Book 1 Chapter 436
436.
Leo looked at Arion without a word.
Arion raised his fist towards Leo.
The atmosphere was quite different from when they were dealing with other students just a moment ago.
“Why aren't they moving and just standing still?”
“Heh. After all, a wizard is a wizard, no matter what.”
Borman wore a smug expression.
“This is what a fight between warriors who have reached a higher level is like! It looks like they're doing nothing, but they're engaged in an intense battle of wits! The first one to move reveals an opening, so the more skilled a warrior is, the absolutely never move first! This is a battle of patience! They'll probably be facing off like that for several more tens of minutes!”
Flash-!
Before Borman could even finish speaking, Leo closed the distance with Arion.
As Chelsea looked at him with a pitiful gaze, Borman wore an embarrassed expression.
Ar stared wide-eyed, concentrating on the two's spar as if he didn't want to miss Leo and Arion's fight.
‘Black Rabbit's skill is amazing.’
Ar also knew.
That there was an enormous gap between Leo and himself.
Ar couldn't fathom the depth of Leo's martial arts.
‘But even Black Rabbit's skill wouldn't reach Lord Arion.’
His opponent was the Hero Arion.
The owner of absolute power, praised as a God of War.
It wasn't simply because he possessed great power.
Last time, in Dwenoo's world.
And just now, in the spar, Ar clearly realized how immensely high Arion's level was.
‘Lord Arion seems even stronger now than when I saw him in Lord Dwenoo's world.’
He felt it was almost impossible for Leo to be evenly matched against such an Arion.
‘But wouldn't it be possible to reveal Lord Arion's skill to some extent?’
He thought that with Leo's endless potential, it might be possible to draw out Arion's true skill.
That's why Ar didn't want to miss a single, small detail of this spar.
‘If it's Black Rabbit, he'll surely aim for Lord Arion's flank……’
Flash-!
“Head-on?!”
Ar's eyes widened.
Because Leo charged head-on at Arion without hesitation.
‘Anyway, that Arion guy has no blind spots.’
Arion's extrasensory perception, capable of foreseeing even fragmented futures in a combat situation.
As long as he possessed that, Arion had no blind spots.
No matter how fast Leo moved and tried to disrupt Arion's vision, he couldn't escape Arion's perception range.
Swish-!
Leo's sword stabbed towards Arion.
Arion's eyes narrowed as he saw the sword.
‘Blocking it is not an option.’
He thought about swatting the sword away, but it was clear that the moment he did, Leo would dive into his personal space.
Arion's senses detected the dagger attached to Leo's waist.
In pure close-quarters combat ability, Arion surpassed Leo.
However, in unconventional tactical battles, Leo had a slight advantage over Arion.
If Arion's strength was forged through innate senses, reaction speed, and overwhelming dynamic vision, Leo's strength was honed through countless battlefield experiences.
Arion, too, had experienced countless battlefields.
But Leo. Kyle, the surviving hero, had traversed a different number of battlefields.
‘Because Kyle stood on battlefields long before I ever did.’
Furthermore, Arion wasn't the only one capable of pre-cognition-level battle reading through extrasensory perception.
Though not to Arion's level.
Leo was also a warrior who had stepped into the realm of extrasensory perception.
Arion, having dodged Leo's sword, reached out his hand towards Leo's abdomen.
Leo twisted his body in mid-air, avoiding Arion's attack.
Clack- Shing!
At that moment, Arion pulled out the dagger, a secondary weapon, that was attached to Leo's waist.
Along with that, Arion's blocked vision returned.
His sight activated, and his previously closed hearing and smell began to relay information.
Flash-!
Arion moved his feet.
Arion, who hadn't moved even when his senses were sealed and eight people attacked him simultaneously, now moved with all his senses unleashed.
No matter how much of the Hero Arion he was, he couldn't gain an advantage in a spar against Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings, under restricted conditions.
Clang-! Rattle-!
The short blade of the dagger and the blade of the longsword crossed.
Arion, holding the dagger in a reverse grip, thrust his sword upwards.
Sparks flew between the swords.
Leo's right hand, gripping the sword, was forced upwards.
