Chapter: 261
The darkness is slowly lifting.
Curse that sun, always late to rise.
In the past, I disliked the idea of that wretched thing peeking through the shadows, doing nothing.
But it’s fine now. There’s not much time left for that anymore.
Even if I were to disappear, if I can perish alongside that hope, our Lord will surely restore glory for us.
Ah, you poor child receiving love from that ugly thing.
How have you fared?
Did my antics make you laugh because they were too simplistic?
I felt that way too.
As I checked all the things you possess, laughter escaped me uncontrollably.
You are adept at countering darkness.
You’ve perfectly memorized the path of a place you’ve never entered.
You even know how to deal with a sword from someone you’re facing for the first time.
Armadi must have surely gifted you countless pieces of knowledge.
However, you are overestimating your own knowledge.
Secret moves aren’t meant to be revealed so easily.
Then wouldn’t that make your opponent prepared to counter?
If you are the only hope of this land…
My role is to devour that hope.
After preparing everything…
I shall wait with anticipation.
For the moment you arrive.
For the moment you scream in pain.
For the moment you shed tears, begging Armadi for salvation that never comes.
You won’t be able to turn away from this.
I have already seen the fragility of your heart that desperately tries to hide it.
The first thing I did after leaving the academy building was to run straight to the training grounds.
It was just about time for dawn. Usually, I would start training as a habit.
At this time, she should definitely be there.
“Hello.”
As expected, Frey was already swinging her sword at the training grounds before me.
“Nice shield, did you get a new one?”
‘Yeah. Just recently.’
“Isn’t it great? A clumsy swordsman like you won’t even leave a scratch on it.”
“Want to give it a try?”
‘I’d appreciate it.’
“If you want to feel just how shoddy you are, I won’t stop you.”
The reason I came to meet Frey was simple.
There was a skill I had never seen even once in the game.
I wanted to understand exactly what the skill of Weakness Detection entailed.
In the game Soul Academy, there were no hidden skills.
It was a game that hadn’t seen an update despite many modes being created. Naturally, all hidden information had long been exposed through unpacking.
Achievements, speedruns, restricted play, and so on. I had continuously conducted research using all the unpacking information readily available, resulting in numerous records.
Some said they disapproved of using underhanded methods, but I didn’t care about their opinions. Why should I listen to someone who’s less skilled than me?
In any case, after countless rounds of research, I naturally knew all skills that existed in Soul Academy.
I had touched on every skill that looked promising to produce optimal efficiency.
This was the first time I was seeing a skill.
This was a skill I encountered because I had possessed this world.
Of course, I had to confirm its performance!
Honestly, the explanation of Weakness Detection was vague. “You will be able to better identify weaknesses.”
If this were a game, I would think of it as an increase in critical hits, but this is reality.
How the skill would activate, what effects it would produce, how well it would perform, and what applications it might have…
There was so much to check.
The reason I came to see Frey was precisely this.
The sword is my protector while simultaneously being a teacher of Soul Academy. She had already wasted a day because of me, I couldn’t keep holding her longer.
But Frey was different. This girl, who cared for nothing but swinging her sword, could stay as long as needed.
“Shall we go?”
‘Anytime.’
“Do as you please. If I’m going to meet you, I might as well try an ambush. Right?”
“Got it. I’ll go.”
Watching Frey dash away at high speed, I thought. Right now, it was no different from usual.
Frey, who engages in duels dozens of times a day.
Couldn’t I find something new from a sword I had gotten so accustomed to?
“…The shield has gotten sturdier. Equipment advantage. How cowardly.”
As I blocked Frey’s sword with Ankhil, she complained amidst her flurry of strikes.
Of course, I had touched her feelings, saying equipment was also a skill, but I didn’t care about that.
While facing the skeleton just moments ago, doubts about my temperament within my personality had emerged.
So instead of chatting idly, I focused on Frey’s sword.
The sword she held when I first saw her was very different from her sword now.
Her unique speed and relentless onslaught remained, but there were clear differences in those intervals.
To put it simply, that difference was precision. The Frey of the past moved her sword according to instinct.
She hadn’t learned much, so there was no other way.
Ordinary people would have sensed something was off along the way and would ask others to teach them, but Frey never did that. She was so talented that her instincts alone could dominate the continent.
But not anymore. For some reason, her requests to her father for swordsmanship lessons had made Frey’s sword far neater than before.
She retained her advantages of quick judgment and fearlessness in her attacks, stacking the basics of swordsmanship atop it.
The once chaotic sword maneuvers were now clear, increasing the speed and power of her attacks.
Since the unnecessary thought processes had been reduced, the speed of her strikes had quickened.
Having only received instruction during vacation, her sword had clearly grown significantly stronger.
But still, she was lacking.
Perhaps because she had faced off against a skeleton at the peak of the basics, or maybe thanks to having gained the skill of Weakness Detection, but I could see her shortcomings.
The intervals between her sword swings were too short.
It was frustrating, so she might increase the number of attacks, but having faster attacks meant those attacks were weaker.
