Chapter 5 – Childhood, the Dawn of Summer (4)


    “The sword technique I use is called the Cross Sword Style.” Volcanic ash drifted through the air, distorting the sunlight red on the day Kam’s teachings began.


    It was always like that on the battlefield and in the South. Under the abyss’s influence, the heavens and earth underwent a bizarre topographical transformation.


    The mountains turned into volcanoes and spewed endless ash into the sky. Save for when it rained, the actual sky was always obscured.


    “It is a technique that uses both the sword and the scabbard.” She held her sword in her right hand and her scabbard in her left. Something was indescribable about Kam’s posture when she moved the scabbard with her left hand and crossed it with her de.


    “Cross Sword Style?” Kaisen asked. “That’s a reallyme name.” Did ite from how a cross was formed when the sword and scabbard were crossed with each other?


    “Hey, you bastard. All the wielders of Aradamantel have used this sword technique, alright? Show some respect.”


    “Hmm.”


    “Hmm? Hmm? Hmmmmmm? Did your father tell you to say ‘hmm’ with your arms crossed as a way of showing respect?”


    Looking back, Kam never mentioned Kaisen’s mother when she made her disparaging remarks.


    “Don’t hit me on the head! Why are you talking about my dad?”


    “A brat with a crappy upbringing like you needs to be beaten regrly to have better character instilled. I’m curious about your father. What does he look like?”


    “Very handsome!”


    “Judging by your crappy face, that’s a lie.”


    Every time the mercenaries saw Kam teaching Kaisen, they were inwardly amazed.


    ‘This is the first time Lady Kam has ever been so talkative.’


    ‘How can she be so good at teaching?’


    ‘Didn’t she kick out the other kids by knocking them out?’


    Yohan Wolf Frost felt something different, but he didn’t realize why at the time. It was somehow heartwarming yet sad. He didn’t understand that it was the weight of the sadness the previous leader’s son instilled within them.


    “Listen carefully. In order to use this properly, you need to learn two mana control techniques.”


    “Mana control?” Kaisen asked.


    “First of all, with the sword-wielding right hand, you use ‘Mana Chain’, a magical chain that extends out of your body.”


    The tip of her sword suddenly crashed down only a short distance from Kaisen’s eyes, and he broke out in a cold sweat. ‘The sword shouldn’t have been able to reach me?’


    It’d only been possible due to a red energy shrouding the de and extending out toward him. ‘Yes, this is what my mother used…’


    When grief seeped into his heart, it turned into anger. The boy barely kept himself together.


    Kam continued her exnation. “Most swordsmen use Mana Chain. The main technique of the Cross Sword Style alsoes from Mana Chain, but do you think that’s enough to defeat the uruks?”


    “Then…?”


    “You should be able to use Mana Heart as well. Hey, Wolf!”


    The mathematical calctions in Wolf’s head caused a strange phenomenon in the physical world. Cold air gathered on his palm and formed an icicle, which shot toward Kam but bounced off of a blood-red barrier emerging from her outstretched scabbard.


    “The sword is meant to attack, and the scabbard is meant to defend?” Kaisen asked.


    “Both should be possible. I’d like to say that you’ll have a rxed view of the world when both are possible, but since you’re a boy, you won’t be able to properly use the Cross Sword Style.”


    “Why is that?”


    “Men can’t use Mana Chain as precisely as women. To the point that it’s just embarrassing topare.”


    “Is there anything they can do instead?”


    “Instead, they use their mana forrge and powerful attacks, so male expert swordsmen use heavy weapons that can support their powerful magical power.”


    “Do you want me to change my weapon too?”


    “We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s not like there’s no way to userge amounts of innate mana in the Cross Sword Style.”


    “What… should I do?”


    “Use the ‘Quick Draw’ sword technique.”


    “The ‘Quick Draw’ sword technique?”


    “Yes, Quick Draw. For the sin of being born with a pecker, you won’t be able to learn the orthodox Cross Sword Style. Instead, you should use the style with a focus on Quick Draw. A male has never be a Fake Warrior, nor has one learned the Cross Sword Style.”


    Kaisen shook his head. “Quick Draw is just a technique for bluffing. It’s used by assassins or to prevent assassinations, and I don’t like it.”


