Swordsmanship Genius Sees the Future

Chapter 47 - Below the Pit (4)

"Trance is largely divided into four stages based on depth. It's not difficult, is it? In fact, it's not even dangerous. Only if you distinguish it correctly, that is. So..."

Della kept glancing at one boy during the lecture.

Ray Granvelle.

Just looking at his face made her uneasy.

It was four days ago.

In the inter-class competition, she, as a referee and a professor, abandoned her most important duty.

Prioritizing student safety above all else.

But she focused on delaying the judgment.

Until Ray Granvelle got hurt.

Or until Ray Granvelle died.

The result was unexpected.

Ray defeated his opponent Zedebek in the final match of the inter-class competition and claimed victory.

Furthermore, it was a triumph achieved solely through swordsmanship, without Aura.

There wasn't even a trace of Aura from Ray's body.

That boy had made a resolution before the match.

To overpower his opponent with pure swordsmanship alone, even if it meant getting severely injured or losing his life.

It was definitely a matter of conviction.

She didn't know how a 15-year-old boy came to harbor such a strange conviction, but anyway, to her, who had abandoned her own conviction, everything about the boy seemed dazzling.

To the point of feeling jealousy.

Since that day, Class A had been like a house of mourning.

From her perspective as the homeroom professor, it felt like lightning had struck.

"We've heard the news about this inter-class competition. It seems there might be an issue with the homeroom professor's capabilities..."

"This is a disaster. Someone must take responsibility."

"Perhaps there's a problem with the professor's educational policy?"

The pressure from the students' families had already begun.

At this rate, not only might she lose her position as Class A homeroom professor, but she might even be expelled from the academy before the next semester began.

Somehow, she felt a sense of relief.

This was divine punishment.

Heaven was punishing the one who evaded responsibility.

Perhaps the ley lines, the source of all power, were punishing her.

'I'm sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me.'

She apologized to Ray in her heart.

'I apologize. I was wrong. Please forgive me.'

She also apologized to the colleagues and subordinates she had fought alongside on the front lines during her active duty.

In the end, she had defiled their deaths.

She had been seized by guilt and fear for surviving alone and had contributed to a dirty scheme.

Of course, the scheme ultimately failed, but...

'It's a relief that child is safe. But what does he think of me? He must hate me, right? He might even hold a grudge. I want to find a way to meet him, confess everything, and apologize...'

Ray, who returned to school after three days, seemed perfectly calm.

He was almost the only student in Class B who concentrated on lectures.

He kept responding to the lecture content and making eye contact, making her feel flustered.

'To think I almost killed such an excellent student with my own hands...'

She felt like she was about to cry.

Della forced back her tears and vowed in her heart: 'I'll submit my resignation after this semester. I'm not qualified to be a professor. I'll go up north and fight the enemy as an atonement.'

Just then, the boy who resembled a frog raised his hand.

"Professor. I have a question."

"Yes?"

"You said Trance isn't dangerous, but another professor once said it's extremely dangerous and we shouldn't use it carelessly. Whose words are correct?"

Well, her words were correct.

Whatever else, there was no room for disagreement regarding Trance.

Her area of expertise was Trance, after all.

"Neither person is wrong. It's true that it's dangerous if you don't know it. However, if you know it, it's safe. That's why the academy's curriculum has a separate Trance subject."

The depth was different from Trance taught superficially by other non-specialist professors. Professor Douka cleared her throat and continued her lecture.

"The shallowest, Stage 1, has no danger at all. However, the benefits are also small. So, once you've mastered it to a certain extent, you should immediately move on to Stage 2."

"So, from Stage 2 onwards, does it become dangerous?"

"That's right. From here, a deeper stage of Synchronization begins."

"What is Synchronization?"

"It refers to a state where you're directly connected to the ley lines and entrust your body to their flow. Do you all remember the inter-class competition four days ago?"

"Yes!"

This time, four or five students answered simultaneously.

Considering Class B's usual attitude in class, it was an incredible response.

"Do you remember how the Class A representative fought in the final moments? The flailing?"

"Flailing?"

"I think I know what you mean. Zedebek flailed incredibly fast as he charged forward, right?"

"Oh, that."

"I don't really know..."

The students started mumbling simultaneously.

Della apologized inwardly to her student, who had suddenly become a teaching aid.

"Alright, everyone, quiet down. That is Synchronization. And ley lines don't flow in the same way in all places. And the form of Synchronization changes according to the flow of the ley lines. So far, largely three types of Synchronization states have been confirmed."

"So, it can take other forms besides flailing?"

"Of course. The flailing motion is because this vicinity is affected by the Snake Vein. As the name suggests, it's a ley line that curves like a snake."

"Is the entire academy under the Snake Vein?"

"Not just the academy, but the entire city of Bryce is within the influence of the Snake Vein."

"What else is there besides the Snake Vein?"

"There's the Dragon Vein and the Sword Vein."

"A sword isn't a living creature, though?"

"Dragons aren't living creatures either, for that matter. They're imaginary animals passed down from the Eastern Continent. We merely adopted similar concepts based on the form of Synchronization. Just because it's affected by the Snake Vein doesn't mean it actually moves like a snake."

"Is Synchronization strong?"

"Of course, it's strong. The deeper you delve into Synchronization, the stronger you become. If you reach the deepest stage, you won't even need swordsmanship anymore."

Ray's body swayed slightly for a moment.

It felt like he wanted to retort something but was holding back.

I inwardly thought, 'Oh no.'

But it couldn't be helped.

Facts are facts.

Ley lines, Aura, Trance, Synchronization.

