Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 18: White Night Castle of Hell (4)

As the command to start the duel between Theon and Harang fell, the trainees took a step back, widening the distance.

“Swish!” Theon’s wooden sword exploded towards Harang, not giving him a moment to rest.

“Thud!” Harang barely managed to block it, retreating backward.

For the first time across the total of five duels, Harang was in a defensive stance, being pushed back.

His arm muscles were already a mess from lifting and throwing the rock earlier, and his lung capacity had long since been depleted from facing five trainees.

With his body in such a poor state, it was impossible for him to perform the Full Moon Strike he showcased during the Kaladan Proving Ceremony or to use the Crescent Moon Step to toy with his opponent.

On the other hand, Theon, although not yet adept in special techniques, was in a situation where he could freely unleash his swordsmanship!

“Thud!”

When Theon deliberately struck Harang’s wooden sword high, Harang’s weakened arms were raised high.

‘An opening!’

Theon’s strategy of exploiting his opponent’s weakened state! He aimed to thrust his sword at Harang’s completely unguarded abdomen, but a chilling feeling made him instinctively raise his wooden sword above his head.

“Thud…!!”

Harang’s wooden sword fell with a weight that belied his apparent exhaustion. If Theon had been even slightly late in defending, he might have been knocked out in one strike!

‘How, how is this possible…?’

Theon was greatly perplexed.

He had deliberately induced a power struggle, thinking his opponent was completely exhausted, and successfully created an opening. Yet, to counterattack in such a situation?

Unfortunately, Theon did not realize that exploiting the situation created by a difference in muscle strength was not unique to him.

He didn’t realize that his opponent was a psychological warfare specialist who manipulated and controlled information given to the opponent.

Theon had no idea.

‘What is this? Why are there no openings? No, there are openings, but… it’s impossible to exploit them.’

Despite his state being more advantageous, Theon could not completely dominate Harang.

Every time he concentrated on defense without leaving any openings, the moment he thought he could exploit a weakness, he was counterattacked.

After experiencing this three times in a row, he could no longer rashly swing his sword even when he saw an opening. After three consecutive chilling experiences at his nape, he was unknowingly paralyzed with fear.

‘Am I scared? No way, that can’t be!’

His opponent was just a weakened seven-year-old kid!

‘I’ll intentionally create an opening next time, and this time I’ll really strike.’

Even if Harang’s sword hit him, it wouldn’t cause significant damage. How painful could the attack be from a kid who was barely holding a wooden sword?

He lightly stepped towards Harang, but Harang could no longer react nimbly. He barely lifted his wooden sword to deflect Theon’s strike, but it was only deflected diagonally.

Theon intentionally added more weight to his sword. Seeing that Harang didn’t even have the strength to retreat, he planned to crush him with sheer weight.

‘He’ll probably try to remove his sword.’

The boy had repeatedly avoided power struggles, deftly extracting his sword to ghostly strike at vital points.

Having been caught three times, he had no intention of falling for the same trick again.

Swoosh!

Feeling Harang’s wooden sword slipping away like an eel, Theon’s eyes gleamed.

‘Now!’

Before his opponent could slide his sword to strike at his vital point, Theon planned to continue his swing to strike at Harang’s neck! He poured all his strength into the swing.

“Ah!”

As if something was pulling his wooden sword, it grazed past Harang’s neck and cut through the air.

Harang had not removed his sword but had deflected Theon’s attack diagonally!

‘Damn…!’

This was a disaster. Exposing such a huge opening again. He hurriedly tried to retrieve his wooden sword to block the anticipated strike.

“……?”

But the attack didn’t come.

Harang’s arm muscles had already reached their limit, leaving him with no strength to counterattack.

He was barely holding onto his wooden sword, trembling to prevent it from falling.

‘Did I… win?’

Despite the thought crossing his mind, Theon’s wooden sword moved decisively. If Harang had swung his sword even once more,

It would have ended in Theon’s defeat.

