Kang!
But contrary to my expectations, the counterattack was easily blocked.
For the first time, the man drew the sword at his left waist, a sword that had never been unsheathed until now.
“Dual-wielding!”
In a game, dual-wielding symbolizes certain defeat, but to use such challenging techniques in the martial world, where a minor mistake could cost one’s life, proves that considerable skill is backing it up.
“Did you really think I would draw both swords against an examinee?”
The man facing me said this with a smirk, and unlike just moments ago, there was now a glimmer of ambition in his eyes.
“Cough!”
Reluctantly retreating, I silently stared at the man holding a sword in each hand.
Even before he drew his swords, there were no openings, but now it felt as if not even a needle could slip through.
The only option left was one move.
If I could safely pass this, I would pass the second examination.
But judging by the man’s demeanor, he didn’t seem likely to let me through easily.
“There’s no helping it.”
At this point, I could only respond with my strongest technique, Dragon and Serpent Ascend.
“Hoo-”
I steadied my breath, which had become ragged from the short skirmish.
Excitement in a fight is poison.
To avoid being swayed by the enemy’s intentions, one must view the situation as calmly as possible.
I focused my energy, spreading throughout my body, into my legs.
The conclusion would come in just one moment,
In the blink of an eye, it would be over.
At last,
Smack!
Both the man and I moved simultaneously.
“Dragon and Serpent Unleashed!”
The man’s chosen technique was a thrust.
The two swords crossed and struck in unison with the ferocity of a dragon.
In response, my technique was the eighth form of the Tang Martial Arts, Dragon and Serpent Ascend.
A so-called unblockable skill.
By simultaneously striking the enemy’s vital points, it poses the ultimate dilemma: if one is blocked, the other cannot be guarded.
However, using this technique also leaves my own defense vulnerable, making it extremely tricky to find the right moment to employ it in normal circumstances.
“…….”
A deep silence fell over the examination hall.
The final tenth match.
The winner is,
“Excellent. This year’s new students are all on a high level.”
I had halted my fist just before hitting the vital points.
*
An Exam Administrator wouldn’t take an examinee’s life.
With that belief, I managed to attack a bit more boldly than my opponent.
It’s a strategy where you give flesh to gain bone, but in a world with poor medical care, even a small wound could render someone disabled, so typically, such madness wouldn’t be attempted.
However, I gambled, and that gamble succeeded magnificently, allowing me to win a round against the Exam Administrator.
“I never imagined you’d push in further like that.”
The Exam Administrator, who had sparred with me, said this as he extended his right hand toward me.
“If you hadn’t hesitated, I would have actually lost.”
As I shook his hand, I recalled the recent events.
The technique the Exam Administrator used was a powerful thrust called Dragon and Serpent Unleashed.
It was a technique that gathers both sword tips and charges at the opponent.
Typically, when someone uses such a technique, the opponent gets scared and either dodges dramatically or hastily blocks, but instead of dodging or blocking, I pushed into his embrace.
Had the Exam Administrator wanted to, he could have modified the trajectory of his sword in the middle.
But because he had no intention of taking my life, he hesitated for just a moment, and I used that hesitation to successfully execute Dragon and Serpent Ascend.
If my two punches had struck the vital points properly, the Exam Administrator in front of me wouldn’t have been standing unscathed.
Considering that, I thought it might be fair to call it a draw.
“Wonderful!”
At that moment, someone shouted.
Curious, I turned my head, and the Geomhu, the woman who had stood on the stage earlier, approached us, clapping.
“I never thought a examinee could perform so well against the Exam Administrators, all of whom are peak masters.”
What? Peak masters?
When I looked at the Exam Administrator with surprise, he averted his gaze with an awkward expression.
It seemed he was embarrassed that a peak master felt pride in facing an examinee.
Regardless, the Geomhu, now close to me, caught my eye and smiled, asking,
“If my judgment is correct, that martial art you just used is from the Tang Martial Arts, right? Is it not a technique used by Senior Dokwang Tang Hochang?”
“…That’s correct.”
Then the Exam Administrator beside me gasped in surprise and muttered,
“There was a disciple of Old Man Dokwang?”
“Um? No, uh, not officially…”
Hearing that, I panicked and started to ramble.
