“Phew.”
After his consultation with Irene was done, Bratt Lloyd nodded with a stiff expression and left.
It didn’t look like he had any complaints.
However, the whole time he talked with Irene, he was sweating.
Although Irene was giving him advice to reconcile, it was no different from dating advice.
As Karakum said, for him, who was overwhelmed by just protecting others, love is a process of delicately exchanging emotions with the opposite sex… it was uncharted territory.
So, the advice he gave was basically useless.
Irene had just passed on what Ian had told him. In a way, it was Ian’s advice and not his.
‘I don’t know if I can give the same advice in different circumstances.’
"… still, Bratt is a lot smarter than me, so he will do fine."
Maybe he will do things in his own way.
Of course, even if he did, Irene wasn’t sure if the matter could be resolved.
Because Judith was a very difficult person to deal with.
‘… love.’
Irene remembered the words Bratt said as he walked into the training hall.
He didn’t feel it. For most of his life, he was pathetic, and his interpersonal relationships skills were so poor that making one friend was a proud thing for him.
Would he ever be able to love someone?
Conversely, will someone who likes him ever appear?
At that thought, he laughed.
He summoned the great sword.
‘For now, let’s focus on the Five Spirits Divine Technique.’
In order to rectify and sharpen the newly awakened aura of fire, Irene raised his convictions.
The aura he manifested was clumsy and crude compared to those of his companions, but the flame in his heart was stronger and bigger than anyone else.
While Irene was completing his beliefs through the memories of his previous life and refined his aura of fire,
Judith, too, was looking back on herself, remembering Irene’s past life.
She didn’t have good intentions like Irene.
And to be honest, she thought that the previous life of Irene was a stupid one.
If it were her, she would have chosen to go for revenge on those who ignored her and dealt with that clown as soon as she could.
So, by what aspect of the man did Judith's mind get influenced by?
‘Effort.’
Right.
35 years of hard work fueled by his terrifying tenacity.
That was what impressed her the most.
‘He wasn’t unsatisfied just because he slept a little less than others, and he still swung the sword a few times more than others.’
Obviously, Judith was a hard worker. And to the extent where others didn’t like it.
Even her schoolmates in Krono, who stood united for the sake of the sword, couldn't stand nor understand Judith and her hard work.
Even Keira Finn would tell her to take it easy.
So what?
If she was ever satisfied with what she did and didn’t practice, then… Irene, Ilya, and Bratt, would she ever be able to keep up with them?
Or Ignet Crescentia, who was ever stronger than her friends, would she be able to catch up with her?
What about Ian, Khun, and Julius Hul, who were like stars in the sky?
‘Unreasonable. I will never be able to catch up with them at my current level. However….’
If only she could work like the man who Irene was in his past life.
No, if she could embrace even half the poison and the fire burning inside of her, there was a chance.
The flame the man showed was intense and terrifying.
Even though at the end, i.e., the last day, he gave up and turned into a different being…
‘I don’t completely understand it, but my current aim is to become what that guy was in the past.’
Jump!
Judith, who was sitting in the chair, contemplated for a while before she stood up and headed to the training hall.
It didn’t matter if it was night. Now that all her thoughts were organized, she could practice diligently.
The hot flames were rising inside of her.
‘It’s not enough. It has to burn more.’
No matter how hot it was, it still wasn’t enough for her.
She didn’t care even if the flame burned her entire body and mind.
She knew that she would persevere. Rather, even the suffering she had to go through from the flames would be used as a new driving force.
Judith, who currently seemed as if she was the incarnation of fire, paused and caught her breath.
It was the moment when she was about to move the sword she held with utmost concentration.
“Judith.”
“…”
A familiar voice.
Judith didn’t look back. She swung her sword downwards.
However, contrary to her thoughts, the motion her sword went through wasn’t smooth. And that was because she was pulled out of her concentration.
Judith, knowing that, took another breath and swung her sword again.
Woong!
But she wasn’t satisfied. It was natural for her to feel that way. The ripples caused in the lake by the stone that was thrown kept spreading. 1
It took a while for her to calm down. If it was someone else, she could have calmed down immediately, but it was not the case with this person.
She looked back.
The person that was the closest to her, but was also more annoying than anyone else.
Bratt Lloyd.
As always, it was the moment she was about to swear at him for appearing here and disturbing her that he spoke,
“It has been long since we sparred.”
“…”
Judith frowned.
Although she was back to normal after the battles because of the treatment from the tribe, she was still injured.
The places she was hit by Garam still throbbed sometimes.
But Judith didn’t refuse him. That was her personality, and if not for that, she wouldn’t have been able to overcome the warrior’s ordeal.
And then she took her stance.
‘It is better to clash with swords than words.’
With that thought, it was the moment when she had decided to attack first, that Bratt spoke,
“What you said last time…that I was hiding my skills. You were right; I was hiding it.”
“What?”
“But it didn’t hide it on purpose.”
“What nonse…”
She was going to say nonsense.
But she couldn’t. Bratt Lloyd moved like a ghost and swung his sword fiercely against her.
Kang!
“Kuak…”
He kept coming hard. It wasn’t like a sword flowing like water, but rather like a ferocious and unforgiving waterfall.
Putting in more strength into his attacks, the blue-haired one said.
“I will show it to you, my sword.”
“… okay, do whatever you want!”
Clang!
Judith, who pushed her opponent away by force, went straight for Bratt. His eyes turned hot.
No, it wasn’t just his eyes. As Judith approached him, Bratt felt the pressure of a fireball coming at him.
And it wasn't just that; for some reason, Judith's sword was shining like a flame.
Kang!
Kang!
Sparks bounced off each time they clashed.
The aura mixed with it created a great deal of fear.
