WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Weakest Knight Became a Swordmaster, But Only in Dungeons ◈
Chapter 4: Preemptive Subjugation (1)
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Swordsmanship class.
The main characters were swinging their swords with dazzling skill.
Having lived Ron’s life, I couldn’t help but appreciate firsthand just how remarkable their aptitude was, and how formidable their martial prowess.
As I watched them with admiration, I thought,
‘Act 2 of Chapter 1 must have ended normally, with the main characters becoming entangled with one another... Which means Act 3 of Chapter 1 is coming soon.’
Act 3 of Chapter 1, the Gate Break.
A Gate dungeon left uncleared for a certain period would collapse, encroach on the surrounding area, turn it into a dungeon, and begin pouring out its monsters.
Since the Gate, the boundary between the world and a dungeon, had collapsed, the phenomenon was called a Gate Break.
In For Elise, there was a dangerous Gate dungeon that had remained undiscovered and abandoned in a remote area.
It would break and begin releasing monsters.
The cadets, who happened to be in the middle of a practical test, would end up fighting the dungeon monsters for their lives.
‘Can’t let that happen.’
In the first and second playthroughs, every cadet survived unharmed. But on Hard difficulty during the third playthrough, several cadets died.
If things went sideways, the main characters could lose their lives, or the protagonist’s suffering route could begin. A bad ending might follow.
‘I’m not going to let that happen.’
Besides, even knowing people were going to die, I had no desire to just stand by and watch.
Therefore.
‘I’ll get there first.’
If it was a dungeon, I could clear it out myself.
Of course, I could inform Griffin Knight School about the Gate, but I decided against it.
It would be difficult to explain how I had found it, and the enemy faction held several important positions at Griffin Knight School.
There was no reason to do something suspicious and draw attention to myself.
Besides, there was something in that Gate dungeon I wanted to obtain. It was a weapon I had regretted being unable to acquire in the game.
So it would be better to go alone.
“Cadet No. 17.”
Just then, the instructor approached me.
My heart dropped.
‘Ah, damn it.’
Was it obvious that I’d been distracted during training?
The instructor wasn’t going to give me extra drills, were they?
“Cadet No. 17, Ron Hazely!”
“Cadet No. 17, Ron Hazely!”
The instructor stared at me, then curled one corner of their mouth upward.
“Looks like your stamina and mana have already improved! And it’s only the second week! Have you been training that hard!?”
‘Oh, that was it.’
I relaxed.
I gave an appropriate answer.
“You told us to train diligently, Instructor, so I trained with everything I had!”
“...!”
The instructor’s eyes widened.
“Why!?”
“Because faithfully carrying out an instructor’s orders is a cadet’s duty!”
The instructor abruptly stepped closer.
“Damn it! Excellent, Cadet No. 17 Ron Hazely! To think you’ve already understood the true essence of Griffin Knight School! What genius-level intelligence!!”
“Thank you!!”
“But you still have a long way to go! Do you think it’s acceptable to be so feeble already!? There isn’t much time until the next test! The intensity will only keep increasing! Will you train even harder and survive!?”
“Yes!!”
“Good! Since you gave me an answer I like, I’ll grant you a special privilege! Take your stance!”
“Yes?”
“You’ll master it quickly if you experience it with your own body!”
This was a privilege, right...?
The instructor wasn’t just trying to torture me, right...?
I hurriedly gripped my practice sword with both hands and took my stance.
“Everyone, stop moving! Look over here! I will demonstrate once more!”
The cadets stopped their training and focused on the instructor and me.
Holding their practice sword in one hand, the instructor wore their usual hearty smile.
They did not move a muscle, and there was not even the slightest opening. A solemn pressure weighed down on my entire body.
“I’ll slowly show you each movement of the Lightwing Sword, one of the Empire’s ancient knightly sword arts! Open your eyes wide and try to block them, Ron Hazely!”
“Yes!”
The instructor slowly swung their sword and carefully demonstrated the swordsmanship movements.
Each time, they added an explanation. This sword art worked like this, then like that, and so on.
I matched them as best I could.
“Now, I’ll increase the speed!”
“Yes!?”
The sword strikes gradually became faster.
Clang! Clang!
The practice swords collided, producing loud impacts.
Naturally, there were attacks I couldn’t block. The blunt blade struck me. Ugh, that hurt like hell.
“Now, counterattack whenever you want!”
“Yes!”
Following the instructor’s order, I swung my sword.
‘Oh!’
The downward slash went cleanly toward an opening.
