Future Knight

Chapter 10

In the silence, Keremion spoke first.

“I was trying not to use mana against someone who doesn’t know how to handle it, but I recognize your skill. From now on, I’ll use mana.”

“Mana? I don’t know what that is, but do as you please. I don’t care what you use.”

“You don’t know about mana? Then I’ll teach you. This is mana! Taah!”

As Keremion slowly gathered mana and released it throughout his body, blue waves surged around him. His movements, as he rushed towards Kang Chan, were entirely different from before.

‘No, his movements have increased severalfold in an instant! Did he also modify his body? I can’t let this go on!’

– Applying Combat Mode Level 4.

As Keremion started to fully utilize mana, his movements were incomparable to his previous ones. Feeling uneasy, Kang Chan hastily upgraded his combat mode by one level.

The potential pain he would experience later wasn’t of much importance to Kang Chan right now.

Thanks to this, Kang Chan could easily withstand his strike.

Their ensuing combat was enough to astonish the watching Elves once again.

It was due to the incredible strength and agility of the human, who effortlessly parried Keremion’s mana-infused sword.

Elradian, known as the greatest swordsman among the Elves, could see the myriad of experiences and innate talent embedded in Kang Chan’s agile movements.

‘From his appearance, this human doesn’t seem that old, yet each of his movements is seasoned and sophisticated. This isn’t something one can learn through ordinary training. It’s the skill of someone who has survived countless life-and-death battles. What on earth has this man been through?’

Elradian observed that the human before him was a seasoned swordsman with a natural talent for handling daggers and practical combat experience.

However, compared to this, his dagger techniques were extremely crude.

Though devoid of any superfluous moves and highly lethal, the lack of embellishment made them seem skeletal.

It was as if he was simply performing basic gymnastics movements, without any depth.

In short, his techniques were as transparent as an empty can.

They were in no way comparable to the swordsmanship Elradian had mastered.

He thought that Keremion was merely flustered due to his lack of practical experience. If they fought under the same conditions, Keremion would undoubtedly win every time.

However, he was unaware of Kang Chan’s hidden abilities.

The ability to become dozens of times stronger in an instant.

While Elradian was lost in thought, watching their duel, Kang Chan and Keremion were fiercely battling.

Their clothes had already turned to rags, soaked in sweat and covered in dust and dirt.

Keremion sought every opportunity to exploit Kang Chan’s openings with lightning-fast thrusts.

But with daggers in both hands, Kang Chan smoothly defended each attack, countering Keremion’s thrusts effortlessly.

His movements were precise and without any excess.

Kang Chan’s attacks always came from unpredictable angles, sending chills down Keremion’s spine.

Again, as Keremion thrust his sword, Kang Chan easily parried it to the left and spun quickly before Keremion could retract his outstretched wooden sword.

Closing in on Keremion’s right side, Kang Chan thrust his dagger from a blind spot.

Startled by Kang Chan’s unexpected approach, Keremion tried to dodge with the characteristic flexibility and agility of an Elf, rolling forward to avoid the dagger.

However, he didn’t completely evade, as the wooden sword grazed his cheek, drawing a small amount of blood.

Despite the momentary crisis, Keremion didn’t forget to counterattack.

Rolling forward, he thrust his sword towards Kang Chan’s side.

However, Kang Chan easily deflected this desperate strike with his dagger, rendering it ineffective once again.

Using Keremion’s momentum against him, Kang Chan spun around and delivered a powerful back kick to Keremion’s exposed back.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Keremion was hit squarely on the back by Kang Chan’s powerful back kick and, with a scream, rolled forward and became covered in dirt, ending up in a pitiable state.

Elradian and his disciples, who were watching, let out sounds of disapproval.

“Ugh! Using his feet like that!”

“That despicable human!”

To them, using feet in a sword fight was considered extremely dishonorable.

Well, in a life-or-death battle, it was each person’s choice whether to use their feet or not.

However, using feet in an honorable duel was, from their perspective, no different than throwing dirt in someone’s eyes.

“How dare you use your feet in a sacred duel! As expected, you humans are despicable. I will never forgive you!”

Covered in dust and lying pathetically on the ground, Keremion roared with anger.

Then, a faint blue light glowed on his wooden sword, and his movements, now incomparable to before, surged toward Kang Chan.

“Keremion! No Aura Sword!”

Before Elradian’s shout even finished, Keremion’s wooden sword was already flying toward the human with lethal intent.

Kang Chan, seeing Keremion’s movements becoming several times faster in an instant, began to suspect that the elf might have undergone actual enhancement.

But Keremion didn’t give Kang Chan any time to think.

His saber, which split into dozens of afterimages, rushed toward Kang Chan’s entire body, aiming to turn him into a beehive.

Even with his enhanced dynamic vision, it was difficult for Kang Chan to follow the fleeting afterimages of Keremion’s saber.

‘His sword moves so fast it looks like there are dozens!’

His movements were now so fast that even Kang Chan’s combat mode level 4 couldn’t keep up.

