35 – Wants

The mana wrapped around Sir Lucas' sword emanated a power that was unusual to see. The sword had a cold chill that stung as he charged.

Like a snowstorm in the middle of winter.

- Caang!

In the moment of the clash, I felt cold coursing through my gauntlet. Apparently, the nickname 'Winter Knight' was given to him according to the nature of his mana. 

'Mana embracing the cold chill.'

Come to think of it, I've heard that there were people born in the north who were born blessed with winter and awakened mana with chilliness, and Sir Lucas seemed to inherit such a lineage.

But that cold did not make my body sluggish. Because I drove away his mana through my mana flowing in the gauntlet.

What followed was a clash between steel gauntlets and a sharp sword.

The sound of steel clashing with steel resonated, and attacks aiming at each other dwelt with each step. When I took half a step back, Sir Lucas' swung his sword cover in frosty mana and aimed at my neck.

It was not good to withdraw like this when the gap should be closed. I immediately crouched down and took another step forward to approach him. The condition for martial arts to be advantageous was when you were closest to your opponent.

At least I had to interfere so that Sir Lucas’ sword could not be freed.

Sir Lucas was also not comfortable. As I tried to approach him, he crouched and positioned himself to strike at me.

And the moment he approached me, I caught his every action.

It wasn’t hard to figure out the path of his attack because I could see where his muscles, his arms, and he himself were going.

What Sir Lucas was aiming for was my right collarbone. It was the place where he could hit the hardest because I was in a relatively low position.

Unlike my father’s swordsmanship, which could not be blocked even if it was seen, for Sir Lucas’ sword, I was able to respond immediately the moment I saw it.

Twisting my upper body, I dodged his sword. However, this could not be seen as completely dodging his attack.

He also went through countless battles.

Of course, it must have been a sword attack made with the assumption that I could avoid it.

As I expected, the blade of the sword that struck me was twisted in an instant and aimed at my upper body.

It was proof of his skill and strength. It took a lot of skill and strength to change the direction of the sword that was already outstretched.

Just as he wasn’t easygoing, I wasn’t lax enough to fall under the expected attack. So I immediately hit Lucas’ sword blade with my right fist.

-Bangg!

The moment mana collided with mana, a shockwave erupted and his sword rose high

However, he was not taken aback and immediately tried to straighten his stance, but it took a while to recover, probably because of the shock of the sword bouncing off.

I took a step towards the gap and finally succeeded in getting him into my range.

-Kqwanggg!

As I punched his armor without hesitation, a violent thump was heard and he staggered back.

I could have followed immediately and attacked him, but I didn’t. Because I knew this wasn't the time.

He must be a skilled knight, and if I had caught up with him in my spirit, I would have been struck by his sword right away.

Basically, the moment I had to be most careful in dealing with such knights was the moment I was sure the opponent was hit by my attack.

He regained his stance fairly quickly despite being punched by me. Also. If I clung to him without thinking, I would have been knocked out by his counterattack.

“You are quite good.”

As if being hit by me was getting on his nerves, his mood suddenly changed.

As expected, there was no way a knight who was said to be the strongest in the north would fall so easily.

-Saaaaaa!

The mana that covered his sword gradually started to freeze like frost with a horrifying sound. And that was not all. The momentum of his body was on a different level than before.

The surface of his armor was covered in frost, and the cold air emanating from his body reached as far as I was.

And finally, he stepped forward.

- Quaang!

The ground cracked with an explosion, and in an instant, his body appeared in front of my eyes.

Fortunately, my eyes caught his movements, so I was able to momentarily raise my arm to block his sword strike, but my body bounced away.

The strong impact shook my body belatedly, and cold air from his sword began to raise up my arms.

“Did you stop this too? That’s ridiculous.”

He laughed out loud.

“Let's stop here. Wasn’t it okay because we exchanged blows with each other once? What’s more, the coldness that penetrated your arms… … Wouldn't that be quite painful? At this point, the limit has been reached, so let’s stop.”

