67 – Mental Education (3)
“The momentum suddenly became rough in the middle. You.”
Aria is still confused. But the gaze was clearly directed at me. Of course, your ears will be open too.
“You didn’t like my attitude? During sparring, did you get excited because the kid looked so calm? “I think I thought, since I’m not taking it seriously, I’ll just end it.”
“… ….”
“And you didn’t feel any sense of déjà vu?”
Aria paused for a moment, then frowned and asked back.
“What are you talking about?”
She didn’t seem to know either.
I quenched my appetite and immediately responded.
“That’s what I meant when I said it looked very similar to yours.”
A simple word, but the effect was clear. Aria’s expression visibly hardened.
“‘I’m going to win anyway,’ otherwise, ‘there’s no need to be nervous.’ Well, this kind of attitude probably suits you more than me. Even if it wasn’t after entering the academy, it would always be a thought that came to mind when sparring with kids of similar age.”
I laughed heartily and clapped my hands in an exaggerated gesture.
“Oh, as expected, the granddaughter of the Sword Saint is different? I can do that, but I don’t want to see other people do that. “Your mindset is truly noble.”
Needless to say, the tone was clearly sarcastic.
There’s no way Aria doesn’t know that, but she probably doesn’t care much about that by now.
Of course, I would have been more shocked than that.
This is the so-called mirror therapy.
Confirming your own bad attitude that you were not aware of until now through other people.
Is there any other treatment method that is as certain as that?
“Come to your senses and look at yourself, Miss Aria.”
Of course, I admit that the way I speak is too extreme.
Honestly, it’s not something you should throw at a girl. On the contrary, if it was a mean word, it was a mean word.
I didn’t want to talk too much, but what can I do? There is no other way to think of it than this.
If I’m going to blame it, I have to blame it on my poor speaking skills.
“Could it be that other people didn’t recognize your attitude? Beyond being confident, you took it for granted that you would win, and you showed those thoughts as they were. Any other time, the people involved in the sparring must have been very happy. Just by looking at you, you can feel that you are looking down on yourself.”
I said, and Aria twitched her body.
This is a slightly more explicit response.
She looked at me, looked down at her sword slightly, and then her lips licked.
“…… No… ….”
The words muttered with great effort were denial, but they did not contain any certainty.
You probably only vaguely realized it.
Even if she truly did not have such intentions, it may have felt like a great insult to the other person at the time.
The terrible truth that she learned from others must have brought quite a shock to Aria.
Except for his excessive confidence in his abilities, he has a very upright personality. It was clear that she was aware that she was sorry.
Of course I won’t quit.
“I knew right away that you were ignoring me before we started sparring, so what are you denying? Or can you say for certain? Even so, I never thought that he would be weaker than me or that I would win anyway.”
Aria’s expression began to sink even deeper at the few insignificant words I blurted out.
From noble mtl dot com
“…… That.”
As such, it was impossible for me not to feel the prickling of my conscience.
First of all, the fact that it was obvious that she was looking down on me means that, in other words, it is easy to see that the guilty expression she is making now is not a lie.
However, that made it impossible to choose the option of stopping.
If we stop now, it will only have a really small negative impact.
So it had no meaning at all. My purpose wasn’t simply to hurt Aria and be done with it.
If I was going to do it, I had to definitely finish it.
I continued speaking by making up as much of a ‘boyish expression and voice’ as I could think of.
“I don’t know if it’s so overwhelming that only such a person can understand it. That’s not the case anymore, is it? Is not it?”
Aria lifted her head weakly at the tone of ridicule. She said that she was still sparring, and although she did not let go of her sword, her spirit had already died.
I aimed my sword at her, trying to push her rising guilt to a corner.
“At least I hope you don’t go around showing off your arrogant attitude after losing to me, Miss Aria.”
“… ….”
And, silence.
I had said everything I wanted to say, and now it was time to end it appropriately.
If I had to point out one problem, would it be that Aria, who should have attacked me again around that time, listened to her provocations one by one, but showed no sign of her moving?
I hesitated for a moment due to the unexpected lack of response, but I couldn’t stop there.
“…… Hmm.”
I closed my eyes for the last time and tried to add just one more provocation.
“Looking at this, I guess the Sword Saint is not very good at succession education.”
“… ….”
Just to conclude.
The effect of that one word was incredible.
“What did you say just now?”
