The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 32

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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 32 15. That’s Not What I Trained My Skills For (2)

“Trhaaaaap!”

The moment the match began, the 1st year student charged at Lumian like a buffalo.

He was confident. He had heard that the upperclassman before him was a newly rising strong fighter, but conversely, rumors that he was nothing special were also widespread.

And the 1st year student was inclined to believe the latter.

‘No, I believe in myself!’

He wasn’t a member of the so-called golden generation of 2nd years. But he was a skilled fighter who had achieved first place among all 1st years in the recent midterm evaluation.

Though he was an upperclassman, he had no intention of losing to such a delicate-looking opponent. His sword slashed powerfully at an angle.

Whoooosh!

An attack that struck down like lightning. But Lumian dodged it by a hair’s breadth.

The 1st year top student pulled his sword back and continued with the next attack. He hadn’t expected to win in the first strike.

His specialty wasn’t a single concentrated blow, but continuous attacks that raged like a storm!

Since his opponent had entered his attack range, it was half over. The confident 1st year top student held his breath with a “hup.”

And merciless consecutive strikes began pouring down.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Swiiish!

“Oh no!”

“What should we do!”

Barbara Merlin and her friend cried out in worried voices. Their hands clasped together at chest level perfectly conveyed their anxious feelings.

Before they knew it, they had become emotionally invested in the participant named Lumian Calard.

She wanted to shout at Lumian, who was weaving through the terrifying storm of swords, to come down from the stage.

His opponent looked incredibly strong. With a buffalo-like robust physique and sword strikes that never stopped swinging. To the delicate and gentle-looking Lumian, he seemed like too great a trial.

But that wasn’t the case.

After a brief moment, it became clear. Barbara Merlin felt an inexplicable sense of trust rising as she watched Lumian continue to dodge the attacks.

At some point, his appearance began to look like something else.

‘Like a weed… no, a wildflower.’

That’s right. Lumian was a wildflower.

A being that had stubbornly endured through harsh cold and fierce storms, and ultimately bloomed its buds.

His appearance, which seemed delicate yet felt strong, and exuded fresh charm within that strength, was certainly closer to a wildflower than a weed.

Barbara, who finally realized this, wiped around her eyes with a handkerchief. Then she looked toward the stage again.

Then Lumian, who had only seemed weak, felt different.

He wasn’t weak.

Though swaying this way and that in the wind, he never lost his roots.

Whiiik!

“Grgh!”

“Match over! 2nd Year Class E Lumian Calard, victory!”

The storm didn’t continue forever. Lumian safely endured until the rain became thin and weak, then seized the opportunity to place his sword at the 1st year top student’s throat.

No, in fact, Lumian had never been at a disadvantage from the beginning.

He had simply shown consideration so that the 1st year who had struggled to get on the swordsmanship festival stage wouldn’t go down without being able to demonstrate his skills.

The 1st year also knew this.

He bowed his head to Lumian.

“I learned something.”

The 1st year’s expression looked very refreshed.

It was natural. The upperclassman hadn’t simply toyed with him. Rather, it was closer to showing him the path he should take. Following his movements, he had discovered his own problems before he knew it.

Though he had lost in the first match, what he gained was not insignificant.

“Not at all. You had good skills.”

Lumian approached him with a bright smile. And offered a handshake.

The 1st year also grinned and clasped hands. To him, Lumian offered words of encouragement and comfort.

“Last year’s me was much weaker than you.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. Everyone knew about Lumian Calard, the eternal failing student. If you work hard, you’ll be able to become much stronger than I am now.”

Of course, it was a lie.

But it was a heartwarming lie. The junior who heard these words nodded with a moved expression and came down from the stage with Lumian.

Those sitting in the front row of the audience seating, close to the stage, also heard their conversation.

Like the 1st year top student, their hearts warmed and they unconsciously began to applaud.

Clap clap clap clap!

The sound of applause grew louder and louder.

Not only the front of the audience seating but also the back roughly caught the atmosphere. People looked down at the stage with moved eyes at the sight of the upperclassman patting his junior’s shoulder.

Not one-sided cheers for the winner, but applause that embraced both winner and loser.

Seeing Lumian who had brought this about, Professor Karin smiled faintly.

‘I like him more and more.’

He thought the changed mindset and attitude were even more excellent than the rapidly increased skills.

Of course, that was a misunderstanding. Currently, Lumian was busy observing the reactions of women throughout the audience seating.

‘Good. Very nice.’

He smiled with satisfaction. The reaction he wanted had come out.

Thinking that a flashy and conspicuous image like Cal Krone’s would be poison to him, he had in mind a wildflower that possessed both subtle charm and tough spirit, and projected his aura. It was very difficult work, but he had somehow managed to succeed before the match.

However, there was one side effect. It was damn exhausting.

‘The aura waste is too severe.’

It was on a different level from putting aura into his voice. To express a desired image to an unspecified number of people through aura required a much larger amount of aura.

Fighting while maintaining the aura image was also quite an ordeal.

Of course, there was no way he would lose to students who weren’t even experts, but practice was needed to make it less tiring. He needed to build up more aura too.

‘Still, for now… it’s fine since my attention level has increased.’

Lumian didn’t possess the talent for being a person of interest that Cal Krone had, or in short, attention-seeking ability.

However, if he lacked talent, he could overcome it with effort. That was the reason he had been able to become an excellent knight in his previous life.

