Today, a wall, a threat, a crisis, a critical moment, an obstacle.
Just as there are many ways to call for help, there isn’t just one way to overcome it.
One of the easiest ways.
A demon born from the temple, an axeman, a sly assassin, a grumpy panther wizard, a lazy swordsman.
They are companions, allies.
If asked to follow, some of them would gladly do so.
With just them, a threat is no longer a threat.
Even without their help, there are many ways.
In the end, it’s a matter of not getting cut.
There’s a way to fight without getting cut until you win.Due to the curse, Encrid, even if he dies, lives only for ‘today’.
You could call him a soldier who lives only for ‘today’.
Repeating over and over, countless repetitions will eventually open the door.
But none of this remained in Encrid’s mind.
There are people who only look forward and move towards their goal once they find it.
Encrid was at the extreme end of such a person.
Above all else.
It was as if the wall was provoking him to climb over it.
Even if there are hundreds of ways.
Even if there is an easier path.
Even if there is a faster way.
Encrid had the stubbornness to head towards the destination he set for himself.
That’s why people said his head was broken.
‘That’s unpleasant.’
It’s not something he wants to hear, especially not from Rem.
And certainly not from the ferryman.
One is known for beating or axing his superiors as a hobby.
The other enjoys trapping people in ‘today’ and driving them insane.
Neither of them has the right to comment on someone else’s mental state.
Of course, even if it wasn’t just those two, Encrid would never accept such a remark.
‘My head is broken, huh.’
It’s nonsense.
He just has a clear dream, he’s a normal person.
Anyway,
“What? You had it all along?”
“Did you already have it?”
“If you have it, you won’t die. Ah, thank goodness!”
“Ah, I was so startled.”
This is the reaction when you talk nonchalantly after being cut by the Shepherd’s sword.
You can’t help but ask what exactly you need to have. So he asked. That’s how he heard the word.
“Will.”
The Shepherd said, and Encrid felt its necessity.
There was something blocking the path he wanted to walk.
As Encrid groped the wall blocking his way, he found a clue. He felt it.
Faint but clear.
After organizing his thoughts throughout the Isolation Technique, he returned to his quarters.
It was a day with bright sunshine, blue skies, and white clouds.
Behind the door of his quarters was a splendid sky. With that as the backdrop, Encrid raised his left hand and said.
“Will, who can do it?”
At the question, everyone fell silent for a moment.
The panther Esther, being a wizard, naturally ignored it.
Since the morning, that man has been spouting nonsense again.
It was a daily occurrence.
“Krrrrr.”
Expressing her intention with a light growl, Esther rolled around on the soft fur.
It was a fur Krais had rescued some time ago. He was the one most startled by seeing her transform into a human.
“Why? Why do you become human? You were a panther.”
“Impertinent human.”
Telling him this, Krais really turned pale and brought various items.
It was one of those.
Sitting on beast fur in the form of a beast looked quite strange, but Esther was satisfied.
Warm leather is nice, but softness is the best.
There was one such indifferent beast, and others each had their own circumstances.
Rem could not frankly be said to handle ‘Will’.
‘That’s something the people of this continent use.’
Instead, Rem could reach a similar destination in a different way.
Possessing the prowess of a Knight and ‘Will’ are entirely different matters, but would he accept it if explained?
Encrid made it clear.
He wasn’t asking about how to reach the destination.
He precisely uttered the single word ‘Will’ from his mouth.
After a moment of contemplation, Rem responded. He answered while wearing one boot and stopping halfway with the other.
Encrid’s words had given him something to think about.
“I can’t do it.”
If it was a different method other than ‘Will’, it might be similarly possible.
Regardless, what’s not possible is not possible.
Rem answered thus and, still bent over, finished putting on his boot.
Jaxon had neither become a Knight nor wished to be one, nor had he ever trained to master ‘Will’.
However, he instinctively felt something when looking at those who were Junior-Knights.
There was something vaguely similar inside him. But is this ‘Will’? Is it the ‘willpower’ they talk about?
He didn’t know.
He couldn’t teach something he wasn’t sure about himself.
Jaxon shook his head.
Audin had Divine Power within him, and nothing corrupt could enter the body of one who possessed Divine Power.
Not all things deemed corrupt were necessarily harmful or evil.
