Reset Life – Chapter 5

KR Translators:

・StarrySkySailor
・KawaiiKage
・ImmortalInk
・KingPotato
・SugoiSenpai

Chapter 5: You’re Wrong. Study. (4)

Swish!

The sword plunges down, drawing a curve from above my head to my toes. It was a line I could have easily blocked, but I didn’t. The more experienced a swordsman, the more diverse their counterattacks become after blocking a sword.

Whoosh!

The sword swings to cut my waist, then changes direction to thrust inward. Although she’s holding the same practice sword, it changes its trajectory smoothly like a living creature connected to her blood and hand.

Swish!

Thrust, cut, thrust, thrust, cut.

If I think it’s going right, it goes left, and if I think it’s going left, it goes down. A sword with at least one feint mixed in approaches to cut and stab me. I keep backpedaling and counting the number of attacks.

Seven, eight! Damn it!

Shick! Clang!

I strike the sword aimed at my neck with force, pushing it away and retreating.

It’s nice to say I’m dodging, but there’s only one way to completely avoid her sword. To escape to the outside of the space occupied by her sword. There is no other way to avoid the Sword King’s sword except for that.

“Pant, pant……”

My breathing became ragged.

It’s only natural that my breathing would become ragged as I meticulously control my whole body to avoid the relentlessly incoming sword.

Moreover, even when I try to dodge the sword based on experiences etched in my memory, my body can’t keep up. I always have to exert excessive force.

This……I’ve gotten myself into a more dangerous gamble than I thought.

What I’m aiming for is Levidian’s twelfth sword. Because after dodging the twelfth, my counterattack can work.

To use her habits as a weakness, there is no other way.

She swung her sword twice and then pointed it at me again. The look of underestimation in her eyes had long since disappeared.

She spoke to me directly, just like her sword.

“You’re quite good. Let’s go again.”

The sword that strikes like a ray of light emits a dull glow.

Twelve times……

Damn it, how could it be harder than dying!

Clang!

We clash head-on.

I push my body forward until the distance between us is less than a hand span. We both grip our swords with both hands, putting strength into our legs. It was a distance where punches or kicks couldn’t be used.

If she pushes me with force, I wouldn’t be able to withstand it now. There are techniques that can be used while being pushed back in situations like this. Of course, I know how to do them, and she, having just received my barrage, would also be aware of that fact.

In such a situation, would she really push me with brute force?

She’s already stopped underestimating me, hasn’t she?

However, I believe in her.

If she’s the Sword King Levidian, she will test my potential!

“Haaap!”

She shouted for the first time. And she pushed me with her sword.

Crack!

Sparks flew between our swords as I was pushed back. A gap appeared as my upper body was greatly bent backward, and she thrust her sword towards that opening.

I gripped my sword with only my right hand and drew a large circle.

I know roughly where she’ll thrust!

Clang!

The sword is blocked.

It was just a single deflection, but it allowed me to regain my posture.

“Phew! Huff! Huff!”

I exhale deeply and then inhale rapidly.

My lungs are slowly reaching their limit.

Damn it, even though this is my own body, it’s quite a burden. It’s surprising how weak I can be. My body isn’t keeping up with the techniques. Oh, my back……

Clang! Clang! Crack!

The swords clash and the locked blades move as if trying to shave each other off. I grit my teeth and block each of her swords as she tries to stab, cut, and slice my neck, waist, legs, and arms.

Each time I blocked a sword, the rebounded blade subtly dug in, as if trying to utilize the recoil itself, and feints were mixed in.

It’s because this is a spar that she’s only using one feint at a time.

Since she’s swinging her sword with the assumption that I can win one in a hundred times if I maximize my potential, I can somehow manage to block them.

How do I know that? Because before I died, I was a swordsman confident enough to consider myself quite skilled! My eye for detail hasn’t died!

Clang! Kang! Whoosh!

Clashing, dodging, blocking, deflecting.

I faced her sword with all my might.

Sweat began to pour down my forehead like rain, and my entire body was already drenched and clammy with cold and hot sweat. The midsummer sun seemed to fan the temperature, making my body temperature likely exceed its usual limit.

Shick! Shick! Kang!

That makes ten.

The remaining two are crucial.

Especially the very last one, I must be careful.

And if I overcome that, within the level she adjusted for me……

The only way I can win will open!

Clang!

I block the short, cutting downward strike with my horizontally held sword.

That makes eleven!

The strike I must absolutely avoid is coming!

Bang! Crack!

