Chapter 17

The Genius Knight Who Devours Memories

Chapter 17

“Can you really catch an animal with that?”

At the foot of a mountain outside the camp.

Kaisen looked doubtfully at the simple trap Rohan was setting.

He had always wondered how Rohan managed to catch prey, but he had never imagined the method would be this simple.

“The important part is whether the animal steps into the trap.”

“You’re saying an animal will pass through there?”

“Yeah. A wild boar.”

“Tch. I prefer rabbits. Wild boar has that gamey smell...”

Rohan raised his head and looked at Kaisen.

“Ahem. W-wild boar is good meat too.”

Kaisen cleared his throat.

Rohan turned away again and silently set more traps.

“Hey, Rohan.”

“Yeah.”

“About that... s-sor... fuck.”

“...?”

“...I’m sorry! Looking down on you was clearly my mistake. Using that technique was excessive too. I apologize.”

Rohan asked expressionlessly.

“Why is that something to apologize for?”

“What?”

“You only did your best. That’s what sparring is for.”

“Uh...”

“If anything, I was able to grow because you went all out.”

Kaisen felt as though he had been struck over the head with a hammer.

This bastard was not saying those words out of consideration for him.

He genuinely felt that way.

Rohan had never been the type to say something he did not mean.

Kaisen fell silent, lost in thought.

After setting the traps, the two moved to the plains.

It was the place where Meiwa and the other spies had previously teleported.

Rohan turned around and said.

“Teach me. Condensed Burst.”

“Fine. I’ll do my best to teach you too.”

Whoosh.

Kaisen drew his enormous sword.

“You saw it during the day, right? Watch carefully. I don’t know if you’ll be able to do it with that undeveloped body of yours, though.”

“What do you mean by my body being undeveloped?”

“You’ll understand when you see it.”

After speaking, Kaisen adjusted his stance.

There was no particular movement.

He merely planted his feet firmly, yet the dirt beneath them sank inward.

Rohan’s eyes narrowed.

The force began at the tips of Kaisen’s feet and surged upward through his calves.

Twitch. The muscles in his thighs visibly moved.

His veins bulged, and something seemed to writhe beneath his skin as it climbed upward.

Along the path of the force, it looked almost like a snake crawling up his legs.

‘His muscles... are amplifying it.’

Only then did Rohan understand why Kaisen had reacted skeptically.

The technique began with a powerful body.

It was not something that could be achieved merely through skill in controlling mana or learning techniques.

The body had to withstand it first.

“Watch closely, kid.”

Kaisen’s movements did not stop there.

As he twisted his waist, more force was added, and the momentum traveled up his spine, through his shoulder, and into his arm.

His elbow extended, his wrist twisted, and finally, all of the force gathered at the tip of his sword.

Condensation.

As though force scattering in every direction were being sucked into a single point, it was compressed into the sword tip.

And then.

BOOM! A deafening explosion assaulted Rohan’s ears.

For an instant, only ringing echoed inside his head.

His hair whipped wildly, and his clothes flapped violently.

“Ptooey, ptooey. What do you think? Pretty damn impressive, right?”

After spitting out the dust filling his mouth, Kaisen grinned proudly.

Rohan did not answer.

His thoughts were already somewhere else.

‘Toes. Calves. Thighs. Waist. Spine. Shoulder. Arm. Sword tip.’

The flow was clear.

What mattered, in Rohan’s eyes, was the movement of the force.

And the final instant when that force contracted into a single point at the tip of the sword.

“What, you going to try?”

“Yeah.”

Rohan answered briefly.

After steadying his breathing, Rohan tensed his legs.

As though retracing the exact path Kaisen had taken.

From the tips of his feet to his calves, from his calves to his thighs... he moved the force.

Then he clearly felt it.

As he followed the same route, the scattered strength gradually began gathering into a single stream.

‘It works.’

He twisted his waist and added more force.

The power traveled up his spine, passed through his shoulder, and flowed into his arm.

Finally, it reached the sword tip.

And then.

Whoosh-!

...Nothing happened.

There was neither light nor explosion at the tip of the sword.

‘Why?’

Questions filled Rohan’s mind.

The force had clearly entered, and the path had not been wrong.

If it were merely due to insufficient muscle strength, only the intensity of the explosion should have been different.

As Rohan pondered, Kaisen soon clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! You’re impressive, I’ll give you that. I only showed you once, and you already copied the path perfectly.”

