Solo Swordmaster

Chapter 67: Test

Julia had a temperamental nature.

More often than not, she acted on emotion rather than on rules. There were many times she had held unconventional lessons that would’ve been considered incredibly strange for a professor.

But even for her, a student requesting a lesson this ridiculous was a first.

“You’ll learn by yourself just by hearing me play

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

“Are you serious?”

“What? There’s no reason we can’t.”

Julia could feel something inside of her snap at Li’s carefree answer. Even when he refused to play in front of her. Even when he couldn’t learn properly. She endured her headaches and did her best to teach Limon as a rightful student.

But the nonsense Limon casually spewed out began to make her head boil.

“…Li, is the violin a joke to you? Do you have a problem with my teaching ability? Do you think I am not properly teaching you on purpose?”

“Of course not.”

While Julia was cold, Li’s voice remained ever stoic.

“If I thought the violin was a joke, I wouldn’t have tried learning it in the first place. And I don’t have any issues with your lessons.”

“Then why are you asking me to do this?”

“This is the fastest and most effective method right now.”

“Do you realize you’re calling the teaching method that took centuries for musicians to research and refine worthless?”

“No, I don’t mean that. And I know that learning one step at a time from the beginning is typically the fastest way to learn.”

Limon softly shook his head. He, too, had taught hundreds of pupils before as the lord of the Sword Tower. He knew about the importance of teaching methods and learning the fundamental basics.

“But I’ll be different. Probably.”

And so, he knew that there were such things called ‘exceptions’ in this world—exceptions that don’t fit into the cast of what’s considered a ‘standard’ student. And the way Limon saw it, a centuries-old swordmaster was more than enough to be considered an exception.

“…You come off as confident, but what’s the ‘probably’ for?”

“Because this is a first for me as well. Obviously.”

Isn’t it too arrogant to be 100% confident of something you’ve never done before succeeding?

She looked at Limon, stupefied. Here he was, blabbering about humility with his nose up in the air.

Julia pressed her throbbing temples. Finally, she spoke.

“Fine. I’ll do it. But under one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Just once.”

Limon became amused as Julia lifted up one finger. Her dark green eyes bore in LImon’s as she repeated herself gravely.

“I am going to play just once. Learn anything you can from that. If you can’t pick up anything, I am going to quit as your teacher.”

Julia knew how unreasonable her condition was. The violin was something you had to play until your fingers were rock solid from calluses. It wasn’t something one could learn from a glance like player skills.

So it was more like a refusal, a warning—telling Li to give up if he wanted to continue being taught by her.

Accepting such a condition was something only a madman would do.

“I’ll take it.”

“…”

Julia was speechless at Li’s immediate response, and shut her eyes. With a soft sigh, she took out an antique violin out of her case. Thanks to the delicate handling, the violin had a radiant sheen to it despite being many centuries old.

It was a Stradivarius—a masterpiece in instrument-making, even now. It was something all violinists dreamt of.

Julia looked over the treasure in her hands. Making sure that both her and the instrument were ready to play, she looked at Limon coldly.

“What would you like to hear?”

“I told you. Just give me the greatest performance.”

Julia did not bother asking if Li was really okay with this outcome. From the moment she took her instrument out, she had gone from a teacher to a performer—and as a performer, she was a free woman.

‘You asked for the greatest performance. I’ll give you one.’

She finished setting up her digital music notes. Taking her stance, she fixed the violin with her chinrest. Gliding the bow across the strings, she started her performance. The first and possibly the last time she would play for Li.

While it was the greatest piece she could ever play, it was also the piece among countless violin concertos that moved the most people.

A piece representing the Baroque era by Antonio Vivaldi: Opus 8, No. 1-4.

‘The Four Seasons(Le quattro stagioni)’.

***

***

Nothing else was on Julia’s mind. Whether it was Li sitting in front of her, or her condition to him. Where, or even who she was. With her mind a blank canvas, the only thing on it were the musical notes on the electric scores and the melody coming from the violin.

In this empty void she was immersed to the music.

‘Restez, maintaining the same position.’

Music is beautiful. More complex, innocent, beautiful, and emotional than humans.

That was why she loved playing music. If she could she would rather be born an instrument. And so, she became a violinist.

Not because she was the best at it, but because it left her feeling the most unified with the instrument itself.

‘Simile, the same as before.’

