Chapter 22: The Swordsmanship Prodigy Saintess

Academy Entrance Exam (3)

1.

“Aah…”

Elia smacked her thighs and let out a sigh.

“That’s not how you do it.”

Having left the chapel, Elia was now watching the Swordsmanship Department’s entrance exam at the training grounds.

“Left! You’ve got to stab their left flank! Ah, come on…!”

The applicants were considered elite prodigies from their regions, but to Elia, they looked like toddlers showing off their first steps.

Still, she gave each of them her full attention, observing seriously.

“Yes! Lift from there! That’s it!”

Elia looked like an old man cheering at a chariot race.

She hadn’t bet anything, but she was way too invested.

She wiggled her butt, groaned, and even shouted from time to time.

People nearby kept sneaking glances at her.

But she didn’t care about the attention. Her hood was pulled deep over her head anyway.

…Too bad they’re not selling beer.

Watching in silence made her lips feel lonely.

She craved jerky and a mug of beer—

Like she used to enjoy during Imperial Army Swordsmanship Tournaments.

“Oh?”

This time, a familiar face appeared.

It was Rael, her escort knight.

He stood atop the training field with an air of composure.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

One of the five Holy Knights of the Papal State—

Rael was the most skilled among them.

Elia had seen a glimpse of their strength before, but that hardly counted as a true display.

That one time, the Holy Knight Leode had underestimated her too much.

This would be the first time she properly saw what the newly reformed Five Holy Knights could do.

“Hoh? His opponent looks strong too.”

The examinee who came out as Rael’s sparring partner was a towering man.

He had tanned skin, blonde hair, bulging muscles, and a large scar along his forearm.

He wielded a greatsword as his main weapon, and on each hip hung double-edged hand axes as sub-weapons.

Of all the applicants Elia had seen so far, this one looked the most seasoned in battle.

She checked the match list.

“Holt Langtree… Langtree?”

She’d heard that name before.

The commander-in-chief of the Southern Kingdom’s warriors was named Langtree.

Was he that barbarian’s son?

That guy had been a real madman.

The way he charged through the battlefield, taking attacks head-on, was like a beast, not a human.

And he was also a heavy drinker.

Even Adrian, who was confident in his alcohol tolerance, passed out first when drinking with him.

“This match is gonna be fun.”

The duel began.

“The match begins!”

As soon as those words were spoken, the two men’s bodies shot forward.

Thud!

The ground quaked. A gust of wind swept across the field.

Two Sword Auras cut through the air and clashed.

Boom!

The training ground trembled.

Their swords collided, and it was like an explosion had gone off.

Even without exchanging a single word, they had instantly recognized each other’s skill and went all-in.

Rael leaned forward, swiftly closing the gap to Holt.

With perfect precision, he twisted his sword toward a vital point.

If it landed, Holt would suffer a critical wound.

But Holt wasn’t going to just stand there and take it.

With a sharp elbow, Holt slammed Rael’s blade off-course.

The redirected sword struck the ground.

Holt then stomped on the buried sword, raised his greatsword high above Rael’s head—

But Rael kicked off the ground and rolled to the side.

A split second later, Holt’s heavy strike came crashing down where Rael had just stood.

Bang!!

The ground cracked open, and dust erupted into the air.

“Hoooh…”

Elia smiled as she watched the duel unfold.

Their movements were on another level.

Now this finally felt like a proper academy entrance exam.

Thwack!

Rael kicked hard at Holt’s ankle.

In that brief opening, he wrenched his sword free and spun to slash Holt across the back.

Slash!

A thin red line opened up on Holt’s back, blood spraying into the air.

It wasn’t fatal, but it was a deep and long cut.

Holt, unfazed, countered with a back kick, slamming into Rael’s abdomen.

Rael was launched backward, rolling across the ground several times—

But he landed cleanly before completely falling over.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“A scratch like this? Just a tickle.”

Holt bared his white teeth in a wild grin.

“A Holy Knight of the Papal State, huh?”

“That's right.”

“You’re not bad. Still not quite on my level, though.”

“Why don’t you say that after treating that gash on your back?”

The two glared at each other.

Their gazes collided, and that alone became the signal.

Like a charging boar, Holt lunged forward.

Fwoosh!

A blazing red aura erupted, and his sword aura igniting like fire, cladding his body as if it was his armor.

The air around him shimmered and warped with heat.

Rael stood his ground, as if willing to take it head-on.

He bent his knees slightly and held his sword at the ready.

“Raaaah!!”

A warrior’s roar.

It echoed so loudly it made ears ring.

Holt’s sword slashed down, aimed straight for Rael’s head, slicing through the air with searing force.

Clang!!

Rael swung his sword up, intercepting the blow.