Kang Chan desperately tried to dodge but it was futile. Even trying to block with his wooden sword was in vain.

As soon as their wooden swords clashed, Kang Chan’s sword was effortlessly sliced through.

Literally, a wooden sword had cut another wooden sword.

‘What the…? A wooden sword cutting another wooden sword!’

Without time to think, Kang Chan threw the broken dagger at Keremion and tried to retreat.

But it was only in his mind.

Keremion’s saber mercilessly pierced Kang Chan’s shoulder.

Thunk!

“Aaargh!”

His sword was ruthlessly unyielding.

“What! No!”

Elradian had been confident that his disciple would win.

But he hadn’t expected it to end like this, turning into a bloody mess in an instant. Elradian’s face turned pale.

If the human died, it would be a big problem.

Keremion’s Aura Sword wasn’t fully perfected, but its sharpness was more than enough to slice through mere flesh.

As Elradian stood up and rushed to separate them, the human’s body started to shake with a strange reaction.

The intense pain had awakened his true combat instincts that had been dormant.

– Disconnecting all pain receptors at this moment.

– Increasing threat level of the enemy. OK.

– Applying Combat Mode Level 5. OK.

– Commencing combat.

As the slight tremor in his body stopped, his groans of pain ceased as well.

Kang Chan’s expression, as he lifted his head, turned emotionless, as if he had never been in pain.

An odd change in his demeanor unsettled Keremion.

‘What’s this?’

While Keremion was briefly confused, Kang Chan grabbed Keremion’s saber with his bare hand.

The blue energy emanating from the wooden sword caused smoke and severe bleeding from Kang Chan’s hand.

But Kang Chan ignored the pain and kicked upward with great force towards Keremion’s face.

Keremion had been mocking the human writhing in pain from his saber.

However, the human suddenly became expressionless as if he felt no pain, surprising Keremion.

Moreover, the human grabbed his razor-sharp, mana-infused wooden sword without hesitation.

Blood gushed from Kang Chan’s hand, but he ignored it and delivered a sharp upward kick towards Keremion’s face.

Keremion, in a panic, tried to dodge by lowering his head, but it was pointless.

The human’s kick was far faster than he anticipated.

The powerful kick struck the back of Keremion’s head, sending him spinning through the air and crashing to the ground.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

The heavy impact sound echoed throughout the arena, sounding nothing like a typical kick.

Keremion, hit squarely on the back of his head, was knocked out cold, lying flat on the ground.

The jaws of the dozens of young elves watching the scene dropped in shock.

Who was that elf fighting with that human just now?

Wasn’t it Keremion, considered the best of the best in this village, unmatched among his peers?

Yet, they had just witnessed Keremion doing an unexpected aerial somersault from a single kick by a human.

And this was from the human he had been mocking.

“Both of you, stop!”

Elradian stepped in, blocking Kang Chan, who was about to attack Keremion again.

Blocking Kang Chan’s soccer ball kick with his calf, Elradian couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

Thud!

The sound of a leather bag being hit echoed throughout the arena.

Because Elradian had used mana to brace his leg, he didn’t suffer much physical damage.

However, he was astonished by the sheer strength in a human kick that could drive his foot into the ground, even without using mana.

‘A human with strength rivaling that of an ogre, regardless of how much one trains, achieving this level of power is impossible without using mana. But this human doesn’t show any signs of mana flow. Is he an alien? Or perhaps a chimera?’

In that fleeting moment, numerous thoughts raced through Elradian’s mind. Meanwhile, Kang Chan, realizing he had struck Elradian’s calf, wore a look of bewilderment on his face.

“Ah! I’m sorry.”

“Were you trying to kill Keremion?”

“What?”

“If that kick with such force had hit the unconscious Keremion, he wouldn’t be in this world anymore.”

At Elradian’s words, Kang Chan finally noticed Keremion lying flat on the ground, foaming at the mouth and unconscious.

“Why is he like that?”

“Didn’t you do this to him?”

“Did I?”

“Of course, you did. Do you think I did it?”

“…”

There were a few times when Kang Chan had lost his reason due to anger during battles. After coming to his senses, he often found himself surrounded by the shredded corpses of his enemies.

“Anyway, doesn’t that wound hurt?”

Elradian frowned, seeing Kang Chan standing nonchalantly despite the wooden sword embedded in his shoulder, from which blood was flowing freely.

Furthermore, the wound was so twisted and distorted that even bone was exposed.

‘How can he not feel pain from such a wound? That’s enough pain to make someone pass out. If it’s not treated quickly, it’ll be serious.’

“First, let’s treat that shoulder wound before we continue.”

At Elradian’s words, Kang Chan stared blankly at the wooden sword lodged in his shoulder.

Having disconnected all his nerves from pain, he felt no sensation and had completely forgotten about the wooden sword in his shoulder.

“It’s fine. This much is nothing.”

Though he tried to reassure them, he started to feel increasingly weak and dizzy from the excessive blood loss.

Supporting the staggering Kang Chan, Elradian, with the help of his disciples, hurriedly moved him to where the healer elf was.