After a short, sharp strike, she strikes down with all her might, gripping the sword with both hands. I block it with my horizontally held sword, but my strength is lacking and the sword is gradually being pushed back.

The sword slowly slides down……At this rate, my shoulder will be hit!

I grit my teeth.

One time.

Just one success is all I need.

If I succeed in the best deflection I can manage, one that I can’t do more than twice with my current body, my chance will come!

Crack! Kang!

My right hand, which will serve as the fulcrum of the lever. With my left hand behind it, I lift the sword with all my might and then, as I lower my right shoulder, I press down and lower the sword. At the same time, I pull my body back.

Whoosh!

The sword narrowly misses my shoulder and plunges down. A tremendous wind hits my face, proving the power of the sword.

If it had been a real sword, it would have been a strike that would have cut my sword in half the moment I blocked it.

Success!

I deflected it!

Right now, she’s lowered her level, but she’s facing me seriously. An ordinary swordsman would attack immediately after I dodge, but if we’re having a spar as close to actual combat as possible, she reveals that habit!

“Phew……”

The senses of my entire body are extremely heightened. Among them, I hear her breathing with my ears. That ‘habit’ that she herself revealed 10 years later, saying there was no need to hide it because she had already corrected it, the habit of momentarily releasing all the strength in her body, was revealed.

Levidian. Beautiful Sword King.

Your weakness was that you were too strong!

Whoosh!

At that moment, I dashed towards her with unprecedented speed and thrust my sword forward. I thrust my sword towards her neck, just enough to touch it, because that’s where her neck is.

Thud!

“Huh?!”

“Phew……Huff, Huff! Su……Success. Huff!”

All the tension in my body dissipated. As a result, my hand lost strength and I dropped my sword, and along with the sword, my body collapsed powerlessly towards the ground.

Clang! Thud!

I collapsed at her feet, having dropped my sword. Anyone who saw it would have thought I had collapsed after being defeated by her.

Ah……I’m out of breath.

“Huff! Huff! Cough! Cough!”

My throat felt parched. The sweat flowing from my entire body felt cool as it cooled down.

“Arisein?! What in the world……!?”

“Don’t come closer!”

My father’s panicked voice is followed by Levidian’s sharp voice. She probably has something to ask me. And she’s trying to prevent my father from hearing it.

Because she acknowledged only ‘me’.

It makes me feel good.

She adjusted her strength to a level where she thought I could win once in a hundred times, and I seized that one chance.

The gamble……was successful!

I created a result that could be called fantastic, completely different from the sixteen-year-old me in my memories.

“Huff! Haha……!”

“Ho, How……?”

Her trembling voice came from above. I heaved my shoulders with ragged breaths and looked at the sweat dripping from my face. The drops of sweat that left dark marks as they fell to the ground.

Thud. Plop. Thud.

I slowly raised my head. She stepped back slightly, creating a distance so that she could see me better. I forced a smile on my sweat-drenched face and spoke with effort.

The words I had prepared for this moment.

“When fighting Father……Huff! I saw it. Cough! Your weakness is……Cough! Hack! Cough! that you had no opponent. Phew……!”

My breathing calmed down a bit, but my heart was still racing. Is it because of the excessive movement? No. It’s because the thrill of success from winning the gamble is coursing through my entire body.

A thrilling pleasure rushes through me.

She asked hesitantly.

“Because I had no……opponent?”

“Yes. You are……strong. Phew. If you attacked with all your might, no one would be able to withstand twelve attacks, or the Seven Star……Cough! I heard rumors. That those who have faced you seriously so far couldn’t withstand the Seven Star. And that they couldn’t exchange more than ten blows.”

“And so?”

“After hearing the rumors and watching the spar with Father……I counted. The number of times your sword swings. And I paid close attention to the changes that occurred between them. Indeed, it was true. Even though the movements were different, you were unconsciously taking a breath at regular intervals.”

“Ah……!”

It seemed like she finally realized it. I smiled with satisfaction.

I said,

“That’s right. After every twelve attacks, you would put in a powerful strike and then take half a breath. Of course, if you had attacked with all your might, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand two swords, but thanks to you adjusting to a precarious level, I was able to seize the opportunity. And……You thought to yourself after you felt something was strange, didn’t you? If there had been someone who could spar with you at your usual level……you would have realized it quickly. However……you were too strong.”

She was too strong, so she won before her habit could be detected. Even if she adjusted her level, the pressure and burden of facing her would have prevented her opponents from noticing it.

