It had been three years since I entered the Hero Academy, but my sword remained stagnant. No, it had stopped growing even before that. It was as though I had slamd into an immovable wall.
I swung my sword day and night, desperate to overco that wall, but all I managed to do was tread in place. There was no progress, no change; my sword had co to a halt.
The Sun Sword Style Sixth Form: White Radiance was the highest form I could manifest now with my swordsmanship. Those who knew House Helios well would say that it was remarkable to have mastered the sixth form at only twenty years old. They would probably add that aside from Reynald Helios, the creator of the Sun Sword Style, no one else had achieved so much at such a young age.
But it wasn’t enough. I had a reason—no, a necessity—to grow even stronger. I had to climb higher and farther, until I could beco the blazing sun that shone far above the heavens. I couldn’t stop here.
I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood as I swung my sword again. Every day, without fail, I poured everything I had into my sword. But the result was always the sa; the wall before lood higher than ever, unyielding and cold.
I had to beco stronger. Stronger. Even stronger. If I didn’t, if I couldn’t be alive.
A vision always visited night after night in my dreams: Accompanied by the sound of a flowerpot shattering, water soaking the floor, and sharp ceramic shards glittering like knives, my mother’s hands would tightly wrap around my throat.
“If only you didn’t exist. If only you were gone! Yoooouuuuuu!”
I vividly rembered the pain of being suffocated and the feeling of my consciousness slipping away, countless bloodshot eyes glaring down at . So I had to beco stronger. Because if I didn’t, I would have no right to still be alive.
Then, one day, a classmate—who, for so reason, always spoke to as if I were a superior—told a rumor. It was about a boy nad Dale Han, the cadet at the bottom of the rankings.
“Sir Yuren, have you heard?
“No, seriously. The students in Class C keep comparing him to you, Sir Yuren. Are they insane or what?”
At first, it was simple curiosity. Rumors floated around that Dale had defeated Professor Kane, sent Camilla Vediche flying with a single blow, and felled dozens of demonic monsters in the blink of an eye. There were plenty of wild stories, but one in particular seized my attention.
“They say Dale sliced clean through a practice sword with another practice sword, and without any mana.”
A practice sword was basically just a wooden stick. So, using it to cut through another practice sword without mana was an incredible feat. Only soone with a good mastery of the sword could achieve it.
It made curious, and I went to see him. When I reached his class, what I witnessed was a duel far too one-sided to be called a spar between an assistant instructor and a re cadet.
The assistant instructor, Vincent, collapsed while clutching his blood-soaked arm, and the gray-haired cadet stood tall before him. At that mont, I felt sothing stir violently in my chest. It was like reuniting with a long-lost love. I didn’t know why that emotion rose inside , but I couldn’t ignore it. The very next day, I went looking for him, almost as if I had been possessed.
“After watching that fight, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted to cross swords with you,” I told him.
Truthfully, that was only half the reason. What I really wanted more than sparring was to talk to him. However, after being thoroughly defeated in our first match, everything changed. I thought that maybe this person could show how to surpass the wall.
I honestly thought the chance was slim, but my yearning to break through that wall was overwhelming. So, I clung to even the faintest glimr of hope and began learning from him. Then he said a sentence that changed everything.
“Don’t think about where you want the sword to go, think about where it wants to go.”
When I heard that, it felt like lightning had struck inside my head. Not where I want the sword to go, but where it wants to go?
In simple words, it ant that I shouldn’t force the sword to follow my will, but rather, let my will reside within the sword and let the sword beco an extension of my heart. Putting my heart into the sword was a revolutionary idea I had never once considered before.
At that mont, I felt that a hairline crack had finally ford in the imnse wall before . Of course, that one sentence didn’t destroy the wall I had struggled against for the past three years. But I had found a thread and a lead to pull on; it was enough to make my heart nearly burst with joy.
Overwheld with emotion, I threw my arms around him before I could stop myself. “Thank you! Really, thank you, Dale.”
“Uh, r-really?” he replied.
The look of confusion on his face snapped back to reality, and I quickly stepped away. “Ah, s-sorry.”
An awkward silence settled between us, leaving wondering what the hell I had just done.Nevertheless, it was already done, too late to take it back now.
I tried to change the mood. “U-uh, thank you so much for today! I promise I’ll repay you sohow, no matter what.”
“Repay ? For what? Don’t worry about it,” Dale replied nonchalantly.
“No! I an it.”
How could I possibly stay silent in front of the person who gave such profound guidance without asking for anything in return? So, I said, “Wait here for a mont.”
