18. Among those many stars.

hot.

no, it’s cold

I just want to sit down and rest right now.

But, shake off all temptation.

Just a little while ago, if you asked me to protect the village, I would gladly give up my life.

Didn’t you long for it and pray inwardly?

Did you change your mind in just a few seconds?

“――!!”

I’m talking from afar, but I can’t hear it.

A barbaric warrior approaches with an axe.

Then, instead of rushing right away, he stopped and after talking in front of his eyes for a long time, he attacked.

He responded with a two-handed sword.

At the same time as receiving the attack, it was cut in unison as a counterattack.

My master once told me this.

‘You look like you lack strength by birth. The frame isn’t strong either. So no matter how hard you train, even if you suffer for your stomach, you will gain very little. Nonetheless, you must not give up. If you do, you won’t even be able to protect me. But fortunately, the lungs are strong, so if you make good use of that characteristic, you will be less tired than others.’

Even for the sake of living, work hard at training.

Building strength is the next thing.

… Because of that, she even undertook the training her teacher demanded.

It was an ordeal for me.

Close to impossible, he said.

Hearing that, I walked there.

Doesn’t close to impossible mean that I can get away from impossible according to my efforts?

Even making a living was part of the training.

Even private play and rest were thoroughly checked for efficiency.

You can grow only by resting.

Eat well, move well, and rest well.

Don’t identify yourself with others.

I didn’t even have enough time to envy.

It was a waste of time to grieve for being unhappy.

When I stopped caring about even loneliness, considering it a luxury, I was able to endure it quite a bit.

Even when she watches herself and eventually becomes discouraged.

The fact that I couldn’t appease her with a pure heart.

… In the end, because of my weakness.

We stand on this earth, in hell.

On a desolate, miserable, and nowhere place.

Like a fallen leaf that can be swept away at any time.

Even if it stays still, it just rots and disappears from the earth.

Even being swept away has nothing to do with one’s will.

what a pitiful life

No matter how you achieve happiness.

… This harsh reality that even that happiness can be broken at any time.

I just couldn’t accept it.

… Another warrior comes running.

A man of enormous size, each holding a shield and a club.

It looks a lot bigger than this one.

Thinking about the guy who ran ahead, his physique was beyond words.

And as if to prove the ransom, the sword blade fell out and even bent after just a few attacks.

Was it reckless to simply respond with force?

However, it is too early to give up.

put your hand on your waist

I grabbed the sword that seemed to stick to my hand and pulled it out.

Only one sword was broken.

Unless his limbs were broken or his life was cut off.

It won’t be a problem at all.

More than anything.

The stronger the enemy, the stronger we become.

because.

Because we have always destroyed our enemies with the strength of our opponents, even taking advantage of their mistakes.

where does the water go

A teacher once asked me that.

I replied that it naturally flows forward, through the opening.

Master said no.

“Water flows from top to bottom.”

“… … ?”

When I heard it, I was right.

“So the sea is the king, father and mother of all rivers.”

Why can the sea contain all water?

“Because it is lower than anything else.”

The sword we wield should be the same.

“But that is not the end. Down and down again, the water rises up. It goes up to the sky and becomes clouds, rain, and snow.”

“uh? So, are you saying that rain was originally river water and seawater?”

“… It is true.”

I didn’t understand it well.

The master said that wielding a sword should be like that.

He repeatedly emphasized that it should be the same even when using force.

“Also, without being entangled like the wind, without being entangled, facing the place where the road is laid, and going against the entangled place naturally, as if passing by.”

It should be like that when you move your body.

“Even if you realize this, there will not be many people on earth who will treat you carelessly. Even because of your physical characteristics, you won’t be able to manipulate or utilize mana in any way. I can’t offer any other solution other than this.”

Master.

I still, what you said to wake up.

… I still don’t know.

Even so, I am the ones who wield sword skills, radiate light, and display ridiculous physical abilities.

How did you overcome it?

I feel proud of it, albeit modestly.

It’s not that I’m afraid of losing.

I was afraid of dishonoring your teachings.

I was afraid of staining your name the most.

