110 – The Trial of Nothingness – 41
“….Is this the test site? What’s so simple?”
From noble mtl dot com
As my vision became clearer, the surrounding scenery came into my eyes.
It’s not a landscape of mountains covered with snow, but a gymnasium filled with sand that smells like men’s sweat.
It was a place worthy of the name of the trial of nothingness.
[The trial of nothingness begins.]
[During the Trial of Nothingness, you cannot use unique abilities or magic. Passive abilities are available.]
“Welcome to the system.”
As expected, the system window appeared in front of me.
Since Mars, the examiner, is in reality, the system takes over that role.
Geeing-!
After waiting for a while, mana began to gather in the center of the gymnasium and created a shape.
“…What?”
The shape was a scarecrow in the form of an ordinary adult male.
No, it would be more accurate to call it a statue rather than a scarecrow. There will be no scarecrows made of black iron in the world, that is, black iron.
[Attack following the sword marks of the black iron doll.]
[If there is any discrepancy, the test will be disqualified.]
[Timeout 00:00:10]
The time limit is 10 seconds, and it is a very clever kind of test that will end without any help if you panic even a little.
“Ohhh…”
However, compared to the infinitely tight time limit, I was very relaxed.
If a third person saw it, it would look like they just went for a walk in the park in front of their house.
“But where are the sword scars…”
At the point when the time limit was about 8 seconds left, blue lines began to form in every corner of the black iron doll’s body.
Dozens, no, hundreds of solid blue lines. It seems that this solid line is the sword mark that the system said.
By the way, we still have 6 seconds left?
“The difficulty is f*cking right.”
You must swing your sword along hundreds of traces within 6 seconds. And that too without any error.
If it had been me a month ago, I would have been eliminated without even trying my hand at it.
But…
“Still, it’s not to the point where I can’t pass, so what…”
Sug…..
I took a light stance with the iron sword in my hand that had grown on my waist before I knew it.
[Time remaining 00:00:04]
Suddenly!
1 Hit.
The number of sword strikes I inflicted on the black iron doll.
What are you doing when it’s not enough even after hundreds of sword strikes?
‘This test wasn’t originally made to swing the sword hundreds of times.’
Think about it.
Do you think it would be possible to perform hundreds of sword strikes in 8 seconds if you consider the normal 10 seconds, or even the time for the sword marks to appear?
There’s no way that’s possible. A monster the size of Mars would be possible, but I’m not that monster.
-One of the basics of swordsmanship is that you need to know how to continue your swordsmanship as if you had swung your sword several times even with just one strike.
-Continue the sword attack?
-Yes, after swinging the sword once, it takes a long time to correct your posture and aim for the next stroke. It may not matter to masters like me who have reached the level of unifying new swords, but for guys like you who are just starting to wield a sword for the first time, this is a very important part.
-Then what should I do?
-Simple. If it takes a long time to get back into position, why don’t you just do it again?
-…..? f*ck.
To carry on the sword strike. It sounds very difficult in words, but after practicing for a day or two, I realized that the difficulty was not as high as I thought.
Precisely, it was easy against a standing object or person.
It is a method that has no choice against those who use combat while moving quickly. Are you going to carry on the sword? A warrior who knows how to use a different sword would rather aim for that gap.
But.
“You are not moving.”
[Time remaining 00:00:01]
[You have passed the test.]
[The next exam begins.]
“That’s f*cking unkind.”
The magic test I took last time was kind, even though it took a lot of time…
‘It wouldn’t mean much if I mumbled.’
Let’s just shut up and finish the exam quickly. After living in a beggar-like place for a month, I already missed civilization.
As soon as we go down to Boreas, we have to eat first….
[Start the test ‘Tomb of the Sword.]
[The battle with 100 warriors begins.]
[The battle with the first warrior ‘Baldu’ will begin soon. Prepare for battle.]
“Is this a tournament?”
A battle with 100 warriors….. To be honest, it’s f*cking annoying.
Can’t we just have 100 people appear at once? Even if it is processed at a rate of 1 minute per person, it is 100 minutes. It’s not a very long time, but it’s not a short time either.
[The Gladiator Baldu appears.]
“aaa! Who is my enemy…”
Suddenly!
“Next.”
[The battle with the second warrior ‘Egol’ will begin soon. Prepare for battle.]
First of all, it takes one second to catch the first guy.
But due to the nature of this dirty test, it is certain that the difficulty will increase as you go.
That’s why the early ones should be finished as quickly as possible. If you’re stumped here, isn’t there a reason you struggled for a month?
“Hmm, nice to meet you, former knight Egol…”
Suddenly!
“Next. Give it up quickly.”
The average skill level of a guy who has a head or an erection and a guy who is a skeleton or an egol is about level 60. It’s annoying to remember, so I decided to just forget it.
[The battle with the third warrior ‘Azil’ will begin soon. Prepare for battle.]