For a human to use their willpower to awaken their own power was also seen as corrupt in the eyes of the divine.
Though it may not be wrong, it’s not the path for those who have first taken the Divine Power.
Those who awaken Divine Power do not master ‘Will’, instead, they open their path in their own way and rise above Knights.
Audin was no different.
Divine Power was sufficient for him.
“Are you in a hurry, brother?”
It was a gentle question. Encrid had been lost in thought the whole time he was training with the Isolation Technique.
Even so, he had earnestly participated in the Isolation Technique.
Encrid was an ascetic who confronted and challenged his limits daily.
At least in Audin’s view, he was.
He effortlessly broke through the limitations of his physical talents.
Such a person desires this. Audin wanted to give it to him. But he couldn’t give what he didn’t possess.
‘Gaining Divine Power would be faster.’
But without sincere faith, it would only be a hindrance.
Audin shook his head as well.
“Not in a hurry.”
Encrid said in a clear voice. By now, the hand he had raised was lowered. His arm hung naturally, his shoulders were relaxed, showing he wasn’t tense and indeed didn’t seem hurried.
The only one left was Ragna.
Ragna woke up at the sound of Encrid’s voice.
Oversleeping was almost his trademark.
The blonde man shook his head, still with sleep in his eyes.
“Dandruff’s falling off. Lazy bum.”
Rem grumbled, but Ragna didn’t care and spoke.
“I can teach you if you want, but it will be pointless.”
“Why?”
Encrid asked, standing.
Ragna continued indifferently.
“To explain, it’s like the Commander’s hair being black and my hair being blonde.”
Ragna subtly nodded as if admiring his own words. He seemed to think it was an excellent analogy.
This was, somehow,like explaining things to a grown puppy.
“Do you call that an explanation?”
Rem, the second worst at explanations, stepped in to criticize.
Jaxon chuckled, and Audin turned his head away, pretending not to notice.
With that single chuckle, sparks flew again between Rem and Jaxon.
“If you’re going to fight, do it outside.”
In the past, Encrid, not knowing any better, would have intervened between the two. He would have blocked them with his body. Those were the days when he knew nothing.
Now he understands by just watching. Whether they really intend to fight or are just expressing their displeasure.
This time, it was a display of displeasure.
Ragna’s straightforward words continued again.
“Even if you dye your hair blonde, your natural hair will eventually show. And even if it’s the same blonde, the shade will be subtly different. In the end, you have to live with your own hair.”
If this guy didn’t know how to wield a sword, he would have been discarded somewhere.
He can’t find his way, his explanations are terrible, he’s lazy, and he’s not particularly perceptive.
But the moment he holds a sword, he stands out like a lone crane among a flock of chickens.
Or rather, not a crane, but a golden crane?
That thought arises because he emphasizes his blonde hair.
“Why not show it with your body instead of your mouth?”
Encrid’s sweat hadn’t dried yet. Seeing this, Ragna slowly stood up.
“Sure.”
The two went outside.
Rem and Jaxon also stopped their display of mutual disdain and exchanged blessings.
“You’ll die of an STD, you bastard.”
This was Rem’s blessing for Jaxon, who frequented brothels.
“I hope you die within the year.”
This was Jaxon’s blessing.
Audin looked fondly at the two encouraging each other.
“What are you looking at, bear?”
Of course, Rem’s outburst reached him too, but he ignored it.
A sulking Rem was more dangerous than a dog in heat.
“Let’s go. Sister Dunbachel, please watch too. Sister Finn has been frequently absent lately.”
“She said she’s busy.”
Krais replied, and they all went outside.
They saw Encrid and Ragna facing off with training wooden swords.
“I don’t know how to do anything like Intimidation.”
Ragna said this while crossing swords.
The phrase ‘explain with a sword instead of your tongue’ was more than appropriate.
Encrid was just thinking that. Why wouldn’t he? Seeing something like this in front of him.
“Instead, I know how to do this.”
Whoosh.
Ragna’s wooden sword disappeared. That’s how it looked to Encrid. It was that fast. Just like lightning leaves an afterimage, a long afterimage was left, but he couldn’t follow it in real-time.
Snap.
That was the only sound.
The result of the invisible wooden sword was that Encrid’s sword was left in two pieces in his hand.
A wooden sword had cut through another wooden sword.