That’s why I didn’t dare to say who my teacher was, and I didn’t reveal it confidently.

… It must be one side of my vices and weaknesses.

“How did you get that far?”

“monster… is it?”

Did you knock down five or so?

At that point, it seemed that they had given up on one-on-one duels with confidence and changed their purpose to defeating this side.

‘If I had thrown an arrow or a stone, it would have been a little difficult.’

It would have been easier to come right in front of me.

Because he didn’t have the strength to run forward right away, and he didn’t even have the strength to move forward with them.

all you have to do is stand

There is no strength in the whole body.

All he had to do was hold on to his legs so he wouldn’t stumble.

By the way.

“Gagging!”

why.

“Ugh, ugh!”

… … I.

“Hey, Zenza… hem. Poetry, God… west.”

Aren’t you going to fall down?

I suddenly remember that I shouldn’t collapse.

If I fall down here, if I sit down.

who will stop them

In fact, no matter how many of them head to town.

He had neither the stamina nor the energy to stop it.

But why

Are all of them keeping an eye on themselves and being vigilant?

‘why.’

Casually, in their wave of attacks.

Can you give them a sense of vigilance and fear?

‘Did he tell me to relax.’

There is no artificiality in the events of nature.

Intentionally force it, squeeze it, and blow it.

All of that is meaningless and irrelevant.

It’s true that the structure of the human body shouldn’t be like that.

… In the end, if you don’t apply the principle to your body.

It is impossible to exercise the events of nature with the body.

Forcibly reproducing it through mana is the height of artificiality.

However, even if it is a lie, if it can be, it becomes an obvious reality.

Therefore, if it is also a road, it is a road.

Is there only one way to find the right answer you want?

It is also the expression and realization of will.

… However.

A person without legs cannot climb stairs with legs.

A beast without wings cannot fly like a bird.

‘… Right.’

I’ve been misunderstanding all this time.

Still, I have something to learn.

no.

Rather, I feel infinitely inadequate.

Rather, why did I wake up to this now?

But, it has to be.

Even in the most exhausting and difficult moments.

Because there has never been a hard time like now.

As the strength of the whole body is naturally drained.

But the enemy is mighty, and above all, powerful.

So, the road was open.

As the valley narrows, the flowing river naturally flows to one place.

No, is it a little different from this?

I can’t figure it out with my head.

something, it seems

This is exactly what Master said… .

—-

chasing a welcome

For a very short time, I thought I had let go of my consciousness.

The things he felt at that moment flowed backwards with an unknown flow.

drifted into my consciousness.

‘Like rocks and trees when taking a posture.’

and.

‘Like water and wind when moving.’

It’s concise and non-trivial, though.

One thing was certain.

‘This… .’

The Wind Blows.

The four sides were tightly closed.

If there is an exit, even if it is a small gap.

The wind throws its body towards it knowingly.

The me now is like that.

Lead your body along the illusion.

raise the sword

―!!

The moment it collides with the greatsword, the body flies to one side.

But the focus is not lost.

The posture continues, and rather, the body flows in the intended direction, as if sliding.

there again.

Shed the ax that was hitting the side as if it were being slashed.

Again, using that power as a rebound, this time I lead my body as if sliding to the other side.

In an instant, I reached the front of a warrior’s chest.

She lowered her stance and slipped past his crotch.

grabbed his ankle

Although he endured like a strong pillar.

I used it to reverse my body, and at the same time, I swung my sword and cut off his ankle.

“Quaaagh!”

It is neither too shallow nor too deep.

Let him bend down with a cry of pain and bewilderment.

Ride on the opponent’s back with your back and roll, leading your body to the other side.

The besieged camp became somewhat lax.

No matter how much you wrap it around, if you keep moving, there will be gaps.

‘Water and wind.’

As long as there is a road, there is no stopping or pooling.

It wasn’t enough to avoid the kicks of the man charging at him, so he grabbed his feet.

When I instinctively pulled my leg, I threw myself in front of the opponent’s chest using that power as a driving force. Climb right up the shoulder and hold onto the hair knot.

“What are you doing?!”

“The joke is over!”

