[Cain’s Flashback]
“First of all, let me point out one thing. ‘Flowing Star’ is a sword technique, but at the same time it is not.”
“…yes?”
‘What does that mean? Could it be that the Princess had been drinking in broad daylight?’
“Hmm, you look like you don’t understand at all. Let me make it a little bit easier to understand. It is said that one doesn’t necessarily needs a sword to perform the ‘Flowing Star’.”
Saying that, the Princess gently waved her hand as if she was driving a fly away.
Swoop!
And, the result of that small hand gesture was truly amazing!
Krooung-kung!
The huge tree next to the Princess, thought to be at least 100 years old, split in half in an instant. It was an unbelievable sight, even though it was happening right in front of my eyes.
“…..”
‘It’s ridiculous! How can a human cut that huge, beautiful tree in half with their bare hands?’
Whether or not she knew how I felt, she smiled lightly at me and continued talking.
“Well, something like this is possible. If you have perfect mastery of the Flowing Star, it is possible to perform sword technique with your bare hands. No, not just bare hands. It is possible to use the Flowing Star anywhere you can imagine, from elbows, legs, knees, and shoulders.”
“…how is that even possible?”
“Hmm. To put it simply, the Flowing Star enables the user to use the opponent’s power against them. You use the sword as a channel to absorb and twist the flow of power generated by the opponent, add one’s power to it, then return it to them. It can be said that it is the essence of the Flowing Star.”
“Hooh…”
Only then did I understand why only the direct descendents of the Imperial family could learn the sword technique called Flowing Star. I never imagined that such fraudulent sword technique would exist in the world.
“That doesn’t mean that the Flowing Star is invincible. In order to return the other person’s power, many conditions are required. More than anything, if the other person grasps its true nature, you will have no choice
but to be on the defensive. Well, that’s not a weakness of the Flowing Star, but just a fundamental counter to the technique.”
However, even taking that into account, it couldn’t be denied that the Flowing Star was a top rank sword technique. As the Princess said, the weakness of the Flowing Star was not a weakness of the sword technique, but a counter, same as all the techniques in the world.
“That is why the Flowing Star has a fixed form, but at the same time it is formless martial arts. To be precise, it can be said that it is a sword technique that represents the characteristics of the user, it can change depending on how the user comprehends it.”
Saying that, the Princess looked at me with a stern gaze that I had never seen before.
“In what form will you comprehend the Flowing Star?”
****
[Lucian’s POV]
Poo-chi!
“Cougkh!”
The very moment the duel began, Cain’s fist reached Lucian’s jaw, leaving the later stunned.
Even a second before the start of the duel, Cain’s figure was clearly about ten steps away from Lucian. But at
what point did he approach Lucian and how did his fist reach Lucian’s chin?
“Kuk!”
However, Lucian didn’t panic. He had gone through countless sparring as a part of his knight training. Getting punched in the chin was something he had experienced countless times.
Lucian was not weak enough to lose consciousness from just a puch to the jaw. No, rather, he took one step forward toward the opponent.
The moment the enemy’s blow was over, was the best moment for a counter-attack!
“Haaa!”
Slightly bending his body, then slightly pulling himself back, Lucian created a distance, and waited for the right timing. Then his sword, which was firmly in his grasp, flew like an arrow toward Cain’s chest!
But the next moment, something unbelievable happened.
Shueak!
“…!”
The sword penetrated the opponent. No, he had definitely stabbed his sword into the pit of his stomach, but the sword passed through his opponent as if it had pierced the air. As if, there was nothing there to begin with!
“What? Where are you looking?”
The next moment, the opponent’s voice, mixed with ridicule, reached his ears.
It was humiliating, but thanks to the opponent’s mockery, Lucian was able to realize where the enemy was.
‘Behind!’
Shrang!
He quickly turned around and slashed behind. But behind his back, there was nothing, again!
Cain’s figure had suddenly disappeared again.
And…
Quaang!
“Heuk!”
Without a moment of notice, a fist connected to Lucian’s side.
