WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Weakest Knight Became a Swordmaster, But Only in Dungeons ◈

Chapter 12: Two-Person Team Training (2)

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“Hmm!! Comrade! Face the attack of Turak, brave warrior of the Blue Mane Tribe!”

“Argh!! S-Save me!! The barbarian’s trying to kill me!!”

The training ground was vast.

Having finished forming teams, the cadets began their Magic Weapon Arts training.

“P-Please take care of me...”

“Likewise...”

A dejected expression could be seen beneath the deep-purple hair pinned with a skull-shaped hairpin.

The female cadet assigned to Violet’s team broke out in a cold sweat and trembled at the sight of her.

At some point, a rumor had spread among the first-year cadets that anyone Violet took an interest in might “die and be made to serve her.”

Violet had no idea how such a strange rumor had begun, but...

Perhaps because of it, Violet had somehow become an object of fear.

Of course, Violet understood how the cadets felt. Most people still viewed Black Mages negatively.

‘But it would’ve been fine...’

She only had to be assigned to the same team as Ron, the cadet who was especially unreserved around her.

It was rude to think this way about Ron, but since he was unpopular and the last-place cadet, because everyone worse than him had been expelled, she had been certain no one would choose to team up with him.

But then...

‘Why...?!’

Ron had been chosen by Elise Lorendia, the outstanding and famous top student among the first-year cadets...!

‘Could that woman be trying to become friends with Mr. Hazely?!’

Violet’s eyes, hands, and feet trembled. Her teammate saw this and flinched in fear.

Ron would surely rather be friends with someone bright, cheerful, and popular like Elise than a gloomy person like her... right?

Suddenly, Violet imagined Ron getting along with Elise and her friends, all of whom overflowed with bright energy.

Violet, you’re too gloomy. I’m going to hang out with them now. I hope you won’t try talking to me again.

The Ron in her imagination turned his back on Violet after saying such cold words with a firm expression.

Imaginary Violet stretched out her hand toward Ron’s back as he left happily with Elise and her friends, but eventually collapsed to the ground in despair.

Violet’s heart ached without her realizing it.

‘If that happened, I’d be really sad...’

She was certain of it.

Certain that she would cry.

She knew it was nothing but a childish fantasy.

But friends were precious enough to Violet to make her feel that anxious. She had always thought she would never make any.

So Violet kept narrowing her eyes and glancing toward Ron and Elise. It was beyond her control.

Meanwhile.

Elise stood across from Ron, who held a mock sword, and watched him with a smile.

“Ron Hazely, can I ask you something directly?”

“What is it?”

“Are you hiding your real skills?”

Ron furrowed his brow as if the question were ridiculous.

“I wish I had skills worth hiding... Now that you mention it, I get it. You chose me because of what you saw during the Subjugation Test, right?”

“You figured it out? That’s right. That’s why I asked. I couldn’t believe it.”

“It just happened by chance. I didn’t think I could do it either.”

“Really?”

Elise smiled with her eyes.

Fwoosh!

Mana coated Elise’s mock sword.

Silver low-grade mana. It was the set limit for first-semester, first-year Magic Weapon Arts training.

There were two reasons mana beyond that was prohibited. First-year mock swords could not withstand it, and more importantly, it was dangerous.

“Then would you like to try it on me too?”

Ron half drew a breath and took his stance.

“I’ll try.”

Fwoosh.

Silver mana bloomed over Ron’s sword as well.

It was weak mana that did not even reach the limit set for Magic Weapon Arts training.

A confident smile formed on Ron’s lips.

‘This might be doable.’

Ron had gained confidence from practicing with Turak.

Practicing against Elise, the protagonist of this world, would surely earn him plenty of experience.

...He was mistaken.

Flash!

‘Huh? She disappeared...’

Smack!!

“Aagh!”

Ron had not expected himself to react like some stupid third-rate extra.

Thud!

Ron was sent flying before falling to the floor. The bright ceiling entered his view.

A sense of futility washed over him like the tide.

‘Heavens...’

I repent for being arrogant, even if only for a moment.

“Oh my, are you okay?”

“I’m... fine.”

Ron waved a hand as he endured the pain and got back to his feet.

‘Seriously, this school never gives me a moment to get full of myself...’

The conditions Ron needed to successfully use Lightwing Sword’s Wing Unfurling in his usual state were rather strict.

The attack needed to be crude, straightforward, not too fast, and heavy enough.

