Chapter 222: Overwhelming Swordsmanship!
BOOM——!
Stella's strike carried tremendous power.
Supported by a massive magic reserve, this flame-wrapped attack appeared like a catastrophe of heaven and earth to the spectators.
However, she didn't hit her target.
Luke casually sidestepped the girl's powerful strike, then instantly drew Starfall from its sheath!
Whoosh——!
Bang——!
A merciless drawing technique crashed against the redhead's magical armor at her midsection.
An incredibly massive force instantly pressed upon Stella, sending the girl flying as if struck by a high-speed train.
BOOM——!
She crashed into the barrier boundary in front of the spectator seats, creating a huge hole.
Everyone present watched this scene in shock.
Just then, someone suddenly cried out.
"Hey! Look at the screen above!"
"A-rank knight... you're kidding, right? And w-what's with that S rating?"
"Where did this guy come from? Never heard of such a powerful figure before."
The spectators' voices reached Stella's ears as she stood up.
She instinctively looked up at the screen above the stage.
"Physical ability S?!"
"H-how is that possible... no, come to think of it, that strike just now... he didn't use any magic?!"
Stella's face wore an expression of complete shock.
Though that drawing technique hadn't broken through her magical defense, the fact remained that she had been sent flying.
"To be able to send me flying with pure physical force against my magic... he is simply a..."
'Monster'
Though she didn't say it aloud, this was what Stella truly thought.
Compared to the shock of the girl and surrounding spectators, Luke felt somewhat disappointed.
'To be distracted in battle...'
With a trace of disappointment, he slowly sheathed Starfall.
At the same time, the tense atmosphere in the arena gradually dispersed.
Years of combat had made him almost forget his opponent was a student knight - no matter how strong her magic and aura were, she was still too young.
The aura receding like a tide instantly awakened Stella from her shock, and the girl keenly caught that fleeting disappointment in Luke's eyes.
Anger!
An indescribable sense of humiliation surged in her heart.
Not anger at the boy, but Stella's fury at her incompetence.
'I actually disappointed my opponent?'
For the first time in her life, she felt this kind of shame.
Massive magical power surged along with the girl's unwillingness.
The suddenly erupting magical power transformed Stella into a streak of flame as she rushed at Luke again.
The 'magic' in this world was very different from typical magical power in other fantasy novels.
It could not only be used for releasing 'magic' like ordinary magical power but also had significant effects in enhancing physical abilities.
To Luke, it felt very similar to the magic in the dungeon world.
However, the dungeon world's magic was linked to mental power, while this world's magic was a separate form of energy.
Stella's full-power burst produced astonishing speed - among the spectating students, even including the school's strong student knights, few could follow her movements.
However, it must be said that this speed was still considerably lacking for Luke.
Watching Stella's greatsword swing toward him, this time Luke didn't intend to dodge.
Starfall in his hand struck first, directly touching a specific point on the golden greatsword's blade.
Ding——!
The clear sound of blades crossing echoed throughout the training ground.
In that instant, Stella suddenly felt most of the strength in her hands mysteriously dissipate.
Her originally powerful strike that seemed to split heaven and earth disappeared like a stone in the sea the moment it touched his weapon.
At the same time, Luke spoke: "Your swordsmanship is good."
"The orthodox style of the greatsword school - considering your princess status, what you've learned must be the so-called 'Royal Swordsmanship'."
"From your sword movements, I can tell you've never neglected your sword training, and you've completely mastered this 'Royal Swordsmanship'."
"So your swordsmanship is good, very good, but it's merely good."
Those who knew Luke knew he rarely spoke during battle.
Unless necessary, Luke, who favored quick resolution, would never say a single unnecessary word during combat.
And once he started speaking 'unnecessarily', it meant the current situation could no longer be considered a 'battle' in his eyes.
Clang, clang, clang, clang——!
During the conversation, neither Luke nor Stella stopped moving.
The sounds of clashing weapons continued to ring out, the clear resonance of blade against sword echoing throughout the training ground.
The flaming trajectories drawn by Stella's Lævateinn demonstrated her exquisite swordsmanship to all present.
Among Mage Knights, few excelled in martial arts or swordsmanship.
For them, rather than waste time on technique, using that time to train supernatural abilities was more effective for strengthening themselves.
Moreover, the Mage Knight evaluation system didn't even include a 'technique' category.
However, truly powerful individuals never abandoned the pursuit of technique.
They endlessly chased after strength.
Attempting everything that could make them stronger, mastering their technique to perfection before pursuing even higher realms.
Stella Vermillion was one of these powerful individuals.
Her swordsmanship, beautiful as dancing butterflies yet fierce as all-consuming flames, continuously proved her dedication to everyone.
However, in the next moment.
The girl's years of efforts were mercilessly shattered by Luke.
Ding——!
With the final clear ring, the golden greatsword seemed to lose control and flew out of Stella's hands.
Clang——!
When the greatsword hit the ground, the entire training ground fell silent.
Stella stared blankly at the Lævateinn lying beside her, replaying every clash of their weapons in her mind.
Luke had never used magic from start to finish; he hadn't even used Prana.
Each of his counterattacks had struck the weaknesses in her swordsmanship, preventing the girl from exerting even a tenth of her full-power strikes.
There had been no real exchange at all.
It was pure technical domination.
"I don't know the teacher who taught you this sword style, but I can roughly tell what kind of person they are."
"You've thoroughly absorbed this sword style, and with your unparalleled magical power, probably no one could surpass you in this style."
"But ultimately, that's just 'this style'."
"The swordsmanship you use is 'Royal Swordsmanship', not 'Stella's Royal Swordsmanship'."
"If you want to compete with me in swordsmanship, you need to come up with something of your own."
Luke looked at the somewhat dazed Stella and quietly sighed.
"You've certainly mastered 'Royal Swordsmanship' completely and perfected it according to your circumstances."
"But you haven't made it your own."
"This sword style has many places where it could evolve, yet you haven't discovered any of them, only blindly practicing, practicing, and practicing…"
"No sword style in this world is perfect. What we 'successors' should do is not copy but surpass our predecessors."
---
Read more than 20 chapters in advance, with pictures, to enhance your reading immersion:
patréon.com/tom22
Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.
---
For Audiobook:
youtube.com/@animefic22