With just these, one can fight the enemy.

Conversely, with only swordsmanship, one cannot contend with the Poison King's hordes.

In the face of devilish poisonous powers that paralyze the body, blind the eyes, cloud the mind, and melt the skin, there is no place for swordsmanship alone.

***

The boy stood before a pit.

It was a wide pit, large enough to hold an entire village.

Inside, a red, corrosive liquid, looking like lava, boiled.

The Vice-Sect Master bowed to the boy and said, "Poison King, this is the Hundred-Year Poison."

The Sub-Sect Master held a jar in his hand. The boy glanced at the jar and frowned. "There isn't much."

"It's a very difficult substance to refine... Even with dozens of people working on it, it's hard to fill half a jar in a year."

"Is that so."

The boy alternated his gaze between the poisonous liquid in the jar and the raw fluid boiling at the bottom of the pit.

The essence extracted from that place was the Hundred-Year Poison.

The boy nodded with an expressionless face.

"I see. That's Leyline Poison."

"As expected, you recognized it immediately."

"Of course. How could I not know the traces of my own failure?" The boy scoffed. The Sub-Sect Master, startled, knelt.

"Poison King. That was by no means what I meant. I had no intention of insulting you with such a thing..."

"Don't worry. I was merely reminiscing."

The boy shook his head.

"I've been churning the ley lines for hundreds of years, but it was useless. The ley lines purified themselves much faster than I could contaminate them."

It was a moment that made his teeth clench.

The ley lines, as if performing surgery, excised the contaminated parts and released them onto the surface.

That's how the contents of this pit came into being.

The Sub-Sect Master sighed and shook his head.

"This is not a trace of failure. Because Leyline Poison exists, someone like me could dream. You have already accomplished great things."

"..."

"I tried to create a Life-Death Poison based on the Leyline Poison. But with my shallow talent, I couldn't reach that stage. This Hundred-Year Poison was my limit."

"The Life-Death Poison requires living humans."

The boy was silent for a while before asking, "How many have you put in there?"

"A little over a thousand people."

"For how long?"

"It's been a project spanning nearly a hundred years. We've put in enemy prisoners and devotees who volunteered themselves."

"I see."

The Poison King stirred the air with his finger as if stirring soup.

"If we add a bit more, it'll look plausible. But doing so won't create true Life-Death Poison. A single, unified will is needed."

"That's right. However, we discovered another use for it..."

"Wait."

The boy extended his hand, stopping the Sub-Sect Master's words.

"Let me guess. A Forbidden Zone, isn't it? My Aura hasn't moved since I came down here."

"That's correct. It is a Forbidden Zone."

The old man quickly continued.

"Hundred-Year Poison can create Forbidden Zones. Thanks to it, we were able to completely wipe out an enemy village."

"You mean the Granvelle village."

"However, it required almost all of the Hundred-Year Poison extracted so far. That's why I brought you here. We need to carry out a similar operation soon, but..."

"Finally, we're getting to the point."

The boy narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"I had a hunch. The reason you brought me here."

"Poison King..."

"Extracting the essence from that pit? That's not a task for humans. But I can do it. I could extract the Hundred-Year Poison that you all spent decades extracting, in just a single day."

"That's right. Poison King. Only you can do it. You sacrificed yourself to become the Life-Death Poison. With that power, you contaminated the ley lines and created Leyline Poison. Therefore, you should be able to freely extract the Hundred-Year Poison from that mixture in the pit."

The old man prostrated himself on the ground, bowing.

The boy looked down at the old man with an intrigued expression.

"What are you plotting, Vice-Sect Master?"

"..."

"If I fill these jars with new Hundred-Year Poison, what do you intend to do with it?"

The boy seemed to have already figured everything out.

The Vice-Sect Master, still prostrate, confessed everything.

"The very thing you intended to do."

"...Leyline contamination."

"That's right, Poison King."

The old man raised his head.

At the same time, the old man's eyes flashed with a colorless light.

"I saw a future where the ley lines were contaminated. I saw both your failure and your resurrection. Although it was a blurry future, I saw everything, and I planned everything, eventually arriving here."

"Is that so."

The Poison King showed no particular emotion.

That made the old man uneasy.

He expected anger, but the boy was indifferent.

The boy slowly nodded, looking at the bubbling pit.

"I see. So that was the real purpose of the resurrection. You needed an extractor that could quickly draw the essence from that pit."

"...You're right."

The old man did not deny it.

"I am sorry, Poison King. I, a decrepit old wretch, dared to use you as a tool. This sin cannot be atoned for even by dying a hundred times. All this is merely for the destruction of those wicked Sword King Families..."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The boy smiled calmly and patted the old man's shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself. You are truly worthy of being a true Poison King."

"Po... Poison King?"

"A tool? What does that matter? What's important, as you said, is only the destruction of the Sword King Families. If I can just bring down the twisted world that person built, I don't care if I'm used however they please. Even if I die, I'll have no regrets."

"Ohh..."

Tears of emotion flowed from the old man's eyes.

The boy stepped back and nodded.

"Your Heavenly Vein is open, isn't it? I finally understand what you've been thinking and planning. You finally found it, didn't you? A way to contaminate the ley lines far more effectively than I could 250 years ago."

"Yes, indeed, yes."

The old man smiled with a proud expression.

"I found it, Poison King. I found a being who is human and yet almost indistinguishable from the ley lines themselves. Through them, you can achieve your true dream. And my long-held dream along with it. Soon, the world we've desired will open. An equal world where no one can draw upon the power of the ley lines..."