Entrance Exam (9)

'You're more naïve than I thought, Ian Greysel.'

Yuria took the preparatory stance of Heavenly Flow First Form with a faint smile.

'It was a bet I half-forced, but I didn't expect him to accept so readily.'

The bet was that the loser of the duel could not hide any secrets from the winner for one year.

'He must've really wanted the secret martial art of Hisperion, huh?'

At first, Ian refused the bet, but when Yuria promised to teach him Hisperion's secret martial art, he immediately accepted.

'But sorry, Ian. This match... You have no chance of beating me.'

Ian being at the Expert rank was truly unexpected, but even so, Yuria never thought for a moment that she could lose.

After all, she possessed the supreme aura, celestial Energy, and the supreme martial art, Heavenly Flow.

'With ordinary aura, you can't beat Heavenly Energy; with standard techniques, you can't overcome Heavenly Flow.'

Ian's talent was certainly extraordinary—reaching the Expert rank at just 14—but Yuria possessed similar talent as well.

'If we have matching talent, obviously the one with better techniques and better aura wins, right?'

No, in fact, maybe her own talent even surpassed his.

Heavenly Blood, which enhances the human body, flowed within her, and the legacy of countless sword saints was embedded in her genes.

On top of that, she had received full support from the Heavenly Sword House since childhood and underwent rigorous training.

In contrast, Ian must have spent his years hiding his abilities, unable to train properly.

'No matter how I look at it, Ian! This bet is ninety-nine percent mine!'

― Whoosh!

With solid confidence in her victory, Yuria gathered her aura into her fist even more strongly.

The white light enveloping her fist soon radiated even more dazzlingly, like the noonday sun.

Aura of light—something only the rarest of Hisperion direct descendants are born with.

It was the manifestation of Heavenly Energy.

'What secret should I ask about first if I win?'

Currently, Ian was the center of all attention among the direct line and vassal nobles.

Since he'd kept his power hidden until now, his true nature was shrouded all the more in mystery, provoking even more curiosity.

If she won this contest, Yuria could unveil every secret Ian had been so thorough in hiding...

She would have sole access to everything people wondered about Ian.

She might even come to know more about Ian than his own sponsor and her own father, the head of the Heavenly Sword House.

'Hoo, hoo...!'

But more than anything, what she looked forward to the most—

Sharing a mutual understanding and empathy only those born geniuses could have.

For the first time in her previously lonely and aloof life, she felt she'd found someone who could be a friend.

'I want to know. What kind of life have you led until now?'

And—

'Can you see the world at the same eye level as me?'

Maybe she'd understand a little by crossing fists.

And by the end of the match, she'd know even more clearly.

'I'll finish this quickly, Ian! Let's end this and talk about all sorts of secrets!'

― Bang!!

The ground where Yuria stood burst as her figure vanished.

― Swish!

Like a bullet, Yuria sliced through the air at incredible speed.

Before a second had passed, she'd closed the gap to just a hand's breadth from Ian.

So close they'd touch shoulders with the slightest movement.

Yuria, carrying all her momentum, thrust her fist forward.

'Heavenly Flow First Form!'

Truth(彰)—!

A destructive strike that pierced and shattered everything before her with overwhelming aura output.

'As expected of Yuria.'

In the extreme perception where each second was split into tenths,

Ian watched the white light flying swiftly toward his solar plexus.

'If this lands, I'm out cold.'

Even for Ian, a swordmaster in his second life, there was a force he could barely withstand in Yuria's attack.

'But...'

Heavenly Flow First Form - Truth, was a technique focused solely on overwhelming attack.

It had no illusionary principles to deceive the foe, no variations to complicate defense—just a simple, straightforward strike.

'If the path is obvious, it's just as easy to dodge.'

Moreover,

'It's easy to use against her.'

Frenzied Insight Style.

Reversing Heaven.

An exquisite technique that counters by exploiting the flow of the opponent's aura.

― Swish!

Ian clasped Yuria's fist with both hands, as if catching a ball.

― Spin!

At the same time, he rotated his body along the attack's trajectory.

― Swish!

He spun using Yuria's own force.

Then, adding his own power to the momentum, he countered with a stabbing strike.

"?!"

― Thwack!

Ian's elbow landed deep into Yuria's unprotected side.

"Ugh, kuh...!?"

― BOOM!!!

Immediately afterward, a powerful shockwave erupted.

Aura concentrated at the tip of his elbow burst, creating an explosion.

"Gah!!"

― Thud! Thump!

Yuria was blasted away, rolling across the ground like a skipping stone.

― Bang! Thump! Sssseee—

She slid across the floor and fell flat.

This was the first time Yuria, regarded as unmatched among her age group due to her extraordinary talent, had been knocked down by a peer in front of everyone.

"What just... how, how!?"