The fire that was gradually dying comes back to life. The whole process of putting on the aura and raising the sword took less than 3 seconds.
Quang!
This time, Aria rushed straight towards me, completely destroying half of the dirt floor.
…… But this guy’s eyes are a little tired, aren’t they?
*****
I don’t understand. No, I can’t accept it.
…… To be a little more honest.
I didn’t want to accept it.
Kaang! Kang! Kaaang!
Swing the sword. Straightly, top to bottom, diagonally. I used all kinds of methods to sharpen the blade…
All those attacks ended in vain.
How indifferently.
‘No.’
Aria muttered to herself.
This is a brief denial.
She couldn’t resist the provocation of insulting her grandfather and rushed forward, but before that, her mind was already overloaded.
I wanted to believe that wasn’t the case.
I tried my best not to accept the other person’s words. Even though she knew deep down that it was meaningless.
Quad deud deuk!
The flame contained in the sword was released. It was a powerful blow, and it was a sharp attack that could cut down dozens of monsters without reason.
Of course, it was no use.
I knew it though.
The black flame, which seemed to split the air and open its mouth like an anglerfish to burn everything in front, was devoured by an even larger anglerfish.
In other words, it is a thunderbolt.
It was a pure white thunderbolt that I had missed the direction of right in front of my eyes the other day, and had also seen striking without end two days ago.
How can such a violent energy exist?
The power of that thunderbolt was already ‘something’ that was far outside the category of energy, commonly called magic, such as aura or mana.
If you relax your concentration even for a moment, you can find yourself surrounded by quite a bit of tension.
The cause was none other than Dante’s brain power.
Aria gritted her teeth and raised her sword. From bottom to top, as if scooping up space itself.
Kwakagagak!!
With a tingling momentum, the aurors began to run wild without interruption.
Ferocious, or rough. The energy indicated by those types of adjectives generally refers to Aura. At least it had been that way until now, and Arya’s common sense had never once gone beyond that range.
To put it another way.
Now, for the first time, such a moment has come.
‘No…’ … !’
I’m confused.
Swinging her sword, Aria shouted in her heart.
No.
What Dante said is not true.
I didn’t want to think about it. She said she had always taken the same attitude that Dante showed just moments ago.
…… Isn’t it natural to not want to believe it?
However, to tell the truth, there was almost no way to deny it.
The moment you make the effort to deny that it is not so, you will already find yourself affirming a fact that cannot be ignored.
So it has no meaning.
Quarrr!
“…… !”
She instinctively retreated from the thunderbolt that struck her just in time, and at the same time, Aria bit her lip. I could feel the rich scent of her blood.
She realized it at that point.
And she admitted it.
‘…… Eww.’
Yes, that was it. Dante’s words were indeed not wrong.
She only heard the story once, and also recalled her own actions only once. That alone helped her realize the truth she had never realized before.
It was an incredibly bland intermediate process.
When she saw Dante, who didn’t seem to be serious about sparring, she realized that all the emotions she felt were the same as the others who dealt with her.
Aria lowered her head.
She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t raise her head.
She was embarrassed.
She was extremely embarrassed, and then-.
‘…… Also, what else was there to say?’
Ah, yes. It’s a shame. The expression ‘shameful’ was also worth adding. At least at this moment, there was no more appropriate expression to describe Aria’s feelings.
Why didn’t I realize it?
Why didn’t I know until now?
Isn’t she no different from Dante a moment ago? No, it was exactly the same as her routine.
More than just being embarrassed, I wanted to hide under the blanket right now.
And then he buried his head and muttered.
I thought, ‘Why did I do that?’
Her own actions, as Dante said, were right to show off her arrogance in an unsightly way.
‘Have I been treating others like that all along and not even noticing such topics?’
…… What a foolish guy. I wanted to at least wear a sign around my neck. A sign saying, ‘This child likes to point out other people’s flaws, but he has no idea that he is full of flaws himself.’
Wow!
Gritting her teeth, Aria shook off her thoughts in an instant. She realized too late that her thoughts had gone too far.
…… First of all, for now I’m just going to focus on sparring. That was the priority. Wouldn’t it be better to think about other issues later?
“…… Phew.”
Concentrate.
Concentrate.
After saying that just a couple of times, Aria lowered her posture and stretched out her legs.
Wow!
And she immediately spun wide while scraping her ground.
Tap!
“Oh.”
