Chapter 55.2 Mars (1)
Proofreader: DreaMing
“Whoa…”
Mars caught his breath.
Neria was a strong opponent, just as Cloud said.
If she had been his real enemy, any mistake could have been a fatal one.
‘By the way, why is a person of this level hyung’s teammate?’
Although she is strong, she is far short of being an equal companion to Cloud. But, the question didn't entangle Mars for long.
‘Because of personal feelings…'
Mars got a little depressed.
It felt so cruel that even Cloud, who was superior to him in many ways, could not escape from his first love.
‘This is the cold reality that hyung mentioned…'
Just when Mars felt as if the world looked more gloomy.
“Hey, wait! One more time… just one more time. I'll do it right this time…!"
—Neria earnestly put her request to Cloud.
Cloud shook his head.
“Mars is tired. It will give you an advantage if both of you fight now.”
“…”
Not knowing what to say, Neria bit her lips and bowed her head.
“I can do it one more time.”
At Mars' words, Neria and Cloud's gaze turned to him.
“You cannot overdo it, understanding one's limit is a necessary skill too. You are already tired, right?”
“I’m not weak enough to get tired from just one match.”
"Oh? Alright, if you say so. Get ready, Neria.”
Cloud acquiesced Mars' words.
A guy who only wields a sword from morning to night, in the first place, wouldn't get exhausted just by this.
Neria and Mars pointed their wooden swords at each other again.
"…I'm sorry, but I'll be a little more serious this time."
Before the match began, Neria said to Mars.
Mars was puzzled.
‘That means she wasn't serious the previous time?'
He quickly understood the true meaning of those words the moment the match started.
"Ha!"
“Ugh?!”
Neria's movements were much faster than before. Mars raised his wooden sword and managed to barely block the strike. His wrists tingled.
‘Even the strength behind the sword is mightier..!’
That meant, the previous battle was fought with moderately controlled strength.
—to lessen the pressure on Mars.
Facing the fact, Mars felt slightly embarrassed.
But apart from his pride, it was also clear that there was a huge difference in physical strength between the two.
‘Strong.’
It was hard to follow Neria's movements with bare eyes. Blocking her attack was only possible because he could narrowly predict where her next attack would land.
‘But… not as much as hyung.’
He always experienced a particular feeling when fighting Cloud.
He felt like he will never be able to triumph over him no matter what he did. Like an insurmountable mountain stood before him.
Neria, who he was practicing with right now, did not give him that feeling.
Her speed and strength surpassed what Cloud possessed back then, but he never felt as if he didn't possess any chance of winning.
Mars licked his dry lips.
A want began to fill his chest.
Neria's wooden sword descended diagonally.
Mars pretended to block it, but suddenly slumped it's direction with his sword's edge. Neria eyes' opened wide and he saw her bewildered. Still, Mars didn't attack immediately.
His strength was far inferior to her.
He will only go in when he was fully sure.
[Slash]-!
Mars parried with his sword.
[Cross Sever]-!
With the first attack parried, he blocked the second one.
[Crescent Screech]-!
The relatively weak ones were blocked while the strong ones were avoided with minimal movement.
As he continued to do so, he began to visualize Neria's attack pattern in his mind.
The more he understands her pattern, the easier it will be to deal with her. After dodging the last blow of [Wolf Buster], he immediately swung his wooden sword. His sword stopped right in front of Neria's neck.
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence ensued.
Suddenly, Neria's wooden sword fell to the floor.
"Nonsense…"
Neria stepped back with a look of disbelief on her face.
Cloud approached her.
"Good work."
“But, Cloud, this… I…”
"I know. You didn't use your original strength.”
She is the Neria who has reached level 39 from the fights in the dungeon. Without willingly lowering her own strength, Mars would have been beaten and rolled on the floor before he could have even done anything.
The reason she was so shocked is probably because of the fact that she was defeated by Mars in simple swordsmanship.
Cloud comforted her by patting her shoulder.
“Swordsmanship isn’t your ace. Your synergy with a sword and shield is what you excel in, isn't it?"
"…yeah."
"Alright. So don’t be heavy-hearted. Go, go and have conversation with Eri and Ophelia.”
Cloud gently pushed Neria's back in the direction of Eri and Ophelia. Even with his comfort, her droopy shoulders didn't straighten.
Either way, Cloud turned his attention to Mars.
“You have improved a lot, uh?”
“It's all because of hyung. Truly, thank you."
Thanks to the money Cloud regularly sent, he was able to learn techniques and skills from the Swordsmanship Guild and devote all his time to swordsmanship training.
If it weren't for that, no matter how much talented he was, he wouldn't have grown to this extent.
Just when Cloud was about to give a pleased expression to Mars.
“To be honest, I think I can even defeat hyung now.”
