn’t just a fairy tale; it was based on a true story. One of the pieces of evidence was the United Academy.

The reputation of the United Academy had spread worldwide, becoming a dream for many. Luna was one of them.

In such a situation, her master suddenly appeared to teach her martial arts, bringing her a step closer to her dream.

‘You could be the protagonist of that story.’

‘Me?’

‘Of course.’

Her master answered with such certainty that it seemed like she was smiling even behind the mask.

‘There will be hardships along the way, but with your tenacity, you can surely get through.’

Luna believed those words wholeheartedly and practiced her swordsmanship. Whether she actually had talent or not, she entered the United Academy.

As the top student. Even Malboro, the professor at the time, couldn’t help but be impressed.

Of course, as soon as he let his guard down, he got hit and fainted.

Thanks to that, she realized that she had a long way to go.

“Huff······”

Luna grimaced in pain from her stomach and slowly stood up.

Using her sword like a cane, she finally noticed Kara’s bright smile in her line of sight.

‘I shouldn’t get close.’

She realized that after the blow she just took. She must not get close to Kara.

As Kara had emphasized before, fighting is only useful when it’s close range.

In other words, if it wasn’t close combat, there was no point in using martial arts.

‘This is why I need to learn how to fight.’

The reason Luna hadn’t learned fighting from Kara was simple. Her pride had been hurt.

If there was a significant age difference, it might have been different, but she and Kara were only a year or two apart.

Better to refine her swordsmanship than learn techniques from a peer. What mattered most was time.

With less than a week left, it was uncertain whether she would fully learn anything, so she refused.

‘Has Sivar learned everything?’

Suddenly, she thought of Sivar, who had been learning combat from Kara.

Every time he practiced boxing, he would wreck the punching bag.

The bag was surely filled with sand, but he burst it with his bare hands, without a single scratch.

Having grown up in the wilderness, his physical abilities must be ridiculously strong. Three professors had previously teamed up just to barely hold him back.

‘Anyway, let’s utilize my strengths.’

Luna gripped the hilt tightly with both hands. The reason she could enter as the top student wasn’t just because of swordsmanship.

Realizing that martial arts were used up close? Then she just needed to keep it at a distance.

If that happened, he would realize it too and try to dash at her. All she had to do was be careful of that.

“Looks like you’re deep in thought?”

As if reading Luna’s expression, Kara spoke with a sly grin. It was clearly a provocation.

But Luna didn’t get drawn into that and took her stance. Just exchanging words would only be a disadvantage for her.

Swish—

‘Here she comes.’

At that moment, Kara’s foot left the ground. Luna narrowed her eyes at the sight.

As expected, Kara quickly closed the distance and charged at her.

At the same time, she swung her curved sword from above to below.

Bang!

Luna lightly dodged the attack by stepping back instead of trying to block.

Without delay, she countered. A cut rising from below.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing rang out loudly.

Though the counterattack was quick, Kara managed to raise her sword and defend within that short span.

Thanks to cleverly using the distance, there was no room for Kara to slip in.

Klang! Ching! Clash!

The quick exchange of thrusts and slashes continued. When one person finished their attack, the other launched their own.

Even when Luna got the chance to attack, she didn’t rush in. It would be obvious if a kick came flying her way.

So much so that every time Kara attempted to grapple, Luna would instead step back.

Since she didn’t know the technique of fighting at all, close combat was not in her favor. So, better not to approach at all.

Doing this, she had to keep moving her legs to maintain distance.

“Isn’t this a bit obvious? It looks like that kick earlier really knocked some sense back into you.”

Kara smiled at Luna’s blatantly obvious strategy. But Luna didn’t respond.

As mentioned earlier, getting dragged in would just put her at a disadvantage. Now was the time to focus on the fight.

When Kara saw that Luna didn’t reply, she shrugged her shoulders as if to say it didn’t matter.

“What? If that’s how you feel. Your footwork is a bit annoying, though······”

Kara glanced at Luna’s legs. Regardless of anything else, that footwork was commendable.

