The Night Sky Swordsman (Sword Art Online X OC)

Chapter 58 Swordsman's Pride

No one's POV

The Main Training Hall of Swordcraft Academy at the disciple testing tournament. Zora stopped near the lines of the southeast arena that Volo had picked out, where at least fifty students had already gathered. Given that it was still before curfew on a day of rest, this probably represented all of the student body currently on campus.

There was another surprise waiting. Among the students were Raios and Humbert, those nasty upper-class nobles. They were probably back early because their mansions were close by. They were seated in the front row, leering with anticipation. The desire to see Volo cut Zora open was written right on their faces.

In fact, Zora had no regrets about boldly accepting Volo's rules. In that situation, Zora couldn't possibly have brought himself to any other choice. Instead, a different kind of indecision now plagued him.

Zora(mind): Should I fight Volo or not?

There was definitely a part of him that yearned to challenge the greatest swordsman at the school. In fact, the one of reason that he'd journeyed from Rulid in the far north down to Centoria was the desire to fight against mighty opponents.

But at this moment Zora had a different desire, much stronger than the one to cross swords with Volo. He wanted Sortileina to beat Volo in her final match. Zora wanted her to win and be free of all the tangles surrounding her family name and style. In the entire year that he'd been serving her, she had never once shown him a true, unburdened smile.

Volo was examining his sword at the other end of the arena while Zora grappled with his inner dilemma. He heard Liena call his name and snapped around to attention.

Sortiliena: Zora.

Zora: Liena-senpai.

Sortiliena: Zora, I believe in your strength. Since I believe in your strength, I'll teach you something. There's a family rule hidden within Volo's Levantein family. "Soak this sword in the blood of the mighty". "Doing so will make their power your own".

Zora: B-blood, huh?

Sortiliena: That is right. Volo has no doubt been through many first-strike duels with naked blades, dating back to before his days here. It is that experience that creates his tremendous power. And he intends to turn your own skill into blood to feed his blade as well.

Zora(mind): I see. The power of his imagination, huh?

It was hard to grasp precisely what she meant by that, but Zora was able to convert her metaphor into terms that were more familiar to him. It all came down to the power of the mental image.

Zora(mind): Liena's skill was tied down to a mental image that said, "The Serlut style is an offshoot created because we were forbidden from using orthodox styles." While in Volo's case, the Levantein family message was, "The stronger a foe's blood you feed to the sword, the stronger it becomes."

Sortiliena: He's planning to convert your sword strength into blood, absorb it, and feed on it.

No doubt that when Volo saw a bit of Zora's combination skill and his high- priority blade in the forest clearing, Volo figured that he had found a suitable target. If it weren't for the fact that he had picked Zora out as an easy mark, Zora might have even been honored by the attention. In other words, if Zora took a direct blow from Volo in this duel and shed blood, it would only further strengthen his mental image.

Zora:...

And this outcome was highly, highly probable. Zora didn't want to give the enemy a morale boost just before Liena's final match. Zora was just preparing himself to take back his previous statement and beg to use the stop-short rules when Liena's hands patted him on the shoulders.