Flash-!
With his right hand raised upwards, Leo exposed his stomach.
Completely defenseless.
Seeing that, Arion unleashed a kick.
Thud-!
Leo's body was sent flying back.
Shhhhk-!
Leo's shoe soles scraped against the ground, kicking up dust.
Leo, having regained his balance, quickly moved out of the way.
Thud-!
Arion's fist slammed into the spot where Leo had just been.
The ground caved in, and dust flew everywhere.
“How can such destructive power come from movements like that?!”
Celia's eyes widened.
Not only the kick that hit Leo a moment ago, but also the current attack—Arion showed no sign of exerting great force.
Yet, destructive power far exceeding expectations erupted from Arion's fingertips and toes.
“He's concentrating a handful of power into one spot.”
Chen Shia, who had been watching the two's offense and defense with eyes sharper than usual, replied.
“He compresses and bursts his aura in a fleeting moment. At such a fast speed that it's difficult to easily perceive.”
“If it's that much, wouldn't even Leo oppa have taken a big hit?”
“Well…”
Everyone focused on Leo.
‘I couldn't inflict a significant blow.’
Arion looked at Leo.
In that fleeting moment, Leo rapidly compressed his aura, nullifying Arion's attack.
‘He's gotten stronger.’
This wasn't the Kyle Arion knew.
If compared by the total amount of power, Leo's power couldn't match the Kyle's power Arion knew.
‘Because Kyle is now regaining his power.’
Arion thought Leo had grown stronger in terms of skill.
The Kyle Arion knew wouldn't have been able to perfectly block the attack from a moment ago like that.
He suddenly realized that the friend before him was not the friend he used to know.
‘Even in this era of peace, you… haven't stopped.’
Seeing Kyle, who hadn't dulled even a bit despite living in an era of peace, he understood.
That he hadn't been at ease for a single moment.
To fully pass on this peace, which they had protected with their lives, to future generations.
How much his friend was striving.
Arion looked at the students who were concentrating on their spar.
‘If that's the case.’
He readjusted his grip on the dagger.
‘So that I can pass on even a little bit. I must try.’
He wanted to pass on at least some of his techniques to future generations.
Arion lowered his stance.
Seeing that, Leo shook his hand.
‘It seems he's going to get serious.’
He shook his left hand, which had blocked Arion's kick, shaking off the numbness.
Flash-!
This time, seeing Arion attempt the first attack, Leo re-gripped his sword.
Clang-!
Swords crossed, and sparks flew.
***
“How was it?”
After the spar ended.
Arion smiled gently as he looked at the students lined up in front of him.
“It was amazing!”
Borman shouted with an emotional face.
“I felt that Instructor Arkan's techniques are at a level that cannot be dared to be fathomed! Is all of that due to extrasensory perception?”
“Extrasensory perception is a technique that pushes your senses to their limits. The technique I used in combat just now is in a different realm from that.”
“Ohh!”
“If you're curious about my techniques, I'll teach them to you together.”
All the students' eyes widened.
For a warrior, a technique is like a wizard's core magic spell formula.
Even wizards who publish countless magic theses don't reveal their core magic spell formulas when they present the principles of their secret magic at academic conferences.
It's natural for a researcher not to easily disclose the results of their long years of study to the public.
It's the same for martial artists.
Sharing the results of long training with others is by no means an easy matter.
But the instructor before them said he would readily teach techniques that had reached an immensely high level.
“First, I'll teach you how to activate extrasensory perception.”
“Yes, sir!”
The students replied enthusiastically.
“Since you've learned the Hero's Breath, you'll be able to master extrasensory perception quickly.”
“Is it a derivative technique of the Hero's Breath?”
“You could say that.”
More accurately, it was a technique Arion naturally used while utilizing his breathing.
‘I also struggled to learn his techniques.’
Leo clicked his tongue inwardly.
Arion's breathing and extrasensory perception techniques also had an unimaginably difficult learning curve.
Since it was Arion's unique technique in the first place, it would have been impossible for Leo to learn it if it weren't for his mana characteristics.
But what made learning Arion's techniques even harder was.