The force of the blow, which felt all the more devastating because it was completely unexpected, passed through the ribs and reached the lungs in an instant.
For a moment, Lucian’s cardiorespiratory function stopped, albeit very slightly.
It was only a fleeting moment, but it was a very big gap in the eyes of Cain, who was able to read the other person’s ‘flow’.
“Ah, come to think of it, there is one thing I learned from Master.”
Cain smirked as he looked at Lucian.
“They say it hurts even more if you hit a person who is already in pain.”
“…!”
As soon as the words were finished, Cain launched a kick towards Lucian’s torso like a beam of light.
Lucian quickly raised his sword to block it, but it was late by a second.
Thuud!
There was a loud sound, indicating that a person’s foot had been driven into another person’s torso.
Cain’s foot, which was accurately inserted into Lucian’s stomach, sent him flying more than 10 meters in an instant.
“Cheuk, huh, keuh…”
“Heh, what is it? Is it over already? You haven’t even swung your sword yet!”
Cain smiled and continued to mock Lucian.
“…..”
However, despite Cain’s ridicule, Lucian didn’t get angry or excited like he did just a moment ago. No, rather he calmed his mind and kept a cool head.
Keeping a calm head during battle was the basics of being a knight. To lead the fight to victory, you must be a cool-headed strategist, not a mad cow.
Lucian listened to Cain’s ridicule, and tried to review the previous clash.
‘It’s clear that he is using some kind of trick…’
Of course, he had no intention of accusing the other person of cheating. A duel was also a type of war, and in a war you would only get punished if you get caught. Criticizing the opponent for cheating would only be considered as a compliment.
So instead of complaining, it was wise to find a way to break through the situation. He had to review the fight from before step by step, and figure out how the opponent was taking the advantage.
‘There are mainly two issues. The first is that strange movement that can’t be perceived with the naked eye. And the second is, why he prefers punching or kicking rather than wielding the sword…’
“…..”
‘One more thing, the blow from before was too powerful. It was simply too strong to be considered as a simple kick.’
In fact, anyone with common sense would find the matter of Cain, who clearly had an untrained body, sending Lucian flying over ten meters with a simple kick a little strange.
‘…can’t find anything. There’s not enough information.’
Unfortunately, the information was too scarce.
With only the brief clash from before, Lucian couldn’t be sure what kind of trick the enemy was using. In
particular, it was obvious that if he didn’t come up with a means to counter that strange movement, he would be fooled by Cain and then be defeated in the end.
Then, at the moment, Lucian had only one choice.
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Thanks for the chapter! It’s been a month since J last read this, hope you’ve been well!
I’m hanging on. Thank you for the support!
I’m confused, if this martial art uses the opponent’s strenght against them then how did she use it on a tree?
The technique uses the opponents strength during battle. But that doesn’t mean the user themselves doesn’t have any strength.
“Well, something like this is possible. If you have perfect mastery of the Flowing Star, it is possible to perform sword technique with your bare hands. No, not just bare hands. It is possible to use the Flowing Star anywhere you can imagine, from elbows, legs, knees, and shoulders.”
“…how is that even possible?”
“Hmm. To put it simply, it’s because the Flowing Star is a sword technique that uses the opponent’s power against them. You use the sword as a channel to absorb and twist the flow of power generated by the opponent, add one’s power to it, then return it to them. It can be said that it is the essence of the Flowing Star.”
I’d undertand it if she said something like “this technique allows you to cut things with your hand and also redirect the opponent’s strenght against themselves” but she clearly says that it allows you to cut things ‘because’ of the opponent’s strenght being redirected, it’s not really a big deal, just a bit confusing
Thank you for the chapter by the way
Thank you, I now understand the problem. There might be something wrong with my translation. I will check the raw again and fix it.
Ok I cheked. I think you missed the part with “add one’s power to it” in the explanation. It explains that the technique doesn’t entirely rely on the opponents power. I also changed the phrasing of the first line to make thing better. Thanks for pointing it out!