A shockwave rippled through the entire training ground.

“Wahhh!”

Elia barely managed to hold onto her hood as the shockwave nearly blew it off.

The dust cloud made it impossible to see what had happened.

Holding her breath, she stared into the cloud.

Moments later, as the dust settled—

She saw a broken blade flying through the air.

Holt’s greatsword had been cleaved cleanly in two by Rael’s sword strike.

Thud!

The severed weapon landed, blade-first, in the ground.

Holt didn’t hesitate.

He dropped what was left of his sword, reached for the twin axes at his belt, and charged again like a beast, slashing them wildly.

Fast attacks clashed with even faster counters.

Rael’s speed was supreme.

His sword moved smoothly like flowing water, and with each motion, it left a red streak on Holt’s body, drawing blood.

And yet, it only made Holt stronger.

The more blood he shed, the faster he moved.

That was why he was called a Berserker.

“Hup—!”

Rael’s sword gleamed blue.

He surged forward, leaving a compressed afterimage trailing behind him.

A streak of blue light slicing through the air.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

In less than a second.

Rael had struck from five directions.

Five thin lines of blue light surrounded Holt, drawn through the air like threads.

Seen from above, they would have formed the shape of a star.

Holt’s movements stopped abruptly.

And in that moment—

The star-shaped sword aura carved out his abdomen.

Splurt!

Blood burst outward in all directions.

Thump!

The giant collapsed.

“I thought he was a wimp… but yeah, he really is one of the Five Holy Knights.”

Elia nodded in admiration.

That same guy who had been sweating bullets in the carriage earlier—

Now stood like a cold-blooded swordsman with a sword in hand.

She saw him in a new light now.

“Kuh, kuhuh… it’s been a while…”

Holt stood back up.

An unbelievable display of stamina.

Even after sustaining a potentially fatal wound, he rose as if nothing had happened.

"Come on, let’s keep going."

"You should stay down. That wound’ll only get worse."

"Wounds are a warrior’s badge of honor. Let’s go again."

A true battle maniac.

Elia couldn’t help but like this guy.

This was getting more exciting by the second.

However, just before the third clash began, the supervisor stepped in and ended the match.

"That’s enough! Stop right there!"

The exam was already more than sufficient.

Both were declared as having passed.

"Tch... What a shame."

Holt strapped his axes back onto his belt.

"We’ll go again sometime."

As he lumbered off the training ground, Holt collapsed with a thud at the entrance.

The berserker state had worn off, and with it, his body finally gave out.

The priests who were on standby for medical support rushed to his side immediately.

*

2.

"Aren’t they monsters?"

Yohan could hardly believe what he had just witnessed.

That match had been on a completely different level.

To enter at the top of the academy, you had to be at least that strong.

He was awestruck.

"Next. Please get ready."

The supervisor’s call prompted Yohan to get up from his seat.

It was finally his turn.

Let’s just try to pass, he thought to himself as he entered the training ground.

Hundreds of eyes turned to him at once.

It was unbearable.

As a disciple of the Hero, Yohan had drawn more attention than most.

And he already felt like he’d be disappointing all those hopeful gazes.

Maybe he should apologize in advance.

Yes, Yohan had learned the sword from a Hero, but his skill wasn’t worthy of bragging about.

"Haa..."

He sighed deeply as he waited for his opponent.

A moment later, his opponent emerged from the opposite side.

His opponent was a silver-haired girl.

The second daughter of the Northern Grand Duke, Yuriel von Skolhart.

(TL: For some reason, the author decided to change her name from Skadi to Yuriel)

Her slim figure showed she hadn’t fully matured yet.

A modest chest.

A small, cute backside.

She was a snowfield beauty from the far North.

Her stoic golden eyes fixed on Yohan.

In contrast to her youthful, adorable appearance, her gaze was as cold and sharp as the snowfields of her homeland.

Yohan drew his sword.

Yuriel casually drew hers as well.

"The match begins!"

As soon as the signal was given, Yohan launched forward with full force.

Hoping to earn points from the examiners, he gave it everything from the very start.

Victory wasn’t the goal here.

The entrance exam didn’t care about winning or losing.

All you had to do was demonstrate your skill.

His muscles pulled taut like a bowstring.

He reached Yuriel and thrust his sword straight for her abdomen.

This is it!

Yohan’s blood surged with excitement.

However, the moment his sword was deflected, his blood ran cold.

Clack.

A faint sound, and his blade’s path was gone.

"This is supposed to be the Hero’s disciple?"

Yuriel, who gently angled her sword to redirect Yohan’s thrust, sighed in disappointment.

"What a letdown."

Like a whip—

Yuriel’s sword lashed out and struck Yohan in the ribs.

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