Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Overpowered Sword Chapter 5
Level up with swords (5)
[10 seconds are over. Now, what color was the headdress of the helmet that was hanging third from the left?]
‘…Blue.’
[Wrong. That was the second pitch.]
The training in ‘seeing’ that began under El Cid’s guidance was more difficult and difficult than I imagined. Not even a day had passed, and Leon’s eyes felt like they were falling out.
In some ways, it was a natural thing.
If the eye function he had used so far was around 3, what El Cid asked for was 10 or higher. It was natural that my eyes and head, which had been overworked three times more than usual, were throbbing.
A headache I’ve never felt even when I stayed up all night studying!
The fatigue in my eyes got better when I closed my eyes a little, but the headache didn’t seem to go away and I continued to squirm.
But El Cid was happy when he saw that.
[Good, things are going well!]
When Leon heard that, he wondered for a moment whether El Cid was a holy sword or a magic sword, but his explanation made quite a bit of sense.
[Eye fatigue is simply due to dry eyes or excessive tension. But headaches are different. It is the pain that occurs when something that has become stiff is released because it has awakened a function that you have not been using. It’s no different from muscles.]
‘Are you saying it’s some kind of muscle pain?’
[Well, metaphorically. In reality, there is no pain sensation in the brain, so it may be a little different… but just understand it that way.]
El Cid was about to explain something more, but was interrupted.
It seemed that the knowledge was too difficult for Leon to understand or that it was not worth teaching him right now.
So he didn’t ask any more questions and just rubbed his temples.
I didn’t have time to learn anything else already.
As expected, El Cid continued training without worrying about his groaning.
Regardless of time and place, the examination of the Holy Sword was rigorous.
[What is the shape of the tile three spaces to the left of the only broken tile in the hallway?]
‘Square?’
[It’s a pentagon, you idiot!]
As soon as class was over, I was looking at the floor tiles in the hallway
. [Did the boy next to the girl who passed in front of you about 3 seconds wear a belt or not?]
‘He was wearing it.’
[What about a tie?]
‘Uh…’
While eating in the cafeteria, I looked at a passing student.
[Was the light on or off in the room 12th from the left on the third floor of the dormitory?]
‘It was on.’
[What’s the room above?]
‘It’s on! No, it was turned off.’
[What is the fourth room on the right on the first floor?]
‘….’
On the way back from evening training, I looked at the dormitory and said,
“Wow.”
Leon, who managed to return to his room, ended up struggling.
My eyes are tingling and my head is throbbing.
It is different from muscle pain. If you look at the amount of training, it was less than half of the usual amount, but unlike my body, my mind was thoroughly exhausted. Although he was confident in his mental strength, El Cid’s training in ‘how to see’ was enough for Leon to fail in just one day.
At that time, a pattern flashed on the back of his hand as he fell on the bed.
[Well, for a first day, I did pretty well. You deserve extra points for not asking to take a short break or quit along the way.]
Leon flinched at those words and then asked, wondering if it was possible.
“If I had told you to take a short break, would you have taken a break?”
[No?]
“I knew so…”
Leon, exhausted, looked at the ceiling while laughing empty-handed.
How long has it been since you were pushed to your limit like this?
I walked around the training ground until I started vomiting and held the wooden sword even though my palms were torn. At some point, I got used to the pain and was overworking my body without any emotion.
It’s been a long time since I felt as lethargic as I did today.
El Cid waited for him to recover before speaking.
[‘Getting used to’ also means becoming stagnant. There is a limit to the level you can reach with the same type of training. Repetitive training has its own advantages, but the biggest problem is that the body can learn the trick.]
“The body can learn the trick?”
[It means you get used to the training method itself. If you only run on the training ground, it will become difficult to run on places other than flat ground, and if you only do push-ups repeatedly, it will become difficult to push off at different angles. Therefore, it is necessary to train in various ways alternately.]
Only then was Leon able to understand the training he had done in the morning.
“Is this the same reason why you were told to run on one foot or walk around the gym while standing on your head?”
[okay. Because I needed to know the ‘unfamiliar’ parts.]
The human body was much more delicate and complex than we thought.
Depending on how you train and how you live, the shape of your bones, muscles and nervous system develops in various ways.
Just as seafarers who live on the waves have a unique sense of balance, hunters who travel through the forest as if it were their own yard have a unique sense of direction, and the excellent eyesight of nomads, who are naturally able to see far into the distance, is also the same.
The basis of training is to utilize your strengths and complement your weaknesses.
El Cid figured that out first and foremost.
[Your strengths are physical strength and mental strength strengthened through an outrageous amount of training, and the dexterity that comes from basic skills. Weaknesses are hardened through repetition of basic skills. In a word, lack of physical and mental flexibility.]
“Flexibility? “Aurora or swordsmanship?”
Leon asked back as if he was puzzled by El Cid’s analysis.
Other students as well as teachers gave the same advice. As long as you swear allegiance to the right family and learn proper swordsmanship and training, you can become even stronger than you are now.
But El Cid snorted and answered those words.
[Swordsmanship is ultimately about how to use a sword. If you can freely apply the basics according to the situation, that is swordsmanship. Of course, the swordsmanship itself is incredibly powerful, but what family would teach such a vision with just an oath of loyalty?]
“…That’s right.”
[There is nothing more to say when it comes to Aurors. Did that guy named Rian use Aurors to defeat you?]
Leon shook his head as he realized, “Ah.”
I don’t know where it was, but there was no way Rian, the son of a high-ranking noble, couldn’t use Aurors. Since Leon couldn’t use it, he didn’t use it either, and he probably had a more powerful auror than anyone else in the academy.
So even if I learned Auror now, it would be close to impossible to defeat Lian with what I learned in a short period of time.
