Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 88 (Part 1):
The early classes of the second year of the Swordsmanship Department were a mess due to yesterday’s disturbance.
The competition at Greta Academy is fierce.
In the public training ground of the second year of the Swordsmanship Department, several students came out to supplement their insufficient training, swinging wooden swords or dueling.
“Huh? That guy.”
“We can see everything from here.”
As soon as Helmut entered, gazes poured out with murmurs.
The number of people in the Swordsmanship Department who had spoken to Helmut could be counted on one hand.
From the moment he transferred, it was known that he was a commoner, so it was easier to just ignore him, as most of the students in the Swordsmanship Department, who are mostly nobles, had never even exchanged greetings with him.
Helmut, indifferent to the pouring gazes, stood in a reasonably spacious vacant spot and held a wooden sword.
The training ground is a wide open space with thin grass on the floor. There was enough space to train.
‘Should I practice the continental common swordsmanship?’
Although he occasionally practiced it for disguise, Helmut usually practiced Darien’s swordsmanship.
It was a high-level and difficult swordsmanship that could not be compared with the continental common swordsmanship.
Although it was quite familiar to his body, he had not yet realized its essence.
By the time Helmut realizes the essence, he will have reached Darien’s realm. It seemed quite far off.
Anyway, it is impossible to unfold Darien’s swordsmanship in front of others’ eyes.
‘There’s not much progress.’
There were many obstacles. Helmut’s current skill was thought to be about a first-rank mercenary. At best a second-rank mercenary?
There is said to be a huge gap between a first-rank mercenary and a second-rank mercenary.
Although it is not large in scale compared to its reputation, there were only two second-rank mercenaries in the Pace Mercenary Corps.
‘Should I ask Ethan for a duel?’
Although Asuka has a lot of talk about being a demon talent and virtually the top student, he wasn’t a particularly impressive opponent for Helmut.
It’s hard to say that he has better skills than Max or Paul.
‘Let’s start with this first.’
Helmut put away his distracting thoughts and stood upright.
Even without pulling up the bis, an extraordinary energy was felt from the standing posture.
Perfect balance of upper and lower body without flaws. He had undergone rigorous training under a demanding teacher.
Helmut’s hand moved slowly. The continental common swordsmanship unfolded perfectly from his hand.
If the stride, speed, and movement of the upper and lower body do not all match, it is impossible to perfectly unfold any swordsmanship.
Usually, they swing the sword quickly and powerfully to cover up even a little gap.
But Helmut was different. He valued balance in the sword.
It’s okay to be a little slow. It’s more important to have no mistakes than to go fast.
Only by solidly building the basics can you pull out what you have learned in your body without hindrance in real-life situations where you are likely to be flustered or shaken.
In that respect, Helmut had outstanding combat ability compared to his experience, even though he had not fought much in person.
He had fought in various ways, whether against different kinds of monsters, multiple opponents, or one-on-one.
Monsters have few vulnerabilities in the first place. Strong body, few vital points compared to humans, which made it imperative not to make any mistakes on this side. Humans, on the other hand, had vulnerabilities all over their bodies.
Once you became familiar with those vulnerabilities, you hardly showed any openings when facing anyone, no matter who you are up against.
After all, most humans move slower than monsters. The top monsters of the Forest of Roots, like Naho, moved their bulky bodies as fast as hawks.
Helmut, who had fought such monsters, could somehow cope with humans.
Rather than being instinctive, he was taught to handle the sword firmly and thoroughly.
‘Was it okay?’
Helmut put away his wooden sword. His body was hot because he had swung with all his nerves.
He was strained as the muscles in his limbs adjusted to achieve perfect balance.
He was taking a leisurely breath, and he felt several presences approaching him.
‘Is it a fight?’
There is no instructor here. It wouldn’t be bad to warm up from the morning.
When Helmut raised his head, someone cautiously called him.
“Hey.”
It’s a familiar face. It wasn’t the Sabbat gang of the same second year of the Swordsmanship Department.
There is no hostility in the eyes. Rather, he looked at Helmut with a gaze tinged with a feeling similar to liking.
“Hello, I’m Nabil, a second-year student in the same Swordsmanship Department.”
“Hi.”
Helmut replied dryly. As soon as it was confirmed that the other party had no intention of picking a fight, he was relieved.
There was a lot of time left until class. He didn’t want to go in after just swinging the sword once.
He didn’t want to be disturbed. Helmut decided to end this conversation quickly.
“Do you want something?”
“No, just saying hello. It’s the first time I’ve seen you here.”
“My name is Bruce.”
The boy standing next to Nabil quickly interrupted. Both were taller than Helmut by more than one finger and had a sturdy physique. And they are nobles.
Helmut seemed like he could distinguish between commoners and nobles.
But what did that matter? He felt slightly annoyed.
“You know my name, and I want to practice swordsmanship. If you have something to say, say it quickly.”
Although the voice was calm, the content sounded arrogant.
However, the second-year students of the Swordsmanship Department who approached Helmut were not very offended.
The hierarchy was implicitly established due to yesterday’s incident. In terms of skill, Helmut was superior to them.
The second-year students of the academy, not the transfer students, had a dull sense of discrimination according to their status.
At first, they shunned Helmut, known to be a commoner, but it was a feeling that could be overturned by skill.
Helmut’s noble appearance also contributed to that.
Asuka has the skill, but his speech and attitude are vulgar, making him a difficult opponent for the nobles to accept.
Like a crazy dog, he couldn’t resist an opponent without biting them.
On the other hand, Helmut calmly accepted the quarrel and retaliated in his own way in the duel. It was a very legitimate, swordsman-like method.
Regardless of Helmut’s intention, it seemed plausible to them.
The tone of ignoring the other party is arrogant, but it feels more like a manifestation of confidence than vulgarity.
The appearance of practicing from the morning also looked neat and serious like the son of any sword.
And the beautiful appearance that perfectly digests the school uniform.
If it weren’t for Sabbat, who was fiercely arguing whether he was a commoner or not, the students would not have kept their distance from Helmut, even if he was a commoner.