The Indomitable Martial King

‘Really, he’s been hard to understand from the first day.’

Over the past three days, what perplexed Russ the most was Repenhardt’s attitude towards Siris and Tilla. Suddenly, he remembered an incident from when they first had to sleep outdoors.

It was after a hearty dinner with food purchased from a household near the western road. Russ had just put down his bowl and was about to stand up when Repenhardt suddenly caught him with a stern voice.

“Where are you going?”

“Uh? I was just thinking of swinging my sword around a bit to digest?”

Then, Repenhardt flicked his finger and said,

“Even if you go, you should draw lots first.”

“What?”

Russ was puzzled about drawing lots, only to find out it was about selecting two people through lots to do the dishes and other chores after the meal. For a moment, Russ was dumbfounded. Wasn’t it perfectly normal for slaves to do the cleanup? He even thought that perhaps Repenhardt was deliberately acting this way to crush his spirit.

However, a minute later, he realized that was not the case, as he wasn’t the only one who had drawn the short lot.

“Damn, lost again.”

“Today, make sure the dishes are sparkling clean, Mr. Repen.”

“Hey, Sillan. How come you never end up drawing the lot? You messing with it or something?”

“Philanence always blesses me. Teehee!”

“That’s suspicious……”

Sillan, Siris, and Tilla giggled and went off to prepare for sleeping outdoors. Holding the dirty dishes, Russ stood there blankly, unable to adapt. Repenhardt tapped him on the back.

“What are you doing? We need to go wash the dishes.”

And truly, they went down to a small stream by the roadside, and there Repenhardt, with his majestic stature, squatted down and began washing the dishes diligently, showing skills not of a novice. This bizarre situation was definitely not a joke. Overwhelmed by the absurdity, he asked,

“Why do you personally do such tasks, hyung, instead of leaving them to the slaves?”

This was his answer,

“The world may treat them as slaves, but I never wish to do so. I regard them as valuable comrades, and I will continue to do so. Russ, if this bothers you, I fully understand if you decide to leave me.”

Because of that, Russ had no choice but to wash the dishes alongside him. What could he say when offered to leave if he disliked it? How slaves were treated was entirely up to their master, so he couldn’t complain. It’s said that among those who have reached the pinnacle of martial arts, there are quite a few eccentric ones, and that seemed to be true.

As he gazed at the carriage, reminiscing about that time, Russ chuckled and shook his head.

‘After all, it’s not my place to worry.’

He was still uncertain about what kind of person Repenhardt was. It was true that he was difficult to understand.

But at least one thing was clear: he had sworn loyalty to him. Though it might be limited, it was undoubtedly a knight’s oath. Therefore, regardless of who Repenhardt was, he had to offer his loyalty. As he had sworn, until his swordsmanship was perfected.

‘Until that day, he is my lord. Till then, I should simply follow his will.’

Having comfortably settled his thoughts, Russ drew his sword. A blue light slowly streamed along the blade. With the blade aura drawn, Russ followed the carriage.

Hum, hum, hum.

Initially stable, the blade aura began to waver over time, making irregular noises. It was indeed challenging. Russ continued to focus on the aura, sweating. While talent played a significant role in manipulating the aura freely, enduring its maintenance required no sense, only patience and continuous practice until becoming accustomed to it.

Russ took a deep breath and exhaled, steadying his breathing.

‘It’s been three days of continuous practice. This isn’t easy.’

But Russ soon brightened up his expression. Considering Repenhardt’s feelings, he couldn’t complain about such a trivial matter.

On the first day he was accepted by Repenhardt, he was thoroughly taught how to maintain uniform aura. Though there was a difference between fists and swords, this task of aura uniformity was essentially a basic practice applicable to Russ as well.

How moved had Russ been at that time? Of course, this technique wasn’t a secret of Gym Unbreakable but rather a common secret among aura users, so it wasn’t as if teaching it was leaking any faction’s techniques. From Repenhardt’s perspective, there was no issue in teaching it.

However, from Russ’s standpoint, it was entirely different. Being taught a technique the day they met meant Repenhardt genuinely accepted him, and more than the teaching itself, the kindness shown was even more touching.

Always treated as an outcast and ignored, never having the chance to learn even basic swordsmanship and having to steal glances to learn by himself, such kindness was a first for Russ.

Even while sweating, Russ smiled pleasantly.

He had accepted him. He trusted him and showed him kindness and grace.

That was enough. It was more than enough reason for him to follow him.

‘Does it matter what kind of person he is?’

Well, that aside, there still remained a question.

‘Anyway, what really is he doing in there?’

* * *

Contrary to Russ’s thoughts, Repenhardt was indeed meditating inside the carriage. Of course, the reason he was meditating was not to attain some nonsensical martial enlightenment.

In the dimly lit, curtain-drawn carriage, after sitting in a full-lotus position with his eyes closed for a long time, Repenhardt suddenly opened his eyes and murmured.

“Huff… My mana is replenished enough, so let’s try again.”

Repenhardt touched a black box placed at his feet. It was the Voice of Elucion, an artifact from the era of silver. With his finger on it, Repenhardt recited the activation words he had memorized over the past three days.