Footwork is the foundation of all martial arts. There was a reason she entered as the top student.

“Try this.”

Once again, Kara closed the distance. This time, it was much faster than before.

Luna didn’t panic at all and predicted Kara’s next move. She knew she was hiding her skills.

Shh!

A sharp diagonal slash followed characteristic of the curved sword.

There was no way to block that, so Luna lightly stepped back to avoid it.

Normally, she would immediately counter, but Kara’s attack was not over yet.

‘How long does she intend to keep this up?’

Kara continued to swing her curved sword without rest. The sound of slicing the air was impressive.

Luna had no choice but to focus solely on evasion and occasionally glance behind her.

It was to guard against being cornered by a wall. Fortunately, there was still quite a distance to the wall.

Clang!

At the point when she was puzzled about the intent behind this relentless flurry of attacks, an unavoidable one came.

Kara had captured Luna’s footwork and began moving her body slightly more.

If it got to the point where it was read, they would inevitably have to engage in a combat exchange again. Once the movements were read, there was no choice.

“What will you do now?”

“··· ···”

That chatty nature. Luna narrowed her brows at Kara, who kept babbling on.

If her movements were read, then she had no choice but to respond with conventional methods. It was a pretty obvious answer.

Swish!

Luna slashed diagonally from above. If she went by this flow, Kara should easily defend against it.

However, Kara showcased an action that vastly exceeded Luna’s expectations.

Tap—

She let go of the curved sword she had been holding tightly. In other words, she had discarded her weapon.

Luna’s eyes widened in surprise at that sight. But the sword was already coming down.

Whoosh!

The sword cut through nothing but air. It was because Kara had found her opening.

Finding an opening meant stepping into close combat. This was a situation Luna wanted to avoid.

In a panic, she tried to pull back, but Kara was faster.

Thunk!

“Gah!”

Kara grabbed Luna’s delicate neck.

She had been too surprised by the fact that she discarded her weapon, resulting in a slightly delayed response.

Thud!

Kara didn’t stop there; she threw Luna to the ground. The combination of the hard floor and gravity is quite a force.

Luna’s eyes widened upon receiving that impact. Her mouth opened, but no breath came out.

But despite not being able to breathe, her gaze remained fixed on Kara.

She saw a one-handed axe in Kara’s grip, one she didn’t know when she had pulled out.

“First, your arm!”

Kara said with a beaming smile as she swung the axe down. A cheerful face belied a sinister statement.

Of course, it was a joke, but given Kara’s background, it felt genuinely serious.

Bang!

Luna barely dodged the axe by rolling her body. She got up as fast as she could.

Her breath was ragged, but she could still breathe. It was much better than before.

Moreover, she was able to quickly forget the pain by circulating her magic power in her body.

“You’re really nimble. Is your body so fragile?”

Kara evaluated Luna’s agility while holding one-handed axe.

She had managed to make it so that dodging was impossible. Excellent distance measuring and solid fundamentals.

However, she lacked techniques and actual combat experience, resulting in slow adaptability. This would gradually improve with experience.

“Huff!”

Luna accelerated her magic power and charged at Kara.

This was a short one-handed axe unlike the long reach of a curved sword. There was no better opportunity than now.

Thus, her sword came down in a diagonal slash, and Kara moved back, nullifying the attack.

But the assault wasn’t over yet. To prevent Kara from closing the gap, Luna countered with an upward slash.

Clang!

Once again, a loud clash reverberated all around.

Ideally, no one should have been spared from this, but this time it was different.

Instead of dodging, Kara defended by swinging the one-handed axe down at Luna’s sword.

“Ugh!”

Luna screamed in pain. Her hand felt like it was paralyzed, tingling.

But she didn’t let go of the sword. It was one of her master’s teachings, repeatedly emphasized.

Kara seemed surprised by this unexpected defense. Of course, that didn’t mean the attack ended.

Thwack!

Kara’s left fist landed squarely on Luna’s face. This time, it was a clean hit like that kick earlier.