The golem from the Subjugation Test and Turak, the barbarian who had helped him practice, had both met those conditions.

But Elise’s sword was different. It was incredibly fast and dazzling.

Ron judged that using Wing Unfurling in time against sword strikes like those was impossible at his current level.

Then...

‘I won’t rely on Wing Unfurling.’

Fwoosh!

Ron once again infused the blade with silver mana.

He would not be arrogant. He would simply do his best and land a hit on Elise.

That was his only resolve.

“Come again.”

“Okay, then. Excuse me.”

Flash!

Elise charged again like a cheetah on the hunt. As expected, Ron’s eyes could not follow her movements.

But there was one thing Ron knew particularly well about Elise.

‘Elise’s first attack is usually a diagonal rising slash from the left.’

It was a habit ingrained in her body.

He had seen it in the game and noticed it while consciously studying Elise’s movements during training.

Ron stepped half a pace ahead and raised the flat of his blade.

Clang!

The two mock swords collided. Silver mana scattered sparks with the impact.

“!”

Elise’s eyes widened for a moment. Then the corners of her lips rose.

Screeeech!

Ron scraped Elise’s sword with his own and pressed into her guard. The two blades locked together, producing a sharp grinding sound.

Then Ron roughly shoved Elise’s sword aside.

Swish!

His next strike slashed toward Elise’s shoulder.

It was a sharper strike than Elise had expected. She quickly retreated to avoid it. The tip of his blade grazed her magenta hair.

As though he had expected that, Ron pursued Elise and swung his sword again and again.

“What?”

“Oh...”

The cadets who had been sneaking glances at Elise were now admiring the exchange between Ron and Elise.

Elise fought leisurely while accommodating her opponent, while Ron gave it everything he had.

The gap between them was obvious, but it still made them wonder, ‘Was Ron really that good?’

Instructor Rachel scoffed as she watched Ron.

‘He really is an odd one.’

Since becoming interested in Ron, Rachel had closely watched his rate of growth.

Ron had shown rapid improvement since beginning his education at the knight school. It was only natural that he had grown stronger as well.

More surprisingly, Ron’s offense was closer to the true principles of Lightwing Sword than that of any other cadet here.

It was simply that Ron’s body could not keep up with his mind. That much was obvious.

Had there ever been another case like this? Of course not. Rachel found it fascinating.

Clang!

Whoosh!

Between the sword strikes flying back and forth, Ron kept his mind racing as he tried to catch every movement of Elise’s eyes, shoulders, waist, and feet.

Pushing his mana output to the limit and executing every form of Lightwing Sword, Ron continued his combinations.

Thump. Thump.

Ron’s heart pounded fiercely. Mana circulated through his entire body more violently than ever before.

He felt an omen.

Had it been since his mana capacity increased after he killed the Blue Slime? As he continued training, the circle within his heart, the source of power that pumped his mana, had expanded until it felt ready to burst.

And now, as he drew out even more mana with the sole intention of catching up to Elise...

Hummm.

The circle, expanded to its limit, split into two.

Ron’s mana began raging even more violently.

[You have surpassed a certain level of mana capacity.]

[Your number of circles increases.]

[Tier Increase: “1” → “2”]

‘I can see her.’

Ron could now catch at least some of Elise’s movements, which had looked like nothing but afterimages moments ago.

The primary sword style Elise had mastered was Flower Dance Sword.

It was a sword style that seized control of an area through graceful, dance-like rotations.

For now, she was mainly using Lightwing Sword because of the training. But whenever there was a gap in Lightwing Sword’s combinations, Elise mixed in movements from Flower Dance Sword.

They were movements Ron had often seen in both the game and training.

Matching the flow of Flower Dance Sword, Ron either clashed swords with Elise or avoided her attacks, then slipped into her openings.

“Hmm?”

Elise narrowed her eyes.

Ron’s movements had become noticeably faster. The silver mana enveloping his sword had also grown denser.

Whoosh.

Elise activated Fairy’s Eye and let out a quiet laugh. A new circle had formed inside Ron’s heart.

‘That...’

Instructor Rachel also noticed Ron’s sudden change.

Rachel quickly grasped what had happened, and admiration appeared in her eyes.

‘His Tier went up?’

His circles had increased as well.

Rachel smiled.

‘If he keeps growing like that, plenty of people will probably set their sights on you someday, Ron Hazely.’

Magic Knights naturally coveted apprentice knights with exceptional talent. They wanted to make them their personal squires.

A knight’s reputation was directly tied to having a successful disciple.

