My Disciples Think I’m Strong

Inkuro, the S-rank adventurer.
He was not only gifted with innate physical abilities and combat sense but was also a sword mage capable of using fire magic, having received the blessing of the fire spirit ‘Ifrit’.

The nickname adventurers called him was the ‘Insane Sword Mage’, earned from his tendency to slaughter demons and monsters with a manic smile.
It was said that no living being remained where his greatsword had swung.

And he was more simple-minded than any other S-rank adventurer.
His fighting style didn’t even consider his own body, favoring a reckless and aggressive approach.

Provoking such a man had naturally led to this situation.

“Hah.”
“Hah! Why? Now that I’m right in front of you, are you scared?”

Taking my sigh as a sign of fear, Inkuro, with his Zweihänder resting on his shoulder, laughed confidently.
His casual demeanor made me wonder if my Intimidation hadn’t worked properly on him.

‘It’s fucking terrifying, though.’
“How amusing.”

…Huh?
Wait, how did my “It’s terrifying” get filtered into “How amusing”?

“What?”

His eyebrows twitched. His face hardened.

‘No, that’s not what I meant… I’m exasperated by this filtering…’
“How lowly to make me laugh.”

Damn it. Is this Emotionless Mask skill actually called the Suicide Wish skill?

“What did you say… you brat?”

‘Since I’m so lowly, I’m not even worth fighting. Can’t we just let this go?’
“Even if I tried to let it go, your outburst is utterly disgusting. Do you really think a worthless insect like you can take me on?”

The arm holding Zweihänder visibly bulged with muscles, clearly defined. It was a physique fit for an anatomical model.

“This fucking brat… I was just going to cut off one of your arms, but I guess not. I’ll sever your head and display it in the town square.”

His death sentence made me inwardly tear up.
Life was just too damn hard. Was it really a good idea to pick a fight with someone who was among the strongest in this world from the very beginning?

“Let me show you in a single bout why I look down on you.”
“A single bout…? How dare this brat look down on me, an S-rank adventurer?!”

His booming voice caused passersby to turn their attention. The flow of the air changed as tension descended.

“I’ll kill you.”

‘Ah, this is all because of my damn mouth…’
“Quit flapping your mouth and come at me.”

As if his tether to sanity had snapped at my words, he gripped Zweihänder with both hands.

Shhhrrrinnng!

The ground he stood on cracked, forming a crater.
His menacing Intimidation made my body tremble. If I let my guard down, my legs might give out and make me collapse.
But I refused to back down with Intimidation as well.

[The Intimidation skill has been activated.]

As I glared back at him, Inkuro’s imposing presence faltered.
His composure visibly cracked. At least my Intimidation still seemed effective. But why wasn’t he attacking?

“You’ll have to come at me with all your might. Otherwise, you’ll be the one to die.”

I managed to muster those words, but could I really block his attack with Absolute Defense? Absolute Defense had a penalty…

“You little shit!”

A massive pillar of fire enveloped Zweihänder. Light pierced the darkness of the black market.
Befitting a sword mage, he had imbued his weapon with magic.
It was undoubtedly a type of magic that would cause an explosion upon impact.

“I’ll knock that arrogance down to the very bottom!!”

You’re one to talk about arrogance…

Cold sweat seeped from the hand gripping my sword at Inkuro’s words.

There was only one chance.
If my predictions and calculations were correct, I could definitely block it.

He kicked off the ground.
With a pock sound, the soil and rock fragments where he had stood shot up.

At a speed far exceeding human sight, it seemed as if he had vanished.
As he approached, I raised my sword horizontally and spoke.

“Absolute Defense.”

[The Absolute Defense skill has been activated.]

Kwaaang!

A hologram appeared before my eyes as an explosive sound rang out above my head.

Bingo!

‘How dare this bastard compare me to an insect and call me lowly?’

Inkuro was on the verge of losing his sanity from Praus’s insults.
No one dared to look down on him anywhere he went.
Even nobles watched their words in his presence, so for this nobody to not only speak rudely but to grate on his nerves with every word was intolerable.

A desire to tear Praus to shreds surged within him, and he immediately tried to charge.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t move.
The moment Inkuro tried to kick off the ground, Praus’s rising Intimidation froze his body.

