Damn Academy - Chapter 219

Chapter 219

Host (16)

“You mean you haven’t shown your full power yet?”

“I’m not talking about myself. I mean you, sir.”

“Hmm, you think I haven’t given my all?”

“Yes.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I can tell by the sword you haven’t drawn yet.”

“This sword? I took it from a village gatekeeper a few days ago.”

“A gatekeeper wouldn’t have such a sword. The mana pressure covering this area is also coming from that sword, isn’t it?”

The old man’s eyes flickered with interest for a moment. Then, intrigued by Damian’s words, he spoke.

“You sensed that?”

Damian took it a step further.

“That sword wants my body.”

“Oh? On what basis?”

“I just felt it. When I got close… the mana pressure felt welcoming.”

The old man’s eyes showed a brief surprise before calming down again.

“Are you trying to distract me with nonsense?”

The old man stopped talking and turned around, swinging his sword.

He had anticipated Gale’s silent approach and countered his surprise attack.

Gale was caught in the cold storm and was sent flying about twenty steps, rolling on the ground with his axe.

He tried to get up, but his limbs were frozen in place, immobilizing him.

“I’ll finish you off first.”

The old man started running toward Gale, intending to end him before he could break free from the ice.

In response, Damian chased after the old man. However, the old man was much faster, making it impossible for Damian to intercept him in time.

Damian pulled out a compressed air bomb and threw it with all his might.

The bomb wasn’t aimed at the old man but landed in front of Gale.

Seeing the bomb in front of him, Gale muttered to himself.

“Damned bastard.”

Boom!

Gale’s body was lifted and flung far away from the battlefield.

The old man, witnessing this, looked back at Damian with a confused expression, unable to tell if he was friend or foe.

Damian didn’t stop running and swung his wooden sword at the old man.

Clang!

The old man blocked Damian’s attack with one hand and spoke.

“Cunning and efficient. I like the lack of sentimentality too.”

“…”

“If you weren’t such excellent prey, I might have taken you as my disciple.”

“Thank you, but I’ve already received teachings from the best mentor.”

“I know you’re serving that wicked witch.”

As their swords clashed, the old man’s strength began to overpower Damian, pushing him down to the ground.

“…I have another mentor. Have you heard of the Dragonslayer, Gesin Greig?”

“What?”

At the mention of the Swordmaster, the old man momentarily wavered.

Before being completely pinned down, Damian discreetly threw another bomb and rolled backward.

The old man, predicting the obvious move, stepped back lightly.

Boom!

This time, pink petals burst out unexpectedly. It was a ploy to save the bomb for later by creating distance.

“Haha.”
T hi s w a s c op ied f rom k i n gm t l . o rg

The old man let out a sound that could have been a sigh or admiration. He looked at Damian with a curious expression, as if seeing a rare creature for the first time.

Damian steadied himself and said,

“If you kill me, the Dragonslayer will avenge me.”

“You’re spouting nonsense because you think you’re going to die. Fine. You’re amusing, so I’ll enlighten you myself.”

The old man launched himself at Damian with an inhuman speed, far faster than before.

Clang!

“…!”

Damian barely managed to block the old man’s arrow-fast strike, but the force sent him rolling backward.

Damian’s eyes were filled with shock. He felt the overwhelming gap in skill from just one blow.

The old man didn’t let up, attacking again.

Damian blocked once more, but the force was so great that it grazed his left forearm.

Then, a kick to his abdomen sent him flying again.

The old man continued his relentless assault, using pure swordsmanship without relying on the Magic Sword to pressure Damian.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Although Damian held out better than before, he couldn’t withstand more than three exchanges and was sent rolling again.
T h i s w a s c o p i ed fr o m k i n gmt l.o rg

The old man looked at Damian with a puzzled expression before resuming his one-sided onslaught.

Damian’s body was slashed all over, blood flowing freely from the wounds.

“Your story about the Dragonslayer was a lie. You don’t even come close to mimicking him.”

“…”

The old man attacked again. This time, Damian endured seven exchanges before being thrown back. The old man tilted his head in confusion again.

“Where did you learn your swordsmanship?”

With each clash, Damian’s responses were becoming more adept.

Damian, barely standing with the help of his wooden sword, spoke.

“I told you, I’ve been taught by the Dragonslayer.”

“Hmm.”

The old man launched another strike, which Damian blocked.

This time, instead of a sharp clash, there was a rustling sound, like threshing barley.
T hi s w as c o p i e d f r o m k i n g m tl . or g

Damian’s wooden sword transformed into a sapling, entwining around the old man’s sword like a net.

The old man tried to pull his sword free, but it was tightly bound like a snare.

He immediately kicked Damian in the stomach. Damian coughed up blood and was sent flying back, but the sapling’s tendrils held firm.

Damian placed his hand on his bomb pouch and threw something.

It was a bag containing all his bombs.

Damian had chosen to self-destruct.

“…!”

The necklace Damian was wearing began to glow, enveloping him in a transparent protective shield like snake scales.

All the mana condensed in the bombs erupted in a powerful magical explosion.

***

The white light from the magical explosion shattered the altar and scattered the bones around. At the center of the explosion was an oval-shaped crater.

Damian’s wooden sword and the Magic Sword were flung into the air, landing far from their owners.

Damian was thrown far by the shockwave, but the artifact activated, protecting him from serious harm.

T h i s w as c op ied f r o m ki n g m t l . or g
The old man, trying to escape the blast, was unable to avoid being caught in it. Part of his already tattered face was further shredded, and his shabby clothes were even more ragged.

But he was still standing.

Damian looked up and saw the old man was unarmed. He shouted loudly.

