The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

The next morning, I moved to the barracks of the Royal Knight Order.

“Th-this is the Royal Knight Order…”

I wasn’t alone.

Since I needed to not only exercise in the morning but also properly assist Lucia with her training, I chose this nearby place where I could roughhouse and which I was very familiar with.

As it was Lucia’s first time at the knight order’s barracks, she appeared quite tense, her movements creaking as she walked.

“W-wait! It says ‘No Entry for Unauthorized Personnel’ here. Am I allowed to go in?”

“Of course. Instructor Andy already gave the green light.”

With nothing better coming to mind, I decided to throw Andy under the bus.

Sure, he’s just a retired regular member now; it’s hard to see how he has any power, but to Lucia, who knew nothing, it seemed believable.

The reason I was going through this hassle to use the Royal Knight Order’s facilities was that they were top-notch.

It’s hard to find a place where I could unleash myself like this.

While all the members have skills at the expert level or above, the training ground looked unassuming but was built to be incredibly sturdy.

The sparring area applied similar technology to the Special Arena at the Academy. No matter how much we rampaged, you wouldn’t even know what was happening outside.

Since it wouldn’t be fun just to bother the regular members, I headed to the area that was designated for the higher-ups.

As I passed by, some fresh-faced girls glanced over, captivated, but they didn’t dare go beyond that.

It seems some people recognized me from my previous visit.

After walking a bit, I soon arrived at the executive sparring area.

“Hey, it says ‘In Use’ over there?”

Upon arriving at the sparring area, I saw a sign indicating it was in use.

It’s a simple setup where you place the sign when you leave and put it back afterward.

At a glance, it looked like someone was inside, but I wasn’t fooled.

“Who would use it at this hour? That’s just a trick to reserve it.”

It was early morning, and this was the executive sparring area; there couldn’t possibly be any idle person wanting to use it at this time.

Surely, someone left it up to save it for later; common practice around here.

Ignoring it, I opened the door.

-Clang!!

Suddenly, a shocking wave hit me like an explosion.

“Who just walked in without permission?!”

As I stepped inside, familiar faces were there.

“I really didn’t think there would be anyone inside!”

Seeing us burst in, they exploded in anger, but when they saw me and Casey at the front, their expressions softened.

“…What’s this? You back already?”

“Isn’t that Atlas! It’s been years. Hey, I almost forgot your face.”

In front of me were two terrifyingly strong men—one with bright orange hair and the other towering at around 2 meters—engaged in sparring.

Both were executives of the Royal Knight Order, Vermilio and Sestas, and it was odd to see them using the sparring area this early.

I thought there would be a regular meeting with the commander scheduled for this time; how were they here instead?

“What sort of sparring are you doing at dawn? Isn’t there a meeting today?”

“The Commander said there was no meeting today due to other business. He’s probably off gallivanting without a clue about what’s going on out here.”

Anger brewed up as I thought about how I had been ruthlessly hacking down demons, yet here they were, leisurely sparring.

“If being out in the field looks easy, why not offer support to the border guard? Our esteemed seniors are struggling to keep their hands from turning black fighting those demons, and you act like this.”

“You know, saying that from you comes off really weird, right?”

“Yeah, I get it.”

It felt strange for me, who often acted rebellious, to be trying to take on a senior role, and Vermilio frowned deeply.

“…Uh… do you two know each other?”

Oh crap, I realized this could get messy.

I only intended to quietly spar and leave, but I casually let slip that we knew each other.

Lucia, who thought I only got in through Andy’s introduction, looked puzzled, while those who were in the loop stared at me, curious about how I would handle it.

I casually nudged Lucia’s sleeve and covered my mouth with my hand, signaling for a secretive talk, which made her bend down.

Due to her height difference, Lucia had to bend nearly 90 degrees to listen to me.

I whispered in her ear when she was close enough.

“Actually, we knew each other while I was an adventurer.”

“…Really?”

I decided to be bold and tell a blatant lie.

I wondered if Lucia would believe this, but since I mentioned I wasn’t just any adventurer but one of the Mithril rank, it should stick somewhat.

“What about saying you returned…?”

“I meant I quit being an adventurer to go to the Academy, but now that I’m back, isn’t it reasonable to say I returned as an adventurer?”

“O-oh, I get it. So you knew people from the Royal Knight Order too?”

“Exactly.”

“So that’s why you were close with Instructor Andy?”

“Kind of.”

It seemed that had been smoothed over somehow.

Although Lucia was making a face as if she wondered what on earth I was talking about, she understood that I wouldn’t let her off if she talked nonsense.

“And… I need to borrow this place.”

When I said it brazenly, River, who had been following behind, grabbed my arm.

“Atlas, they were using it before us, is it really okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Of course, it’s fine.

The real problem is the ones sweating it out at this hour.

“What do you mean it’s fine! It’s still our time to use it!”

When I hinted to just get lost, Vermilio, still not getting it, shouted, and I hoisted my sword over my shoulder and gave him a little wave.

“If you’re unhappy about it, come at me. It looks like you were about to finish up, right?”

“Yeah… and I’ve gotten stronger too. This time, it’s your turn to be slapped to the ground…!!”

Vermilio made a fierce face and unleashed his aura.

Though the power was definitely that of a top-tier expert, Sestas grabbed Vermilio by the nape and lifted him off the ground.

“Heheh, Vermilio, let’s save the rest for later.”

“What?! Sestas, you!! Are you scared of him?!”

