WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ I Pulled Out Excalibur

Chapter 445

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Special Instructor (4)

Faith resembles starlight.

Of course, unlike starlight, which can work miracles even in small amounts, faith requires enormous quantities accumulated over a long span of time. That much is different.

'But once it has accumulated?'

Faith can be used in the same way as starlight. It strengthens weapons, strengthens the body, and can sometimes stand in for the cost of magic. There is a reason the orders bear the character for star rather than the character for sacred in their names.

Whether starlight or faith, both ultimately spring from the human heart. It is no coincidence that they work in similar ways.

'In any case.'

Najin had seen many people use faith in exactly that manner.

'They called that converted power Sacred Power.'

Yuel, the executioner of the Sacred Blood Church, regularly reinforced her Sword Aura with Sacred Power. The chief deity she served, the Thorned Martyr, would expend accumulated Sacred Power to bestow blessings or open transfer gates. The Star Incarnation was the same. So was the Lighthouse.

The representatives and Great Champions of the various orders all fought by consuming Sacred Power in one way or another. Drawing Sacred Power from outside one's body rather than relying on the starlight within was a way to strengthen oneself without any personal burden.

Star Blood, Star Light, Star Body, even figures from minor orders too small to count among the three great orders of the Continent followed the same pattern.

And yet, for some reason.

The Sword Order, whose influence rivaled even the three great orders, did not. There was no record of the sword priests who belonged to the order ever using Sacred Power. Not even the Sword Saint who led it.

'Then where did all that Sacred Power go?'

The Sword Order.

An order that had existed for nearly a thousand years, one that had built its influence in every era. True, it had never been active in Proselytization the way other orders were, and it had never performed Star Blessings. But still.

A thousand years is a thousand years.

Where had all the faith accumulated over those centuries gone? Najin had wondered about that once and had asked Karon. Karon's answer had been this:

"It's technically a secret of the order, but yeah, there is a use for it. Though calling it a 'use' might be a stretch, it's closer to keeping something locked away. Anyway..."

"And let me correct a misunderstanding."

"It's not that we don't use the accumulated faith. It's that we can't. Even if we wanted to, we can't touch it."

At the time, Najin had not understood what those words meant. Now, at last, he could see it for himself.

"I see."

He looked at the sword in Karon's hand and spoke.

"So that is the chief deity the Sword Order serves."

"If you had to put it that way, sure."

Karon was the order's representative, nothing more, not the object of its faith, and more precisely, could never be. Everyone who belonged to the order had sworn to dedicate their lives to the sword and placed no value on anything outside it.

So what they had faith in was the sword itself.

Not a person. The sword as such.

Gazing at the single blade that had taken shape from a millennium of hardened faith, Najin let out a low whistle. So this was the "preparation" Karon had said was needed before facing Siegfried.

"You said you could prepare a sword capable of standing against Gramr before facing Siegfried... you actually meant it?"

"Didn't I say so? That there was one thing I could use."

Karon tapped the scabbard twice.

"Of course, compared to the Excalibur you carry around, it falls well short. It doesn't grant its wielder any particular blessing. No enhanced cutting power, no effect that strengthens starlight either."

Nothing like the special Authorities or effects that Holy Swords and Sacred Objects typically carry.

"But."

But, Karon said.

"If you judge it purely as a sword, not as a Holy Sword or a Sacred Object, the picture changes a little."

A finger flicked against the scabbard, and a clear, bright note rang out.

"Countless sword priests and seekers who threw their lives into the way of the sword over the past thousand years, and the Sword Saints who led the order on their behalf. This is the ideal they sought."

"An ideal?"

"The most perfect sword that swordsmen have ever carried in their hearts across the long years."

It moves as intended. It will not break so long as the heart does not break first. Depending on the realm of whoever holds it, it can become useless scrap that cannot even slice paper, or a blade sharp enough to split steel.

"Gramr may cut through everything in the world, but how does it cut through a human heart? As long as I don't believe it will break, the sword will not break."

"What a strange sword."

"That's coming from someone who carries around the strangest sword in the world."

Also fair. Najin smiled and pointed at the blade in Karon's hand.

"So what's its name?"

"I told you already. It's the ideal that swordsmen have sought over the past thousand years. It shares its name with a realm that may not even exist, something widely regarded as pure fiction."

Karon said it.

"Heart Sword."

A sword forged from the heart itself.

2.

"Well, I made it sound pretty grand, and it feels a bit awkward to add this now, but..."

Karon scratched the back of his neck.

"It's not actually all that impressive. It has an absurd number of restrictions, and on top of that, it's basically one-time use."

"What? One-time use?"

"The faith is sealed inside the scabbard. The moment you draw it even once, you cannot sheathe the sword. You'll have to keep swinging until every last bit of stored power is spent, and then it's over."

Tap, tap. Karon drummed his fingers against the scabbard and grinned.

"That's why the one who first created this scabbard, most likely the second Sword Saint to take the seat after Siegfried-nim, placed a few restrictions on it."

One: only one who has mastered Thousand Swords may hold the Heart Sword.

Two: only one who has touched upon Ten Thousand Forms may draw it.

Three: the Heart Sword may only be drawn against one who has reached the absolute limit of the sword.

"Pretty blunt restrictions, honestly."

Master Thousand Swords, touch upon Ten Thousand Forms. That is the level needed to cross swords with Siegfried. If you have climbed that high, take this sword and go to him. Achieve the order's long-cherished wish of freeing the Sword Demon.

The restrictions said as much, plainly.

Karon ran a hand along the hilt, turning those conditions over in his mind.

