“…You think that’s possible?”
Ares growled in a hardened voice at my outrageous statement.
It was only natural for him to think I was joking.
The fact that I had mastered Sword Lacquer in one go was probably beyond his comprehension.
And yet.
On top of that, I had the audacity to guarantee that I could even demonstrate Fighting Spirit.
Of course, he was pissed.
But I wasn't joking, not in the slightest.
I really felt like I could replicate it if Ares showed me his Fighting Spirit just once.
What is Fighting Spirit?
It's the manifestation of one's will, based on the intent to kill and crush the opponent.
In a way, it could be described as the ability to mold abstract emotions into a tangible form, bringing them into reality.
No matter how extraordinary my physical talents were, this wasn't something I could learn.
‘…If it were related to mana or technique, I could have managed it somehow with my physical abilities…’
But I couldn’t just manipulate the psychological aspects at will.
That's why, unlike Sword Lacquer, I couldn't get a grasp on it and kept going in circles.
However, why was it that…?
If I could just see Ares's Fighting Spirit, a feeling that I could use it, a thrill, washed over me.
That’s why I asked him.
To unleash his Fighting Spirit right before my eyes.
‘If there was any other student around who could use Fighting Spirit, I would have asked them…’
In Sytan, only the instructors and one other student could use Fighting Spirit.
Among the first-year instructors, Ares was the only one.
And among the students, only Baltan could.
But if I were to spar with him, I would be severely injured.
Ares was the only one who could control his strength.
That’s why I was pushing it, asking Ares for this favor.
“Come on, show me.”
I gestured to a dumbfounded Ares with my chin.
Perhaps my demeanor seemed arrogant, as the veins on Ares's forehead throbbed once more.
…I decided to play dumb for now.
It wasn’t like I was trying to bother Ares on purpose.
I was asking because I was confident that I could actually use it.
The thought that fighting with just Sword Lacquer wouldn’t be efficient, no matter how much I increased my mana capacity, was slowly creeping in.
Furthermore, the advantage of Fighting Spirit wasn’t just its sheer power.
It was the fact that,
‘It doesn’t consume mana.’
A technique that could be unleashed without mana.
That was Fighting Spirit.
It wasn’t about generating powerful force using mana like Sword Lacquer, but rather embodying the determination to kill the opponent.
It demanded only the consumption of a kind of ‘mental strength.’
That's why, even though I referred to Fighting Spirit as the next level after Sword Lacquer, I distinguished them as separate realms.
Because it didn’t use the most crucial element, mana.
…Come to think of it, could there be a more broken ability than this?
What was I thinking when I wrote about such an ability back then?
Anyway,
“Are you going to show me, or are you just going to talk? I'm starting to get bored.”
“…Fine. But don’t regret it, you brought this upon yourself.”
As I lightly provoked Ares, he reacted immediately.
Well, it wasn’t like I couldn't understand why he was stalling.
It was a dangerous power as much as it was strong, so he was probably judging whether I could handle it.
Fighting Spirit was the culmination of willpower, so it couldn’t be easily extinguished like Sword Lacquer.
At least, not before it was released.
The mere act of activating Fighting Spirit could cause collateral damage.
So, Ares…
He must have thought I could handle his Fighting Spirit.
Or maybe he was planning to teach me a lesson this time.
But Ares's psychology didn’t matter in this situation.
*Rumble…*
Because the space around Ares’s sword began to distort as he lowered his stance.
That was the manifestation of Fighting Spirit.
Ares compressed his intangible will, the intent to kill me, onto his sword, distorting the space around it.
“Witness it, the Fighting Spirit of this instructor.”
Ares, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly with both hands, uttered those chilling words with bloodshot eyes.
Taken aback, I took a step back and muttered,
“…You could just show me…”
“Now that it’s unleashed, that’s impossible. You better be ready to lose a limb or two.”
“…”
He wasn’t wrong, so I shut my mouth and replayed the manifestation of Fighting Spirit that Ares had shown me.
Finally.
My judgment was made.
I figured out the probability of unleashing my own Fighting Spirit right now.
And that probability was…
Infinitely close to ‘0’.
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ReplyDeleteThank for the chapter.
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