    “You pathetic idiot, the Cross Sword Style’s Quick Draw technique is different from all others.” Kam held the scabbard with her left hand and the hilt with her right, and the atmosphere around her changed—it was so heavy and sharp that it felt suffocating.


    “What did I tell you? I said you need to use Mana Heart with your left hand, right?” A torrent of magical power burst through her palm and into the scabbard. “What happens if you keep filling a leather skin with water?”


    “It explodes.”


    “That’s the same logic behind the Cross Sword Style’s Quick Draw.” Mana continued to flow into the scabbard, heating up and trying to break free.


    Kam’s hand on the hilt started to tremble. “Fill the scabbard to the limit with Mana Heart; thence it with Mana Chain at thest moment and let it out before it explodes.”


    Kam unsheathed her sword so quickly that he only saw the result of her swing and couldn’t track the process of it being drawn.


    Perhaps a sword dance would give off a simr feeling. It was an art that could only be achieved with a sword. The moment the de reflected the sunlight, the three giant trees swaying in the wind behind them were cut in half.


    His body trembled in shock. “Tell me how to do that.”


    “Like this.”


    ‘Huh…?’ The next moment, he felt a pain in his chest, as if his heart had exploded. Only then did he realize Kam had struck him in the chest with her scabbard.


    The power tore through the blood vessels throughout his body, and blood leaked from his mouth, eyes, and nose.


    Kam spoke. “Breathe, breathe, brat! If you lose consciousness, I’ll kick you.”


    The world turned dark and distorted, and he lost bnce and fell.


    “It would normally take at least several years of training to use this power, right? Do I look insane? How many years do I need to invest in you?” she said.


    Kam’s voice continued from the edge of his awareness. “I forcibly created the pathways for Mana Chain and Mana Heart in your body. If you can’t hold on, you will die from the rebound. If you manage to survive, let’s see where we can go from here.”


    The boy seemed to be in a lot of pain as he struggled and bled in the field, face-down as he was.


    The mercenaries mumbled amongst themselves, seeming to have known she would do something violent of the sort.


    Yohan and Eltoram looked quite solemn.


    When Kam passed by Yohan, the mage with snowke eyes spoke. “I never thought you would show such favoritism to the boy.”


    “What?” she asked.


    “You’re not just opening up his paths… You’re sharing your energy with him. Will that be okay? So much…”


    “Hmph, I’m just giving back what I received.”


    “Giving back what you received? What do you mean?”


    “I’m just giving it back since I don’t need it anymore. I’m tired now, so don’t talk to me.”


    Yeah, her teacher had given it to her anyway. Back then, her teacher had told her to hand it over to her own disciple after she seeded and became a great warrior.


    ‘Don’t me meter. That brat chose the path of the sword of his own volition.’


    * * *


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    Kaisen was assigned to Squad 3 while he recovered from his internal bleeding.


    Kam’smands were very simple. “Clean up those guys’ shit until you recover, learn the basics ofbat, and stop bothering me.”


    It wasn’t that the squad members disliked Kaisen; they were actually very happy at first when they heard that the cute young member was joining them.


    “What should I do?” he asked.


    “What could you do? Don’t try to do anything.” When it came to battle, they were very strict in not epting Kaisen into the fighting.


    “Just stay still?”


    “If you want to do something, just warm up my bed. You’re so pretty that, if I just squint my eyes, you’ll look like a woman. Uhahahahaha!” The sergeant’s name was ‘Rifle’ Jin. He was particrly prone to inappropriatements whenever he found himself bored.


    Among various types of guns, the rifle was the most powerful. It was very difficult to use in every aspect—from shooting to loading to even being able to afford.


    If someone used a rifle, it meant they were a veteran among veterans (meaning they’d survived until they made enough money to buy one), and Jin was said to have been using such a rifle for 15 years.


    Kaisen had seen Jin urately shoot an uruk battle leader in the head from a whopping 200 meters away.


    “Shut up and watch and learn, Uruk yer. We are not uruks. Just because one person is good doesn’t mean everyone is good. You don’t even know what a squad is, right?”


    In that era, squads were built on the tactical doctrine of formations: two spearmen, four gunmen, and one sergeant for a squad of seven. The formation was said to be modeled after the V shape that migratory flocks of birds created.


