I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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The staircase extended longer than I anticipated, reaching at least three or four floors.

As I descended to the bottom, I felt a cooling breeze along with a denser scent of blood.

Ahead, a hallway stretched out endlessly.

It was so dark that I could barely see where the flashlight’s beam could not reach.

Kim Il-shin began to spread his clairvoyance to scan the surroundings up to 5 meters ahead.

So far, nothing was felt.

“Let’s proceed slowly. If anything’s amiss, speak up right away.”

Park Eun-ho moved ahead, with Kim Il-shin following closely behind.

Holding the Hyeonwol Sword in one hand, I remained on high alert. This place was eerie enough that an unexpected fight could break out at any moment.

“Wait a moment.”

About ten minutes into our journey, something newly detected appeared ahead.

“Hm? What’s going on?”
“It seems to be a trap.”

Kim Il-shin stepped ahead slowly, leaving Park Eun-ho behind.

As he examined the detected area closely, he spotted a gap in the slightly raised floor.

On the side wall, there was a small hole roughly at the height of an adult’s torso.

Kim Il-shin took a few steps back and extended his sword.

When he pressed down on the suspicious floor, the sound of a mechanical device echoed, and an arrow shot out from the hole.

Thwack!

The arrow had burrowed deep into the wall. If a person had been hit by it, they would not have made it out unscathed.

“I’ll take the lead from here.”

“Sounds good.”

Park Eun-ho accepted the proposal without further comment. It was indeed a better choice for Kim Il-shin to lead.

After all, he hadn’t detected the previous trap.

“Got a good sense, do you? I didn’t see it at all.”

“Something like that.”

“Kids these days really are multifaceted.”

As they continued forward, they encountered several more traps, each time profiting from the benefits of their clairvoyance.

The traps weren’t particularly advanced; they merely became threatening due to the darkness.

From a distance, it sufficed to activate or avoid them.

‘There’s a light on.’

In the distance of the corridor, a faint glow was visible.

Exchanging glances with Park Eun-ho, they moved forward slowly, and the corridor brightened in an instant.

From then on, no traps were visible.

As they ventured further, they reached a bifurcation. Kim Il-shin and Park Eun-ho halted in front of it.

“Hmm…”

Park Eun-ho was deep in thought as he observed the symbol of the Jeokcheon Cult engraved in the middle of the fork.

Should they choose one path together or split here?

If Kim Il-shin’s level had been lower, he would have chosen the former without hesitation.

However, having assessed his abilities, the latter option was now under consideration.

It would be safer to proceed together, but splitting up would likely be more efficient.

‘…Still, it’s better to act together.’

Though I recognize his skill, he is still a student.

If he cannot react appropriately to unexpected situations, he could very well die.

‘No, if that were the case, I would have caught his fist directly. His counterattack was swift… and he even stole one of my techniques.’

The more he thought, the deeper his worries grew. In the midst of his confusion over which to choose, Kim Il-shin spoke.

“How about we take one side each?”

“…Are you confident?”

“Yes.”

Park Eun-ho looked into Kim Il-shin’s eyes. They were trustworthy eyes, not stemming from misguided bravado.

“Alright. But prioritize your survival above all else.”

“I understand.”

“And one more thing. Watch out for the ascetics.”

“The ascetics?”

Kim Il-shin also knew of their existence.

A term for those who held a higher position among regular Jeokcheon cultists, leading them.

In the Jeokcheon Cult, killing as per the circle was considered an ‘asceticism.’

Those who diligently followed such ‘asceticism’ would earn the title of ascetic and command regular believers.

Only those murderers who had taken dozens or even hundreds of lives could rise to such a position.

Naturally, their power would be incomparable to that of ordinary believers.

Surviving the pursuit of heroes during their acts of slaughter, after all.

Park Eun-ho, gripping Kim Il-shin’s shoulders, spoke in a low, serious tone for him to remember well.

“If you encounter a member of the Jeokcheon cult that stands out as particularly strong, that’s an ascetic. If you see one, flee without looking back. They’re not on your level.”

Park Eun-ho sent him a knowing glance. Kim Il-shin nodded without hesitation.

It was to reassure him.

Having received the desired response, Park Eun-ho released Kim Il-shin’s shoulder and stepped back.

With one last warning to be careful, he took the right path.

Kim Il-shin also stepped onto the left path without ceasing the operation of his clairvoyance.

*

As they proceeded for some time, Kim Il-shin came to a realization.

The earlier fork was created to pick off intruders one by one.

‘Both the front and back are blocked.’

Both the front and retreat routes were cut off. Had there been a branching path he missed on the way in?

The eyes of those holding weapons were dyed red. Jeokcheon cultists.

There weren’t as many of them as expected. Perhaps more of their forces were concentrated on the opposite side where Park Eun-ho was.

‘Three in the back, four in front… and one more.’

There was one among the front ranks giving off a notably strong aura.

It was an ascetic. He recognized it the moment he laid eyes on it, just as Park Eun-ho had said.

The moment their red eyes met, the ascetic silently gestured with their chin. The battle was about to begin.

“Foolish fool to come here!”

“Die!”

The cultists rushed in from both sides, not allowing for any response. Kim Il-shin immediately activated Cheonji Myowon-gong.

They advanced unstoppably as if they only sought to crush the weak.

A thrill sparked in their eyes; they were enjoying killing.

‘Starting from the back.’

Kim Il-shin pivoted on his left foot, executing a turning trajectory with Ilshin Pachungong imbued in it.

Swoosh!

As black lightning struck the dark corridor, the bodies of two cultists were severed in half.

They died with their eyes wide open, unable to react.

