Chapter 110: Every Moment I Breathe

Kariel’s training appeared remarkably monotonous on the surface.

It was entirely different from running to build stamina or performing specific repetitive exercises to grow muscle.

What he did was simple to the point of purity.

Holding his sword, he repeated seven movements.

Four were stances, and the remaining three were closer to the act of swinging and thrusting—though even these were simple motions.

He diligently repeated only those.

And he did so at a constant speed.

From the moment the sun rose until it set, there was not a single inflection point in that flow.

However, as the days passed, the speed of the connection between movements slowed down.

By the time a month had passed.

He became exhausted just by repeating those seven movements a mere 100 times.

The rising sun had long since tilted toward the horizon, and the moon now revealed its form, shimmering alongside a cluster of stars.

Then, after another month passed.

He reached a point where repeating the seven movements only 10 times consumed half a day.

At a glance, it was a bizarre sight, as if he had come to a complete standstill.

Yet, he was clearly moving.

Minutely. Very minutely.

“That’s an incredibly dense training regimen,” Ases remarked with a small exclamation of admiration upon seeing this.

Did she understand what that act signified?

Mines had no way of knowing.

She was somewhat skeptical of both holding a weapon and the necessity of it.

It wasn’t simply because she had inherited the Legacy of the Great Demon King.

By nature, she hated fighting and detested intimidating others.

…And while she fully understood that such a personality was quite unsuitable for living in this era.

Hating it was still hating it.

She recognized the necessity.

Violence and martial force were necessary evils.

If it was to protect herself and those around her from someone else’s violence.

Then it was certainly a necessary evil.

“…….”

If so.

For what purpose was Kariel honing his sword?

Ambition for success? Desire for Fame?

A longing for strength?

Or the pursuit of the fruits that come with becoming strong?

Venus, whom she had observed throughout their time in Somern, had longed for and envied strength more than anyone.

Wielding power was merely a byproduct of possessing it.

On the other hand, what about Ases?

She pursued strength only because she believed one must be strong to pluck the fruits.

To her, both power and skill were nothing more than tools based on necessity.

Therefore, there was no attachment.

She acquired it because it was needed, used it because it was needed, and sought to possess it for the same reason.

Then what about Kariel?

As more time passed, and winter descended and spring returned.

His training became even more bizarre and obsessive than before.

He had now reached a state where repeating the seven movements just once took two full days without sleep.

It felt as if he were inhabiting a frozen world, like a statue or a bronze monument fixed in a human body.

However, after a long time had passed and he returned, his posture and movements had changed, however minutely.

Upon waking from sleep, the change in those movements became even more extreme.

He was moving.

Even within that state that looked like a standstill, he was moving quite clearly.

“When learning the basics of the Dragon God Sword, you master about 500 movements.”

Ases, standing beside Mines, who had been watching from a distance with deep curiosity, began to speak.

Mines asked back, wondering what she meant.

“Five hundred movements?”

“Yes. You have to memorize them all.”

If one’s mind is brilliant but the body does not follow, a lifetime would be spent just on memorization.

But the funny thing was, memorizing them didn’t mean one had mastered the sword art or swordsmanship.

That wasn’t even the beginning.

“Once you’ve mastered those 500 to the point where you can handle them skillfully and unconsciously, you have to cut those movements in half. Then you master the remaining 200-plus movements from the start, and then you cut them in half again to master the 100-plus movements…”

“……Is there a reason for doing that?”

There were plenty of people who spent years or decades—sometimes a lifetime—polishing just a few dozen movements and yet remained unskilled.

What Ases was explaining sounded as if it were far beyond the boundaries of common sense.

“They say it includes training and mastery, understanding the logic and the application, and the remodeling of the body. Anyway, after reducing them over and over until there are only about twenty movements left, you’re considered intermediate.”

“…….”

“From there, you do it again—this time expanding them back to the original 500 movements. You have to go through the exact reverse process to achieve that.”

