Chapter 80: The Cost of Perfection

Before the duel, I handed Cassian a lot of information.

It was something I had been doing ever since I came to the city.

The association had already provided some rough details about the opponent, but that wasn’t enough for me.

Their rank, what kind of sword they used, what classes they had taken so far, and how they had performed in them.

What kind of food they liked and what habits they had.

The bizarre intelligence network of the Abyss Secret Society never failed to impress me.

I was sure they had just as much information recorded about me.

For the sixth duel, Cassian faced someone from the fourth floor.

The longer someone stayed at the university, the more traces they left behind.

I picked out only the most useful details from the densely written reports and shared the key points with her.

And she won based on that.

Or at least, that was what I had hoped.

I wanted it to help her, even just a little.

She scored 100 points.

A perfect score.

That meant she had embodied the most beautiful and efficient movements I could imagine.

I watched Cassian as she busily packed her belongings.

By the time the sixth duel ended, her body was half in tatters.

Countless dolls had clung to her, treating her wounds—it had been quite the struggle.

But thanks to them, she was now in perfect condition.

Before, I had thought that scoring 100 points would mean every duel could be won easily.

That such a score signified there was no room for improvement.

But this duel had not been easy.

The fourth floor was an incredibly high wall to climb.

Her opponent had been preparing to leave the university.

For those of us who had only been here for five or six years, that was an unimaginably distant future.

And her next opponent had been on the fourth floor even longer.

They would be even tougher to defeat.

People like them had already begun to outgrow what I recognized as students.

If they were mages, they would be in the process of growing from saplings into fully developed trees.

It was said that mages could leave the fourth floor only when they reached the stage of a fully grown tree.

***

“We call that the molding stage. Right now, I’m in the forging stage. That’s how we build ourselves up.”

Cassian had explained as we watched the duel footage together.

Swordsmen categorized themselves into eight stages.

She was in the second stage, while her opponent had already moved toward the third.

As they gradually progressed, their bodies were tempered accordingly.

But there was something in the footage that couldn’t be explained by physical growth alone.

After all, if it were only about the body, Cassian was no slouch herself.

***

“Well then, shall we head to the city?”

Mira gently wrapped her arms around mine.

Cassian nodded, a slight excitement in her expression.

After the duel, I had carefully treated every inch of her body with magic, ensuring she was in top condition.

Right now, she was flawless.

And yet, I couldn’t feel at ease.

The road ahead would only get rougher.

We stepped out of the room and began to walk.

Following the familiar path and the familiar flow of magic, we soon reached the training grounds.

A large crowd was waiting for us.

They had gathered to watch Cassian’s duel.

Some waved at her, while others shouted to catch her attention.

She acknowledged their greetings as she stepped into the arena.

Under normal circumstances, those eager to duel would have approached my dolls and drawn a waiting number.

But today, no one did.

No one was quick to step into the arena.

Instead, a few individuals who had taken their spots were subtly gauging each other.

They were swordsmen radiating strong magical energy from their blades.

Upon seeing Cassian, they began to warm up.

Most of those who had taken an interest in her so far were from the lower floors—those on the first, second, and third floors.

That was why she had been able to win her duels so easily.

Of course, there had been a few challengers from the fourth floor.

But they had yet to fully adapt to it.

None of them had been as formidable as her last opponent.

The fourth floor was a place for preparation.

To graduate or to ascend.

That was why most of them focused on those goals.

They either wandered outside the city or dedicated themselves to personal training.

Her seventh opponent was one of them.

That meant we needed to be prepared to face such challengers in advance.

That was why we had requested the right to challenge fourth-floor residents.

The Blade Association had readily approved it.

And this was the result.

The expressions on the challengers’ faces were full of reluctance.

It was understandable.

From their perspective, they had been dragged into this.

And for what?

To fight someone from the mere second floor.

***

“Alright, thank you for waiting!

The duel is about to begin, so those who wish to participate, please pay your points!

The entry fee is 100 points. If you win, you get 1,000!”

I sent a command to my dolls as I made the announcement.

Mirror bugs flitted about, gathering applicants.

Even those we had summoned had to pay.

They handed over their points and smirked.

Perhaps they saw this as an easy way to earn 1,000 points.

The dolls shimmered with light.

The mirror bugs sparkled.

And through that glow, the first challenger stepped forward.

A man with a massive sword strapped to his back, larger than Cassian herself.

“I’ve heard a few rumors. I just hope you live up to at least half of them.”

He crossed his arms as he spoke.

His voice, amplified by the arena’s magic, echoed across the space.

Some in the audience booed upon hearing him.

Others clapped and cheered excitedly.

The atmosphere was heating up.

Cassian stared at him with her usual blank eyes.

There was no emotion in her gaze.

‘Over the past month, she had fought and won hundreds of duels.’

‘She had never lost.’

‘But would today be the same?’

“Hmm. That guy should be easy to beat. One arm should be enough, don’t you think?”

Mira, still clinging to my arm, spoke casually.

I glanced down at her.

She looked completely relaxed.

Beside her, the bear doll held a mirror bug in its hands, capturing Cassian’s image.

“One arm, you say?”

“Yes, so be prepared in advance. It’ll be over quickly. A lot of duels have been delayed.”

At those words, I opened my spatial pouch.

The shadow dolls, which had been waiting inside, crawled out.

They were the ones I had brought from my room.

The dolls stared intently at Cassian, their bodies partially activated with magic.

The moment the signal for the duel’s end came, they would rush in immediately.

The two on the arena slowly drew their swords.

Lightly pressing their blades together, they bowed their heads toward each other.

