Beat Brain

He hadn’t participated with any strong conviction to win. He just wanted the whole kingdom to know how strong he was. Then everyone would bow at his feet. But he met an unthinkable result: defeat.

His first defeat since grasping a weapon—no, perhaps the first in his entire life.

The one who defeated him was named Gazef Stronoff. He was the current captain of the Royal Select and known throughout neighboring countries as the strongest warrior in the region.

Up until their bout, both had amassed a pile of nearly instant wins. But their clash was a long fight that ended up taking all the time they had previously saved.

In the end, it was Gazef’s martial art Fourfold Slash of Light that decided the match. The fight was still talked of, but the fact that the lowborn Gazef was now captain of the Royal Select really said it all. It was such an impressive fight that even the nobles who detested the captain couldn’t say he was weak.

While the winner got the glory, for Brain, the loser, it was as if everything he had built up so far in life had been destroyed. Even though it had been a narrow defeat, he learned that he had only convinced himself there were no warriors stronger than him because he’d been living like a frog in a well.

***

Now, he had arrived at the furthest reaches of strength. He was sure he would easily be able to beat Gazef, but he didn’t let that make him arrogant; he never missed a day of training.

If he closed his eyes, he could see it: that tournament, Gazef’s elegant fighting, his figure as he smoothly evaded a blow no one had ever dodged before, the four slashes he’d unleashed at once.

***

Volume 3, Chapter 2