Cloud's eyes twitched. He shook his head knowingly.
“Hehe. That's why they say don't spare the rod.”
“What do mean, hyung? You saw it before, too, how I won. I have also been thrashed by hyung, why can't I do the same? This may be the day I will do so.”
"Heh… heh heh…"
Cloud smirked at Mars' provocation.
He picked up the wooden sword that was lying on the floor.
“Yeah… let's take a look how much has our Mr. Mars grown up… Shall we?”
‘Mission accomplished!'
Mars smiled inwardly with a smirk of success.
He also wondered how much had he grown from before. He had gauged it to some extent through Neria, but he also wanted to know it through Cloud.
Of course, he knew he cannot win, but…
If he can force back Cloud even a little, he would be satisfied with that alone.
“Start?”
Cloud casually swung his sword in the air.
‘Huh? Why can I see the sword's trajectory?’
Mars subconsciously swallowed his saliva.
Maybe…just maybe, he can defeat Cloud today. Such expectations slowly rose within him.
“Yes!”
But—the moment he got hit, he realized that it was an illusion.
‘But, I saw it! I definitely saw it…!'
He sees it, but he cannot stop it.
Even if he sees it, there's nothing he can do.
This feeling of not being able to touch something despite of it being visible hit him hard.
‘…long time no see.'
Mars once again faced the sense of helplessness he had felt when fighting against Cloud in the past.
“Ugh! Hyung is evil! Aww!”
—from being thrashed left and right.
"I surrender! I surrender!!"
“A devil doesn’t accept surrender.”
“What are you talking about, hyung?! Hyung just has evil taste! You're not a devil, you're a human!"
“Humans eaten by anger are no different from devil. So for now I am a devil.”
"Hyung, what are you even saying?! Ouch! Ah, my bone! Hyung! It will really break!”
"It's alright though. We have an excellent nun who can neatly attach pieces of a broken bone together, with niche perfection. Should I ask her to prepare ahead of time, in case there are more broken bones?”
"Aaaah, help! Hyung has gone crazy!”
Mars came to the ultimate conclusion that he would drop dead if he stayed still like this and so, he ran for his life.
But…
“I think you misunderstood me because I’ve been rather still. You think I'm slower than you?”
Mars came to realise one thing—entity Cloud was faster than entity Mars, and so he had to go through a bizarre experience of being thrashed while running in desperation.
* * *
“Now, tell me.”
"…what."
Mars rubbed the egg on his forehead, replying in a disgruntled tone.
“Your worries.”
“Worries?”
“Don’t think I can't see. I can see everything from looking at your dull sword motions. You are worried.”
“…hyung is really talented. You noticed that, even though we clashed with swords only a couple of times.”
Mars chuckled.
“It’s just that a lot has been weighing on my mind lately.”
“What is it?”
“…I like Isabella.”
"I know."
“But I don't know if Isabella likes or will like me.”
“Weren’t you two very close?”
Mars took a deep breath.
“We are. But that might change later. Like hyung explained to me—world is fickle, that Isabella might fall in love with someone other than me… and I don't know what to do when that happens.”
Hearing Mars' words tinged in melancholy, I realized.
—that the doubt I had carved into Mars' mind in the past was rolling.
‘It’s time.’
The time has finally come to completely twist off Mars' ill-fated destiny.
* * *
“Why do we have to practice at a place like this and at this time?”
Mars let out all kinds of complaints.
It's justifiable because he was brought to the corner of the village in the late night hours under the pretext of training.
But I had a reason for bringing him here.
‘The time has come. Maybe it’s not today, or is it?’
If not today, I will have to bring him back the next day. Just when I was thinking about what excuse to make if things went awry.
‘Good! They came.'
I immediately pulled Mars and made him hide behind an obstacle together. Before he could say anything, I gave them a serious look and pointed to where they were.
“Mars… isn’t that that pink woman?”
“Ah, bro. Stop calling Isabella like that. Rather, why would Isabella be here at this… hour…”
Mars, who had been complaining, shut his mouth.
It's inevitable.
After all, he witnessed with his own eyes.
In a corner of village, Isabella and the handsome son of the baron, whose face literally glowed, were talking.
‘Fortunately, today was the right day.’
As the plot goes on, it is revealed that Isabella and the baron's son met and chatted once every three days at dawn.
It turns out, as of course to meet the needs of the NTR genre, that Isabella was compelled to follow because of the pressure from the baron's son, and there was nothing more to do than having a simple conversation.
Isabella didn't even enjoy talking with him and she was annoyed by his words, atleast she said so.
Though, the situation is probably the same now.
If you look closely, the baron's son is smiling all the time, but Isabella's expression was stale.
But the point is, that's not what matters.
What matters is how Mars feels from what he is seeing.
I turned and looked at Mars.
His expression, it was horribly contorted.
