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Sword Art Online - Volume 10 - Chapter 4.1




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Chapter 4 — Master Sword Academy (3rd Month of Human World Calendar 380)
Part 1
—If possible, I really don't want to fight against women until the Four Empires Unity Tournament.
I said this to Eugeo before during the Zakkaria Swordsmanship Tournament. Since then, it had been one and a half years.
It has been about two years since we chopped down the «Demon Tree» Gigas Cedar at Rulid Village and left the village. Half a year later, we joined the Zakkaria guards, and another half a year later, we reached Central. It has been a year since we knocked on the doors of this academy.
It seemed like a very long time, but as I recalled this, it was really amazing. 2 years would be around the same amount of time as when I was trapped in the floating city of Aincrad.
Luckily— I should be about to say this, this Virtual world «Underworld» I dived in unknown circumstances was operated by a super-technology that far exceeded my imaginations.
The «Fluctlight Acceleration Function»— it magically magnified the sense of time and accelerates the person in dive mode. Theoretically, it could be accelerated to 1000 times the time in reality. In other words, the physical body of Kirigaya Kazuto that was lying in the real world would have dived for only 18 hours ever since it began.
To think that I woke up in the forest near Rulid Village, spent 2 years to reach the Norlangarth Empire Swords Academy, and not a single day had passed in the real world yet, I felt a little dizzy, and yet a little relieved. In the worst case scenario, even if I were deemed missing in the real world, not much time would have passed for that assumption to be made.
I did not want my parents, Suguha, my friends, and of course Yui and Asuna to worry. Of course, knowing Asuna and the rest, they would never merely sit and worry; they would definitely do something. This is what worried me the most.
Either way, the current situation would have devastated Asuna and the rest, and the me in this world tried to take note not to interact with females. I made this decision when I stepped out of Rulid Village —that it was great that Eugeo was a guy— I thoroughly swore to follow this oath and said such things in Zakkaria, however...
What I never ever predicted was that I would regularly have sword scrimmages against swordswomen during the past year in Centoria.


“I'm here to help you revise, First Year.”
The one who ordered with a clear voice was a senior student who wore her purple-based uniform neatly and tied her dark brown hair in a ponytail, my «Senior».
“Understood, Rina-senpai.”
I answered, and drew the practice wooden sword from the leather sheath on the left side of my waist. It was a wooden sword, but it was made of the highest quality platinum oak, and one would mistake it for a glossy metal. It did not have a blade and it did not have cutting ability, so even if it grazed some clothing, the clothing's Life would not decrease. But in terms of priority, it was a lot larger than the crude metal sword I borrowed in the Zakkaria tournament.
The swordswoman saw me get into position with my sword drawn, and also drew her wooden sword in a fluid manner. The posture she made was slightly different, a slanted position where the right half of her body blocked the left arm. This would be the basic style of the «Serlut Fluid Combat Skills» she inherited from her family.
“...This is the last time. You have no problems using your left hand anymore.”
I said with a chuckle, and she answered back with a stern look, “Is that so.” She then placed her left hand behind her waist, right below the large sash.
The swordswoman was standing 10 Mel away, no, 10 meters away as she made her posture, and the way she showed her determination looked really beautiful.
In terms of height, she was 3cm taller than my 1.7m tall frame. The flowing hair was tied by a rattan colored ribbon that matched extremely well with the dark brown hair. The ferocity of a warrior and the elegance of a noble were mixed together on the beautiful face. The navy blue color of her eyes were like the sky that was fading into twilight.
The jacket of her neat uniform and the gently swaying long skirt were of a glacial purple color. It was not an eye-catching color, but it looked much more glamorous than anything else she put on, which was really unbelievable. However, the body that was encased under the clothing was a refined iron-like one, and I knew this because of my role.
“...This will be the last time.”
She— Sortiliena Serlut, a child of the Norlangarth royal family and the second rank of the Master Sword Academy— maintained a position that was without any openings as she muttered.
I— the Beginner Trainee of the Master Sword Academy, Kirito, was her «Valet». I nodded silently and lowered my body down.
Every day, the lessons and practical training would last from 9am in the morning till 3pm in the afternoon, and after that, I would have to be her valet for an hour. I was drained physically and mentally, but all sorts of fatigue was long gone since I was able to fight against Sortiliena-sempai. It was already 5pm, and we were the only two left on the practice ground that was built in the Elite swordsmanship dormitory, located on high ground in the Academy campus.
