Chapter 44: Maximilian

It had been a busy week.

He attended designated lectures and studied alongside fellow cadets, making for a substantial and fulfilling time as a cadet.

The weekend followed in a similar vein.

As busy a schedule as Maximilian had kept during his first weekend, Carl spent similarly busy days.

He was dragged all over the city from dawn to dusk, or invited to dinner events and banquets.

It was only after midnight that he finally returned to the dormitory, after a long stretch of engagements.

On the second day, he spent the early hours refining his martial art.

Since he had scheduled training with Maximilian after lunch, he used the free time to care for his progress in the Primordial Unity Divine Art.

‘Academy is stable and NOX is on track. The issue lies in this.’

Carl’s current top priority was reaching 3‑stars in the Primordial Unity Divine Art.

By absorbing the Crystal of Frost, Yin energy seeped into the Bright Heaven Divine Art.

Together with the Demonic Fire of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, which possessed extremely Yang nature, he had obtained contrasting properties.

He wondered whether integrating Yin and Yang affinities along with correct principles and demonic energy could result in a more perfect synthesis.

“…But it’s not happening.”

Seated cross-legged in the training ground, Carl let out a wry smile and opened his eyes.

He could clearly sense that he was touching the realm of 3‑stars.

Yet he lacked just one small step.

If he could just unlock the shackles binding his ankles, he felt he might attain full 3‑star status.

Unfortunately, he had no clue what key could loosen that shackle for now.

“…Hoo.”

Carl exhaled deeply and drew back his internal energy.

Perhaps he could find the key and reach 3‑stars as soon as tomorrow, or, if unlucky, remain stuck for a year.

Cultivating a Divine Art of this caliber didn’t rely on intellect alone.

Luck, wisdom, timing, spiritual essence…

Only when all factors aligned could one finally stand at the starting line.

‘I wonder what kind of identity the Grand Founder who created such an outrageous martial art had.’

Carl smiled wryly.

The more he mastered it, the more he felt how absurdly powerful it was.

Had he instead studied the Silent Shadow Kill Technique or even just the Heavenly Demon or Bright Heaven Divine Art separately, he would have reached 6 or 7 stars by now.

But he was struggling even to reach 3‑stars on the Primordial Unity Divine Art.

Still, it offered power unmatched by other arts.

If he reached 3‑stars, there would be no match for him nearby.

“The first obstacle might be Instructor Prahan, I suppose.”

That monstrous power was comparable even to top experts in the Central Plains.

Within NOX, only a handful could match that level.

‘King is out of the equation. He entered NOX already fully formed.’

King was a wandering swordsman.

In fact, recruiting him into NOX after coming to Artenia was perhaps their greatest fortune.

Currently, like some absent Black Label members, he was away on a mission Carl had requested.

King required no brainwashing or isolation measures.

There was never any worry of betrayal.

Carl secured his loyalty by fulfilling King’s deepest lifelong wish.

King pledged to spend the rest of his few remaining years in Carl’s service—but Carl believed he would live robustly for decades more.

“King will return in about half a year.”

Meanwhile someone had secluded himself in the deep mountains to train.

Except for King, the strongest asset of NOX: “Ace.”

He was Carl’s successor in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art lineage.

“He must be approaching mastery now.”

It was two years ago when he reported reaching 4 stars—so he might soon enter the realm of full proficiency.

In terms of Heavenly Demon Divine Art progress, he had nearly caught up to Carl.

Queen, who inherited the Silent Shadow Kill Technique (the precursor to the Unkillable Mu‑ak), had entered 5 stars this year.

Jack, who inherited Bright Heaven Divine Art, had also reached 4 stars like Ace.

However Bright Heaven Divine Art, being based in righteous principles, only exploded in strength when one reached at least 6 stars.

Carl had taught Jack because their personalities suited it—and was surprised by how well they matched.

He had also taught the key officers of Black Label various martial arts, and now they had reached their stages.

As time passed and breakthroughs occurred, explosive growth was forthcoming.

Carl was quite eager for that day.

Thump.

Time was nearly up, so he rose from his spot just as the training ground’s doors opened at good timing.

“Hah!”

Maximilian entered with his usual greeting.

But he wasn’t alone.

Gale trailed behind him, waving casually as he came in.

“I refused to be alone, so I dragged him along.”

“I came to spectate because there was supposed to be a spar.”

Simply watching others spar sometimes helped.

“Perfect. A crowd makes it more lively.”

Carl liked having spectators—it improved the atmosphere.

“Gale, would you like to spar later as well?”

“I wasn’t planning to interrupt. But if you two finish, I’d be fine.”

“Very well.”

Carl nodded readily.

Maximilian and Gale were ranked 31st and 35th respectively.

Their ranks were extremely close, one could say separated by a tiny difference.

Even by pure skill they were nearly even.

“Have you warmed up?”

Maximilian asked, lightly loosening his shoulder and leg joints.