‘While his words and actions are infuriating, the power I sense from this guy is ‘real’. If I don’t go all out, I might be the one who dies.’

“You’ll have to come at me with all your might. Otherwise, you’ll be the one to die.”

As if waiting for Praus’s perfectly timed provocation, Inkuro channeled his mana into Zweihänder.
A pillar of fire illuminating the darkness enveloped his sword.

“I’ll knock that arrogance down to the very bottom!!”

Inkuro poured strength into his legs and jumped. In less than an instant, he closed the distance of dozens of meters.
Praus raised his sword above his head in sync with his timing. Seeing this, Inkuro inwardly snorted.

‘Hah! You think you can block my Zweihänder with that ordinary steel blade?! I’ll cleave you in two, blade and body!’

He grit his teeth and poured all his power into swinging the searing hot Zweihänder down.

Bang!
Kwaakowaang—!

The moment he struck, the air itself seemed to burst as flames explosively spread, accompanied by an immense shockwave.

The ground shook and cracked, nearby buildings crumbled.
The sudden commotion in the previously quiet dawn caused many to scream.

“Uwaaah!”
“Kyaaaah!”
“What’s going on?!”

Many, mostly slum residents, rushed out at the thunderous disturbance akin to a bolt from the blue.

“What’s happening here?!”

They gasped at the flames Inkuro was emitting.
They had realized this disaster was caused by the two combatants.

But the two men themselves were completely oblivious to the situation.

‘Oh, God. I blocked it. I actually blocked it.’

Praus was too preoccupied with his amazement.

‘How did he block my attack with an ordinary steel blade… And with just one hand at that?’

Inkuro’s gaze narrowed as he glared at Praus.

He couldn’t believe his full-bodied attack had been stopped by those slender arms.
Moreover, Praus was nonchalantly enduring the powerful explosion and intense heat erupting from Zweihänder.

“You…! Even if you managed to block my sword, how are you withstanding the flames? You should have been burnt by now!”

Praus, emitting white smoke from his entire body, snorted derisively.

The reason he could act so casually in front of the flames was thanks to the ‘Frost’s Hobby’ necklace he had made.

Whenever the heat tried to damage his skin, ice would form on the surface to protect him.
However, the heat was so intense that the ice immediately melted and sublimated, causing the white smoke emerging from his body.

“Did you really think you could burn me with that level of power?”

Although the filtering made his words sound that way, Praus wasn’t actually at ease either.
His skin was stinging to the point of driving him mad, but he was gritting his teeth and enduring it for the sake of appearing unfazed.

“What…?”
“It seems the level of an S-rank adventurer has really fallen.”

Provoked by Praus’s continuous taunts, Inkuro grit his teeth.
He tried to push Praus away by exerting force with his arms, but all that resulted was the grating sound of steel against steel. The sword Praus held didn’t budge an inch.

“…Enough of this.”
“What?! No, it’s not over yet!”
“This isn’t an official dueling ground. Are you going to destroy everyone’s homes here?”

With just one attack, the entire area was already in ruins.
The buildings within the shockwave’s range were mostly collapsed or cracked. It looked like a war zone.

“Li, like I care about that! I’ll definitely kill you! I won’t stop until one of us is dead!”

Although he spoke boldly, Inkuro couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice.
It was greatly influenced by Praus unintentionally proving that the power he possessed was no bluff.

‘Damn it, just who the hell is this guy?!’

No matter how much force Inkuro exerted, he couldn’t push back Praus’s sword.

‘Even my sheer strength can’t overwhelm him?! Fuck!’

“How unsightly, Inkuro.”
“Kuhh!”
“To become an S-rank adventurer yet fail to recognize the gap in our abilities. That’s why you’re such a lowly human.”

It was a complete defeat.
As that thought crossed Inkuro’s mind, his pride, consumed by a vile sense of inferiority, exploded.

“It’s not over yet!!”

He abandoned their contest of strength and readjusted his sword stance.

‘There’s no way I’ll admit defeat to this guy!!’

Just as Inkuro stubbornly refused to give up and tried to swing his sword again…

“That’s enough.”

The goblin-masked figures forced themselves between the two, pointing swords at Inkuro’s entire body – the same situation Praus had faced in the auction hall.
The immobilized Inkuro scowled.

“Who the hell are you guys?!”
“Mr. Inkuro, I clearly told you that you were causing trouble for ‘that person’. Yet you still started this fight!”
“Hah! Are you trying to take me on now?!”

As Inkuro raised his voice, blood trickled from the ears of a few goblins nearby. Their eardrums had ruptured.
But the goblins maintained their stance, undeterred.

“Mr. Inkuro, no matter how strong you are as an S-rank adventurer, you won’t be able to defeat all the goblins here!”
“You’ll never know until you try!”

He gripped his sword. Tension rose among the goblins.

“I’ll be leaving.”
“What?!”
“Fight among yourselves or whatever.”

Praus sheathed his sword. After deliberately looking them over arrogantly, he turned to leave.

“Stop right there!”

Inkuro shouted, pointing at him.

“…Didn’t I clearly demonstrate the gap in our abilities?”

Praus curtly spoke while glancing sidelong at Inkuro.

“I can’t accept it!”
“Even though everyone here witnessed it?”
“We haven’t had a proper fight yet.”
“Is that so? Then consider yourself the winner. You can officially declare me defeated. I have no interest in such things anyway.”

While Praus’s words were meant to quickly extricate himself from the situation, they only ended up trampling on Inkuro’s pride.

“Maria.”
“…Yes.”

At Praus’s call, Maria hurriedly approached, clutching the robe with both hands.

“You’re unharmed.”

After impassively scanning Maria, he faced forward.
Thanks to keeping her distance from Inkuro’s overwhelming power, Maria remained unscathed.

“We’re going to the inn.”

As Praus walked away, a glimmer of hope and admiration shone in Maria’s eyes as she watched his retreating figure.

‘This person… is strong. Stronger than anyone I’ve ever seen. If I learn swordsmanship and magic by this person’s side, perhaps I could kill the humans who slaughtered my elf brethren and enslaved us…’

Thus, Praus left the scene with Maria.
Once Praus was out of sight, Inkuro threw Zweihänder onto the ground.

“Uwaaaaah! This bastard!!”
“Mr. Inkuro, we will bill you for the property damage incurred from this incident.”
“What?! That guy did it too!”

He protested, pointing to where Praus and Maria had been.

“That person had no intention of fighting. In fact, despite clearly demonstrating superior ability, that person only defended and never attacked you. Meaning, they could have killed you but chose not to. I’m sure you understand what that implies, Mr. Inkuro?”
“You… Bastard! Uwaaaah!!”

Unable to refute them, Inkuro expressed his boiling rage through a scream.

Bang! Bang!

Having experienced an unprecedented humiliation, he let out shrill cries and mercilessly stomped the ground.
Each stomp created a small crater.

‘That bastard! I’ll definitely find and kill him!!’

Afterwards, Inkuro had to return all the slaves he had won and pay for the entire property damage caused during their confrontation.

Passing through the slums, we emerged into a square with magical street lamps installed.
Only then could I finally feel relieved. I sat down on a nearby bench to calm my pounding heart.

Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah!
Did I make it? Did I make it?!

I was inwardly applauding myself.
I survived. I really survived.

The Absolute Defense skill that blocked all attacks had a fatal penalty.

That penalty was: ‘It can only block all attacks once per day, based on a 24-hour cycle.’
In other words, it was a one-time-use skill.

Iris, who would later acquire defensive specialties, would be able to use this skill without penalties. But as an ordinary commoner, I received no such benefits.

To achieve this result against an S-rank adventurer while burdened by that penalty could be considered a miracle among miracles.

“Excuse me.”
“…What is it?”

Maria stood before me, fidgeting her fingers. I looked at her quizzically as she hesitated.

“How… How did you gain such power?”

Such power? Was she referring to Absolute Defense?
It seemed not only Inkuro had been deceived by my feigned bravado. I scratched my head as I looked at her.

“None of your business.”
“I’ll do anything. Please, take me as your disciple?”

…Disciple? This weakling as my disciple?
I couldn’t help but stare blankly at her random request to become my disciple.