Eugeo's probably sighing away at the Trainee dormitory because I broke the curfew at this point, but since he's a valet to another swordsman, he should be able to understand.
I thought, and then focused my consciousness on the sword in my right hand. Rina-sempai's eyes suddenly became dull as the air seemed to show a flash of electricity, causing me to tense up. The lamps that lit the wide practice field swayed slightly, seemingly unable to withstand this tension.
Even without a referee around, both of us took action at the moment our breathing was in the same rhythm.
Petty tricks would not work on Sortiliena-sempai, who was called the «Mobile Tactics Overload», so I took a step forward, closed the distance of 10m, and did an unexpected vertical slash.
The teachers would definitely tell me off if I used this skill in actual sparring, but I would be taken down immediately if I used that slow Norlangarth-style in this match. Either way, Sortiliena-sempai's Serlut-style was the most practical sword style I knew of in Underworld.
The one fastest strike I unleashed was blocked by the wooden sword in Sortiliena-sempai's right hand. However, there was no impact at all. She used the gentleness of her arm, shoulder and waist as she took my attack by tilting the side of her smooth blade. This would be the Secret Art of the Serlut-style, «Active Water». She had been teaching me this move for the past year, but I still could not grasp it completely even after knowing it.
On a side note, the language used for writing and speaking in this world was completely Japanese (and a few foreign languages), but there were very few kanji. Most likely, it was about the equivalent of 30% of the JIS Level 1, as it used only about 1000 kanji words. But even with such restrictions, they managed to give so many sword skills unique names.
The imagination of the people in Underworld was really astounding. Right now, there were only stories read to young children. In another 100 years, it would not be strange to see someone write a novel. If it was sold in Japan in the real world and got a ridiculously large amount of hits, it would be really amazing...
I jumped forward to the right, seemingly trying to shake away those random thoughts in my mind. That was because I learned my lesson after sempai broke my balance with the «Active Water» and countered.
I flipped in the air and landed near the wall of the practice ground. My right foot stepped on the black shining wall, and I charged forward— As I did this, Rina-sempai's left hand took action.
It moved from behind her waist to the front of her body, drawing an elegant arc as a white light extended out from her fingertips. Of course, this was not because she was using a Sacred Art called «Light Element». Its true form was a whip that was made of fine white leather, the weapon she was most skilled with other than the sword.
The practice whip made from the soft Wilde goat skin would not reduce Life even with a direct hit, but it would be painful enough to produce tears. I instinctively wanted to wield my sword to get into a defensive position, but the blade would be wrapped up by the leather whip and nullified. However, if I did not do so and back away, a second, and third hit would come right at me.
I desperately turned my body to the left, trying to dodge sideways to avoid this. The tip of the leather whip grazed past my right cheek and flew behind, and using this chance, I charged forward.
However, this leather whip that let out a loud, shrill swipe in the air coiled its body like a snake as it pulled back. I would have to get to her before the next hit occurred. I decided that it would be impossible for me to reach her by running alone, placed my wooden sword in a parallel manner to my right leg, and pulled it back. I kept my body low, bent forward, and at this moment, the blade let out a blue glow.
Rina-sempai suddenly narrowed her eyes and opened her left hand. She decisively released the leather whip in her left hand and placed it on the sword handle her right hand was holding.
Immediately afterwards, my body accelerated as if it were moved by an invisible hand. It was called the Aincrad-style, but it was actually a «sword skill» that existed since the old SAO— the one handed lower sword thrust skill «Rage Spike». I continued to decrease the 7m distance while feeling like I was one with the wind.
In contrast, Rina-sempai tilted the sword she was wielding with two hands to the rear right side. *Don*, she stepped forward with her left foot, and her wooden sword let out an emerald glow. It was the Serlut Secret Skill «Linker».
My wooden sword swung up from the bottom right side, and it clashed with sempai's sword intensely as it swung over horizontally. Our wooden swords let out a metallic-like impact sound, and the green and blue sparks that were let out immediately lit up the dim training ground.
I straightened myself as our swords were right on each other, and Rina-sempai's face was 10cm away from mine. She looked as cool and collected as ever, and her snowy white forehead did not show a single bead of sweat. Even so, she managed to deal so much pressure to my sword. If I'm not careful, I'll be beaten by her.
In this world, the abilities of humans, the «Character Status», were somewhat complicated.