“……!”

The remaining cultists, witnessing the stroke of Ilshin Pachungong, shrieked in shock. Kim Il-shin was not the weakling they had anticipated.

“This…!”

For a moment of hesitation, a swift blade took the head of one last cultist.

The three at the back were all dispatched, clearing a path for retreat.

Sizzle—

From the Hyeonwol Sword in his hand came a sound like water evaporating.

Looking down to confirm, steam was rising from the blood on the blade, rapidly being absorbed into the sword.

‘Hanarin has created something unusual.’

It was the same phenomenon as when filling the gauge of the blood crystal.

However, he hadn’t expected that its property would remain even after being forged into a sword.

‘Could it be that this also grows stronger as I fill it with life?’

There wasn’t time to ponder that. There was movement from the approaching cultists trying to hinder his escape.

Kim Il-shin lowered his stance and slipped through the openings identified by clairvoyance.

The weapons of the cultists clashed as they attempted a hasty reaction, disrupting their formation.

Clang!

The swift blade that struck a knee split one cultist’s body while breaking another’s back against the ground.

In the darkness that abruptly descended, a trail was drawn. Silence followed.

Sizzle—

Kim Il-shin emerged from the shadows, holding the Hyeonwol Sword that was wreathed in smoke.

The furiously angry eyes of the ascetic met his gaze. The unrefined killing intent provoked Kim Il-shin.

“This is where your arrogance ends.”

The ascetic drew his sword, aiming it at Kim Il-shin.

The rippling waves of mana were more threatening than anything he had faced until now.

There could be no room for underestimation. The ascetic had recognized Kim Il-shin’s abilities through their previous fight.

‘I will carry this momentum forward.’

He channeled the flow of mana into his lower body, lacing the Ilshin Pachungong with power. He leaped, shattering the ground with the explosive impact.

Kaboom!

For an instant, the ascetic’s gaze sharpened in surprise. He could see Kim Il-shin’s sword coming up from below.

Kim Il-shin made no attempt to counter. He was confident his sword was faster.

Clang!

In that moment, he instinctively raised his sword in the rippling space.

A searing pain shot up his hand, which gripped the blade as it was thrown back. He was fortunate not to have dropped his sword.

Clarity eluded even clairvoyance. Had he not instinctively raised his sword, it would have been perilous.

‘Acceleration, perhaps?’

Kim Il-shin quickly grasped the principle. The sword that had been extending normally suddenly accelerated twice, piercing the gaps of his consciousness.

How many lives had been lost to this technique? Easily over double digits without a doubt.

Clang!

The ascetic’s sword lunged out once more. Closing the distance, Kim Il-shin countered it before the acceleration.

Kim Il-shin’s talent led him to devise a counter in just a single glimpse.

“You scoundrel!”

With an angry growl, he hit back with a centrifugal strike aimed at the ascetic’s lower abdomen, only to find the strike twisted, aiming for his head.

He leaned back to dodge while infusing all the accumulated mana into the Hyeonwol Sword.

Whoosh—

The Hyeonwol Sword unleashed a fierce sword light. The wave that spread from the blade flowed up through his hand.

It was the moment the inspiration from when he first grabbed this sword surged back to him.

The wave of mana, contrasting with that of the Hyeonwol Sword, erupted from his core.

As the waves crashed together, it birthed a resonance unlike any he had encountered before.

Wol-gok-gyeong (Moon Crying Sutra). Three words naturally emerged in his mind as he grasped the resonance.

Boom!

The ascetic’s blade, colliding with the Hyeonwol Sword, shattered from within and exploded in all directions.

The ascetic’s face turned pale with horror.

A sword enhanced by mana couldn’t break due to a mere difference in power.

“Ugh!”

Immediately after, a downward slash severed the ascetic’s right arm. Yet his movements didn’t halt.

Swish!

Even having lost an arm, the strike he threw carried the intent of mutual destruction. He was a being consumed by fanaticism.

With a light sweep, Kim Il-shin decapitated the remaining arm.

As he aimed to finish, a sight caught his eye from behind the ascetic.

‘…Victims?’

Dozens of corpses lay scattered haphazardly.

Each wore a grimace of pain, barely able to close their eyes for eternity.

Strength tightened around his grip on the sword. Those responsible for such a sight deserved no peaceful death.

‘This scoundrel was a martial artist.’

The ascetic’s body bore traces of training. The calluses on his hands and his unshakable habits spoke of it.

His life story sketched itself in Kim Il-shin’s mind.

He had trained hard to grow stronger but ultimately drowned in despair after feeling his limits, throwing himself into the Jeokcheon Cult, a pitiful life.

What would break him down the most was easy to conjure.

Whoosh!

Infusing the power of the Wol-gok-gyeong into his foot, he twisted his stance, sending his sword into explosive acceleration.

This was not just once, nor was it merely twice.

The sword that easily surpassed the ascetic’s limits accelerated four times, taking his life.

In that last moment, the ascetic’s expression was undoubtedly painted with despair.

*

After dispatching the ascetic, Kim Il-shin approached the bodies of the victims to close their eyes.

There was no immediate need to move. All the enemies here had been dealt with.

He wasn’t worried about Park Eun-ho either. It was rare for several ascetics to be in one place, and he could handle it without too much difficulty.

Tap, tap.

Just as Kim Il-shin had anticipated, he soon felt a presence approaching from the back passage. Heavy footsteps—it was Park Eun-ho.

Rushing over, Park Eun-ho met Kim Il-shin’s gaze and suddenly halted.

He alternated glancing between Kim Il-shin and the ascetic’s corpse.

“……Unbelievable.”