They were going to have to cross swords all semester anyway, so there was no point in lying with some nonsense like "Actually, I'm from a prestigious magic family, but my dream has always been to be a Swordmaster."
That kind of bluff would only make things awkward for everyone.
Besides, since the students of the White Tiger Tower were already wary of Ihan, he figured it was better to lower their guard.
"I'm just going to hang in there, get my passing grade, and go. No need for you guys to bother with me."
"..."
But the expression on his opponent's face was... complicated.
More precisely, it was the look of someone struggling to figure out whether Ihan was telling the truth or not.
"I-I see... I'm from House Moradi. Just call me Moradi."
"Right. Nice to meet you, Moradi."
Ihan shook Moradi's hand lightly.
Though Moradi was small in stature, the calluses and blisters on his palm confirmed what Ihan suspected — this guy was from a knightly family.
Wait a second... House Moradi...?
House Moradi.
Ihan had heard the name a few times — a knightly house from the Empire.
If he remembered right, they were a ruthless family from the frigid north, known for maintaining order in their lands through iron-clad discipline and any means necessary.
...Doesn't really fit the image though.
"?"
Moradi blinked at Ihan's curious gaze.
Well, it's not like a family's reputation always reflects the person.
Compared to the rude student earlier who picked a fight without even asking his name, Moradi actually felt... reasonable.
Looks like I should get on his good side and work on lowering the rest of the White Tiger Tower's guard.
The Jade Rock Sword.
That was the name of the swordsmanship Ihan had learned from the old knight of his family, Alarron.
As the name implied, Alarron's swordsmanship was solid, unyielding — like a rock.
"There are countless sword styles in the world — fast, slow, sharp, blunt, heavy, light, simple, complex... There's no need to learn them all — I wouldn't be able to teach them even if I wanted to. What I will teach you is the sword I've learned, the path I've walked and trusted in. Someday, if you walk this path long enough, you too will find your own way."
The experience gap between Alarron, who had trained for decades, and Ihan, who hadn't even reached ten years of training, was obvious.
Of course Ihan couldn't fully understand everything his teacher said yet.
But Ihan did have one advantage over other nobles.
He followed orders.
To the letter.
To the point where it left Alarron speechless.
Thanks to that, Ihan's swordsmanship had a rock-solid foundation, free of any wasteful movements.
"Jade Rock Sword? Solid fundamentals," said Professor Ingelde, nodding as he watched Ihan's stance.
"What family are you from? Jade Rock Sword... that would mean..."
"House Wardanaz."
"...?"
Professor Ingelde hesitated for a beat.
Was the Wardanaz family known for the Jade Rock Sword...?
Then, as the name Wardanaz finally clicked in his head, he asked curiously,
"May I ask why you're learning swordsmanship?"
"As an imperial noble, swordsmanship is basic etiquette, is it not?"
Ingelde gave a bitter smile.
It wasn't a wrong answer — just not the kind he liked.
To a lifelong swordsman like Ingelde, swordsmanship wasn't some noble's hobby — it was a life-or-death skill.
"I thought the same when I first started. But the more I learned, the more I realized swordsmanship is as profound and scholarly as magic. That's why I'm here — to learn more."
"...Perfect answer!!"
"Uh... excuse me?"
"Ah, nothing."
Ingelde waved it off, catching himself blurting out his true thoughts.
For someone from a prestigious magic family like Wardanaz to take swordsmanship so seriously... it was far more respectable than the attitude of some of the other White Tiger Tower students.
Looks like it worked.
Ihan carefully observed the professor's expression.
Compared to the mad Lich Headmaster, Professor Ingelde was practically an open book — stern-looking, but honest and easy to read.
And after surviving under a host of lunatic professors, Ihan had little trouble reading someone like him.
No matter how much you're trying to coast by, you always have to hide your true motives in front of the professor.
"Excellent mindset."
"Thank you."
"Hearing that makes me want to give it my all as well. Let's spar seriously. Pick up your wooden sword."
"..."
Ihan was starting to regret answering so well.
Professor Ingelde proceeded to beat the living daylights out of the students without a break.
At first, his kind and gentle demeanor made the students let their guard down — but after taking a few hits, they came at him with everything they had.
Which, of course, was exactly what Ingelde wanted — so he crushed them all over again, leaving them like beaten rats.
Damn, he's no joke.
Ihan's swordsmanship still had a long way to go, but he could at least recognize overwhelming skill when he saw it.
Alarron was an incredible swordsman — but Ingelde was right up there with him.
Where Alarron was a rock that didn't move, Ingelde was like swiftly flowing water.
And the most shocking part was that even with a prosthetic arm and leg, Ingelde moved like that.
Students who had trained their family sword styles for years couldn't even touch him — they got mercilessly beaten down.
"The movements of the Purple Cloud Sword are too monotonous. The essence of dual wielding is its complexity and unpredictability! Don't just swing wildly — think carefully with every strike."
"The High Mountain Moon Sword needs to be faster and sharper! When you thrust, don't hesitate — throw your whole body into it!"
True to his title of professor, Ingelde could recognize every style the students used.
In the Empire, there were hundreds of famous sword styles — and countless more passed down only within certain families.
But Ingelde not only recognized them all — he even knew their names.
"Take a short break."
"..."
"Cough..."
