Chapter 98: The Talent of Being Able to Give Up (1)

Luke, Anis, and Taragon, the three under Keter's instruction, faced both agony and joy in their grueling training. They pushed their stamina beyond its limits, pulling strength from nothing to escape the deadly experience of their bodies lighting on fire.

Conventionally, after such severe physical strain, rest was mandatory to recover from injuries and muscle soreness. But when they woke the next day, they found their wounds healed and their strength fully restored. This was thanks to Keter's use of middle-grade elixirs, each costing a staggering one thousand six hundred gold. Upon realizing this, they could only laugh while holding back tears.

They always had the option to quit. Keter reminded them frequently that if they wanted to give up, they were free to. Yet no one ever did—not because of the expensive elixirs but because they had their own reasons, their own desperation to persevere.

Day after day, they repeated the same grueling regimen. They ran until completely drained of stamina, and when they couldn’t get up, they were lit on fire. Time seemed to crawl during their runs across the training grounds, every second stretching into an eternity, but by the time they came to their senses, the day would already be over.

Normally, awakening Heavenly Strength would take at least half a year. But with Keter's relentless, unyielding methods, the three managed to awaken it in just one week. Their endurance and physical strength had also grown exponentially.

“Well, running laps every day was boring, right?” Keter said with a smirk. “Now that you’ve got Heavenly Strength and some decent stamina, let’s move on to something more fun. That was just the warm-up.”

Taragon muttered in disbelief, “

That

was a warm-up? I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes at least six times.”

Luke and Anis didn’t say it aloud, but they felt exactly the same. There was no way to mentally prepare for what kind of training was going to come next, especially since Keter’s training methods were so unorthodox and often beyond imagination.

“Do you know what you three are lacking the most right now? Everything, but the most critical ones are imagination and faith.”

“...?”

Sure, Taragon might not have understood as he was the most ordinary among them, but even Anis and Luke, who were considered prodigies and gifted, couldn’t understand. No one could, regardless of their background.

Imagination and faith almost sounded like...

“Are you teaching us magic?”

“Magic? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m telling you to break the limits of what you believe archery can do.”

Clap!

Keter clapped his hands loudly, and someone stepped onto the training grounds.

“W-who’s that?”

The person was instantly recognizable, especially to Taragon, who trembled and turned pale.

“

Hahaha!

You’ve finally called me, boss!”

It was Gyro, the former Sword of the South and owner of Obelisk, the Demon Sword. His red face and unsteady gait showed how he had regained his composure.

“These brats are the reason you gave me the liquor you made me quit? They’re total rookies!”

“Don’t underestimate them,” Keter said. “I taught them Heavenly Strength.”

“It’s still level one, isn’t it? It’s nothing.”

“I don’t think these rookies think so,” Keter replied with a grin.

Indeed, the trio’s confidence was in the sky. Even when facing Gyro and his massive greatsword, they didn’t falter. This was partly due to their newfound stamina, but more importantly, the presence of Heavenly Strength made an enormous difference.

All three of them were at a solid two-star level, and with the added power of Heavenly Strength, they could rival a three-star opponent. Although they knew Gyro’s strength and the inherent disadvantage archers faced against swordsmen, they felt certain they could handle him.

Before the match began, Keter issued a warning, “Gyro used to be a four-star knight. But the Gyro you will have to win against is a very merciful version. He’s not allowed to kill you, only to subdue you. With these penalties, he’s weaker than a three-star knight. If you can’t manage to defeat him under these conditions, don’t bother entering the Sword of the South Tournament. I will personally make sure you’re too injured to even participate.”

“...?!”

“Use any means necessary to win. Especially imagination and faith. Without those, you’ll never beat Gyro.”

At that, Gyro lowered his greatsword from his shoulder. Even though it remained in its sheath, the sheer weight of the weapon caused it to sink into the ground.

Screech!

The trio instinctively spread out, forming a triangle around Gyro. Through their time training with Keter, they had learned the fundamental rule of combat: there were no referees to signal the start of a fight.

“

Haha!

Don’t worry about killing me, rookies! Give it your all so I can feel like I’m earning my pay!”

Gyro’s usual jovial demeanor became more intense when he was drunk.

Whoosh!

His greatsword carved a wide arc, sending a wave of cutting energy at the trio.

Archers didn’t have a monopoly on long-range attacks. Swordsmen, too, could release ranged energy with their strikes.

