Reincarnated as a Genius Prodigy of a Prestigious Family - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Reincarnated as a Legendary Talent Genius of a Noble Family Episode 35

 

 

 

14. The Academy Hides Swordsmanship (2)

 

 

Full-time professors each receive a kind of ‘research lab’ allocation from the Academy.

Full-time professors in the Magic Department get laboratories or training grounds needed for magical training, Summoning Department professors get spaces suitable for summoning beasts, and Spear Arts Department professors get training grounds good for practicing spear arts.

In Keltas’s case, it was a small training ground.

At most, enough for only one or two people to train?

Even that was hard to call a training ground.

On one side hung a hammock, and there was a sign saying “Training in Progress” that clearly hadn’t been flipped to the other side.

Keltas naturally moved the hammock aside and opened the door.

Then, with a clattering sound, practice weapons came tumbling down in a row.

“….”

It was proof that he hadn’t trained in a long time. But Keltas calmly picked up one of the scattered weapons and handed it to Dane.

“Will this do?”

“Yes.”

And Dane also accepted the weapon as if he didn’t particularly care.

Did he not know, or was he pretending not to know?

It didn’t matter either way.

“We’ll begin the test now.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“The test is… right, let’s do it this way. If you can successfully land even one attack on me with that sword, I’ll consider you to have basic skills.”

It was ridiculous.

No matter how long it had been since Keltas put down his sword and lived like a idle gentleman—nearly 10 years—he hadn’t won the position of Imperial Knight Commander through a card game.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’ll only move within 2 steps. That should be penalty enough, shouldn’t it?”

Dane showed no particular reaction.

He just stared intently at the sword.

‘He must be at a loss. Hehe.’

Keltas smiled inwardly.

He could use this as an excuse to give a suitable ‘evaluation’ and be done with it.

After returning from vacation and hastily looking up the academy rules, he found that even the professors in the Liberal Arts Department were ‘liberal.’

What this meant was that the professor’s evaluation method was also simple.

Regardless of the student’s chosen major or grades in classes taken, the professor could adjust evaluations at their discretion.

So Keltas planned to send this fellow to another major as quickly as possible, even if it took just one semester, and return to his leisurely life.

‘There’s nothing better for finding fault.’

But Keltas couldn’t help but tilt his head at Dane’s response that finally came.

“You said I just need to successfully attack once, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Understood.”

Did he mean he could do it?

“Take your stance.”

Professor Keltas created distance while casually gripping the sword he had picked up earlier with one hand.

A silent warning that he was far above him and there was no possibility of successfully landing an attack.

But something was strange.

‘Why… does this stance look familiar?’

Dane was holding the sword.

However, it wasn’t the neat, textbook stance of those trained in knight orders or noble family children.

Rather, he was watching him while holding the sword with only one hand, letting it hang down.

But he couldn’t see any ‘openings’ in that stance.

At a glance, one might wonder what kind of stance that was, but Keltas clearly saw it.

‘Why does that fellow come to mind?’

The Imperial Knight Order was an organization that protected the Imperial Family.

But just once, he had gone to the front lines of the war with the Drenik Empire for battlefield inspection.

There he saw it.

An enemy ‘warrior’ mercilessly cutting down the knights of the Alteon Empire.

He wore no insignia, flag, or badge symbolizing a knight. He simply wore light armor and wielded an unremarkable sword.

But none of the knights he faced were a match for him.

Unlike the standardized sword paths of knights, his weapon was the irregularity fiercely acquired on the battlefield.

Moreover, when his sword broke, rather than panicking, he would fight with the broken sword and then grab any sword nearby to continue fighting with that tenacity.

‘That fellow’s name was…’

Just as he was trying hard to recall the impressive enemy knight, it happened.

“I’m coming.”

“Come at me anytime.”

At Dane’s words, Keltas spread both arms wide.

But soon he had to narrow his outstretched arms.

