Turning Chapter 1008

Chapter 1008

'Hmm. I see why she's General Gino's prized disciple.'

Meghna Kurlieva did not possess what one might call 'useless pride.' The lofty pride that someone of noble birth and the cherished disciple of a sword master would naturally have. The sense of defeat that someone who had long been expected to become a master but failed to do so would surely harbor. The jealousy and anger towards an opponent who was much younger and acting arrogantly. All of those were surprisingly absent in her.

'Even her reaction to the recent attack proves this.'

To be honest, rolling on the ground to avoid an attack would be humiliating for anyone. Even knowing that it could be avoided that way, Yuder had seen countless strong individuals in his previous life who, not wanting to lower themselves in front of him, had given their bodies to the attack.

The higher the status and position, the stronger the pride in one's own abilities, the more likely they were to fall into such a trap. However, Meghna rolled on the ground without a moment's hesitation. Even with one of her shoes coming off, she showed no embarrassment. Instead, the astute eyes burning with fighting spirit reflected General Gino's temperament.

'General Gino is also someone who doesn't consider it shameful to mingle with subordinates and personally takes the lead. Perhaps it was Meghna's such qualities that appealed to him and made him take her as a disciple.'

Such a personality cannot be easily acquired through training or enlightenment alone. One must be born with a naturally resilient and broad perspective, possess an upright aspiration, and know how to constantly strive to exhaust negative emotions to avoid being swept away by prejudice. All the while, never ceasing to hone oneself for a single moment. The result of such efforts must have culminated in the current Meghna Kurlieva.

'A good raw gem.'

Yuder assessed Meghna with the eyes of Yudrain Aile, who had fought countless individuals.

'But not all good materials necessarily turn into beautiful works of art.'

Yuder recalled the woodcarver he had seen in the corner of the market whenever he went down to sell wood and herbs while living in the mountains. Commonly found in any village where commoners lived, they would purchase various types of wood, classify them according to their hardness and softness, and create various objects using different methods.

Soft wood would be delicately carved with a small carving knife, as if handling a baby, to create pretty ornaments. Hard wood would be carved quickly and powerfully to make rough utility baskets and large furniture. In Yuder's opinion, teaching and nurturing people was not much different.

'Just as all wood should not be crafted with the same intensity, people are roughly similar.'

Meghna must have lived under General Gino, only encountering people within the Imperial Army. Of course, that's not to say it's a bad thing. Thanks to that, she was able to focus solely on training in a very stable environment without having to look elsewhere. However, there are times when some people need to roll to the point of death and receive intense external stimuli to greatly develop.

In other words, strong materials sometimes require equally strong hammering.

'Seeing how she reacts sensitively to new stimuli like me without feeling repulsed, it doesn't seem like she's the type to fall into despair after losing and slow down her growth...'

Well, let's see how far her limits go.

Yuder's eyes flashed like a predator that had encountered a good prey after a long time.

And from that moment on, people witnessed a completely different aspect of the confrontation than before.

"..."

When the sparring had just begun, General Gino was watching with a smile.

However, now there was not a hint of a smile on his face.

The eyes of the old general, who was staring solely at the training ground without giving the slightest glance to the people around him, were filled with nothing but shock.

'How can such a person...'

After the first few minutes, which seemed like Meghna was unilaterally attacking, Yuder Aile changed his attitude and overwhelmingly pressured Meghna.

He freely used fire and water, wind and earth, and at times even shook weapons made of iron as if they were his own. As soon as Meghna became accustomed to dealing with one attribute, another attribute would wrap around his sword and appear before her eyes, as if mocking her.

That's right. Sword.

Yuder Aile never let go of the sword in his hand, using the power of an Awakener only to assist the sword and pierce the opponent's weaknesses, yet he accomplished all of this. They had expected that his pure swordsmanship skills would not be outstanding, but seeing it in person, that was not the case. Wherever he learned it from, his sword had an incredibly solid foundation.

Pretentious young swordsmen these days are eager to release their aura instead of repeating basic training. However, aura is not something that comes from following uncertain and ineffective superstitions, but rather from dedicating a very long time to consistent training, to the point of forgetting even boredom. In other words, everything can only be obtained with a solid foundation. Yuder seemed to know that truth very well from the beginning, which even General Gino had difficulty truly realizing when he was young.

'How did he achieve so much at such a young age?'

In General Gino's eyes, Yuder looked like someone who had consistently held a sword for at least 20 years. If that were the case, it would mean he had started wielding a sword not long after he was born. But how could a commoner from a remote village do that?

Only those from a martial family famous for producing knights for generations might be able to display such movements at that age. The general could not fathom the reason why those movements, which should have been barely possible at that age, were already deeply ingrained in the body of this young man from a remote village.

And more than that? During the time he was pressuring Meghna by wielding nature and using the sword in ways that were beyond imagination, Yuder's face hardly even broke a sweat. It meant that he still had the composure to control his breathing well, which was humiliating for Meghna, whose clothes were already dirty and torn here and there.

The fragments of aura that ordinary people might never see in their lifetime, yet he was not intimidated and instead quickly grasped them as if they were very familiar, disrupting Meghna's attack path with his movements. In the old general's eyes, that tremendous battle sense and ability to assess the opponent's condition were truly unbelievable.

'Yes. Even if we make a hundred concessions, one could be born with a battle sense. It's not like I haven't seen such a person before.'

General Gino's gaze turned to Kishiar's smooth face sitting right next to him. When he was still called the young Second Prince, he had been amazed at how he, then known as a child prodigy, seemed to know a hundred things after being taught one. He had been convinced that if there was to be the youngest swordmaster, it would surely be him, which made him even more shocked and regretful about the events that followed. That past experience made the current surprise somewhat conceivable.

‘But… even a genius like that wouldn't be able to grasp so quickly in their first fight against an unknown opponent, especially one more objectively refined and experienced in swordsmanship than them. That's something that comes only with experience.’

A swordsman capable of using fragments of aura, even if not a master, is rare to find as an opponent. Who would have thought that such a person would be overwhelmed so unilaterally? It seemed that even that was being maintained to this extent because Yuder was somewhat lenient towards Meghna, which made it even more shocking.

'Truly a demonic talent.'

The old general had already fought alongside several members of the Cavalry on the day of the hail. Therefore, he thought he already knew to some extent how they fought.

However, the existence before his eyes was on a completely different level.

If a young man with such power and talent had been somewhere else, not here. Or if he had been an enemy against the Emperor, how could they have found a way to deal with him?

It was a truly spine-chilling thought from the perspective of someone who had long defended the Empire. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but imagine such a scenario. That was the extent of his ability and the impact he had.

'But... perhaps the silver lining is that Meghna is not giving up and holding up well.'

The old general's gaze turned to his disciple's disheveled face.

Meghna was still responding without ever letting go of her sword, even with blood-clotted and disheveled hair. Her expression was blank, but the corners of her lips were turned up, and her eyes sparkled like a beast's.

To be honest, it was a joyful face that even her mentor, the old general, was seeing for the first time.