Even if I opened what they called the «Stacia Window», the most it showed were the current value/maximum value of the Hit Points and the two level indicators «Object Control OCAuthority», and «System Control SCAuthority».
Amongst them, the OC Authority controlled the use of weapons and armor, while the SC authority controlled the use of Sacred Arts. In other words, the former would be the equivalent of strengthSTR, while the latter would be in charge of intelligence INT. This was a simple deduction I made at first. However, STR alone did not seem like it was controlled by OC Authority. It seemed that there were other factors like age, physique, health status, experience and training and all sorts of parameters.
I had been thinking through this. If a young kid's OC Authority level was raised to the maximum because of some reason, and if strength was decided through that value alone, there would be a kid with monstrous strength. If I started off with the objective to survive in this world, I wouldn't like such irregular phenomenon as well.
I can't check it myself, but if we're comparing OC Authority, mine should be a lot higher than Rina-sempai. This should be the case, but sempai was able to hold her own against me while we're neck and neck with each other, so it's likely because of the amazing amount of training she underwent every single day. During these two years, Eugeo and I had been training, whether it was day or night, but it was not on the level of the monstrous training sempai went through that would make anyone tremble. That sort of training raised her strength and also a 'power' that couldn't be indicated through values.
However, the scariest thing was that, even when there was someone like her, she was only the second ranked amongst the 12 elite swordsmen— In other words, there was the fact that one other person was ranked above her.
Eugeo and I would be taking part in the advancement exams for elite swordsmen next month. It seemed that the 12 people with the top grades would be given the rank of a «Swordsmanship Specialist» as elite swordsmen. It would be a must for us to become swordsmen, and we had to be the top and second ranked. If not, we would not be able to attend the Emperor's Imperial Competition, officially known as the «Norlangarth Imperial Swordsmanship Tournament», after we graduate.
In this 2 year course within this Swords Academy, each year had 120 students. In other words, Eugeo and I would have to beat the other 118 students— To be honest, on thinking Rina-sempai wasn't the «Number 1» even when she's so strong, I did feel a little, no, strongly anxious...
“—You've improved, Kirito.”
Suddenly, she muttered to me from a very close distance, seemingly having read my thoughts. I shook my head slightly, maintaining the pressure I was exerting when I couldn't let go.
“No... I still have a long way to go.”
“Aren't you being humble there. You have more or less learned how to deal with my whip.”
“That's because you never held back.”
On hearing that answer, the bewitching lips showed a slight smile.
“I have no need to hold back against you, Kirito. That's because this is the final... your «Aincrad Style» has some moves I have not yet seen.”
Uuu. I couldn't help but stop myself from talking. My sword was forced back by 5cm, perhaps because I was wavering, and Rina-sempai pressed down on me from above.
Her navy blue eyes stared at me, seemingly sealing away the gloom in her as she continued,
“A year ago, when I anointed you as my valet, I felt something like a sword style. It was completely different from the Norlangarth style the Academy demanded... that this sword style was not for show, but for winning. The Serlut style I use is trying to develop towards the goal of practical use, but it's too rigid compared to your style, Kirito. I understood that during this past year.”
I could only widen my eyes at my opponent who made this confession.
The use of the sword skills was different, if I have to say it, and that's true. I'm not someone from the Underworld. My sword skill is named as an Aincrad-style because those were all learned in that floating city, in the world of that death game where we had to risk our lives for all the actual battles.
In contrast, there were basically no actual battles in the Underworld. All the battles were done in a «competition». In a local contest, it would be when one side was cornered, and for the higher level contests in Central, the one to hit first would win. With no risk to life, it was logical for sword skills to be developed for an aesthetic ideal.
However, this did not mean that the sword skills of the swordsmen in the Underworld were inferior. This was also something I learned in the past two years. As long as they continued to practice the same «style» countless times, the power of each hit they spent so much time refining could make up for the lack of live combat experience.
This was all because of the power of the «Imagination».
Underworld was a virtual world, but the construct was completely different from Aincrad. In this world, the strength of the imagination created by the souls— the Fluctlights, would sometimes affect the results.
How strong would someone be by using the imagination of a swordsman to practice the same skill over and over again for 10, 20 years since youth... On the other hand, I, who had an advantage in OC authority, was forced back by Rina-sempai like this in the current situation, which showed this to be true. The power of imagination was not shown numerically, but it was a real power that was hidden in this world. It was something neither I, who woke up to this world for merely 2 years, nor Eugeo, who started training his swordsmanship at the same time, could easily grasp.
