When the sparring first began, Kevin heard a familiar voice in his ear.
"Raise your sword and block in front. Chris will try to attack you suddenly."
It was Roman's voice.
Kevin, who didn’t know the true nature of the sound transmission through mana, hesitated for a moment, unsure of what judgment to make.
In that brief moment of hesitation, he couldn’t fully understand what was happening, but instinctively, he moved according to the voice, knowing it belonged to Roman.
At that moment.
Thwack!
"……!"
A sharp pain shot through his hand.
He had simply blocked in front as Roman instructed, and without realizing it, he had blocked Chris’s initial attack.
"Move one step to the side. Then aim for Chris’s chest as he tries to kick."
The next command.
Kevin wanted to follow Roman’s words.
But his reaction speed was slower than he thought, and Chris’s kick, which Roman had warned about, had already struck his abdomen.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
He let out a scream.
For a moment, his breath was knocked out of him, and Kevin, sprawled on the ground, clutched his stomach.
Thick saliva dripped from his mouth.
Even though Kevin had cut off his own arm just a week ago, pain was something he still couldn’t get used to.
Then.
"Roll your body to the right."
The voice pierced through his mind.
Kevin knew he had to follow it to survive.
Forcing down the pain, he rolled his body, and as expected, he saw Chris swinging his sword toward him.
"Attack his left chest."
It was an opening.
Chris had exposed a weakness as he swung his sword wide, and even to Kevin, it seemed like he could land a decisive blow if he aimed there.
But once again, Kevin’s lack of skill caused the attack to fail.
His sword swing was painfully slow, and his footwork was tangled, making the attack range too short.
A complete failure.
Chris didn’t even realize Kevin had targeted his weakness.
It was an attack that could be easily dodged, and Kevin ended up taking another blow to his stomach from Chris’s counterattack.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
It was a one-sided match.
Kevin couldn’t even mount a proper counterattack and was utterly defeated.
The pain was so intense that he wanted to collapse right then and there, with the bitter taste of blood rising in his throat.
Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say he wanted to give up.
Apart from the fact that Roman hadn’t ordered him to stop, the situation unfolding before him was just too absurd.
‘Roman is omnipotent.
Chris is moving exactly as Roman says, like a puppet.’
Roman’s voice.
It was prophetic.
Whenever Roman said Chris would attack from the right, it happened exactly as he said, and the weaknesses Roman pointed out seemed like real opportunities to bring Chris down.
The only problem was that Kevin’s own abilities were lacking.
If he had been able to follow Roman’s advice perfectly, he would have defeated Chris long ago.
But his pathetic body just wouldn’t obey.
It was laughable.
A 2-star aura knight.
Someone ordinary people like Kevin looked up to, yet Roman was toying with Chris as if he were a plaything.
Only then did Kevin understand.
Why Roman had put him in this sparring match.
Roman was sending him a message.
‘This is Roman’s level.
Even Chris, who is called the greatest genius of Dmitri, can’t even come close to Roman’s true abilities.
And this is the person I will serve for the rest of my life.
Even if it doesn’t make sense, I must blindly follow his words.’
The path ahead.
The goal ahead.
Roman’s figure appeared before Kevin’s eyes.
Just as he had trusted Roman’s words and cut off his own arm, he felt a blind conviction that following Roman would make him stronger.
This one sparring match.
Roman had given him a reason to believe.
A reason to follow him.
And a reason to feel awe.
Kevin, despite the physical pain, was completely immersed in the sparring, which was why Chris’s warning didn’t faze him.
"Let me say this one last time. If you show any more determination to fight, be prepared to lose a limb."
The final warning.
Kevin smirked.
‘Give up the match?’
That wasn’t possible.
The opponent didn’t know the truth.
That he was a puppet.
If even a great knight like Chris was being toyed with by Roman, then what could a teenage boy with nothing to his name do to prove himself worthy of being Roman’s person?
No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one answer.
Trust.
Loyalty.
If his body was weak, he needed to show his mental strength.
"Let’s finish this."
Those words.
They were Kevin’s resolve.
Even if this sparring match was stained with blood, Kevin wanted to prove his one and only value.
Their perspectives.
The worlds they saw.
Chris didn’t know Kevin’s resolve, and that’s why he exploded at the sight of Kevin refusing to give up.
Thud.
His patience snapped.
The pity he felt for his opponent was replaced by anger.
"You don’t know your place……!"
Tap.
He stomped the ground.
Chris had thought Kevin was unrelated to this matter.
But if Kevin, who had no right to be here, showed the spirit of a warrior who refused to give up even after years of dedication to the sword, then the story changed.
He needed to end this decisively.
Kevin would regret his mistake for the rest of his life, with the miserable result of losing a limb.
Chris was fast.
A streak of light.
In an instant, he closed the distance and swung his sword at Kevin’s shoulder at a speed Kevin couldn’t react to.
One arm.
The price of his mistake.
Just as the wooden sword was about to cut through Kevin’s arm, Kevin took a step forward.
"One step forward."
Thud.
"……!"
Chris’s eyes widened.
One step forward.
That was the dead zone.
It was like sticking his head into the path of the falling sword, similar to the scene when Roman had defeated Chris.
Yet Kevin didn’t hesitate.
Even though he knew he might die, he took that step to secure a position where he could attack before his opponent.