"Son of a—"
The students collapsed to the ground, groaning. Some cursed under their breath — though they barely had the energy to do even that.
Ihan, too, felt the ache in his muscles and the soreness in his body.
"Jade Rock Sword is the sword of stone. Do not waver against any attack."
"Uh, Professor, you're way stronger than me — how am I not supposed to waver?"
"Come now, I'll keep attacking. Defend yourself! Come on! Come on!"
Ingelde found weaknesses in Ihan's guard that even he didn't know he had and exploited them ruthlessly.
If Ihan wanted to survive, he had no choice but to block with everything he had.
Yeah... pretty sure I messed up.
As the break started, Ihan couldn't help but think that.
It really did feel like he'd gotten hit more often — and harder — than the other students.
Maybe it was just his swordsmanship, but his instincts told him otherwise.
Hadn't he already learned in Introduction to Basic Alchemy what happened when you caught the wrong professor's attention?
Maybe he should have just kept quiet.
Didn't think scoring points would get me beat down even more.
"Wardanaz?"
"Yes, Professor?"
"Come spar with me for a moment."
"..."
Lee Han really thought he had misspoken.
Everyone else was resting, and here he was about to get beaten up alone by the professor.
But Ingaldel hadn't called Lee Han over to beat him.
"This is Dergu from the Choi family. I want you two to have a light spar."
"!"
Not only Lee Han, but even the resting students were surprised.
Why those two?
'Isn't that the guy who picked a fight with me earlier?'
Lee Han looked at Dergu with a sour expression.
It wasn't exactly a friendly face — this was the guy who had picked a fight just because Lee Han was from another dormitory.
Besides, he was the kind of fool who would pick a fight with a member of the Wardanaz family without even thinking.
Rather than holding back for a spar, he was definitely going to charge in recklessly.
"Understood, Professor!"
Dergu glared at Lee Han as if he was about to kill him. Lee Han clicked his tongue inwardly.
'I can see right through him.'
It was practically written all over his face — he was going to use this chance to stomp out some unlucky student from another dorm.
Lee Han didn't know why the professor had chosen him out of all the students, but...
'No way… I didn't get on the professor's bad side just for being from another dorm, did I? He seemed pleased with my answer earlier.'
Regardless, now that things had come to this, Lee Han wasn't going to back down.
He could have lived comfortably in his family's mansion, lazing around, but he had taken beatings from Alarrong and learned swordsmanship for moments exactly like this — to avoid getting beaten now!
The reason Professor Ingaldel chose Dergu and Lee Han was simple.
Right now, the two of them were the most skilled among the students.
Swordsmanship wasn't something you could just display right after learning it.
The core techniques of swordsmanship — sword forms — were something you could barely grasp after thousands of repetitions and real combat experience.
Take, for example, a technique where you aim for the opponent's chest, then twist the trajectory to stab at their neck.
If you just tried that out of the blue, no opponent with half a brain would fall for it.
You had to first feint with a slight threatening motion, or trick them into thinking you were aiming lower — it was only when you layered these subtle moves that the technique's full destructive power came out.
In other words, understanding sword forms meant being able to apply them fully in these ways.
Even just reaching this level of understanding put them above most mercenaries outside the academy, who swung their weapons wildly with brute force and instinct, not knowing what they were doing.
In that sense, both Lee Han and Dergu had reached a level where they could understand and apply the sword forms they had learned.
On top of that, however faintly, both had even managed to imbue their weapons with magic power.
Even for students from knightly families, reaching this level at their age was talent enough to succeed as knights.
'To think a student from a magic powerhouse like the Wardanaz family would train swordsmanship to this level — how hard must that have been!'
It made sense for someone like Dergu from the Choi family, but for a student from a family like the Wardanaz, known for their magic, to achieve this much in swordsmanship was truly unexpected.
And that only made Ingaldel more fond of him.
'Swordsmanship is as deep and meaningful a discipline as magic. That student must have realized this as well and resolved himself to learn.'
Ingaldel was misunderstanding Lee Han.
He thought Lee Han had risked everything, secretly learning swordsmanship while avoiding his family's watchful eyes.
In truth, the Wardanaz family didn't particularly care about Lee Han learning swordsmanship from Alarrong.
The Wardanaz family had always been about letting people do as they pleased without interfering.
But unaware of this, to Ingaldel, Lee Han was an admirable and pitiable student.
Now that they had crossed paths, Ingaldel felt a responsibility to guide Lee Han along the path of the sword.
'The Choi family's Mountain Moon Sword is a swift and sharp fast sword. In contrast, the Wardanaz's Blue Rock Sword is a heavy and powerful strong sword. Their styles are completely opposite. Having them clash will teach them a lot. After all, nothing is more precious on the path of the sword than a rival who can stand on equal footing with you.'
Of course, Professor Ingaldel was aware that the students of the White Tiger Tower harbored hostility towards Lee Han, the only student from another dorm.
But that sort of thing would resolve itself with time.
After getting beaten down like dogs under Ingaldel's training, they wouldn't even have time to dislike each other. They'd only have energy left to hate Ingaldel himself!
Ingaldel sincerely hoped that the two most outstanding students would have a positive influence on each other — and that this influence would spread to the other students.
Fwoosh!
Just as these thoughts passed through Ingaldel's mind, what caught his eye was Lee Han kicking up a spray of dirt right into Dergu's face.
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