When the head is raised, the head naturally tilts backwards.

The heaviest thing in the human body is the head.

Therefore, controlling it means being able to sway the center of gravity of the human body unwillingly.

But that’s not the end.

Right before descending, he swung his sword in the air and cut off his back.

It is neither deep nor shallow.

However, this was clearly a fatal wound.

Rather, this would be more painful and deadly than the one that was stabbed deep in the abdomen.

Before he had time to grab the scruff of his neck, the warrior who was staggering and trying to bring his hand to that area collapsed.

“… … .”

The fighting style shown by the illusion is quite different from this.

In a similar way to me, he lashes out at opponents with his sword, occasionally slashing with his sword, kicking at worst, and even punching his chin with his fist.

In a melee, even though he is alone, he resists, sheds, and counters the enemy’s attacks like water and wind.

roam the battlefield

But that’s the author’s way.

physical condition and circumstances.

All given circumstances and methods.

… It reminds me that I can’t be like him.

However.

The root is the same.

With what principle, purpose, means and methodology he drives them. whether it drives

Because I just understood that.

“aaa!”

The gigantic body comes flying with its head lowered like a bison.

On the contrary, this one also responds by lowering the body with the momentum to lay the upper body on the ground.

My two savage hands grab my side and attack me like a wolf’s open mouth.

Rather, she slips through them, and at the same time slips away from his rush.

From there, he lay down and changed his body while sliding, and similarly cut the warrior’s ankle as if cutting it off with a sword.

Quadang!

A warrior who couldn’t overcome the inertia, and even broke his ankle, and fell head-on.

He cut off the spearhead coming from the side, evaded the sword coming down on him again, and barely let the ax that came up in an oblique line slip through with his sword.

dig in

When I tried to grab it with my empty hand, it grabbed my fingers and rolled over with my whole body.

“Ah!”

Concerned that he might break his fingers later, he rolls his body as if he were following him, but at that moment he cuts his neck, rolls over it, and strikes another warrior’s ankle again, knocking him out of position.

cut

“Are these jokes right now! With a kid no more than a fistful away!”

“Attack! All over! What if I couldn’t even do that?!”

“How long are you going to be rude?!”

The illusion incapacitates the enemy with minimal force and minimal response.

Illusions aim for gaps and cut the opponent’s eyes, or cut their wrists and ankles.

Punching his chin with his fist, kicking him between his crotch with his foot.

Even so, the clinging guy grabbed hold of him with a ghost-like skill and pulled him around as if he were being dragged.

They voluntarily roll on the ground, bang their heads, or drop their upper bodies.

To knock it down and spread it out.

If you can’t do it with a weapon, hand-to-hand combat.

Even close combat won’t work, so they cling to each other and crush them, clinging to them as if they were trying to suppress them.

nothing works

As if trying to hold the water with your hands, arms, or whole body would be meaningless.

Or like trying to hug the wind.

It’s all pointless.

And if their attempt fails, it turns into another opportunity for a counterattack.

Even this, by using the opponent’s power against them.

There was no need to stick the sword into the snow pit like I did earlier.

Just by lightly slicing through the eyeball, the opponent is instantly neutralized.

Even if I try to attack again, it is not difficult to respond.

Severing ankle tendons, severing neck stems, severing wrists, slitting the pit of the stomach, slicing thighs, slicing thighs.

knock it over

knock you down

So that the weapon does not get damaged and does not touch the bone.

Even if the muscles are strong, at least the most difficult point to protect properly and effectively.

Split up.

He is in fantasy.

It made more than a dozen warriors helpless.

“… … .”

Suddenly.

Even in my field of vision, the number of huge warriors scattered by this hand was already over 15.

“Yes… That’s right.”

It’s about that time.

The welcome stopped.

Also, that the illusion is facing this way.

I also looked at him.

“finally… .”

Even the memories he showed.

Even the sight he showed me as a fantasy.

all.

… … That it was an arrangement for me.

I start from this moment.

I definitely sensed all of this.

he.

No one else was waiting for me.

long, long years.

for 300 years.

in one place.

He stayed there alone.

… should.

for this moment.