Feeling a chilling sense, Theon aimed for Harang’s head…

“Alright, the ranking match is over! Exactly one hour has passed!”

Stop!

The wooden sword halted just above Harang’s head. Neither Harang blocked it, nor Theon stopped it voluntarily.

‘When did this happen…!’

An instructor, who had approached unnoticed, was holding Theon’s wooden sword with his bare hands.

“Damn!”

Just a bit more, really just a bit more and he could have won! He tried to forcefully strike Harang’s head, but…

“A victory obtained by force cannot be claimed and will only leave a bitter taste, trainee.”

The instructor’s words pierced Theon’s heart, and he had to lower his wooden sword, releasing his strength.

The result was a draw due to the time limit. However, Theon could not shake off the deep-seated feeling of defeat.

His opponent was exhausted, while he was in perfect condition.

Why couldn’t he win?

“Sigh.”

Thud!

While Theon was absent-mindedly lowering his wooden sword, Harang, who had finally endured for an hour, lay flat on the ground with a grin.

[Quest Success! As a reward, you acquire the power of the Silver Dragon Contractor…]

Messages kept popping up, but he couldn’t afford to look at them. Cheren had rushed over with a worried expression, unsure of what to do, flitting around.

Seeing her looking quite like a cute younger sister, Harang chuckled and said.

“If you’re grateful, get me a water bottle. I’m dying of thirst.”

“Oh, uh, okay!”

Normally, Cheren would have coldly ignored him, but she moved quickly, almost reflexively, to find a water bottle. She was deeply grateful to Harang beyond measure.

As Harang unintentionally sent Cheren off to fetch water, he turned to look at Lauren Chaygan.

Lauren gave him a big smile and a thumbs-up.

“You won, successor boy. Not bad. You make teaching worthwhile.”

He acknowledged Harang’s determination.

Simply being strong was not enough to perform the feats that Harang did.

What was needed in that situation was perseverance and determination.

In that regard, Harang had already sufficiently met Lauren’s approval.

“There’s nothing more I need to teach you in terms of mental education. I declare that trainee Harang has completed basic training. From now on, you are exempt from all basic training. Until the next phase of training begins, you can do whatever you like during training hours.”

After dropping this bombshell, Lauren instructed the instructors to rank the trainees and then left.

“E-exempt?”

“Completed basic training in just one day?”

“Does that mean he won’t have to go through the rest of that hellish training?”

The senior trainees couldn’t believe it.

Someone clenched their fists and ground their teeth. They couldn’t accept the existence of a seven-year-old boy who had passed in one day what they had struggled through for months to a year.

Some felt jealousy, some felt determination, some were indifferent, some felt competitiveness, and some felt curiosity.

But one thing was certain.

‘This is going to be interesting.’

Harang smiled broadly, knowing his life at the training camp would be quite enjoyable.

—

People often said that the Immortal Valley was a place floating above the sky, beyond the clouds.

They were wrong.

While floating fortresses and heavenly palaces did exist, there was no reason for the immortals to settle above the clouds.

Since their goal was to ascend as spiritual beings, it made more sense to stay in nature.

In this place, social status and strength meant nothing.

No matter how skilled a 10-star martial artist was, those who reached enlightenment without learning any martial arts were more admired.

For this reason, there wasn’t a single person in the Immortal Valley who revered Duke Kalel Paul Kaladan as the Great Sword Saint and the lord of the Kaladan family.

He was just a master who played Go well and wielded a sword somewhat proficiently.

Shhh…!!

At the intersection of two cascading waterfalls, Kalel Paul Kaladan, dressed in white martial robes, sat with his eyes closed, palms facing the sky on his knees. A famed sword floated above his palms.

He was recalling the special technique his ‘youngest grandson’ had displayed at the Proving Ceremony.

‘Kaladan Swordsmanship First Technique, Full Moon Slash.’

When he saw his youngest grandson desperately using all his strength to cut down his enemy.

What was the first thought that came to mind?

