The Academy’s Hard-Headed Swordmaster

Gawain Coldster.

The hero of the Empire who suppressed the rebellion decades ago.

Though he had become a has-been, unable to display his true skills due to the injuries and curse he suffered while suppressing the rebellion… his spirit and skills as a Master remained sharp.

“Come on, then—youngster.”

And now, in this moment—in this magically constructed virtual world, Gawain had cast off his old, worn-out body and regained the form of his prime.

This was the reason why Gawain, who didn’t need to go this far, specifically requested a new body.

‘Shing—’

“Gramps, aren’t you a bit too spirited for your age?”

“Hahaha, what does it matter? Think of it as watching this old man’s little show.”

“Oh, dear.”

I couldn’t release my Aura.

I’d already confirmed that Aura Blade could collapse this virtual world.

All I could do was use my Aura-infused sword and body to defeat my opponent.

No, in my case, I had to protect the hostage and prevent other soldiers from approaching, which doubled, tripled the difficulty.

‘What a mess during the exam.’

If he wanted to spar, he could have asked when it wasn’t during the exam.

Why did he have to pick a fight on exam day? Kyle, not wanting to fail, decided to give it his all from the start.

He dashed forward, thrusting his sword.

From the opponent’s perspective, the thrust would appear as a tiny dot.

An attack not easily countered, yet Gawain blocked it as if it were nothing.

For Masters of a certain level, defense was synonymous with attack.

A counterattack followed the block.

Counter after counter, counters to the counters continued in an endless chain, and Kyle realized this damned old man was seriously trying to kill him.

‘No, Gramps, please!’

This was a magically constructed virtual world.

The pain was less than in reality, and dying wouldn’t cause any real problems.

If this were a game, Kyle would have enjoyed the fight, win or lose.

But this wasn’t a game. It was an exam that had real-world implications.

“Haa—!”

The moment he realized this, Kyle swung his sword, deliberately creating an opening.

An opening so obvious that it would be foolish not to exploit it if it weren’t a feint.

Gawain instinctively thrust into the gap.

Having created the opening, Kyle knew exactly where the attack would come from.

He naturally closed in, dodging the attack and headbutting Gawain in the face.

‘Crunch—!’

The sound of skull crushing nose echoed, yet Gawain simply looked down at Kyle with a grin.

“Using a lot of tricks, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

And the next moment, Kyle realized he was being flipped head over heels.

It was wrestling, a skill he’d learned the basics of, but hadn’t mastered.

Naturally, this aged Aura Master had trained in many things besides swordsmanship to a Master level. Wrestling was one of them.

Kyle’s wrestling, learned only superficially compared to Gawain’s, was barely enough to struggle against the hold.

But then, Gawain flung Kyle across the arena.

“Ugh—!”

The feeling of his breath catching in his throat, the air forced from his lungs.

There was no pain, but his shocked body couldn’t get up immediately.

Gawain looked down at Kyle rolling on the ground and warned him.

“Boy. Did you think you could beat me with such cheap tricks?”

“…Gramps, you’re freaking strong.”

“Come at me with your sword. You won’t win with cheap tricks.”

Raising his sword to cover half his face, Gawain looked down at Kyle with an expression befitting an honorable knight.

“If you manage to beat me, I’ll give you a good grade.”

“—Why didn’t you say so from the beginning?”

Hearing those words, Kyle discarded all other distracting thoughts.

Yes, realistically, this fight wouldn’t be of much help.

He’d come to rescue a kidnapped hostage, and prolonged combat with an enemy Master while infiltrating an enemy base would only lead to being surrounded and captured.

However, from an experiential perspective, not a realistic one—a fight between Masters would be quite helpful. It would be fertilizer for the future.

“Here I come, Gramps.”

“I’ve been waiting. Are you trying to bore me to death?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Kyle swung his sword upwards from below.

The Meyer-style First Form, Earth Dragon Flash, honed until his hands were blistered.

Unable to simply deflect this attack like the others, Gawain brought his sword down hard, blocking Earth Dragon Flash.

A large opening appeared. Kyle chose a method only a young man could employ.

He swung, and swung, and swung again.

“Hahaha! You brute! Are you not thinking at all!?”

‘KABOOM—! KABOOM—!’

Every clash of swords resounded like exploding dynamite, sending tremors through his hands and feet.

