Chapter 231

Today, wall, threat, crisis, hurdle, obstacle.

Just as there are many ways to call it, there isn’t only one way to overcome it.

One of the easiest ways.

The demon born of the temple, the axman, the sly assassin, the prickly panther mage, the lazy swordsman.

Companions, subordinates.

If told to follow, some of them would gladly come along.

Even just with them, the threat wouldn’t really be a threat.

Even without their help, there were many ways.

In the end, all that mattered was not cutting it down.

There’s also the way of fighting until you win without cutting it down.

Because of the curse, Encrid, even if he dies, lives only today again.

It’s fine to call him a soldier who lives only for today.

Just repeat, and repeat again, and repeat countless times. That repetition will eventually open the door.

But none of that remained in Encrid’s head.

There are people who, once they set a goal, only look at that and move forward.

Encrid stood at the extreme of that kind of person.

Above all.

It was as if the wall was provoking him to overcome it.

Even if there were hundreds of ways.

Even if there were easier ways.

Even if there were faster ways.

Encrid possessed a stubbornness that drove him straight toward the destination he’d set for himself.

That’s why people say he’s out of his mind.

‘That’s just annoying.’

Not something he wanted to hear from Rem, of all people.

Nor did he want to hear it from the ferryman.

One likes hitting superiors or chopping them with an axe.

The other enjoys trapping people in ‘today’ and watching them go mad.

Neither of them has any right to talk about someone else’s head being messed up.

Of course, even if it wasn’t those two, Encrid would never admit it.

‘Out of my mind, huh.’

What nonsense.

He just has a clear dream, that’s all—he’s an ordinary person.

Anyway.

“What? You had it with you?”

“You already had it?”

“If you have it, you won’t die. Whew, that’s a relief!”

“Ah, I was so surprised.”

That’s the reaction when you’re cut by the shepherd’s sword and speak nonchalantly.

It’s the kind of talk that makes you wonder what exactly you need to have. So I asked. That’s the word I heard.

“Will.”

The shepherd said it, and Encrid felt the need for it.

There was something blocking the path he wanted to walk.

As Encrid fumbled at the wall before him, he found a clue. He felt it.

Vague, but certain.

After sorting out his thoughts through the Isolation Technique, he returned to his quarters.

It was the kind of day with bright sunlight, blue sky, and white clouds.

Behind the door of the quarters was a beautiful sky. With that as his backdrop, Encrid raised his left hand and spoke.

“Anyone with Will?”

At the question, everyone fell silent for a moment.

—

Esther the panther ignored it, being a mage, of course.

That human is spouting crazy talk again from early morning.

It was routine.

“Grr.”

With a light growl to show her meaning, Esther rolled around on the soft fur.

It was fur that Krys had brought back once. He’d been most shocked to see her transform into a human.

“Why? Why are you turning into a human? You were a panther.”

“Insolent human.”

Telling him this to his face, Krys had turned pale and brought her all sorts of things.

This was one of them.

It looked pretty odd to be a beast sitting on the pelt of another beast, but Esther was satisfied.

Heated leather is nice, but nothing beats softness.

So there was one indifferent beast, and the others each had their own reasons.

Rem, frankly, couldn’t really say he handled ‘Will.’

‘That’s something people on this continent use.’

Instead, Rem could reach a similar goal by different means.

Equipping the power of a knight and ‘Will’ are totally different matters, but if he said that, would they accept it?

Encrid spoke clearly.

He wasn’t asking for the method to reach the destination.

He had uttered the single word ‘Will’ precisely.

Rem thought for a moment before answering. He was wearing one boot, hesitating to put on the other as he answered.

That’s how much Encrid’s words had made him think.

“I can’t.”

If it were another method besides ‘Will,’ maybe it’d be possible.

Either way, what isn’t, isn’t.

Rem answered like that and bent over to finish putting on his boot.

Jaxson had never become a knight, never wanted to be one, and never trained to awaken ‘Will.’

Still, when seeing those who’d reached Junior Knight level, he instinctively sensed something.

There was something similar inside him, vaguely. But is that ‘Will’? Is it the ‘willpower’ they talk about?

He didn’t know.

There’s no way he could teach something he doesn’t understand himself.

Jaxson shook his head.

