â¬The Critic for Balance suggests that maybe you will experience something unexpected if you jump off of the cliff that happens to be right next to you.â
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World shouts and tells everyone to stop making useless comments.â
I dragged myself off the ground and declared, "Okay... I'm done resting."
"Good. I like your grit."
"I need it considering how untalented I am."
"Do you mean that?"
It seemed that Agnes finally realized how serious I was. Staring at the intensity in my face for a while, she solemnly uttered, "This isn't going to work if you think that way, Cadet Ailette. Confidence bordering on arrogance is more useful than modesty when trying to reach the level of an aura master."
"What?"
Standing a short distance away, she jerked her chin up as seven aura blades instantly appeared behind her. I had to admit that the chin move she just did was cool in an obnoxiously smug way, so I decided to imitate her in case it somehow worked.
Um, nope, that didn't work.
I was basking in the awkwardness of twitching for no reason, when Agnes continued, "Each of the aura blades is like a division that's under your command. Would you want to follow the lead of a commander who wasn't confident?"
"No," I mumbled.
"Exactly. That is why you must picture your very own sword with the will to command, dominate, and rule."
Many thoughts crowded my mind.
Was I wrong to approach this with an envious attitude? I was curious, but I didn't have time to dig into the thought further because my mentor was already waiting for me, her swords drawn. I couldn't waste her time as a pupil, so I pulled out my beloved sword, feeling cheered by the bright and refreshing sound of scraping metal. This was when I was reminded of Agnes' comment about picturing my very own sword.
My sword, Serpens... The slanted side of the whip sword reflected a thin strip of my face, and looking into my own eyes strangely felt like I was exchanging glances with Serpens itself.
Taking a deep breath, I took my stance and exclaimed, "Here I come!"
I kicked off the ground the moment I shouted, flying through the air toward Agnes at greater speed than before as my body had gone through intensive training the past forty days. The nine steps between us quickly shortened, to eight, seven, six...
When there were only five steps left separating us, Agnes flung her aura blades in my direction. The swords spun as they charged toward me, the movement creating a frightening splitting noise. One of them flew past my eyes, which signaled the start of the rest attacking me in every imaginable direction.
I unleashed my intuition and felt each of the aura blades with my heightened senses as they approached. I could detect all of them, but the issue was whether I could physically block so many at once. I didn't summon Europa this time, for wielding two swords was not the solution to fending off seven. Instead, I thought of them as seven different enemies.
When you're short on weapons, make up for it with speed. My ankle carried the momentum of a smooth spin and I began taking calculated steps, wielding my body on the peak of the mountain as if I was dancing at a banquet instead of parrying weapons in a fight.
I'd activated Dance of Carnage, a mobility skill that was useful when making my way into the territory of an enemy.
"Excellent."
I moved swiftly, dancing to dodge and block the aura blades, surrounding myself with glistening swords and sparks.
Swish!
The terrifying sound of splitting air cracked in my ear. It was from an attack I managed to dodge, but still grazed me with a sharp gust of wind. I could feel veins popping up on my left cheek, but I ignored it and charged forward. I was finally close enough to challenge Agnes when the swords she wielded suddenly changed direction.
White aura blades surrounded me and then buried themselves point-first into the ground. The blades stretched up toward the sky, confining me in what looked like a cone-shaped cage. I sensed an upcoming explosion, which meant I had no choice but to use divine power at this stage.
"Divine Inviolability!"
At that moment, an explosion of aura engulfed the peak of the mountain. The ground rumbled and shook, the surface crumbling into a crater as several trees were uprooted and flung away.
That was an unbelievable amount of aura! I didn't have enough strength to keep my feet in place against the force of the aftershock, so I let the wind take me a few steps back. Then I resumed my attack from a distance. I infused aura into the flat surface of Serpens, which stretched the blade into a graceful curve. The weapon flung out toward Agnes' neck like a serpent ready to devour its prey.
"I think you're forgetting who taught you your sword skills, Ailette."
Agnes could read the direction and force of my move by the slightest movement of my wrist. The worst part was that my attacks were made from a distance, which gave her plenty of time to react. Seeing how Agnes' aura blades easily blocked Serpens, I quickly retracted my weapon and rescued it from twitching around like a trapped snake.
"Whew..."
I was collecting my breath and planning my next move, when Agnes spoke.
"Now, I believe it's my turn."
Agnes' violet eyes glinted coldly, as if she was excited to show me the blatant gap in our power. It seemed that the real battle had only just begun.
I prepared myself for what was to come, holding Serpens with both my hands. The aura blades that had been scattered in all directions reacted instantly to Agnes' calling, lining up behind her then stretching into a long curve in unison, transforming faithfully into their whip form as they started to slice at their surroundings.
"Ugh!"