“Then why can’t I do it?”

“If copying the path were enough, why would it be called a secret technique?”

Kaisen approached and tapped the tip of Rohan’s sword with a finger.

“The answer is rotation. That’s the secret of Condensed Burst.”

“Rotation?”

“Yeah. Think about a fallen leaf blowing in the wind. How does it move?”

A fallen leaf.

Rohan recalled a windy day.

A fallen leaf did not simply fly straight ahead.

It spun around and around, wrapping around a central point.

It seemed to scatter, only to suddenly be drawn toward the center.

‘Rotation.’

It felt as though lightning flashed through his mind.

Now that he thought about it, mana had also rotated and gathered when he formed his mana heart.

‘The answer was rotation.’

Rohan immediately adjusted his grip on his sword.

His heart pounded.

“You’re doing it again?”

“Yeah.”

“Hahaha! You’re relentless. It’ll be hard. If knowing the principle were enough, why would this be a secret technique?”

Kaisen chuckled, but Rohan did not hear him.

His eyes were already fixed on the sword tip.

‘Rotation. Rotation...’

He drew up his strength again.

This time, he followed the same route.

Starting from the tips of his feet, then into his thighs, his waist, up his spine, and into his shoulder.

Perhaps because it was his second attempt, the movement of force was smoother than before.

He could feel his body gradually learning the path.

The moment the force reached the tip of the sword, Rohan held his breath.

And twisted.

Using mana, he forcibly twisted the force that had traveled with it at the sword tip.

Tzzzz... at first, it resisted.

The unstable mana collided with itself and scattered in every direction.

It felt as though the force he had gathered would disperse at any moment.

Rohan’s brow furrowed.

‘Just a little more.’

Using mana, he seized the force that seemed ready to burst away.

Then he focused every bit of his attention on the sword tip to make it rotate.

Rohan’s hand trembled from the unrefined force.

But he did not let go.

Just a little more...

As though tearing at it, twisting it, preventing it from losing its center.

That was when it happened.

‘It’s gathering.’

The unstable sensation settled, and this time, he felt the force collecting.

Toward the sword tip, the mana scattered around him began being sucked inward all at once.

It lasted only the briefest instant.

Even so, Rohan clearly felt it.

At the moment he believed the force had reached maximum compression.

He released the condensed power exactly as it was.

And then.

Fweee...

A very faint light flashed at the tip of the sword.

A tiny spark that looked as though it would vanish if someone breathed on it.

Calling it an explosion would have been embarrassing.

Rohan bit his lip.

Rather than satisfaction at having succeeded, disappointment at its inadequacy came first.

“D-did you just create an explosion?!”

“Yeah. You said the answer was rotation.”

“No, there are countless bastards who can’t do it even after being told that for their entire lives...”

Kaisen’s mouth fell open.

There was a reason it was called a secret technique.

Most people failed to master it even after endless practice.

Even among those born in the Ruki Mountains, more than half never managed to learn it during their entire lives.

Yet this lunatic had already imitated a technique he had only just seen.

And all Kaisen had given him was the hint ‘rotation’?

‘What the hell is this guy?’

Of course, the power was pathetic.

But Kaisen knew.

The problem was not the output.

This bastard had just opened the door.

Yet Rohan ground his lip as though dissatisfied.

“It’s still pathetic. This isn’t enough.”

For a moment, Kaisen was speechless.

Did Rohan even understand what he had just accomplished?

Rohan, who had been looking disappointed, suddenly curled the corners of his lips upward.

‘...?’

It was the same kind of smile Kaisen had seen during their spar that afternoon.

A chill ran down Kaisen’s spine.

“Why are you smiling? It’s creepy.”

“Thanks.”

“What?”

Kaisen narrowed his eyes at the unexpected words.

It was the first time.

The first time the word thanks had come from Rohan’s mouth.

‘But the expression on the face of someone saying thanks...’

That was not the expression of someone offering gratitude.

A wolf that had spotted prey.

An expression filled with greed.

“Rotation...”

Rohan muttered while looking down at the tip of his sword.

‘My body still isn’t developed enough.’

If he wanted to use the technique, he needed another method.

‘Rotation... rotation... wait.’

An idea flashed through Rohan’s mind.

What if he added a force rotating in the opposite direction?

If force and opposing force collided, would they not release tremendous energy?