‘Good heavens.’

Dane suddenly rushed forward and just as he seemed to reach close range, he suddenly twisted the direction of his sword from honestly thrusting toward the stomach to Keltas’s neck.

“Gasp.”

Clang!

He blocked it easily, he definitely deflected it, but…

It was chilling.

To think such an irregular sword path existed.

But that wasn’t the end.

Whoosh!

Dane stopped the deflected sword with his body’s momentum, then used that elasticity to slash in again. This time it was a low attack.

Just as Keltas was considering whether to jump up or step back to avoid it, Dane bent it and attempted a diagonal upward slash.

Clang!

This time too, it was blocked.

But Keltas was becoming increasingly flustered.

‘Does this make sense?’

Kids this age, no, even fellows who were fully grown often failed at honest sword paths of swinging and thrusting.

But this fellow was going beyond that, attacking by twisting his sword path in completely unpredictable directions.

If you don’t know, you have no choice but to dodge.

If you know and deflect it, you need to have that level of skill.

In other words, unless you were Keltas or a skilled fighter of his caliber, it would be difficult to block these sword strikes.

For reference, Keltas had 6 cores.

That meant Hexa-class.

Of course, it had been a long time since he put down his sword, but that didn’t mean his swordsmanship had completely disappeared.

‘I can’t let my guard down here.’

Moving only within 2 steps.

Why was he regretting the penalty he had set for himself?

Against a mere 14-year-old kid!

No, more than that.

Clang!

‘Why is this fellow good at swordsmanship?’

Keltas, who had deflected Dane’s third attack, felt puzzled.

Magic, spear arts, summoning.

On top of that, a fourth talent?

“To the side.”

Just then, Dane’s sword approached.

Keltas had become so deeply lost in thought that he reflexively twisted his body to the side following Dane’s shout.

Of course, just as before, he expected Dane’s sword to pretend to strike the side but actually thrust forward, so he defended the front…

Thud.

It touched.

Dane’s sword, against his collar.

“Huh.”

Keltas found himself at a loss for words.

The collar touched by the sword was torn.

‘He knows how to release mana through his sword too?’

A practice sword could easily tear a collar or two.

But it couldn’t cut this cleanly.

“It seems I’ve made contact.”

This fellow is a genius.

An absurd genius at that.

I don’t know how many cores this fellow has.

But against himself who possessed six cores, he had cut through his collar using pure swordsmanship alone.

Keltas couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Dane, who had already lowered his sword.

“Yes, you made contact.”

Keltas honestly acknowledged it.

And then he asked.

“Why didn’t you apply to the Swordsmanship Department with such talent?”

He became genuinely curious.

With skill enough to graze the collar of himself, a Hexa-class knight, why hadn’t he chosen swordsmanship when selecting his three majors for the Liberal Arts program?

“I thought my family would be sad.”

“What?”

Spear Arts, Magic, Summoning Arts.

Dane had chosen the remaining three talents he had learned and developed from his family, excluding assassination which was impossible to choose from the start.

Of course, these were words Keltas couldn’t understand.

But one thing was certain.

This fellow was a genius.

A genius of swordsmanship and a genius of talent.

Now he understood why the three Department Heads had unanimously passed him, and why there had been no particular disturbance when he said he would test his swordsmanship.

‘Damn, no backing out now.’

Keltas realized that dark clouds had gathered over his leisurely rest.

Originally, he had planned to play around moderately and then nitpick, saying he had no talent for swordsmanship and would need to pass through his guidance as a professor if he wanted to stay in this major.

And he had planned to just make him do some swordsmanship training and be done with it…

It had all come to nothing.

Keltas was merely upset about not being able to rest, but he wasn’t shameless enough to ignore this insane talent before his eyes.

“…You may go back now. I’ll call for you again soon.”

Now he was stuck having to actually do his job as a professor.

‘What a damn mess this has become.’

But why was it?

