I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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‘Why can’t we make weapons?’

In his youth, Wales always harbored that question.

Whether he was eating or working in the workshop, the question lingered in his mind.

‘Why only weapons? Why not everything else?’

He could make farming tools, nails, hammers, and even dangerous items like swords and saws.

So why were weapons—the things meant to harm others—off-limits?

[Master of the workshop, I have a question.]

[What is it?]

[Why can’t we make weapons?]

[I don’t know. It’s a tradition passed down from our ancestors, so we follow it.]

Even the esteemed senior blacksmith he respected couldn’t provide an answer to his question.

Thus, Wales lived with this unresolved query until that fateful day arrived.

The day the castle walls were breached and monsters invaded from outside.

On that day, Wales finally uncovered the truth of his lifelong question.

He realized that any weapon human beings could make wouldn’t work against the monsters.

The reason his forebears established this tradition was to spare future blacksmiths the futile effort and despair of pursuing a lost cause.

From then on, Wales strictly adhered to this tradition.

But within him, another question began to grow.

‘Is it really true that no weapon works against monsters?’

Now, the answer to that question lay right before his eyes.

“Whoa… Whoa-oh-oh…!!”

A gigantic crossbow that was so massive he had to look up at it.

The main structure rested atop a pillar, and a massive stake was tied to the taut string.

“Hurry! Shoot it! Quickly!”

Wales shouted, his impatience mounting.

He couldn’t contain his desire to see how this crossbow functioned.

“Hey! Watch closely! One, two… whoosh!”

Boom!

A sound that was hard to believe came from firing the crossbow reverberated through the air.

The moment the trigger was pulled, the bolt blasted through and obliterated the opposite wall.

With this, it seemed he could inflict significant damage on the monsters.

“What is this? How did you make this? What is it?!”

Wales pointed at the bow and string with trembling hands.

The thick bolt, over two meters long, flew at an unseen speed.

He had never seen a material capable of withstanding such tension and recoil in his life.

As Wales looked on with a desperate face, Hanarin mischievously asked.

“Want to know how?”

“Yes! Please tell me!”

He was on the verge of begging. Hanarin stated her condition.

“Can I have this place starting today?”

“Deal!”

Without even a chance for anyone nearby to intervene, the deal was sealed.

In truth, those around them didn’t even think to object.

‘It’s for killing…’
‘Surely, I can learn this too?’
‘Even if we tried to stop them, they wouldn’t listen anyway.’

They were blacksmiths too.

They didn’t want to miss the chance to learn something new.

“Classes start tomorrow morning! For now, that’s it!”

“Uh? W-wait…!”

With her task completed, Hanarin went outside the workshop.

It was already dark outside. Time to head home.

*

“Enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you for the food!”

“I’ll eat well.”

After finishing their work, it was time for dinner.

Unlike yesterday, today’s table was laden with hearty dishes.

All the food had been prepared by Hazuki.

In the center of the table was a mountain of meat, and each bowl was filled with rice.

Particularly, the amount of rice in Tittle’s bowl was double that of everyone else’s.

“…Can I eat all of this?”

As Tittle expressed concern, Kim Il-shin replied with a smile.

“You have to eat well to grow strong. If you run out while eating, just say so.”

“……That won’t happen.”

It wasn’t about forcing them to eat. Saying to ask if they ran out wasn’t just empty words.

Since he had started training for the Surakong, his appetite was bound to increase.

To maintain the muscles that began to grow by absorbing mana, he had to eat a lot.

“How was work?”

“Success! I took over that workshop!”

Hanarin shouted as if she had been waiting for the moment. Kim Il-shin couldn’t help but be astonished.

No matter how you looked at it, he had never expected her to find such quick success.

It wasn’t easy to persuade blacksmiths bound by tradition.

It was common for the first misstep to leave the quest incomplete, without any help from the blacksmiths.

“Are you saying you didn’t just convince them but took over the workshop?”

“Of course! That was easy for me!”

With an excited voice, Hanarin began to explain what had happened in the workshop.

