Ikki bowed his head, seemingly deep in thought.
His expression was so focused that he didn't even hear Hoshiharu's words.
"Oi."
Only after hearing the voice did Ikki suddenly wake up and see Hoshiharu standing in front of him.
"Unlike you, your senses have become so dull!"
Hoshiharu looked at Ikki's scared expression and said in surprise.
Ikki was a swordsman, and an excellent one. His senses were very sharp. Unless he was 100% focused on thinking, it was impossible for him to show fear with his usual expression.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something and daydreaming."
Ikki smiled bitterly, then an apology appeared on his face, "What did you just say? I didn't hear it clearly."
"I asked Stella why she didn't come."
"Oh, I woke up early this morning and finished running without waking her up."
Ikki patted his cheeks, as if to focus his distracted attention, and answered Hoshiharu.
Looking closely, there were indeed sweat stains on his black inner shirt. Judging by his physical condition, he must have gone through quite an intense workout before the sweat appeared.
"Um... What were you thinking about?"
Hoshiharu groaned and then asked hesitantly.
"Why do you say that?"
"After all, I'm also a swordsman. I can still see you were in a daze."
Hoshiharu said honestly.
Whether someone was focused or not would be clearly reflected on their face.
The most convincing proof was that teachers could always tell if you were daydreaming in class.
"...It was that obvious."
Ikki felt a little surprised hearing this, and then showed a somewhat helpless expression.
"You're right, I am worried about today's match... but it's not a problem, I will definitely win."
Ikki's first round would be held this afternoon.
Hoshiharu suddenly realized after hearing this, "Are you too stressed?"
"It would be a lie to say there's no pressure."
Ikki thought for a moment, his expression becoming a bit complicated.
"After all, my opponent's Noble Art is very restrictive against me. This will definitely be a tough fight, but that's okay. I've found a way to beat the opponent."
For Ikki, this was a fight he couldn't afford to lose.
Shinguji Kurono had promised him that as long as he could become the Seven Stars Sword King, he would be allowed to graduate from Hagun Academy. This was an opportunity he had been waiting for a long time, and he would seize it even if it meant risking his life.
He had great ambitions, but ambition can sometimes become a very heavy burden.
In just the first selection round, he faced a highly unfavorable opponent. The opponent's Noble Art was very limiting, which made him feel a bit uneasy.
The ideals he carried now became a huge pressure on his shoulders.
He would think about something so seriously that he became unaware of his surroundings, even not noticing footsteps. He was probably thinking of a way to defeat his opponent.
In his opinion, he had found the weaknesses in his opponent's Noble Art and figured out a way to attack them.
"Let's do our best together."
Hoshiharu knew that Ikki was a very independent person, so he didn't say much when he saw this, he just cheered him on.
"Together?"
"Well, didn't you know? The opponent I will face tomorrow has very bad compatibility with me."
Hoshiharu helplessly spread his hands and said with a troubled expression: "Anyway, unlike you, I haven't found a way to attack the opponent yet."
Totokubara Kanata, his opponent in the first round.
Hoshiharu had asked Touka about the other party's Noble Art. When he found out, he was shocked and unconsciously felt immense pressure.
In the end-of-year ranking list at Hagun Academy last year, Kanata ranked second after Touka. They were the only B-Rank Knights at Hagun Academy before this year.
Not only that, they had all participated in "Special Recruitment" and had several confrontations and battles with terrorists. Their standards were completely different from other Student Knights.
And most importantly, her Noble Art.
Her Noble Art greatly restricted swordsmen like Hoshiharu, and it was so unpredictable that he still couldn't think of an effective strategy.
"So it's Totokubara-senpai? Indeed, if I met them, I would be in a lot of trouble... Facing someone like that, I'm afraid the only way to solve it is with a quick attack, right?"
Ikki said this to himself, with a somewhat uncertain tone in his voice.
"That's what I thought too, but my intuition tells me it might not be like that."
Hoshiharu shook his head.
His intuition was very strong, and he could give incredibly precise instructions in battle, as if he could predict the future, which was enough to compete with King Arthur from the Type-Moon World.
His intuition told him that it might not be realistic to rely on a quick attack to defeat Totokubara Kanata.
"Then we can only say that we work hard together."
Hearing this, Ikki had no choice but to laugh helplessly.
He looked at Hoshiharu with a feeling of sympathy.
After they finished talking, they left.
Ikki packed his backpack and walked toward the dormitory.
Hoshiharu started his morning run alone.
Nene had to sleep in the morning and couldn't wake up early with him to exercise, so he couldn't borrow Jibakujin. Hoshiharu woke up early and couldn't take a break to avoid wasting time, so he came for a morning run.
As his feet continued to rise and fall, sweat gradually flowed from his forehead, his lungs heaved and contracted violently, and his brain gradually began to lack oxygen, quickly approaching its limit.
All the cells and bones in his body screamed to stop and rest. Pain attacked his entire body as if it could strike at any time. Hoshiharu ignored it and continued to squeeze the last bit of strength from his body.
Then his strength surged one after another, as if there were no limits.
'What does it take to win?'
His brain turned to mush, but such thoughts unconsciously surfaced in his mind.
Some people say that the first thought that unconsciously appears is what a person cares about most.
Even though he acted calm in front of Ikki, Hoshiharu's heart was far from open-minded.
He didn't really care if the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival was a sham, but he was very unwilling to lose.
Every time he lost to someone, his weakness would remind him of his weak, poor, and helpless self lying in a hospital bed as a child, and a strong feeling of reluctance would arise in his heart.
Wanting to win!
Absolutely must not lose!
Use every means and win at all costs!
In a daze, along with the emergence of stubbornness, his eyes gradually became clear, his feet seemed to gain strength again, and his gradually decadent steps stomped firmly on the ground.
What is called physical training, in the final analysis, is continuously breaking through one's own limits.