“Kaisen, what happens if you reverse the force of Condensed Burst?”

“What? What the hell are you talking about?”

Kaisen looked at Rohan as though he did not even understand the question.

“Never mind. It’s fine. Go back first.”

“What? What are you planning to do?”

“There’s something I want to experiment with.”

Seeing Rohan’s expression, Kaisen could not respond.

He had the distinct feeling that he had taught Rohan something very wrong.

____________

Time passed, and the day of deployment arrived.

Soldiers began gathering on the training ground from early morning.

Clank, clank.

Armored soldiers formed ranks, and a long line of wagons for transporting supplies stood to one side.

Rohan also stood in formation with the members of Fourth Squad.

‘...Not enough.’

His eyes faced forward, but his mind was filled with other thoughts.

Rohan had not rested during that time.

During the day, he participated in unit training, and at night, he continued training alone.

He had also continuously practiced Condensed Burst, which Kaisen had taught him.

But.

‘The power is too weak.’

It could not even be compared to what Kaisen had used.

‘My physical training is insufficient.’

Condensed Burst was a technique that drew out the strength of the entire body and concentrated it at the sword tip.

From the very beginning of the technique, there was bound to be a difference between Rohan and Kaisen.

Rohan looked down at his own hands.

His body had grown considerably compared to before.

Even so, it was still the body of a fifteen-year-old.

He could not match the strength produced by Kaisen’s body, which had been trained for decades.

‘I need another method.’

One thought had refused to leave his mind for days.

‘Reverse rotation.’

Mana compressed while rotating in one direction.

Then force rotating in the opposite direction was pushed into it.

If two opposing forces collided at a single point.

It might produce power far greater than the current Condensed Burst.

‘The key seems to be there.’

He had tried countless times, but the results had been unimpressive.

‘Something is missing.’

There had to be a method.

Rohan bit his lip.

If only he had a little more time.

“All personnel, attention!”

That was when it happened.

A booming voice echoed across the training ground.

At the same time, Rohan’s thoughts were cut off.

Before he knew it, Supern had climbed onto the platform.

“...”

The murmuring voices of the soldiers gradually disappeared.

So did the sounds of armor clashing.

And the sounds of hands fidgeting with sword hilts.

Soon, the entire training ground fell silent.

Rohan glanced around.

The atmosphere was different from usual.

Some men were smiling as though nothing bothered them.

Others gripped their sword hilts with stiff expressions.

‘...War.’

Only then did the word feel somewhat different.

Supern slowly looked over the soldiers.

His gaze reached all the way to the end of the training ground.

Then he spoke.

“Today, we march onto the battlefield.”

It was only a short sentence.

The air over the training ground instantly grew heavy.

“The Niagara Gorge you must pass through is called the Gorge of Death.”

No one answered.

“There is a high chance the enemy is waiting for us. We don’t know how many will die.”

Supern paused briefly.

“Some of the people standing here may never step onto this training ground again.”

The smiles vanished from the soldiers’ faces.

Supern quietly watched them.

“Are you afraid?”

No one answered.

“Of course you are.”

Supern’s voice echoed low across the training ground.

“I have gone onto the battlefield countless times. I have watched comrades die, and I have buried men with my own hands whom I had shared drinks with only the day before.”

Supern slowly drew his sword.

Shing―!

The sharp blade gleamed beneath the morning sunlight.

“And still, we return to the battlefield.”

Supern looked at the soldiers.

“Because there are people behind us whom we must protect.”

There were families.

There were friends.

There were people simply living ordinary lives.

“If we retreat from here, then they will be the next ones forced to pick up swords.”

Supern’s voice gradually grew louder.

“That is why we go. We fight. We stop them.”

The look in the soldiers’ eyes changed.

Supern raised his sword high toward the sky.

“Come back alive.”

His voice shook the training ground.

“Every single person leaving this place today. Return to this training ground again. That is the order I give you.”

For a while, no sound could be heard.

Then.

Shing―! Somewhere, a sword was drawn.

Then.

Shing! Claaang―!

Dozens, then hundreds of swords were drawn from their sheaths at once.

Supern shouted.

“Uaaaaaaaah―!”

A roar erupted.

Hundreds of voices merged into one.

It was a shout powerful enough to shake the ground.

Supern thrust his sword forward.

“White Wolf Knights.”

He drew a breath.

“March.”