A few minutes before the spar began.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
Three arrows fiercely tore through the air and struck the target across the courtyard. Charlotte, who had emptied her quiver while training, stepped toward the weapon racks to restock on the arrows.
"I'm getting stronger. I can feel it." She muttered excitedly under her breath while clenching her fists.
Ascended rank was the zenith, most believed this fact to be 100% correct. Charlotte herself belonged to those believers before.
She smiled faintly as she recalled how distraught she became after reaching Ascended rank. The possibility of being unable to become stronger had shaken her greatly.
But with this, she was sure. Ascended rank was not the end.
Charlotte was about to leave after restocking when she noticed Jae-sung staring at someone in the courtyard. She walked up to him, "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be training at this moment?"
Jae-sung was a mystery to her. He was a countryside noble who had been adopted by his parents, the Baron Gildart and the Baroness.
Nevertheless, Jae-sung wasn't hesitant to reveal his origins. It was as if he didn't know how much his image was being degraded as a noble from accepting the fact that he didn't carry noble blood.
Moreover, his actions and habits were unlike any people she had met. Almost like he didn't belong to this place.
But the most eye-catching fact about Jae-sung was his strength. He was an Ascended rank too.
Most humans can never hope to reach Ascended rank, let alone stepping into that rank before 20s. It was an unheard feat, almost like a fairytale from legends.
In the whole Empire, the number of ascenders wouldn't reach 3 digits. It was astonishing, baffling, and borderline suspicious that Jae-sung wasn't well known despite being an ascender at a mere age of 21.
Jae-sung, who heard Charlotte's question, took a moment to answer, "I'm watching Sir Sol train. His swordsmanship is… beautiful."
His words pulled her gaze, and she ended up watching Sol too.
He was swinging his swords, only that. But his bearing, as he repeated the stance, his presence as he swung his sword continuously, was sharp and imposing.
For a few minutes, Charlotte forgot about her earlier opinion of Sol and, mesmerized, ended up watching Sol along with Jae-sung.
It was then it happened.
Thwack—!
"I didn't know the young master, Sol, also trained. Did the young master skip his medicines because his personal maid isn't here? Is that why he is behaving 'normally'? Hahaha!"
Varnish, the sword instructor of Lionel House, interrupted Sol's training.
As their conversation heated up, a crowd formed around Sol and Varnish. It was easy to notice that Varnish didn't have good intentions for interfering with Sol.
But the opinion of the crowd surprised Charlotte, "What is everyone doing…? An heir of Lionel House is being insulted and they are… enjoying it?"
The commotion gradually escalated into a spar. And Sol had to fight a trained knight.
Charlotte didn't have a good opinion of Sol for his past actions, as she saw him forcing his maid to train, but she couldn't bear watching more of what was happening in front of her.
Like hyenas, the crowd was waiting for Sol to show weakness and ready to devour him. Not one soul was trying to take his side.
She stepped forward to help him, but suddenly Jae-sung held her hand.
"Wait. Don't interfere."
"Why? Are you like them too?" She glared at the crowd, who had no intention of stopping Varnish.
Jae-sung shook his head, "Watch Sir Sol closely. Does it look like he needs our help?"
"What are you…"
Charlotte ended up swallowing her words.
Sol, who was being insulted from all sides, wasn't cowering. He was standing tall, his gaze unfaltering, and his appearance poised. Like a lion, he was fearless and bold in the face of the adversary.
"Let's wait before interfering. I don't think Sir Sol would appreciate our help, and… uhmm… I'm sorry", Jae-sung let go of her hand.
Charlotte was a princess. It wasn't acceptable to touch her without her permission.
Suddenly, the crowd exploded into murmurs.
"He is using a real sword in a spar!!?"
"What is Sir Sol thinking!? Isn't he known as the trash of Lionel Family!? He is putting himself in danger with a real sword!?"
"I heard that he was crazy from childhood! Maybe the rumors were true!"
"You must be correct. Or it makes no sense to not use a training sword, since Sir Sol is clearly weaker!"
Jae-sung and Charlotte frowned.
At that moment, a cold and chilly voice spread, which forced the crowd to quieten.
"Pick the sword. Why are you hesitating?" Sol spoke slowly..
Gulp—!
As Mathew and Sol conversed, someone from the crowd gulped nervously and whispered in a tiny voice. "Is he… is he going to kill the knight?"
Sol was weaker than Matthew. But his appearance and gait at this moment was invoking an unnatural fear in them.
The match began.
"As actual swords are being used, the spar will end the moment anyone makes a decisive strike." The Vice-Commander Gab nodded to Sol and Matthew, and yelled. "Then, begin!"
It continued as expected.
Sol was weaker, and he was being toyed with by the knight.
The crowd sighed unknowingly.
"Maybe we were being paranoid."
"Right. He is known to be the shame of Lions. There is no way he could win."
When Sol's defeat was all but certain, he spoke a few words, "The left one."
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ From there, everything happened too quickly for most to notice. Matthew appeared in front of Sol and attacked. At the exact moment, Sol used a parallel three sword strike.
Clanggg—!
Unable to comprehend what just happened, Matthew, who was muttering gibberish, was cut off was a loud yell.
"The match has ended! Winner, Sir Sol!"