The students in the academy were mostly born in the houses of the «Nobles», elites who started learning the art of swordsmanship ever since 3, 4 years old. Even so, only a small group would spend the time and effort to actually practice. In this situation however, Eugeo and I had to beat the sturdy swords of these strong people head on and aim for the top seat of the year.
Because of this, the only weapon I could rely on was the Aincrad-style— the sword skills.
As for why the sword skills existed in Underworld, I had no idea why, even till now.
However, it looked like the swordsmen in this world only knew the basic single-strike skills, or rather, they could only use such skills.
One year ago, during the Zakkaria Tournament, the apprentice guard Egome used the Zakkalight style «Azure Wind Slash». In SAO sword skill term, it would be the one-handed diagonal attack «Slant». The Serlut-style move Rina-sempai used just now, the «Linker», was the two-handed spinning sword slash «Cyclone». Other moves I saw were Norlangarth-style «Lightning Slash», which was the one-handed sword skill «Vertical», while the high level Norlangarth skill «Heavens and Mountains Break» was the two-handed vertical slash «Avalanche».
These were all the secret moves of each school, and it seemed that there was no super move that would be like an ultimate move. Then, the two, three consecutive hit attacks I mastered may be a weapon that could match up against the sturdy swords of those elite swordsmen here. It was just a guess for now, but I had to say that it was somewhat despicable. However, we're not here to steal the honor of the strongest in the human world. We just wanted to step through the gates of the Axiom Church's Centoria Cathedral that was located on a hill several kilometers away from the Master Arts Academy, the large tower that was absolutely out of bounds to us.
In order to let Eugeo meet with Alice who was taken at a young age.
And I wanted to meet the «Governor» of this world.
If we could finish our aims, it wouldn't matter even if people labeled us as despicable during all the tournaments. I would take part in all the high level swordsmanship tournaments I knew of, and continued to win, until I become the best in the Four Empires Unity Tournament and obtain the right as an «Integrity Knight».
This was the reason why I sealed off my moves that were more than two consecutive hits during the one year since I enrolled into this Academy. What I just used was merely the «Rage Spike» Charge skill.
However, it seemed that this beautiful senior saw through that dastardly secret move of mine,

Rina-sempai again brought her face closer by another centimeter, and whispered in a softer voice as if it was a secret.
“The Serlut family's ancestors made the Emperor unhappy in the past, and from there on, they were forbidden from inheriting the traditional sword skill «High level Norlangarth style». Thus, we started using unorthodox weapons like whips and daggers, and spent lots of time relying only on the gentle sword skill that's not forceful. This is the Serlut-style... Don't be mistaken, I'm definitely not unhappy here. I'm proud to be the only inheritor of this style, and had been training till today...”
The white slender hands trembled slightly, unlike what she just said. The wooden swords that were clashed let out a clear rattling sound. Even though this might be a chance to pull my sword back, I did not do so as I continued to maintain this posture to wait for her next words.
“And my father hoped that I graduate as the top ranked student from this Academy and win during the Imperial tournament to regain the prestige of the Serlut family. However, isn't this quite the irony? If I answer my father's expectations and get the Emperor to revoke the ban on the high-level Norlangarth style... our family would give up on the Serlut style, right? If that's the case... What's with that honor I cherished ever since I was young?”
I couldn't make a quick response to this question.
Recently, my consciousness had become somewhat faint, but I felt that Rina-sempai in front of me, my important partner Eugeo, all the students and instructors in this Academy... and all the people living in Underworld were different kind of humans from me in a certain sense. They were just given the term «Human Units» in this virtual world Underworld.
Even so, they were different from the NPCs in current VRMMO. They were «Artificial Fluctlights», copied through the Fluctlight of the human souls and preserved in a special medium. They were— most likely, they were the brand new Artificial Intelligences of some certain organization in the real world, probably the enigmatic investment enterprise «RATH»—
However, their show of emotions would sometimes be greater than those of people in real life. They would simply sense, feel bothered, accept or take on the fates this world would give them head on. When I saw them like this, I felt that it was impossible not to be agitated. Their existence... No, the existence of this Sortiliena-sempai who's clashing with me at close range is basically like a miracle...
“...Sempai.”
On hearing these words, Rina-sempai showed a slightly self-mocking smile.