A cadet like Elise would be an especially popular candidate, but Rachel thought Ron might become quite the contender as well.

Even she herself...

‘He certainly seems tempting.’

Enough to make her lick her lips.

Of course, the question was where Ron’s growth limit lay.

A cadet who displayed such remarkable growth as soon as given a proper opportunity to develop did not seem likely to hit that limit anytime soon.

Swish!

Elise began to spin, moving to swing her sword.

It was a Flower Dance Sword movement woven between Lightwing Sword techniques in place of Wing Unfurling.

It was a pattern Ron had seen countless times. Anticipating it, Ron thrust his sword forward before Elise could complete the spin.

Elise’s eyes widened slightly.

Before Ron’s sword tip could reach her, Elise’s sword shot up, drawing a streak of light.

A serious response she had not expected to show him came out instinctively.

Clang!!

“!”

Ron’s sword was knocked away at last. Then Elise’s sword stopped in front of his throat.

“Huff, huff...”

Only then did Ron let out the breath he had been holding.

Elise’s eyes curved like crescents.

“I could see what you were aiming for.”

“Seems like it...”

Though Ron still ultimately fell far short of Elise...

Elise’s turquoise eyes held even greater interest than before they began training.

* * *

“Good work.”

“Good work.”

Training had ended.

The cadets exchanged formal greetings with their teammates.

“Huff, huff...”

I was catching my breath with my hands on my knees and my upper body bent low.

Even then, I looked down at my hand.

‘I reached Second Tier.’

Tier was the growth grade of mana.

It was determined by the number of circles, the sources of power that pumped mana from around the heart.

As mana capacity increased, circles grew larger. Once a circle became too large and reached its critical point, it split and increased in number.

‘Like a stock that has risen too high undergoing a stock split.’

...I wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate to compare a mystical mana phenomenon to stocks, but anyway.

After that, you could handle more mana far more efficiently and use techniques of a higher realm.

‘Well, it’s good, but...’

I was happy, but I had still failed to land even one hit on Elise.

My gamer instincts had flared up for the first time in a while, like when trying to defeat a difficult boss monster... It was a shame.

“Good work.”

“Good, huff, work...”

I struggled to return Elise’s greeting.

“Hmm...”

Click. Click.

Why were footsteps getting closer? What was this?

The moment I raised my head, Elise suddenly brought her refined face with its turquoise eyes close to mine.

Elise leaned her upper body to the side and looked up at me from close by.

“Why...?”

Elise stared at me, then narrowed her eyes and smiled mischievously.

“I think I picked a good partner.”

“What are you talking about now...?”

No matter how hard I tried, Elise would only think, ‘He’s not the person who’ll help me.’

She had witnessed my Tier increase firsthand, after all. That would put me even farther from suspicion.

So the meaning behind Elise’s words was probably that she was interested in my talent after seeing me use Lightwing Sword’s Wing Unfurling.

“Please take care of me next time too, Ron Hazely. Oh, it looked like your Tier went up? Congratulations.”

Elise smiled and walked away.

The male cadets around me sent all kinds of mixed emotions in my direction through their stares.

‘What are you looking at?’

I was too tired to care about them.

* * *

Today, Lara was on cleanup duty with Ron.

After saying goodbye to Lara, Elise crossed the academy grounds alone.

‘Ron Hazely... He suddenly reached Second Tier, didn’t he?’

If the mysterious strong person she sought had been concealing their real mana by some means, they would not have risen to Second Tier.

It seemed Ron was not the person she was looking for.

But it was too early to be certain. Her target had hidden their identity through an unknown method. She had to consider various possibilities.

In other words, it had only become less likely that Ron was that person. He was still one of the suspicious people she needed to investigate.

‘Still...’

Separate from that, there was something Elise had felt for certain while training with Ron.

‘Every one of his attacks was beautiful.’

During training, Ron’s Lightwing Sword had smoothly and sharply pressed into Elise’s openings again and again.

If Ron’s body and mana had been similar to hers, perhaps Lightwing Sword’s distinctive combinations would have fit together beautifully.

Ron seemed to understand Lightwing Sword better than she did.

When Ron was still First Tier, she had only felt something was off. But after he reached Second Tier, she became certain.

“I never thought I’d end up learning from that kid.”

Elise murmured softly. The corners of her lips rose.

She was looking forward to her next training session with Ron.

It was not long before Act 5 of Chapter 1 in For Elise.

Footnotes:

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