Chapter 90

“[Let’s have a match.]”

After that battle in Act 4 of Part 1.

Silence became a Stingray Special Scholarship Student following my proposal, and he no longer openly tried to kill me.

However, that was only what could be seen on the surface.

I knew that the resentment he had long harbored in his heart had not completely disappeared.

That was only natural.

If forgiveness were so easy, then those often called prophets or saints would not be revered so highly.

‘It seems he still hasn’t completely let go of his grudge against me.’

He appeared to still be in a state of confusion, having realized that he could not do anything to me with his own power.

“……Fine.”

If it was for him, I could spare this much time.

When I nodded, Maria—without me even instructing her—took it upon herself to rent the remaining training ground from the Academy.

As soon as the application was approved, we moved to the training ground, where we stood facing each other with some distance between us.

“[Module Online.]”

As he muttered, a dagger suddenly sprang out from beneath his wrist.

The sharply honed blade glinted menacingly under the lights.

In addition, faint heat haze began to rise around his body.

“Start when you’re ready.”

On the other hand, I did not bother to activate my trigger-type modules.

Not only did I deactivate things like [Cloud Spider] and [Techblade], but I also disabled a few others to reduce my specs.

Noticing this, Silence muttered in dissatisfaction.

“[Don’t hold back—fight me with everything you’ve got.]”

“If I fight you with everything I’ve got, you’ll die.”

“[…]”

Silence didn’t respond.

Even knowing the truth of that, it was something he had said out of sheer pride.

Without giving any signal, he suddenly launched himself forward.

“[Hup!]”

With a short shout, Silence closed the distance in an instant.

I stood still and watched as he swung his blade, then reached my hand forward toward it.

Ka-aang—!

Bare hand met blade.

The blade that had looked so sharp failed to pierce my Skin Armor Module and bounced away.

“[Kgh!]”

Silence quickly regained his stance.

I could have taken that chance to subdue him, but I allowed him time to readjust.

Before long, he made his next move.

“[Module Online. Volatile Blurrs.]”

“[Module Online. Snake Foot.]”

Silence’s figure soon vanished into the shimmering haze.

Along with it, the sound of his breathing, his footsteps, and every trace of his presence disappeared as if erased by a rubber.

‘As expected, impressive.’

A high-level optical camouflage module.

It seemed to be at least Lv.3 military-grade, and the fact that he could handle it so skillfully showed that he had reached quite a level among his peers.

‘But this isn’t enough.’

At this level, he could still be fully detected by my ocular scanner.

It might be enough to evade most human senses, but it could not avoid the sensors of thermal cameras or electromagnetic wave detectors.

Therefore, Silence’s movements were clear to my eyes—creeping carefully to my back to minimize any trace of presence.

And in the next moment.

He dashed in swiftly once more, aiming for the back of my neck.

I clicked my tongue and spoke to him.

“That’s the wrong choice, Silence.”

I deliberately didn’t block it.

Once again, sparks flew as his blade clashed against my Skin Armor Module.

With a sharp metallic sound, Silence’s attack bounced away.

“[…]”

“By now, you should’ve realized that your attacks can’t pierce my armor.

Yet you still rush in with the same method—that’s foolish.”

Just before Silence could retreat from his failed attack, I threw a light punch into his abdomen.

“[Kghhh…!]”

That alone brought Silence to his knees, collapsing to the floor.

In pain, he dropped his dagger and clutched his stomach with both hands, his body trembling.

His optical camouflage faded.

“Get up.

This isn’t the end, is it?”

“[Huff… huff…! Damn it!]”

He barely managed to pick up his dagger and stand again.

The LED mask covering his face was glitching with static due to errors.

“[Damn it, so this level of modules still isn’t enough?]”

“It’s not a module problem.”

I explained calmly to him as he grumbled.

“You’ve developed a bad habit.”

“[W-What…?]”

“No matter how much better you arm yourself with new modules, if you keep fighting like that, you’ll never be able to beat me for the rest of your life.

No, not just me—before long, you won’t even be able to beat your junior, Iri.”

Silence’s talent was on the exceptional side.

Among the students admitted to the Academy, he ranked among the more outstanding ones.

But he narrowly fell short of the realm of “genius.”

If Iri or Aaron Stingray stood with one foot firmly in the realm of “genius,” Silence was at a level that barely grazed it, if at all.

He had stepped beyond the realm of the “average,” yet he was slightly lacking to set foot in the realm of “genius.”

Well, when he first entered the Academy, he must have been one of the more formidable students.

Although it was never depicted in the novel, I could guess that when he was a first-year, he had received offers from multiple corporations.

‘But he took the wrong path.’

Obsessed with revenge, he rejected those corporate offers and neglected his self-improvement.