The intense anaerobic exercise starved his body of oxygen, and the madly rushing Aura began to burn within him.

But Kyle didn’t stop swinging his sword.

Gawain, who had been blocking the attacks with a laugh, finally grasped Kyle’s intention and frowned.

‘Does he think he can beat an old man with stamina?’

He didn’t seem to consider that this was a virtual world, and that Gawain’s body was in its prime.

Moreover, the arrogance of thinking he could defeat him with sheer stamina, without technique, was irritating.

Blocking the attacks, Gawain observed Kyle for a moment and thrust his sword as Kyle inhaled.

He thought it was the perfect timing, exploiting a gap in Kyle’s awareness, but he was wrong.

‘CLANG—!’

‘What?’

Kyle swung his sword regardless of whether he was inhaling or exhaling.

It was biological common sense that muscles lose strength when inhaling, but such common sense couldn’t be found in Kyle.

Inhaling, exhaling, even with his posture twisted, his balance broken.

Watching Kyle swing his sword with full force every time, Gawain felt the common sense he had learned crumbling.

‘How is he doing that?’

‘CLANG—!’

‘CLANG—!’

“—!”

After parrying for a while, Gawain realized his sword had been cleaved in two.

He had thought it was brute force, absurd, yet Kyle had done it.

Yes, now he had to ask how. Thinking so, Gawain raised both hands in surrender.

“I surren… .”

‘SWISH—!’

“—Huh?”

Kyle mercilessly swung his sword at Gawain, who was lowering his sword and declaring surrender.

Kyle’s sword sliced through Gawain’s upper body, turning Gawain into Ga/wain, and then sliced both the bisected upper and lower halves into eighteen pieces.

When Kyle, belatedly realizing there was nothing meeting his sword, looked ahead, only the fragmented corpse remained.

“…What? When did he die?”

Kyle, who had been swinging his sword instinctively, scratched his head as he looked at the deceased Gawain.

It wasn’t a big deal since it was a virtual world, but wouldn’t Gawain say something later?

‘Nah, no way. He’s a Master…’

Thinking so, Kyle slung the doll behind him and left the base.

Enemy Master was eliminated.

Hostage rescued.

Zero casualties in the process.

A perfect operation.

***

“…You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Oh, come on, Gramps. Are you sulking?”

After the exam, while waiting in the waiting room for the other students to finish, I greeted Gawain, who came looking for me, and burst out laughing.

He was frowning as if asking how I could do such a thing to him, but from my perspective, having no memory of how he died, it just looked like the grumpiness of a grumpy old man.

“Yeah, what’s the point of this old man saving face now? If I want to sulk, I’ll sulk, if I want to get angry, I’ll get angry. I live as I please.”

“Wow… you really live like a Master.”

As I exclaimed in admiration, Gawain, unsure whether it was a compliment or sarcasm, tilted his head and looked at me.

But only for a moment—clearing his throat with a ‘ahem’, he decided to ask what he was so curious about that he came to cause a scene.

“—That last move of yours. How did you do it?”

“What do you mean?”

“That brute force sword swinging. It was practically impossible.”

“Ah, that?”

Realizing what he was talking about, I tapped my head and said,

“I used my head.”

“…Used your head?”

To Gawain, who stared at me with wide eyes as if he couldn’t understand what I meant, I began to explain kindly.

“Superhuman strength in a fire, you know about that kind of thing?”

“Ah, I’ve heard of it. A woman trying to save a child trapped under a carriage exhibited incredible strength. Something like that?”

“That’s right. How do you think that happens?”

“Well, maybe when you’re in a dangerous situation.”

“Close.”

The human body doesn’t exert its full power. Or, to be precise, it can’t.

Strength beyond the limit would damage the body itself.

Therefore, there’s always a limit placed on the human body, which is temporarily lifted only when one’s life is in danger or when protecting something more precious than their own life.

“And it’s this head that controls that limit.”

“…I heard you, but what does that have to do with using your head?”

“Ah, since it’s a virtual world and I wouldn’t die, I used my Aura to mess with my brain and release the limit.”

“…What?”

Looking up at Gawain, who was looking down at me in bewilderment, I shrugged.

What? Why? I did use my head, didn’t I?

He stared at me as if he couldn’t understand until the very end, then let out a chuckle and left the waiting room.