I Became an Academy Baldo User

175 – Enlightenment (2)

How many times have I faced death like this? I smiled brightly as I got my body back to its original state after being chopped into pieces.

It wasn’t because I turned my head from the excessive pain or because I got used to the pain.

The feeling of a blade passing through my body and cutting into my organs is still terrible and unpleasant, but the realization that I get a little stronger every time I fall like this and try again made me smile.

“Okay, then again…” .”

When I raised my head to attack him again, I blinked at the sudden change.

My clone and the Sword Master, who had been proudly positioned a little distance away just a moment ago, were nowhere to be seen.

I turned my head to see if I was on the other side, but there was no one waiting and only the clear blue sky was waiting.

“What else?”

Could it be that they realized that my martial art would surpass their expectations and evolve to a higher level, so they left me out?

No, that can’t be true. There was no way the guy who had been belittling me and Baldosul so persistently for the past year would just give up like this.

I was looking around looking for them, thinking they might be nearby.

“…… Uh?”

Across from me, a face that evoked indescribable nostalgia was waiting for me, although it was clearly my first time seeing it.

Red ponytail hair that is reminiscent of orange maple leaves rather than blood, and a cross-shaped scar that appears to be part of the cheek.

The appearance of the face was almost identical to mine, but the features that reminded me of the origin of my addiction to Baldosul pointed to only one fact.

“You, you…” !!”

What I will say from now on is nothing more than speculation without any basis.

I wondered if this was such a ridiculous thing to say, but my instinct, not reason, shouted that this was the truth.

“You… “It’s the Baldosul in me.”

For humans, the concept of Baldosul takes the form of a human being.

I suddenly wondered what that meant, but there was no way to explain the man’s identity other than those words.

And as if her thoughts were not wrong, the man who had kept his mouth shut the whole time revealed himself and said as she nodded.

“…… Yes. As you said, I am a collection of the concepts and ideas you have about the art of martial arts.”

“As expected!!”

I don’t know how this happened, but if he was the one who conceptualized the magic in me, there was only one thing to do.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but then let’s go together. “I have to go and cut down the clone and the sword master with a sword attack!!”

I said that and stretched out my hand to him, but the Baldosul inside me just stared at me blankly without holding his hand.

“… Are you still reaching out to me?”

“What? “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you know that? I am weak. Even if I’m with you, I can’t protect you and will only hurt you….”

“No, when will you make me—.”

“For example, it is now. “How many times have you been hurt by your non-striking alter ego?”

“That’s it….”

“This is not a story limited to this incident. Every time you insisted on me, you always ended up in a painful fight, coughing up blood against an enemy you could easily win. Where is that? “As you protect me, your reputation deteriorates day by day, and the respect you originally received has turned into a look of contempt.”

I couldn’t say anything in that bitter voice and just looked at Baldo’s face.

I couldn’t open my mouth even more because I knew that saying empty words would only end up hurting him.

“If I think about you, I have to get away from you…” “I’ve always thought that way until now.”

Contrary to his continued negative comments, he held my hand.

“… But that didn’t work out that way. I should have believed in myself as much as you believed in me… !!”

“Well, that means…” !!”

“Okay, from now on, I will trust myself as much as I trust you. “Until now, I forced you to fight alone, but now it’s different. Let’s fight together.”

With those last words, his body turned into particles of warm light and began to seep into my body.

Along with the cozy feeling of being surrounded by warm sunlight, an indescribable power coursed through my blood and throughout my body.

‘This is Baldo’s heart….’

Now I don’t feel like I’m going to lose to anyone. If the strength of Baldosul is a lie, I will make that lie the truth.

When I opened my eyes again with that promise, I was now greeted by a cold cement floor.

“… “You’re back.”

As I stood up, shaking off the blood and dust from my body, the Sword Master glared at me with an even more disapproving look than before and said.

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about when you keep your head on the ground?”

“It must have looked that way in your eyes. But I was just in my mental world….”