It was the best sword strike I had swung so far. Was it because I had grown stronger?
...Then.
Clang!
“!?”
The instructor’s sword released mana as it knocked my sword aside at an angle.
It was as though the laws of physics themselves had decreed that my sword had to be smoothly deflected.
Because I had put my weight behind the strike to give it power, my body lost its balance and stumbled backward.
Whoosh!
At the same time, the instructor’s sword shot forward and stopped before my throat.
I sucked in a breath. Then I fell flat on my backside.
Cold sweat trickled down my face. Even though it was a practice sword, I thought I was going to die for a moment.
“This is Wing Unfurling! It is the bridge that connects every technique of the Lightwing Sword, as well as the Lightwing Sword’s greatest counterattack! It’s still too advanced for the likes of you! But if you delve into the principles of the Lightwing Sword, it is a realm you can one day reach!”
The cadets’ eyes sharpened. Everyone looked full of motivation.
The instructor chuckled.
“Cadet No. 17! Do you get the feeling now!?”
As if I would...
Still.
‘At least I think I know what it feels like to have it used against me.’
I understood that it was most effective when used against an opponent who put their weight behind a powerful strike. I had just experienced it myself.
For some reason, excitement surged through me.
At that cheap swordsmanship academy, I had only learned miscellaneous sword techniques from a former mercenary instructor.
Experiencing and learning systematic knightly swordsmanship after coming to Griffin Knight School was like rain falling on parched land for someone as thirsty for knowledge and skill as I was.
“Cadet No. 17!”
The instructor’s booming voice struck me.
Smack!
The flat of their practice sword hit the top of my head. Ugh, that hurt!
“Urgh! Cadet No. 17, Ron Hazely!”
“Cadet No. 17, Ron Hazely!”
The instructor roared.
“How long are you planning to sit there leisurely!? I never told you to rest! Get up and swing your sword!”
“Yes!!”
I take back what I said earlier.
This damn Griffin Knight School. It was seriously exhausting...
......
On my day off, I left Griffin Knight School.
The Melsis Stele was located in the Holton Mountains, an hour away from Griffin Knight School. I headed there. Since it was a famous stele, its location was well known.
The scale of the game map and the actual terrain were worlds apart. It took a fair amount of time to get there, but the characteristics of the surrounding land were the same as in the game, so I found the Melsis Stele without much trouble.
Ancient writing was carved into the stele. It commemorated the achievements of some magic knight from a long-ago era. Hmm, I couldn’t read it. Not that I needed to.
‘They said I should head east from here, right?’
After walking for some time while recalling the story of Elwi, I arrived at a familiar destination.
Inside a cave, dark mana drifted like fog.
It was a Darkness Curtain, a magical phenomenon created when the cave’s tiny bat monsters combined their power.
It concealed the colony’s habitat and prevented the mana inside the cave from being detected outside. It was their survival strategy.
In Elwi, it was said that this Darkness Curtain was why the Gate had not been discovered earlier.
Just in case, I stuck my sword through it. The sword passed beyond the curtain without any issue.
Then I stepped through myself. Again, nothing happened.
Flutter, flutter!
“Oh, shit.”
The moment I passed through the Darkness Curtain, tiny bat monsters flew around noisily. Damn, that startled me.
They might attack small animals or insects, but they weren’t the type to attack people like me, so I decided to ignore them.
Whoooo.
‘Found it.’
Before long, I found an oval Gate floating in midair with an eerie sound.
It had to be the Gate that would collapse and pour out monsters in Act 3 of Chapter 1.
Without hesitation, I entered the Gate.
Humid wind brushed against my skin. A mysterious marshland filled my vision. Strange plants grew everywhere.
Blue energy flowed across the sky like a river. It was natural mana.
[You have entered the dungeon.]
Fwoooosh!
The entrance Gate converged into a single point and vanished.
‘Shall I look for it?’
There was one dangerous bastard in the third playthrough’s Hard difficulty story.
It should be hiding in this dungeon around now.
It was a variable that appeared only in the third playthrough’s story, and the culprit responsible for taking the lives of several cadets during Act 3 of Chapter 1.
What was worse, I couldn’t even kill it in that story. It would retreat and join the enemy faction.
‘So I should kill it here.’
Shing.
I drew the sword at my waist.
All right, then.
[Unique Ability “Swordmaster’s Soul” has been activated!]
Ssssss!
[Status]
- Rank: (7)
- Body: A
- Mana: A
- Realm: (Swordmaster)
‘Oh, yeah.’
