The Limits of Talent

Was the wind running—or chasing?

As the sword danced, a gale swept through the dojo. The wind gathered around the blade, making an already razor-sharp sword even sharper. A speed too fast for the eye to follow grew more fierce still.

The swordsman wielding a single blade wore pale blue robes. Each swing stirred up a gale, drawing envious murmurs from the people around him.

The swordsman with two blades wore pale yellow robes. His twin swords struck with unmatched speed, their attacks flowing like water, yet following a clear pattern.

But the dual-wielding swordsman was no match for the single-blade swordsman.

Though he had two swords to parry with, he was still driven back and thrown into disarray by the man who wielded a single sword and whipped up a gale. Left with no choice, he fell back on a skill he wasn't particularly good at and tried to contest his opponent's control over the wind.

As expected, the dual-wielding swordsman's weapon was knocked away.

The match was over.

The disciples watching from the sidelines clapped lazily. The wind swordsman, sporting a ponytail that shot straight up, gave himself a flashy thumbs-up and basked in his fellow students' praise.

Only their senior disciple, Yone, quietly rubbed his wrist. Without a word, he picked up his sword from the ground and returned it to its sheath.

"Yasuo, you're amazing. It must be wonderful to have mastered the Wind Technique."

The speaker clapped lazily. It wasn't that he wasn't impressed by the wind swordsman's skill; he had simply grown used to Yasuo's talent.

Yasuo had mastered the powerful Wind Technique after only a few years of training. He was the only one, and Elder Souma had called him the most talented disciple of all. In truth, he was also the strongest among them. Even their revered senior disciple Yone was no match for him.

But more than Yasuo's talent, or the praise being heaped on him, the speaker was curious about something else.

He looked at a disciple who had joined the dojo alongside Yasuo but had never shown any envy, and asked the question that had been on his mind.

"Honestly, aren't you jealous, Li Ke? I've never seen you envy Yasuo."

The person he asked was Li Ke, dressed in a faded gray robe and reading a booklet. He hadn't paid much attention to the fight between the dojo's two strongest swordsmen. He'd simply sat there, quietly looking over the accounts and making notes.

Li Ke paused. He hadn't expected his senior, Kong Ruo, to ask him that. Could he really say that, as someone who had crossed over from another world, he couldn't learn the magic of this place—and so couldn't master a discipline that was called swordsmanship but was really magic? Was that why he didn't envy or resent Yasuo?

But when he looked at Yasuo, who seemed ready to take flight, and Yone, who stood composed and didn't seem to mind his defeat, he thought of the fate that would almost certainly await them. After a moment's thought, he spoke.

"I know Yasuo was born suited to this technique. He's like the wind—nothing can hold him back. Besides, I never expected to learn the Wind Technique in the first place, so I naturally never felt jealous."

"Come on, it's the Wind Technique! If you could learn it..."

"But a cook has a cook's talents, a warrior has a warrior's, and a king has a king's. I really am less talented than Yasuo at the Wind Technique. That's just a fact."

The sword followed the heart. If the heart wasn't as free and unbound as the wind, how could anyone reach the Wind Technique's highest level?

The very idea behind this technique had made it clear from the start: someone with his temperament could never master it.

After stating what he truly thought, Li Ke picked up his sword and stood. He was going to help chop wood, then put away the practice swords before training.

But just as he was leaving, Kong Ruo called out to him.

"But you're a swordsman too, aren't you? Even if you don't study the Wind Technique, aren't you jealous of Yasuo's swordsmanship?"

Li Ke stopped for a moment but didn't answer.

He did envy Yasuo's inhumanly strong body and formidable swordsmanship. And it wasn't true that he never envied Yasuo's talent or hoped he might learn the Wind Technique himself.

But he had never let that envy turn into resentment and twist his heart.

The fact was, he wasn't as talented as Yasuo.

He wasn't gifted even by Ionian standards. As a bona fide Earthling, his physical abilities were worse than those of an ordinary Ionian. He was less a disciple than a servant Elder Souma had taken in, and he had no magical talent whatsoever.

The Wind Technique was really magic that controlled the wind. Yasuo was less a swordsman than a mage. How could someone from another world with no magical aptitude possibly learn the Wind Technique?

It would only be a waste of effort.

That's right, Li Ke had crossed over from another world. On the day he'd gotten promoted, he'd met some friends at an internet café. But just as he'd sat down in an air-conditioned seat with a glass of lemonade, he'd somehow ended up here, transformed into a baby and abandoned in a forest.

Luckily, an old woodcutter who had lost his entire family found him and brought him back to the village. Otherwise, he would have been eaten by the beasts here.

The old woodcutter, however, passed away when Li Ke was seven. On the day he left, he brought Li Ke to the dojo, looked him in the eyes, and said he could no longer live with having once abandoned his wife and children out of fear of death. He was going to the Garden of Forgetfulness to forget it all, then he'd come back and keep living with Li Ke, starting a new life.

Li Ke clearly remembered the woodcutter's eyes as he left. They held regret, sorrow, and the guilt of someone about to repeat a familiar sin. So from the moment he walked away, Li Ke knew he would never return from the place called the Garden of Forgetfulness.

The woodcutter never came back. The kindly Elder Souma took Li Ke in as a disciple, and Li Ke began fulfilling his duties as both student and laborer: repairing the dojo, gathering firewood, washing clothes, boiling water, and doing whatever else he could manage.

Unfortunately, though he was much stronger than he'd been on Earth, he was still hopelessly outmatched by the Ionians, who were born dancing with magic.

He'd known for a long time that no amount of training could ever let him surpass Ionians with magic flowing through their bodies. So, if he wanted to live up to Elder Souma's expectations, he had two options. First, train constantly. Second...

Save up enough money to buy a suit of Hextech power armor in Piltover. Arm himself with money, and shape the future with technology.

For the past nine years, he'd done the first without pause. He was among the most diligent students, no question.

But the second...

He'd spent those nine years training in swordsmanship every chance he got. Elder Souma provided his meals, clothes, and a place to sleep, and even the work he did outside the dojo came through the dojo. The money went to Elder Souma. He got a little allowance each month, enough for a good meal or a decent pair of shoes, but nowhere near enough to pay for a voyage overseas.

So, to put it simply—

He was broke.

It couldn't be helped. Ionia's social structure was quite primitive. Most places still relied on bartering, and villages were governed by chiefs and elders. Even the laws differed from village to village, entirely at the chief's discretion. They were less villages than tribes.

Besides, as an adopted child, Li Ke had no property of his own before adulthood. He couldn't even think about going wherever he pleased.

"If only I could use magic. No, if only I were a rich kid..."

He gave a self-deprecating laugh, sheathed his sword, and hummed the tune "If I could start over, I'd choose Li Bai." Then he headed off to prepare the wooden swords.

But he'd barely taken a few steps when dizziness swept over him. It felt as if his mind had passed through a colossal vortex, and then he lost control of his body.

In a haze, he seemed to become the son of a wealthy merchant. He grew up strong and healthy, all the while pestering his father to let him study swordsmanship.

At last, his father gave in. He learned swordsmanship, along with a power called ki, and life went on peacefully.

Until one day, a woman named Kelly moved in next door...