Emotionless Swordsmanship Genius

Chapter 10: Awakened Abilities (1)

“Begin!”

With Altanic’s signal, the final promotion match began.

“Hyaah!”

Gletch charged forward without hesitation, swinging his wooden sword straight down toward Karon’s head. He wasn’t holding back at all, intending to end the match quickly with a full-force attack.

Whoosh—

The wooden sword carved a straight trajectory through the air, hurtling toward Karon’s head. If the blow landed, it could easily crush his skull.

Altanic and Batiah, watching from above, were momentarily startled by the unexpected force of the strike, but Karon, still expressionless, simply watched Gletch’s wooden sword with calm focus.

Thwack!

Krrrk—

Karon reversed his grip on his wooden sword, blocking Gletch’s strike. He quickly angled his blade to deflect the attack, but the sheer weight of the blow was too much. Karon was thrown backward, rolling twice before he managed to stand and regain his balance.

‘As expected, it’s not like I imagined.’

Karon gritted his teeth. His hand, still gripping the wooden sword, was trembling. The difference between the battle he had imagined and the reality of clashing blades was painfully apparent.

‘I must avoid it as much as possible.’

Gletch didn’t give Karon any time to recover, launching relentless attacks.

Karon could see everything: Gletch’s gaze, his breathing, his footwork, the movement of his arms, and the path of the wooden sword. But his body couldn’t keep up with his senses. His physical ability was far too inferior to his heightened perception.

Barely dodging each strike, Karon rolled to avoid the blows, predicting Gletch’s next move as best as he could.

Had he not observed Gletch’s practice sessions beforehand, such evasion would have been impossible.

Gletch’s movements had already been deeply ingrained in Karon’s mind.

On the other hand, Gletch was growing increasingly frustrated.

‘What the hell is this?’

By all appearances, Karon was just a novice, a kid who had never fought before. But somehow, he seemed to predict Gletch’s every move, rolling out of the way just before each strike could land.

Each time, Gletch felt his power draining, and the momentum of his attacks was interrupted.

“Hey, Gletch! Stop going easy on him!”

“Haha! Are you just toying with the kid?”

The gladiators watching from the sidelines jeered, thinking that Gletch was merely toying with Karon, who kept rolling on the ground to avoid the blows.

But one person saw through the situation clearly.

‘Karon is reading Gletch’s movements! How is this even possible?’

Batiah watched Karon intensely, trying to make sense of what was happening.

Then, something even more remarkable occurred.

Up until now, Karon had been desperately dodging Gletch’s attacks. But as Gletch’s movements grew more exaggerated, openings began to appear.

Karon seized the moment.

When Gletch slammed his sword down into the ground, Karon sprang up with a swift, fluid motion, as if propelled by a spring, and moved behind Gletch in an instant.

Using the momentum from his jump, Karon swung his wooden sword for the first time, aiming for Gletch’s neck.

Thwack!

But the strike did nothing. Gletch’s thick, muscular neck absorbed the blow effortlessly.

“You little rat!”

Whoosh—

Gletch spun around, swinging his wooden sword with tremendous force.

Wham!

“Ugh!”

The blow landed squarely on Karon’s side, sending him flying through the air. His body bounced on the ground several times before skidding to a stop.

The power behind Gletch’s swing was enormous, and the pain was so intense that Karon could barely breathe. His entire body screamed in agony, and he couldn’t even move a finger.

‘I saw an opening and rushed it. I should have been more cautious…’

Karon regretted his hasty decision, but he didn’t have much time to dwell on it.

Gletch was relentless.

Wham! Thwack! Thud!

“You filthy little rat! Just die, you useless bastard!”

Gletch rained down blows on Karon’s entire body, from head to toe, mercilessly striking him with his wooden sword.

Karon curled into a ball, trying to minimize the pain. Blood began to seep from his body, and red welts appeared all over him as the brutal assault continued.

Despite the one-sided beating, Altanic and Batiah, seated above, made no move to stop the match. This, too, was part of the process of breaking in slaves and molding them into gladiators.

Karon, huddled on the ground, took a moment to glare at the two men observing from above, silently seething.

Finally, after some time had passed—

“Enough!”

A voice called out. Gletch paused mid-swing and looked up. It was Batiah, standing and approaching the edge of the balcony.

“Shame on you. If this had been a real sword, your head would no longer be attached to your neck.”

“Ugh… that was… a mistake.”

Gletch, clearly flustered, stumbled over his words.

“Have you never considered that a single mistake could cost you your life? Step back!”

As if following a carefully rehearsed script, Batiah scolded Gletch, forcing him to retreat. Then, with a nod to Altanic, he gave the signal.

Altanic stood and, with a commanding voice, shouted, “Help the boy up.”

At his order, soldiers lifted Karon to his feet. His face and body were battered and bloodied, but Altanic didn’t seem to care.

“Karon, I acknowledge your struggle against the champion. From this moment on, you are a full-fledged gladiator. With this, the promotion match is concluded. Take Karon to the infirmary. That is all!”

With his announcement, Altanic turned and walked away, followed by Batiah, his family, and the Tripolas soldiers.

Even though the promotion match had ended, the training grounds buzzed with unease. Gletch had claimed a hollow victory, and everyone felt it.