“I’m skilled at infusing mana into materials, remember? When I showed them even once, they were amazed. Hehe. I instantly shocked them right there. I did well, didn’t I?”

“…That’s impressive.”

Kim Il-shin genuinely admired her. He could never have imagined she would solve the problem in that way.

From start to finish, it was a persuasion method only Hanarin could pull off.

“But what if Wales didn’t want to?”

Tittle, who had been munching his food, asked.

“What would you do?”

“He could have said he wouldn’t give us the workshop even after the bet and wouldn’t make any weapons.”

“……Oh?”

Hanarin looked dumbfounded, her mind racing.

At the time, she was too heated to think about that possibility.

“……I should have placed that condition in the wager.”

As Hanarin muttered to herself, Hazuki chimed in.

“No, making weapons based on a bet wouldn’t have worked anyway.”

“Huh?”

“The quality of a weapon made under duress couldn’t be good. There wouldn’t be any willingness to learn. You know that well, don’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s true. I’d never force someone.”

“Exactly. You did well.”

“Right?”

Kim Il-shin agreed with Hazuki.

It wasn’t what they intended, but they had achieved the best outcome.

“ hehe. This is delicious.”

Hanarin, feeling good again, enjoyed her meal as Kim Il-shin turned to Hazuki.

“How about you?”

“I also succeeded. Everyone was very passionate.”

Hanarin’s role was to connect with scholars from the walled city and spread various knowledge.

Her aim was to share theories and examples with them to prevent future citizens from becoming complacent.

Since the utopian environment of their city could become toxic if citizens were freed from fear, preparations were being made in advance.

‘Although the possibility of that seems slim.’

Kim Il-shin looked at Tittle, who had nearly emptied his two bowls of rice.

His wish would surely lead the citizens in a positive direction.

*

After dinner and tidying up, everyone had their personal time.

Tittle fell asleep immediately, Hanarin researched, and Hazuki began preparing for tomorrow’s class.

“I’ll go train for a bit.”

“Have a good time~”

“Be safe.”

Kim Il-shin stepped outside with his sword.

Since he hadn’t trained at all during the day, he intended to practice until bedtime.

Once outside, deeper into the forest, he quickly discovered a quiet spot and began to train.

After loosening up, he started swinging his sword.

‘This feels different.’

Perhaps because of the high mana density in the air, the sensation of the sword moving felt different.

Most people would have felt a slight unease, but for Kim Il-shin, who possessed [Mana Affinity (A)], it was a significant change.

To exaggerate, it felt like swinging a sword underwater.

The resistance felt when moving both body and sword was entirely unfamiliar.

‘Let’s focus on adapting first.’

He concentrated on his posture while gradually acclimatizing to that sensation.

As the speed of his sword began to quicken, the alignment of his body and sword became perfect.

At that moment, the air began to split around the sword as it swung with no added force.

To use the new sword, he first had to push his body’s perception to its limits.

The mana he would use had to be minimal.

Focusing on the flow that ran through his entire body, he began to unearth the movements that had only existed in thought.

From basic up, down, left, right, to diagonals, rotations, and reversals.

One by one, movements of the sword that came to mind were unraveled.

Every posture for every swing was different.

To an onlooker, it might have looked like a random flailing of the sword.

As the gathered lines became surfaces, and the layered surfaces formed a single entity.

Flap~

Just then, a single leaf fluttered down from above.

Bang!

At that moment, the final strike erupted.

Swoosh――!!

A vertical slash. That strike unraveled the thick threads of swordplay in all directions.

The white lines filled the space ahead, coloring it before bursting into light.

When the light finally faded, the leaf that had been there had vanished without a trace.

Il-shin Sword Style: Blossoming White.

A technique inspired by the myriad transformations he saw in an alternate dimension.

Of course, it was based on the Baeksan Sword Art displayed by Baekhosan.

‘It’s still lacking for actual combat.’

A finishing move, but the preparation time was too long, and the target was limited.

There was still a need for further refinement.

‘But on the day I perfect this sword…’

A new sword beyond the seasons of Baeksan Sword Art would be born.