The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 10

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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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Chapter 10 5. A Foundation for Growth (1)

“It’s a bit chilly.”

At an early hour when most people were still wandering in dreamland, someone appeared at Tarasan Academy’s training grounds.

It was none other than Lumian Calard, who had become a second-year at the Knight’s Academy. After loosening his stiff body from the night, he slowly began running around the training grounds.

One lap, two laps, three laps.

After five laps, his breathing became labored and sweat poured down. After catching his breath for a moment, Lumian stretched once more and walked toward the exercise equipment in the corner of the training grounds.

And he began his full-scale workout.

“Hup!”

“Hah!”

“Haah!”

As the weight increased and the repetitions continued, Lumian’s face contorted with pain.

But he didn’t stop. Even in situations where an ordinary person would give up thinking ‘this should be enough,’ he stubbornly completed several more repetitions, pushing his muscles to their absolute limit.

He didn’t let his form collapse even when it was difficult. Lumian performed his ascetic-like exercise as if he were living only for today.

“What? Someone’s already working out.”

“Haven’t seen that guy before…”

The knight cadets who arrived at the training grounds later looked at Lumian with curious eyes.

Since there weren’t many diligent enough to train from the crack of dawn, they roughly knew who each other were.

So when a new face appeared, they naturally became interested. The cadets conducted their own training while occasionally glancing at Lumian.

And they were amazed.

“Wow, that’s intense.”

“He’s really going that far?”

Overtraining.

Anyone could see he had exceeded his limits, yet he moved once more. His clothes, soaked as if caught in a monsoon, told the story of his current state. The cadets clicked their tongues at Lumian’s fierce determination while showing worried expressions.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Huff, huff. I’m fine…”

Even when an upperclassman spoke to him, he couldn’t properly respond. In that state, he moved again.

To handle higher exercise intensity, endurance was essential, and endurance improved when one pushed themselves to their limits.

Lumian began his cool-down exercises in a state where his entire body was exhausted.

Several upperclassmen students watched him run around the training grounds with interest gleaming in their eyes.

“He’s weak, but…”

“I’m looking forward to later. If that determination lasts for a year, no, even just one semester, who knows how he’ll change.”

“Well, it’ll be tough though. Hmm, should we make a bet?”

“But who is he? Was there a guy like that in the lower grades?”

“Ah, you’re a second-year, right? Do you know who he is?”

“…That’s Lumian Calard, nothing special about him.”

Large Boy, who had been swinging his sword next to the upperclassmen students, answered with a displeased expression.

He was in a very bad mood right now.

He had dragged his heavy body out for morning training to make a good impression on the successful upperclassmen, but the guy he hadn’t even treated as human until last year was stealing all the attention.

Those upperclassmen had never even asked for his name.

“Damn it.”

He muttered a curse under his breath.

Large Boy didn’t know. He didn’t know that if he had achieved even half, no, even a third of the training intensity Lumian had done, the upperclassmen would have shown interest. He didn’t know that just going through the motions of training wouldn’t catch anyone’s eye.

‘Working out so stupidly like that will only cause problems. You have to do it step by step, without rushing, like me, to grow without strain. Effort has to be smart to be effective!’

Large Boy gritted his teeth as he watched Lumian, who had come out much earlier but was returning to the dormitory around the same time as him. He earnestly prayed in his heart for some part of Lumian’s body to break down.

But he didn’t know.

The current Lumian was still far lacking in physical aspects like stamina and strength, but.

Whooooom!

In terms of utilizing aura, he had reached a higher level than anyone at Tarasan Academy, even higher than the professors.

And he was a veteran knight who had broken through his limits more than anyone else at Tarasan Academy.

“Phew. That’s better.”

Lumian, who had tended to his body with aura cultivation techniques, got up from his position.

His body still ached, but since he had enhanced his body’s recovery through aura, it would heal quickly.

Lumian cleared his throat and stood in front of the full-length mirror in his room. Looking at his naked body with a serious face, he flexed his upper body with all his might.

Pop!

His chest muscles twitched ever so slightly. Lumian smiled with satisfaction.

“Excellent. Very excellent. When I look right after exercising, my body is quite useful too.”

To others, it was such a minor change that it would draw scoffs, but it looked different to his eyes.

It had only been a week since he started exercising. However, Lumian looked happier than anyone as he watched his growing body.

* * *

Lumian’s changes weren’t limited to this.

Throughout his classes, he showed a completely different side from the previous semester. This was especially true during theory classes.

“Lumian Calard. Do you know what changes medium to large monsters undergo when affected by high-ranking demon mental corruption?”

“Yes. I know.”

“Explain.”

“First, their eye color changes to black or red. Their physical abilities increase explosively, and depending on the individual, their sense of smell and hearing may improve, and some awaken special abilities. The most commonly confirmed special ability is…”

“Mm. Excellent. You may sit down.”

The children looked surprised as they watched Lumian answer the professor’s question without panic.

Compared to his considerably low swordsmanship skills, Lumian had achieved decent grades in theory classes. But that only meant decent compared to his swordsmanship; he had never been able to give perfect answers to sudden questions like this.

Lumian speaking comfortably without trembling or showing panic felt very awkward to them. The children continued to glance at Lumian while worrying whether the professor’s questions would continue to them.

