Rogue Villain-Chapter 316: Wall

’...I see.’

Ackster didn’t know how long he had been practicing his swordplay. But after a while, he noticed that his sword was no longer making whooshing sounds as it tried to cut through the air. His swings were completely silent. They were also frightfully faster than before.

Ackster was no longer trying to cut the air. He was doing it. His sword cut through the air like light. His sword’s path was no longer obstructed by something as annoying as air resistance.

’I guess this is what he was trying to show me.’

After more than a year, Ackster finally realized what the Sword God had been trying to teach him. It wasn’t something as outrageous as Will. The Sword God really was just cutting quickly. He could probably have slashed slower when trying to teach Ackster, but he wouldn’t have cut through the air then.

’I’m a fucking idiot.’

But Ackster couldn’t blame himself. Compared to cutting through the air, Will was a lot more versatile. And if he hadn’t learned Will, Ackster wouldn’t have Ichor. A lot of things would have been different, but Ackster stopped dwelling as he focused on his sword.

Learning to cut the air gave Ackster a new sense of awareness of the air flowing around him. It wasn’t just the air he felt. He also felt something beyond the air. It was so faint that only when he Limit Broke his Overhuman Senses as much as he could did he notice anything.

But Ackster had a hunch as to what that was.

It was the world.

When Ackster could touch that barrier, he would reach the necessary level for making Covenants.

’It’s not far away, I guess.’

But it wasn’t time to try and reach that wall just yet.

Cutting the air with his sword had given Ackster the enlightenment he needed to advance his martial arts to the next step.

His sword wasn’t meant to clash and transfer force to his target. It was meant to cut through it. He had been using his sword as a club. No wonder it didn’t work. It was like trying to eat soup with a fork.

That was only the start of Ackster’s enlightenment. He also understood a clue regarding the true nature of the Unimportant Whatever Art that Bo had passed on to him.

He wasn’t only imitating the movement of water in his moves and as he transferred the force of his strikes in various ways. Ackster couldn’t be completely sure. But he wasn’t the only thing that was supposed to be water.

Whatever he attacked using the standard move of his martial arts rippled with the force of his strike. It was almost like the ripples in water.

After understanding and enlightenment, it was obvious enough to make Ackster cringe. If he treated his target like water, his attacks would be a thousand times more effective.

If the rock he attacked was made of water instead of stone, it would ripple and splash in every direction, unable to withstand the force. If he tried to cut the stone, assuming it was a sturdy stone or he wasn’t using brute force, his sword would only strike the stone and let out a clanging sound. Maybe his sword would break or chip. Or the stone would get a scratch.

But if the stone was water, Ackster could cut through it with ease.

It didn’t make complete sense since a stone wasn’t water, and neither was anything that Ackster attacked. But they didn’t need to be. He only needed to treat them as if they were.

Ackster knew he needed to practice. But he could tell that this stage of his martial art was an application of the mind more than the body. He had to convince himself, his body, his sources, and his weapon that his target was made of water.

How difficult could it be when he had learned Will through sheer willpower? He had also convinced himself that as long as he did his best, he could stand a chance against The Hero and save the world. That had proven to be true, even if it seemed impossible at first.

Ackster gripped the sword tight before relaxing and holding it with barely any force. His eyes were still closed, but he sensed the ground and the world around him using his sense of touch in his feet.

Ackster took a stance. It was gentle, steady, slow, and smooth. But the others had trouble keeping up with his movements as he took that stance. He wasn’t that much faster than before. It was just that it was difficult to tell how and what he moved. It was like trying to follow one spot of water in a seemingly calm river with fierce undercurrents.

A moment later, in a blue, misty streak like a spray of water, Ackster’s sword cut through the air in a rainbow-like movement before crashing straight into the ground.

Wilma and the others winced as soon as they noticed Ackster’s strike. They expected a loud clang to ring out just like the other times.

But it was dead silent.

There was no sound when cutting water, was there? Why would there be a sound now?

Ackster opened his eyes.

He raised his sword.

He couldn’t help but be disappointed.

The ground wasn’t cut open. However, there was a faint mark as thin as a hair on the ground where he had struck it. It was a lot better than all of his other attacks combined.

Ackster’s lip twitched into a smirk.

As long as he made progress, he could continue forever until he made it through the island to where Mastrax was hiding. With the defensive properties of the ground, combined with the fact that it was the only possible place for Mastrax to be, it was clear that he hid underground.

Ackster was going to find him, beat him up, and convince him to help them save the world.

’Annoying lizard.’

Mastrax deserved a good beating for being so stubborn and making them waste so much time.