I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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It was a strike delivered with the intent to kill, without any hesitations, and Hazuki brilliantly received it.

Kim Il-shin’s attack just now was even more lethal than that of the previous sword fiend we encountered.

While their speed and power might be similar, the number of trajectories and the intricacies contained within surpassed those of the sword fiend.

Given that Hazuki completely blocked such a hit, her skill must certainly be sufficient to withstand at least one attack from a sword fiend in actual combat.

But winning or countering would be a different story.

Realizing this, it was only natural to question her growth speed.

“It was too short a time to grow this much.”

Since Hazuki left for her family home, just over two weeks had passed.

Her current skills seemed like an achievement far too great for such a short period.

With her previous abilities, she wouldn’t have been able to withstand that recent strike at all.

At best, she might have been able to deflect a couple of trajectories.

Yet now, Hazuki was not only able to perfectly block Kim Il-shin’s strike, but she also had some strength left.

No matter how you looked at it, it was an incomprehensible speed of growth.

Something must have happened during that time, and Kim Il-shin couldn’t contain his curiosity.

“What happened? You’re so different from the last time I saw you.”

When he asked, Hazuki smiled as if filled with pride.

“You noticed… I’m so happy.”

“How could I not notice?”

“Hehe. The head of the family passed down the family sword to me. That’s why I couldn’t get in touch very well.”

“…How did he pass it down?”

It was undoubtedly rude to ask about the process of inheriting the family’s vision, but he had no choice.

Even if she inherited the swordmaster’s vision, this level of growth was hard to comprehend.

Moreover, Hazuki’s sword style was different from that of the swordmaster.

There were hardly any similarities to the swordmaster’s style in her technique.

Rather, judging by her movements, it seemed closer to the main sword style of the Endo family, which had twisted and interpreted the swordmaster’s spatial strikes to focus on swift techniques.

It was clear that she didn’t merely accept the teachings but infused her own interpretations to transform them.

“Um… It’s a bit hard to explain… I think the head showed me a demonstration first, and then I organized and practiced it on my own later…?”

Hearing Hazuki’s words confirmed it for him.

What the swordmaster taught Hazuki was not significantly different from ordinary teachings.

The only difference was that the master was the swordmaster.

“I didn’t think I could get this strong either. The family sword really seems impressive, doesn’t it?”

That was incorrect. There was no way someone could become this strong in just one week by merely receiving advanced sword techniques.

If that were possible, the Baek family or the Endo family would be several times stronger than they are now.

Thus, Hazuki’s enhancement wasn’t solely due to the swordmaster’s teachings.

It was more plausible that some suppressed talent within her was suddenly released for some reason.

“I don’t know what that reason is, though.”

What mattered was that the plan was completed thanks to Hazuki’s existence.

“You’re aware of the plan, right?”

“Yes. I’m familiar with it. Is there anything different from the plan you mentioned last time?”

“There’s almost nothing new. I’ll handle the details, so no need to worry about that. The execution is the early morning after two days. Until then, just train with me.”

He intended to instill every pattern of the sword fiend he knew into her body before the execution of the plan.

Though the memories were old and might not be entirely accurate now since they had been enhanced, if he taught her in a way that was more difficult to replicate than he remembered, there shouldn’t be any problems.

“Understood…!”

Hazuki looked pleased.

Kim Il-shin knew well that the feeling of soaring when one realized their growth was something to cherish, so he simply smiled back at her.

“Let’s get started right away. Get into position.”

“Yes…!”

Though it was late at night, time was of the essence.

Kim Il-shin immediately began to demonstrate, and time flew by until the day of the plan’s execution.

*

“So, you’re going right away tomorrow?”

Hanarin asked, holding a large mug of hot chocolate with both hands.

“Yeah. About three hours left.”

“But is it okay to be like this?”

“Preparations are all done, and I won’t have anything to do at the start.”

“You said it wouldn’t be dangerous, right?”

“If everything goes according to plan, there shouldn’t be anything dangerous.”

A lie. Hanarin was certain that Kim Il-shin’s words were false.

There was likely a risk involved in the plan.

As always, taking on that risk was part of the plan.

And that ‘risk’ in the plan would mean his death.

