To become a Sword Runner , one must first spread their wings.
To be precise, wings should be viewed as another organ of a swordsman, much like the Mana Heart or the Path .
The Mana Heart is proof that mana has been accumulated within the body.
The Path is proof that the accumulated mana is circulating through the body.
Then, what are the wings?
“Whew.”
They are proof that the mana circulating within can be expressed externally. They are proof that one can influence the outside world with their own mana to trigger specific phenomena. Therefore, to spread one’s wings, one must be able to vent the mana flowing through their body outward and use that vented mana to manifest a phenomenon.
“Fuck.”
Surprisingly, I met both the first and second conditions. Yet, my wings refused to sprout. The reason was simple.
“Why the hell isn’t this working?”
The methods I knew belonged to Gale and Lantern . Unless I discovered the way to spread my own wings, they would never appear. To put it simply, I had to spread wings of Steel . The wings of a Caravan .
「It is because of the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the blood of Steel .]
“What do you mean by that?”
「The mana that accumulates in the Heart of Steel takes on the characteristics of steel. Likewise, the Path of Steel that branches out from it also possesses those same traits.」
“I am aware of that.”
「Yes, I suppose you are. Then tell me, what are the characteristics of Steel mana?」
“Compared to the mana of other swordsmen, it is incredibly solid. It doesn’t move easily regardless of what it collides with; it sits heavily in its place. Just like actual steel.”
「Indeed. In short, it is heavy and hard. That is why spreading ‘Wings of Steel ‘ is so difficult.」
Heavy and hard.
It was exactly as Liam said.
The mana pooled in my heart and flowing through my body was far too heavy. That characteristic had been a great help until now. Just by crossing blades, I could inflict Mana Shock upon my enemies, and it allowed me to trade blows on equal footing even against experts far above my level. However, the Steel mana that had always been an asset was now holding me back.
「 Steel mana possesses the trait of Immovability.」
Immovability.
That was the perfect expression for it.
「The mana of ordinary swordsmen is light. For those who are merely Sword Walkers , it is so light it feels as if it might drift away. Because it is light, it is fragile, yet free. As long as they can vent that ordinary, thread-like mana outward, they can quickly forge it into wings. The difficulty for them lies only in the venting.」
“I see.”
「But what of the Steel mana you feel now? No matter how hard you try, it will cling to your Mana Heart and Path , refusing to budge. Like steel that has completely solidified.」
Liam looked at me.
「If the mana of others is water, yours is metal. When the mana of others is poured into a bowl, it takes the shape of the bowl; in a cup, it takes the shape of the cup. But your mana is not only incredibly difficult to pull out in the first place, but even if you manage to drag it out with great effort, its form will not change.」
“Then what should I do?”
「You must melt it. With your flame.」
Flame.
Liam was saying the exact same thing Tom had.
「Did I not tell you? Your blood of Steel and your Mystery are a perfect match. It is a stroke of luck that the Mystery of combustion bloomed within someone as talentless as you. Had any other Mystery manifested, you would have been slamming your head against this wall for over three years, young descendant.」
“…”
「Well, I’m not sure if ‘luck’ is the right word. If you had even a shred of talent, you would have grasped the sensation and manifested your wings the moment you experienced the Mystery . Tsk , to think you could be this devoid of talent…」
Talent. That goddamn talent again.
I was sick to death of hearing about it.
“Ah.”
Standing still, I concentrated and swung my sword. I tried to awaken the sensation I felt when I used Gale and Lantern . The feeling of mana circulating through my entire body and then venting out like an exhale to influence the surroundings. I swung my sword, reviving those memories as best as I could. But my mana only circulated fiercely within my body; it refused to come out.
It was heavy. Excessively heavy.
I couldn’t even begin to grasp how to vent this Steel mana that had hardened so firmly. Even if I managed to drag it out, that was another problem. How was I supposed to forge this solid mass with a Mystery ? Could something this heavy… truly become wings? Could something this heavy become wings that fly through the sky and carry me aloft?
「Do not worry.」
“…”
「Wings of Steel are more powerful than any other wings.」
Liam spoke as if he had read my inner thoughts.
「If you can only spread them, you will be able to fly further than anyone. Truly, further than anyone else.」
Listening to Liam ‘s clumsy attempt at consolation, I steadied my breathing. I recalled the teachings Liam had given me and the advice Tom had offered earlier. Melt the flame into your body. Forge your solid mana into a form that suits you. Like putting steel into a blast furnace and heating it until it glows. Like hammering that heated steel into the desired shape…
“Arhan?”