Luna briefly lost consciousness, but she quickly shook herself and swung her sword. She slashed horizontally to prevent any close approaches.

Swish!

It seemed to have worked, as Kara slightly retreated. A brief lull followed.

“Still holding onto that sword?”

Kara smiled slyly. She seemed to appreciate Luna’s determination to keep holding on.

Then, she must break that will. With that thought, she moved her feet.

Luna saw Kara approaching and snapped to attention. She could taste the metallic tang of blood in her mouth.

Swish!

As she swung her sword as if to say, don’t come any closer, Kara didn’t advance any further.

With the one-handed axe in play, the initiative was in Luna’s hands. She thought so too.

“Here!”

Clang!

Suddenly, Kara jumped back and hurled her axe.

“Let’s start over!”

Before she could gather all her strategies, she picked up the curved sword that lay on the ground.

As if enjoying the battle itself, she skillfully wielded the weapon and techniques.

The basics of basics flowed smoothly, differentiating from Luna not just in technique but in application.

But Luna didn’t give up. Her tenacity was holding her firm.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Yet the limits were apparent. What Luna could do was limited, whereas Kara overflowed with options.

In close combat, punches or kicks were coming her way, while distance allowed Kara to rush in unsolicitedly.

Thud!

Once again, Kara snagged Luna’s wrist hard—a hand gripping a sword.

Luna desperately tried to shake her off but couldn’t budge at all.

If she had learned martial arts, she could at least have thrown a punch. But it was too late for regrets now.

“In this case, you should switch to your left hand. You’re really stubborn in unnecessary ways.”

“Shut up······ I’m trying······!”

It was almost on the level of mockery. Still, Luna held onto the sword until the very end.

She wanted to land a valid hit. She would get hit a few times, but she didn’t care.

Thwack!

“What are you doing?”

In an effort to shake her balance, Luna stomped on Kara’s shins.

But her shins felt as solid as steel. So Luna’s foot just hurt.

“You do it like this.”

Thud!

In contrast, Kara performed it flawlessly.

Rather than stomping, she knocked Luna off balance, perfecting the technique of destabilizing her.

In that fleeting moment, the sword slipped from Luna’s grasp. Distracted by other concerns, her focus had broken.

Kara snatched the sword from Luna and took several steps back. The tide of victory was starting to turn.

“Haah······ Haah······”

Even without the sword, Luna couldn’t retaliate. Her stamina was nearly depleted.

Normally, circulating her magic would lead to significant energy loss. How many blows had she taken?

She could taste the metallic blood in her mouth, and her hands felt numb. The place she got kicked was throbbing painfully.

“What will you do now? You have no sword. No stamina. Everything you were confident in is gone.”

“······No.”

In response to Kara’s provocation, Luna managed to kneel and lift herself.

Then, albeit awkwardly, she raised her fist and stared straight at Kara.

Despite being on the brink of exhaustion, her eyes were filled with determination. Was this truly the look of someone cornered?

“I will continue until the end.”

While Kara was mentally impressed by that look, Luna declared.

“So······”

What came out of her mouth next was.

“Come at me. Barbarian.”

“··· ···”

That was enough to wipe the smile off Kara’s face, even if only momentarily.

Of course.

“······You really have a personality that asks for a beating, don’t you?”

It was all useless, though.

Kara, knowing that Luna’s statement was not made in earnest, kept her smile.

At least unlike others, Luna wasn’t rude. It was just a jab that usually happened during fights.

If it had been sincere, she would’ve thought to knock some sense into her.

“You’ll apologize later, right?”

“······Yes. I didn’t mean it.”

“Alright. Then······”

Kara casually tossed the sword to the ground and slowly approached Luna.

“I will teach you how to fight.”

As that statement ended, Luna’s vision was filled with Kara’s fist. Luna kept watching that fist until the very end.

Thwack!

Her vision quickly faded to complete darkness. Her body flying through the air was just an added bonus.

‘Ah······’

Luna thought of one thing just before her body hit the ground.

‘I want to go home.’

She thought.

Thud!

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