Dabas’s War God Style was a swordsmanship systematized through such a process.

In other words, the War God Style was established to teach the condensed essence of practical experience, acquisition, training, and understanding before undergoing the reverse process.

“The one who came before cleared a shortcut. That’s why those who learn the War God Style essentially gain the privilege of being able to learn the Dragon God Sword…”

But mastering it was nearly impossible for an average person.

Even if one did master it, they would be nearing old age by human standards.

Therefore, unless one was born with a gift—a possessor of heaven-sent talent—great achievement was out of the question.

By birth.

Thus, it could only be seen as a realm where effort alone could never lead to mastery.

…Unless that effort was enough to reach the heavens.

“From those 500 movements, you select a few that you can utilize, employ, and consistently polish. In the standards of the Dragon God Sword, that is the advanced level. That’s the level I’ve reached.”

“But Ases, you didn’t actually use that against me before, did you?”

Even when they faced off, she didn’t seem to be properly using that Dragon God Sword or whatever it was.

“No, I was using it. The part of the Dragon God Sword I’ve currently systematized is limited to footwork and stepping. If you’re counting movements for using the sword, there’s exactly one. I used that to parry your attack and block it, didn’t I?”

“…….”

“And there’s a limit to being just ‘advanced.’ If I had surpassed the highest level and reached the Master Level… I wouldn’t have been defeated so helplessly back then. My physical condition wasn’t great, but… I wouldn’t have had to damage my body so much even when facing that crazy Legion Commander.”

Though it was hard to grasp, Mines roughly understood the intent of her words.

“Are you trying to say that he is currently going through a process similar to what you described?”

“I don’t know. The Swordsmanship of Grandeus that I know wasn’t like that.”

But it was likely correct.

Therefore, for now, he was the only one who could be seen as inheriting the sword and the swordsmanship of Grandeus in the true meaning.

The Order of Relief Knights’ obsession with Elbat was abnormal.

Ases had no way of knowing why they were so captivated.

Nor did she feel the need to understand.

In the end, it was just a tool, wasn’t it?

And in this regard, Kariel and Ases surprisingly shared a strangely similar perspective.

He, too, treated his own swordsmanship as a tool.

If the people of the Order of Relief Knights found out, they would likely be clutching their heads in shock.

By their standards, it would be nearly equivalent to blasphemy.

…Even if that blasphemer was the one closest to divinity.

Ding! Ding!

Kariel, who finished his training long after the sun had set, had recently been focusing on eating once every three days.

The same went for his rest.

Because of this, Aristhétis, who came to learn the guitar, also visited in three-day cycles.

Naturally, since the instrument wasn’t in its owner’s hands during that time, Aristhétis was usually the one holding it.

“You’ve improved a lot.”

“Hehe…”

At Kariel’s evaluation, the girl scratched the back of her head, expressing her shyness.

“My playing has gotten much better. But… composing new songs like you do, or applying various playing techniques to a piece… I’m still…”

“It’s not like I’m exceptionally gifted in that area. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“But you create various songs so effortlessly and instantly.”

“…….”

Rarely, at that moment, the usually stoic Kariel wore a rather unfamiliar expression.

Should one call it awkward, or perhaps bashful?

“I’m not creating them; I’m just reproducing what I’ve heard.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

Usually, Aristhétis was soft-spoken and shy.

But whenever she faced Kariel, she became unusually talkative and her eyes sparkled.

That was, in other words…

“She’s a girl whose ulterior motives are leaking out plainly, isn’t she?”

Ases sat perched beside Mines, who was looking up at the night sky from the roof of the cabin.

“It’s just being a girl. She said from the start that she wanted to find a good spouse.”

“Materialistic. Purely materialistic.”

Ases chuckled, but she didn’t seem to scold or care much about the growing relationship between Kariel and Aristhétis.

“Then does Ases only place value on the master-servant relationship itself? With him?”

“That’s a bit of a mischievous question. Like I said before, I don’t mind. Either way.”