Luke and Taragon, who were at Gyro’s side, managed to evade the wave by leaping out of its range, but Anis, positioned directly in its path, couldn’t avoid it.

Should I block it with my bow? Counter it with an arrow?

Anis chose to jump.

The sword energy is too great, and it would shatter my bow even if I infused it with aura. The energy is also too thick to break through it with my arrow.

Twang, twang!

The rapid sound of bowstrings filled the air as Luke and Taragon fired arrows at Gyro. However, Gyro used his greatsword as a shield while charging forward, and the arrows simply passed by him. Luke’s misfortune detector was useless for someone moving so fast.

Gyro’s target was Anis, still vulnerable from his leap. Anis was planning to shoot an arrow in the air, but gave up. He rolled forward upon landing, then immediately fired Leo Archery. It was only half as powerful and precise as it was rushed, but it still hit the center of Gyro’s sword.

However, this was not enough to stop him. Anis’ critical strike was deflected by the side of the greatsword. Using a subtle adjustment to redirect Leo Archery away from him, Gyro charged through the falling arrows and prepared a downward strike at Anis.

Swordsmen who used greatswords were extremely destructive, but they were also very slow. However, Gyro was not; he was faster than an assassin using daggers. This was his special swordsmanship: converting weight for speed.

Seeing the sword fall on him from above, Anis moved first without thinking. He rolled to live.

Crash! Boom! Thud!

The greatsword fell where Anis used to be, as if Gyro were playing whack-a-mole, and Anis rolled away nonstop.

“Cover me!”

Taragon, realizing that firing arrows from a distance was meaningless, charged at Gyro to rescue Anis. Luke continued to fire, but he couldn’t even hit Gyto. Gyro was moving too fast and unconventionally that his misfortune detector was creating confusion. Even if his arrows happened to hit Gyro, they couldn’t pierce his Aura Armor. However, he didn’t stop shooting them because he didn’t think it was meaningless. He believed the constant pressure could still disrupt their opponent’s rhythm.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

“

Ha!

”

Taragon swung his bow at Gyro’s exposed side. The timing seemed perfect—Gyro’s sword was mid-swing, leaving him open. But Taragon lacked imagination. Why assume a swordsman only uses their sword?

Thud! Thud!

Gyro drove his fist into Taragon’s chest. He was now holding his greatsword by one hand. Taragon stumbled back, coughing blood. Though his Aura Armor prevented fatal damage, the blow cracked ribs and made breathing excruciating.

Yet Taragon’s bold move wasn’t in vain. His intervention gave Anis just enough time to unleash three arrows aimed straight at Gyro.

Three arrows shot from close range simultaneously aimed at Gyro's head, chest, and abdomen. It was impossible to block with his greatsword as it was already in the midst of a downward strike.

If time were to flow as is, the greatsword would split Anis apart, but Gyro, too, would not remain unscathed. Anis' arrows would find their marks in Gyro's vital points.

It was Gyro’s choice: either both would sustain fatal injuries, or he could twist his body to evade the arrows. Twisting his body would avoid the arrows for the moment but leave him unbalanced and defenseless against follow-up attacks.

Gyro chose to press on. He thickened his Aura Armor and simply took the arrows head-on. Though the arrows carried aura, it was too weak to penetrate the dense Aura Armor. Anis' arrows were fast and accurate, but no matter how swift and precise, they were meaningless if they couldn't break through the defense.

Now, it was Anis's turn. Unlike Gyro, Anis had no choices left. There wasn’t enough time to evade, leaving him with no option but to deploy Aura Armor. Yet, even deploying Aura Armor seemed futile; the power in Gyro's greatsword was beyond what Aura Armor could withstand.

Boom!

It was a relief that Anis' head wasn't split in two. The greatsword stopped right above him, its shockwave sending Anis' hair flying wildly.

To halt a descending sword entirely required thirty times the force used to swing it, as acceleration, gravity, and weight had to be accounted for. Furthermore, while the entire body was used to swing a sword downward, stopping it solely relied on wrist strength. In other words, stopping a descending sword was virtually impossible. Forcing it would break the wrist, and even if it stopped, inertia would cause it to continue.

To stop it perfectly...?

Such a feat was beyond raw strength; it entered the realm of extreme aura control.

“If you're still alive, shouldn't you move or do something?”

