CHAPTER 389: A BIG LEAP IN MASTERY

"How can wind speak?" — that’s the question every warrior who attempts to train in the Gale Whisper Sword Style asks themselves at some point.

The very first sentence of the style’s teachings drops them into what can only be described as a riddle: "Flow like the wind." Those four simple words are enough to make many warriors abandon the style altogether.

They don’t understand what it truly means. Flow like the wind... how does one move like it? Wind is unpredictable—it can slip through the tiniest of cracks, shift without warning, follow the flow of water, match the intensity of fire, even dance along lightning itself. No one has ever fully understood how to truly flow like it.

Few ever truly understood how to be the wind—but those who did eventually became it. Cassian was on that path now, moving according to the Gale Whisper Sword Style. Yet he had once forgotten an important truth: flowing like the wind means that no matter what lies ahead, the wind keeps moving. If there’s a wall without a crack, the wind flows to its very edge. And if it cannot pass, it gathers enough force to make that wall crumble.

Right now, Cassian didn’t have the power to break through. But this wasn’t a wall—it was a troll. A troll had edges, places to slip past, and openings to dodge through. And being so massive, it created its own wind.

But Cassian was not in the wind.Cassian was the wind.

"I am wind..." he whispered as the realization took hold.

The troll’s arm swung, strong enough to tear century-old trees from their roots. Cassian didn’t retreat—he ran toward it, leaping into its path. His body flowed with the motion, riding the fierce gale its strike created, letting the wind guide him as he closed in.

Just a few meters away, the powerful gust from the troll’s massive swing caught Cassian, shooting him upward. Anticipating the force, he shifted his body midair, letting it carry him straight toward the troll’s face with his sword ready. He moved so fast that the troll only realized his approach when steel scraped the edge of its chin.

The troll’s other hand came sweeping in, but Cassian used the burst of wind from its own strike to surge past its face, his blade carving a shallow slash along its cheek side of it’s eye.

It wasn’t deep, but the sting burned like fire. The troll’s arm finished its wild swing, smacking into its own face and drawing a furious roar. Cassian was already dropping from above, having risen higher than the troll’s head and now descending toward its face again. His blade flashed, slicing across the exposed upper side of its hand, forcing another howl of pain.

The monster lashed out once more, aiming to crush him, but Cassian slipped past the blow, riding the gust created by its other hand. He let the downward wind carry him, landing lightly on one of its massive feet before driving his sword deep into a finger. The troll staggered, shocked and hurting. Cassian pressed the attack, plunging his blade into one of its toes, sending it lurching backward until it crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact.

"I did it..." Cassian grinned, excitement lighting up his face. He’d dodged the troll’s attacks before, but always on instinct—this time, he’d read them perfectly, turning each strike to his advantage. It was the heart of his sword style: hearing the whispers of the wind.

But his celebration was short-lived. A shadow loomed, and before he could react, a massive hand slammed him to the ground.

[Impact simulation ended.]

Thankfully, he was still in the system’s training ground. The blow only froze the troll in place, causing no real harm—unlike the time he’d almost ended up as an unrecognizable corpse.

Satisfied with his progress and mentally drained—despite his stamina still holding up—Cassian stepped out of the Training Field with a content expression.

He had spent almost twenty hours inside, which translated to about five hours outside. Earlier, he’d told his team he wanted to rest alone, meaning no one would disturb him—especially after he had been on the verge of death just a few hours ago. Still, after so much fighting, part of him wanted to be around people, if only to shake off the lingering tension.

When he opened his eyes, the tent was empty—a relief. His body vanished into the system space whenever he entered the Training Field for simulations, so appearing or disappearing in front of others would raise suspicion. After all, sudden teleportation was something associated with mages, and among Circle Warriors, only high-ranking ones could teleport. Cassian was nowhere close to that level.

[Name : Senior Trainee Cassian ven dyke

Warrior level : Adept

Attributes:

Strength: 32

Agility: 33

Endurance: 56

Intelligence: 19

Dexterity: 27

Vitality: 78

System Function:

Training Field (Status: Available)

Skills:

Cleaning: Adept

Sword Mastery: Adept Lv3 (Gale Whisper Sword Style: Lv12)

Full Body Massage Mastery: Lv2 (191/1000)

Passive Skills:

Self Healing

Pain Immunity

Mana Rotation and Sealing Techniques : Blood Fire Tempering

Total Seals: ??

Completed Seals:

1

Rotations for Second Seal: 61/100

Resources Required:

Fire Mana Crystal: 1kg

Heart of 3-Star Monster: (0/5)

Accepted Tasks : The Skilled Masseur: (0/10)

Completed Tasks: Mage slayer (Completed)

Silent Execution (Completed)

Path of the Gladiator (Completed).....

Training Points: 211]

Cassian let out a quiet breath and moved toward his cot, the rough fabric creaking as he sank into it. The heaviness in his chest had eased a little since earlier. He still hadn’t managed to defeat the troll—not even in the simulations—but progress was progress. His movements had grown sharper, his reading of attacks more precise.

It was enough to keep the darkness from creeping too far into his thoughts.

Lying back, he willed the familiar system panel to appear before his eyes, the glowing text flickering into place.

His Sword Mastery in the Gale Whisper Sword Style had leapt from Level 9 to Level 12 in a single day—a three-level jump in one go. That was huge.