Chapter 62: “She lied to you, from beginning to end.”
Looking at the shattered manikins, Will crossed his arms and looked with satisfaction at Treya’s surprised expression—though surprise didn’t seem to stand out much on her face.
Although it appeared to be an unplanned encounter with Treya, Will had actually specifically inquired about Treya’s sword skill training grounds and then worked his way in this direction.
Her practice time was indeed fixed; if she said she’d practice at this time, she would be there. Even if there was a banquet in the evening, she didn’t take the opportunity to slack off.
However…
Treya truly lived up to her reputation as a half-elf beauty from the original work, who seemed to come with her own filter whenever she appeared.
While Will had seen quite a few beauties, such as Iaar, whom he thought would surely be beautiful if she dressed up a little, or Liya, who already had the charmingly cute face of a witch.
But…
Someone like Treya, who stood on the ground and looked like a beauty detached from the mortal world at a glance, was something Will had never seen before.
Especially her long silver hair and face, which was fairer than most people’s, truly made one think of the noble elves encountered deep in the forest.
But…
Once he remembered that such a cold and aloof young girl’s coldness and distance were actually caused by some of her absentmindedness…
Will wanted to say more strange things to tease her.
There was nothing more interesting than seeing a cold half-elf make repeated mistakes because of your strange words, right?
Treya stared at the silver sword in her hand, still trying hard to figure out where she had gone wrong.
“How can this be…”
Treya glanced at Will.
He stood there with his arms crossed, seemingly waiting for her to figure it out herself.
The sister who taught her sword skills often did this, making her ponder.
So, she lowered her head to look at her sword again.
However…
She couldn’t find the answer on her own.
After about half a minute, Treya slowly raised her head.
“I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand?”
Will spoke in the tone of a kindergarten teacher, as if coaxing a child.
“Clearly… clearly the method of drawing the sword was correct, the strength was correct, and the speed and trajectory after drawing the sword were also correct. It shouldn’t be like this.”
Treya was stubborn and even counted on her fingers, meticulously checking each step.
“The ‘correct’ you’re referring to, what is its reference point, your sister?”
As Will spoke, he pulled out five more manikins from the training rack nearby.
“Sir, how did you know I have a sister?”
Treya looked at Will, confused.
“Right, how did I know? Want to guess who I am?”
“Aren’t you ‘a passerby who knows a little about sword skills, an ordinary person’?”
“Mhm, mhm, that’s me, that’s me.”
Will nodded. While speaking, he had already placed three new manikins in their original positions.
Two of these manikins overlapped with the one he had just adjusted, and the other three were placed in the positions Treya often used during training.
“Do you want to try again?”
“Yes.”
Treya was a little unconvinced. Now that he had reduced the manikins to only three, could she still…
*Whoosh.*
Will could feel the sword wind raised by Treya as it blew past him was even sharper than before. It was evident that Treya had put all her strength into this sword strike.
—As expected of a swordsman highly praised in the original work.
Among the three heroines, Iaar clearly had the lowest starting point. As for Liya, although she had a high starting point, she sometimes took unconventional paths, often slacked off, and messed up. Only Treya was considered the mainstay of the original team.
Although a bit naive, because of this, Treya possessed a seriousness and focus that was second to no one.
But…
Even the strongest sword wind, the most serious attitude, and the most diligent effort couldn’t change the outcome.
There were still two manikins left on the field, although this time the remaining manikins were not the same as before. One of them was placed in its original position.
Will crossed his arms, satisfied with this result.
Of course, he was even more satisfied that the expressionless, indifferent Miss Treya actually showed a remarkably obvious look of shock.
It wasn’t strange for this to happen.
Will had realized that Treya’s Entak 11th Style: Slash was incorrect after just one viewing.
Of course, with his sword skill exam score being the lowest among all exams, he naturally couldn’t discern the rightness or wrongness of the sword skill itself.
He judged it by the results.
In the game, when he performed this move for Treya, the area affected by the multiple slashes formed a hemisphere. Objects in the center of the hemisphere would receive a slasching attack equivalent to the total number of objects within the hemisphere—it was a quite powerful area-of-effect skill.
This also matched the description in the original work where Treya used this move against a swarm of ice flies.
Hmm… However, Treya’s current slashes…
No matter how you looked at it…
Uh…
Were planar?
Or rather… a plane with a certain thickness, but not wide?
It was as jarring as inputting an incorrect data value on the z-axis.
And coincidentally, the manikins she placed, though seemingly chaotic and random, were all on the same plane—as if meticulously designed to lead Treya deeper into the pit the more she practiced.
Therefore, he repositioned two manikins. If the previous manikins were considered a plane, then these two would inevitably be outside her slashing range.
However, considering what she just said, her current slashes were not self-taught but taught by her sister.
Will seemed to have some insight into how Eugenie had tricked Treya at the banquet back then.
She had deliberately taught Treya a sword skill that was fundamentally flawed!
Then, at the banquet, when Treya refused, she specifically brought this up to make her lose face in public, thus naturally leading to her breaking off the engagement.
It was a complete exploitation of Treya’s absolute trust in her.
And Treya…
Will watched her. She didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with the sword skill itself. She remained standing in place, chin in hand, thinking, without directly asking Will.
She frowned in thought and often bit her lip lightly.
Treya’s facial expressions and movements were subtle. If one didn’t observe carefully, one might think she always had a poker face, but by closely examining the details of her expressions, it was easy to read her thoughts.
For example…
Will guessed that she was currently perplexed—but given her personality, she wouldn’t suspect her sister Eugenie; she would only think she herself hadn’t done well.
Finally, Treya’s brow relaxed, and she looked up.
“Sir, do you know the reason?”
As someone aiming to be an excellent swordsman, Treya was extremely serious and would never give up this learning opportunity.
Even if the other person was a stranger she had met for the first time today.
Even if, no matter how you looked at it, the other person was just a child of similar age.
Even if the other person’s palms clearly showed they didn’t practice sword fighting often.
Even if, judging from his tailored suit, the other person seemed too thin and likely not strong.
Since he could point out her shortcomings, she had to humbly seek his advice.
Therefore, Treya still spoke in a humble tone.
“I do. Hmm, the principle behind this is quite complicated, and I could talk to you all night, but I found the reason long ago, and it’s simple…”
“Okay. Please tell me, I’m listening.”
Treya nodded seriously, her pointed ears seeming to perk up.
“Because what you learned wasn’t the true Entak Sword Style. From the beginning, you learned it incorrectly.”
“…Impossible.”
Treya refuted Will’s words almost instantly. Although she spoke softly, Will could still hear her resolve from her reaction speed.
“This was taught to me by Sister Eugenie… that renowned adventurer, Eugenie, known as the Red Demon Sword. It cannot possibly be wrong.”
Will crossed his arms and nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, yes, yes, it’s that Eugenie of the Red Demon Sword.”
He had been waiting for this statement.
“Hmm… However, Miss, have you considered…”
Just now, Will had been maintaining a distance from Treya. As he said this, the small leather shoes he wore made a “creak” sound on the road.
Then…
He approached Treya, step by step.
This was the first time Treya had encountered a man so close to her—even her father didn’t keep such close proximity.
He carried an unsettling and fearful aura, and with each step he took, Treya’s heartbeat skipped a beat.
Finally, he stood within one step of Treya.
Will was slightly shorter than her. He tilted his head up, his gaze passing just over the rim of his glasses, making his stare appear exceptionally strange and unsettling.
“Your sister… she lied to you, from beginning to end?”