Gyro kicked Anis in the chest. Though Anis instinctively blocked with his bow, both the bow and his arm broke as he flew across the ground, rolling to a stop.

Whoosh!

Gyro tilted his head slightly both ways, letting arrows pass on either side. Taragon and Anis were incapacitated, and only Luke remained. If three people together couldn’t defeat Gyro, how could Luke do it alone?

Though surrender seemed natural, Luke refused to give up. When his thirty prepared arrows were depleted, he switched to Aura Arrows and fought to the end. When his aura was also exhausted, Luke resorted to throwing punches at Gyro.

“You’ve got some grit!”

Luke displayed solid responses in close combat with Gyro, evading and counterattacking.

“But tell me, how do you plan to kill anyone with strikes like this?”

Gyro didn't even bother defending. He let Luke’s punches land without Aura Armor.

Thud!

Luke hit Gyro's abdomen and chest, but it felt like hitting solid rock, not flesh.

“Kid, a fist isn't a tool. It's a weapon.”

This time, Gyro threw a punch of his own. To Luke, that fist appeared as massive as a mountain.

Right before it struck his crossed arms, Gyro's punch stopped.

“As an archer, you're already defeated. But facing you as a special ability user is another matter altogether.”

Knowing from Keter that Luke could reflect attacks, Gyro refrained from striking. This was a duel between swordsman and archer, not swordsman and a special ability user.

As the battle's tension subsided, Keter said, “So, Gyro, what do you think would happen if Number Two and Three entered the Sword of the South Tournament?”

“They would be eliminated in the preliminaries. I can’t even expect variables at this level.”

Anis fumed in frustration, while Taragon hung his head low.

“Why do you think you lost? Number Two, tell me.”

“Our arrows lacked power. If I had used Leo Archery properly, we could’ve stopped the advance,” Anis said.

“Next, Number Three.”

“I failed to predict my opponent's movements... and my reactions were too slow,” Taragon commented.

“And Number One.”

“It’s the difference in experience.”

“All wrong,” Keter firmly said.

“...?!”

Keter then reached out to Luke. Assuming Keter wanted a handshake, Luke offered his hand.

Instead, Keter slapped it and said, “Your bow. Give me your bow.”

“Oh.”

Taking the bow, Keter also grabbed a quiver of arrows from the armory and slung it around his waist.

“Your first reason for losing: equipment disparity. Gyro's sword is a Demon Sword. It easily withstands aura attacks without needing to use aura to defend it. But your bows? They’re finely crafted bows, sure, but not enough to block aura. The same goes for your arrows. Without infused aura, they can't pierce an opponent's Aura Armor. However, this isn’t the decisive factor.”

To prove equipment wasn’t the main issue, Keter held an ordinary bow.

“The second reason: lack of belief. You don’t believe in yourselves, so none of your attacks carry certainty. Hesitation creates openings everywhere.

Keter stood fifty meters from Gyro and gestured for him to attack.

“And finally, your rigidity. What do you think archery is? Shooting with power, quantity, or speed? Is that all you consider archery to be? Swordsmanship has four core principles: speed, unpredictability, strength, and adaptability. Hundreds of sword techniques derive from these. Gyro, what are the principles of your swordsmanship?”

“Speed, power, and attraction. It is called the Swift Elephant Sword because of its brisk and heavy nature.”

“Each principle in Gyro’s technique isn’t separate; they blend seamlessly into every step and strike. But your archery? Leo Archery pursues only strength, and Yaksha Archery only speed.”

While there were schools that took singular mastery to extremes, such as Extreme Swift Sword or Extreme Power Sword, archery was different from swordsmanship.

“Extreme speed or power may work for swords, but not for archery. Do you know why? Distance. Archery operates from afar, swords up close. No matter how fast an arrow, it still lingers in the air, giving the opponent time to react. The same applies to power. Even with overwhelming force, the time it takes an arrow to reach its target grants the enemy opportunities unavailable against sword strikes.”

If an arrow and sword strike were equally fast, the harder one to counter would be the sword, of course. The strike would begin right in front of the opponent, leaving no time for perception. An arrow, on the other hand, had a visible trajectory, inherently offering time for reaction.

“So, what path should archery pursue?”

Keter gestured toward Gyro, signaling him to attack.

“See for yourself. Watch closely.”

As soon as Keter finished, Gyro sent a wave of sword energy his way. It was the same way he subdued Luke, Anis, and Taragon.