"L-lady Yuria has fallen!!"

Vassal nobles in the audience seats gasped and leapt to their feet.

"What is this... Is what I'm seeing truly real!?"

"T-the entire balance has been overturned...!"

The officials and retainers around them murmured, unable to hide their shock.

"My god... What was that technique...?"

Kelbian, standing next to the Heavenly Sword House head, dropped his jaw in awe.

"Kuhaha!"

Darkan, head of the Heavenly Sword House, slapped the throne's armrest and roared with laughter.

"As expected! I knew Ian was hiding something!"

Yet even Darkan couldn't help but be impressed by Ian's technique.

'That's the technique that turns the opponent's aura against them—a skill I saw him use against five knights at the Greysel mansion before.'

But,

'The principle is the same as back then, but the technique's level is on a whole different plane.'

Darkan saw why instantly.

'The higher the opponent's technique, the greater the level of this counter-attack.'

Since the technique turns the opponent's own aura use against them, the stronger the opponent's move, the higher the level of Ian's corresponding response.

Darkan licked his lips in interest.

'But my daughter Yuria isn't completely down yet. She's just as much a genius as Ian. She won't fall for the same trick twice. Hoo... It's been a long time since I've been this excited. Ian, what will you show us next?'

― Clench!

Meanwhile—

"H-huh...!"

Sitting below Darkan, Charlotte clenched her fists tremulously.

But it was not the shivers of anger, but of shock.

'W-what?! Y-Yuria lost!? To Ian!? What... What is this? What's happening!?'

Charlotte at that moment forgot all her animosity toward Ian.

Her original goal was to bring Ian down and thus escape the punishment placed on her, but after seeing his skills firsthand, there was no way she could continue with such a plan.

― Whirr! Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!

Confronted by such an unbelievable sight, Charlotte's mind spun more fiercely than ever.

With each revolution, her scheme shifted rapidly from hostility to alliance.

'I was being completely stupid!'

Ian was not someone you could drive out.

In fact, she should be doing everything in her power to recruit him to her side.

Opposing him just to avoid disciplinary action would've been foolish.

It was clear—without deep thought—that showing remorse and actively trying to get closer to him by accepting the punishment would be far more advantageous for her future.

Even if she sold off every treasure in her own palace, it wouldn't come close to the value of Ian himself.

No wonder her dad brought Ian into Hisperion as a guest.

"H-ha, hehe!"

Charlotte covered her rising lips with both hands as she stared at the fallen Yuria.

'Wow! This is unbelievable! Yuria's fallen! That monster girl is down!'

Even though Charlotte was a year older than Yuria, her aura didn't awaken until half a year later.

Yet compared to other Hisperion, that was still considered fast.

If she'd been born in the era without Yuria, Charlotte undoubtedly would have been Hisperion's top prospect.

That's how outstanding her talent was.

To reach the late-stage User rank at 15 was an achievement seen only a few times in a century.

But even with such historic talent, Charlotte always found herself in the background.

Because—as long as she lived in the same era as Yuria, the overwhelming luminary—Yuria cast too huge a shadow to ever escape.

To rise to Expert at fourteen, a talent unparalleled in history.

Charlotte's feat of reaching late-stage User at fifteen... was nothing compared to Yuria's shining royal road.

So, to Charlotte, Yuria was always an object of envy and a thorn in her side.

Monopolizing her father's attention, monopolizing the hopes of the Elder Council and retainers, instilling fear in the vassals without ever lifting a finger, and advancing far faster than Charlotte despite equal effort.

'But now! Yuria!'

That monstrous Yuria was down.

And to a boy her same age.

A talent even more overwhelming than her own!

'P-puhahaha! What's wrong, Yuria? How disgraceful! How does it feel to be lying on the floor in front of someone with a talent greater than your own? Now you finally know how I've always felt! Serves you right!'

A blossoming aura like a flower bud rose above Charlotte's head.

'This...! Things have gotten really interesting!'

When Ian entered Hisperion as a guest, Charlotte thought he'd be just another headache stealing her dad's attention. But now, if she played it smart, she could use the tiger to catch the bear.

'I'll win him over somehow and use him to keep Yuria in check...!'

This was the moment Charlotte's entire attitude toward Ian changed.

'Haah... If only I'd noticed his talent sooner... I would have tried to recruit him from the start, not antagonize him...! Ugh...'

The terrible first impression she'd made on Ian was a clear blunder.

Her father would never have welcomed Ian into Hisperion without good reason, so she ought to have approached him more carefully from the start, but her pride and impatience had caused her to blunder.

Still, if she worked at it moving forward, this much could be recovered.

'After all, yesterday's enemy may be today's ally, right? That's politics. That's right, that's right.'

If she kept showing her best side and offering good terms, surely Ian would side with her someday in the house succession war.

