Chapter 436

Book 1 Chapter 436

Leo observed Arion in absolute silence.

Arion positioned his fist directly toward Leo.

The aura filling the space shifted drastically from how it felt when they were fighting the other disciples moments before.

“Why are they frozen like statues and not striking?”

“Ha. Ultimately, a mage remains a mage, regardless of the circumstances.”

Borman displayed a self-satisfied smirk.

“This is precisely what a clash looks like between masters who have ascended to a superior tier! They appear completely still, yet they are locked in a fierce psychological confrontation! The individual who strikes first exposes a vulnerability, which is why a truly masterful combatant will absolutely never initiate the assault! This is a test of sheer endurance! They will likely remain positioned like that for several more tens of minutes!”

Flash—!

Before Borman could finish his statement, Leo closed the distance to Arion instantly.

As Chelsea directed a look of pure pity toward him, Borman’s expression twisted into utter humiliation.

Ar watched with wide eyes, focusing intently on the duel between the two as though he refused to blink during Leo and Arion’s exchange.

‘Black Rabbit’s prowess is truly breathtaking.’

Ar recognized it as well.

There existed an immense chasm between Leo and himself.

Ar simply could not comprehend the true scale of Leo’s martial expertise.

‘Yet, even Black Rabbit’s mastery could not possibly match Lord Arion.’

His adversary was none other than the Hero Arion.

The wielder of supreme force, revered across the lands as a God of War.

It was not merely because he commanded colossal strength.

Previously, within Dwenoo’s world.

And just moments ago during the exchange, Ar clearly perceived the unfathomable height of Arion’s tier.

‘Lord Arion appears even more formidable now than when I witnessed him within Lord Dwenoo’s world.’

He believed it was virtually unthinkable for Leo to contend on equal footing against an Arion of this magnitude.

‘Still, wouldn’t it be feasible to uncover Lord Arion’s capabilities to a certain degree?’

He reasoned that given Leo’s boundless talent, he might successfully force Arion to reveal his genuine capabilities.

For that reason, Ar refused to overlook even the smallest, most minute fragment of this engagement.

‘If it is Black Rabbit, he will undoubtedly strike toward Lord Arion’s flank……’

Flash—!

“A frontal assault?!”

Ar’s eyelids snapped wide.

Because Leo lunged directly forward at Arion without a shred of hesitation.

‘In any case, that man Arion possesses no blind spots.’

Arion’s extraordinary extrasensory perception allowed him to anticipate fleeting fragments of the future during an active engagement.

As long as he maintained that gift, Arion remained entirely flawless in his defense.

Regardless of how rapidly Leo shifted or attempted to disrupt Arion’s sight, he could never break free from the perimeter of Arion’s awareness.

Swish—!

Leo’s sword lunged forward toward Arion.

Arion’s eyelids narrowed slightly as he observed the incoming blade.

‘Intercepting it directly is a mistake.’

He contemplated deflecting the weapon away, but it was obvious that the precise second he attempted to do so, Leo would breach his inner defenses.

Arion’s awareness identified the dagger resting at Leo’s hip.

In terms of raw, unadulterated close-quarters martial skill, Arion held the upper hand over Leo.

Nevertheless, in irregular tactical engagements, Leo possessed a minor edge over Arion.

If Arion’s capabilities were forged through instinctual awareness, rapid reflexes, and incredible visual tracking, Leo’s capabilities were sharpened through an endless array of combat campaigns.

Arion had also survived a multitude of battlefields.

Yet Leo, or rather Kyle, the enduring vanguard, had crossed an entirely different caliber of warzones.

‘Because Kyle commanded battlefields long before I ever stepped onto one.’

Furthermore, Arion was not the sole combatant capable of reading an engagement at a near-prophetic tier using extrasensory perception.

Though it did not equal Arion’s magnitude.

Leo was also a master who had crossed into the threshold of extrasensory perception.

Arion, having slipped past Leo’s blade, thrust his hand forward toward Leo’s midsection.

Leo rotated his frame mid-air, dodging Arion’s counter.

Clack— Shing!

At that precise moment, Arion seized the dagger, the backup armament, that hung from Leo’s hip.

Simultaneously, Arion’s restricted vision opened up completely.

His sight ignited, and his previously shut auditory and olfactory senses began pouring information back into his mind.

Flash—!

Arion shifted his stance.

Arion, who had remained stationary even while his perceptions were locked away and eight combatants charged him at once, now accelerated with every single one of his faculties wide open.

No matter how extraordinary the Hero Arion truly was, he could not maintain the advantage in a duel against Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings, while bound by restrictive seals.

Clang—! Rattle—!

The compact edge of the dagger and the steel of the longsword slammed together.

Arion, gripping the dagger in an inverted hold, forced his weapon directly upward.

Brilliant sparks erupted between the blades.

Leo’s right hand, which held the sword, was violently driven skyward.

Flash—!

With his right arm thrown upward, Leo left his midsection wide open.

Entirely stripped of defense.

Spotting the vulnerability, Arion delivered a powerful kick.

Thud—!

Leo’s frame was propelled backward through the air.

Shhhhk—!