“I always had such a doubt in my heart before I entered this Academy. During these two years, I had never been able to beat that guy, and that may be because I felt so lost.”
«That person» would refer to the top elite swordsman who had never changed his rank this year, a guy called Uolo Levanteinn. He was from a second class noble family who inherited his family's tradition of being trained by the Norlangarth Empire Knights, an intimidating Mighty Sword user. The imagination and power from this guy's overhead cleave were top notch. I saw him use a wooden sword to slice a round log in half.
The elite swordsmen, the best in this Academy were all given the rank from top to 12th. This rank would change during the examinations that were held 4 times every year.
Of course, I had been watching at the nearest grandstand seat for the last three tournaments. They used an elimination tournament similar to the Zakkaria tournament and reduced the number of people from 12 to 3 within 2 rounds. The one who was ranked highest before the tournament would be seeded. During the three decisive finals, Rina-sempai fought the Chairman Uolo, and lost all three times to him.
As far as I saw, their swordsmanship abilities differed completely. Rina-sempai used a gentle sharp style as compared to the sturdy Chairman Uolo. She nullified the extremely powerful strikes like running water, and would occasionally carry out sharp counterattacks. Sempai's skill was basically perfect. Both of them were never able to carry out any successful attack, but just when time was about to run out, Uolo would use the high level Norlangarth overhead cleave attack, and during these three times, Rina-sempai was never able to take the attacks. The wooden sword was sent flying twice and snapped once.
The judges' decisions were needed to decide all three matches, and it was obvious that they would choose Uolo as the winner. Thus during this year, Uolo was the chairman, and sempai remained as the vice-chairman, a position that was never changed.
On a side note, the 3rd ranked had never changed before. He was a hulking guy, Golgosso Valto, who always lost to Rina-sempai in the semifinals. To add on, the one who became Golgosso-sempai's valet was my good friend Eugeo.
The 'this is the final' Rina-sempai mentioned before the start of this training referred to the 4th «Graduation Contest» that would be held 2 days later. This would be the final ranking. Two days later, these high level trainees that included the twelve elite swordsmen would graduate.
In other words, the tournament two days later would be the last chance for Rina-sempai to overtake Uolo-sempai. To be accurate, the first two would have the right to participate in the «Imperial Swordsmanship Tournament». She could possibly meet Uolo there, but I feel that sempai, who had been losing to him at school, would not be able to beat him.
“...I'll be honest here.”
Rina-sempai continued to keep her sword clashed with mine as she kept her voice down and said to me,
“Whenever I saw that guy's «Splitting Wave of Heavens and Mountains»... I would be scared. No matter how many times I trained, I didn't have the belief that I could take a hit from that Mighty Sword. Ever since the time when we were rookie trainees... No, ever since the time when I first saw that guy's sword during that entrance exam two years ago, it had always been like that...”
This was the first time I saw sempai like this, and as I felt shocked, I earnestly agreed.
As expected, there wasn't any difference between sempai and Uolo's ability. It was only the power of Imagination... How strong her self-confidence was, this one important factor she was lacking.
As I deduced, if Underworld was a virtual world formed by «Mnemonic Visual Data», the power of imagination should become an important factor in deciding the results of events. That was because Rina-sempai and I saw that what we touched were not polygons, but «memory imagination» obtained from Fluctlights.
Each person should have their unique, slightly different imagination data, right...? Maybe the data released by multiple Fluctlights could be placed in a «Main memory holder» and evened out. Then, if such Fluctlights appeared, the power of imagination released would be enough to affect the data, and it wouldn't be hard to imagine that events were changed by personal will.
Using the example of Uolo Levanteinn, the reason why this Mighty Sword user was so strong was because of this. He had absolute confidence in his sword skills and his style. His imagination was led by this firm will, and it was because of such imagination that he was able to show such tremendous attack power.
In contrast, Rina-sempai always felt somewhat lost about her own sword skills. The reason was because of the Serlut-style she mentioned before. The high level Norlangarth style was forbidden from being passed on, so they could only create their own style as a replacement. This recognition caused her to have a form of «Inferiority» in her heart. Because of this, it couldn't be helped that she was defeated by Uolo-sempai, who had absolute faith in his own sword skills... It was probably like this.
However, I wanted to let Rina-sempai win this time. This wasn't because of how the world's composition and imagination would be rewritten, but that I wanted her to stand proudly and graduate from this Academy. Sempai had the right and privilege to do so. During this year, amongst the 12 elite swordsmen, sempai—
“...Sempai, you spent much more time than anyone to train rigorously, including Chairman Uolo. Even that's not enough for you to gain confidence...?”
