Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 32

“Hah!”

As his dagger began to melt, turning red-hot from the sparks caused by the boy’s Aura Sword, Kang Chan swiftly raised his own Aura Sword.

This time, it was Jaizen who was taken aback.

“Gasp! An Aura Sword?”

Jaizen could scarcely believe his eyes, seeing someone wield an Aura Sword with a dagger for the first time.

The existence of Sword Experts was not common.

Even in the mighty Visman Empire, the number of knights who had reached the level of Sword Expert did not exceed 300.

Typical small kingdoms had only about 10.

Only medium-sized kingdoms with some scale could boast around 50.

Sword Expert-level knights were highly skilled and valuable assets.

Yet, suddenly, this seemingly ordinary guy was wielding an Aura Sword with a dagger; Jaizen couldn’t help but be astonished.

There were occasionally knights who used a rapier-like sword in a two-sword style along with a dagger, but that was merely a variation. (A rapier is a thin, light sword designed for thrusting.)

As far as he knew, no one who primarily used a dagger had ever reached the level of Sword Expert.

‘An Aura Sword with a dagger, what is this guy?’

Jaizen was momentarily flustered by Kang Chan’s Aura Sword but quickly regained his composure and began to press his attack with surprising skill.

Kang Chan couldn’t help but be amazed by the boy’s skill.

The boy in front of him looked to be only about 18 years old, but his skill already surpassed Keremion in his prime.

Kang Chan had learned to compress his Aura Sword thinly but more sharply after his battle with Urkanta.

However, the kid in front of him was not only covering his sword with a compressed Aura Sword like himself but also increasing the power of his Aura when attacking and decreasing it when defending, repeatedly enhancing the efficiency of mana for both offense and defense.

It was truly a monstrous skill.

Moreover, Kang Chan, who had only faced rapier-like swords, found the boy’s longsword-based swordsmanship unfamiliar, and the boy’s genius-like swordplay made Kang Chan increasingly bewildered.

‘A kid who still smells like milk is quite skilled?’

Kang Chan seemed to be momentarily on the defensive, but he, who had even given Sword Master Urkanta a hard time, wouldn’t be defeated by this.

“…….”

As Kang Chan blocked and dodged the boy’s sword, the boy’s swordsmanship gradually became clearer to him.

It was fast and accurate, but the boy’s sword seemed too textbook-like, too perfect, as if it would crumble if touched.

Gradually finding his composure, Kang Chan decided to use a killing move against the boy without hesitation.

Although the boy looked young, Kang Chan believed that his skill was enough to block his killing move.

After learning the Thunder and Lightning Dual Swordsmanship, Kang Chan’s daggers, now more refined and sharper, aimed only for the boy’s vitals from left and right, slowly unsettling him.

Then, Jaizen’s offensive, which had been forcefully pushing Kang Chan, gradually faltered.

His body stiffened involuntarily at Kang Chan’s Aura Sword, which flew fearlessly towards his vitals.

‘Damn it! Was a dagger such a fearsome weapon? I can’t figure it out at all.’

The dagger the man in front of him was using was truly fearsome, making him think he had underestimated daggers too much.

As the boy gradually moved from offense to defense, Kang Chan’s daggers relentlessly targeted his vital points, digging in so terrifyingly that he began to feel fear.

And Kang Chan’s powerful kicks, flying towards the boy’s lower body from time to time, were enough to immobilize him.

Thwack! Thwack!

“Ugh!”

When the boy raised his sword to block Kang Chan’s daggers assaulting his upper body, Kang Chan’s low kicks mercilessly struck the boy knight’s calves and shins.

It was truly a cowardly, yet fast and powerful, combination.

The boy was psychologically very flustered because he had never seen a swordsman attack his lower body in this way.

‘Ugh… I can’t feel my legs…’

Although he was a boy with genius-like swordsmanship skills, he seemed to lack practical experience to face Kang Chan in a life-or-death battle.

As the frightened boy’s longsword hesitated for a moment, Kang Chan seized the opportunity and struck the boy’s longsword from both sides at once. The longsword, unable to withstand the immense force from both sides, broke with a clear and melodious sound.

Clang!

“Gasp!”

The broken blade, which had soared high into the sky, spun around in the air before plunging straight into the ground.

Then, the boy, having lost his sword, was so surprised that he fell backward.

Kang Chan pointed his dagger at the boy and said.

“Kid, are you going to continue?”

“J, just kill me…”

The boy, his face flushed with shame, lowered his head and said resignedly.

He, a member of the mighty Hellainer Knights, had been defeated by someone using daggers whose name he didn’t even know.

Moreover, it wasn’t just a defeat; he had lost his sword, which was like a knight’s life.

Jaizen’s feelings of despair were indescribable.

Kang Chan smiled faintly at the boy’s resolute appearance, which was not befitting his age.

