Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

"It's not that far off. At least I was once on the same level as those gods who seem so high and mighty to you, and that god might even be someone I knew." Sorin said mysteriously, "In other words..."

"Let's put all that aside for now, Sorin. Right now, there's only one crucial thing." Eugeo stared intently into Sorin's eyes, then suddenly brought his face close to Sorin's and asked with concern, "Are you... still angry?"

"I'm not angry anymore, you idiot."

Sorin's voice suddenly became incredibly weak, and a barely perceptible blush crept onto his cheek. He reached out a hand, pressed Eugeo's head down, and pushed him away, then turned his head away and coughed lightly a few times.

"And next time, don't use such an easily misunderstood method! At least have some self-awareness towards me or yourself, my friend!"

However, Eugeo ignored the shouts. He moved slightly around to Sorin's back and patted him hard on the shoulder.

"Is this the energetic Solin I usually see? So, shall we continue our casual shopping spree today?"

"You're really weird. You're already out here and you're not even enjoying yourself. Do you expect me to take you back now and then beat you up with my sword?" Sorin retorted irritably, then bumped his fist against Eugeo's outstretched right fist. "Check out and let's go! We still have a whole day to have some fun. It's a shame there's a curfew at night, otherwise maybe I could show you around some nightlife."

"Great! I've been looking forward to this day for ages!" Eugeo's face was filled with excitement. Seeing that Sorin had recovered, he was in a very good mood. "By the way, what do you mean by nightlife?"

"In truly bustling metropolises, nightfall is often just the beginning of the day, you know? Only at night do you have the chance to spend a wonderful evening with the girl you like, making you feel happy and relaxed. Of course, your nightlife now consists of nothing more than chatting and gossiping with me in the dorm. That's why I say that schools with nighttime curfews and morning dorm checks are simply despicable."

"Wow, is it really appropriate for you to say these things to me now, Solin?"

"Sorin said mysteriously, then took his hand and walked out of the restaurant. The sunlight outside was as bright as ever, just like their mood at that moment. While Eugeo marveled at what Sorin had said, he couldn't help but feel an unprecedented curiosity about what Sorin meant by "the homeland that can only be returned to by contacting God."

"Hey, Solin, if you ever have the chance to go back to your hometown, could you take me there?"

"Sure, I'll definitely take you there sometime. It's a much more amazing place than here!"

Imperial Sword Cultivation Academy, February 5, 380 of the Human Realm Calendar

As evening approached, Sorin and Eugeo finally made it back to their dorm before curfew. Actually, it wasn't really a rush, as there were still about two hours until curfew.

"Why are you in such a hurry to come back? I think we could have played outside a little longer," Eugeo said somewhat dejectedly. "Is there something urgent?"

"No, I'm just feeling a little tired." Sorin sounded very tired. He shook his head slightly and then urged Eugeo, "Go back to the dorm and wait for me. I'm going to take a walk outside."

Despite his forced elegance, his soft, limp tone carried an undeniable air of conviction, which Eugeo also sensed. So he obediently walked towards the dormitory gate, giving Solin a final word of advice before leaving.

"Be careful, I'll be waiting for you."

Sorin leaned against a tree and watched Eugeo walk into the dormitory. After he had walked away, he said in a slightly louder voice, "Although I don't know who you are, you've been following us all this way. Let me see who you are."

"As expected of the 'Sword Dancer of the Silver Moon,' such keen perception truly impresses me."

A familiar, irritating voice came from behind a tree on the other side. He looked closely and saw that it was the guy who had been bothering him ever since he enrolled—the young nobleman Leos, whose exact title he didn't know.

"I don't think there's anything to be proud of in discovering a second-rate stalker who can't even conceal his presence." Sorin's cold voice echoed through the forest. He glanced at Leos casually, as if the man wasn't even worth his attention. "So, Mr. Leos, is there something special about finding me on such a quiet moonlit night?"

“Even if you flatter me with these words now, it cannot cover up the fact that you verbally insulted me and my servants at dinner yesterday.” Leos adopted an arrogant posture, glancing sideways at Sorin with a look that made him very uncomfortable. “According to Imperial law, I have the right to challenge you to a duel on the day of the graduation test. If you are fortunate enough to win, then it will be considered that nothing happened, but if I win…”

"I demand that you become my servant, the kind who cannot resist his demands in any way."