If there was not enough power, no matter how quick the sword might be, it would just bounce off a shield.
There was no need for any special skills to face me.
If one merely waited quietly, they would self-destruct.
My judgment was accurate.
As Frey increased her speed, she ultimately revealed a large opening, and at that moment, I noticed the imbalance in her stance.
As I slipped through that opening and gently nudged the spot I had been eyeing, Frey fell over too simply.
Frey, sprawled on the ground, blinked her eyes and raised her arms in despair.
“Again.”
I gladly accepted her request.
To feel the true power of the Weakness Detection skill.
As the duel lengthened, I began to understand what the Weakness Detection skill truly was.
First of all, this skill allowed you to see weaknesses.
Just as I saw Frey’s impatience and her unstable balance, it naturally made weaknesses in the opponent visible.
And this skill doesn’t reveal everything from the beginning.
In our first duel, there were several weaknesses I couldn’t see, but as time passed, I could observe more.
When the pressure mounts, the act of swinging the sword is ever so slightly faster than stepping on the ground, generating openings.
Like when one is about to take a gamble, the eyebrows lower “just a bit.”
Thanks to this, the longer the duel continued, the easier it became to suppress Frey.
Next, this skill was clearly influenced by my own abilities.
As I could see the weaknesses I had roughly grasped from countless duels with Frey now becoming visible.
At this point, Weakness Detection could be called an overpowered skill without a doubt.
Being capable of defense naturally led to prolonged battles for me.
As time progressed, I was able to discern my opponent and discover ways to topple them; this Weakness Detection skill was exceptionally suited to my fighting style.
However, the overpowered nature of Weakness Detection didn’t stop there.
Surprisingly, this skill didn’t only influence combat.
I should have recognized this from the vague explanations earlier.
The term “weakness” literally refers to the vulnerable parts of the opponent.
Physical parts they are reluctant to expose? Weaknesses.
Things they don’t want to hear? Those are weaknesses too.
Anything they absolutely don’t want to be discovered? Obviously weaknesses.
Does this explanation make it hard to understand? Hmm. Let’s use an example. Sure.
“How unfair. I can hide behind a shield because I’m small and it deflects all attacks.”
Right now, the part Frey doesn’t want me to discover.
“Hey♡ You idiot swordsman♡ I know you want to provoke me, but with a sword this shoddy, you’re not tempting me at all♡”
This girl keeps trying to spark a quarrel to provoke me.
For some reason, this too should be Frey’s weakness and flaw.
Look. The moment I mentioned it, her sword hesitated.
“Instead of wasting time blabbering, shouldn’t you be focused on swinging your sword?♡ Well, the result will still be the same♡”
As I chuckled, a blush crept onto Frey’s face.
Anger? Embarrassment? I’m not sure what emotions she held, but the result of it was clear.
The blue light gathered above Frey’s sword.
Whoa!? Isn’t this a duel?! What’s she thinking using aura here?!
Seeing it, I hurriedly wrapped my shield in divine power.
Fortunately, Frey’s preparation wasn’t perfect.
Because of her fully unprepared, reckless swing using aura, its power was somewhat ambiguous.
But this was something I could block. Not that someone else could have. If it had been Arthur, it would have smashed through!
Regardless, Frey’s skill with the sword was the real deal.
As I blocked, ready to voice some disapproval, Frey had already bolted away.
…What the heck is this? Did my nagging bother her that much?
Hmm. I doubt chasing after her will yield any positive result.
We will meet again later, so I can nag her then.
For now, let’s check on something else.
Spending time sparring with Frey resulted in significant recovery of divine power.
While unfolding the divine realm to check…
“Young Lady.”
Just as I decided to look, a voice suddenly rang out, causing me to stop the operation of my divine power.
Standing behind me was a figure that resembled a sword, but it was no mere sword.
It’s hard to put into words, but…
You could say that I didn’t sense the subtle madness typically associated with a sword.
If it were that figure, they wouldn’t show a hint of impatience even after days and nights of waiting.
In fact, they would be the type to express gratitude for being kept waiting!
What is it? Who are they?
As I tightened my grip on the mace, they hastily spoke up.
“It’s Alsatine, Young Lady.”
…Alsatine?
What is he doing here?
If he’s not careful, he might get discovered by the academy. What could be so urgent that he resorts to this?
He could have just sent a note, and I would have gone to meet him, after all.
“I apologize, Young Lady. It’s quite an urgent matter.”
‘What is it?’
“Spill it. Quickly.”
“It’s related to what the Young Lady was searching for. Darkness is trying to consume the land.”
…Huh?
Wait a moment?
I mean, if it’s related to what I was searching for, it must surely be info connected to the Duke Burrow’s family.
And if it’s about darkness, that’s Tariki.
“Land” refers to the territory.
Putting it all together means Tariki is trying to devour the territory…
To phrase it differently, it means the Apostle of Evil God is attempting to offer the Burrow territory to Tariki…
Are you insane?
How insane!?
Is that bastard trying to get himself hunted down!?
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