"A sword made for one opponent and one opponent only."

"Doesn't that weigh on you? One use and a thousand years of Sacred Power is just gone."

"Weigh on me? Not at all."

Karon grinned.

"A whole thousand years of Sacred Power that my predecessors steadily saved up, and I get to spend it all in one go? I'm grateful the chance to draw this sword fell to me."

At that grin, Najin shrugged. Well, that tracked. The Karon he knew had always been that kind of person.

"Could I draw that sword?"

"Hm?"

"You said it can only be drawn against someone who has reached the absolute limit of the sword. From the look of it, you seem to mean something above Sword Master..."

Najin pointed at himself.

"What about against me?"

"Hm. I'm curious about that myself."

Karon ran a hand along the hilt. The moment he touched it while pointing at Najin, the scabbard lurched with a heavy thud. Karon startled and grabbed it tight.

"It's reacting. It doesn't fully draw, but it gets right to the edge. Have you learned something else since I last saw you?"

Najin was just as surprised. The surprise passed quickly, and a quiet smile crossed his face. The Heart Sword had just given him a measure of how far he had grown.

'A sword made to face Siegfried.'

For the Heart Sword to nearly draw against him meant Najin was now something close to Siegfried's equal.

"I've been learning quite a lot lately."

"Well, I'll be."

"Either way, I understand the situation. The weapon is ready, we can move at any time, and there's nothing blocking our path."

"Right. Then let's go right now..."

"Before that, then."

Najin loosened up. Karon blinked. Najin reached into his coat and pulled out a sword he had not touched since taking up Excalibur, a sword Karon had given him once before.

"Why are you drawing a sword?"

"Why do you think?"

Najin ran a hand along the hilt. He had swung it often enough once upon a time, but since announcing himself as Excalibur's master he had not used it once, and the feel of the grip was unfamiliar.

Swish, whoosh.

The unfamiliarity did not last. After two or three swings through the air, he seemed to have his feel back. He put a touch more force into the next swing.

Crack.

The ground split in a clean, deep line. Karon blinked. Najin rolled his wrist and smiled with quiet satisfaction, as if to say that would do.

"Why are you just standing there. Draw your sword."

"Huh?"

"We should at least get used to each other's rhythm before facing Siegfried, right? Some training while we're at it. I'll spar with you myself."

Najin tilted the scabbard toward Karon.

Something about the scene gave Karon a strange sense of deja vu. What is this? There's something oddly familiar about it. He cast his memory back and let out a short "ah."

"What are you doing? Draw your sword."

It was something he himself had often done back on the Continent. He would seek out a swordsman with promising potential and, before giving them a good beating under the guise of instruction, say exactly those words.

...And for that matter, it was what he had done when he first met Najin.

Naturally, having the Sword Saint personally spar with you was an enormous honor for any swordsman. There was no reason to refuse. Some had even hoped Karon would come find them.

Teaching that would become bone and flesh, after all.

And the cost of that instruction amounted to nothing beyond the ache of getting beaten with a scabbard. Since every realization comes with pain, it was essentially free.

"......"

"......"

Karon glanced at Najin tilting his scabbard at him, then looked at the Constellations watching covertly from a distance. They were eyeing him with obvious envy at the chance to spar against Najin.

Good opportunity. It is a good opportunity, but.

A cold sweat ran down Karon's back. He swallowed dryly, realizing he was about to receive the exact mirror treatment he had dealt out to so many others.

"...Now?"

"Yes, now."

"It's a bit sudden."

"That's just how things in the world go. Didn't you tell me the same thing, Master? Everything comes back around eventually."

Najin smiled, perfectly mild. On the surface he looked like a student showing his master how much he had grown. But that Growth had been so steep the positions between them had reversed.

Najin was stronger than Karon.

By quite a fair amount.

Facing the prospect of being beaten black and blue by his former student, Karon smiled ruefully and set the Heart Sword down. He drew the sword he had always used himself.

"Right. I suppose all of it will become bone and flesh."

"Though some bones may break."

"What?"

"Nothing."

With that, Najin gave a short sword salute.

"I look forward to learning from you."

3.

Karon looked at Najin.

Sword in hand, Najin had not moved a single step, as if to say, come at me. It was not arrogance. It was the ease of someone stronger. Karon could not deny that.

Because it was true.

'...That's what he's thinking, I'd bet.'

Najin smiled.

No need to hide it. That inner monologue was exactly what Najin had thought when he first met Karon. The roles had swapped, so the one thinking it had swapped too.

Najin let his mind go back.

Their first meeting. At the time, Karon had beaten him thoroughly, in the most literal sense. Looking back now, it had hurt quite a bit. He had come out of it with bruises and what felt like a broken bone or two. It had been Teaching that became bone and flesh, and it had helped him, but still.

Pain is pain, separate from everything else.

Of course, Najin held no grudges. Not the tiniest desire for petty revenge. Had it not all been useful instruction? He was not the kind of student who repaid a teacher's kindness with resentment.

Only, should one not repay a kindness in kind?

Now, standing on the eve of a fight against a powerful enemy.

Najin intended to share what he had learned. He had picked up quite a few techniques during his time in the Abyss. Sharing that experience so his master would not struggle in an unfamiliar place was something a student naturally ought to do.

'Is there another student like this anywhere in the world?'

How admirable, to care so much for one's teacher.

"What are you on about."

Merlin, having caught Najin's murmured thoughts, was looking at him like he had lost his mind. Najin paid her no attention. What would a mage know about the bond between swordsmen? There were things only a swordsman could understand about another swordsman.

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