Looking for a way to repay his kindness, I hurried over to the storage chest inside the private training room. It contained a mana enhancent elixir, a gift awarded to the year’s top cadet. To soone like , whose mana this elixir could no longer increase, it wasn’t particularly useful, but for soone like Dale, who had very little mana, it could be a big help.
“Is this... an elixir?” he asked.
“Yeah. It’s not incredibly powerful, but it should help you raise your mana a little,” I replied.
Dale let out a faint laugh as he looked down at the elixir in my hand. “You’re giving this? Mana enhancent elixirs are super rare.”
“Compared to what you taught , this is nothing.”
Dale gave a small chuckle. “Well, fine. I guess with your mana level, this kind of elixir wouldn’t make a difference anyway.”
For so reason, the way he said that made it feel like I was trying to repay a priceless favor with sothing useless. A guilty feeling welled up in my chest, and I said, “O-of course, I didn’t an this repays everything. Later on, I’ll—”
He didn’t let finish, saying, “Enough, man. Why are you being so uptight about it? We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Friends?”
“Ah!” Dale’s expression froze for a second. “I an, yeah. Ahem. If we’ve crossed swords once as fellow swordsn, that makes us friends, right?”
“Y-yeah. Friends...”
Friends... Friends, huh! Why is it that hearing that word makes sothing inside twist with anger? What is this feeling? I wondered.
Whenever I was with Dale, so strange, unexplainable emotion would rise to the surface.
Dale continued, “Anyway, how about this? From now on, we et every Wednesday and Friday for two hours, and I’ll teach you swordsmanship during that ti.”
The unexpected offer made my eyes widen. “You’ll keep teaching ?”
“I an, co on. You think one quick lesson is enough? You think swordsmanship is that easy, huh?”
“N-no! I just... I’m really grateful.”
Why? Why was he being so kind to , a stranger? I didn’t even have ti to find an answer before Dale turned to leave.
“Well, it’s getting late. I’ll be going,” he said as he walked away.
“Y-yeah.”
The words “Don’t go” rose to my throat before I could stop them, but I held them back at the last mont. Then, I hesitantly said, “Uh, hey.”
“Hm?”
“Can I... add you on my Hero Watch?” I finally asked.
He nodded. “Oh, right. I totally forgot about that.”
He extended his wrist to show his Hero Watch, and a hologram popped up above mine.
[Would you like to register Dale Han as a contact? (YES / NO)]
I quickly moved my hand and tapped “YES.”
[Dale Han has been successfully registered as a contact.]
“Well, I’ll see you later. It’s Wednesday tomorrow, so I’ll see you again then. I’ll ssage you about the ti.” With that, Dale walked out of the training room.
Left alone, I saved Dale’s contact info and gently ran my fingers over my Hero Watch, picturing his face in my mind—ash-gray hair, like the last smoldering embers after a fire; sharp eyes, tinged with mystery and colored a deep erald green; a strong, masculine jawline; and a nose that fell perfectly between his brows, subtle but striking. He wasn’t what anyone would call classically handso, like a man carved from marble, but sothing about his face was oddly captivating.
Why was it that just thinking of his face made my heart beat like it was broken? Even though we had just parted, I already wanted to see him again. It was not even to learn swordsmanship but just to talk, even if it was about sothing stupid and aningless. I wanted to be with him just a bit more and just a little longer.
I hesitantly reached toward his contact info on the Hero Watch. “Should I text him and ask if he wants to grab dinner?”
But after wavering for a few seconds, I pulled my hand back. “I must’ve gone crazy.”
More than anyone, I knew this wasn’t the ti to be swayed by personal emotions like these.
Looking down at myself, I muttered, “Ti to shower.”
Peeling off my sweat-soaked training uniform, I stepped into the shower. The mirror greeted with my reflection, blond hair and golden eyes. A young man’s face stared silently back at .
I slowly raised a hand and pressed it to my left chest. My fingertips brushed against the soul stigmata of the Moon God etched into my skin. A faint sound escaped from between my clenched lips. I let out a deep breath and unfastened the pendant around my neck.
Then, light burst from the pendant, wrapping around my body in a brilliant glow. When the dazzling light that filled the shower room faded, the person reflected in the mirror was not a man, but a woman with moon-silver hair, like strands braided from moonlight.
I gently cupped my now-curved chest and turned on the shower. Warm water cascaded down my body. Clenching my fist, I reminded myself. “Don’t forget...”
It was a vow I had carved into my heart hundreds, no, thousands of tis: “I am... Yuren Helios.”
Because eight years ago, on that day, Yurina Helios had died.
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