She was called the ‘violin witch’ due to her ability to play like a player despite being a regular civilian. But to her, it all felt natural. Regardless of one’s

Regardless of one’s level or what skills one used, they would never amount to hers.

Her soul was one with the violin.

‘The prey is bewildered by the clamorous dogs and the noise of the guns.’

Julia didn’t mind getting laughed at, but looking down on the violin was unacceptable. Li underestimating music made her angry and disappointed, but none of that was on her mind.

The movement of the notes ceased, and so did her bow. Once again, the room was filled with complete silence.

She devoted her heart and soul into bringing the instrument’s melody into existence.

***

“Haa…”

Perhaps she had given all of her energy into her performance. Or perhaps she was disappointed she was back to being a human, separated from the instrument. Not knowing the reason herself, Julia let out a deep sigh and took her bow off the strings.

Clapclapclapclapclap!

‘Seems like he finally found out what a real performance is.’

Earnest applause rang in her ears. Satisfied with the emotional sound, she turned to face Li.

“Indeed. This is what a first-class musician in this age is like—”

She widened her eyes. She expected the young, black-haired man to be moved as he applauded.

But he was staring at her with his arms crossed.

Then who applauded? Julia looked around, confused. Finding the source of the clapping, she became stunned.

“…Li, what kind of bird is that to clap at music?”

“What are you in awe for? There’s gorillas that drum their chest with their fists. Going crazy over music is common for a bird.”

“I’ve never seen that ‘common bird’ before.”

How does one train a bird to clap like that? The lingering rush from her music dissipated as her curiosity stood up to replace it.

She looked dumbstruck. Coming back to her senses, her eyes turned back to Li.

“So, are you satisfied?”

“Uh, yeah. It was a good performance. Learned a lot thanks to it.”

“What did you learn?”

“What do you think? I learned how to play the violin, of course.”

“…Li, I’m not passing this off as a joke.”

Julia furrowed her brows. She was a woman in love with music, and she was not going to dismiss her performance as a joke.

But Li remained nonchalant as he always did.

“What, you don’t believe me?”

“It is a virtue for a teacher to believe her student, but it is a duty to test them.”

“Well, that’s a trust I can’t deny,” Li laughed.

Resting his chin on one hand, he murmured to himself.

“Hm. I guess I don’t have a choice if you might quit. And I think an imitation ought to be enough.”

As if he’d made up his mind, Limon stopped resting his chin on his hand and scratched the back of his hand.

“Julia, may I borrow that violin?”

“…What?”

“You told me to prove what I learned. I’ll show you.”

“Li, what about your violin? Surely you have one.”

“Mine is a bit tricky to use. And I think using yours would be the best way to ‘properly’ show you what I’ve learned.”

If you really don’t want to give me yours, just wait a bit so I can get someone to bring another one.

Julia could feel her lips tremble in rage as Limon treated her Stradivarius as ‘some meager instrument’ that could always be replaced. She’d gone past feeling fury to rivaling pride.

She clenched her jaws as she held out her violin.

“Fine, try it. But if you haven’t learned anything after I let you use my violin, expect at least a slap on the face.”

“All right. I’ll swear to it.”

He took the violin with both hands like he was showing respect for allowing him to borrow it.

Julia felt her rage subside a little seeing a rare moment of respect from Li, but her gaze kept its cold. Her opinion of him had already hit rock bottom the moment he asked for her violin.

‘You’re mistaken if you think using a good instrument will give you a good performance, Li.’

But regardless of what she thought, Li paid no mind to her gaze. He only adjusted his position.

“Hm, as I thought. It’s hard to get it exactly the same due to our different physiques…”

He sure was a beginner. Putting the violin in and out between his shoulder and chin, he twisted his shoulder, adjusting for the length of his arms. It made Julia frown.

‘…I knew he was a beginner, but this is going too far.’

Masters of their craft can know many things just by position alone. And in Julia’s eyes, Limon’s was the absolute worst she had ever seen.

Beginner or not, his failure was inevitable. It was doubtful if he even knew how to play a violin. Even if he couldn’t read notes, the fact he didn’t have them out at all was the first wrong step of many.

‘I really wasted my time.’

Worried he was going to mess up her violin, Julia watched on as Li finally figured out his position.

“Alright, I think I got it,” he muttered sluggishly.

And goosebumps crept all over Julia’s back.

——

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