Chapter 430: You Guys Never Let Me Join!
"Your ability to learn swordsmanship just by watching keeps getting more terrifying. You can even reproduce a technique at this level."
Luke looked at Ikki with genuine admiration.
Ikki supposedly had no talent whatsoever as a Blazer, yet when it came to swordsmanship—or martial arts in general—his talent was frighteningly high.
"I wouldn't call it 'reproducing' yet. At most, I can barely use it."
Ikki shook his head. He understood his current level very well.
"I'm only benefiting from Ittou Shura."
"I already have experience achieving complete control over my body, so I was able to learn this swordsmanship just by watching."
"Otherwise, even finding the right direction probably wouldn't have been this easy."
As Ikki spoke, he wiped the sweat from his face with the towel around his neck and adjusted his breathing.
Then he walked aside and planted a prepared iron pipe upright on the ground.
His training did not stop at cutting wood with paper.
The next stage was cutting iron with paper!
However, he could not accomplish that yet.
Ikki was attempting the next stage early partly to show Luke his current progress and partly because he hoped to receive some advice.
Back at Hagun Academy, Luke and Ikki had always trained like this.
Although Luke's guidance had gradually become less frequent, the habit remained.
—!
The sheet of paper in Ikki's hand instantly transformed into a streak of white sword light and slashed toward the iron pipe!
The strike was unbelievably fast.
Yet it made no sound whatsoever!
The instant Ikki moved, Luke understood his problem.
Before the paper blade could reach the iron pipe, Luke quietly formed a hand seal with his right hand.
Whoosh—!
Blue starlight flickered as a gentle breeze suddenly swept through the clearing.
For a swordsman of Ikki's level, such a weak breeze should never have affected his strike.
That remained true even when his weapon was merely paper.
However, reality proved otherwise.
The harmless breeze brushed across the sheet.
In that instant, the previously razor-sharp white strike completely collapsed and vanished into the air.
Under the conflicting forces, the sheet of paper immediately crumpled into a useless ball.
The unexpected result made Ikki stop.
He carefully examined the ruined paper sword in his hand.
"You're concentrating too much."
Luke's voice reached him at that moment.
"To use this swordsmanship, you're controlling your entire body with complete focus."
"You haven't left yourself even the slightest room to adjust midway. I shouldn't need to explain why that's a problem."
"Don't obsess over it too much."
"This swordsmanship is certainly powerful, but in the end, it's still only swordsmanship. Swordsmanship isn't everything in a battle."
Luke's words immediately gave Ikki something to think about.
The principle itself was simple.
Even without Luke pointing it out, Ikki probably would have realized it himself before long.
He had simply become too fixated on mastering the technique.
Or perhaps Luke's performance today had placed even greater pressure on him, causing him to become slightly tunnel-visioned.
A simple reminder was enough for him to understand.
Ikki sighed.
Just as he was about to say something to Luke, another voice suddenly came from behind them.
"Hey! You two are seriously too much!"
"You're secretly doing special training without inviting me?!"
A red-haired girl approached.
The flames floating around her clearly revealed that she was not in a particularly good mood.
She puffed out her cheeks and glared unhappily at Luke and Ikki.
"Stella…"
"Hmph!"
"Come on, don't be angry. I only happened to pass by."
Luke smiled helplessly and pointed toward the towel around Ikki's neck.
"See? I didn't even bring a towel."
"I was just out walking, heard something over here, and came to take a look."
After hearing Luke's explanation, Stella stopped being angry.
Truthfully, she had never been genuinely angry in the first place.
She was merely upset that Luke and Ikki had seemingly gone off to have fun without her.
Stella had actually knocked on both Luke and Ikki's doors, hoping to chat or train together.
But neither of them had been there.
So she wandered outside alone in a gloomy mood, feeling as though she had been left behind.
She had felt just a little lonely.
Later, she happened to pass the park, heard the sounds from inside, and followed them here.
Now that she knew she had not deliberately been excluded, Stella immediately felt better.
In fact, the three of them meeting here by coincidence gave her a strange sense of fate that made her rather happy.
"Speaking of which, Ikki, your training is really weird."
"What exactly are you practicing?"
Once Stella's mood recovered, her curiosity immediately took over.
With her excellent eyesight, she had naturally seen Ikki attempt to cut the iron pipe using only paper.
Unlike Luke, however, Stella had absolutely no idea what the purpose of the exercise was.
Fortunately, she could simply ask.
The three of them had long since become accustomed to interacting this way.
Hearing Stella's question, Ikki looked somewhat awkwardly toward Luke first.
Only after Luke nodded did he answer.
"I'm practicing that transcendent swordsmanship I saw Luke use during his matches over the past two days."
"Transcendent swordsmanship?"
Stella tilted her head, failing to understand immediately.
Then realization struck her the next second.
She turned so sharply in shock that she nearly twisted her neck.
"D-Don't tell me you mean T-T-Twin-Wings Sword Style?!"
Stella stared at Ikki in disbelief.
She immediately turned toward Luke, clearly seeking confirmation.
She would rather believe Luke and Ikki were teaming up to tease her again.
It certainly would not have been the first time.
But Twin-Wings Sword Style was simply too outrageous!
"Is swordsmanship at that level really something you can just casually learn?!"
"D-Don't tell me you've been giving Ikki private lessons, Luke!"
"I want to learn too!!!"
Seeing Stella become so excited, Luke quickly waved a hand for her to calm down.
The three of them were standing in a park surrounded by trees and vegetation.
If Her Highness became too excited and accidentally lost control of her strength, they might end up starting a forest fire.
"This really had nothing to do with me."
"Ikki learned it himself. I only found out after seeing him training just now."
"As for teaching you… I certainly could, but you should understand how difficult it would be."
Luke looked at Stella with amusement.
He knew Stella did not genuinely intend to learn it…
Actually, that was not quite right.
She definitely wanted to learn it.
But Stella herself knew there was a very high chance she could not master it easily.
She was mostly just saying it because the opportunity sounded tempting.
Her pursuit of swordsmanship was nowhere near as obsessive as Luke's or Ikki's.
Stella walked the path of overwhelming power.
It was the kingly path of crushing everything head-on.
Her talent for swordsmanship was certainly not poor.
She was easily talented enough to be called a genius.
But compared with monsters like Luke, Edelweiss, and Ikki, she was still more than one level behind.
If Stella genuinely devoted herself to Twin-Wings Sword Style, it was not impossible for her to learn it.
However, doing so would require a very long period of intense and dedicated training.
Stella still had enormous room for improvement in developing her own abilities.
For her, spending that much time pursuing Twin-Wings Sword Style would simply not be worth the investment.
…
…
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