“A decent answer.”

“Not bad, Lumian.”

“Very good. You were paying attention in class, weren’t you, Lumian Calard?”

It wasn’t just demonology class. Lumian showed excellent performance in chivalry, military studies, and general education classes as well. Accordingly, the children’s amazement only grew.

In fact, this was a natural result. The strongest knight from his previous life, who had even defeated the Demon King directly, couldn’t possibly be ignorant about demons and monsters, nor could he be ignorant about chivalry.

Military studies wasn’t his specialty, but answering cadet-level questions was laughable, and general education was no concern since he had escorted royalty.

Lumian just had to pretend to take diligent notes while writing down plans (or fantasies) about how to seduce women in his notebook, then pretend to answer the professors’ questions earnestly. That alone caused his evaluation among the professors to rise dramatically.

“Lumian from Class E has been working very hard lately.”

“Indeed. He was an unremarkable student until last year, but he’s improved greatly.”

“I wonder what happened during the break?”

“Well, young people can change greatly from even very small triggers. Since it’s a positive change, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Passing by the professors chatting in the building corridor, two female students from Class E whispered with surprised expressions.

“…They were just talking about Lumian, right?”

“Yeah. The professors seem to view him favorably.”

“Well, he definitely… has changed somehow. Right?”

“Exactly. Only his appearance is the same; it’s like he’s become a completely different person.”

‘Good. Very good. My image is improving.’

And Lumian overheard that conversation between the female students perfectly. Even though he was quite far away, with his hearing enhanced by aura, there was nothing he couldn’t hear.

Lumian lowered his head. He had been grinning foolishly, but soon hardened his expression and sighed.

‘I should start taking action soon.’

In just five days, Lumian had succeeded in building a much better image than the previous semester.

The children no longer ignored him. He couldn’t tell if they held favorable feelings toward him, but it was much better than when he was treated as a dropout.

However, Lumian still lacked confidence.

He sighed.

“Phew.”

In his plans (fantasies), Lumian had already approached women dozens of times.

Had he only approached them? He could do everything. In his imagination, he had already had more than ten women with whom he had experienced romance, intimacy, marriage, and even raised sons and grandsons and spent his twilight years.

But in reality, he couldn’t do it.

The self-loathing accumulated layer by layer during 60 years as a eunuch restrained him. It might have been different if the body’s original owner had a bright personality, but that wasn’t the case either.

When it came to romance, Lumian was more cowardly than any other man at the academy. It meant he couldn’t even attempt to move forward.

When it came to romance, Lumian was more of a coward than any other man at the academy. It meant he couldn’t even attempt to move forward.

‘No! This won’t do!’

Lumian, who had been sitting at his desk with his head down, suddenly shot up.

He needed to find a breakthrough. To do that, drastic measures were necessary.

With a determined expression, he walked toward one corner of the classroom with wide eyes.

“Teoro.”

“…Are you calling me right now?”

“Yeah. I have something I want to say, shall we step outside for a moment?”

“…!”

The noisy classroom instantly fell silent.

The combination of Class E’s worst student and best student was that shocking.

Moreover, the worst student had spoken first. Freckled Boy whispered to Large Boy.

“S-surely. That guy isn’t trying to pick a fight with Teoro Shutgarn, is he?”

“Your breath stinks, so shut up. Before I beat you up.”

Though Large Boy spoke roughly, he thought Freckled Boy was right.

Teoro Shutgarn, who had the best skills in the class, didn’t openly bully Lumian like they did.

Rather, he treated Lumian as if he didn’t exist at all. Like looking at a dropout he didn’t even want to associate with.

‘That might have bothered him.’

Large Boy covered his mouth and laughed.

No matter how strong the changed Lumian had become, there was no way he could beat Teoro. He looked at the two with eyes full of malicious anticipation.

“Ha. Fine.”

Teoro Shutgarn let out a hollow laugh and nodded.

Lumian quickly followed after him as he strode outside, looking slightly angry. The children were curious about their conversation, but were too afraid of Teoro to follow them.

“What? What’s going on?”

“Are they really going to duel or something?”

“Are you crazy? Teoro goes back and forth between 2nd and 3rd place in the entire grade… Even most upperclassmen can’t match him.”

“Ah, what is it? Really?”

Close friends gathered in small groups to talk about the two.

What could be Lumian’s reason for calling out Teoro? Was it to repay the humiliation he felt from being ignored? If they fought, could Lumian win?

Leaving many speculations behind, the two exited the building.

Teoro spoke to Lumian with a disdainful expression.

“You’re not trying to attack me, are you? Acting up like this just because you beat some idiots is pretty pathetic.”

“Of course not. I called you out to ask a favor.”

“What? A favor?”

“Yes, a favor.”

Lumian’s tone became stiff due to nervousness. Though he was driven by burning desire, this was his first time making such a request openly, so some embarrassment crept up.

At 60 years old, bowing his head to a 15-year-old also felt repulsive. If it weren’t for the original owner’s memories and personality mixing in, he wouldn’t have even considered such an action.

But he had to do it. For his own growth, Lumian was prepared to do anything.

He spoke with burning sincerity.

“Could you teach me… how to become popular with girls?”

“…”

“It would be even better if you became my romance mentor.”

Teoro Shutgarn wore a dazed expression.

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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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