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Chapter 18: Suppressing The Opponent(?)
“Princess! He’s not the one! He’s not!”
Envoy runs in with a scream that is almost like a wail.
What kind of big accident is this? What if the first prince gets hurt by mistake?
Even if she is from the Dios family, one of the three great martial families of the continent, it would be hard to get away with it.
“Ah!?”
But envoy freezes stupidly as soon as he sees inside the training hall. And then he opens his mouth wide.
‘Phew, at least they didn’t start a serious sword fight at their first meeting.’
Eurius lightly extends his hand and puts her sword on Beatrix’s neck.
He had completely subdued her, but in fact he was quite surprised.
‘No matter how much she is Beatrix, she already has this much skill at this point?’
Eurius recalls what just happened.
‘What the hell is this woman doing from the first meeting!’
He quickly turns his head and dodges the blade.
But the attack that comes at him is not just one. The attacks that he thought he had avoided become several flashes of light and cover his whole body.
But Eurius’s reaction is faster!
He doesn’t even draw his sword and jumps right into Beatrix’s onslaught.
“……!?”
Bang!
A small explosion sounds.
Eurius skillfully finds a gap in her attack and swings his sword hilt to parry it.
He sighs inwardly.
‘It’s a good thing that she doesn’t use different skills than before.’
In a normal situation, even Eurius at this point would have had a hard time suppressing her attack with one move.
But he had already seen this skill several times in his previous life!
Painfully! He was able to easily penetrate and hit her weak point because of that.
“What the hell is going on?”
The Duke of Dios runs down to the lower floor of the mansion where the training hall is, as if he heard an envoy’s shout.
And then he too had to doubt his eyes for a moment.
“……”
“……”
A few moments later, after that strange standoff ended.
Eurius was guided to the reception room of the mansion and received the duke’s hospitality.
“Haha, Your highness. First of all, I deeply apologize for my daughter’s rudeness. She’s really……a daughter I got late in life.”
The Duke of Dios apologizes very politely, unlike his usual self.
It’s not a normal thing to point a sword at the first prince of another country.
If it wasn’t for the family name of the duke and the reputation of the duke himself, this apology wouldn’t have been enough to settle it.
The duke also gives a look to Beatrix.
“I sincerely apologize for my rudeness. Your highness!”
Beatrix also realized that she had caused a big accident this time and looked dejected. She was so bowed down that she couldn’t even lift her face.
‘She did have this side when she was young.’
But Eurius doesn’t look angry.
Rather, he looks at her with curiosity.
His memories(?) of his previous life came to mind because she pointed a sword at him from their touching first meeting, but in the end there was no problem, right? If anything, he was feeling very good right now.
‘I’ve definitely suppressed her(?). In this life, I won’t lose to my wife in a fight.’
He was so happy that he almost laughed out loud and had to hold it back.
“It’s fine as long as no one got hurt. Haha!”
Eurius laughs cheerfully and dismisses the incident, and everyone in the duke’s family breathes a sigh of relief.
“You are truly magnanimous. I feel like I’ve learned a lot today.”
Some compliments start to go back and forth.
‘He’s much more outstanding than I thought.’
The duke could judge his opponent’s skill by his gait, posture, and subtle movements of his hands and feet.
‘It’s understandable that Rize was easily subdued by him. It’s hard to believe that he’s not even twenty years old.’
The first prince who met him in person was much more impressive than the duke expected.
As they explored each other and chatted casually, they finally got to the main point.
“I heard that you are already receiving guidance from one of the superhumans of the empire. I’m curious why you accepted my request so willingly.”
The duke couldn’t help but wonder, if the first prince had such talent, there was no reason why the rumor wouldn’t spread. He was at a level that could be seen as a talent nurtured by the superhumans of the empire.
But why did he accept his request?
“Actually, it’s like this.”
The duke is one of the strongest martial artists in the continent, who is said to be the strongest.
It’s a story that he would find out anyway if he received his guidance, so he honestly explained that he wanted to know how to overcome the wall of the fourth stage.
The story of the power struggle in the imperial family was also not something that needed to be kept secret.
“Of course, I hope you keep it a secret.”
“Huh, that’s not a difficult thing to do.”
The Holy Kingdom is an inviolable foreign country, and the duke is also a pure martial artist who has no interest in such things.
How much so that his first concern in life is to send his daughter off properly?
“Then, please rest well today and get rid of your fatigue. I will take care of your training from tomorrow.”
“It’s an honor for me to receive guidance from the duke. Thank you for your promise.”
As Eurius disappears into the guest room with the guidance of the attendants, the duke thinks firmly to himself.
‘I have to make him my son-in-law.’
The impression he got from Eurius was very good.
First of all, he was magnanimous enough to forgive someone who pointed a sword at him from his position as first prince, and his talent for swordsmanship that reached that level at his age!
And lastly, didn’t he meet the condition that Beatrix proposed?
‘Mars, thank you very much.’
He prayed to the god of war in his mind and his head was filled with thoughts of how to bring them together.
The Savior Academy’s semester starts in spring and fall respectively.
It’s still July, summer with hot sun!