    When 10 squads gathered together, a toon was formed, and five such toons formed apany. Finally, when threepanies gathered together, a battalion was created. It went without saying, but the V-shaped formation grew in size as more squads gathered.


    “Two spearmen stand in front, and the gunmen spread out from their sides like wings.”


    “Hmm?”


    “The spearmen hold two-meter-long spears to stop the uruks, and the gunmen shoot before hiding behind the spearmen to reload.”


    “Then what about me?” Kaisen asked.


    “Suck your fingers at the back, brat. You can kill time thinking about your ideal partner, or Kam, or something like that.”


    “Such words could get you beaten, you know…” Kaisen tried to warn him.


    “I’m sorry, My Lord, but I’m the kind of person who can’t lie. Not even a hundred deaths would change that.”


    Jin decided to teach Kaisen marksmanship. No matter how much one thought about it, it was absurd to imagine a kid like that cutting down an uruk warrior with a sword.


    “It’s heavy.” Still, when he tried to learn, Kaisen only saw the limitations inherent in the weapon.


    First, he needed to install the ‘Prisvia Core’, also called a ‘Steam Core’.


    Prisvia was the inventor of the steam engine. With the technology of the time, they could only use guns if they carried steam engines on their backs.


    Ten tubes connecting the Prisvia Core and the gun provided the power for steam gun firing. Therefore, they had no choice but to use an inefficient method with a hole in the center of a soldier’s gear.


    “How can I fight while carrying this?” Kaisen grumbled.


    The mercenaries, along with Jin, soon began tough.


    “Hahahahaha!”


    “Pfft, hahahaha!”


    Was it a cultural difference? No What was so funny?


    “It’s been a long time since I heard that, you brat!”


    “?”


    “It’s not just us. The Fake Warrior’s corps only hires people with exceptional skills and pays them a lot of money. I haven’t heard a rookiein about the weight of the gear in a long time. Seeing youin like this only makes it more endearing.”


    The corps was also called the ‘White Bone Corps’. They wore pure-white uniforms with matching white capes and white helmets embossed with a skill. The attire was a symbol of confidence and pride as the strongest corps, showing they believed that not even a drop of blood from the enemy woulde near them.


    “Don’t pinch my cheek,” Kaisenined.


    “Hahahahahaha! I hope I’ll be included in the history books as the man who survived after pinching the Uruk yer’s cheek.”


    “Oh, then me too,” another soldier butted in.


    “Me too.”


    “Oh, stop it!” Even if Kaisen had been in good health at the time, he wouldn’t have been able to put up much of a fight.


    He wasn’t interested in guns, but he thought it would be good to learn how the squads fought and took part in the training.


    The decision was also partly due to Yohan’s hint. “Think about why Kam put you in a squad, particrly in Jin’s.”


    “With technology as it is now, one magazine can hold a total of five bullets. Do you know what this means?”


    After all five bullets were fired, the loading procedure had to begin, which required a lot of skill. It took ordinary people about 30 seconds, but the experienced corps soldierspleted it in about 10 seconds. For reference, Jin took six(!) seconds.


    “Firing, loading, and everything in a battle has a rhythm. Realizing this battle rhythm leads to understanding the rhythm of war,” Jin exined. Those who ascended to the position ofmander with only a desk job were unaware of the heat of the battlefield and the sword.


    “Squad, form a battle line! 4th formation!” At Jin’smand, the previously yful squad members dropped their rxed demeanor and instantly formed a V-shaped battle line.


    The difference between life and death was whether or not one could react without acting rashly in any situation.


    ‘Is it a formation?’ Kaisen wondered. Even though he didn’t really learn gunmanship, he definitely knew the formations. His resting period was both for gunmanship and getting to know the other members of the corps.


    The core of the corps wasmanded by the so-called warrior party: the Fake Warrior, Kam; the Archmage of Snow, Yohan; the White Bear, Eltoram; and ‘Rifle’ Jin. A witch had originally been the lead healer as well, bringing the core party up to five, but she’d sadly died in thest battle.


    The corps regarded each other as sworn brothers. Although Eltoram and Jin led the soldiers as unitmanders, they all had a close friendship rather than a passive superior-subordinate rtionship.