Knowing that he understood, El Cid added.
[Besides, there will be many people who will find it suspicious if you suddenly learn Auror skills without any background. So, Aurors will be taught after they leave the academy.]
“Oh, that’s right!”
Leon was deeply impressed and immediately agreed. Unlike him, who only thought about becoming stronger, El Cid taught him while taking into account the circumstances around him.
It was indeed a holy sword with the soul of a great hero.
[So for now, focus on learning ‘how to see.’ We have to knock him out as quickly as possible and get out of the academy.]
“Okay! “I’m just starting to feel motivated!”
Leon, who had been wrinkled like a dry rag, suddenly regained his motivation and jumped out of bed.
However, it seems that even that appearance was not enough for El Cid.
[…No, that’s not enough.]
“What?”
[I told you, right? If you train repeatedly, you will get the hang of it. Today, you have focused your best on ‘how to see’, but you will quickly get tired of the same training method.]
Feeling an unknown sense of foreboding, Leon cautiously asked back.
“Then what are you going to do?”
[It’s no big deal. So that you don’t have the courage to use tricks, from tomorrow onwards, I’ll just give you a ‘punishment’ every time you answer wrong.]
“Punishment?”
[How would you like to experience it?]
Leon thought about just refusing, but then nodded.
It was impossible to not make a single mistake starting tomorrow, and if you were going to get hit anyway, it was better to experience it in advance and be prepared.
It would also be possible to raise corresponding awareness.
However, Leon soon came to understand that even that determination had been lost. The moment the pattern engraved on the back of his hand flashed, Leon immediately convulsed as if he had been struck by lightning.
“Queu geuggeuk! Oh my! gig!”
It was a pain I couldn’t even imagine.
The pain felt as if the ligament was being grabbed and twirled with iron tongs, as if the cramped muscle was being pinched and twisted. Leon couldn’t even scream and was writhing on the bed.
In terms of time, it’s only about 5 seconds.
Leon, who broke out in a cold sweat in 5 seconds, fell limp.
I’ve had a broken bone from a wooden sword and a broken leg from falling off a horse, but this doesn’t compare.
[Was this a bit harsh? I need to lower the intensity a little…]
El Cid looked at that and mumbled before explaining the reason.
[I don’t mean to bother you for no reason. It’s surprisingly true that a hawk is medicine. Your mental power is quite useful, but in addition to voluntary will, you need the strength to push your back.]
“…That’s right… that’s why…”
[Oh, it was my first time just now, so I couldn’t control it. Next time, I’ll go a little weaker. If you make a mistake in succession, the intensity will increase, but that’s all you need to do if you do well.]
El Cid, the holy sword that had casually caused Leon to despair, encouraged him in his usual refreshing voice.
[Okay then, let’s do better together starting tomorrow!]
“Hey…you…you demon sword bastard…!”
It was a moment when about 70% of Leon’s respect for Saint King Roderick was lost in his heart.
* * *
A month has passed since then.
30 days from the day the holy sword El Cid was pulled out.
If it was long, it was long, if it was short, it was short, but for Leon, every day was hell. El Cid’s training literally pushed him to his breaking point.
So that I vomit out every last penny I have left, so that I lose consciousness as soon as I lie down on the bed in my room after the training.
Not even one minute, one second is wasted.
All my waking hours were like training.
It was surprising that even Leon, who was famous for being a training fanatic, barely gave up and didn’t give up.
However, perhaps thanks to the hard work, there were some results.
[How many pigeons were on the roof of the dormitory building?]
“Eleven.”
As always, Leon, who finished his lunch briefly and stood in the training room, answered with his eyes closed.
The answer comes out almost simultaneously with the question. Even after thinking about it for a few seconds, it was completely different from the first time I got it wrong.
But there was no way El Cid would go that far.
[What is the color of the pigeon that was third, fifth, sixth, and tenth from the right from you?]
“Gray, gray, white, gray.”
[Among them, who flew up first?]
“Sixth.”
[How many pigeons were sitting on the open window?]
“Hmm…”
Leon was silent for a moment in response to the constant barrage of questions, but he soon returned the answer with a grin.
“There was only one crow, not a pigeon.”
[Correct answer.]
It was an answer that well avoided El Cid’s trap.
I finished simply asking and answering questions around the second week. Since then, El Cid mixed his questions with tricks to shake his judgment, and Leon had to struggle again with the ‘hawk of love’, which had become a bit dull.
Suffering from pain that he could not get used to no matter how many times he experienced it, Leon continued training for another two weeks, even with bloodshot eyes.
And today, I narrowly achieved a passing grade.
[You can barely see it if you concentrate… but it’s okay for what was achieved in just one month.]
“So?”
[This is all for today. Take a good rest.]
Good! Leon raised his arms and sat down.
It was the first break I got in a month.
El Cid immediately noticed if his concentration was even slightly off and ‘punished’ him with a question aimed at that moment.
At first, I was grinding my teeth because of the terrible pain, but as time passed, even Leon was able to understand. It is not wrong to say that a falcon is medicine.
‘It is said that a lazy person may not move even if he is hungry, but if he is beaten, he will immediately get up and run.’
El Cid’s ‘Bee’ was exactly that role.
Even Leon, who had extraordinary tenacity, was completely exhausted after concentrating for half a day, but after feeling that pain once, his dazed mind became clear as if he had been doused with cold water.
As the old saying goes in the East, there was no such thing as a poisonous admiral. How many times did he overcome the moment he felt was his limit?
“Brother Leon?”
It was then.
A familiar yet unpleasant voice he hadn’t heard in quite a while tickled Leon’s ears.
Leon reflexively stiffened his face and turned in that direction.
It was as expected.
Lian was looking at him with a slightly different face than usual.