The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 45

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

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Chapter 45

Even after the delegation from the Owen Kingdom departed, the trainees remained motionless, standing in a daze as they watched Raon’s retreating figure.

They saw Raon every day and knew he was strong, but because he always moved with such fluid grace, no one had anticipated he could strike with such blinding speed and devastating power.

“W-what….”
“He was that strong?”
“The gap just kept widening….”

As the trainees struggled to regain their composure, a crisp clapping sound echoed from the platform.

“Everyone did well.”

Rimer sat perched on the platform with a satisfied grin.

“Thank you for doing your best despite the sudden sparring match.”
“Not at all!”
“We’re grateful you gave us the opportunity to spar with the training knights from the Owen Kingdom!”

The trainees bowed their heads, thanking him instead for arranging the match.

“Well, I’m glad then.”

Rimer grinned widely and kicked his feet in the air with delight. He seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.

“Now that it’s all over, I should tell you a few things. Those training knights from Owen who sparred with you today—they’re not ordinary soldiers.”
“Pardon?”
“Then what are they….”

As he paused, the trainees swallowed hard.

“Those guys are elite soldiers carefully cultivated by the Owen Kingdom. If they continue to develop as expected, they’ll become Royal Guard Knights or Silver Knights.”
“Gasp!”
“Royal Guard Knights and Silver Knights!”
“No wonder they were so strong….”

The trainees’ jaws dropped in astonishment.

Only the elite among the elite could enter the Royal Guard Knights and Silver Knights of the Owen Kingdom.

The Royal Guard Knights were the shield protecting the king within the palace. The Silver Knights were the blade cutting down enemies that threatened the kingdom.

Both orders were undoubtedly the finest forces the Owen Kingdom had to offer.

The trainees could not hide their amazement that they had fought on equal footing with training knights destined for such prestigious positions.

“Fighting comparably against such warriors is certainly worthy of praise. Everyone, applaud yourselves!”
“Yay!”
“Woooah!”
“We won!”

The trainees thrust their hands skyward, erupting in jubilant cheers.

“Ahem!”
“Chief Instructor.”

As Rimer savored the celebratory roar with evident pleasure, a hand rose from the center of the arena. Burren Zigheart staggered to his feet.

“Could we face them again?”

Burren’s expression was twisted as fiercely as if an enemy stood directly before him.

“One might think you lost, hearing you speak that way.”
“If I did not win, then it is no different from losing.”
“Personally, I admire that resolve.”

Rimer smiled faintly and nodded in approval.

“The training knight you faced was said to be the future captain of the Royal Guard Knights. If you continue to develop as you are, you will meet him again whether you wish to or not. Of course, by then he will be a knight, not a training knight. And then….”
“Then I must become a swordmaster.”

A shimmer of resolve kindled in Burren’s emerald eyes.

“You know it well.”
“One more thing.”
“What is it?”
“If the training knight I faced is the future commander of the Royal Guard Knights, what about the Third Prince? His swordsmanship was not at the level of royalty.”

Burren’s question was valid. Even accounting for his youth of fifteen years, the Third Prince’s martial prowess was unnaturally formidable.

“They say the Third Prince will become the kingdom’s greatest swordsman in the future.”
“What?!”
“Wow….”

The moment Rimer finished speaking, silence descended upon the Training Ground. The trainees turned to look at me with wide eyes.

Their expressions screamed the same question: what kind of monster was I, to have so easily crushed someone destined to become the kingdom’s greatest swordsman?

“That concludes today’s training. You’ve expended more stamina than usual, so return to your quarters and rest.”

Rimer clapped his hands again and vanished from the platform. Yet the astonishment in the trainees’ eyes lingered.

*

*

*

I left the Training Ground first, turning away from the stunned gazes of the trainees.

Normally, I would have stayed to train even if dismissed, but I had something more pressing to attend to, so I hurried back to my quarters.

The moment I entered my room, I sat on the floor and tapped the flower bracelet.

Whoosh!