“Not really, but it looks like watching these newcomers face off will be more entertaining. Just look over there.”

“I don’t care about that!!”

Sestas chuckled and stepped back to the sidelines.

It seemed he had no intention of leaving at all.

“Atlas, are you seriously just going to train rookie recruits? You’re picking only raw gems, aren’t you?”

I didn’t bother to reply.

He’d interpret it however he wanted.

“Now that we’re all set, let’s prepare.”

“Is this really okay?”

The two of them standing at the corner looked burdensome.

But let’s allow this much.

—

Three people urgently needed to improve their skills: Amy and River, who were sharing the protagonist’s fate, and Lucia, whom I made a promise to train.

Lucia learned swordsmanship like me, so it would be quite easy to teach her, and River’s sword skills were decent enough for feedback; but the problem was still Amy.

To put it nicely, her swordsmanship was efficient but could also be seen as a collection of derivatives.

While she did use a sword, she also sometimes pulled out a gun holstered at her side or threw bombs.

My sword style was strictly classical, so while I could offer advice to Amy, teaching her how to execute it properly was out of the question.

Amy might say it’s fine, but I still felt uneasy about it.

“You three, come spar with me.”

“Ugh, not you again?”

“If you can’t beat me, you’ve got no hope.”

This spar was crucial for Lucia’s short-term growth, so Casey was to face off against River and Amy.

Though they’d fought several times before, those two hadn’t even come close to touching Casey yet.

That’s because Casey used Telekinetic Magic and precise stabs to never allow her opponents within her range.

“Maybe I…”

“You’re just watching.”

I picked Gemma, who probably wouldn’t know how to control her strength, to be the observer.

“Lucia, are you ready to give it a shot?”

“…Yeah.”

Both grabbed their swords with both hands.

When using a greatsword, it’s typically held with two hands, while everything else is done one-handed.

Personally, I had mastered various sword styles, so I could swap them as needed, but the basics were like this.

“Haah…”

Taking a deep breath, I connected my meridian to my own being through my foot placement.

It was like the ground was rising instead of just stepping on a stone.

I released my aura lightly around me, creating an invisible barrier.

This barrier would trap or crush an enemy like an unseen hand.

Usually, instead of spreading my aura like this, I’d gather it all into one sword, forming an Aura Blade.

This was the difference between greatsword and standard sword styles.

It was the intention behind creating an Aura Blade to slice everything down versus the intention to crush everything.

“Ha…ah!!!”

As Lucia took a step and swung her sword, an invisible mass of aura struck down like a hammer.

I, too, used my barrier to counter her assault.

-Thud!!

“Ugh…!!”

The impact from our intangible swords clashing sent dust flying everywhere.

It seemed we were evenly matched at first; then Lucia wobbled.

“Uah!!”

As her knees buckled, she toppled like a falling tower.

“Ouch…”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah…”

Seeming shocked by losing the power struggle, Lucia stood up with a sulky expression.

Though it happened several times before, she always grew moody after every loss—her fighting spirit was impressive.

“Right now, we used the same amount of aura. How did it feel?”

“It felt heavier.”

“Even if you used the same power and size, it varies based on how you released it.”

“…So you’re saying I still lack skill?”

“Precisely.”

This time, rather than just sparring, I explained the nuances one by one, and she quickly picked it up.

Then I remembered something we hadn’t tried before.

I went around behind Lucia and put my hands on her back.

“Huah?!”

Lucia let out a strange sound, clearly startled by the contact.

“Want to give it another shot?”

“…Uh-huh.”

Once more, Lucia exuded her aura to seize control of the space.

‘Her smaller stature makes her stance look awkward.’

If we were closer in height, it wouldn’t look so strange, but Lucia was much taller than me, making it difficult to position my hands on her back.

However, this wasn’t the time to worry about it.

I focused intently on what was happening within Lucia’s body.

It was almost similar to what I was doing but with subtle differences.

This must be the fine line between the sword of rock and the sword of a mountain.

In the end, the essence was the same, so I focused on that part.

‘Was this the issue?’

As I concentrated, I noticed not just a single difference but several awkward twists in her flow.

These distortions were likely continuously hindering her power.

“Hmm… let’s try this.”

“Huah?!”

I injected my aura into her to help realign her flow.

Immediately, the pressure around us grew stronger.

The control increased significantly.

“How’s that? Feeling better?”

“Uh, uhhh?? Uh… it’s good! Really good!”

“It’s probably a bit different from what you were doing; can you remember it?”

“Uh… I’m not sure yet. Maybe I need to do it a few more times?”

Lucia’s face turned remarkably red, visibly flustered.

“Sure. Then let’s do it a few more times.”

After all, I only came here to show my face for a bit.

After our sparring, we’d grab lunch and then head to Titan’s Territory.

—

In the office where the Head of the Titan Family had lived the longest, two people sat with grim expressions.

“…The day has finally come.”

“Lady… no, Head of the House, you will do well.”

One was Metios Titan, the current head of the Titan Family, and the other was a long-serving butler of the Titans.

“Yes, that’s how it must be.”

In front of Metios lay several letters spread out.

Each was sealed with the sigil of prominent families.

Various clans were beginning to converge around the mountain range.

Those gathering in the territory were all families settled in Blade Mountain, and it was time for a meeting where all the families of Blade Mountain would discuss their future.

This was Metios Titan’s first meeting as the new head of the Titan Family.