    The exceptions were Kam and Yohan—Kam was not their friend; she was just the Fake Warrior they served. There were times when old timers like Jin made jokes, but everyone politely kept a distance.


    She was like a strict father to the corps, while Yohan was like a caring mother, even though the traditional gender roles were reversed.


    She was said to be strict, but Kam had never abandoned a single mercenary, so long as they still lived, and based on her firm belief, the soldiers also believed in and followed Kam with all their might.


    Jin had emphasized how she’d never abandoned a single mercenary several times. Not a single soldier was ever abandoned amidst the chaotic battlefield they frequently found themselves on.


    “They are both amazing people. Our corps is the strongest Fake Warrior corps in existence right now. I don’t know how many people waited to get in.”


    Jin proudly pointed at his white military uniform and helmet with an eerie skull pattern. “The pure white uniform is a symbol of our confidence that not a single drop of blood will get on us, and we are the rightful sessors to the Red Lotus Corps.”


    “The Red Lotus Corps?” Kaisen asked.


    “You don’t know? It’s the legendary army Raminea Alter Aradamantel led.”


    Since Kam and Yohan were members of the Red Lotus Corps Raminea Alter Aradamantel had led, it was naturally seen as the predecessor of the White Bone Corps.


    ‘In other words, they’re people who knew my mother.’ Kam was supposed to be his mother’s direct disciple, and he wondered what kind of teacher his mother had been.


    “Fuu, you really don’t know anything. I’m really curious about what your father’s face looks like.”


    ‘Well, she certainly wouldn’t have been like this.’ He was curious but didn’t ask. He didn’t even reveal his identity as Raminea’s son because there was something else far more pressing to him.


    Swordsmanship was a method of ughter and a tool for piling up living sacrifices in front of his mother’s altar. He needed to focus solely on learning it.


    [Among the six major demon races, there was a barbaric race known as ‘The Big Boned,’ that is, the uruks.]


    Since he could not learn swordsmanship until hepletely healed, he peeked at the historical record Yohan was writing and nurtured his desire for revenge.


    [The uruksposed the first line of invasion in 1692. The old empire copsed helplessly against these giants, who were seven feet tall.]


    The uruks had broken through the southern forts in 50 days, divided their troops into a left army, a right army, and a center army, and ravaged the entire country with absurdly explosive momentum.


    [At this time, the Imperial Office dispatched the Fake Warriors. Their mission was to hold back the enemy until the refugees fled behind the Inferno Line, the great fortress wall…]


    ‘Wait… Just wait a little longer.’ He would be going after them soon.


    “You idiot! Can’t you even do this? Swing the sword and hear the sound it makes.”


    “?”


    “Ha, what should I do with this idiot? Swish, then fwoosh. Swish, fwoosh, swish, fwoosh, is it that difficult?”


    “?”


    “You can’t even do this? Are you kidding me? Are you actually doing this to make me pass out from anger?”


    “!”


    “Try it. Just try it! Look! See, you can do it.”


    The journey there truly seemed harsh.


    Wolf sighed and had simr thoughts. In his journal entry detailing Kaisen’s childhood, he wrote:


    [Considering how he even followed such instructions sessfully, Kaisen was the perfect student.]


    Wolf gave a soft chuckle as he looked at Kaisen and Kam.


    Whenever she was teaching Kaisen, Kam’s usually-cold expression became brighter and more expressive than usual. The same was true for Kaisen during the lessons.


    “Kam, I guess you don’t hate teaching, huh?” Jin, who was smoking a cigarette and carefully polishing his rifle nearby, smirked yfully. “It’s like looking at the chicks I raised when I was young.”


    “The chicks?” Wolf asked.


    “They tried so hard to follow the hen and copy everything she did. It was so cute that my little sister went crazy whenever she saw it, even though she ended up eating them for her 10th birthday.”


    “Did you really need to add thatstment, Jin?”


    “Lying doesn’t suit my temperament. Anyway, it looked lovely from the outside, so how lovely would it have looked from the mother’s point of view?”


    ‘Mother and child…’ Wolf couldn’t help but faintly smile. “It wouldn’t be strange for someone of Kam’s age to have a child by now.”


    Kam was a Fake Warrior, though, and the body modifications that came with it made her infertile.


    ‘If only Kam hadn’t been a Fake Warrior…’


    ____