On hearing my words, Rina-sempai went silent for a short moment, and gently shook her head.
“Yeah... Looks like it's still not enough. The more I practice the Serlut style, the more I kept thinking. What will happen if it was not a sparring of wooden swords, but through steel swords; what will happen if whips and daggers can be used. If these could be used, there would be no need to worry about being careless against the Norlangarth style. But these were all excuses. In this Human World, real sparring... real battles definitely wouldn't happen. Until I stop giving these excuses for my failures, I'll never be able to take Uolo's sword strike head on...”
Before I could even respond to these words, sempai smiled slightly and continued,
“But you're different, Kirito. I couldn't find any sense of inferiority in you even as you're a user of a unique style. I had been watching right beside you during this year, and I finally understood this reason. I said it before just now... That's not all to your «Aincrad Style», right? There should be some more amazing skills you have, so your heart never wavered. It's like that thing you mentioned before, the large tree located in the forest of your hometown... that Gigas Cedar.”
Unknowingly, our arms relaxed as our wooden swords clashed with each other. Even so, sempai didn't move her body back; or rather, she was tilting her body forward, trying to use the strength of her body to press down on me. She then said fluently in a voice that was rather deep for a woman.
“That tree was already planted in your heart, I suppose. No matter how strong the winds are, it will not bend, and continues to look up at Solus in the sky... Kirito, I want to see that power you're hiding.”
“...”
“This has nothing to do with the match against Uolo. It's just that, I want to see... No, I want to know. I want to know all about you as a swordsman before I graduate from this Academy.”
Deep within the twilight blue eyes, little stars seemed to sparkle right in front of my eyes.
The beautiful face that looked like it could take anyone's soul away was only 5mm away from me before I realized it. At this moment, a slight pain happened right in the front of my hair, causing me to recover sharply. I blinked and started to think again.
?
I never showed Rina-sempai the «amazing» Aincrad style, the high level sword skills, but not because of some petty reason like using it as a secret weapon.
That was because I couldn't use it with this level 15 wooden sword that was used for competitions and training. The most I could use was the 2 consecutive hit skills «Snake Bite» and «Vertical Arc». No matter how much I tried, I couldn't use 3 consecutive hit skills. I tried it with a metal sword of the same level, but it was the same. I could only use the 4 consecutive hit sword skills when I was equipped with the level 45 Divine Tool «Blue Rose Sword» that chopped down the Gigas Cedar. I still didn't know why, but there was no such restriction in the old SAO.
Anyway, since sempai wants to see me give my «all», I can't just bluff through with the 2 consecutive hits. Thus, there's only one way left. I have to borrow the Blue Rose Sword from Eugeo, and at this point, I could use the strongest 4 consecutive hit skills with that sword.
If I asked Eugeo, he would definitely agree, but to be honest, I'm still somewhat hesitant. The Blue Rose Sword belonged to Eugeo, and the sword had the soul of a swordsman. This belief was already ingrained deeply in my mind. For some reason, I couldn't imagine myself using my best skills because of this conscious restriction of this idea that it was a borrowed item. However, I couldn't borrow the swords with highest priority from the Academy's armory, and those weren't my swords.
It can't be helped then. Looks like I have to borrow the Blue Rose Sword. I made this decision and said,
“—I understand. But sorry, please give me one day. Tomorrow, at the same time, I'll definitely show you... the best sword skills I can show.”
Once I finished, Rina-sempai's lips showed a slight smile on her face, but seemed to quickly realize something as she frowned,
“But it's a rest day tomorrow. Training is forbidden. You can't use this training arena.”
“...This isn't training.”
I answered. For some reason, sempai showed a somewhat intrigued expression as she tilted her head,
“Then, what is it?”
“Eh, to put it...”
I rearranged my words slightly and said out what I thought,
“It's a gift. You taught me a lot of things during this one year, sempai. I heard that there's a tradition in the Academy, that the valet has to give the senior a gift on the day before graduation. I'll give you a sword skill, sempai. If it's a gift, it'll be fine even if it's a rest day.”
These words of mine caused sempai to show a little wry smile.
“You never changed at all. I never heard of using a sword skill as a graduation gift before... But at this point, I might as well tell you this...”
“Eh... What is it?”