Blue cold energy bloomed from the bracelet like flower petals, trembling with barely contained fury.

-Damn it! How could someone with such power lose to you?! I believed him to be royalty, yet he proved so foolish and inferior!

Wrath filled the entire room with chilling cold as he gnashed his teeth.

If I had been the one fighting, you’d be nothing but a frozen corpse torn to shreds. A prince who can’t even use the power he possesses? It’s pathetic beyond measure!

Wrath seemed to have taken a liking to the Third Prince, perhaps because he was a king himself. His frustration at losing the wager erupted in a torrent of anger and complaints simultaneously.

-When I ruled the Demon Realm, I subdued far greater enemies with even less mana. In a lord-versus-lord confrontation, I would have….
“Yes, yes. That’s enough.”

I tapped the bracelet, cutting off Wrath’s tirade.

‘I have to stop him before he gets going.’

Whenever he started talking about “when I ruled the Demon Realm,” I had to shut him down immediately. If I let him continue, I wouldn’t receive my reward until tomorrow morning.

“Save the boasting for later. How about you hand over my winnings?”
-This is fraud. I didn’t know that bastard couldn’t even properly use his own power.

In truth, the Third Prince had fought well. It was simply that the Mana Explosion technique unleashed devastating power regardless of the quantity of aura behind it.

“So you’re refusing? Planning to become a lord of the Demon Realm instead?”
-Do you take me for someone who lies as casually as breathing? I keep my word. Even if it kills me!

[You have achieved victory in your wager with 【Wrath】.]
[Victory rewards are being granted.]
[All ability points increase by 4.]

The moment the notification appeared, my entire body trembled as though struck by lightning.

“Ahhhhh.”

This euphoria of simultaneous growth in body and spirit never lost its intoxicating allure, no matter how many times I experienced it. For rewards like this, I would undertake any mission.

Crunch.

I clenched my fist tightly. With four ability points gained at once, the difference in grip strength and muscle elasticity was immediately apparent.

Status Window
Name: Raon Zigheart
Title: First Victory
Condition: Curse of Bitter Cold (Six Strands)
Traits: Wrath, Ring of Fire (4-Star), Water Resistance (4-Star), Mythic Sense (2-Star), Comic Art (2-Star), Bitter Cold (2-Star), Fire Resistance (2-Star)

Strength: 47
Agility: 47
Stamina: 48
Aura: 36
Perception: 58

The rewards from this victory alone weren’t the only reason my stats had risen so dramatically. My continued training had contributed significantly to these gains, and seeing the elevated numbers filled me with quiet satisfaction.

-Tsk.

Wrath scanned the invisible status window, his tongue clicking sharply. His eyes gleamed with unmistakable displeasure.

-Pleased?
‘Very.’

I answered without hesitation.

-There’s no need to be so satisfied. No matter how strong you become, you remain nothing but a vessel for my possession. There is nothing in this world that I, the True King, could not accomplish.

He muttered something about time running short, exhaling a wave of frigid energy.

“Right.”

The temperature plummeted until frost crystallized across my skin, yet my water resistance kept the cold at bay.

“Do your best.”

I brushed my shoulder lightly, pushing Wrath aside, and rose to my feet.

-Do not mock me. Whether it takes a hundred years, I will claim this body as my own.
‘Understood.’
-Krraaaagh!

I stepped out of the door the moment Wrath’s frigid aura began erupting like a volcano.

Ignore him?
How could I possibly ignore him?
Wrath is my enemy. The most dangerous one at that.

I temper the Ring of Fire daily and train both body and spirit for one reason alone—to prevent him from ever seizing control of my body again.

I may appear composed, but I harbor not a shred of carelessness.

One meaningless death is enough. To survive and to exact my revenge, I must grow stronger.

I left the Dormitory and returned to the Training Ground, now empty of all others, where I wielded my blade through the entire night.

*

*

*

Three months had passed since I sparred with the Third Prince of the Owen Kingdom.

