Before Lulu woke up from her long slumber and returned.
This was why Judith at the time when the Warrior’s Festival began didn’t receive attention from the continent.
It didn’t mean that she was weak. However, since the most powerful people on the continent had gathered there, it was no place for a 20-year-old kid.
In fact, those who wanted to win it only aimed for Ignet and didn’t pay attention to the younger ones.
Of course, it soon turned into a disaster for them.
In the nerve-racking battle with the mercenary king, who was known to be a winning candidate, she didn’t get pushed back.
She hones her skills again despite being on the edge of being an expert. And she almost got a victory against the Black Knights commander.
The most surprising thing was that she showed all of this when she wasn’t even a Master.
Right.
Judith was an expert.
She was aiming to be the best in the continent, and she had to master the six staged aura operation concept.
All her aspects were significantly inferior compared to Sword Master. Still, the reason she showed such overwhelming force to her competitors was because she had a spark in her heart which surpassed the common sense of swordsmanship.
She had advantages that make up for her shortcomings.
She had a strength that erased a weakness.
For Judith, who was truly a savage and only cared about demonstrating more explosive and powerful swordsmanship, the title of Master wasn’t important.
The Aura Sword didn’t matter.
And now.
A fierce flame was engulfing her sword ahead of her fight with her teacher.
“…”
Judith looked at the sword. This wasn’t something she got because she wanted it.
She was done with aiming for the fancy titles a long time ago.
What she really wanted was to be strong, and the most effective way to do that was to focus on the flame. Only that was important.
Nevertheless, the fact that the aura sword was on Judith’s sword was a bit of a shock.
She could do things without being concerned.
Even if she didn’t make an effort, she could pull out an aura sword and use it naturally.
The aura which was so dense that heat danced off the blade of the sword. An expert who surpassed the Master.
She had finally reached Master.
Although it was later than others, the price she had to pay for it was incomparably high.
However, looking at her opponent, her heart was concerned.
‘Can I win?’
Gulp.
Judith gulped.
Khun.
One of the top three swordsmen on the continent and fastest swordsman and just like her, he was someone who sought strength in a different way.
Perhaps, the teacher had also suppressed the Master level while being an Expert.
Nevertheless, he rose to Master level, and he was now one of the best in the continent. The disciple knew it better than anyone how great he was.
Unlike her, her teacher didn’t have a milestone. And it was a miracle.
Spit!
Judith spit on the floor.
Stop worrying. Anxiety, worries and all other emotions were thrown into the flames within her. The sword’s aura burned louder.
Wheik!
She felt energized.
Wheik!
The power within her exploded outwards. With the explosion, she launched herself ahead.
Khun didn’t avoid it.
The teacher could clearly see the agony in his disciple’s eyes and ran ahead.
Pung!
Slash!
“…!”
Judith’s sword flew through the air but didn’t cut through anything. The flame that seemed to engulf the world couldn’t even burn the clothes of an old man.
Shhh.
On the other hand, the young one’s clothes left clear traces of defeat.
Sleekly cut sleeves dropped to the ground.
Turning to the disciple, Khun said.
“Should we do more?”
“… of course, we have to.”
“It isn’t that important…”
Kwang!
Before he could even finish speaking, Khun raised his fist as he saw Judith who appeared in front of him.
The red-haired swordsman flew back 100 meters the next moment and crashed into a rock. A thick cloud of dust rose into the air with a roar.
“I expected it. You are more stubborn than me.”
“Kuak, kua…!”
“But don’t forget. I am not a caring person. Moreover, this is a sorcery world. A mysterious space where I can be resurrected even after death.”
Kkkking…!
Khun’s sword gradually turned transparent.
It wasn’t just the sword. Even his body was the same. Judith, who barely got up from her seat was shocked.
It wasn’t that he was becoming weak.
He had transcended the limits of his body. She instinctively felt this and realized that she could never defeat her teacher. Her body trembled in fear of the unknown.
“It is going to end with a few hits?”
“…”
“Then give up.”
“…”
“What is your answer?”
Judith heard Khun’s voice again.
An ultimatum.
It was the last warning from the man. He was telling her that if she wanted to go ahead with the duel, then he would do something terrible to his disciple.
At this, her body trembled and her hair stood up…
Wheik
And she raised her sword again.
“…”
“…”
Silence fell.
In the stillness, their eyes met. And the teacher tried to read his disciples’ thoughts.
She wished to spend more time with him, even going as far as to embrace the fear of death.