The bottoms of Leo’s boots dragged against the earth, kicking up a cloud of debris.

Leo, having anchored his weight once more, instantly darted away from his position.

Thud—!

Arion’s fist crashed violently into the dirt where Leo had stood mere milliseconds before.

The earth fractured inward, sending dust billowing into the air.

“How can such a terrifying level of impact materialize from movements that look so effortless?!”

Celia’s eyes expanded in disbelief.

Not merely the kick that connected with Leo a moment earlier, but even this current strike—Arion showed zero indication of channeling intense physical force.

Nonetheless, a destructive impact far surpassing any logical expectation exploded from Arion’s fingers and heels.

“He is focusing a concentrated point of power into a singular target.”

Chen Shia, who had been analyzing the exchange of strikes and counters with far more focus than usual, offered an explanation.

“He condenses and detonates his aura in the span of a heartbeat. At an absolute velocity that makes it incredibly challenging to detect with the naked eye.”

“If the impact is that severe, wouldn’t even Leo oppa have sustained serious damage?”

“Perhaps…”

The entire group locked their gaze onto Leo.

‘I failed to land a decisive wound.’

Arion observed Leo carefully.

In that microscopic window of time, Leo had instantaneously condensed his own aura, neutralizing the brunt of Arion’s strike.

‘He has advanced.’

This was no longer the Kyle that Arion remembered from the past.

If measured purely by total reserve capacity, Leo’s current energy could not equal the magnitude of Kyle’s power that Arion recalled.

‘Because Kyle is currently reclaiming his original state.’

Arion deduced that Leo had advanced significantly in terms of pure execution.

The Kyle he once knew would have lacked the precision to cleanly neutralize that exact strike from a moment ago.

He suddenly came to the realization that the companion standing before him was distinct from the companion of his memories.

‘Even during this epoch of tranquility, you… have never faltered.’

Beholding Kyle, whose edge had not blunted in the slightest despite existing in an era of peace, he understood completely.

That his friend had not allowed himself a single moment of relaxation.

To completely pass down this tranquility, which they had preserved at the cost of their lives, to succeeding generations.

Just how desperately his companion was pushing himself.

Arion glanced toward the disciples who were absorbing every detail of their match.

‘If that is the reality.’

He adjusted his hold on the weapon once more.

‘So that I can transfer even a fraction of it. I must give everything.’

He desired to leave behind at least a portion of his martial secrets to the next generation.

Arion sank into a lower posture.

Detecting the shift, Leo rotated his wrist.

‘It appears he intends to unleash his true capability.’

He flexed his left hand, which had intercepted Arion’s kick, dispelling the lingering vibration.

Flash—!

This time, observing Arion initiating the opening salvo, Leo tightened his fingers around his hilt.

Clang—!

The weapons collided, and a cascade of sparks illuminated the space.

“What were your impressions?”

Once the sparring session concluded.

Arion offered a warm expression as he observed the disciples gathered in a row before him.

“It was absolutely spectacular!”

Borman bellowed, his face flush with awe.

“I realized that Instructor Arkan’s martial systems exist at a tier that one cannot even begin to comprehend! Is all of that accomplished strictly through extrasensory perception?”

“Extrasensory perception is an exercise that forces your faculties to their absolute threshold. The system I utilized during our exchange just now belongs to a completely separate discipline.”

“Ohh!”

“If you possess a desire to understand my systems, I shall instruct all of you in them together.”

The disciples’ eyes widened in collective shock.

To a martial practitioner, a system is equivalent to a mage’s foundational arcane sequence.

Even scholars who distribute countless magical papers never expose their foundational arcane sequences when outlining the architecture of their private magic at grand conventions.

It is entirely standard for a scholar to protect the fruits of their decades of investigation from public view.

The exact same principle governs the world of martial artists.

Distributing the fruits of lifelong devotion to outsiders is under no circumstances an easy choice.

Yet the instructor standing in front of them declared he would freely pass down disciplines that had achieved an elite tier.

“To begin, I shall guide you on how to trigger extrasensory perception.”

“Understood, instructor!”

The disciples answered with burning motivation.

“Given that you have absorbed the Hero’s Breath, you should find yourselves capable of commanding extrasensory perception swiftly.”

“Is it an offshoot methodology derived from the Hero’s Breath?”

“That is an acceptable way to frame it.”

To be completely precise, it was a function Arion executed instinctually while maintaining his respiratory cycle.

‘I recall the immense struggle it took to acquire his methodology.’

Leo muttered silently to himself.

Arion’s respiratory cycle and extrasensory awareness systems possessed a learning curve that was unthinkably brutal.

Since it was entirely customized to Arion’s personal nature from the beginning, it would have been an impossible task for Leo to replicate it if not for his unique mana properties.

However, what rendered absorbing Arion’s methodology even more agonizing was his teaching style.

“To start, draw breath and identify your internal mana.”

“Yes.”

“Following that, distribute that mana evenly throughout your entire physical frame.”

Arion detailed the process of steering mana to trigger extrasensory perception.

“What is the subsequent step?”

“Afterward, utilize the mana circulating through your physical frame to stimulate every single one of your sensory organs simultaneously.”