While I was deep in concentration, Seol-yoon approached me.
“I heard. You need guided training?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Shall I help you?”
Looking at her as she blinked innocently, I nodded.
“Yes, I’d be grateful if you would.”
At my words, Seol-yoon picked up a wooden training sword.
Watching her fiddle with the wooden sword, I hoped the guided training would be helpful. But what exactly was guided training? I didn’t know much about it since I had never received formal swordsmanship instruction. When I asked out of curiosity, Seol-yoon answered.
“Simply put, think of it as a spar. The more skilled person looks for weaknesses and focuses the duel on addressing them. I’ll take care of the details, so you don’t need to worry. Just think of it as a regular spar.”
A spar.
It was a clear and simple explanation.
But hadn’t I sparred with Seol-yoon until I was sick of it? Would something like that really help? Seol-yoon had even lost to me during our duel in the Infinite Duel. I picked up my wooden sword with half-doubt. Feeling the texture of the wood, I looked at Seol-yoon , who was pointing the tip of her sword toward me.
“Come at me first.”
And then…
“Ugh.”
I was lying on the ground within seven seconds.
“Arhan.”
“Yes.”
“You really do have no talent.”
“…I’d like to stop hearing that now.”
In that short time, Seol-yoon had ascended to a level I couldn’t reach. Without using Lantern , the gap between Seol-yoon and me was astronomical. The difference between a Sword Walker and a Sword Runner . On top of that, there was the pre-existing gap in our swordsmanship skills. With both combined, the spar between Seol-yoon and me looked like a fight between a child and an adult.
As I lay there dazed, Seol-yoon delivered an even more painful blow.
“At least you work hard.”
“Just say I have no talent.”
“Should I?”
Looking at Seol-yoon as she nodded, I almost shed a tear in spite of myself. Without giving me a moment to catch my breath, she leaned in close and spoke.
“Which problem should I tell you about first?”
“How many are there that you’re asking like that?”
“Seventy-one?”
“…”
Fuck.
“I’ll start from the forty-fourth…”
* * *
Guided training.
To put it simply, it was a “spar.” The principle of reaching the level of Sword Runner through this process was similar to when I hung from a cliff to become a Sword Beginner .
“Don’t dodge. Counter it head-on or parry it.”
The moment Seol-yoon decided she wanted to become a Sword Runner , she visualized the appropriate Mystery in her mind and realized it. She said that in the next moment, she naturally knew how to extend her Path outward to create wings and trigger phenomena. That was impossible for me. It was only possible for Seol-yoon because she was a genius among geniuses. I couldn’t understand it intellectually, and I lacked the animalistic intuition. So, what was I to do?
“Here I come.”
“Whew.”
I had to make my body create the wings on its own. In other words, I had to push my body to its absolute limit until it felt a desperate need for “Wings.” Just as the Mana Heart had naturally formed when I first faced Petel and his superhuman pressure.
“Ugh!”
The problem, however, was that my body had become far too accustomed to “danger.” I had fought too many enemies stronger than myself. Consequently, my instincts no longer twitched in the face of ordinary threats.
“I told you not to dodge!”
Whoosh.
The wooden sword flashed past my eyes.
I hadn’t even seen the trajectory of the strike. Seol-yoon ’s movements, fully utilizing the acceleration of her “Wings,” were now blindingly fast. And it wasn’t just constant speed. Having realized the Ever-changing Mystery , her movements slowed down and sped up, then sped up and slowed down again. A ceaseless, endless cycle of change. Adapting to that speed was incredibly difficult. Truly, incredibly difficult.
“How am I supposed to—”
Counter it or parry it?
How was I supposed to do that when I couldn’t even see the trajectory? Compared to Seol-yoon , my sword was far too slow. The Steel mana clinging to my heart and veins couldn’t move rapidly. It was steadfast and upright, but it wasn’t fast. I felt like a dog staring up at a bird in flight. A dog that could do nothing but bark.
“Don’t decide it’s impossible. Don’t doubt; leave your body to your instincts. Make the mana flow through your body naturally. Didn’t Tom tell you? To fit the form of the mana to yourself. To do that, you have to know how to use your strength flexibly. Right now, your body is too stiff, like a statue.”