Audin had taken in divinity, and for one who possesses divinity, nothing impure could enter the body.

Not everything impure is necessarily evil or harmful.

When humans awaken their own power based on willpower, even that is impure in the eyes of the gods.

Even if it’s not wrong, it’s not the path for one who has taken divinity first.

Those who awaken divinity first open their path in their own way and rise above knights, never awakening ‘Will.’

Audin was the same.

Divinity was enough for him.

“Are you anxious, brother?”

It was a gentle question. He’d seen Encrid deep in thought, training with the Isolation Technique.

Still, Encrid always gave his all during the Isolation Technique.

Every day, Encrid faced his limits and challenged them—a true ascetic.

At least, that’s how Audin saw him.

He broke through the limits of his body’s talent without hesitation.

That’s what one like him seeks. Audin wanted to give it, but since he didn’t have it, he couldn’t.

‘It would be faster to take divinity.’

But without true faith, it’d only be a hindrance.

Audin also shook his head.

“I’m not anxious.”

Encrid spoke in a clear voice. Before he knew it, the hand he’d raised was lowered. His arms relaxed naturally, and his shoulders showed no tension, so he didn’t seem nervous; he didn’t look anxious at all.

The only one left was Ragna.

Ragna woke up to Encrid’s voice.

Sleeping in late was like his trademark.

With sleep still in his eyes, the blond man shook his head.

“Your dandruff’s falling off, you lazy bastard.”

Rem grumbled, but Ragna didn’t care as he replied.

“If you want, I can teach you, but it’d be pointless.”

“Why?”

Encrid asked while standing.

Ragna spoke calmly.

“It’s like the captain’s hair being black and my hair being blond.”

Ragna nodded slightly as he said it, as if impressed with his own words, thinking he’d said something really great.

What was this?

His explanation was like a grown dog.

“Is that what you call an explanation?”

Rem, the second-ranked authority on bad explanations, chimed in.

Jaxson snorted with laughter, and Audin turned his head, pretending not to notice.

That single snort sparked another clash between Rem and Jaxson.

“If you’re going to fight, do it outside.”

In the past, Encrid would cluelessly get between them, trying to block them with his body. That was back when he didn’t know anything.

Now, he could tell just by watching. Whether they were really going to fight or just protesting because they were in a bad mood.

This time, it was just protest.

Ragna’s straightforward words continued.

“Even if you dye your hair blond, your real hair always grows out. And even if it’s the same blond, the shade is always subtly different. In the end, you have to live with your own hair.”

If this guy didn’t know how to use a sword, you’d want to toss him somewhere.

Can’t find his way, gives crappy explanations, lazy, not even quick-witted.

But put a sword in his hands, and he’s a lone golden crane among a flock of chickens.

No, maybe not a white crane, but a golden crane? Just because he keeps mentioning his blond hair.

“Don’t explain with your mouth—do it with your body.”

Encrid’s sweat still hadn’t dried. Seeing that, Ragna got up slowly.

“All right.”

The two of them went outside.

Rem and Jaxson also stopped their little protests and exchanged blessings instead.

“Hope you die of an STD, you bastard.”

That was Rem’s blessing for Jaxson, who frequented the red-light district.

“I hope you die within the year.”

That was Jaxson’s blessing.

Audin watched them, pleased by their encouragement for each other.

“What are you looking at, you bear?”

Of course, Rem’s barbs flew at him too, but he ignored it.

A prickly Rem is more dangerous than a dog in heat.

“Let’s go. Sister Dunbakel, you should watch too. Sister Finn has been absent a lot lately.”

“She said she’s been busy.”

Krys answered, and everyone headed outside.

Just in time to see Encrid and Ragna crossing practice wooden swords.

“I can’t do anything like ‘pressure’ or intimidation.”

Ragna spoke as their swords met.

Explaining with a sword instead of words was perfectly fitting.

That’s exactly what Encrid was thinking. How could he not, when he was seeing this right in front of him?

“But I can do this.”

Whoosh.

Ragna’s wooden sword vanished. At least, that’s how it looked to Encrid. That’s how fast it was. Like the afterimage left by a lightning flash, it lingered, but he couldn’t track it in real time.

Snap.

That was the only sound.

The result of an invisible sword: the wooden sword in Encrid’s hand was left snapped in half.