He stood in the middle of the training grounds, his hands trembling as he watched Karon being led inside to the first floor.

‘I’ll kill him… no matter what.’

Gletch’s face was twisted in fury, his jaw clenched, and veins bulging in his neck.

—

Karon, after receiving only basic medical care, was left alone to recover in a solitary cell for two days, groaning in pain. Typically, after being promoted to gladiator, one would stay in the underground quarters, but in Karon’s case, it was deemed safer to temporarily place him in solitary. They feared someone might target him while he was vulnerable.

“Ugh…”

Karon groaned weakly as he opened his eyes. A shadow fell over him through the bars of the cell.

Standing with the sun behind him was none other than Utallo.

“Even in pain, you’re still aware of your surroundings. You’ve got good senses. Drink this—it’ll help ease the pain.”

He pushed a bowl of black, watery porridge through the food slot.

“It’s just mixed with black herbs to dull the pain—that’s why it looks so dark. It’s not harmful. Take care.”

Utallo quickly left before anyone could see him.

Karon crawled slowly toward the bowl, taking small sips. The bitterness hit him hard, but just as Utallo had said, with every gulp, he could feel his hypersensitivity dulling and his pain subsiding.

For two days, Utallo was the only person who showed any concern for Karon. Each time he came, he brought a bit of porridge, which significantly helped Karon regain his strength.

Though Karon didn’t know why Utallo was helping him, it wasn’t the time to question it. The priority was recovering his strength.

On the third night, something strange began to happen.

The moaning Karon had gone silent, and a black mist was now emanating from his entire body.

His body had reached a breaking point, and another transformation was occurring within him.

Growth hormones surged, accelerating his physical development. His muscles expanded, and his bones hardened.

The black herbs Utallo had given him had played a major role in triggering these changes.

Though his mind was hazy, Karon could feel the transformation in his body clearly.

—

The next morning.

When Utallo arrived early to check on Karon, he was shocked by what he saw.

Karon, who had been on the verge of death the previous day, was now sitting upright in the middle of the cell, his back straight.

Utallo scanned Karon’s body. The bruises and marks from the wooden sword had mostly faded away.

In that moment, Karon’s eyes snapped open. The once-dull gaze had been replaced with a fierce, intense look—only to return to indifference as he consciously hid it.

“What happened to you overnight?”

Utallo asked, clearly baffled.

Karon slowly raised his head and stared at him before speaking in a hoarse, rasping voice, as if he hadn’t spoken in a long time.

“The black… herbs. Where can I find more?”

“You can talk?”

Utallo was startled, his eyes widening in surprise. He shook his head and continued, “I got it from a herb trader who comes by once a month. They say the herbs only grow in small amounts in the desert.”

“Desert…”

“Well, whatever that stuff did, it clearly helped you. But there’s no helping it. We’ll have to wait a month for more. We can’t just march off to the desert ourselves.”

“We’ll see.”

Karon’s vague response made Utallo frown, but he quickly made his exit as two officers approached to take Karon.

“It was true, then.”

“Damn it, I bet 1,000 shillings that he wouldn’t make it. How the hell did he survive? Is he really the devil’s child or something?”

The two officers exchanged words as they looked at Karon. One of them had probably checked on Karon’s condition at dawn.

“Let’s take him.”

“Hey, kid. Stick your hands out.”

Karon approached the bars without a word, holding out his hands. Once the shackles were secured, the cell door swung open, and the two officers led him toward the main building’s underground quarters. He had finally left the solitary cell where he had spent days teetering between life and death.

Karon glanced around as they walked. The training grounds were surrounded by tall walls, and only the third floor of the main building rose above them.

As they entered the underground quarters where the gladiators lived, several gladiators who had just woken up and were stretching stared at Karon with curiosity.

Despite the attention, Karon remained unfazed.

They soon arrived in the large, spacious underground area where the gladiators typically gathered. Gletch and Utallo were already there, talking with others.

When Karon entered, all eyes turned to him.

“There’s that bastard…”

Gletch’s expression darkened, and he marched over toward Karon.

“Stay out of trouble and behave.”

One of the officers released Karon’s shackles, warning him.

“Gletch, stand down!”

At the same time, another officer stepped forward to block Gletch’s approach.

In that brief moment, while both officers were focused on Gletch, Karon’s gaze flickered toward the sword sheathed at the waist of the officer behind him.

“Hm?”

The officer sensed something was wrong and glanced down—only to see his own sword in Karon’s hand. His eyes widened in shock.

Slash!

Karon’s left hand blurred, and suddenly, the officer’s neck split open, blood gushing out.

The officer instinctively clutched his throat, but it was too late.

“Ugh…! Gah….”

Blood streamed between his fingers as he collapsed to the ground.

For a moment, everyone, including Gletch, froze, staring at Karon.

It had happened so fast that they were initially stunned. Then they realized something far worse had just occurred—something that shouldn’t have happened.

The officer who had moved to stop Gletch turned, sensing something was wrong, only to be met with a flash of steel before his thoughts went blank.

A straight line appeared across the officer’s face.

Spurt!

A fountain of blood followed, drenching both Karon and Gletch.

“You… you crazy bastard…”

Gletch muttered, staring at Karon in disbelief.

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