Kwang!
But he wasn’t a teacher who had a weak heart.
Khun drew his sword and then he moved a step. Then, the opponent that looked like a dot in the distance magnified in an instant. He could even see her surprised expression.
Either way, he swung his sword to cut the opponent in front of him.
Shak!
“… great. Whoever wins, let’s see it till the end.”
Khun, who made that decision, mumbled to himself.
No, he wasn’t talking to himself. But to Judith who had now resurrected. Embracing the bigger flame, she was now radiating more heat.
“Of course, I will win.”
“Why?”
“… are there any parents who would overcome their children?”
“…”
Khun stayed silent.
And Judith didn’t speak again. The two of them wouldn’t mix, but no one raised a question about it. And silently, each holding the sword, swung it towards their family member.
A lot of time had passed.
This meant that Judith had suffered countless losses to Khun.
It also meant that she had experienced several deaths. However, it wasn’t because of that.
The reason Judith didn’t continue to fight her teacher wasn’t because the skill gap couldn’t be narrowed…
“Now you realize.”
“…”
“What you want isn’t always what you get.”
… he was right.
The sword that Judith lit in the sorcery sphere and in the dark city of Godara was a sword that trampled on others. At the same time, it was a sword which wounded her.
However, what she wanted now was family and love.
Tuk.
Judith dropped her red sword and mumbled quietly.
“… then, what do I do?”
“…”
“What do I do so that we can stay together?”
“That…”
“Don’t say it cannot happen. You said it before. You told me not to sacrifice all my relationships. You asked me to be greedy. You asked me to not put anything in just one hand and to hold on to all of them.”
The cake she wanted to eat was snatched away by force. The nobles looked at her as if she was a worm.
Everything else, almost everything in the world could be obtained by winning fights.
But it couldn’t work now.
She didn’t want to admit it.
She cried. She frowned and cried.
Looking at his disciple who was blabbering weird things, her teacher sighed.
“Phew… I lost.”
“… Uh?”
“I said I lost. I cannot believe this. When did I ever say that? For the sake of the sword, I said don’t forsake the relationships you have, did I say something which makes you whine in front of someone who is dead? Ugh, fine. Let’s do it your way. I didn’t mean to do this…”
Hearing Khun’s voice gradually moving, Judith had an expression that said that she didn’t understand.
What her teacher said, it was running in her head.
She came to realize the importance of relationships again, but she understood that Khun didn’t mean for her to hold on to the dead.
She had to hold onto those in the real world… Bratt, Airn and Ilya.
‘Maybe that is why I was asked to get out of the dream.’
‘But why did he say he suddenly lost?’
‘Would he do as she wished?’
‘Why?’
Does sorcery bring the dead back to life?
“Follow me. Let’s have a drink before leaving.”
“…?”
With a confused expression still on her face, she followed her teacher. And the messy land behind her healed.
Judith was exhausted and burned out. But then she gradually tried to calm herself down.
And it had been so long since they did something unrelated to swords. And had real conversations, rather than speak lies.
Not all words which came from Khun’s mouths were to her liking, but she couldn’t choose what she wanted.
“As expected…”
“As expected?”
“No matter what happens, you cannot stay. Damn you have to stop it… does it solve anything?”
“…”
“Am I right? Uh?”
“… let’s make it right then.”
Khun sighed.
Judith kept looking at him with a smile and lowered her head. Her eyes kept closing. She didn’t like it. She wanted to drink more. She shook her head and shouted.
“Ah!”
In that moment, the landscape changed.
“…”
Judith looked around puzzled.
It didn’t last long.
There were demons around them. And behind them.
Even more powerful beings who were keeping eyes on her.
The red-haired swordsman who woke up from the dream mumbled in a sad voice.
“I woke up.”
But it wasn’t like she couldn’t handle.
Judith, who had unraveled the emotions, carefully unraveled the realization she gained through the dream.
“…”
Airn Pareira, who entered the new world through the new portal, slowly closed his eyes.
Information through his mind.
The map of the place he had to protect was vividly felt but he couldn’t sense the devil here.
‘it doesn’t matter how it is.’
Airn opened his eyes and looked at two places.
One side was the palace, the centre of the estate and the other side was a small village a little far from the palace.
The hero chose the latter.
‘For now, I don’t want to run into people.’
A place with as few people as possible.
He wished that there were no people there. that he would stay for the devil to appear.
Thinking that, Airn moved and entered the village.
The quest had begun.
A new person came into town.