Though I had defeated the Third Prince—touted as the next greatest swordsman of the kingdom—with ease, I had already moved past that victory and devoted myself entirely to training.

The other trainees had even taken to calling me a training fiend, a training prodigy. Of course, they only whispered such names behind my back.

“I can’t even see his blade clearly anymore.”
“Don’t you think he’s gotten stronger? His swordplay and footwork both seem more natural now.”
“It’s not that he seems stronger—he’s definitely gotten stronger.”
“I’m sick of it. Absolutely sick of it.”

The Branch Family trainees clicked their tongues as they watched me train with an almost possessed intensity.

“I thought we’d finally caught up a little, but we’re nowhere close.”
“Right? I’ve trained so hard my shoe soles are worn through, and yet…”

The trainees had dramatically increased their training hours not because of the match against the Owen Kingdom, but ever since I defeated Martha.

They believed their diligent efforts had narrowed the gap between us, but they were sorely mistaken.

The gap in ability hadn’t narrowed in the slightest—if anything, the disparity had only grown more overwhelming.

“So what you’re saying is….”
“It’s a difference in talent.”
“Right. We’re born with different talents. If effort can’t bridge that gap, then there’s nothing we can do….”
“You think you’ve given your absolute best just because one shoe wore through?”
“Huh?”

The trainees turned at the sharp edge in that voice.

“Gasp!”
“Uh, um….”
“B-Burren, sir!”

Burren Zigheart stood with his arms crossed, his lips twisted into a wry smile.

“It’s convenient, isn’t it? Using that pretty word ‘talent’ to elevate your opponent. You can rationalize your own failure by saying you gave your all but it wasn’t enough. But here’s the thing.”

He continued as he passed through the trainees.

“You can say that after you’ve worn through ten shoes, not just one.”

Those words weren’t directed at the trainee before him, but at his past self—the version of him who had envied Raon without understanding how hard he’d worked.

“Y-yes, sir.”
“I’m sorry….”
“Don’t apologize to me. It’s your life, after all.”

Burren Zigheart picked up a training sword from behind the trainees and made his way to the center of the Training Ground.

“Young Master Burren seems to have softened a bit, doesn’t he?”
“In the old days, he would’ve just ignored them completely….”
“Hey. She’s coming. Zip it!”
“Gulp!”

The trainees fell silent as they caught sight of Martha approaching from the left.

Click.

Martha drew out a practice sword and slung it across her shoulder. Her short hair, barely brushing her shoulders, swayed as she walked toward the Training Ground before she came to a halt.

“That monster has softened?”

She cast an openly contemptuous gaze upon the trainees.

“A volcano on the verge of eruption, and you say it’s softened? Your eyes are worse than those of a rotting orc.”

Martha let out a scoff and walked into the Training Ground, twirling her sword.

Raon and Lunan moved without pause, while Burren and Martha unleashed powerful momentum in response, bringing their blades down with force.

“Phew, this is suffocating.”

The trainees shook their heads and let out sighs.

Four monsters dwell in the 5th Training Ground. Four of them, no less….

“True. But still.”

One of the trainees looked down at his training shoes, then lifted his head.

“There’s no better place to improve your skills, is there?”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Right.”

The other trainees nodded in agreement. It was undeniable that their rate of improvement had accelerated dramatically since coming to the 5th Training Ground.

“Let’s get back to it.”

The trainees ended their brief rest and entered the Training Ground, practice swords in hand.

“Excellent.”

Rimer sat perched on a tree behind them, a faint smile playing across his face.

“With pillars holding their ground so well, the others naturally follow suit.”

He observed Raon, Burren, Lunan, and Martha in turn as they wielded their blades at the center of the Training Ground. With these four of different caliber pushing forward at full strength, the trainees behind them naturally followed in their wake.

Those four had played a role in the children’s development that surpassed even that of instructors.

“Hmm.”

Rimer sat perched against the tree, twirling a strand of his crimson hair around his finger before nodding in approval.

“They’re ready for actual combat now.”

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

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