“Although I don’t know why you think I offended you last night, since you’ve said that now…” Sorin suppressed his barely suppressed laughter and pointed at Leos with his right hand, “It seems you haven’t seen what real verbal offense is yet. I might as well show you.”

He gave a faint smile, then leaned back, his laughter transforming into a wild, arrogant roar. Leos sensed something was amiss, and for the next three minutes, he experienced an unprecedented barrage of trash talk. Before this, he had never even imagined that sacred incantations used for chanting could be used to verbally abuse someone.

He stood there, stunned, completely bewildered by Solin's barrage of insults. He couldn't utter a single effective word in response, or rather, every time he tried to retort, Solin forcibly interrupted him and continued to hurl even more exaggerated and vile insults.

"You're a damn nobleman. You have the same face whether you're practicing swordsmanship or eating. I can see right through your (horse.jpg) piss, and you're still talking about yourself here? You want me to be your servant? Does that mean if I win, I can say I'll be your father from now on? Sorry, I can't do that. I feel annoyed just looking at a son of yours. What's with all your confidence? I just don't understand. Do you really think you're invincible because you've merged with your sword, little brother…"

Two minutes later, Leos realized that, in essence, Sorin had no way of refusing his duel request, so he could have left long ago instead of standing there dumbfounded and getting yelled at.

"It's meaningless to gain an advantage in words for a moment. Just you wait, you'll pay the price for your words and actions sooner or later."

After uttering those words, Leos slunk away. Sorin, who was also planning to rest for a while, stopped interrogating Leos's soul with the abstract Bible and watched him disappear from the grove.

“Yeah, I know it’s pointless to be eloquent, but it makes me feel good. Would I be this happy if this idiot hadn’t come knocking on my door?” Sorin said, then suddenly looked at another tree behind him. “Don’t you think so, Eugeo?”

“…I should have come with you. Now the feud is officially set in stone.” Eugeo sighed, walked to Sorin’s side, and looked at him with a strange emotion in his eyes. “Now you’re forced to duel him.”

"Are you kidding me? Do you think I'm afraid of him? Let me tell you, the only thing I'm worried about right now is that I might not be able to resist killing him in a duel." Thorin replied irritably, but he certainly couldn't speak to Eugeo in the same tone as before. "Actually, I'm a very refined and easy-going person. I rarely swear like this. It's just that he deliberately chose a time when I was in a bad mood to come at me like this, so I certainly can't give him a nice look, right?"

“But he is a nobleman after all…” You could still hear the worry in Eugeo’s voice. “At least don’t be angry now. What exactly did he ask of you?”

“He said if I lost the duel, I would become his servant, the kind who can’t disobey his master’s demands.” Sorin said, glancing angrily in the direction Leos had gone, and added, “I can tell what that bastard is thinking. It’s disgusting, that hermaphrodite rotten ass.”

"What does that mean?" Eugeo asked, puzzled.

"You're still young, there are some things you don't need to know. You'll understand when you're older," Suolin said, feigning profundity, before walking straight towards the dormitory. "Hopefully, I haven't been late to the point where I need to explain to the dormitory supervisor why I'm so late. Speaking of which, I feel like my sense of time is getting worse and worse lately. Is it really true that you can't live without a watch?"

"The same answer again. But are you really confident you can win completely? I've heard of duels like this where the two sides fight with real swords."

"Just kidding, I'd be lucky if I didn't beat the shit out of him."

Imperial Sword Cultivation Academy, February 6, 380 of the Human Realm Calendar

Time passed quickly. On the day of the assessment, Sorin carefully carried all his training equipment and shouldered his combat weapons, namely the "Black Feather" series crafted from the branches of the Gigas Cida. As always, he woke up much earlier than Eugeo, and after organizing his own equipment, he began to check Eugeo's weapons.

Not long after, Eugeo also woke up. After living together for so long, the two had long since reached a tacit understanding. For example, Eugeo simply greeted Sorin and went straight to the washroom. After spending some time washing up, he followed Sorin to the cafeteria, which was quite far from their dormitory.

The cafeteria was still packed, and their chatter was louder than usual. Eugeo listened carefully and realized they were only talking about one thing: the upcoming duel between Leos and Sorin. Clearly, Leos had spread the word, and judging from the current public opinion, the situation seemed quite unfavorable for Sorin, with almost everyone siding with Leos.