Vice Commander Gab clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention and shouted at the crowd. "The spar is finished. What are you guys gawking for? Return to your training! Viscount doesn't pay you runts to sit and waste your time!"
"It was a splendid display of meticulous planning. To win a battle before it even began, I have learned a lot from Sir Sol." The Vice Commander bowed to Sol adding to the confusion of the crowd.
The crowd went into an uproar.
The corner of Jae-sung's lips were shaking as he forced himself to stop grinning, "N-no way. How did he think like that?"
"What? Do you know why Sir Sol won?"
Jae-sung nodded to Charlotte. He opened his mouth to explain, but a sudden crisp echo rang.
Slap–!
"W-what are you doin-"
Slap–!
"I asked what is the mean–"
The echoing continued.
Slap–!
"St-"
Slap–!
"S-"
Slap–!
"Ple-"
Slap–!
The atmosphere of the courtyard was plunged into ear-piercing silence that was being broken by the echoes of slap only.
Sword Instructor Varnish tried to interfere, but Sol shut him off swiftly.
The crowd was the same as before. If earlier they were enjoying Sol being humiliated, it was now the other way around. However, they couldn't deny that they were afraid of Sol at this moment.
In front of everyone, Sol logically and reasonably cornered Mathew and cut off his escape route. He was unyielding and uncompromising as he passed his judgment.
Leaving a few last words, Sol left without looking back.
But there was a difference. Unlike how when entered the courtyard he was either ignored or mocked, the gaze of people watching his parting back was different.
They were in awe and fear of the Lion who had taken his first steps today.
————
"What was that?"
Someone muttered from the crowd when Sol left the courtyard. Those words brought everyone out of their stupor. They felt like they could finally breathe again.
Everyone gave a short glance at Matthew and Varnish and proceeded to ignore them. Although Varnish wasn't punished, Sol's actions as he ruthlessly punished Matthew were imprinted in their minds, and they were afraid of associating with Varnish, who was originally responsible for the earlier conflict.
When the crowd was about to resume their training, a surprise yell echoed. "Right, why did Sir Sol win?"
The gazes focused on Sir Gab, the one who had acted as the referee of the spar.
Gab scanned the crowd before speaking disapprovingly, "Does not a single of you lot know why Sir Sol won?"
"I have an idea, but I don't understand what you meant by 'meticulous planning' and why you praised Sir Sol.", A soldier of the Viscounty answered.
Gab scoffed and pointed at Jae-sung, "You blue-head it seems you are the only one who noticed! Explain it to these runts why they have junk for brains!"
Jae-sung was a bit surprised that Gab had managed to notice his reaction earlier and come to the conclusion that he knew why Sol won.
He nodded and spoke in a loud voice, "The condition to win the spar was making a decisive strike. Sir Sol's last strike was that decisive strike that allowed him to win."
Gab smiled and questioned Jae-sung, "But the knight blocked the last strike. That goes against the condition of victory."
"Yes, however, Matthew didn't know which strike out of the three was real. The reason why Sir Sol said 'The left one' wasn't to warn Matthew of the actual attack, but it was groundwork for his victory." Jae-sung turned to the crowd before continuing. "If Mathew didn't listen to his earlier warning, he couldn't have blocked and thus lost, but even if he blocked, it can be said that he only blocked thanks to Sir Sol's warning. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to do so."
The crowd buzzed, and their opinions varied greatly. While most understood the reasoning behind Sol's victory, a few couldn't help but notice the flaw in Jae-sung's logic.
"But in the end, Sir Matthew was able to block, wasn't he? How was that strike a match-ending strike?"
"The sword. They were real." The one to answer was Charlotte. She was shocked when she realized the answer.
She continued, "Would Matthew have blocked Sir Sol's strike if he didn't warn him? Maybe or maybe not. We can never know the result of what never transpired.
In reality, Matthew blocked, and he shouldn't have lost. But he still lost, because of the rules of the spar.
After all, no one knows what would have happened if Sir Sol didn't warn Matthew.
The miniscule chance of Matthew failing to block the attack gave Sir Sol the victory because if he couldn't, he would've died as the swords were real. In other words, it was a decisive strike.
It didn't matter if Matthew blocked or not, the rules of the spar were in the favor of Sir Sol."
Matthew didn't lose. The only reason Sol won was because Gab had to give him victory due to the spar's rules.
Using actual swords, waiting until Matthew used a powerful strike that made him unable to dodge, adding a few words, and lastly, executing everything without a mistake.
Charlotte had to acknowledge.
Sol might be a terrible person, but he was a terrifying warrior who used his wits to achieve victory, not his strength.
Jae-sung was grinning at the careful and subtle planning of Sol, when a familiar chime rang in his ears and a golden screen appeared before him.
Ding!
[Quest Received!]
[A+ Grade Quest: Defeat Sol Lionel in a fair spar.]
[Chain-type Quest]
[First chain clearance reward: Celestial Swordsmanship:??? Series, +5 STR, +5 AGI, +5 VIT, +5 DEF, Memory Fragments]
Jae-sung almost spat in surprise when he saw the grade of quest.
"A+ grade? Isn't anything above A grade near impossible to complete? Why am I getting an A+ grade quest to defeat someone who is 3 ranks lower than me? It seems Sir Sol is tough enough that even my system thinks I can't win."
Despite his complaints, he was smiling.
"This game will be fun."
