NOVEL NEXT Chapter 61: Dex Virgo
Gabby thought to himself:
"I can finally dive into reading Tipsy Steel of the Grandmaster: The Art of Drunken Sword, Book 1 by Raron. I'm not aiming for anything grand, but I want to master this sword style as an alternative to the Heavenly Swordstyle.
No one must know that I'm a wielder of the Dragon's swordsmanship.
I spent eight straight hours reading, fully immersed in the book. I was able to understand the basics and learn the forms of the Drunken Swordstyle.
This sword style copies the unsteady, unpredictable movements of someone who looks drunk. Even though it seems clumsy, it's a very skilled and tricky way to fight.
The Drunken Swordstyle has six forms.
My conclusion? It looks more like a clown's dance and fun to watch, but not something you'd rely on in a real battle. It goes against the noble values of swordsmanship with its wild, tricky, and unpolished style.
It's also very hard to master. It takes great control, balance, and the ability to improvise.
Still, I managed to learn the basics and master three of its forms."
Someone knocks at the dormitory of Gabby.
It was Clara, his classmate.
Gabby has no interest of getting involved to her. But she got furious and began punching his door as she said, "Hey open up Gabby."
Gabby reluctantly opened the door and remarked, "You're disturbing the neighboring student. What do you want?"
"You saw it, right?" she asked.
Gabby thought to himself, "I'm glad that she's not referring to the Blood Pact we made. Of course it cannot be discussed, not even between the two of us."
He asked, "What do you mean?"
Clara sighed and said, "You're so dense. You know I can't control my mana. I was just lucky I managed to cast magic during the trial."
Gabby thought to himself, "I cannot refused on helping her. Afterall she might become a useful ally in the future."
Gabby paused, then asked, "You can't cast magic? Why not?"
He thought to himself, Magic affinity is a person's natural connection to a type of magic. It can be elemental, like fire, or based on a magical force. Clara's affinity is fire. Affinity can be strengthened through study, training, mentorship, experimentation, or even life-or-death situations. But having mana doesn't always mean you can cast spells. There are physiological, psychological and simply cursed/sealed reasons why someone might not be able to.
Clara hesitated, twirling her hair nervously. "I could cast magic when I was a child. But something happened. I hurt my brother by accident. After that, I couldn't use magic anymore. I was happy I managed to cast a spell during the trial exam, but I haven't been able to do it again."
Gabby replied, "Why are you asking for my help? I'm not a psychologist, but based on what you said, it sounds like your inability to cast magic might be caused by trauma, maybe fear. It could be a subconscious block. That's just my theory; one could make logical sense."
Gabby added, "You could talk to Saint Alchemist Yin Farrock or Professor Linda. I'm not a magic psychologist, so I don't really know how to diagnose or treat something like this."
Clara frowned and replied, "Yin? No way. He's such a prick. I'd never consult to him."
Clara asked, "I heard you were one of the two survivors of the Dungeon Portal. Congrats on that. But I'm still curious, how did you defeat the Blood Serpent during the trial exam?"
Gabby shook his head. "I didn't defeat it. I just knew its weakness. Blood Serpents are drawn to fear and the scent of blood."
Clara raised an eyebrow. "I know that. But how did you control your fear and your bleeding?"
Gabby tapped his temple and said, "It's all up here."
Clara sighed, realizing they were just going in circles. She turned around and said, "Good luck on the upcoming duel exam. Your opponent's a strong aura user."
***
[Senior Year, Elite Class]
A young man sat elegantly at the long table, a rapier resting at his waist. He remarked, "Von Granna is expected to fail. All that goody-two-shoes attitude and heroic ideals cost him his life. Such wasted potential."
His name was Dex Virgo. He had a sharp, well-defined face, piercing red eyes, and neatly tousled blue hair. He is around six feet and five inches tall.
Dex was the Student President of the Academy and ranked number one in every field—especially in swordsmanship. He was the wielder of the Virgo Sword Style, a noble household technique and one of the legendary Zodiac Sword Arts. It was said that the Zodiac styles were powerful enough to rival even a dragon's swordplay.
Recently, Dex achieved his fourth aura core and received the following blessings:
Title: Hero
Class: Swordsman
Subclass: Anti-Mage
He was now an ascended hero and had reached the Grandmaster tier. He is also projected to re-awaken as Superhero.
Across from him sat a guy slouching, his face resting on the table with his eyes closed. He muttered, "I told you, Von is no good. He's not even in the top ten of our Academy's current rankings."
His name is Stark Nixon. His ash-gray hair is slightly messy and often falls over his eyes, making it look like he just rolled out of bed—because he probably did. His pale blue eyes have a sleepy, half-lidded gaze.
Stark is a prodigy mage who has already reached the seventh magic core. He is the Vice President of the Academy and ranks second overall. His magic affinity is light magic, and he has received the following blessings:
Title: Hero
Class: Mage
He is also an ascended hero and has reached the Grandmaster tier.
Dex stared at the pile of papers containing names, pictures, and personal information about the Academy's junior students. The names included Jin Claye, Yin Farrock, Clara Sertu, and Claude Smith. He commented, "We've got a lot of talented students this year. I'm sure they can bring the winning formula for the upcoming Academy competition."
Finally, he looked at Gabby's profile and grinned, "I'm eager to meet him soon. A guy who survived the impossible survival escape with only a small, mediocre aura reserve, if that's really true."