“Switch on.”

As the designated command was uttered, light began to flow from the Voice of Elucion. The box lit up in various places, emitting a light and spreading a powerful magic field around. A spherical magic field engulfed Repenhardt whole and filled the inside of the carriage.

Repenhardt recited another command.

“Challenge. Level 1. For beginners.”

At the same time, his vision was filled with bright light. The place, which was once a dark carriage, turned into a room filled with bright light. Repenhardt looked around and muttered,

“I’m getting quite tired of this virtual reality. Maybe it’s time to change the background.”

As he brought his fingers to the air, a console made of light automatically appeared. After pressing a few buttons on the illusionary console, the surrounding environment suddenly changed. Instead of a white room, a sandy beach unfolded, and the blue waves lapped at the shore, filling his view. There were even blonde elf beauties, scantily clad, barely covering the essentials with thin fabric, laughing and walking along the beach. Repenhardt grinned broadly.

“Indeed, if I’m choosing a background, might as well make it pleasing to the eye, right?”

Repenhardt already knew, having deciphered the ancient language, that what was being worn was commonly donned by women of the Silver Age for swimming. The idea that women of that era could present themselves in public in such attire spoke volumes of the blessed times they lived in.

However, activating the Voice of Elucion was not merely for the sake of visual pleasure. Repenhardt found a suitable spot on the beach. After all, this beach was a kind of simulated reality created by magic; no matter how much he moved, his actual body remained immobile, seated cross-legged inside a carriage.

Repenhardt settled into his position, his expression turning serious. Taking a deep breath to heighten the tension, he gestured into the air. Ancient script soon floated above the beach.

Welcome to Magical Beat!

Accompanied by a burst of loud music, colorful boards began to fall from the sky. Repenhardt clenched his teeth and waved his hands.

“Wind, become bullets and strike the enemy! Aero Bullet!”

The 1st-circle wind spell, Aero Bullet, flew into the air and hit a blue board. The board vanished into thin air, exploding like a firework. Repenhardt cast another spell.

“Gather, blaze of heat! Fire Arrow!”

A fiery arrow flew, hitting a red board. The red board also exploded in the air, creating a burst of flames. Repenhardt prepared and launched spells in succession. Aero Bullet, Fire Arrow, Magic Missile, Aqua Ball—all of them were beginner 1st-circle spells. Each spell hit its target board, causing explosions. With each hit, the music thumped, adding rhythm to the spectacle.

The speed at which the planks fell became faster and faster. Repenhardt’s complexion grew increasingly stern. The number of planks plummeting became too much for the speed of his magical casting to keep up. Eventually, when a plank pierced the sandy beach,

Boom!

An explosion occurred. Of course, since this was a simulated reality, the explosion had no real effect on Repenhardt. However…

“Oh! My God!”

“What is this!”

“Do it properly!”

“Is this all you can do!”

At that moment, blonde elf beauties were scolding Repenhardt in Ancient language, making a fuss. Even though he knew it was a simulated reality, it was hard for a man to endure being nagged at by women. If only Repenhardt didn’t understand Ancient language, but he was a person unrivaled in the field of linguistics! He fully understood even the nuance of criticism in their tones.

“Grrr!”

Grinding his teeth, Repenhardt continued to intercept the falling planks with magic. He had already missed three planks. And each time, the elf beauties scowled and nagged even more.

“Already the third one!”

“My goodness! To miss so many!”

“Aren’t men supposed to handle at least this much with ease!”

Ah, it’s really annoying.

“…Maybe I should have just turned on youth mode and not bothered with the eye candy.”

Repenhardt tried to ignore the beauties’ criticisms and continued to intercept the falling planks with his magic. Then, it happened.

The last plank hit the Aqua Ball, creating a huge firework unlike any before, exploding in all directions.

Bang! Boom! Bang!

Numerous fireworks beautifully adorned the sky above the beach. At the same time, a cheerful Ancient language was heard from beyond the sky.

Congratulations!

Repenhardt let out a sigh of relief.

“Ah, I’ve finally succeeded.”

The beauties approached Repenhardt with bright smiles, starting to act coquettishly.

“Congratulations!”

“You really are amazing!”

“You did it! Incredible!”

Repenhardt frowned. Regardless of the beauties clinging to him, he immediately gestured into the air. Instantly, the beach scenery vanished, and the world changed back into a white room. Clicking his tongue, Repenhardt tapped the floor lightly.

“The Voice of Elucion is indeed of good quality but…”

After tapping the floor twice, suddenly, the white room disappeared, and darkness enveloped everything. The virtual reality was gone, and they were back inside a carriage covered with curtains. Repenhardt, who was clearly standing before, was now sitting cross-legged. Opening his eyes, he continued to grumble.

“There are too many unnecessary features.”

However, Repenhardt soon relaxed his expression. At this moment, he had almost succeeded in casting all 1st circle spells in just 1 or 2 seconds within the virtual space. This casting speed was on par with that of a formal magician. Such an achievement was absolutely impossible with the dense Teslon’s spell computation abilities.

Picking up a box, Repenhardt smiled contentedly.

“After all, there’s nothing better than this for training spell computation abilities.”