“Nice to meet you, I…”
“He’s the guy I’ll be looking for soon.”
Suddenly!
“Nice to meet you, I…”
“I’m not interested.”
Suddenly!
“Nice to meet you, I…”
“I’m not interested.”
[The battle with the sixty-seventh warrior ‘Brak’ will begin soon.]
“Nice to meet you. I am…”
“Yes.”
Ting-!
“Oh?”
“A surprise attack while you’re saying hello… don’t you have any pride as a warrior?!”
Brak the Sixty Seventh Warrior. This guy was the first to block my attack.
He’s starting to get kind of boring to be honest, but now the real one is starting to come out.
“It’s been 67 times.”
“What?”
“You blocked my attack in 67 times.”
Suddenly!
[The battle with the 68th warrior ‘Alzes’ will begin soon.]
I can’t block the second attack.
Still, it is a great development. Didn’t I knock it down with twice as much effort as before? Even if it’s just this much, you should applaud it.
“…..”
“Aren’t you saying hello?”
The 68th Warrior, Alzes.
A black cloth that covers the mouth with a black mask and is comfortable to move around secretly at night. He looks more like an assassin than a warrior.
So… You’re going to ambush like an assassin?
“…Die!!”
“It’s beyond my expectations…”
Ting-!
I lightly let go of the dagger Alzes wielded and pushed him away with my sword face.
Then, Alzes uselessly backtumbled several times and returned to his original position.
Honestly, he seems like a f*cking idiot, but he seems serious, so please understand.
“Whoa…That’s amazing. To block my surprise attack…”
“You say you are a warrior, but your fighting style is no different from that of a rat?”
“If you only know how to handle a sword, that is a warrior. Is there anything else?”
…Is that right..?
That’s right, if you only know how to use a sword, it’s a warrior.
“I’ve trained only one dagger for decades. No one in this world wields a dagger better than me…”
“Oh, that’s a lot to say.”
Ting-!
As expected, this attack was easily blocked unexpectedly. If my predictions are correct, Alzes seems to have a strength around the low 80s.
The 68th warrior, that would mean that there are still about 32 warriors stronger than Alsace left on top…
‘…I shouldn’t take it lightly.’
It’s not yet at the level where you feel a threat to your life, but once you get past the level of the 80th warrior, a single mistake will turn into a huge fatal wound.
“The other warriors ignored the dagger, I killed them all. The dagger is the most perfect weapon…!”
“Tch, I have no choice but to take it out soon.”
Ignoring Alzes, who started raving about something to himself, I straightened up again.
I learned a lot while learning the sword from Mars for a month.
Then one question here, what swordsmanship did Mars teach me?
Usually, when you look at martial arts novels, there are several swordsmanships, such as the volcano sword method and the heart Jae sword method. At first, I thought, of course, I would tell you one of these things…
-What swordsmanship? Alas, little boy. Swordsmanship is an activity that is only allowed for warriors who have held a sword for at least 10 years. Let’s say I touched you.
-…? So how are you going to teach swordsmanship?
-I told you, you have to start with the very basics.
-What is that basic thing…?
-What is it? Stab, vertical cut, horizontal cut you bastard.
Three-step combo of thrusting, vertical cutting, and horizontal cutting that children who hold a sword for the first time learn first.
For the past month, Mars has been teaching me the sword, focusing on these things.
-New warriors who don’t know anything often ignore these 3 moves. But in reality it is different. If wielded by someone who can feel the flow of the sword, it can pierce mountains with light stabs, sever towers with vertical slashes, and slice through entire trees in the forest with horizontal slashes.
-…Isn’t that too simplistic a generalization? With that said, even the lowest level of magic can topple a mountain if done well, right?
From noble mtl dot com
-That’s the difference between magic and a sword. Unlike magic, which has a clear limit no matter how powerful it becomes, a sword can produce the power of the highest level magic from the lowest level magic simply with a sharp sword.
Mars grips the sword. He poses and wield
Just 3 actions. It is a very simple form of swordsmanship, different from the flashy swordsmanships that require numerous rituals.
But…
Kwagagagagagagagang-!!!!
-…f*ck.
-Have you seen it? This is a horizontal cut.
As Mars swung his sword horizontally, a mountain peak that had been pouring high in the distance disappeared.
The peak of the mountain, which seemed unlikely to budge even after being driven dozens of times with top-notch magic, was split in a single blow…
-From now on, you will learn this for a month.
“Poke.”
Uh-!
Pow-!
Holding the sword straight, I gathered tremendous strength in my right foot, which served as a support. Then, a small crater was formed on the floor of the gymnasium, and the sword crashed into Alzes’s head at a speed that exceeded the speed of sound, resulting in an explosion.
Alges didn’t even recognize that he was dead and died because his head was cut off.
“Next.”
I’ll do it again.