'Hehehe...!'

As Charlotte gazed at Ian with these vain hopes—

"Kuh, check..."

Meanwhile, Yuria was only just able to get up.

'Huff, huff... Finally, I can breathe... I really thought I was going to die.'

She gritted her teeth and forced herself up.

She managed to rise, but the pain was so intense that her legs were shaking.

'If Ian had immediately followed up with another attack, I definitely would have lost. Why didn't he keep going? D-did he go easy on me...? Is a boy my age showing mercy... to me!?'

In truth, due to the recoil from the Reversing Heaven, Ian had also damaged his muscles and ligaments, so he was using Authority of Projection to heal himself.

But Yuria could not have known that.

To her, it simply looked as though Ian was staring at her blankly.

― Swoosh.

― Crack. Pop.

He was still healing himself with [Healing Potion Lv.15] Projection, but to Yuria, it just looked like he was letting her recover.

'It... It really just looks like he's going easy on me. H-how!'

This was a first.

Getting knocked down by someone her own age.

Being treated with overt composure by a boy her own age.

Not to mention, that boy wasn't even a blessed bloodline of Hisperion.

It wasn't just the first time it happened in her life—she'd never even dreamed of it.

― Thump! Thump! Thump!

Conflicting confusion and excitement churned in Yuria's heart.

'A-anyway, w-what was that just now?'

When she'd unleashed the Heavenly Flow First Form - Truth, Ian had countered with a martial art she'd never seen before.

'Nothing I've seen has ever been even remotely similar.'

Even in that fleeting moment, Yuria's transcendent talent let her comprehend more than half of the technique's structure.

'He turned my aura's flow against me.'

― Ache!

"Hak...!"

Aagh...

Yet what she felt along with the pain was not humiliation or rage, but intrigue and excitement.

'Interesting...!'

Ian.

That boy.

His aura level wasn't the only thing on par with hers.

To think he'd also been hiding such a consummate martial art...!

'How...?'

She had received the best support possible under the Heavenly Sword House, learning countless top-tier martial arts, yet she'd never seen anything like that.

Whereas Ian was said to have gotten not even the least bit of support in Greysel House...

And yet, he'd mastered a skill sharp enough to counter Heavenly Flow, direct martial art of Hisperion!

'Did he have a secret teacher...? But who could possibly teach a technique like that... Even Kyle, who's obsessed with collecting sword skills, never showed me something like that... No, could it be...! Did he invent such a skill himself? N-no way, that can't be. Even I would take quite some time to master something like that. There's no way a boy my age could devise it himself.'

― Gulp!

Still, if by some chance he really did invent it himself...

Yuria's throat bobbed.

'Still... One thing's for certain.'

This boy in front of her was not someone she could take lightly.

'I seriously underestimated you. I admit it. You might be my equal—or even greater.'

― Huff...!

Yuria steadied herself with deep breaths and raised both arms again.

Her side still throbbed, but her body wasn't something that could be taken down with just one blow.

She had the true Heavenly Blood of Hisperion's first head running stronger in her veins than even Darkan's.

'Ian. Thanks for showing me the technique you've been hiding. My heart's pounding.'

Their secret conversation had already begun.

'I should show you what I've been hiding, too.'

Yuria unclenched her fist and sharpened her palm.

Then, like a runner on her mark, she lowered her stance.

Heavenly Flow 4th Form. Flash.

She took the preparatory stance.

"W-what!?"

Charlotte, watching Yuria, couldn't help but let out an exclamation.

'That... that's the basic stance for Heavenly Flow 4th Form!!'

The Heavenly Flow 4th Form is said to require at least late-stage Expert rank to use.

But Yuria was publicly known to be just an entry-stage Expert.

'C-could it be!? Yuria, you were hiding your true level too!? Huh!?'

No.

Yuria was indeed at entry-stage Expert.

Just—

'Watch. Heavenly Flow 4th Form, revised by me.'

Her overwhelming talent allowed her to modify the Heavenly Flow 4th Form to be usable even at entry-stage Expert.

'That stance... That's Yuria's revised Heavenly Flow 4th Form.'

Ian calmly prepared to counter.

Yuria's modified Heavenly Flow 4th Form was a technique he'd experienced countless times fighting her in his previous life.

However, the current Yuria was far weaker than the Yuria in his previous life.

Her technique was among the continent's strongest, but for Ian, it was not particularly hard to respond to.

'This next move will be the last, Yuria.'

Thanks to [Healing Potion Lv.15] Projection, all the muscle and ligament damage from the Reversal had just been healed.

― Swoosh...

Ian lowered his fists and relaxed his entire body.

Since Yuria was about to show a new technique, it was time for him to reveal a new Frenzied Insight Style as well.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Ian is lowkey cheating...

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】