While the other students steadily honed their skills, he continued to drift aimlessly.

And that wasn’t all.

Because of his continued use of junk chips, his body had deteriorated greatly.

Twisted facial muscles could be concealed with a mask, but the deep traces left within his body could not be hidden.

Judging there was no point in continuing, I relaxed my stance and spoke to Silence.

“Let’s stop here.”

“[What? W-Who says so?!]”

“It’s just a waste of time.

Fighting like this won’t bring you any improvement at all.”

“[We won’t know unless we keep going!]”

“You think something will change just by repeating this kind of spar?”

Habits are frightening things.

By the time you’re a third-year in the Academy’s Tactical Combat Department, your body and techniques are already so ingrained that it’s hard to branch out in another direction.

He had already gone through numerous live-combat training sessions in class and survived several crises.

Through that process, Silence must have gained and refined his own know-how.

‘Silence is different from Iri.’

Iri was still only a first-year.

Her brain might not be as absorbent as in her early teens, but it was still flexible.

Teach her, and she would learn; she could still acquire new skills.

But unlike her, Silence’s habits had already sunk deep into his body.

The most obvious example was…

“For instance, your gait. When you step, your balance leans ever so slightly to one side. That way you can reduce your presence, but you have to give up a level of speed.”

“[W-What?]”

“I’ll show you. Watch closely.”

I quickly moved my legs and closed in on Silence with far more precise footwork.

In less than 0.1 seconds, I had covered several meters, making Silence flinch and back away from me.

“This is my way. At this distance, you should be able to rush in at once without bothering to hide your presence.”

“[…]”

“That’s not all.”

Saying that, I snatched the dagger from Silence’s hand.

Gripping it in one hand, I lowered my stance.

“The weakness of an adaptee depends on the module. Since you confirmed that my armor is thick, you should have attacked somewhere other than the skin armor.”

“[S-Somewhere else?]”

“Yes, for example, the most effective target is the eyes.”

I made a light thrust toward Silence with the dagger held in a reverse grip.

Just before the blade could pierce his LED mask panel, I stopped at the precise spot.

“If you can’t aim for the weakness properly, you should have chosen a different kind of weapon.

Analyzing the modules your opponent has equipped and devising countermeasures is the most basic of basics.”

“[…I already know that.]”

“Knowing it but failing to act on it is the same as not knowing. Your sword movements may look sharp at a glance, but they always follow the same trajectory. A fighter with good instincts will notice instantly and use it to counterattack.”

“[…]”

“So you were aware of it. And yet you didn’t fix it? There’s only one answer.”

You know, but your body can’t follow.

In other words, your body is broken.

“You’ve developed strange habits while trying to adapt your damaged body from junk chip use. By forcing your old techniques onto your current body, you’ve ended up with something that’s neither one nor the other.”

“[If I fix the habit…]”

“If it were that easy, you wouldn’t be in this state right now.”

Silence clamped his mouth shut as if I had hit the mark.

I returned the dagger to him and said,

“The spar ends here.”

“[B-But…!]”

“I’ll say it again—continuing in your current state won’t change anything.”

Then I gave him my advice.

“Focus on treatment, Silence.”

“[Huh…?]”

“For now, instead of adding more modules or honing your skills, you should focus on repairing your damaged nerves and muscles.

I’ll introduce you to a hospital.”

“[H-Hospital?]”

“Did I say something strange?”

“[N-No, it’s not that…]”

An embarrassed emoticon appeared on Silence’s face.

“[Y-You’re not serious, right?]”

“I am serious.”

“[Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve already looked into how much it costs to treat my body! Basic treatment alone costs at least several hundred million credits, and there’s no guarantee of a full recovery…!]”

“Pocket change.”

I answered with a smirk.

Silence’s mask displayed a dumbfounded emoticon.

“[Wait a sec. Sure, I know you’re rich, but that’s way too much money to spend on just one student!]”

“A special scholarship student. Not just any student.”

“[…]”

My answer must have been unexpected, because Silence’s emoticon changed to a stunned expression.

The way the emoticon’s mouth flapped in confusion was amusing.

“[I-I tried to kill you. You know I still haven’t given up on that goal, right? And yet you’d spend that much money to heal me?]”

“Didn’t I already promise to help you kill me?”

“……”

At that, Silence fell silent completely, staring at me like I was insane.

That wasn’t exactly the reaction I had hoped for.

“If you ask Maria, she’ll introduce you to the hospital. Start treatment today. Don’t worry about the cost.”

“[W-What are you…]”

“It’ll take a fair bit of time, but you’ll be far better off than you are now.

See you in two weeks.”

With that, I left the training ground.

Even then, Silence kept his eyes fixed on my back.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep