“What do you mean by drilling into a rock with a sword?” Javier frowned. His eyes were directed towards Lloyd. Those eyes were filled with distrust in response to the nonsense Lloyd was spewing.
“I’m a little bit confused. May I be honest?”
“Are you going to be honest?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a little… You’re going to blurt out without filter to attack me with it, aren’t you?”
“I repeat once again, I’ve never attacked Lloyd-nim.”
“But you did?”
“Please tell me, when?”
“Inside the ant nest. You punched me in my stomach with your fist, didn’t you?”
“Naturally, it’s because….”
“Oh, and then you slapped me thrice when you were trying to make me regain my consciousness, right?”
“It was only twice. I stopped in the middle of the third one because Lloyd-nim had regained consciousness.”
“A-ha, so was that why you were disappointed?”
“Natura- no, I wasn’t.”
“….”
“Anyway, back to the point. To be honest with you, I’ve never heard of someone doing such a thing with a sword before.”
“None at all?”
“Yes, not even a single Sword Master.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Javier was telling the truth. He was barely able to make a few-meters-deep hole in a rock with only a sword after all.
But, what about blasting a hole through a rock? He’d never heard of such a thing.
This was also the case even for the tales of many Sword Masters that remained in history.
‘It isn’t even possible for Sir Michael, the founding king who had been named as the greatest of all time in his later years because he developed much slower than others. According to the records, Sir Michael’s sword aura was about 1 meter long. Even If you add sword aura to the length of the sword, it could only cut the stone for about a little over 2 meters long maximum,’ Javier thought.
Sword Aura was a technique of covering the sword with a high density of concentrated mana. A technique that was the symbol of a Sword Master.
However, even this destructive technique had its limitations. It was said that you can’t attack an enemy that was out of its range.
‘The sword is a melee weapon after all,’ Javier thought.
No matter how powerful your attack was, you need to approach, slash, and stab the enemy by yourself. You couldn’t attack from a long distance like a magician could.
And those were both the characteristics and weaknesses of a Sword Master.
“Even so, Lloyd-nim is throwing common sense out of the window. You are declaring that you’re going to teach me an imaginary skill that doesn’t even exist. It was as if….”
“Do you think I said something crazy?”
“Yes,” Javier nodded immediately. “It’s so obvious. That’s a ridiculous statement that would only be uttered by a person who’s either insane, mad, or deranged.”
“Oi, it’s obvious that you are grabbing the chance to jab at me while you’re at it.”
“What jab?”
“Sigh. That’s enough. Anyway.” Lloyd chuckled. “What if I teach you that technique?”
“Do you really think it’s possible?”
“So what will you do? Answer me first.”
“If Lloyd-nim’s big talk is true–,” Javier said with a serious look in his eyes. “I’ll gladly follow what Lloyd-nim tells me to do.”
“For real? Will you do the work I’m telling you to do?”
“Of course.” Javier nodded his head.
If what Lloyd said was true, there was nothing to lose anyway.
At the same time, Javier thought that the advice would be merely a bluff. Such nonsense couldn’t be possible.
“Good. We’ve reached a consensus. Then, starting from now-” Lloyd held out his hand to pat Javier on the shoulder and then nonchalantly said, “When you draw your sword, increase your mana circles’ rotation to maximum, and then force at least two of the circles to overlap and collide.”
“…. Pardon?”
“Oh, you shouldn’t use all of your mana circles in the collision. You have to leave at least one to protect your heart. Otherwise, your heart could stop beating because of the shock after jumping a triple axel. Instantly crossing the Jordan River in one stroke.”
“Right now, what are you talking about…?”
“Just give it a try once.”
“Right here? Right now?”
“Yeah.” Lloyd nodded.
Meanwhile, Javier felt perplexed.
‘Is that possible?’ he thought.
Javier felt like his common sense was being destroyed. This feeling was similar when he was told to think of Asrahan Core Technique as a part of his body. Nevertheless, these methods were foreign to him.
These were something he’d never have thought of. No, he’d never even thought these were possible.
Obviously, each mana circle would rotate faster as the power generated was increased. The faster the rotation, the stronger they repel each other, just like magnets of the same pole. Still, we’d force them to collide.
“It’s okay, you won’t die if you protect your heart with the circle that remains.”
“….”
Lloyd was too calm. Thus, it felt less trustworthy.
Obviously, Javier had no idea that his other self from another space and time—the one from the [Iron-Blooded Knight] novel—was the one who invented this technique.
This technique was one of many that made the novel him the strongest knight in the entire history of the Loracian Continent.
‘Of course it’s still in the distant future,’ Lloyd thought. He suddenly recalled the contents of the novel.
Mana Blast.
When Javier developed this technique, he had just reached the level of Sword Master. Moreover, he had been equipped with a quadruple circle too. The combination of a Sword Master’s strength and a quadruple circle alone could make him one of the strongest knights of all time.
But, even with such power in his hands, he was faced with the limitations of his strength.
The wall of Namaran.
It was a defensive wall that was fortified with powerful and malicious black magic. Located behind the wall, there were thousands of refugees he had to save.
Neither Aura Sword nor Mana Amplification from his quadruple circle could break the wall.
Reaching a stalemate, time had passed fruitlessly.
The date the wicked magician had proclaimed continued to draw near. At this rate, thousands of refugees would be sacrificed in the ritual held by the magician.
And finally, on one bright fateful day, Javier—who was still struggling to break the wall—tried his one last final attack.
In his desperate attempt, he unknowingly made two of his mana circles collide.
That moment was the first time he used Mana Blast, a technique he’d never dared to imagine before. It was also the moment when the Wall of Namaran collapsed instantly due to a power that was beyond imagination.
‘Since then, Mana Blast has become Javier’s favorite move.’
Along with the Asrahan Core Technique, it had become one of the iron-blooded knight’s signature moves.
Still, Lloyd couldn’t believe that he’d be teaching that technique to this guy right now. It felt strange.
‘I’ll have to learn it too later when I reach the triple circle.’
Even if Lloyd wanted to learn the technique now, he couldn’t. Two circles at least were needed to make a collision. Additionally, he needed to have one more circle to protect his heart.
In short, Mana Blast was a technique that could only be learned when you reached the stage of triple circle at least.
‘Of course it wouldn’t be easy even if you have triple circle.’
That would also be the case for Javier. Lloyd chuckled at the thought.
“Hm, you’re still hesitating. Am I that untrustworthy to you?” Lloyd said.
“….”
“Perhaps, are you afraid?”
“Of course that’s not it. However-”
“However?”
“I need you to promise me something.”
“Hmmm, what do I need to promise you?”
“Regarding the new technique you just taught me.”
“Yeah?”
“If it’s all a lie or a nasty prank to make fun of me….”
“What if it is?”
“Please make the lullaby service free with unlimited refills in the future.”
“Oh my.”
It was a bolder proposal than Lloyd had expected. At the same time, the proposal also cleared up what Javier thought about the lullaby service.
“You, I see now-” A wicked smile appeared on Lloyd’s face, eyes filled with amusement. “You can’t live without the lullaby service anymore, can you?”
Flinch.
Javier’s shoulder twitched very faintly.
Lloyd then continued, “Oh my what to do? Did I get it right?”
“It’s an outrageous speculation.”
“Oho. Please say it while looking at me straight in the eye?”
“I’ve never avoided making eye contact with Lloyd-nim.”
“Are my eyes located on my nostrils?”
“….”
“Nevermind. I promise.”
“Are you for real?”
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