Whether you use a kitchen knife to catch a wolf, a cow, or a chicken.

The essence of the kitchen knife does not change.

Similarly.

Whether you use a sword to kill a cow, a Magic Beast, or a person.

A sword is just a sword.

“The concept of master and servant is just a format set by the world. Because people cannot trust each other, they divide themselves into high and low, establishing procedures and order to build a forced trust. As long as trust is guaranteed, what does it matter if they are master and servant, comrades, or a married couple?”

“…….”

She really was peculiar.

Mines would likely never be able to empathize with her way of thinking for the rest of her life.

However, it wasn’t that she didn’t understand.

As the time they spent together grew longer, she had come to understand her reasonably well.

“What about you? If you have feelings for him, why not push forward?”

“…….”

Feelings.

Regarding him, emotions like goodwill or respect were far greater.

In the first place, looking at his current state, he didn’t seem like someone who could love or adore another, or devote himself to someone.

What would it be like if he could?

She found herself slightly curious about that.

Furthermore, Mines still harbored doubts about whether she could ever walk side-by-side with someone.

It was a destiny that forbade a normal life.

From the moment she left Somern, she had long since accepted that fate.

She wasn’t merely idling her time here either.

The Legacy of the Great Demon King.

She was engrossed in examining and refining the use of that absurd Divine Authority.

“Th-thank you!”

Below, the girl was still following a dark figure with eyes full of love.

Was it that lovely? Did it look that radiant?

On that point, Mines might understand a little.

Kariel’s playing was exceptionally skilled.

Thanks to that, whenever he played as part of his practice, people would rush to find a spot.

Even some animals would habitually, and sometimes brazenly, settle in when that time came.

Like the bear lying sprawled in the tree over there.

Or the fox yawning atop a branch.

The sight of a wolf pack bringing their pups and yawning while watching the campfire was a rare and wondrous scene.

It was as if, for that time alone, the laws of the wild and the law of the jungle were exceptions.

When the short yet long performance ended, they would naturally disperse as if the gathering had concluded.

…At this point, they could only be called Spiritual Creatures.

“I had fun today too.”

Aristhétis hugged the guitar tightly as if it were a precious treasure, bowed her head in greeting, and disappeared.

The place where she stayed was quite far from here.

“That girl seems to have quite a lot of interest in you, doesn’t she?”

“…….”

Despite Ases’s mischievous words, Kariel showed no particular reaction.

“That is for her to decide.”

“What will you do if she confesses?”

“…I will do nothing.”

Without saying whether he would accept or reject her.

He ended his sentence with an ambiguous expression.

So what exactly does that mean?

“How boring.”

Ases, who had been watching Kariel’s back as he returned to the Stone Cave, stepped inside the cabin as if her excitement had cooled.

“…….”

And watching that scene from the roof of the cabin, looking at the remains of the campfire that now only emitted a faint, thin trail of dark smoke as the light faded.

Mines sat still for a while, wandering through the pouring silence and solitude.

I wonder how long this stillness, this silence, will last.

One could call it peace.

But are we truly welcoming peace?

Or are we hardening our hearts to prepare for another war?

One thing was certain.

Unless the burdens each carried and the intertwined chains of their tasks were severed.

For me, and for him.

There would be no peace, no stability.

…And no rest.

Mines felt this instinctively.

And so, spring passed again.

Summer arrived.

And when autumn returned.

“Ah…”

Kariel, who had been devoted to his training without fail, suddenly let out a sigh toward the empty air as if he had realized something.

“I’m far too late to participate in the equestrian tournament.”

He recalled something he had forgotten, but as if it were now something that no longer mattered.

A moment later, he seemed to forget even that sigh and devoted himself to his training once more.

And again, the world began to dry up into white.

Just as white traces scatter and fall in the strong wind from the high mountain ranges standing tall in the distance.

Here too, the year’s first snow began to pile up deeply.

Since arriving here.

A full year and several months had already passed.