“I’ve fought like this all along, so what am I supposed to do?”
“Are you planning to stay a Sword Walker forever just because you’ve been one until now?”
Seol-yoon was right.
I gritted my teeth and parried the sword she thrust at me. But the moment our swords touched, the Ever-changing Mystery unfolded. My sword was easily twisted away by her infinitely shifting blade, and by the time my wooden sword spun through the air, the tip of Seol-yoon ‘s sword was at my throat. If this had been a real battle, I would have died over a hundred times already.
“Again.”
Don’t doubt.
Trust your body’s sensations.
These were realms I couldn’t understand. I spat on the ground. I could taste blood in my mouth. The doubt wouldn’t stop. Was this really the right way to train? Could a dullard like me even become a Sword Runner ? Wasn’t that a realm only people like Seol-yoon could reach? Uncontrollable doubt continued to swirl within me.
“Again.”
Then, it suddenly occurred to me.
Was not doubting really the answer?
“Again.”
I am a dullard.
Entrusting myself to instinct and gaining enlightenment through genius intuition didn’t suit me. Then what did? After thinking for a moment, I recalled everything I had done so far. Doubting even the smallest things, dismantling them, and obsessively digging until I reached the truth.
“Again.”
The moment I thought that, I took my eyes off Seol-yoon ‘s sword. Instead, I focused on my own sword as it faced hers. The wooden sword was shaking, its notched tip trembling. Was it even possible to make Steel mana light and control it? In my opinion, it was impossible. Doubt had concluded it was “impossible.” Then, what was “possible”? For heavy, dull steel to fly through the sky—to fly high—what method should be chosen?
Do all flying things in the world have light bodies? Are all their feathers light? No. The dragons of the Sky Mountain Range have bodies as massive as mountains, and the wyverns of the Northern Continent must be far larger than the mansion in the Caravan estate. Yet, they reign as masters of the firmament. Despite their massive bodies, they fly more swiftly than any other creature. How?
“Again.”
Wings.
What did their wings look like?
“Again.”
Doubt blossomed, one after another. Was “becoming light” truly the answer? Master said that Caravan ‘s steel can fly further than anyone and is more powerful than anything. If so, would wings that can fly far and are powerful be thin and light? Likely not. To achieve that, one would need incredibly thick and strong wings. If there is sufficient power, weight is not an issue. A new image began to form in my mind. It wasn’t the wings of a bird. It was the kind of wings that appeared only in legends or fantasy novels. Powerful, massive wings that could make anything soar.
“Again.”
Doubt.
Countless possibilities emerged and vanished. The image of “wings” I had originally known was being transformed in an instant. As a result, before I even realized it, the Steel mana began to stir. The Steel mana that had been stuck to my heart and Path . Did I really need to separate it? Wings are an organ of my body. If so, they didn’t need to exist as an organ independent of my heart and veins; it wouldn’t matter if they branched out and grew anew from there. It wasn’t creation. It was connection.
I closed my eyes. I focused on the new image. Not creating something new, but extending and growing what already existed. Wings that sprouted with the heart as their root would naturally be stronger than independent wings. They wouldn’t be torn away even by violent storms. They would never break.
Yes.
“A…gain?”
Not until the master of the wings died.
“…”
Clang!
The sword Seol-yoon thrust and my sword collided. In that moment, a resonance like thunder echoed through the air. My entire body trembled as if electrified. The vibration transmitted to my hand was different from before.
“Ah.”
Seol-yoon ‘s expression was also different from before.
I looked her in the eye and spoke.
“Let’s try one more time.”
I was slowly grasping the clue.
「Indeed.」
Wings on a completely different level from those I felt with Gale and Lantern . Wings so peculiar that I questioned if they should even be called by the same name. But more than anything, they were powerful, solid wings. I felt their distinct form.
「You’re finally taking a step forward, you dullard.」
I felt as if I had found a ray of light in a vision that had been pitch black. Seol-yoon , facing me, faltered slightly. As I struggled to lift my wooden sword, my heartbeat thundered. Intense heat rose from my pounding heart. As the rising heat spread through my body, the sound of my heartbeat now sounded like the strike of a blacksmith’s hammer.
“…Again.”
The Clang! of a hammer.
Like the sound of metal being forged while white-hot.
“Please, do it again.”