Why was he becoming curious about the boy before him?

“Yes, thank you, Professor.”

It was then, as Keltas stood there dazed, about to plan his curriculum.

“Oh, Professor. You moved more than two steps at the end.”

At Dane’s words, Keltas looked down.

He had definitely moved more than ‘two steps’ from where he had been standing earlier.

“Hehe.”

Keltas let out a hollow laugh with a complex expression.

Then he suddenly remembered.

‘Agrik.’

The name of that warrior who was born on the battlefield and later ended his life on the battlefield, whom Duke Termion had once highly praised.

 

 

Professor Keltas’s test was quite impressive.

It wasn’t a life-or-death battle like on the battlefield, but even so, I gave it my all.

Professor Keltas was a master I could never defeat with Dane Sogress’s current body, no matter how hard I tried.

Perhaps that’s why I seemed to have thrown everything I could at him, and it felt good.

And I never expected that deception tactic to work at the end.

If it had been a real fight, I would have lost due to the overwhelming difference in cores without even crossing swords a few times.

But looking at the situation alone, I had definitely landed a blow on Professor Keltas.

By the way, I didn’t know there would be a test.

Still, I’m glad I passed.

I know this too.

That the professorship in the Liberal Arts Department is essentially an honorary position.

But he’s still the supervising professor, and passing that supervising professor’s test carries considerable meaning.

For example…

“Dane.”

There, Little Sister who had been standing restlessly and immediately ran over as soon as she saw me.

“Was everything okay? The professor didn’t say you were bothersome, did he?”

Little Sister looked me over from head to toe, checking if I had any injuries. I burst into laughter at how cute she looked.

“I’m fine, nothing happened.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He tested me, and I passed.”

“You passed a test?”

Little Sister’s eyes widened.

“Why?”

“That’s strange. Professor Keltas isn’t someone who would give a test you could pass…”

What kind of professor is he that Little Sister would say such things?

“That professor has only attended faculty meetings exactly once so far. And even then, only when the Dean called him. He absolutely hates anything bothersome.”

“…”

He was an even more remarkable person than I thought.

“So I was worried about what he might say to you or what he might make you do, given his personality, so I came to check…”

I passed that kind of person’s test.

Certainly, under normal circumstances, passing such a test would be impossible.

Being a former Imperial Knight Order Commander with Hexa-class skills, he could sweep away several carriages’ worth of freshmen while standing in place.

“I’m really relieved, Dane.”

Little Sister doesn’t say things like “as expected of our Dane.” She just always feels relieved that I’m safe.

This is one of the reasons I like Little Sister.

“You don’t need to worry so much.”

“How can I not? I’m going to keep looking after you while I’m working as a teaching assistant, so don’t say things like that.”

“Sister, you’ll be busy with your own work. I’ll manage fine on my own. I have friends, and I hear there are clubs too. Though I’m not thinking of joining any yet.”

“Friends? Ah, you mean Leila? The young lady of the Termion Ducal House. She’s pretty. By the way, so the valedictorian and salutatorian are sticking together?”

It seems we’re destined to attract attention wherever we go.

Well, whatever.

Being the center of attention isn’t a bad thing, and I actually welcome it.

“Get along well. Having one friend you click with will be a comfort throughout your entire Academy life.”

That sounds right.

In that sense, Leila, who always tries to teach me various things, is a good fellow.

“Dane. You couldn’t even stop by the dormitory earlier because the Professor kept you, right? I’ll take you there.”

In the midst of all this, Little Sister seems endlessly worried about me.

I was about to say I could find my way there just fine, but seeing Little Sister’s eyes full of concern, I gave up and surrendered.

“Yeah. Okay.”

I suddenly became curious.

Would walking with Leila, the young lady of the Termion Ducal House, attract more attention, or would walking with Little Sister, the genius of the Summoning Department and the ‘Terror Teaching Assistant,’ attract more attention?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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