As an active soldier, he liked the boy’s soldierly attitude.

“Your skill is excellent for your age, but you don’t have much practical experience. To be so shaken by that, you need to work harder in the future.”

Kang Chan withdrew the dagger he had pointed at the boy, put Jikyon down from the air bike, and was about to leave when the boy jumped up and shouted at Kang Chan.

“Kill me! Otherwise, you will bitterly regret saving me when we meet next time!”

Kang Chan didn’t look back at the shouting kid, just waved his hand once and said.

“I look forward to meeting you next time.”

With those words, Kang Chan rode his air bike and disappeared into the sky like the wind. Jikyon and Edeline, who were left alone in that place, stared at each other blankly, and Jaizen knelt down in front of the broken blade of his longsword that had fallen to the ground, unable to escape the shock of defeat.

Then, Edeline opened her mouth to Jikyon.

“What is that man’s name?”

Edeline’s tone, full of anger, suggested that she would definitely take revenge on Kang Chan.

Jikyon sneered at her and replied in a cold tone.

“Why do you want to know?”

At Jikyon’s words, Edeline’s eyebrows, who had been pretending to be refined, furrowed severely.

“What? How dare you, a mere thing, speak such harsh words to me, a princess of the Great Visman Empire…”

The princess, unable to control her anger, trembled and looked at Jaizen, but Jaizen, still trapped in the shock of defeat, was not in a state to help her.

Jikyon looked at her with a look of disdain and said.

“You can’t do anything on your own, yet you dare to make such a fuss without any fear? If you have that much courage, reveal your name!”

Jikyon didn’t want to tell this pathetic human her name, but she was curious to see how this arrogant and confident human’s expression would change when she knew who she was, so she decided to tell her her name.

“My name is G. Jikyon. Even if you are the emperor of the Visman Empire, you are just a pathetic human in front of me.”

Edeline and Jaizen’s eyes widened at the name G. Jikyon.

The name was known throughout the human world as the name of a dragon.

Moreover, it wasn’t just any dragon, but an Ancient-class dragon, known to be the oldest dragon in the world.

“Y, you are a d, dragon?”

Even Edeline, who was fearless and immature, was terrified by the three letters that made up the word dragon.

A dragon was so huge that it could swallow humans in one bite without even needing to chew.

The scales that densely covered its massive body were harder than any metal in the world, making it almost impossible to inflict damage by ordinary means.

And the powerful breath that spewed from its mouth had such unbelievable power that it could devastate even Bellare, the capital of the Visman Empire, making it the greatest monster on earth.

Edeline, terrified by the great monster Jikyon, took a step back.

“U, uh…”

“I will forgive you only once. Human, don’t bother me anymore.”

Jikyon slightly unleashed her hidden presence towards Edeline and Jaizen.

Then, Edeline and Jaizen, completely terrified by the suffocating presence of the dragon, prostrated themselves and trembled, barely managing to open their mouths.

“Th, thank you for saving us. Great one…”

Jikyon inwardly ridiculed the weak appearance of the humans and went her way.

‘Yes, that’s the true nature of weak humans. But that guy Kang Chan is never like that. I guess ignorance is bliss for fools?’

Edeline, who had been bowing her head for a long time even after Jikyon had disappeared from sight, carefully got up, looked around, and took Jaizen with her, hurriedly running towards the conference hall.

11. The Season When Love Blossoms

Kang Chan roughly drove his air bike as urgently as he felt to Jeina’s house.

But Jeina wasn’t home.

Only her parents, who were surprised by the air bike he had ridden, were there, blinking their eyes.

‘Where did she go? Class should be over by now.’

Hoping against hope, Kang Chan went to the place where he used to live in the village, but she wasn’t there either.

Kang Chan’s heart, which had thought he would be able to see Jeina as soon as he came to the village, became increasingly anxious.

Then, a place that Kang Chan could guess suddenly came to his mind.

‘Could she be there?’

Without hesitation, Kang Chan turned the handle and began to race roughly.

Numerous elves screamed at the strange object flying over their heads, but Kang Chan paid no attention to them.

The place Kang Chan was heading to on his air bike was the waterfall where he and Jeina had practiced swordsmanship alone.

‘What if she’s not there either?’ The thought made him even more anxious, and his right hand, which was holding the accelerator, gripped even harder.

As the waterfall, which had been seen small in the distance, quickly approached Kang Chan’s eyes, Kang Chan was finally able to find the person who had made him so anxious.

Jeina was standing under the waterfall.

Kang Chan couldn’t believe his eyes that Jeina, who was so timid and tearful, was standing there confidently, facing the waterfall that she had been so afraid of.

And from the moment he saw her, Kang Chan’s heart began to pound as if it would explode. He couldn’t think of anything because of the unfamiliar pounding. Only thoughts of Jeina filled his head.