He cut through a wooden sword with another wooden sword.

Encrid could do it too—but not like that.

He didn’t break it—he cut it. Only a snapping sound, and it happened too fast to react.

Ragna said he couldn’t use intimidation, but the force was similar.

Even with a single swing of the wooden sword, Encrid felt a momentary explosive something from Ragna.

When he looked at Ragna’s eyes, weren’t they like gems pouring out light?

“Severance.”

That was what he’d told him to learn before. After that, he told him to master Iron-Cutting and Lion Slash for this very reason.

“This is my Will right now.”

Things you can’t understand just by sparring.

Encrid asked, and he heard the answer.

Even if the speaker’s tongue is clumsy, the truth inside doesn’t change.

If the listener’s ears and mind are open, it’s difficult but possible to understand.

More than anything, there was advice from Rem, Audin, and Jaxson watching nearby.

What is ‘Will’?

It’s willpower. That’s the foundation. But if it’s just willpower, how does ‘Will’ let a human surpass their limits?

Why did it become the symbol of a knight?

It’s an immaterial power forged from willpower.

That’s what they call ‘Will.’

“It’s different for everyone. Just like hair color is different.”

Ragna seemed very pleased with the hair color analogy and repeated it.

Yeah, now it was clear.

‘Will’ can’t be taught.

You can provide the first hint through something like a baptism, or help someone facing a wall.

But you can’t awaken ‘Will’ through that baptism.

Awakening and learning are two separate things.

You can learn through baptism, but you can’t awaken.

Maybe you’ll feel it as you experience it over and over. That’s what baptism is for.

“I practiced Lion Slash and Iron-Cutting over a thousand times a month, just for Severance.”

If you analyze based on naturally talented Ragna’s words—

‘Will is not something you’re taught; it’s something you awaken to.’

It sounds like an impossibly long road, but then he mentioned baptism in the middle.

“Baptism.”

It’s not the original temple meaning.

An immaterial power forged by willpower.

After creating a technique based on that, you expose yourself to it.

“To awaken Will, most squires in the Order receive baptism maybe once a month, or for most, every three months.”

“Isn’t that too little?”

“Even so, there are guys who go crazy. That’s why that rapier guy’s pressure is so dangerous.”

Why had Rem and the others reacted so sensitively to the pressure of the squire named Aisia in the past?

This was the reason.

“Resisting baptism is the way to learn Will on your own.”

Ragna actually knew quite a lot. If only he’d explained it like this from the start.

“Why the hair color analogy?”

“To make it easier to understand.”

Encrid wished he’d just drop efforts like that. He nodded anyway, thinking this to himself.

You can’t just dismiss someone else’s effort as worthless.

That effort, even if it’s not today, will shine someday.

Just as he was learning swordsmanship, maybe Ragna was learning something too—like how to speak, or how to find his way.

“So why did you split it?”

Rem, who’d been watching closely, asked. Encrid touched his own face.

‘Ah, I must’ve smiled without realizing.’

He couldn’t help but smile.

Even if there is baptism, even if you endure it, you can’t necessarily learn ‘Will.’ They said it’s hard to grasp even a small clue.

That’s why Encrid smiled.

As if he’d already seen something.

It wouldn’t be an easy road. Of course not. He understood that, too.

So what? When was it ever easy?

For Encrid, the sword, the dream, it was never an easy path.

The shepherd said you need ‘Will’ to overcome the unknown power the blade brings.

The answer wasn’t far off.

This repeating today, the shepherd’s sword—those were baptism, opportunity.

He’d already experienced it over eighty times.

Back when he didn’t know, there was nothing he could do. But now, after hearing the explanation, he had a vague sense.

Sixth sense and intuition are just as invisible.

When he trained his senses and opened the Gate of the Sixth Sense, when he pierced through a spell’s trap—it wasn’t the same?

So, why not try the same approach this time?

How to resist an invisible force? He didn’t know.

The path? He couldn’t see it.

But does that make it a problem?

No, it didn’t.

Encrid smiled. He planned to keep going until he died—or even as he died. No matter how rough the road, he could still smile.

Because that would raise him one step higher.

Watching the smiling Encrid closely, Rem spoke up with serious concern.

“You really aren’t going to visit the temple?”