But then, Sir Lucas said something funny.

'Let’s just end it like this?'

'Nonsense'

Sir Lucas thought that at this point I would readily admit defeat. It means that he had measured my limits infinitely low.

'Who wants that?'

“No.”

“What?”

“Let's fight. It’s not over yet. Can you really call this a test?”

I had not lost yet, and I had not proven my qualifications yet. How could I prove my qualifications with just one exchange?

'The cold has penetrated your arm. Let’s stop?' What does that matter? I wrapped mana around my body to drive away the cold.

“Hmm.”

He looked at me with an interest and soon showed the same aggressive ferocity as before.

The frost on the sword became even clearer, and a blizzard began to blow around him.

“I like this. Yes. I didn’t take your test for it to just end like this.”

I also raised my mana, strengthened my will, and burned my intense fighting spirit.

The strongest knight in the north?

Even if I am weak in my current life, I had a record of being at peak in the terrible world I lived in my previous life.

It was unacceptable to be trivial in a place like this.

I opened my eyes straight. My eyes, which were incomparable to any other abilities that existed in my previous life, opened right away to face the world.

All of the opponent’s information was captured by them, and even the flow of mana swirling around Sir Lucas began to come into my view. Time passed slowly as if distorted.

In it, I awakened a sense of complete control over my body like in my previous life. I recalled how the body and mana, which had already reached completion, moved and what kind of power they exerted.

That alone was a considerable load on the body.

Judging from the fact that I felt the pressure on my muscles and bones right away, I wouldn't be able to maintain this state for very long.

However, it would be enough to defeat Sir Lucas at least once.

I set my posture and moved. In an instant, the scenery around me changed. Before I knew it, I saw Sir Lucas’ embarrassed face in front of me.

He convulsively stretched out his frost-encrusted sword, but I dodged the sword strike with one simple movement, and in the end, his sword cut through the air without reaching me.

The moment the sword strike failed to reach me, a clear gap was revealed in his body.

In the meantime, I slammed a mighty punch into his armor.

- Kwaaang!

In an instant, his body bounced off into the distance, shattering the gauntlets mounted on my fists. Through the flying debris, I could see Sir Lucas’ terribly strewn figure.

And...

All the knights around me who had been dissatisfied with me fell into silence.

It was a truly refreshing moment.

My body ached as if it would break at any moment.

Collapsing out on the floor of the cold gymnasium, I smiled heartily.

* * *

[Johannes's POV]

Johannes could not believe what had just happened.

Lucas... After experiencing numerous battles with monsters, he survived and was now a knight representing Rodenov.

He was at least a knight worthy of discussing the qualifications of being a Sword Saint within a few years.

But such a knight was defeated by a young man who was only about 20 years old? No one would believe that.

No, on the contrary, they would be angry at him for deceiving them.

But the unbelievable happened right in front of his eyes.

Johannes was not a knight, but a magician.

And because he was a member of the Rodenovs who inherited dragon blood, he was able to recognize what had just happened inside Physis.

‘In an instant, he freely controlled the power that far exceeded his limits. It must be the aftermath why he has now collapsed. but… … does this make sense? No, in the first place, how can he handle the power that goes beyond his limits?’

A limit was a line set for human beings. That was why most people recognize their ability within the set line, and live with it.

'Only within your own line.'

No, in the first place, many people did not even clearly identify their limits. And always just struggled with it.

Occasionally, there were some stories of far-off genius who exceed their limits but there was no case of momentarily exceeding the limit.

Also, even such people could not freely handle the power beyond their limits in the end.

'But… …what the hell is this young man.'

'How can he clearly recognize his limits and freely handle the power beyond those limits?'

Everything was full of confusion, but even Johannes knew one thing.

That his daughter’s fiancé, whom he thought was just an idiot, was actually an incomprehensible genius who exceeded everyone's expectations.

“Hahahahahaha...”

Truly, he laughed out of embarrassment.

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