It felt like this “disciple of Dokwang” label would cause me trouble down the line.
However, explaining the complex relationship between Dokwang and me would take too long, so I made a decision.
“Could you both keep this a secret? I’d rather not attract unnecessary attention within the academy.”
Realizing my meaning, the Geomhu looked slightly shocked but quickly nodded, agreeing.
And the Exam Administrator who sparred with me seemed to understand as well.
“Phew, I nearly had a heart attack.”
It would be better to pretend I was just a nobody cosplaying as Dokwang’s disciple than to have this information spread openly and considered a misunderstanding.
After all, that sort of thing is quite common in the martial world.
*
“Yes! I won!”
Even after my turn, others began to win rounds against the Exam Administrator.
But according to the Geomhu from earlier, all the Exam Administrators we’d drawn were peak masters, so I assumed the results came from them easing up.
If they had genuinely tried their best, defeating examinees wouldn’t have been possible from the start.
Fortunately, Tang Sosu also passed the second exam without incident, and as for Dokgorin, she was the strongest among us, so I didn’t need to worry.
It was truly a situation where everyone’s success was anticipated.
Finally, the Exam Administrator called out Dokgorin’s name, who had been waiting.
“Examinee Number 845! Dokgorin!”
“Then I’m off, Chilbok.”
“Ah, yeah. Good luck.”
As I cheered her on in a small voice, Dokgorin smiled brightly and nodded.
Though she was wearing a mask, I could tell from her sparkling eyes that she was genuinely happy.
Anyway, thus began Dokgorin’s second examination.
“Please take care of me.”
After exchanging greetings with the Exam Administrator, she said this with a chilly expression that betrayed the smile she had shown me.
It felt nice as her boyfriend that she reserved her smile just for me, but I wondered if she’d end up collecting ire from random strangers.
It’s not for nothing they say that interpersonal relationships are crucial in society.
“I’ll learn a technique. Sojeo.”
The rather overly eager male Exam Administrator stated, taking a stance.
Opposing him, Dokgorin stood in a casual posture.
While resting her hands on the sword hilts, for some reason, she didn’t draw them.
A strange standoff ensued, and surprisingly, it was the Exam Administrator who moved first.
“Hup!”
With a long stride, he thrust out his blade powerfully.
It was likely a probing attack.
Dokgorin dodged it by a hair’s breadth, then began spinning the sword she had drawn, the Whip Sword, and launched an upward strike.
However, the Exam Administrator adeptly dodged the attack, and Dokgorin pursued him with another Whip Sword drawn from the opposite scabbard.
What a rapid exchange it was.
Neither seemed to use any special techniques, but just watching was enough to tell they were on a high level.
“Hahaha! Your skills are incredible! Sojeo!”
The Exam Administrator, fighting Dokgorin, shouted in delight, but Dokgorin merely swung her sword in silence.
In the blink of an eye, eight exchanges went by, and as they were left with only two, the Exam Administrator said,
“This encounter must be fate—how about we grab a tea in front of the academy after the exam ends?”
At that, Dokgorin’s eyebrows twitched.
It seemed his sudden advance was annoying her.
“If you defeat me, I’ll consider it.”
Ah, so she was thinking of being serious about it.
In an instant, I realized her intentions.
Yet the Exam Administrator, unaware of this, appeared to take Dokgorin’s words as acceptance, wearing a cheerful smile.
Well, imagination is free, I guess.
At last, during the ninth exchange.
Dokgorin held her Whip Sword in reverse grip.
I recognized that preparatory move.
It was one of the nine techniques of the Ultimate Unmatched Sword Technique, the Sword Breaker Technique.
According to the original description, the Sword Breaker Technique was created to thoroughly counter swords.
Immediately, both the Exam Administrator and Dokgorin moved simultaneously.
The Exam Administrator’s movements were not much different from before, but Dokgorin’s was.
In an instant, she intercepted the opponent’s sword edge with the hole in the side of her Whip Sword, then pulled the blade while aiming the remaining sword at the Exam Administrator’s neck.
“What the!”
Taken aback in an instant, the Exam Administrator shouted in humiliation, but Dokgorin merely spoke calmly.
“I win, right?”
At this, the Exam Administrator could only lower his head in silence.
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