A fear which an individual can never feel in his normal life. Judith’s momentum constantly stimulated this fear.
This wasn’t just swordsmanship.
Her movements.
Her gaze.
And her breathing.
Indeed, the energy of the flames in each of her actions seemed hot and terribly fierce and kept bothering her opponent, Bratt. There was clear annoyance etched on his face.
‘Good.’
Judith smiled.
This was the same feeling she felt in her match with Garam.
The flame had destructive power, but the greatest strength of the fire was the fear it caused. 2
The fire which was threatening and caused even greater pain than anything else, and it constantly stimulated fear in the opponent.
It weakened the opponent and broke down their will.
Furthermore, it restricted their movements and ultimately made it impossible for them to even move their sword.
Rather than simply pressuring an enemy with force… she chose overwhelming violence!
Judith, who found her path, swung her sword with a ferocious laugh. Swing, swing, swing.
She seemed as innocent as a child with a new toy in her hand.
The sword, and the flame she had created on the sword were so hot and wild, that it felt like it could cover the whole world.
…. It was after around 10 minutes that her attack pattern continued like this when she felt something unusual happening.
‘What?’
It was strange.
Clearly, Bratt Lloyd was being pushed back.
But she could feel that he was just focused on defense and being in a state of inferiority in the battle. His expressionless face and the sweat dripping down from his forehead proved it.
However, Judith wasn’t at ease.
For some reason, her chest felt tight, and her body felt heavy.
It was as if she was wearing a drenched rag all over her body.
A moisture that the flames couldn't blow away, seemed to seep into her body.
‘This bastard, he used something.’
Judith clenched her teeth.
She had been through something like this before.
An aura operation, which restricted the movement by scattering the aura like it imitated a swamp. She remembered him saying this, after which she called him out for being weird.
However, the current method was not that.
It wasn’t moisture.
Nor was it swampy.
At some point, Bratt Lloyd’s aura had scattered all around and had begun to change like pure blue water.
Kwaaahh!
There was no real sound.
But Judith had heard it. The sound of waves crashing on rocks could be heard from all directions.
From the left, right, and even from behind as well, Judith swung her flaming sword to clear the waves that were coming from behind.
But it was in vain. The current counterattack from Judith may have worked against Bratt's attack in the past, but now when he carefully planned the attack since the beginning of the fight, just swinging her sword at the technique didn’t bring in any results.
It was as if a dam had burst at the same time from all three sides. As she realized something, Judith made an angry impression.
In the end, the path left was only the one in front of her.
All she could do now, was to break through from the side Bratt Lloyd was standing in, which was open.
Judith clenched her teeth and gave strength to her feet as she moved ahead.
Or rather, it was at the moment she tried to do that.
Puah!
The waves of aura that were coming from the three sides vanished. It was like the energy had lost momentum and had collapsed.
However, that wasn’t what caught Judith’s eyes.
Bratt Lloyd staggered for a second and coughed up a lot of blood.
Judith, who saw that, threw away her sword and quickly ran to support him before he collapsed.
Making Bratt's head lay on her lap, she said.
“What is this!”
“Did you see? My sword…”
“No, fuck that, what is this now? Why are you coughing up blood all of a sudden!”
Judith’s concerned face made Bratt laugh.
Recently, whenever he approached her, she had a blank face, but now, it had changed.
Seeing that she was worried for him, Bratt thought.
‘Not bad.’
It was true that it was unreasonable for him to use that technique.
An Aura operation which slowly and secretly spread around, and then pressed on the opponent like an incoming wave from all sides as soon as it was ready.
If he succeeded, then it would be strong, but it was difficult with his current skills.
It was for this reason that he had to hide his achievement from Judith.
Because he didn’t think that he needed to show it until he perfected it.
‘Because it would have been cooler to show her when it was completed…’
However, after hearing Irene’s words, Bratt’s thoughts changed.
Whether it was complete or not didn’t matter.
If it looked nice now or if it looked cooler later, it was a discussion that could be had at a later time.
When Bratt asked what the most important thing for resolving conflicts and reconciliation was, Irene’s answer to it was to ‘convey one’s true feelings’.
That was why Bratt forced himself to use it.
It was because he thought that showing his sword was the best way to convey his sincerity.
‘Irene told me about a letter, but… in the end, swordsmen speak with swords. And writing a letter is pretty embarrassing.’
If he even tried to write a letter conveying his feelings, he was sure Judith would look at him as if he was a madman.
Thinking about it, he preferred it to have gone this way.
“Crazy bastard, why are you laughing? Explain what happened! Just what happened now?”
“Ah… don’t shake my body. It hurts.”
“Then explain it already!”
“Okay, okay.”
Hearing Judith’s urging, Bratt slowly explained it.
There were a couple coughs in between. And each time he coughed, there was more blood, and the concern on Judith’s face grew.
Seeing that, Bratt thought.
‘It was good that I overdid it.’
He was hurting, but it wasn’t that serious.
However, he intentionally bit his mouth, thinking that if more blood came, it would be more effective.
And thinking about the advice Irene gave, he wanted to use a little trickery. This was Bratt’s way.
But Judith didn’t know that.
Had she known, instead of supporting him, she would have thrown fists and kicks at him, but now, her hands were full of delicateness.
And it was cute to see.
Which was why Bratt spoke the truth.
“Judith.”
“What?”
“I like...”
“…?”
Judith’s face, which had been blank for a moment, then turned into beet red.
The stone here refers to the voice that she heard, and the lake is her mind; the ripples are her thoughts.↩For the spirit of fire, I have interchangeably used flame as well as fire because, at certain times, flame fits the situation more than fire does. I have been doing this for a few chapters but this chapter there were multiple instances, even in the same sentence, so i didn't want you guys getting confused.↩