It felt as if seven tails of a beast were attacking me from all directions, the tremendous force destroying nearby trees and boulders. I corrected myself for thinking I could block her directly and bolted through the vast plain to avoid her as if I was running away. I ducked one blade, skidded to a stop to dodge another, then pivoted in place and leapt in the opposite direction to avoid two more.
That was when another aura blade shifted to form a curve and then came crashing toward my shoulder. It was impossible to evade this time, so I raised Serpens instead.
Clang!
"Wow, I didn't expect you to block that."
I'd successfully twisted the trajectory of the attack, but the aura blade took its time to glide against the full length of Serpens, resulting in my inability to move during this elongated block.
No!
And the next moment...
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
I felt a heavy blow on my back as a pocket of blood gurgled up my throat.
â¬The Voice that Shapes the World instantly stands up.â
â¬The Architect of the Skyscraper of Suffering makes [The Voice that Shapes the World] sit back down.â
I was lucky that the damage wasn't more severe due to the protection of Divine Inviolability. Agnes didn't launch another attack and drew back her weapons, which gave me time to heal myself.
"Hmm... You should realize by now..."
She spoke casually, musing to herself without providing any clue to what she meant. I might have pressed for information, but the horizontally floating aura blades reminded me not to talk back as they were prepped and ready to come flying toward me at any moment. The long days of training allowed me to intuitively understand that I couldn't outrun them, so I clenched my teeth and called forth a method that would protect me.
"Divine Inviolability. Siege Barrier."
I cloaked myself beneath my defense skills again as seven aura blades took turns hurling themselves at me. The repetitive attacks broke down the barrier and created an opening,
which the aura blade cleverly attempted to enter through to strike my body.
"Ugh!"
That didn't mean I was willing to take the hit, so I somersaulted backward in the air by using my free hand to push off from the ground.
Boom! Wham! Boom!
The aura blades wedged into the ground and exploded one after the other, attacks I avoided by continuously hopping backward before I came to a stop. Agnes still had an aura blade remaining, but she didn't immediately use it.
Crumble.
I heard the sound of rocks crashing down from a height as the ground beneath my feet trembled. Glancing back, I found that there was nothing but empty space behind me. Somehow, once again, I was standing precariously on a cliff. I gnawed at the inside of my cheek in exasperation.
How many times has this happened already? This is how things were the whole timeâI continued to get pushed to the edge of the mountainside by Agnes' unrelenting attacks.
"Ugh..."
The helplessness I felt as each duel came to an end with my defeat weighed heavily upon me as I watched Agnes retrieve her aura blades.
"You were right to dodge the blades rather than try to block them. Inertial movement isn't going to work when fighting an aura master. Now, draw your sword."
Draw my sword... I knew she wasn't referring to Serpens.
But I don't know how to draw an aura blade. I was angry and frustrated.
Why can't I do it? How am I supposed to form them? Low self-esteem was about to consume me, when I took a deep breath and pulled myself together again.
Agnes told me to be arrogant, right?
I noticed Agnes slowly preparing for the same attack again. Her voice calmly instructed, "Draw forth your aura, Ailette. Picture the sword within you."
All of her aura blades pointed their tips at me, ready to strike, so I took just a moment to close my eyes and center my thoughts.
Picture the sword... Control it, dominate it... That was when a thought entered my mind.
A sword? It felt wrong, as if there was something lacking in the word. A blacksmith made swords, but I was a swordswoman. That meant the thing I had to picture, conduct, and dominate wasn't simply the weapon but...
Swordsmanship. I have to own the swordsmanship of the whip sword. I needed to ask myself, what is the swordsmanship of the whip sword within me?
"Oh."
I subconsciously opened my eyes. A strong gust of wind blew against my face as I took in the seven aura swords that were racing toward me. The whirlwinds created by the swords struck me first, but I kept my eyes open in order to capture every graceful arc and line drawn by the aura blades as they moved. My body had forgotten how to react.
"Ailette?"
Agnes' confused voice rang in my ears, but it was as if I couldn't truly hear her. My mind was solely focused on a single thought.
What is whip sword swordsmanship to me? Fundamentally, at the core, it's... to feast.
Boom!
The bright flash of an explosion was followed by a thunderous noise as seven aura blades that stabbed into one location shook the ground. The dusty air took a while to settle, revealing me to be in a perfectly unharmed state despite the fact that I just took Agnes' attack head on. I raised my head and looked around, noticing that two aura blades were circling around me like loyal soldiers awaiting my command.
"Wow..."
It felt like I'd just woken from a deep slumber. A sense of reality was just beginning to return when Agnes clarified the situation for me.
"Congratulations, Ailette."
The message window refreshed at incredible speed as the gods of the Transmigration Bureau showered me with their blessings.