Vigor surged through my entire body like mad.
Mana swelled violently and spun through my mana circuits at a tremendous speed.
It felt like I had been walking around in heavy shackles, only to suddenly be freed and enjoy complete liberty.
Or maybe it was like wearing only low-level equipment, then suddenly putting on endgame gear.
Ding.
At the same time, a full set of passive skills appeared.
[Sensory Amplification (A)] ─ You miss neither the faintest presence nor the slightest trace of mana.
[Mana Burst (S)] ─ Dramatically amplifies mana output of an overwhelming quantity, like the sea.
[Iron Soul (S)] ─ Immune to attacks that target the inner self, including mental-manipulation and curse-type magic or powers. Your emotions do not waver easily, like solid iron.
[Impervious to All Poisons (A)] ─ You are immune to poison.
[Unity with Every Sword (S)] ─ You wield any sword, or any number of swords, as though they were your own limbs.
‘Nice.’
I felt incredibly reassured.
Whoooo.
Suddenly, a breeze swept through my mind.
My senses sharpened, and my nerves seemed to be drawn somewhere.
Then.
Swoosh!!
Something long, thick, and white shot out of a nearby swamp like an anaconda.
‘A Swamp Snake.’
A Swamp Snake monster.
It opened its round maw, packed with sharp teeth.
I stepped forward and recalled the Lightwing Sword demonstration the instructor had shown during swordsmanship class.
‘In this state...’
I was certain.
I could recreate the principles of the Lightwing Sword with my own hands.
I swung.
Slice.
The blade swept down smoothly.
The Swamp Snake was cut in two like a sheet of paper and fell to the ground with a wet splat.
Thud!
I drove the tip of my sword into the writhing Swamp Snake, making certain it was dead.
It really was fast. So fast I could barely believe this was my own body moving.
‘Good.’
The feeling of swordsmanship had settled into my hands as well. I was satisfied.
After that, I moved onward, easily cutting down the Swamp Snakes and man-eating plants that ambushed me.
‘This is my first time exploring this dungeon...’
In the game, there had been no chance to explore this dungeon no matter what I did.
Still, it was easy to guess how to find my target.
Slash!
“Guh, urgh...”
I found the dungeon boss and effortlessly cut it down.
It was a huge crocodile monster partially covered in rock armor.
[You have cleared the dungeon boss.]
[You have acquired an Exit Gate Key.]
[You may create an Exit Gate anywhere around the Gate you entered through.]
Fwoooosh.
Green light appeared in the air, gathered together, and took the shape of a key. I picked it up.
If my guess was right...
‘It’ll appear now.’
Sliiide...
‘There you are.’
The corners of my mouth rose.
Demonic energy.
I could feel with absolute clarity the same unpleasant aura emitted by the demonkin Orankel.
In the deep swamp where the boss had been defeated, a grotesque life-form covered in thick mud slowly rose from the swamp.
It quietly tilted its head toward the sky, sitting with its knees drawn to its chest.
Snap.
The creature’s round eyes opened wide. A wet, squelching sound followed.
At the same time, several mouths opened wide, revealing rows of bright, even white teeth that sharply contrasted with the swamp.
Grrrk, grrrk.
It ground all its teeth together. The sound was a strange discord.
[Why, is a human, why, here, why, is he?]
As if enraged, it twisted its expression into a vicious grimace.
Its words came in broken fragments.
[Why, is my precious, pet, why, dead?]
Maslo raised his mud-covered body.
‘The demonkin, Maslo, the Mud Swordsman.’
He regarded this dungeon’s boss as a precious pet.
And he had been living in this dungeon with the boss.
That was why I had been certain he would reveal himself once the boss was dealt with.
Maslo, the demonkin that should have stained Act 3 of Chapter 1 with tragedy.
He held a sword in his hand.
‘That’s the Ravenous Wolf Sword.’
Just as I had seen in the game, unlike the sword used by the demonkin Orankel, the sword that bastard held was of exceptional quality.
The Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak.
A wolf sword left in the Graveyard of Swords by Sylvia, a Swordmaster and wandering knight who had freely traveled the world.
It boasted strength and hardness that even most famous swords could not ignore, and it remained unaffected even when infused with enormous amounts of mana.
According to legend, the wandering knight Sylvia had used that sword to slay powerful monsters.
The demonkin Maslo had stolen it from the Graveyard of Swords and was using it as his own weapon.
Today, I intended to kill the demonkin Maslo, prevent the bad ending...
And take that sword for myself.
“Hmm...”
My mouth watered.
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