“Grab it!”

Gale, who had been waiting for an opportunity in the forest, ran towards the Magic Sword stuck in the ground.

It was too late for the old man to retrieve it.

Covered in leaves and dirt, Gale picked up the Magic Sword.

The sword in his hand began to emit a bluish light.

The old man stood still, watching with an unreadable expression.

Gale wiped the dust off the blade and swung it in the air.

White frost followed the blade’s arc.

“Feels perfect. I’ll be taking this.”

He pointed the sword at the old man and took a stance.

Damian quickly retrieved his wooden sword and assumed a defensive posture.

Despite losing the Magic Sword, the old man showed no urgency. Instead, he looked at Gale with a furrowed brow, shaking his head repeatedly.

“Tsk tsk, wrong.”

As soon as he finished his cryptic words, Gale began to stagger.

“…?”

T hi s w a s c o p ie d f r o m k i n g m t l. o rg
Gale, trying to move forward, fell to one knee, clutching his head.

“Ah, damn it.”
T hi s w a s co p i e d f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g

He tried to stand again but staggered as if possessed.

He shook his head from side to side, muttering to himself.

“Shut up, shut up! Damn it.”

He began groaning in pain, clutching his head.

“Ugh, argh, aaah!”

Frost began to creep up from Gale’s feet, slowly climbing up his body.

Damian shouted,

“Drop the sword!”

“Damned, this wretched woman… I’ll…”

As Gale stubbornly held on, the Magic Sword in his hand began to tremble. It then unleashed a chaotic wave of cold energy into the sky.

“What is this…!”

The unleashed cold crashed down like meteors, devastating the altar and the surrounding forest.

Boom! Boom!
T h i s w a s c op i e d f r o m k i ng mt l. o r g

Cold energy exploded everywhere.

The old man, still standing silently, drew the other sword at his waist. This was the very sword that had emanated overwhelming mana pressure.

The sword was old and worn, with a chipped handle, but its power was anything but crude.

As the old man raised the sword to the sky, a strange phenomenon occurred.

The random falling cold energy converged around him, forming a vortex like a typhoon.
T hi s wa s c o p i e d f ro m k i n gm tl . o r g

The whirlwind of cold energy was so strong that it uprooted trees, forcing Damian to plant his wooden sword in the ground and cling to it.

The powerful energy was sucked into the sword. Soon, all the cold energy was absorbed, and the vortex vanished as if it had never existed.

“…”

Damian was awestruck by the overwhelming sight.

Gale continued to struggle with the Magic Sword but was soon thrown back by a cold explosion.

The discarded Magic Sword skipped across the ground like a stone, stopping at Damian’s feet.

The old man stood still, showing no intention of attacking.

Damian held his breath for a moment. He sheathed his wooden sword and stared at the Magic Sword. Then, he picked it up as casually as if picking up a coin from the ground.

And nothing happened to Damian.

The old man asked,

Th i s w a s c o p ied fr om k i n g mt l. o rg
“Can you hear the Magic Sword’s whispers?”

In Damian’s hand, the Magic Sword remained as docile as a lamb.

He swung the sword demonstratively. There was no resistance.

The old man chuckled before bursting into laughter.

“Hahaha! That’s enough.”

“…?”
T h i s w as cop i ed f r om k i ng m t l . o r g

“That sword is yours now.”

The old man grabbed the loose skin of his face and pulled it off, revealing his true face.

Behind the slime-like mask was a man with white hair slicked back, a well-groomed white beard, kind but stern eyes wrinkled with age, and sharp features that suggested he might have been handsome in his youth. He had a look of strength and benevolence, quite unlike the feared Magic Sword Hunter.

Though the old man had shed his hostility, Damian, still wary, resumed his battle stance and spoke.

“So, you’re not the Magic Sword Hunter.”

The old man sheathed his sword. The oppressive mana that had filled the space dissipated entirely.

“The Magic Sword Hunter is already dead by my hand.”

“…”

“I took that sword from him. My mission is complete. That sword is your reward for this mission. It suits a reckless, foolhardy youth like you.”

Realizing that the situation had ended, Damian looked up at the sky with a sense of anticlimax. He felt disappointed that everything had resolved just as the real fight was about to begin.

“…You defied Eternia’s orders, broke through the mana pressure, and seized the Magic Sword… all of this was a test.”

With the tension released, Damian slumped to the ground.

“And you played along, matching our level.”

“You’re disappointed to have survived.”

“…”

“Did you really think you could win?”

“…No.”

Damian paused in thought before continuing.

“No matter how strong the opponent, I always think that by the tenth fight, I might win. But this time was different. Even after a hundred or a thousand fights, I couldn’t see myself winning.”

“Then why did you want to keep fighting?”

“Because I wanted to see it through to the end.”

“You and that other young one fought well. Don’t waste your strength on meaningless battles. Now that you’ve drawn water, the Magic Sword Hunters will keep coming.”

“…”

Feeling dejected, Damian lay flat on the ground.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“…Go ahead.”

“Who taught you Paleo-Medina swordsmanship?”

“What is that?”

“The ancient swordsmanship you clumsily used.”

“I don’t know anything about that. I was just mimicking what you did.”

“…Huh.”

The old man’s eyes filled with renewed curiosity about Damian.

As if to confirm Damian’s words, he asked again.

“You copied that from just a brief exchange?”

“…Yes.”

With his hands behind his back, the old man turned around and quietly looked up at the sky, murmuring softly,

“…You’d become a monster if trained under me.”

“But who are you really? Are you a professor?”

“Indeed, I am a visiting professor sent to correct your manners.”

End of Chapter