“What kind of world of images is this world of frozen images? “Everything you saw was a hallucination from a strange blow to the head.”

“hehehe, even if you try to deceive me with words like that, the bond between me and Baldosul will disappear….”

“This idiot… Think about it carefully. “What was the last thing you saw?”

“Last time you saw it?”

The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was Jinta’s blade striking at my head.

I tried to narrowly avoid it, but in the end I couldn’t do it and lost my mind….

“Yes, I avoided it for no reason and ended up in an awkward state where I could neither live nor die. I could have fixed it right away, but it felt like I was dreaming, so I just left it alone and ended up dreaming some kind of crazy dream….”

“Then the conversation I had there was――.”

“I saw nothing because I got hit on the head so hard. Even if there really is such a thing, does it make sense that holding hands with your imaginary friend would give you some kind of new power?”

“…… “It’s a lie.”

“What?”

“I said it was a lie!! “Did you think you could sever the bond between me and Baldosul with a lie like that?!”

“No, what…” !!”

The Sword Master frowned as he was about to add something, and then let out a deep, deep sigh.

“…… “Check with your body whether it is false or not.”

For perhaps the first time, my clone and I rushed forward almost at the same time.

As always, the clone brought Nanga forward and fired waves of blades at me.

It was an attack I had seen several times, but the high number of attacks alone was threatening enough, but that was just a little while ago.

“… “You avoided it?”

For the first time, the waves of blades raining down on me did not pierce my body, but split the air.

‘I showed too much.’

If you know the timing of the blade’s expansion and contraction, it is not that difficult to duck and avoid attacks even if there are a lot of attacks.

However, it was not possible to avoid all the attacks. Nanga’s blade grazed his arm or leg, causing blood to flow out.

‘It’s not a tendon or muscle injury. At this level, it’s as if I didn’t get hit.’

Even if it was a clone, it seemed to have no emotions. When he dodged the attack for the first time, the clone was embarrassed like the sword master and stopped moving for a moment.

However, that only lasted for a moment. The clone immediately came to its senses and tried to raise his blade forward as if to shoot Nanga again, but when he realized that the distance was too close, he gave up and took a large step back.

At the same time, he gradually accumulated friction by scraping the floor with a real strike, but did not reap the promise he had made.

Which of the two will I wield? The answer to that question, funny enough, was both.

At the front, Nanga’s blades stretched and contracted repeatedly, turning into thousands of blades and raining down on me. Meanwhile, at the sides, Jinta’s blades, sparking and gathering friction, waited for me to arrive.

If you don’t dodge, you’ll be skewered, but if you dodge, you’ll be hit hard. Would you say this situation is a dilemma?

No, I couldn’t cut off all of Nanga’s blades, but no matter how fast Jinta’s blade was, there was only one, so there was only one path set for me.

“Whoa….”

I took a short, deep breath and threw myself toward the only path left.

The moment Jinta’s blade, which had been infinitely accelerated using the force of friction, came right in front of him, Jinta was pulled out of the scabbard with the illusion of time passing slowly.

My Jinta and the clone’s Jinta collided with a shock that seemed to turn the world upside down, traveling through my hands and up to my shoulders.

“Tsk….”

As the sword clashed with the sword, flames fluttered, and as the world distorted, as if time and space were distorted, my consciousness began to drift further and further away.

“… ….”

When I opened my eyes again, the familiar ceiling and the faces I missed were looking at me with an expression of disbelief.

This time, I really thought I had hit the wrong head and was hallucinating, but the last sight that remained in my mind denied that possibility.

‘… Succeded.’

I saw it just before my vision went black.

The distortion of time and space and the sword of the alter ego collapsing with a roar.

And finally, I clearly remembered the Sword Master clicking his tongue as he watched that historic moment.

“…… “I have reached the pinnacle of martial arts.”

“Thank goodness…” ! “It’s normal!!”

I looked at Jessica as her voice rang in my ears.

Sorry, Jessica.

I hid it until now, but in fact, as you said, I am normal.