And then.
"Attack with all your strength."
He followed the last command.
Kevin gritted his teeth and swung his sword from below, aiming for his opponent.
The crude strike split the air as it aimed for Chris.
A moment of life and death.
Their bodies tangled.
The result.
Crack!
The sound of something breaking echoed.
Along with the scattering droplets of blood, a man’s body fell backward like a puppet with its strings cut.
A split-second victory.
The winner was.
"You stubborn brat."
Chris.
With a look of exhaustion in his eyes, he saw blood flowing around Kevin.
The sparring was over.
Fortunately, Kevin’s life wasn’t in danger.
By a hair’s breadth, Chris’s wooden sword had grazed his forehead, tearing the skin, but the follow-up attack was blocked by the wooden sword, allowing Kevin to survive the crisis.
The wooden sword had shattered from the powerful strike.
And with the kick that pierced his abdomen, Kevin, overwhelmed by the accumulated pain, rolled his eyes and fell backward.
He was tenacious.
Despite his crude skills, his will to fight to the end stirred complex emotions in Chris as he looked at Kevin.
Chris’s victory.
Roman, while tending to Kevin, said, "As promised, if you want, I’ll start teaching you tomorrow. From now on, the choice is yours."
That was the end.
Roman acted as if Chris wasn’t even there, busy treating Kevin’s wounds.
It was an ironic scene.
Roman had pushed Kevin to the brink of death, yet now he treated Kevin as if he were someone precious.
"……Why did I even fight?"
Chris, back in his quarters, fell into deep thought.
At first, he had intended to defeat Kevin to gain Roman’s attention, but the unexpected turn of events left him confused.
In truth, this sparring match was a loss no matter how you looked at it.
Even in victory, Chris had gained nothing, and for a moment, he had been overwhelmed by Kevin’s tenacity.
Especially during the final exchange.
In that moment, Chris was reminded of a memory from the past.
‘It was just like Roman.
The decision to step into the dead zone was both a perfect attack and a defensive move.’
If.
If he hadn’t experienced the same thing with Roman before.
Chris, though ashamed to admit it, wasn’t sure he could have perfectly dodged Kevin’s attack without using mana.
The memory of the past became experience.
He had replayed the situation countless times in his mind, allowing him to react quickly, and Chris had managed to dodge Kevin’s attack and counter.
In that process, a strange thrill ran through him.
Even though his opponent was just an ordinary person, Chris couldn’t help but laugh hollowly at the realization that he had grown stronger than before.
Roman hadn’t taught him anything.
Yet.
He was improving.
The one experience of fighting Roman had become the foundation for his growth, and he had become a swordsman who could respond differently in the same situation.
Not only that.
‘Looking back now, Kevin’s decisions were all very appropriate.
I thought Roman hadn’t given Kevin any instructions, but that wasn’t the case.
If Kevin had been just a little faster and stronger, that one decision could have made me the loser.’
He revisited the memory of the sparring.
Imagining failing a surprise attack and being countered, Chris thought of other ways to handle it.
Those moments.
He analyzed them.
Breaking them down, he tried to understand how Roman had viewed him.
‘I thought Roman was just the fool of Dmitri, as the rumors said.
But after losing to him and now sparring with Kevin, I’m convinced.
Roman isn’t just a genius.
It’s beyond common sense, but he’s reached a level even my master, Knight Commander Jonathan, can’t approach.’
Roman’s level.
It was beyond comprehension.
It wasn’t just about physical strength; the realm of the mind Roman had reached was on a different dimension.
What was he seeing? Just by crossing swords with Roman once, and now trying to understand Roman’s judgment through this proxy sparring, Chris’s mind was filled with countless lessons.
It was a world he hadn’t experienced while trapped in the well.
The more he analyzed his own experiences, the more pure admiration he felt for Roman.
Roman.
The meaning of his words became clear.
It wasn’t just about guarding his side, but about finding a way to grow stronger by observing him.
"Was I really this stupid?"
He chuckled bitterly.
Thinking about it now.
Roman had given many hints.
Even in the process of teaching Kevin, there were many things Roman had said as if for Chris to hear, but in the situation of teaching the basics, Chris hadn’t been ready to accept them.
It was a rejection born of prejudice.
As a swordsman who had reached a certain level, even though he had bowed his head to learn, he hadn’t been in the right mindset to receive the teachings.
But now he knew.
Just by observing Roman and realizing and improving on his own, he could reach a different level.
"……I, Chris, still don’t truly understand you. The Roman Dmitri I remember was a pathetic man, called the fool of Dmitri, but the person you’ve shown me recently is beyond my comprehension. One thing is certain: I acknowledge you. From now on, by your side, I will steal and learn everything until I surpass you."
It was a vow to himself.
Speaking to himself, Chris set a new goal.
And the next day.
Chris went to Roman and said, "I don’t need your teachings. I will find my own way to grow stronger by following you."
That day.
Chris thought.
Until he surpassed Roman, he would live by Roman’s sword.
But did he know? That this impulsive declaration would become a lifelong oath, deciding the master he would follow for the rest of his life.
In the future.
The Flash of Cairo, who would make a name for himself across the continent, had decided his future at a young age.
And time passed.
A week later.
The day of Varko’s social party arrived.