It was, ‘When was the last time I was that desperate?’

A warrior grows stronger by overcoming crisis situations and engaging in life-and-death battles. Duke Kalel Paul Kaladan had also honed his swordsmanship through countless real battles, reaching his current state.

At some point, he realized the pinnacle of swordsmanship was… gentleness. With a simple swing, mountains could be cleaved, and seas could be parted.

Naturally, he grew distant from the desperation of exerting all his strength, and it had been a long time since he faced an opponent he needed to fight desperately.

‘I had forgotten.’

The intense look in the eyes as one burns their body and soul, fighting against a stronger opponent without giving up, and gathering all their strength for a powerful strike…

It was a new shock for Duke Kalel, who had long forgotten what it meant to be ‘weak.’

‘A desperate strike.’

Wooong!!

The real sword floating above his palms trembled in response to Kalel’s will.

Kalel imagined a strike where he exerted all his strength. Although he could predict the outcome without swinging the sword due to his mastery, the result was utterly disappointing.

It was extremely difficult to draw out 100% of his power, but his youngest grandson made it possible.

Beyond 100%, he reached 200%.

What if Kalel drew out not 100% but 200% of his strength?

‘I see. The realm beyond the 10-star level, the Divine Sword Master’s realm, was there all along.’

Flash! When Kalel opened his eyes, the waterfall momentarily stopped.

…Shhh!!

Exactly three seconds later, the halted waterfall began to pour again, and an old man with his hands behind his back walked up behind him.

“Hey, you’re not planning to cut down another mountain, are you? The old folks here in Immortal Valley aren’t too fond of new changes, so could you stop altering the landscape? We had such a hard time creating another waterfall last time.”

The old man’s name was Roendain.

He was the longest-residing sage in Immortal Valley and was known as the world’s advisor.

Many historical figures and heroes sought Roendain, and tales of his advice leading to world peace were famous even among children.

Thus, Roendain was the sage among sages who had lived for centuries. Born human, but he had surpassed human limits.

No matter how high one’s understanding of swordsmanship or magic, it was rare to extend one’s lifespan by several times. Roendain had transcended even that limit, making it hard to grasp his greatness.

However, achieving such enlightenment came with many sacrifices. He had to let go of all worldly attachments and live his entire life in this small Immortal Valley.

In return for such sacrifices, he gained enlightenment, naturally making him more powerful than Duke Kalel Paul Kaladan.

…Until just yesterday.

That’s how it had been.

“Huh, this guy. Now that I see, you must have gained some enlightenment in the outside world. Tell me, what happened?!”

Roendain couldn’t hide his astonishment when he saw Kalel’s eyes. He realized that Kalel had achieved an understanding he had gained after spending centuries in the Immortal Valley, all within just a few decades.

Moreover, it was an achievement made within a month of returning from the outside world.

Believing that being tainted by worldly matters would diminish enlightenment, he was shocked to find Kalel had gained a greater understanding in the outside world.

However, an immortal does not feel jealousy. If another immortal has gained enlightenment, they simply become curious.

What do they see in that enlightenment? What kind of otherworldly realm unfolds? Is it beautiful?

Kalel smiled broadly and closed his eyes. The sound of the waterfall had long since faded.

“…!!”

Roendain hurriedly rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a chill.

Did Duke Kalel release killing intent? Absolutely not. He had merely wielded his sword in thought.

‘The true realm of unity with the divine sword.’

Even without swinging the sword, the sensation of being cut could not be hidden. Roendain imagined the entire space splitting in half.

If Duke Kalel had actually swung his sword, everything here would have been split.

‘…Amazing. I heard a rumor that he adopted a grandson from the outside world, but to think he gained enlightenment from that.’

Roendain looked at Kalel, who had returned to meditation, for a moment before turning away and descending the waterfall, still rubbing his neck and laughing softly.

“I was convinced there was no reason to be attached to the world…”

He thought that perhaps he should descend once.