“No. I was meditating.”

“Meditation is good. I always do at least twenty minutes a day—it clears the tangled mind.”

“Indeed?”

“…What’s with that look?”

“It’s just not the image I had of you, Maxim.”

“Oh come on, that’s harsh. I can be serious when I need to.”

Grumbling, Maximilian picked up a wooden training sword from one side of the training ground.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

Carl caught the sword mid‑air and swung it in place.

The wooden sword was made of solid iron but not sharpened.

Still, a solid hit could easily snap something.

‘It’s the first time sparring with him directly.’

Watching Maximilian briefly shake out and loosen his body while swinging the sword, Carl narrowed his eyes.

He had already roughly assessed Maximilian’s skills during Instructor Prahan’s “Understanding of Combat” class.

Maximilian’s sword style was extremely aggressive—one could even call it extreme.

From start to finish, he launched a relentless offensive to overwhelm and crush his opponent.

It was the classic form of a Dominating Sword Style.

“Well then, shall we begin?”

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll give the signal.”

Standing a little distance away, Gale raised his hand.

And as the edge of that hand dropped toward the ground—

Tadat—!

Maximilian sprang forward first.

Carl had already anticipated it, so he stepped back and raised his sword.

Chjeong—!

A slash, launched with full force from the outset, collided with his entire body.

Carl, lifting himself into the air to minimize the impact, gave a wry smile as he saw Maximilian swinging again.

‘So straightforward. And earnest.’

How could someone be this transparent?

It was almost admirable.

Kang! Kang!

The usual light-hearted grin and silly jokes were nowhere to be found.

Only a fierce determination to defeat his opponent remained in those eyes, staring at him.

‘A very commendable attitude for a swordsman.’

Defeat the opponent.

What more was needed than that?

That kind of momentum in Maximilian had something in common with assassins.

Assassins also focused solely on killing their targets.

With a bit more refinement, he could make a truly good assassin.

Chjeong!

The blunt blades clashed with a thunderous impact.

It was rough enough that one wouldn’t believe it was a spar.

However, there was still something lacking.

‘It’s unrefined.’

Maximilian’s momentum was excellent.

It would be extremely effective against someone of equal or lower skill.

But against someone more advanced, he would be easily countered.

In fact, when he had charged at Instructor Prahan, he had been knocked away and collapsed after just one swing.

‘Simply overwhelming your opponent with momentum isn’t everything.’

Timing of breath and control of strength mattered.

Human senses were relative in nature.

Rather than delivering constant, steady blows, adjusting intensity and landing a single powerful accentuated strike could produce better results.

But Maximilian currently lacked that.

It looked like he was trying something in his own way, but his proficiency was far too low.

‘Still, it seems he’s aware of it.’

This was something like insight that one had to discover on their own.

Once experience piled up and he began to draw his own sword path, his completeness would increase significantly.

Thunk.

Carl’s body, which had been continuously pushed back, eventually reached the wall of the training ground.

‘Carloss’s’ skill was just at the threshold of the top tier.

It was only natural that he would be pushed back against Maximilian’s aggressive onslaught.

The flashes of brilliance he had shown until now were not due to physical ability but rather clever decisions in positioning and timing.

‘…This is fun.’

Carl twisted his body to evade the sword descending from above.

Sparring with Maximilian while self-restricted, he realized many things.

Within the available choices, he maximized efficiency and honed the details of his sword path.

When even that wasn’t enough, he learned to retreat or escape decisively.

Rather than training with weighted gear, this brought a more complete and effective burden to his entire body—making it highly efficient training.

Kang!

But there was a limit to the skill he could reveal.

In the end, the sword flew from Carl’s hand, and the spar concluded.

“…I lost.”

Carl panted roughly and raised both hands.

As he lifted his shoulders to show exhaustion, Maximilian, who had also wiped the sweat off his forehead, smiled brightly.

“Phew. That was tough. Your guard was solid—it was hard to break through.”

“You both did well. Maxim had the advantage from beginning to end, but Carl wasn’t easy either. Some of those sharp counters gave me chills.”

“Yeah. It felt like he was using his head more than his body to wield the sword. If we were on equal footing, I would’ve lost.”

“…Maxim’s pressure was so overwhelming that I was on the defensive the whole time.”

“Well, can’t be helped. That’s just my style.”

When Carl complimented him, Maximilian quickly grew boastful and swung his sword in style.

“So don’t get too down. I mean, your opponent was me.”

“…Haha.”

Carl let out a dry laugh.

Maybe this too was part of Maximilian’s charm.

“Look at him getting cocky already. So annoying. Don’t you agree?”

“A bit, yes. I’d like to see him crushed by someone’s sword one day.”

“…Hey, isn’t that a bit harsh?”

Maximilian pouted at their brutal assessments.

Even that reaction was so like him that Carl couldn’t help but chuckle.

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