Then, they stepped back and locked eyes.

Tension rose in the silence.

Cassian was the first to move.

She took a step forward leisurely, as if out for a casual stroll.

The tip of her sword swayed gently, almost as if dancing.

Her opponent, responding to her demeanor, also moved slowly.

Then, in the next instant, his massive sword slammed down toward her.

Despite its size and weight, the blade moved at an astonishing speed.

Cassian twisted her body at the last moment, barely dodging it.

But even the sheer force of the wind pressure left a faint scratch on her arm.

His attacks didn’t stop.

They came one after another, heavy yet swift.

Amidst the relentless strikes, Cassian moved fluidly, creating a rhythm within the chaos.

And then—

The next moment was too fast for the eye to follow.

His sword closed in, aiming deep.

She couldn’t avoid it.

Her left arm was slashed deeply, exposing bone as blood spurted out.

But even in that moment, she used the pain to her advantage.

Exploiting the opening, she thrust forward.

Her sword pierced precisely where it needed to.

A hole was carved into her opponent’s neck.

He coughed up blood and stared down at the wound.

Cassian withdrew her blade.

As his life drained away with his blood, the magic embedded in the arena activated, forcibly separating them.

The emergency magic immediately began treatment.

Healing energy enveloped Cassian’s slashed arm and the fatal wound on her opponent’s neck.

But it wasn’t enough.

The shadow dolls rushed onto the arena.

They began treating the two, their healing efforts assisted by the arena’s magic.

Just as Mira had predicted, the duel ended swiftly.

Cassian had won with ease.

‘Or… was it really easy?’

I watched as Cassian’s torn arm gradually healed, as if time was rewinding.

Soon, it was completely restored.

She had used her own arm as nothing more than a tool.

***

“See? I was right. That was the fastest and surest way.”

Mira grinned.

I nodded and checked the duel footage.

100 points.

A perfect score.

In combat that relied solely on the body, she had already reached the level of a master.

But then—

She lost.

The one who took the thousand points bowed slightly to Cassian.

Cassian, her face covered in blood, smiled.

And after that, she lost again.

Even in defeat, she was perfect.

The mirror bug recorded another flawless 100 points.

Yet, she still couldn’t win.

Even as I watched it unfold, I couldn’t understand.

Cassian was faster.

Her movements were more efficient.

And yet, she couldn’t dodge their swords.

Mira called it a difference in depth.

Their depth crushed all the variations Cassian displayed.

It contained something that efficiency alone couldn’t grasp.

I didn’t know what that depth was.

I thought back to Aldric’s words.

He had spoken of will.

‘Hadn’t he said that Cassian’s will had yet to grow?’

***

In the next duel, Cassian won.

She scored 98 points.

She won despite her imperfections.

I couldn’t fully understand it.

I turned my gaze to the swordsmen stepping onto the arena.

I didn’t know how their swords evolved.

And honestly, I had no particular interest in knowing.

At the Tower, I only planned to use their strength.

Their magic was simple, after all.

I would just imbue that strength into my dolls, infusing their magic as well.

Something easy to understand and easy to use—that was my perception of the sword.

The same applied here.

The body was something easy to comprehend.

I thought that if I just kept adding everything I knew to it, perfection would be at the end of that path.

But that alone wasn’t enough to reach them.

I didn’t understand the source of their depth.

And if I didn’t truly understand them, I couldn’t help Cassian.

So, I needed to properly recognize what it meant to live as a swordsman.

Cassian brought down another opponent and smiled.

Her body was covered in wounds.

The dolls rushed in, pouring healing magic onto her.

The arena’s magic assisted as well.

And within that, she once again raised her sword.

The faces of the summoned challengers had changed.

Their expressions were now serious.

They gathered their magic, locking eyes with Cassian.

And so, the duels continued.

Some were fierce.

Some ended in an instant.

Some dragged on for a long time.

Through it all, she won and lost.

Seven wins, eight losses.

That was her record for the day.

It was also the day her undefeated streak was broken.

***

The next day, her battles became even more brutal.

More blood was spilled in the arena.

And it took even longer to heal her wounds.

But she won more than she had the day before.

And the day after that, she won even more.

I reviewed the growing pile of footage, staring at the score sheets.

80 points.

That was the score she received in her final duel of the day.

She had won that duel with ease.

The more she fought, the lower her scores became.

‘Why were her scores dropping?’

I checked the deductions recorded by the mirror bug.

Looking at her movements alone, the deductions were logical.

Her movements were no longer purely efficient.

They strayed further from the perfection I had envisioned.

But they were beautiful.

Something unknown to me was taking shape within them.

***

“Hmm, it looks like this combat analysis system needs some adjustments. We should add bonus points, not just deductions.”

Mira chuckled.

“Score sheet,” she murmured, then nodded to herself.

On the screen, Cassian wore a bright smile.

Yes.

At some point, Cassian had begun to reflect the forms of those she fought within her sword.

It was something I couldn’t comprehend.

It was something beyond technical perfection.

The score sheet couldn’t measure that depth.

I watched intently as she moved—graceful, flowing, beautiful.

Days passed.

The score sheet I had created was the result of accumulation.

It had been designed to optimize every movement and adapt to any direction.

After adding and refining countless details, we had reached 100 points.

I checked the score sheet.

The duels continued, but the recorded scores steadily decreased.

Cassian barely paid attention to the scores anymore.

She simply moved as she pleased, and within that, she found victory.

The day before her seventh duel, she lost only once.

And the next day—

Her seventh duel came to an end.

Cassian had won.

She scored 50 points.