He still had two months left until he started attending the academy.
The conditions offered by the duke’s family were as follows.
Guidance from the superhuman Duke of Dios.
Provision of accommodation and absolute protection of his safety while attending the academy.
Eurius could stay in the Holy Kingdom for about six months and receive guidance from the duke. But he wanted to achieve results before the academy semester started.
‘There’s so much to do at the academy!’
Savior Academy was a place where many talented people gathered. Among them, there were not a few who would make a name for themselves in the continent later on.
If he could leave his mark on them, it would be a great help in the future.
Early the next morning, Duke Dios and Eurius faced each other at the training ground where the incident happened yesterday.
“Actually, our family doesn’t have any secret techniques worth hiding.”
Superhumans were usually said to be gifted by heaven.
No matter how talented one was, it was hard to reach that level without a moment of enlightenment. That’s why there were only about ten superhumans produced in each generation.
But surprisingly, there was a martial family that produced at least one superhuman in every generation.
That was what people commonly called the Three Great Martial Families of the Continent.
“I really want to know what it is, if it’s not a secret technique!”
Eurius asked with a curious expression.
In fact, he came all the way to another country to rely on that technique, didn’t he?
“It’s none other than practice that resembles real combat.”
Eurius felt quite disappointed inwardly at this moment.
‘Was that really all Beatrix told me in my previous life?’
He had already had enough of real combat-like duels with superhumans in the empire.
“Hehe, shall we start then?”
Duke Dios held his wooden sword and took a stance, showing off his imposing physique that didn’t match his age.
‘I don’t know how much progress I can make here.’
Eurius grumbled inwardly as he also held his wooden sword. But he had to change his mind in less than thirty seconds.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
He couldn’t even properly identify the duke’s movement, and before he knew it, Eurius was hit hard in the torso and rolled on the ground.
“Haha, you’ll get hurt again if you don’t pay attention!”
Thud!
“Wai…… Wait!”
This time, Eurius spun two rounds in the air and crashed into a corner of the training ground.
‘He’s too fast.’
Duke Dios was definitely one of the three strongest martial artists in the continent. He didn’t even use any secret techniques, but he was different from the knights he had seen so far.
‘I was too arrogant.’
After creating Quad Core and Multitasking, Eurius thought that he wouldn’t fall behind a fourth-tier knight much, except for their secret techniques.
‘Status window!’
[Gilot En Dios]
Job: Noble, Grandmaster (Superhuman)
Strength S Agility S+ Intelligence B Mental Power A+ Force Aptitude S Force S+
Disposition: Good-natured, Family-oriented, Cheerful
[Traits]
Swordsmanship (SS+)
Dual Core – A circle with two auxiliary rings. You get additional bonuses in all aspects of force control.
Eurius stopped his gaze at Dual Core.
The core was a secret technique passed down by the duke’s family! It would be hard to take advantage of Quad Core against the duke.
Moreover, the duke was far superior to Count Calos in basic swordsmanship and stats.
Eurius got up with a serious expression and held his sword.
“I’ll focus from now on. Please don’t hold back, Duke.”
“You seem to have warmed up properly now.”
‘Warmed up?’
Eurius looked at the duke with a puzzled expression. Did he mean that this was still going easy on him?
The answer was given by the duke’s sword.
Clang!
He exerted his superhuman concentration and barely blocked it this time. But the attack didn’t come only once.
Whirr.
It was the same attack that Beatrix showed him at first. The trajectory of the sword split into several strands and aimed at his whole body.
But the result was different!
Eurius’s body was hit by the heavy impact of the wooden sword.
“Gahhh!”
This time, Eurius also let out a pig-like scream as he rolled on the ground.
But he didn’t have time to writhe in pain. The duke attacked him again with a fearsome momentum.
Eurius had to roll on the ground several times with painful screams before he realized his other task.
‘The ability of a martial artist is not only about stats!’
The duke’s attack was very familiar to him.
He had fought countless duels with Beatrix in his previous life, so he was familiar with her swordsmanship.
But he had a hard time defending against the duke’s sword.
The reason was as follows.
He subtly adjusted his strength when clashing swords, effectively shaking his defense.
His movements were also flawless. If he used method 1 to attack, he used method 2 to quickly figure out his pattern and break through his defense efficiently.
The proficiency of each skill, the rich combat experience! All of that harmonized and Eurius was being beaten up like a toy.
The martial artists who reached the highest level were not only different in stats, but also in their basic melee combat skills!
He realized that he needed to not only rely on the support of the [System], but also develop his own potential to the limit.
There was one representative person among those he had to face who had entered this level.
Sword Saint Wilhelm Duke!
Just like Duke Dios, the duke was also a martial artist who had reached this level long ago.
Before he knew it, Eurius’s body was bruised all over and he struggled to get up and hold his sword again.
“Please, one more time.”
“Hoo…….”
‘He has a good temper and is precious for a prince. He also has a lot of patience.’
Duke Dios raised his evaluation of Urius by another notch.
‘But I’ll have to see if he can endure this training.’
And that day, Eurius had to suffer the most miserable beating of his entire life, including his previous and current lives.