The wind brushing his face was refreshing. Lumian smiled pleasantly and looked at Teoro and Bumer in the waiting area, saying:

“Wasn’t I pretty cool?”

* * *

“Cool… yeah.”

Tania Eloise, who had unconsciously muttered, was startled and looked around.

Fortunately, no one had heard her words. She fanned herself with her hand to cool her face that had heated up from embarrassment.

She looked down at the stage with a complicated expression.

‘What kind of person is he really!’

She couldn’t understand at all.

He was like an onion of a man. With good and bad sides appearing alternately, Tania couldn’t get a grasp on him at all.

The image of Lumian holding a brown bag and smiling brightly was still vivid in her head. The tremendously explicit picture drawn on the cover was the same.

For such a person to show this kind of heartwarming, pure… and slightly cool appearance, the sense of disparity was so great it was unbearable.

‘Should I get close to him now? Or should I continue keeping my distance?’

Her mind became complicated. Her anguish naturally showed on her face.

Seeing such Tania, a 3rd year student asked a question.

“Tania, what’s wrong?”

“Huh? No, I just had something to think about…”

“What, are you thinking of recruiting again?”

The 3rd year student said with a laugh.

The fact that Tania thirsted for promising talent and tried to draw them into her social club was something anyone who knew her was aware of.

So he asked casually, but Tania jumped and denied it.

“What are you talking about! No way!”

“Huh? No?”

“What’s wrong? Why are you like that? Is there some problem with that kid?”

Another 3rd year student asked with a hardened expression.

If Tania showed such strong rejection, there must be a reason. She was curious about it.

“Right! That guy is a per…”

‘Wait, if she asks how I know he’s a pervert, what should I explain?’

Suddenly feeling breathless. Tania’s eyes wavered slightly.

In the end, she had no choice but to mumble her words.

“Per?”

“No, I misspoke. He just doesn’t seem to match well with me.”

“Hmm, really? Then I’ll pull him into my group…”

“No!”

“…Tania? What’s wrong?”

Tania’s friend’s eyes widened.

Though she had yielded first because her friend was pathologically obsessed with networking, Lumian was a talent that even she coveted. He was a junior who would be nothing but beneficial to get close to.

That’s why she only brought it up after confirming Tania had no interest, but seeing such a reaction left her quite flustered.

But even more flustered was Tania herself.

She stammered out a clumsy excuse.

“Th-that guy, his character isn’t very good. I heard rumors that he hangs around with Bumer and causes trouble.”

“Really? Hmm. Bumer… Well, his personality is a bit like that.”

Bumer Simpson, who didn’t care about seniors or superiors when things went wrong, wasn’t well-regarded among the 3rd year students.

Of course, giving up on Lumian for that reason alone was a bit regrettable, but since Tania was putting such force in her eyes to dissuade her, she didn’t want to be stubborn about it.

She sighed deeply and complained.

“Sigh, all the 2nd year kids who seem decent have some flaw. They’re all lone wolf types.”

“I know, right. Lumian looks gentle, so how does he hang around with Bumer.”

The 3rd Year Students shook their heads disapprovingly while looking at Lumian.

Tania also smiled awkwardly and shook her head along with them.

However, her heart was in a completely different state from her words.

‘What should I do?’

Honestly, she didn’t understand her own feelings well either.

Whether she liked Lumian or not, whether she wanted to get closer or keep her distance – it was all too confusing. This was the first time she’d encountered such a difficult person to figure out.

In the end, the conclusion she reached was similar to before.

‘Just a little… I need to watch him just a little longer!’

Tania nodded strongly enough to make her tail-like hair at the back flutter.

* * *

The first day of the swordsmanship festival ended safely. Though it was a competition with only lower-year participants, the level of matches was higher than expected, greatly satisfying the audience.

Particularly, the skills of Cal Krone, Teoro Shutgarn, Bumer Simpson, and Lumian Calard were remarkable.

With skills too excellent to be considered 2nd year students, people visited the Competition Venue the next day as well, and returned with satisfied faces once again.

Their performance continued like breaking bamboo.

Two days passed like this. Class B’s skilled fighter Bairen Sigal, who was the only rival to the four, was defeated by Bumer, and finally the semifinal bracket was completed.

Cal Krone vs Teoro Shutgarn

Bumer Simpson vs Lumian Calard

A matchup that couldn’t help but raise expectations!

Many people, including Cal Krone’s fans, eagerly awaited the day of the semifinals.

The surviving participants were busy managing their condition to fully display their skills.

They never overexerted themselves in training until the day before the match. If they couldn’t show their true skills on the Stage because of that, nothing would be more frustrating.

But only Lumian was different.

He was desperate. He desperately needed Aura, and therefore devoted himself to Aura training with all his heart and soul.

Saving time from eating and sleeping, he continued building Aura until the morning of the competition.

And with the Aura he built up, he put all his effort into creating the image he wanted.

“Whew.”

Lumian exhaled and thought.

Though not as much as when he went to defeat the Demon King, he seemed to have worked almost as hard.

Though still not satisfactory, it was better than before. Now he felt he could somewhat counter Cal Krone’s stage presence and attention-seeking power.

‘Let’s work harder. If I keep trying until the finals, I’ll see a way. I need to practice non-stop even in the waiting area!’

To overcome natural talent, effort is the only way to survive.

With an extremely serious expression, Lumian left the Dormitory.

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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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