Encrid could do it too. But not like this.
It wasn’t broken, it was cut. All he heard was the snapping sound, at a speed he couldn’t react to.
He said he couldn’t use Intimidation, but his momentum was similar to it.
Even though he had swung his sword only once, Encrid felt an explosive force from Ragna for a moment.
And when he looked into Ragna’s eyes, weren’t they like jewels emitting light?
“It’s Severance.”
That’s the thing he had told him to learn before. Later, he had instructed him to master the Steel Slash and Lion Slash for this purpose.
“This is my current ‘Will’.”
Things that can’t be understood through simple training.
Encrid asked, and he listened.
Even if the speaker’s tongue is poor, the truth within does not change.
The listener’s ears and heart were open, making it difficult but possible to understand.
Above all, there was advice from Rem, Audin, and Jaxon, who were watching.
What is ‘Will’?
It is ‘willpower’. That is its foundation. But if it were just willpower, how could ‘Will’ enable one to surpass human limits?
Why has it become a symbol of Knights?
An invisible power forged from willpower.
That is what they call ‘Will’.
“It’s different for everyone, like hair color.”
Ragna, seemingly fond of the hair color analogy, repeated himself.
Yes, now it could be understood.
‘Will’ cannot be taught.
One can offer the initial spark of realization through a rite or help someone stuck at a wall.
But that rite cannot make one awaken ‘Will’.
Awakening and mastering are also separate matters.
One can master it through a rite but cannot be made to awaken it. However, it can be mastered.
Experiencing it repeatedly might lead to feeling it. That’s what the rite is for.
“I trained the Lion Slash and Steel Slash at least a thousand times a month for Severance.”
Based on the words of the talented Ragna,
‘Will is something to be awakened, not taught.’
It might seem like a long road, but he also mentioned the rite in between.
“A rite.”
It’s not the original meaning used by the temple.
An invisible power forged from willpower.
After creating a technique based on it, one is exposed to it.
“To awaken ‘Will’, a Squire of the Knights receives the rite once a month if fortunate, usually once every three months.”
“Isn’t that too few?”
“Even so, some feel like they are going mad. That’s why the Intimidation of that guy with the rapier is dangerous.”
Why did Rem and the others react so sensitively to the Intimidation of a former Junior-Knight named Asia?
This was the reason.
“Rebelling against the rite is a way to master ‘Will’ on your own.”
Ragna surprisingly knew a lot. One might wonder what it would have been like if he had explained this from the beginning.
“Why did you use the hair color analogy?”
“To make it easier to understand.”
He hoped Ragna would drop such efforts. Encrid nodded, thinking this.
One cannot dismiss the efforts of another as worthless.
That effort will surely shine someday, if not today.
Just as he masters the sword, Ragna might be learning something too. Like how to speak or find his way.
“But why did you split it?”
Rem, watching closely, asked. Encrid rubbed his face.
‘Ah, I smiled without realizing it.’
He couldn’t help but laugh.
Even with the rite, even if one endures it, they said one could not master ‘Will’. It’s difficult to even grasp a small clue.
That’s why Encrid laughed.
As if he had already seen something.
It wouldn’t be an easy path. Naturally. He was aware of that.
So what? When was it ever easy?
For Encrid, the sword, the dream, was never an easy path.
The Shepherd said that ‘Will’ was necessary to overcome the mysterious power of the blade.
The answer wasn’t far away.
‘Today’s’ repetition, the Shepherd’s sword, that is the rite, the opportunity.
Something he had experienced over eighty times already.
He couldn’t help it when he didn’t know, but now, with the explanation, he had a vague realization.
Sixth sense and intuition were just as invisible.
When he mastered those, did he know what he was doing?
Wasn’t it similar when he trained his senses to open the Gate of Sixth Sense, and when he pierced through traps created by spells?
So, what if he does the same thing this time?
A method to resist the invisible force? He didn’t know.
The path? He couldn’t see it.
So, does that make it a problem?
No, it wasn’t a problem.
Encrid laughed. He thought of rolling along until he died, or rather, while dying. No matter how difficult the path, he could laugh.
Because that would elevate him one step higher.
Rem, who had been watching the laughing Encrid closely, spoke with a worried tone and serious demeanor.
“Are you really not going to visit the temple?”
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