There was only one thing that was somewhat comforting—almost no one thought Leos could beat Sorin.

"Just eat quietly and don't pay attention to those messy discussions. Anyway, that guy definitely can't beat me." Sorin said confidently, but then he made a strange request to Eugeo, "Take your sword with you when you go back after you finish eating. You might need it."

"Is it for you?" Eugeo asked doubtfully. "But your Black Feather... should be about as powerful as Blue Rose, right?"

"It's you who needs it. You don't need to know the specific details; I just want to speed things up."

Sorin calmly answered Eugeo's question, then pressed his index finger to Eugeo's lips, stopping him from pressing further. In fact, he could vaguely sense that this was a scheme by Leos against him, and he roughly understood Leos's intentions. Unfortunately, however cunning the scheme, it was as pale as a blank sheet of paper before absolute power.

Just as the two were having their meal, Leos wandered over to them again, indicating that he had probably finished breakfast long ago.

"It seems you're not afraid at all, even though you're confronting me, a nobleman..." Leos's tone was as annoying as ever. He stood to Sorin's side, his right hand slowly reaching towards Sorin's cheek. "If you're afraid, just admit defeat now and agree to be my servant. What do you say...?"

"Are you dreaming?" Sorin swatted Leos's hand away without hesitation, then bluntly retorted, "Looks like you didn't understand a word I said yesterday? Should I repeat myself here, you careless idiot who lost his mother?"

"you!"

"You and your little brother can't even speak properly, it's really fxcking, it's hilarious..." Sorin interrupted him mercilessly and continued his sarcasm. Just like their last exchange, he didn't intend to give Leos any chance to retort. "It seems you still don't understand the essence of talking to me. You don't seem to understand that if you want to talk to me, you have to sacrifice yourself (horse.jpg). But in the short time you've been talking to me, your (horse.jpg) has already flown up to the sky and is hanging on that big tree by the door. Did you see it?"

"..."

Leos fell silent instantly, and Sorin, seeing that Eugeo had finished eating, pulled him out of the cafeteria, leaving an embarrassed Leos standing there. Once outside the cafeteria, Eugeo's worried voice rang out.

"This is a slap in the face for him in front of all the students in this grade. Are you really planning to have a complete falling out with him?"

“I don’t care, or rather, it was a foregone conclusion that we would fall out as soon as he confessed his love to me when he enrolled in school.” Although Sorin still had a smile on his face when he said this, Eugeo felt that the smile looked dangerous no matter how he looked at it. “Although you can see that I don’t want to break this peace, this bastard really angered me.”

"Alright, since you know what's going on, I won't say anything more." Eugeo shrugged helplessly, then returned to their dormitory, took the Blue Rose Sword from under the bed, carefully wrapped it in a cloth, and carried it on his back. "Shall we go now? Or should we find a place to practice and warm up first?"

"I'd love to spar with you for a while, but being late for such a crucial exam is obviously not a good idea." Solin put on a good boy's act for the moment. After saying that, he followed his memory and headed towards the training ground.

He had actually thought it through long ago, but he hadn't made up his mind because of Eugeo's ideas. As early as when he heard that "Alice was brought to the Central Cathedral because she violated the Taboo Index," he had already considered the plan of "violating the Taboo Index once and thus quickly getting to the Cathedral" as an alternative.

The reason he hadn't done so before was simply because he didn't know the exact strength of the forces in this world. However, after he and Eugeo had traveled together and witnessed many seemingly strong opponents being defeated one by one, he became increasingly eager to put this plan into action, and now could be considered the perfect moment.

There's also this blind idiot who can't even tell if he's male or female, and he needs to be taught a lesson. Of course, Sorin doesn't intend to kill this guy; his killing intent isn't that strong yet. However, if he manages to injure him with his sword, that would be considered a violation of the Taboo Index, meaning the Integrity Knights would have every reason to take him away.

The reason he made Eugeo take the sword was simple: he was giving Eugeo a chance to catch up with him. If Eugeo didn't want to come, he wouldn't react excessively. But if Eugeo did react excessively, he would definitely follow Thorin to the Central Cathedral.