“You’re hiding it from me again, just like always.”

Kim Il-shin always did this. He never cared about his own life.

Whether stabilizing the Hyeonwol sword, facing the rock spirit, or confronting the bishop of the Evil Temple.

He always willingly put his life on the table.

Like a gambling addict with no future.

Yet despite that, his enigmatic gaze always seemed to look toward the future, making Hanarin want to peer into his thoughts.

But today, she held back.

“…Be careful. If you get hurt, you’ll die.”

“…….”

Kim Il-shin was taken aback. He thought she’d be more upset and try to stop him.

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

“Uh, yeah. I got it.”

“…Just make sure you do.”

“I’ll head out first.”

Hanarin stood and walked outside. Having made up her mind, she needed to act before her resolution weakened.

As she walked to the entrance, she made a call somewhere.

“Yes. Please warm up the mountain forge. I’m on my way.”

Seeing him behave like that, she decided to gamble her life as well.

*

At 4 AM that day, it was time to commence the plan.

But the person announcing the start of the plan wasn’t Kim Il-shin, but the current A-rank hero, Park Eun-ho.

Having risen one rank since last time, Park Eun-ho was now the team leader of the Wind God Guild.

The reason he gathered his team members at this early hour was solely due to a tip-off from Kim Il-shin.

“Do not cancel the detection magic, as we do not know what may be ahead.”

“Understood.”

Currently, they were exploring the ruins near an abandoned rift on the outskirts of the city.

Years ago, a rift occurred here, leading to significant casualties, which left the area deserted.

According to Kim Il-shin’s tip, there should be a base of the Evil Temple here.

However, despite searching for several minutes, they hadn’t found any concrete results.

Feeling uneasy, the deputy team leader voiced his concerns.

“Team leader, is the information about the Evil Temple here accurate? We’re going to be in trouble if we can’t find them. What about the other teams waiting here?”

The deputy team leader’s worries were valid.

Believing only in the tip-off Park Eun-ho received in the early morning, there were four teams on standby at various locations.

Moreover, the remaining teams were also waiting for support requests from headquarters.

All of them were waiting for Park Eun-ho’s commands.

Once Park Eun-ho confirmed the accuracy of the tip, the plan was to have all waiting teams rush in to suppress the Evil Temple.

However, with the plan starting off on such shaky ground, it was only natural for the team members to feel uneasy.

It was rare for an operation involving everyone from a large guild like the Wind God Guild.

Kim Il-shin’s tip bore such great value.

Thanks to the location of the Evil Temple he provided, a chance to eliminate them all at once was at hand.

But the number of personnel mobilized also meant that Park Eun-ho would bear significant responsibility should they fail.

“The tip-off’s location is certain. We should venture deeper.”

Yet Park Eun-ho felt no worries.

There was no way the information Kim Il-shin provided could be wrong.

He was just grateful and impressed that Kim Il-shin brought such precious information to help people.

He trusted Kim Il-shin to that extent.

“Ah… Then why didn’t you ask for the exact location? How are we supposed to find them in this wide area… Hoh!”

The deputy team leader instinctively covered his mouth, almost shouting.

But even as he did so, he looked ahead in astonishment.

Movement was detected up ahead. The tip was indeed correct.

“Team leader…! The tip was right. Look over there…!”

The place the deputy team leader pointed to had figures that seemed to be on guard.

Each held weapons it would be hard to believe belonged to the local villagers, and their eyes radiated a sense of deadly intent.

Most significantly, behind them, the entrance of the building they were guarding bore the insignia of the Evil Temple, etched small.

It must have been too small for anyone to notice until now.

“The other locations mentioned in the tip should be the same.”

Confirming that the tip was accurate, Park Eun-ho smiled.

Kim Il-shin was someone who always accomplished great things.

“Since such a remarkable person believed in us, I should meet their expectations.”

Park Eun-ho stepped forward and said, “Notify the waiting teams to advance. I’m going first.”

Immediately, his figure vanished with a gust of wind.

Boom—!!

With a thunderous explosion, a storm surged forth, obliterating one branch of the Evil Temple.

It was a signal announcing both the commencement of the operation to eliminate the Evil Temple and the start of Kim Il-shin’s plan.