She widened her eyes in disbelief and muttered softly.

“That’s……my habit……and my weakness……?”

“Yes. That’s right. Huff……!”

In fact, her habit is nothing. If it’s a habit that can’t be noticed because she’s too strong, it shouldn’t do any harm.

However, she was too strong.

She adjusted her strength to me, I pushed my limits and poured out my techniques, and thanks to my continuous study after knowing her weakness, this situation arose.

A miracle, truly a miracle, born from a coincidence upon coincidence upon coincidence.

I created a miracle myself.

Hahaha! It feels good!

May 27th, 372nd year of the Imperial Calendar.

Sword King Levidian became the swordsmanship teacher of the second son of the Herduke Dukedom, Arisein Herduke.

Not of the Herduke family, but a swordsmanship teacher who teaches only me.

Father asked if she could do something about my brother as well, but she flatly rejected the request. The expression my brother made at that time was truly a sight to behold. Khahahaha!

This is her reward for me recognizing her weakness and making her realize it. She decided to keep her word, what she had said before the spar.

Above all, since I won against her once, even though she adjusted her level, her main goal is to nurture me into someone who can defeat her.

It’s a rather peculiar aspiration to raise a disciple in order to lose, but for now, let’s celebrate the fact that I was able to bring the Sword King Levidian into my sphere of influence.

Ah, I need to listen to the lecture now.

“Skilled swordsmen each have their own rhythm. The best thing is to have no rhythm, but this is something all swordsmen have to go through. However, it’s something you need to get rid of as quickly as possible.”

“Like you, Teacher?”

“That’s right. And even if you get used to a rhythm in your body, it’s important to learn a new rhythm before it becomes a habit. If you mix dozens of rhythms, it’s like having no rhythm at all. In short, it’s about experience. If you don’t grasp your own habits, you can be caught off guard in a ridiculous way.”

When explaining swordsmanship, she has a gentle smile. Wouldn’t anyone be happy when teaching about their area of expertise? I looked at her and asked playfully.

“Like you, Teacher?”

“That’s right…….Grab your sword, Risel.”

Her eyes immediately turned cold.

Ugh, this is dangerous.

She’s about to declare ‘spar with actual combat’ and beat me to a pulp.

“T, Teacher, shouldn’t you finish the lecture first……?”

“Actual combat is the lecture. Risel, grab your sword. I am a swordsman. I don’t lay a hand on someone without a sword.”

L, Lay a hand!?

Isn’t this supposed to be teaching?

“Hurry up and grab it.”

She pressured me with a calm, expressionless face.

How can this be fair!

I just made a joke, and she’s trying to beat up her disciple!

I stood up and proudly puffed out my chest. I have nothing to be ashamed of. Logically, ethically, there’s nothing wrong with me. Her trying to beat me up is purely personal!

Therefore, I can proudly shout!

“Please spare me.”

I said it with genuine desperation.

I’ve been beaten up and learned for three days straight. If I get hit any more, I might actually die. No, why does she become merciless only when teaching swordsmanship? I’m against violent teachers. Boo hoo……

She looked at my expression and chuckled softly, then said in a slightly softened tone.

“It’s alright. I won’t kill you. Let’s put what you just learned into practice. I’ll attack by mixing in a certain rhythm. Try to read it and respond to the gaps.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

The first part of her words is a bit concerning, but I was relieved by her softened tone. At least I might only die half as much today. Hahaha……

Ah, even though I say that, I’m not happy at all.

“Then, here I go.”

“Yes!”

She raised her wooden sword and swung it at me, and I carefully observed as I blocked or deflected it.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Three, two, five, six……

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack, thwack!

I count the rhythm of the sword as it fiercely thrusts, cuts, retracts, and then lunges again, while simultaneously blocking each strike. It’s certainly a good way to make you focus on the opponent in front of you while also making you read the trajectory of the sword.

After blocking the sword for a while, I finally read the rhythm.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

Three. Then six!

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Six sword swings, and in the gap right after the rhythm breaks, I shout and thrust my sword forward.

“Haaat!”

Whoosh!

My wooden sword cuts through the air futilely.

For some reason, her gentle and beautiful voice penetrates my ears.

“Risel, you’re wrong.”

Thwack!

“Study.”

Hitting me hard enough to make me……faint……while speaking so gently……

With the feeling of my head splitting open, I lost consciousness right after that.

This is cheating……

When I wake up again, I won’t faint like this.

……That sounds familiar?

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