“First, inhale and feel your mana.”
“Yes.”
“Then, spread the mana throughout your entire body.”
Arion taught them how to manipulate mana to use extrasensory perception.
“What's next?”
“Then, use the mana spread throughout your body to stimulate all your sensory organs.”
“…… Huh?”
The faces of the students, who had been listening to Arion's lecture with shining eyes, suddenly stiffened.
“You're getting the feeling, right?”
Seeing Arion, whose eyes were shining, Dion raised his hand.
“Instructor Arkan.”
“What's wrong?”
“Isn't there a more specific explanation? The explanation is too difficult.”
“Hmm? Was it too abstract an explanation? I guess so. All the kids I taught found my explanations difficult.”
Arion, who had been pondering with his arms crossed, struck his palm with his fist and spoke.
“Right! It's the sensation of making mana like grains of sand, then putting it in a glass bottle and shaking it!”
“……”
“……”
At Arion's cheerful explanation, the students' faces changed even more strangely.
“Is it difficult? Hmm… if so.”
Arion tried his best to explain in detail.
Things like the feeling of mana manipulation, the timing of breathing, and so on.
He tried to explain the sensation of using extrasensory perception in words somehow.
But the more he tried, the more peculiar the students' faces became.
“Let's take a short break. I'll try to explain it better.”
In the end, Arion gave them a break.
“Lord Leo. You worked hard in the spar!”
Eiran approached Leo, took out a towel from her subspace, and handed it to him.
Thanks to the hot weather and intense movements, Leo's body was drenched in sweat.
“Thank you.”
Leo smiled and wiped his face with the towel Eiran handed him.
Then he pulled at the collar of his clothes to let air circulate inside.
Seeing that, Eiran's face flushed slightly.
His collarbone, occasionally glimpsed, was very stimulating for a teenage girl.
It was then, while she was stealing glances at Leo even as she looked away.
“Indeed, it's Black Rabbit! Even if Lord Arion's senses were blocked, to hold out against Lord Arion!”
The other students knew that Arion had maintained his sensory restrictions when fighting Leo.
“Heeeeeek? I, I didn't peek at anything!”
At Ar's voice from behind, Eiran shrieked in alarm.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Oh, it's nothing!”
Eiran urgently shook her head at Ar, who looked puzzled.
“Anyway, Lord Arion is still the same. His explanations are too difficult.”
“It must be because his perspective is clearly different.”
As Ar sighed softly, Eiran gave an awkward laugh.
The two had already received training from Arion in Dwenoo's world.
Even then, Arion's explanations were difficult to understand.
As a result, their training focused mainly on sparring.
“This time, it seems even harder because we can't just 'solve it with our bodies'.”
“S-solve it with our bodies?”
At Ar's words, who sighed deeply with his arms crossed, Eiran perked up her ears and became embarrassed all by herself.
Then she made eye contact with Leo, jumped in surprise, and then cleared her throat.
“Lord Leo also finds Lord Arion's explanations difficult to understand?”
“I can grasp it to some extent.”
“What?”
“What did you say?!”
Eiran and Ar were surprised by Leo's answer.
Ar, with his tail bristling, asked.
“Really? You're not lying, are you?”
“Why would I lie?”
“As expected of Lord Leo!”
Eiran smiled brightly.
“Once I fully grasp it, I'll give you advice too.”
After that.
After the break ended, the students listened attentively to Arion's explanations all day long.
In the middle, Leo also gave the students much more specific explanations than Arion.
Thus, only as the sun began to set were the students able to somewhat understand the basic steps of activating extrasensory perception.
“You're all amazing!”
Arion clapped his hands, genuinely delighted.
Seeing Arion, who was truly proud, the students were genuinely happy.
“Lord Arkan must have put in immense effort to use this technique, right?”
Celia asked with a slightly flushed face.
Arion replied in a clear, cheerful voice.
“No, it just came naturally to me since I was born.”
The students' faces changed strangely.
And Arion's subsequent words were enough to make them despair.
“How about it? Once you get the hang of it, it's really easy, isn't it?”
‘It's not easy.’
The students screamed inwardly.