“…… What?”

The expressions of the disciples, who had been consuming Arion’s instruction with eager eyes, instantly went rigid.

“You grasp the sensation, correct?”

Observing Arion, whose gaze radiated clarity, Dion lifted his arm.

“Instructor Arkan.”

“Is there an issue?”

“Could you perhaps provide a slightly more concrete description? The current explanation is exceptionally difficult to visualize.”

“Hmm? Was that description far too conceptual? I suppose it might be. All the youths I have ever instructed encountered severe difficulties with my explanations.”

Arion, who had been contemplating with his arms folded across his chest, struck his open hand with his opposite fist and spoke up.

“Ah! Think of it as the exact sensation of turning your mana into tiny granules of sand, placing them inside a glass container, and vigorously rattling it!”

“……”

“……”

Following Arion’s enthusiastic clarification, the disciples’ features contorted into even deeper bewilderment.

“Is that still too complicated? Hmm… in that case.”

Arion exerted his maximum effort to break it down systematically.

Elements such as the precise feeling of steering mana, the synchronization of the respiratory cycle, and similar factors.

He attempted to translate the exact internal feeling of utilizing extrasensory perception into spoken language by any means necessary.

Yet the more energy he invested into the description, the more perplexed the disciples’ expressions became.

“Let us take a brief intermission. I shall attempt to construct a superior explanation.”

Ultimately, Arion permitted them a temporary rest.

“Lord Leo. Your performance in the duel was exceptional!”

Eiran walked over to Leo, pulling a clean cloth from her spatial storage and presenting it to him.

Owing to the intense climate and the high-octane physical exchanges, Leo’s frame was completely coated in perspiration.

“I appreciate it.”

Leo offered a soft smile and wiped his brow using the fabric Eiran provided.

He then tugged slightly at the neckline of his shirt to allow a breeze to cool his skin.

Beholding that action, Eiran’s cheeks flushed a delicate pink.

His collarbone, visible in brief glimpses, proved highly distracting for a young lady.

It was precisely in that moment, as she attempted to sneak glances at Leo while simultaneously pretending to look away.

“Truly, you are the Black Rabbit! Even with Lord Arion’s faculties locked down, to stand your ground against Lord Arion!”

The remaining disciples were fully aware that Arion had maintained his self-imposed sensory barriers throughout his bout with Leo.

“Heeeeeek? I—I wasn’t staring at anything at all!”

Hearing Ar’s voice directly behind her, Eiran let out a startled gasp of panic.

“Eh? What exactly are you referring to?”

“Oh, it is absolutely nothing!”

Eiran rapidly shook her head in front of Ar, who appeared completely mystified.

“In any case, Lord Arion remains entirely unchanged. His breakdowns are far too dense to follow.”

“That must stem from the fact that his internal paradigm is profoundly distinct from our own.”

As Ar let out a quiet breath, Eiran offered a slightly forced chuckle.

The pair had previously endured instructional sessions under Arion back in Dwenoo’s world.

Even during that period, Arion’s breakdowns were notoriously agonizing to interpret.

Consequently, their instruction back then had consisted almost entirely of hands-on sparring.

“On this occasion, it feels significantly more brutal because we cannot simply ‘figure it out through physical impact’.”

“F-figure it out through physical impact?”

Hearing Ar’s commentary, as he groaned with his arms tucked together, Eiran’s ears twitched and she became completely flustered entirely on her own.

She then locked eyes with Leo unexpectedly, flinched in alarm, and cleared her throat to compose herself.

“Does Lord Leo also find Lord Arion’s breakdowns challenging to comprehend?”

“I can decipher the core of it to a certain extent.”

“Pardon?”

“What did you just claim?!”

Eiran and Ar were both thunderstruck by Leo’s revelation.

Ar, his fur rising in shock, pressed further.

“Is that accurate? You are not merely teasing us, correct?”

“What purpose would there be in fabricating that?”

“As expected of Lord Leo!”

Eiran beamed with absolute delight.

“Once I have mastered the sequence entirely, I shall provide some pointers to you both.”

Following that exchange.

Once the intermission concluded, the disciples dedicated their complete focus to absorbing Arion’s descriptions for the remainder of the day.

Throughout the session, Leo also stepped in to offer the disciples far more practical and structured breakdowns compared to Arion’s conceptual phrasing.

As a result, it was only when the sun began dipping below the horizon that the disciples finally managed to comprehend the foundational requirements for triggering extrasensory perception.

“Every single one of you is magnificent!”

Arion struck his palms together, bursting with genuine pride.

Beholding Arion’s unfeigned joy, the disciples experienced a wave of true satisfaction.

“Lord Arkan must have endured a monumental amount of grueling practice to master this system, correct?”

Celia questioned, her face slightly animated.

Arion answered in an unburdened, bright tone.

“Not particularly, it simply functioned automatically for me from the moment I was born.”

The disciples’ expressions instantly shifted into something unreadable.

And Arion’s concluding remark was more than enough to crush their spirits entirely.

“What do you think? Once you understand the basic trigger, it is remarkably straightforward, is it not?”

‘It is anything but straightforward.’

The disciples wailed in the silence of their minds.