"In other words, the choice is yours. But you, who still regret not being able to intervene when the Integrity Knights took Alice away, will probably choose to be a hero for even just a few seconds now... In that case, the story might get more and more interesting from here on out."

Imperial Sword Cultivation Academy, February 7, 380 of the Human Realm Calendar

February 14th, sunny. Suitable for secret rendezvous, unsuitable for fighting.

"You've arrived."

Yes, I've arrived.

"You shouldn't have come."

"But I'm already here."

Sorin had just imagined such a scene, but then he remembered that his opponent was just a weakling, and that feeling vanished instantly. The entire demonstration was now complete. For Sorin, suppressing the apprentice swordsmen of his first year on a purely technical level wasn't difficult, and the same was true for Eugeo.

And so, the academic year test, which should have ended after the martial arts demonstration, ushered in its most exciting part, something that hadn't been seen in many years. The people here hadn't heard of a commoner daring to offend a nobleman in a long time, let alone forcing one to the point of a duel with real swords.

"I think we should just get straight to the point; there's no point in dragging this out."

Sorin stood in the lower left corner of the arena, his rapier pointing at Leos, his tone icy cold, sending a chill down one's spine even in the late spring.

"Kizmare Silver Moon Sword Technique, Sorinmarkov—reporting for duty!"

"High-ranking Norkia, Leos Tran—reporting for duty!"

This was the first time Solin had publicly revealed the official name of the so-called "Nine Swords of Dugu." Before this, even though everyone thought that the Nine Swords of Dugu seemed to be a rather unorthodox, fabricated name, Solin had never told them about it.

Eugeo noticed this and looked at Sorin, whose eyes looked incredibly serious, as if the person standing in front of him was not a second-rate swordsman who was unskilled and acted arrogantly because of his noble status, but a sword saint as strong as him.

He drew his jet-black longsword, "Black Feather," and with a soft shout, charged towards Leos like an arrow released from a bow. Everyone present gasped in astonishment. In their eyes, while Sorin was strong, he wasn't quite this strong. This near-human-limit-limits dash had already taken their breath away.

However, Leos remained unmoved. He lowered his stance, shifting his weight, intending to take Sorin's attack head-on. It was clear that the initial exclamation had transformed into a scream tinged with terror.

"Clang~"

A crisp metallic sound echoed through the air. The moment the two swords clashed, the unusual straight sword in Leos's hand instantly began to shatter at the point where the two swords met. Finally, the entire tip of the sword flew off in an unpredictable direction, and Leos's previously confident gaze turned into one of terror.

"How is that possible! This is the most powerful weapon passed down through generations of my family. I'm just a country bumpkin from the forest. How could I possibly possess such a powerful weapon!"

Everyone heard the desperate cry. Through Leios's friendly explanation, everyone present understood what had happened. But Leios, who was now certain of defeat, showed no sign of frustration, as if the hysterical cry he had just made due to the sudden disappointment after having too high expectations was just an illusion.

No, it wasn't just a lack of frustration. His eyes now held a look of smug satisfaction. But no one present understood why Leos still had the courage to stand there at this point.

Only he himself knew what he was up to… that's what he thought, but Sorin also knew what he was plotting. By using this method, which was no different from staging an accident, to incur the taboo, and then sending himself to the Central Cathedral, he would have one less enemy. Although this would completely ruin his plan to get Sorin, it was one of the things he was happy to see—that this commoner who had completely humiliated him would receive the lesson he deserved.

Of course, Suolin later realized that he had overthought things, but in the end, it didn't have any impact.

"Come on... cut it off! Anyway, Father's holy healing magic is quite powerful. As long as I don't die here on the spot, I can watch the lovely Miss Sorin pay the price! She will be mine... she must be mine..."

As he thought this, he quietly began chanting the incantation for a sacred first-aid spell. Everyone saw him freeze there, motionless, while Sorin's blade continued its relentless descent towards his chest.

As the blade fell, crimson blood spurted skyward, and a huge, horrifying wound appeared on Leos's chest. He instantly let out a hysterical scream, glaring at Sorin with eyes filled with resentment.

“You… sinner, that’s right, a sinner who dared to harm a nobleman with a sword!” He knelt on the ground, hissing in a low voice, “Humbert! What are you standing there for! Stop that bastard who hurt me!”