Chapter 42: Justice Will Not Be Discounted
Zephyr gave her no time to gather herself.
The moment the words fell, the assessment began.
Ain tightened both hands around the hilt of her short sword, drew in a breath, and rushed forward. All her strength flowed into the blade as she closed the distance in one burst.
Zephyr did not move.
He stood there with a stern face and cold, steady eyes, watching every detail as if he were reading a report rather than facing an attack.
"Speed is average," he said flatly. "Barely acceptable."
Ain bit down and forced her thoughts into order. She sprang into the air and brought the short sword down in a heavy overhead slash, putting all her body weight behind it to make the blow hit as hard as possible.
Zephyr still did not dodge.
He simply raised a hand.
Just like when he had crushed Axel's Wind Blade earlier.
Ain knew from the start that her strike was nowhere near that level. If she let him catch the blade cleanly, the attack would be over before it even began. Gritting her teeth, she twisted her wrist and forcibly altered the arc of the sword midway through the swing.
It was not an easy adjustment.
That descending slash had too much momentum. Her arms trembled. Her face flushed red from the strain. But even so, she managed to shift the path of the blade just enough to avoid his first grasp and redirect it toward his body.
In the next instant, Zephyr's arm moved again.
His fingers closed around the blade anyway.
Then he flung both sword and girl aside in one motion.
Ain hit the ground in a tumble.
Zephyr lowered his arm and spoke from where he stood.
"You adjusted your trajectory according to the opponent. Rational. Acceptable."
Ain scrambled back to her feet at once. Dust clung to her clothes and hair, but she did not even bother brushing it off. Her eyes stayed locked on Zephyr.
Her attack had been swatted aside with humiliating ease.
And yet, rather than discouraging her, that simple word acceptable made her chest tighten with excitement. To be acknowledged by a man like Zephyr, even a little, was enough to light a fire in her all over again.
She reset her stance, loosened her shoulders, and charged.
Again.
And again.
The short sword flashed over and over as she attacked from every angle she could think of. She slashed until her arms started to burn, until her grip turned numb, until the sword in her hands felt heavier than iron.
Zephyr never gave ground.
He simply stood there and batted the blade away with one hand, calm and effortless, as though he were brushing aside a pest. Every full power swing she launched was deflected cleanly before it could get anywhere near him.
By the end, it no longer looked like an assessment.
It looked cruel.
An adult crushing a child.
At last, Zephyr seemed to lose interest in the exchange. He stared at Ain with the same severe gaze as before and said, "Is that all? If that is your full strength, then you are still too green."
Ain did not answer.
She only lowered her eyes to look at her own hands.
Those hands were shaking now. Just holding the sword felt difficult. She could not stop the trembling. She could not stop the weight settling into her limbs.
What else could she do?
She should have known from the start that Zephyr's assessment would never be easy. Maybe this was the simple truth.
Maybe she just was not talented enough.
"Ain!"
Axel's voice cut through the training ground.
She flinched.
Then, slowly, she lifted her head.
Yes.
Axel had fought to get her this chance.
If she gave up now, then what had all her years of effort meant? What about all those things she had told herself? What about becoming a Marine strong enough to stand proudly for justice?
Her fingers tightened once more around the hilt.
With a face full of stubborn resolve, Ain rushed at Zephyr again.
This time, Zephyr's expression changed ever so slightly. It was faint, so faint that most people would have missed it, but there was a trace of approval there.
Still, approval did not mean he would lower the standard.
She was not here to earn sympathy.
She was here to pass.
Ain swung again.
Zephyr caught the short sword in his palm.
No force, no flourish, just an overwhelming grip that stopped the weapon dead.
Ain tried to wrench it free. She put both hands on the hilt, dug her feet into the ground, and pulled with all her strength, but the blade did not budge in the slightest.
"Give up," Zephyr said. "Understanding cruelty is a required lesson. A person's strength has limits. You need to know what you can do and what you cannot."
His voice remained hard and even.
"You have talent. That much is true. But right now, you are too weak. If you join now, you will only become a burden. You will not endure the training. Go back, train for one or two more years, and then come to me."
It was praise.
And it was rejection.
Ain still refused to let go.
Her hands kept straining against the sword. The muscles in her arms shook harder and harder. Her whole body screamed that she was outmatched, but she could not accept it.
Zephyr spoke again.
"Let go."
Ain's grip slowly slackened.
Tears spilled from her eyes.
"I don't want to..." she choked out. "I don't want to give up."
That pained expression made even Zephyr's face tighten for a brief instant.
But the world was not built on pity.
A test was a test.
He could not pass her simply because he admired her spirit. That would be unfair to the others, irresponsible to her, and a betrayal of the standard itself.
"This is not about wanting to give up or not," he said. "You are simply unqualified."
The words hit harder than any blow.
Ain finally broke. She cried openly, like the child she still was. Her dream had been placed in front of her, only to be denied with absolute certainty.
Zephyr turned away.
He did not want to look at her like that.
Or perhaps he could not bear to.
Before he could leave, Axel stepped in front of him again.
"Please give her one more chance."
Zephyr did not stop. He did not even soften.
"There is only one chance," he said. "If you fail, you fail."
"I can vouch for her potential," Axel said quickly. "She'll get stronger. She'll catch up soon."
He meant it.
Even without the powers she should gain later, Ain's future talent was real. Axel knew that. He had seen enough to know she could become far stronger than she looked now.
But that knowledge belonged only to him.
To everyone else, his words were nothing more than stubborn insistence.
Zephyr laughed.
It was loud, rough, and completely unlike the cold restraint he had shown all along. The sudden burst of laughter startled everyone on the field.
Even Alvis had never seen him like this.
"Vouch for her?" Zephyr looked down at Axel. "With what?"
His voice sharpened.
"Your life? The only life you can put on the line is your own. You cannot guarantee someone else's. So do not talk so arrogantly, brat."
Axel fell silent.
He had no answer to that.
He knew Ain could grow into something formidable. He knew her future held far more than what she had shown today. But he could not explain any of that. He could not make them believe it. And in that moment, he finally understood just how willful he sounded.
Still, he did not want to back down so easily.
"Then give her my spot," he said. "Or I'll protect her."
The moment those words left his mouth, something in Zephyr's expression changed.
His face turned fierce in an instant, like Axel had stepped directly onto an old wound.
Then Zephyr moved.
One punch.
Axel was sent flying.
The impact came too fast to block, too heavy to resist. His body was knocked back through the air before slamming into the ground.
Zephyr's voice thundered across the training field.
"Remember this, kid!"
His eyes were burning now, not with simple anger, but with something much deeper.
"Justice cannot be transferred."
He took one step forward, his presence pressing down like a mountain.
"Because justice will not be discounted!"
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Soul Land, NBA, and more — all in one place.]