Dante’s body, caught by his leg, rose into the air for a moment. As expected, the technology was implemented without much difficulty.
Arya took a short breath and straightened her sword.
As expected, Dante is fundamentally a human being who is not good at fighting.
It was difficult to understand, but the hypothesis was correct anyway.
‘Now.’
Aria’s eyes flashed sharply, as if targeting her prey.
Put aside everything else and focus on this moment.
Just think about that.
At the very least, you shouldn’t do anything that might be disrespectful to your sparring partner!
Love love!
It split the air, tore open the void, and created a flame with the power to burn everything. She extends the sword straight and aims it at Dante.
I swung it immediately.
I will not look down on you this time. I will not let down my guard.
The opponent is strong.
Perhaps even more than yourself.
As I first thought, the power of that thunderbolt might be comparable to my grandfather’s sword.
So.
So… ….
Hopefully, this sword can reach the opponent.
If the power of a thunderbolt that encompasses the sky is your opponent, you can only oppose it with a flame that is thinner than that!
Quargorung!
“──Ah.”
Aria’s voice suddenly broke off and dispersed into the air.
It happened in an instant.
It was late to recognize it, though.
“… ….”
Even after recognizing the situation a little late, Aria was unable to get the right words out of her mouth.
Because such a shocking scene unfolded before her eyes, as if she had been struck by lightning in a metaphorical sense.
“…… Hmm.”
First of all, Dante was fine.
He withdrew his white-stained sword and made an embarrassed expression.
Rather than that, Aria focused her gaze a little further inward.
So, it was none other than the black sword she was holding.
Pajik, Pajijik… ….
The weakly flowing electric current shook the pitch-black blade little by little.
No metaphor this time, just literal.
A little while ago, a flash of light easily defeated Aria’s full-power sword strike. She couldn’t follow it with her eyes, but it was probably lightning.
If I were to give it a name, wouldn’t it be something like lightning?
…… Of course, the name of this amazing technology is not that important, but the result of such a lightning strike was truly problematic.
Jejeo, Jeojeo-
The identity of sound.
It was a crack.
Aria’s complexion turned pale in an instant.
“…… “Ah, ah, no!”
The urgent cry had no meaning.
Blah blah blah! Clang!
The crack that started in just a moment quickly grew in size and turned the brilliantly colored black sword into a handful of scrap metal fragments.
Clean damage.
Aria stared blankly at the scene for a moment, then suddenly collapsed helplessly. Dump! Do.
“… ….”
Let me briefly explain the origin of the black sword.
In her childhood, when Aria first picked up her wooden sword and began her training, the sword saint Reinhard secretly commissioned her to make it.
It was an invaluable gift from her grandfather, given to her when she realized her Auror status and her physical abilities had reached maturity.
Not to mention the affection she shared for many years, its symbolic meaning alone was significant, and I thought that it would protect her by her side until the day she completes her own sword form.
Such a beloved sword. No, a treasured sword.
“…… Ah… ….”
As she let out her exhausted voice, Aria suddenly thought about it.
Something, isn’t it too much?
The reason she was criticizing herself, the reason her attitude was not good, and the basis and logic of the criticism were so reasonable that she was unable to refute anything.
…… Before that, I thought about it, leaving aside all the principled things and thinking, this was too much.
Yes.
It was a little too much.
‘Do we have to go this far?’
Really? Was there a reason why it had to be this severe? Enough to shatter the sword like this?
…… Why?
‘I, myself, am not sure… ….’
It was just a moment. However, the emotions were intense, and the situational characteristics of losing the sword forever played a big role.
Aria burst into tears.
*****
“Why…. Why are you doing this? I would have understood it if I had just said it…. As you said, I now know that I was overconfident…. There’s no need to make me miserable like this, no….”
“… ….”
“You’re right…” . I’m a frog in a well, a kid who doesn’t know anything and is proud that he’s the best…. Yes, I, Na-neun, An Ha-muin…. You’re an idiot, a fool, an incompetent swordsman who can’t even protect his own sword…. Hi, but, you didn’t have to imprint it in this way…. Why speak ill of her grandfather… ? Why are you destroying the other person’s sword like this? Whoosh, whoa…… !”
With Aria in front of me, who was sitting on the dirt floor, crying and crying and screaming at the academy to leave, I couldn’t think of a better option than to keep her mouth shut.
Dante, the biggest crisis in Bing’s life.
Oop-
Oooh, he messed upppp