“The truth is, the fact that I named you as my valet would be a breaking of tradition. It's a stupid tradition here... that «Noble children have to choose other nobles of a lower class when choosing a valet». When I named you, many noble representatives came to the swordsmen trainee dorm to protest.”
“Fufufu.” Rina-sempai let out a slightly weird laugh, but my lips couldn't help but become numb as this was the first time I heard of such a thing...
The nobility sempai was referring to was the special class of the Norlangarth Empire, all of them ranked from «First class Nobility» to «Sixth Class Nobility», and ranked above them would be the royal family. Chairman Uolo's Levanteinn family was of Second class Nobility, while the Serlut family was of Third class. In other words, they were of a higher position than the Zakkaria leader's family that were of Fifth Class.
In contrast, the me in this world (and in real life) was an ordinary civilian amongst civilians, and undoubtedly, I would be the lowest class of the population. If we're talking about someone who's not a noble, but very famous in the social world and had lots of land— I would have to mention the chief of Rulid Village, Gasupht Schuberg, and Banou Wolde, whose house Eugeo and I resided in. These had family names after their own names, but the lowest of the lowest people weren't even allowed to do so.
It was only after Eugeo and I managed to enroll in the Imperial Master Sword Academy that most of the students here were mostly nobles and children of rich merchants; those of common birth formed only 20% of the whole. It was a complete double standard during enrollment. Eugeo and I had to spend half a year getting the Zakkaria captain's recommendation letter required for the examination, but once I realized that the nobles could take part without any conditions, I felt like sending a letter of complaint to the Liberal Arts Department.
Anyway, once I got enrolled, in terms of school rules, the nobles weren't treated any differently from those of common birth... But there was an invisible difference. I (and Eugeo was most likely the same), spent a year ignoring the rumors others spread, but I never thought once that this was because Rina-sempai chose me as her valet.
“Since... Since there was such a custom, why did you still choose me...? If it were based on entrance ranking, there were 6 others above me. They're all nobles, so if you chose one of them, there probably won't be any disputes...”
“But those 6 merely earned points through performances, right? I have no interest in the beauty of the style. To me, your performance was the most exciting instead of what the testers chose... No, instead of it being exciting, I should say...”
Rina-sempai did not continue as she shut her mouth, showed a slight smile, and continued,
“...At this point, I won't say why I chose you. That's because I'll be graduating soon. More than that, let's talk about tomorrow. If the gift you're going to give me is a display of the Aincrad-style secret moves, I'll gladly accept it, Kirito.”
“Ah, ye-yes. Glad that you'll like it.”
“...However, I'm a little concerned. Based on the explanation you gave just now, it seemed that you decided on things here because you forgot that you had to give me a gift— I suppose I can interpret it this way...”
“No, of course not, how can that be! I had been thinking of that ever since the beginning. Really!”
I hurriedly denied it. “That's it for now then.” Rina-sempai showed a cool expression, and it changed,
“We'll leave that for later. It's time to decide the winner in our match.”
“Eh? —Ah.”
At this point, I remembered that we're still in a sparring match. However, before I could even make a proper response, the wooden swords that were slightly touching each other slightly gave a strong feedback. It wasn't a sword skill, but rather, one of the few parrying skills of the Serlut style «Still Water» that was used to blow the opponent away while the swords were touching.
I jumped back forcefully, not taking this hit head on. Unlike the «Active Water» move from before, the «Still Water» would give a very strong burden to the legs, and after use, there would be a short pause. Also, sempai didn't have the whip in her left hand.
Let's end this with a forward leap. I landed, and raised my sword high up.
At this moment, I felt a chill down my spine.
Rina-sempai was definitely wielding the wooden sword with both hands— But the whip that was supposed to be behind her disappeared. Where exactly did it disappear to!? I widened my eyes, but I couldn't stop my sword skill. The one handed charge attack «Sonic Leap» was activated, and the blade let out a blue glow...
At exactly the same time as the sword skill was activated.
Rina-sempai's left hand moved away from the wooden sword and reached above. She looked like she grabbed onto something as she then swung it out. A white snake-like thing came flying out from her palm, right at me, wrapping around my body that was about to charge in.
The whip I thought flew far away was actually at the ceiling above the court. It had been dangling there while our blades were clashed.
As I realized this, I fell backwards and the back of my head slammed into the floor.
I blankly stared at the stars that appeared in my sight, and seemed to sense a deep sigh 'haa' coming from my forehead.



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